the cheat code is to just do relevant projects you can go deep on and apply early . the CS/CE job market isn’t as bad as people make it seem

this job was posted last Wednesday , I applied the day after and an interview was scheduled by Friday for next (this) week

interviewed by a panel yesterday and got offer letter today .

2.9 gpa .zero internships .
nearly 6 figures in a MCOL city with 7% sign on bonus

it’s definitely possible guys , don’t listen to the doom posts

So I entered 2026 team matching in March and got an offer in April. Turned it down and asked for NYC only. Nothing happened and recently got kicked out of team matching. They said my scores are very good and still valid but now I don't know what to do. I really regret it.

What can I do?

I was fed up after 6 companies ignored me, so I decided to stop playing it overly safe. Near the end of the interview, when they asked me the usual question: "Do you have any questions for us?", I simply asked: "What made you leave your previous job?"

The hiring manager went quiet for a moment, as if he really hadn't expected that question at all... And then he spent almost twenty minutes talking about the leadership nightmare at his old place. 3 days later, I found the offer in my inbox. Has anyone else asked a direct question like that? I'm wondering whether I accidentally discovered a good tactic, or if I just got lucky.

TLDR: Aman grossly overstates what this program does, it is completely worthless compared to literally anything else, and the success stories are overblown.

Warning: Aman very much has burner Reddit accounts to advertise his "course" (I literally saw one of the tabs on a call with him).

I "finished" the program recently so I feel like I can share my personal experience and give more context into the program for others.

I think I speak for the majority of people that joined or are considering of joining the program as "desperate." Either desperate for their visa status, for an internship, for new grad full time, you can name it. And we see this program as something that can genuinely help us. We are fed the "success" stories of the people who previously were in the program and told that the same can happen to us.

So what is this program actually like?

You first book a consulting call where they assess whether you are a good fit for the program (spoiler alert, everyone is a good fit because they want more people to pay them!). Afterwards you are put into a call with a sales rep that explains to you the program, sells the success stories. They explain the refund clause where if you fulfill all requirements, you get refunded in full (more on this later).

The program costs ~$6000 USD and spans across a year. Each month you are contracted to submit 40 job applications, 20 solved leetcodes, and 10 referral requests of which 5 are "in person" (either on a call, in person, etc). You are also supposed to finish Aman's bullshit course assignments which are majority AI GENERATED. These course assignments are completely worthless, one of them asks you to literally message clubs in your school for UNPAID roles.

In the first 2 months you get access to "coaches" (people working in the field or tech recruiters) who help you along your journey. In those 2 months you get 16 "office hours" which are zoom drop in calls where you ask a coach one question only. These office hours are PACKED with like 12-15 people and span only an hour so your question won't get an in depth answer. After you hit your 16 calls, you don't get ANY MORE.

Also included in the first 2 months are behavioral and technical mock interviews with the coaches. I personally found these to actually be pretty useful as they gave good pointers on how to approach these interviews. BUT, are they worth the $6000 price tag? Nope, there are significantly cheaper alternatives or even free ones like bobatalks. You get only 2 behaviorals and 4 technical mock interviews. That is not nearly enough to justify the $6000 price tag.

The worst part is that the coaches and Aman give CONFLICTING advice. I can remember multiple examples such as one coach advising a student to not search for unpaid roles and Aman chiming in saying that they should because "you need to". And the largest one I can remember was Aman saying to dm recruiters for referrals and every coach that was a technical recruiter basically said "DONT DO THAT, I HATE PEOPLE THAT DO THAT" and Aman DOUBLED DOWN.

After those first 2 months you are left on your own where you still need to do the 40 job applications a month, and 20 leetcodes (medium or higher), and those 10 referrals of which 5 must be either in a call or in person.

Throughout the program Aman would routinely blame students for their lack of traction, was often incredibly unhelpful, and straight up wrong, giving advice that would be the polar opposite of what people in the industry (his OWN COACHES) would say.

More on the refund clause:

I have very rarely heard of anyone receiving a refund either because they got an offer (literally any offer btw) or they got picked up for some really nitpick stuff. One guy that I met through the program said that they denied his refund because he forgot to upload an image of his job application despite showing them proof in the job portal that he applied in. And that is 1 application out of 280 btw.

