How Walmart's Kickback Scandal Exposes Silicon Valley's Staffing Underground

https://www.ctol.digital/news/walmart-fires-vp-kickbacks-terminates-1200-contractors/

Made a post after I was laid off here: https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/s/km2NZfy92k hoping that this post gives yall some hope.

It’s not the best offer in the world since it’s about a 30% pay cut from my previous role and it’s fully in office but an offer is an offer. It’s with a smaller no name tech company that called me in for an in person interview and gave me the offer the next day.

I did work on projects, apply endlessly, and leetcode a ton the past couple of months so my best advice is to keep going and take breaks when needed. Market is still brutal but it’s not completely hopeless. I’m still going to be grinding for a better role/compensation but I’m extremely grateful that I finally received an offer 🙏

I’ve been working as a DevOps engineer for about a year now, and I’ve realized just how much I rely on AI to get things done. Whenever I try to stop using it, my productivity and quality drop a lot.

For example, when I write Terraform code without AI, I fall back to old ways like Googling, copying and pasting, and refactoring until it barely works. Even then, it’s rarely optimized or modular.

I understand concepts well enough, but I also used AI for taking notes and explain things I didn't understand and discussing technical solutions. I’ve passed certifications like CKA, AWS SAA, and Cloud Practitioner. but again, AI was a big part of how I studied and passed.

Actually building things without AI feels like taking off a life jacket when I'm really not a good swimmer

Does anyone else feel this way?? Am I cooked??

Before I start ranting, this situation is my fault. It's been over a year since I graduated in Computer Science. I have little to nothing to show for it. I know the job market is ultra-competitive right now but it's still my responsibility to work with what I have, and I haven't been.

I realized during the five years I've studied Computer Science that even though I love video-games and thought robotics was alright (I did robotics programming in highschool & during my senior project, mentored by AmazonRobotics), I have no confidence in programming, and frankly, problem-solving in general. Everything is so reliant on connecting/social engineering now that my anti-social ass hasn't been doing. My parents have gotten people from my church and extended family, to give advice to me and frankly I've mostly been ignoring them when they repeat the same stuff I've been hearing for a while now. I apply to X position a family/family friend tells me to apply to, I get rejected/ghosted, repeat ad-nauseam until I stopped applying months down the line out of frustration, lying to them saying "yeah I applied to plenty of places". Confidence is at an all-time low.

Today my mom yells at me on how much I've been freeloading and threatens to kick me out, and I couldn't talk back at her because I know she's right.

For the short-term, I have $2,700 in my bank account, pretty much nothing to live on my own for. I hate being around my family but really want a remote position to show to my parents ASAP, so I don't get the boot. At this point I don't care what field it is, it doesn't have to be CS/programming--I really want to get a remote job in SOMETHING I can tolerate, in the next couple weeks or so while I try and gather my bearings for my future, or else I am likely getting kicked out. Preferably something that doesn't get too in the way of me studying for certs.

For the long-term, If it helps, again, I have a Bachelor's in Computer Science, a AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification, and am currently studying for the CompTIA A+ certification because I figured maybe I can try the IT space if I hate programming so much (already paid for a voucher, planning to take the exam in ~2 weeks). Unfortunately had no real work experience/internships in the Comp. Sci. field as I was too busy just trying not to drop out; took me 5 years to graduate. I've worked Doordash for a couple months using the family car, until my parents forbade me from doing so (for asinine reasons but it's their car so I can't talk back). I thought I was passionate in programming, I'm not. I have pretty much no passion in anything except games and anime, both industries sound awful to actually work in. Last week I started brainstorming a Unity game since I randomly thought it would be nice to work on something, anything, and put it on GitHub.

I'm well-aware that my story is not rare. Again, this is my fault. I've been too passive, and arrogant. But today I might as well ask for advice, both for the short and long-term. Thank you.

I'd imagine this will be quite a contrast to these posts from 2023 and 2024:

https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/18ds9ke/does_your_company_pay_for_your_chatgpt/

https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/1cy06us/ai_will_replace_us_all_but_in_the_meantime_my/

I see a lot of posts here from people struggling with imposter syndrome, trying to learn "everything," and burning themselves out. I want to share what I learned over 10+ years that could save you from making the same mistakes I did.

