You have something to do from scratch in IT in 2024
There is crazy competition among juniors, neural networks will soon replace everyone, there is a crisis in the country – why shouldn’t this bother you if you have decided that IT is for you.
In the comments to my last post about career lessons there were many people who recognized themselves. But a lot of negative and even harmful, in my opinion, words were also said. Some users even frightened newcomers with their negative projections, completely in vain. I want to go through with you the main doubts that I have seen from other people.
About competition
The first doubt is that there is too much competition. Yes, there are a lot of juniors, and there have always been more of them than jobs! I haven't been hired for 100 times more jobs than I've been hired for. This is normal and expected. However, what is really missing is adequate people. There is a crisis of adequate people in the world. If you adequately assess your skills and abilities at a given time, know how to learn and don’t give up on the path, you will find your place in any profession and anywhere. Bypassing any competitions. The main thing is consistency and learnability. If you didn't get hired, but you learned a lesson, then you have learned, become a better person, and your chances of a successful interview have increased.
Don't chase money. Of course, it’s also better not to work for free, but if this is an internship with a theoretical opportunity to get a job or there is an opportunity to last with the current reserve, or while working part-time, it’s worth a try. If you don’t manage to get a job, it’s still experience. If you use it correctly, you increase your chances.
My first job in test automation paid about 30 thousand rubles per month. This was significantly less than my previous income from website development, and I searched for it for six months, receiving refusals and being ignored along the way. But I received an offer for my next place in testing within three days of searching, and my earnings increased almost 4 times. This is not a universal formula for “success”, but sometimes when you are on the right path, these things happen.
The competition is really high, but adequate people who are able to learn, adapt and maintain a positive attitude will always find their place in the market. Don't be afraid of rejection – use it as an opportunity to grow and improve your chances of success in the future.
Neural networks are your good friend, not your enemy
I understand people's concerns about neurons in programming. Especially from those people who have not used them. If you learn about this from the headlines, then yes, it may seem that neural networks will soon replace everyone. The artists have already been replaced, the programmers are next in line (haha).
Seriously, the most significant thing that can happen in connection with neural networks and the work of programmers in the near future is that they will be built into the workplace everywhere. For example, officially from the employer, in code editors and as paid access to services like ChatGPT. This will not result in fewer jobs, but the ability to work with them can become a competitive advantage.
For you, as a junior or potential junior, a neural network can become an excellent mentor at the initial stage. He will tell you how to start projects from scratch, what to do when you are stuck, help you write code and debug errors. For a beginner, when used correctly, a neural network will help you learn 10 times faster, for an experienced person it will help you be 10 times more productive. Of course, you can't rely 100% on them, but over time they become smarter, less buggy and more useful. I look at this from my own experience. As soon as GitHub opened Copilot in beta, before ChatGPT, I used it. When ChatGPT-3 came out, I was at the forefront. What the latest version of ChatGPT-4o can do today is heaven and earth, and science fiction in general. The main thing is to communicate with them correctly, and if you have little experience, check what they give you. As usual, with the help of the good old search, and now you can also use a second opinion from another neuron; for example, you can use ChatGPT as the main tool and check something using Perplexity.ai.
If you are at a dead end, if you don’t know what to do next, and don’t want or can’t communicate with real people, then the neural network is your best friend.
What about the crisis?
And when was he not there? There were some quiet years, especially in IT, but that too passed. In general, crises are out of your personal control. What to do? You need to concentrate on what you can do – namely, change your life and profession, if this is what you are asked to do.
Many people left, many of those who left returned, but overall there are fewer people now than there were. Before this, there weren’t enough personnel – is it better now? No. Partly, there are temporarily fewer places – businesses have left; Some were transferred, but others were laid off. However, this does not seem to have had much of an impact on the overall picture. Even so, what’s important is that empty spaces will be and are already being closed by local businesses. They need people. There are few people. This is where you will come in handy. Study, gain experience, go to interviews, don’t miss opportunities. This is not Disney thinking – this is the principle of development in life. You either develop, become better and find your place, or you score, give up and find reasons not to continue, not to change anything.
If it takes 4 years to change your profession, what will be better for you – getting the life you want after 4 years or remaining the same person after 4 years without having done anything? This is life and you need to take control of it where possible and not worry about what you can't control.
A small example from life
This is Igoryan (name changed). Igoryan began to become interested in what could be done in IT a little over two years before this message, which I received in February 2024. Igoryan chose a direction and persistently dug and developed in its direction. Sometimes he doubted, sometimes he was worried that it wasn’t working out, but advice and words of support from a living person who had already gone through this helped him not to give up too low and to continue.
Study, go to interviews, get rejected or even be ignored. Learn from this experience and become better, so that in the end you can become the person who was waiting for the very place he ended up in. Is this a happy ending? Oh no, this is the beginning of a new stage, new difficulties and a new path. Only now Igoryan is studying not between shifts at the factory (this is not a figure of speech), but at the job he dreamed of – a java backender in a bloody enterprise. I don’t know how he realized from the very beginning that this was his, and not a front-end as I could have advised, but this only makes him more respect and pride for the person.
I also tried to get an entry-level position. Many times, and they didn’t take me. I studied until they started taking me to positions slightly above the initial ones. In part, today it’s even easier for you – you have neural networks. Neural networks have concentrated experience, and they can help you well, prompt you if you ask the right question.
Don't be afraid of competition, neural networks or crisis. The main thing is to be adequate, learn and not give up. There is always a place in the world for those who are willing to work hard and develop.