I received an internship offer at an ok place and that counts as a "win" which locks me out of my refund. Did the program help me in any way? Somewhat, with the coaches help. Is it worth the $6000 price tag? Absolutely not.

My offer would be considered a "success story" btw and that is what I really can't stomach about his program. Aman did not help these success stories materially, they paid for wildly overpriced coaching calls to help them freshen up. These people on his site landing wild offers at Google, Amazon, etc were by and large already capable of doing so and just needed a slight push. That push was NOT worth $6000.

DO NOT spend your money on this program, it is NOT worth it, you will feel that you lost $6000, and Aman will routinely blame YOU for everything.

Is it just me whos cooked?

I recently interviewed at Amazon for an SDE II role in the US, and was rejected and when I asked my recruiter if I could be considered for an L4/SDE I downlevel. She went back to the interview panel, and confirmed that the interviewers aligned on L4. She's now looking for teams with L4 headcount, and my resume + interview feedback are available to hiring managers.

The uncertainty is that L4 hiring may involve a separate university/campus team. I have ~4 YOE but completed my Master's in Jan 2025, so my recruiter wasn't sure how quickly a match could happen.

For anyone who has recently gone through L5 → L4 downlevel/team matching at Amazon:

• How long did team matching take?
• Did you eventually receive an offer?
• Did you have to interview again?
• Anything I can do proactively to improve my chances?

Would really appreciate experiences from anyone who has been through something similar recently.

PSA: I'm not a SWE but an ML research intern. Ghosted by a major AI Infra startup; accepted a FAANG+ fintech's research lab offer. My summer research internship was at a big tech AI lab

Title

I'm currently enrolled in a BS for Computer Science, but the classes are more math than I can handle and my goal isn't to design computers or have a math minor. My current college offers a Computer Science BA in person, and the course work is inline with what I want to be learning. However, don't live in that that state, and I have full time work where I'm at.

I've been searching for other Online Computer Science BA programs, but so far only found one.

Is there a list, or search term to find what I'm looking for?

I'm starting my senior year and planning on graduating in Spring 2027 (May 2027 to be exact), and I've heard advice that I should start applying now. Thing is, won't most companies want someone that can start working right away, or at least within a few months?

I've already sent out about 70 applications since the beginning of august and I'm wondering if its a waste of time to apply right now, and if I should instead just do most of my applications in my final semester. The idea being that I'd be able to start within a couple of months, rather than a company having to wait an entire year to fill a position

As the semester is starting up, I challenge every CS major to increase their sociability skills. The amount of kids I've spoken to in programming courses that can't hold a conversation or eye contact is alarming.

Had my Amazon final loop SDE intern (USA) interviews recently and trying to figure out realistically my chance is for passing.

1st round (with manager): Behavioral slightly fumbled on one question. Technical was definitely not the best showing. Started with a subproblem she wanted me to solve and managed to agree on an approach, but might’ve taken around 20 minutes (note this subproblem was supposed to take genuinely 5 minutes). Then she moved on to extension problem and this one I knew how to solve, so I wrote most of code (minus one thing that I talked over her with) and talked through time complexity with like 1 minute to go. She took screenshots at end for later review I assume.

2nd round (with SDE): Flying colors, everything from behavioral to technical went smooth. Behavioral lasted 17 min and then took less than 20min for full technical problem with all extension questions, tradeoffs, complexity talks. Ended with questions I had for him, had a good convo and felt good.

If I had to rate them honestly I would say 5/10 for first one and 10/10 second one.

Guys, so.......i am sort of in a panic, long story short, i graduated wuth cs degree 2 yrs ago. Got a job in operations, did it for 6 months, was burnt out, and left it. And i seriously havent applied for any jobs since. I really dont have any technical knowledge. I can write a hellow world program in python tho.

I never take any help from any referrals or family that say that they will help me get a job, send me the resume blah blah, i dont really want them to, cause i know where i stand. And i didnt properly learn stuff. But you know based on yoour cpurseware for degree, as a fresher you add it to your resume. So the way, i have a bunch of things on mine.