The Reality Check:

When I started, I thought being a good developer meant:

- Memorising every framework and language

- Writing perfect code from day one

- Working insane hours to "prove myself"

- Never admitting I didn't know something

All of this was wrong and held me back for years.

What Actually Matters:

For Job Applications:

You don't need to meet 100% of job requirements. I got interviews, meeting 60-70% of the requirements. Companies hire for potential and problem-solving ability, not just current skills.

For Learning:

Stop trying to learn everything. Focus on core concepts (data structures, algorithms, design patterns) and learn specific technologies as you need them. The best skill is learning how to learn quickly.

For Career Growth:

You'll never feel "ready" for the next level. I spent 2 years over-preparing for senior roles I was already qualified for. Apply anyway, volunteer for challenging projects anyway, give that tech talk anyway.

For Productivity:

Working 45 focused hours produces better results than 70 exhausted hours. Burnout isn't a badge of honour, it's a career killer. Take breaks, have hobbies, maintain relationships outside tech.

For Code Quality:

Nobody cares about your clever algorithms. They care about solutions that work and code that's maintainable. Write for the human who will read your code at 2 AM during an outage.

I've written a comprehensive blog post with detailed examples and actionable advice for each of these points: https://medium.com/@pcodesdev/10-years-of-programming-hard-earned-coding-lessons-to-save-you-a-decade-of-mistakes-d63fd848e62e?sk=5bad34c41e6426a28387e89f4e1f5412

Current developers: What do you wish you'd known earlier?

Job seekers: Which of these resonates most with your current struggles?

I'm 33 years old, undergrad in CS, grad in data science. I have worked in data analytics for over 6 years (SQL, Python, Tableau, basic data pipelines), teach data analytics to undergrad/grad students as side-gig (adjunct professor), and been software development for almost 2 years (React, Vue, mostly front-end stuff). I also help less experienced data analyst in our division with queries, and lead data analytics workshops at work.

My career journey has been weird, and it's mostly been chasing connections that has got me to where I'm at. A lot of my co-workers and ex-bosses have wanted me to tag along, and I've been chasing money and benefits without really think of much anything else.

The problem is: I've never had to work very deep in any of this. My React App is a very barebones. We have only just started using ADO for version control (I'm a solo dev there and out EIT department is just now requiring it).

My data analytics projects have never been complex SQL. I know CTEs, windows functions, and enough to get the job done.

I've built a few regression models that have gone nowhere. Companies are slowly finding out that "simpler" analysis brings much more realistic results than a fancy model.

I've built very small data pipelines (Data scraping with Python -> clean in python -> SQL) to clean data and have built some very barebones schemas.

But I look at the job market and everything is progressing at a much faster rate than what I know. I'm afraid I'm being left behind with my age, new technologies, and knowing many tools but not being great at any of them.

Thoughts on this? Thanks for listening.

I am a backend software engineer with 6.5 years of experience. I think that skills as an engineer are becoming dull everyday as the projects in my team are not interesting and I have been mainly getting migration/maintenance work despite my protests. Also, I am not getting enough opportunities to interview for other companies because of the shit job market.

I want to upgrade and sharpen my skills as a dev and improve my resume at the same time, my resume since my current work is not anything too special to highlight. But I am confused on what direction I need to take in order to improve as a mid level to senior level developer.

I don’t think building some boilerplate projects like a to do list or a note taking app would be helpful for my skills or resume, since I am not at entry level(though I doubt if it even works for them these days). Nor would leetcode. I do study system design on the side, which might help me if I get some interesting work or while interviewing, but it does not help in strengthening my resume. What should I do then in order to get noticed more for opportunities while also improving my skills?

Some people have advised to build software projects to solve problems that I personally face and not some common course project. But I am completely out of ideas and inspiration to solve any issues that I might face. I can’t think of any problem that I need to desperately solve by building an app. What else should I do? I think that my career is plateauing and I would not be able to keep up with the job market with the way things are going

I recently graduated from a safety/last chance university in Canada, and learned pretty quickly in my internship at a small company I very much do not know enough for a SWE role. I know it's entirely my fault for not taking my education seriously and I'm going through Odin Project to teach myself what I should have learned. I'm currently working part time as a cashier but I'm hoping to swap to an entry level, ideally white collar, role while I'm doing that. I've been looking at data entry and entry level IT roles. Is there anything else that would be a good fit for my situation?

