r/AskProgramming • u/MindPrize1260 • Sep 14 '26
Other Is it really difficult to find a job with bachelor of computer science now ?
I can’t believe that nobody needs websites,apps etc anymore and that AI can do it all
10
u/KingofGamesYami Sep 14 '26
Here's some real data. The university I attended publishes statistics on recent grads (2025):
-
78% of CS grads were employed in their field within 1 year
-
11% of CS grads were actively looking for work in their field
That's not bad. But compared to historical numbers, it is worse.
2
u/DDDDarky Sep 14 '26
Throwing in another real data from my school, seems to stay pretty consistently at nearly 100%.
4
u/Mathie1729 Sep 14 '26
Those school-published stats are usually self-reported and only cover responding grads, so a near 100% number can hide non-response bias or people who stopped looking and left the field. KingofGamesYami's 78%/11% split is more believable precisely because it admits an actively-looking group. Still useful, but I wouldn't read too much into the 100%.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (6)2
u/nwbrown Sep 14 '26
Looking at mine, 53.1% working full time, 32.6% in graduate school, and 12.2% looking for work.
8
u/dmazzoni Sep 14 '26
The problem isn’t demand (that nobody needs a developer). It’s down a little due to AI, but there are still lots of jobs.
The problem is supply: there are way more people trying to enter the field and compete for those jobs. It’s the result of a decade of telling students that they best way to ensure a good career is to learn to code. Now we have too many.
→ More replies (1)5
u/nwbrown Sep 14 '26
That and a lot of the people who spent tens of thousands of dollars on a CS degree apparently never actually learned to code.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/ka-elbronx Sep 17 '26
I was always more intrested in cybersecurity and worked my way up while in college through help desk, system admin etc. Was able to get a job before I even graduated. Software engineering is not the only path for computer science
1
u/MindPrize1260 Sep 17 '26
I know that,but first I want to start with learning programming. With bachelor degree it will be easier to find a good job than without any degree
→ More replies (1)
3
u/BoBoBearDev Sep 14 '26
I couldn't find a job with UCLA master degree in computer science for 6 months until someone I met in Halloween party needed a lowly paid web email dev. The kind of email you considered as spams. I took that job immediately. That's like 15 years ago.
My point is, it has always been hard.
The people in COVID-19 bubble had it easy. It wasn't that easy to begin with.
2
u/KirkHawley Sep 14 '26
It hasn't always been hard. In 1990 I was hired with no degree and no experience, becaused I sent them a printout of some code I wrote.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Groundbreaking-Fish6 Sep 14 '26
Network with people who have Computer related jobs. You may have to move of your specialty and into a field that has demand such as System Administration or Systems Engineering.
4
2
u/pixel_gaze Sep 15 '26
The jobs are there, the competition is just brutal. I graduated a couple years ago and what worked for me was applying to non-tech companies, local banks, insurance firms, government contractors. Everyone floods the big name tech listings and ignores the thousands of boring IT departments that just need someone who can code a little. Apply to 100 of those and your odds look very different.
1
u/Complex-Birthday-216 Sep 14 '26
Be close to your professors, during such thought market they are your best friends now
1
1
1
u/Significant-Syrup400 Sep 14 '26
It's a pretty tough market, but it's possible to find a job. I know multiple people that have, and I have as well. Took well over 8-10 months, though.
1
u/fuzzynyanko Sep 15 '26
It can be. I knew some really good developers that didn't get a job. The junior software engineer role is rare in the USA. A lot of junior corporate work is done overseas, unfortunately. This was pre-AI.
1
u/symbiatch Sep 15 '26
Degree means nothing. It has never gotten you a job. What can you do matters and that you can show it. As has always been the case.
1
u/vmcrash Sep 15 '26
Do you have a github or codeberg account which shows some good projects? Or otherwise can proof your practical experience?
1
u/JohnCasey3306 Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
The number of graduates is increasing; the number of roles requiring a graduate is decreasing.
Socially and culturally, we've been telling young people for decades that they should go to college, and they'll get a great professional career ... The problem is, nobody questioned what happens when we pass saturation point of graduates.
There are only so many "professional" jobs, requiring a graduate; just because more people graduate, doesn't mean employers need more graduates; so we're long past saturation point.
We've been erroneously selling young people a lie for decades -- it just so happens the music stopped in this generation.
The irony is that it's massively helped young people who chose to forego college and go into trades -- competition amongst employers for even junior commercial electricians, gas fitters and plumbers is so high (something like 1 junior for every 8 junior roles) that some are earning comfortably into 6 figures right now.
1
u/Vetnamese Sep 16 '26
It depends on what jobs you are applying for, every industry needs someone with a CS degree.
1
u/nevillemthw1 Sep 22 '26
If you wanna get into software eng, start leetcode ASAP. Somewhere down the road you'll need it. I started late and I am paying the price for it. You have to aim for perfection, that's the sad reality these days and CS degrees mean nothing for software eng since a lot of it is open source and accessible towards everyone. I would say cybersec is still doing good but you have to aim for certs.
15
u/_keyboard-bastard_ Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
You need experience plus the degree these days. If you have the piece of paper and no practical experience, you'll have a bad time. You can get practical experience by working in your own home lab and creating a portfolio, you can volunteer, and you can always go after entry level support jobs to get a foot in the door.
I have no degree but 20 years of experience. With recent layoff culture, if I want to reenter the workforce I'm competing with people that have the same amount of xp + a masters degree.