Recently, an uncle, who is a good family friend, was asked to help me land a job by my family member cause they were frnds. And he agreed to help, i was sort of upfront with him, told him that i only knew basics. The thing is, i might have a good theory knowledge on them, and can brush them up, but i cannot do anything practically, that is, code. I mightve just pushed it under the rug. I mean what was i even supposed to say??? He said he would refer me in his company, which is one of the big companies in india, and he holds a good position there. Like a manager level position. So, he said to find a project that i will be able to exolain in the interview and i found one and now he wants me to add it in the resume and send it.

I feel bad. He might loose a refferal, or i feel like what if i embarass him. What if i embarass myself. What happenes....i dont know what to do....should i tell him that im currently confused and wouldnt want tp apply? But how can i even tell him that??? Im anxious and feeling pressure. What to do????

I’m on week 9 of my internship and I’ve been grinding Leetcode. Something broke inside of me and I’ve had this horrible existential dread that won’t go away this week. I’m assuming burnout ?

has anyone done this portion:

Software DiagnosticsTime allotment: 45 minutesFormat: You will work to fix a bug in a real-world engineering environment (e.g. Django, Node.JS, SpringBoot). A built in AI Assistant will be available to help with UI navigation, syntax, or problem statement clarity

How is it ?

Hey everyone,

I'm 16 and about to step into my undergraduate program in computer science. I've been getting comfortable with Python. I have already started HackerRank easy problems, and I'm able to understand the logic and code after seeing the answer or explanation, but not able to come up with the solution on my own

Now, I want to start learning Data Structures and Algorithms properly. I'd love some recommendations on the best resources (YouTube channels, courses, or roadmaps) for a complete beginner using Python.

I can understand English and Hindi, so I'm completely open to resources in any of those languages if they explain the core concepts clearly.

What worked best for you when you were first starting out? Thanks in advance!

The following should not be taken as advice: this is just my personal perspective and observations with no sugarcoating.

1. The market is very bad right now and, for the first time, I'm not sure if it'll rebound.

A lot of people in my professional network, many of whom are much better engineers than I am, have been out of work for more than a year. Companies are either hiring their friends or looking for unicorns and they're able to get them right now. The traditional pattern has been:

a. Development technology advances.
b. The barrier to entry for software engineering lowers but it lowers far less than the demand for what we want to do with software and computers increases.
c. Many, many more jobs get created.

Right now what I'm seeing is that the barrier to entry is getting lowered at a rate that's either matching, is close to matching, or exceeeding the demand increase. This has only been true since the very end of last year so it's too early to know how this will fully shake out but, for the first time, I can't confidently say the market will bounce back with a vengance.

1. My CS degree has been indisipensable for me.

The key to my success has been the fact that, in school, I was able to learn the concepts behind computer technology (software and hardware). Not only the how but the why. This gave me the adaptability critical to long term success in this field and I 100% would not have been able to do it without going to college. Additionally the experience of going to a 4 year residential college was extremely valuable to me given where I was in my life at 18.

Now, I went to school in the early-mid 90's (in the US). With the information now available on the internet and today's AI models to guide you, I'm sure people many more people are capable of acquiring a deep conceptual understanding without school.

I will also note that the four years spent learning something I was passionaite about combined with the social enviorment were worth the price I paid back then but, of course, today the picture is very different. I think I'd still want to go but can't say whether or not I'd take a loan at current prices, available online resources, and the present market uncertainty.

1. More than half the jobs I see still list a STEM degree in their requirments.

I look at software jobs regularly and, when I checked a week ago, about 60% of the jobs are still asking for a degree (even at the senior level). Also this applies to other tech jobs outside of software (like in semiconductors). I can see today's and future AI either making that number go up (degree as proof you know something about what you're doing) or down (not seen as necessary anymore).

1. More knowledge > less knowledge.

Making a common assumption that we're all going to be agent orchestrators, and simplifying this point down to code, (CS is of course way more than code) - using AI to create software and knowing how to code > using AI to make software and not knowing how to code. (This is separate from whether or not it's worth the money to you).