I graduated with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, and I've been employed for three years. In that time, I've also been trying to get a Masters degree to go with my Bachelors degree. But the more I think about, the more I feel that I have been pressured into doing so by my peers. A friend of mine even said that his Masters wasn't worth it anymore, and my employers seem more concerned with certification exams rather than degrees.

But is that actually the case in other fields? Do people still look at Masters degrees?

Hello!
A question for experienced engineers, curious if this 'bias' still applies nowadays despite the mass layoffs. I assume this matters less the more senior you get? Maybe it still applies to mid levels. But might not be relevant to 5 YOE and above.

I've read a lot of different questions and suggestions on things early developers might want to consider but this is one I actually haven't heard as much and something I wish I had started doing day 1 of my career.

When I started out my focus was on trying to learn software development. I'd take a bit of time each week to dig into the technologies I was using at work to try and find non-functional areas we could improve in as I was grinding out functional stuff. over time this built up to an okay understanding of the SDLC overall.

there are plenty of areas I'm still not very strong, but at this point I have enough experience with enough different things that its relatively uncommon i encounter problems totally out of band from what I've seen before, and have a fairly decent understanding of many of the popular technologies used today across a wide span of problems.

Ive worked in a lot of different domains over my career. ive generally left most of the parsing of those domains to domain experts. sure, I'd pick up things here or there, enough exposure to particular verticals will do that, but I generally focused my time and energy on developing my tech knowledge, as it is more portable between jobs than domain specific stuff.

that said, I can now see the limits of this approach. I've been working in the same shop now for four years and I wish I had spent a little bit of time each week better learning the domain I am working in from first principles. I dont feel like I am lacking in technical ability. I have enough technical tools at my disposal. I feel I am lacking in domain specific insight, and so are the others surrounding me.

If i had been studying my current domain a little bit more here and there over the past 4 years, I suspect I wouldn't feel this way. I suspect I would be able to crack some of the tough nut problems we've been dealing with sensibly.

looking back, there were plenty of times in past roles where I wasnt able to see the forest for the trees as a result of a little too much domain blindness & outsourcing of that knowledge to others who perhaps didn't know the domain all that well either.

anyways, the advice I wish I had gotten was to carve out a bit of time for myself to learn the domain I was working in outside of the context of tech and programming. SWE skills are important, and most of the time we can learn the bits and pieces of a domain we need at the time, but some insights are locked behind both a general understanding of the tech and the domain.

Currently a technical product manager trying to see if it’s smart to get back into a more technical role. Have 2 years of help desk and app support experience and a year and a half of TPO/PM experience. If I were to go would go in a more cloud or security role. Specifically SecOps or IAM. Open to a GRC path as well. Anyone make the switch?

Can I take a course offered somewhere on ML or something or do I have to get a masters degree for an AI role?

Hey everyone,

I’m moving to San Jose this January to start my MS in Computer Engineering at SJSU. I’ve been hearing mixed things, some say the Bay is the best place to meet startups, others say it’s all about who you know.

My background (TL;DR):

• Projects in fraud detection, anomaly detection, CNNs, explainable AI (SHAP/LIME)
• Deployed ML pipelines on AWS + GCP
• Web scraping/automation (SeleniumBase, BS4, Browserbase)
• A couple of research publications in ML
• Did internships and currently working as a data engineering intern cause plans for Fall 25 did not go through due to visa appointment issues

What I’m trying to figure out:

• What’s the best way for someone like me to land part-time or internship opportunities at early-stage startups in the Bay Area?
• Is it all cold emailing/founder DMs, or do people actually find success through campus recruiting/career fairs?
• Any tips on communities, meetups, or specific strategies that worked for you?

Not looking for a “golden ticket,” just trying to get some real-world advice from people who’ve done it in the Bay.

Appreciate any insights! Thanks in advance :)

Hey all! I am currently applying for roles at FAANG and FAANG-adjacent companies.

