Ask HN: Startups, 0 Stability – Is It Time to Move on from Tech?
7 comments
Coding has nothing to do with degrees. It's actually a huge waste of time. Unless you are studying to be a doctor or a lawyer, school is waste of time and money and has huge opportunity costs. So definitely do not even think about masters.
I have started fiddling with HTML around 2000, PHP in 2004, then Go in 2018-ish. I always worked with websites, though thanks to Go, nowadays it is mostly backend related and lower level stuff.
Anyway, I say this as I have seen the market develop for quarter of a century. And what you are experiencing is simply saturated market. Everyone thinks they can write code nowadays and so there is too much supply. Then add the the "AI" crap and you find yourself very quickly being obsolete. The real economy is tanking, despite fake numbers propping up the stock market, one just needs to glance at massive tech layoffs since 2022 to realise the time is up. So not a good time to be a newbie in this field.
But is that really so? No, absolutely not. My whole "career", I worked in niches and that always paid my bills. And I always recommend the same. Don't be a generalist, specialise on something unique where there is little competition and sufficient demand and stability. It can be absolutely anything imaginable, just make sure you become an expert in this niche.
This will then allow you to easily filter out job advertisements so you can focus on jobs where you will have high chance of being a fit for and also experience little competition, comparatively to the rest of the job market.
Last tip, focus on the east, not on the dying west. The future is in China when it comes to tech. There is competition, but again, keyword is "niche". And the job market is there and will be there. As you are in Iraq, that poses quite a problem, even for remote work. So you might be forced to look for middle eastern countries with tech jobs. I guess UAE would be my pick as from what I hear the salaries are great and supply is low, mostly because nobody wants to move there. Also you would have no time zone issues for remote work. Either way, you have to think in the context of your situation in general and make decisions based on your capabilities and options.
I have started fiddling with HTML around 2000, PHP in 2004, then Go in 2018-ish. I always worked with websites, though thanks to Go, nowadays it is mostly backend related and lower level stuff.
Anyway, I say this as I have seen the market develop for quarter of a century. And what you are experiencing is simply saturated market. Everyone thinks they can write code nowadays and so there is too much supply. Then add the the "AI" crap and you find yourself very quickly being obsolete. The real economy is tanking, despite fake numbers propping up the stock market, one just needs to glance at massive tech layoffs since 2022 to realise the time is up. So not a good time to be a newbie in this field.
But is that really so? No, absolutely not. My whole "career", I worked in niches and that always paid my bills. And I always recommend the same. Don't be a generalist, specialise on something unique where there is little competition and sufficient demand and stability. It can be absolutely anything imaginable, just make sure you become an expert in this niche.
This will then allow you to easily filter out job advertisements so you can focus on jobs where you will have high chance of being a fit for and also experience little competition, comparatively to the rest of the job market.
Last tip, focus on the east, not on the dying west. The future is in China when it comes to tech. There is competition, but again, keyword is "niche". And the job market is there and will be there. As you are in Iraq, that poses quite a problem, even for remote work. So you might be forced to look for middle eastern countries with tech jobs. I guess UAE would be my pick as from what I hear the salaries are great and supply is low, mostly because nobody wants to move there. Also you would have no time zone issues for remote work. Either way, you have to think in the context of your situation in general and make decisions based on your capabilities and options.
I don’t want to sound discouraging, but I’ll be honest.
First of all, you need to figure out what you really want and what you’re willing to do to get there.
Some people mentioned starting your own project above. I think that’s a really great path. I was in a similar situation: I started learning programming about five years ago. I don’t have a technical background at all — I’m actually a humanities student. I didn’t choose programming because it was trendy. I chose it because something inside me said, “This is my path.”
At the time, I lost my job. I had several children to take care of. It was a tough time, but I kept learning every day - step by step.
And now? I create things. Not for money yet - for craftsmanship, for freedom, for the future. And little by little, doors are opening.
That’s why I say: follow your heart, but don’t forget about your mind.
No problem is unsolvable. Sometimes the road is long. But it’s still a road.
First of all, you need to figure out what you really want and what you’re willing to do to get there.
Some people mentioned starting your own project above. I think that’s a really great path. I was in a similar situation: I started learning programming about five years ago. I don’t have a technical background at all — I’m actually a humanities student. I didn’t choose programming because it was trendy. I chose it because something inside me said, “This is my path.”
At the time, I lost my job. I had several children to take care of. It was a tough time, but I kept learning every day - step by step.
And now? I create things. Not for money yet - for craftsmanship, for freedom, for the future. And little by little, doors are opening.
That’s why I say: follow your heart, but don’t forget about your mind.
No problem is unsolvable. Sometimes the road is long. But it’s still a road.
Just build a startup of your own.
Many have been in your situation and have done just that.
Many have been in your situation and have done just that.
I personally would try to get into Canada UK Australia New Zealand and become a citizen there and then after I become a citizen there, I would try to come to the US
Quite a unique situation! How about moving to another countries. Have you looked into where you could get a visa, or can already live?
As an Iraqi going to a developed country is very difficult without a job offer and a company willing to sponsor you. It's basically a hit or miss.
Are there apps or online service that people in your country lack? Maybe you could fill a niche and start there. Plus as a trainer (I assume fitness?) you probably have a lot of clients and maybe you can scale your service to tens of thousands of people.
Idk just suggestion. Gl bro
Idk just suggestion. Gl bro
But I didn’t realize how difficult that would be—mainly because I live in Iraq, where there’s very little demand for software developers. And when a job does open up, the competition is fierce.
After graduating in 2020, I couldn’t find a job for about six months. Eventually, I took a job as a trainer instead of a developer just to pay the bills. During that time, I kept applying to every local and remote opportunity I could find.
After two years as a trainer, and out of sheer luck, I landed a paid internship as a full-stack developer. It was borderline slave labor, but I needed the experience. The pay wasn’t bad considering the living costs here. The role was fully remote and contract-based for a U.S. startup.
When the internship ended, they offered me a junior full-stack role—again contract-based for six months. But then the startup failed to secure funding, and I was let go.
I was unemployed again for six months until someone I used to work with reached out. They were starting a new company and offered me a frontend position. I worked as the only frontend engineer for eight months. It was another contract gig since they couldn’t legally hire someone from Iraq. The workload was heavy, but I delivered.
Then, once again, the startup failed to get funding and I was let go.
Now I’m working part-time in a government job that has nothing to do with coding. I can’t seem to find any local developer roles or remote contracts anymore. I’ve started to question whether I’m even cut out for a career in software development.
Should I keep looking for a job? Pursue a master’s degree? Switch to a different field entirely? What would you do if you were in my shoes? What does your career path look like?