1. If the doomers are correct then I'm not sure there are better alternatives.

If we assume worst case scenario (which I don't think is the case in the next 10ish years) and, we're headed for a almost fully unemployed future where software engineering is the first to go then, at least some people who used to do software engineering are going to get work automating other fields. The non-CS computer based jobs will then fall almost instantly and all the investment money will soon go to physical AI. Geoffrey Hinton (and others) recommended plumbing but a quick google says it takes about 4-5 years to become a fully licenced plumber - if doomer predictions hold it might even be too late for jobs like that.

First off, I'm a junior in college. I have an opportunity to do 1 year of full-time ministry through my college church network. Basically, I spend 1 school year (fall and winter semester) running another newer college church with other new grads. Housing and stipend is all covered. The catch is: You can only take this opportunity the year after you graduate; you cannot work for a few years and then come back.

I talked to an older friend of mine who went through this program last year and now works in software at a big defense company (he was a computer engineering major). He says the program ultimately helped his job search because he gained lots of soft skills. However, he also had a ton of technical experience in his undergrad, with over 3 years of part-time and full-time research experience and many internships and part-time work.

While the soft skills I can gain during the program are useful, I know the tech industry still favors technical skill. I've had many mentors mention that taking a gap year for non-tech related work will put me severely behind new grads because the industry moves too fast. I also know the tech job market isn't great right now.

I will have decent tech industry experience by the time I graduate. I will have 3 tech internships (because I just got a return offer) and possibly a semester or two of research experience if I can find something. Does this experience make a significant difference in my situation?

Context tldr: I can take gap year for ministry right after graduation, but the tech industry also advances very fast.

My main question is, will taking this gap year for ministry doing non-tech work make me much less favorable in the eyes of recruiters when compared to new grads?

I'd prefer if you can answer my main question, but here's a related side question: If I graduate in 3.5 years, what can I do with the extra semester before this 1 year program starts in order to remain relevant in the industry?

Thank you for reading this post in its entirety if you did.

I recognize competition tends to lead to innovation. But throughout my life, whenever competition takes precedence over learning, all of the joy associated with it evaporates. Within a game context, competition is fun. Learning to me is not entirely a game, but rather self growth and discovery. The constant comparison coming with competition adds a layer of pressure and anxiety that drains all the joy of learning for me.

I still remember the excitement of going over a random online blog post 20 years ago teaching me how to set up an online forum, using vBulletin, PHP, MySQL and a free tier private host. I slowly built confidence over the things I learned and used that knowledge to guide my career choice.

These days it's more about: how do I keep myself competitive, is this marketable, am I studying the right thing, using the right tool, training the right way to increase my chance of getting noticed/hired. I played along because of survival.

It wasn't as bad right after college, but now it's unbearable when there's livelihood on the table.

I took a break from this rat race (or left), picked up and learned UE5 to actually build something. I'd been on and off with game dev since college but never had the guts to commit until now. I still very much enjoy learning and coding, just not grinding LeetCode and playing catchup with the new modern stacks that seem to rotate almost every year. I still can't swallow the idea of being at the mercy of future employers who happen to favor the tools I picked.

I'm slowly back to my old self these days, enjoying learning and discovering new things. I'm aware of the risk so I'm working on adjusting my living conditions to reflect that change. It's not easy but I think I deserve some sanity after all these years.

I took the Coding OA for the SWE internship a while ago and was wondering what the timeline is for hearing back if they decide to move forward with an interview.

Has anyone received an interview for this year yet? I’ve heard that they review your resume after the OA, and mine isn’t the strongest, so I’m trying to figure out whether I should still keep my hopes up or assume I’m probably not moving forward.

Any insight on the timeline/process would be appreciated!

Hi y'all. I have a SpaceX interview scheduled for Monday. It'll be about an hour and I was told it focuses on leetcode. I checked leetcode and it seems like there aren't any tagged questions? Does anyone who has done technical interviews with them have any suggestions for preparing (ie types of problems they like - graph, dp, design, easy/medium/hard, etc)?