Here is my experience in a nutshell:

(1) BS degree in CS (graduated 16 years ago)

(2) Worked 2 years at a mid-size tech company (~5000 employees), desktop development using C#

(3) Spent 5 years completing a PhD in a related/adjacent scientific field (not CS). Coded daily in C# (for desktop) Matlab, Python (for data analysis), and C/C++ (for embedded/firmware)

(4) 5 more years working as a “research engineer” within academia. Continued using all the same technologies (C#, C/C++, Matlab, Python). Also added Xamarin/.NET MAUI to the list (for C# mobile dev)

(5) The most recent 4 years working as a “research engineer” at a small company (less than 20 people). Continued using many of the same technologies. Added Flask (for Python server-side stuff), tensorflow (for Python ML stuff), Flutter (for more mobile dev), and have also learned KiCad (for circuit board design), and still heavily work with C/C++ for firmware dev and C#/.NET MAUI for mobile dev. Also added Godot for game dev over the past year.

16 years total experience. I love my job and everything I work on, but unfortunately I’ve max’d out my salary potential at the small org that I’m at. I was hoping I could earn a lot more by going to FAANG.

Given my experience, what level do y’all think I should try to apply for?

Im currently a student at SJSU for SE. I came into the school wanting to do CS/heard from social media that the location alone makes it easy to get your foot into the industry with connections. However, for numerous reasons, I really don't want to stay in the major of SE anymore and want to swap to an adjacent major but im conflicted. I applied and got accepted into SFSU for CS which would actually allow me to commit to computer science but people say the school is trash, program is horrible, no actual company goes to that school, and if given the opportunity choose SJSU instead. On the flip-side, I was thinking of potentially swapping to an "adjacent" major such as data science or math then getting a minor in CS which would allow me to stay in SJSU to stay near the "opportunities" in sj but I wouldn't be doing directly CS and it's not necessarily a major I'm too passionate about and additionally, doing a non-cs degree while trying to get into SWE sounds like I'd be screwing myself more.

Genuine Question:

I'm looking to make a career change but I have this one question.

since cs/programming have low barrier to entry, what stops it from all the jobs from being outsourced to poorer countries (ex. india)?

what would make developers from advanced countries to be competitive ($50k+/yr) vs developers from developing countries ($3k/yr)?

isn't studying programming/cs in rich/advanced country equivalent to taking highway to being jobless/unemployed since barrier to entry is so low and globally accessible?

Hi all, I have been interviewing with a software company for a C++ role for over two months. 2 screenings( one by the recruiter and one by the hr), One hackerrank, two technical rounds, followed by one with hiring manager and one with head of the department. So in total 5 rounds(excluding screening call). It's been 2 weeks since the last one and they came back and want to schedule one more technical round. I am not sure how to take it that they want to have a technical round after cultural round. Is it that they have another strong candidate already in line and they want to have another round to make sure to reject me?.

I graduated a few months ago and I sorta just gave up immediately for a long list of reasons, but I'm honestly kinda sick of being extremely broke all of the time. Is it going to be easier for shit tier new grads in highly competitive areas to relocate somewhere not as in demand to get their first job? I was born and raised in the Bay Area and even though there is a lot I don't like about it, I'd honestly rather not leave but it seems completely unrealistic to get any sort of work here unless you are a literal prodigy or unusually hard working, which I am not. I don't have particularly high standards or expectations for anything at all in life and I've changed my mind on relocating.

Essentially, my real question is, how does applying for jobs out of state work exactly? Will they even consider someone from several thousands of miles away or are they going to favor locals? Are you going to have to fly out? Is relocation assistance enough to leave an expensive area like the Bay with zero money saved up? I'm going to expire as a new grad in a few months so I might as well try to get something, even if it's like in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't seem worth it to apply anywhere in the Bay Area since the competition is completely insane.

Im about to start my 2nd year in my Computer Science degree and after a while of trying out different things im CS ive decided that I really want to get into aerospace. But im not really sure about career aspects. Can someone explain please?

This subreddit has a huge FAANG obsession, and it completely distorts the perception of software engineering. Every other post seems to be about insane comp packages, grueling interviews, layoffs, or burnout stories. But if you look at the actual data, the reality for most developers is completely different.

Resume.io (2025) found that 87 percent of software developers reported being “very happy” in their jobs, the highest of any profession surveyed.

Career.io (2024) analyzed nearly 756,000 job ratings and found software developers among the most satisfied six figure earners, with a median salary around 130K.

Market.biz (2025) reported that 74 percent of tech professionals worldwide are satisfied with their jobs.

So why does this subreddit feel so negative compared to those numbers? Because the voices dominating here are FAANG engineers or startup employees, and their experiences are extreme. Life inside FAANG is often miserable. Long hours, constant pressure to ship, endless internal politics, and the looming threat of layoffs make it feel like a treadmill you can never step off. Software is the company’s entire product, so everything you do is under constant scrutiny and pressure. Burnout is common, and that is exactly what this sub amplifies.

Meanwhile, the average developer lives a completely different life, and that is what drives the high happiness statistics. Most are not in San Francisco or New York. They live in mid sized cities or suburbs where their salary goes much further. They are not chasing the next billion dollar app. They work at hospitals, insurance companies, banks, logistics firms, or government agencies. The work is steady, respected, and meaningful, even if it never makes headlines.

They make 100K to 130K, comfortably above the national median. Their hours are closer to forty a week. They get PTO. Their managers are competent but not tyrannical. And because software is a support function rather than the company’s core product, the pressure to grind nonstop is low. That is why surveys consistently show high satisfaction.

The quiet majority of developers who live this life rarely post here. Nobody makes a thread to say “My job is stable, I like my team, I worked normal hours, and I had a great weekend hiking.” The loud minority who post are often FAANG engineers or startup refugees talking about their misery. That is why this subreddit can make software engineering seem miserable, even though for most people it is not.

The truth is that chasing FAANG is often what ruins people’s perception of software engineering. It is the exception, not the rule. The average developer is happy, balanced, and living a peaceful, stable, and well-compensated life. Even in 2024 and 2025, software engineering remains one of the happiest and most rewarding professions you can choose, as long as you understand that most developers do not live the FAANG nightmare that dominates this subreddit.

Might be a rant, might not, but I’m feeling kinda lost right now. I’ve got an associates degree and about two years of internship experience, but I’m still not getting callbacks. I’ve done a bunch of personal projects, but it feels like no matter how many I build, it’s never enough. Even if I can get in front of a recruiter via networking, it feels like I get shot down before getting the chance to interview.

That’s what got me thinking, what kind of project actually turns heads anymore? Making a CRUD app or even building your own neural network doesn’t really seem to cut it these days. It feels like I have to use the latest AI tech (RAG for example) in some crazy way to get noticed. For context, my side projects include a Sentence Toxicity Classifier (using a RNN), a SIEM/SOAR pipeline to test things with Splunk, a Discord music bot, and a handful of other projects I thought were pretty solid. I always figured showing that I work on stuff in my own time would help me stand out, but if everyone’s doing the same, how do I actually separate myself?

Do I really need to go all out and build a full blown website with the latest AI tech just to get a call from a recruiter? What projects are actually impressive in today’s job market? Not complaining, just genuinely curious and lost right now as im sure many of us are.

Hi all, I'm a recent new grad, summa cum laude bscs. Started grad school this week, also accepted an internship offer with a global company for swe. I'm also a mom and have a 2 year old in daycare. My husband and I would like to get pregnant soon. I have fertility problems and we have had multiple losses, so we don't want to wait any longer for baby no 2. The thing that makes me nervous is that I have been told that the goal is to extend a full time offer after the internship. They were full on full time positions but opened an internship just for me bc they really liked me during the interview process for a different swe full time position.

Given I do well during the internship, would being pregnant be a barrier to a full time offer after? I'd only be 4 or 5 months pregnant at the end assuming we got pregnant right away. Just wanting to hear from people in the industry what the risks are

The team really seems like some of the nicest people ever. At this particular company the employees are treated really well. So maybe the nerves are unwarranted but I have people in my family telling me that I will be heavily discriminated against

I do understand that my path is (uncommon) for a lot of people in the compsci industry. Getting a job was really competitive but I busted my ass and got one. I laugh at anyone who says that information systems isn’t a valuable degree.

That aside, I think I think I want to work with Data. I have a strong desire when working with Tableau, PowerBI, and anything SQL related. I ENJOY it. I know how to write backend code to manipulate SQL data, but I want to go more towards the route of a DBA eventually.

What do you guys think?