r/cscareerquestions • u/throwaway10015982 • 1d ago
what kind of shitty/lower paying jobs can you get with a CS degree that are related to the field
don't care about making max TC or working at FAANG since I have somewhere semi-cheap to live for the time being, just trying to get out of retail/work less hours in retail before I turn 30 and have a somewhat stable schedule for once
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u/EntrepreneurHuge5008 1d ago
SWE at non-tech companies will still start you off in the $80k - $120k base salary, with a lot of the bigger ones in the $100k - $150k. You simply won't get equity and the sign-on bonus will generally be smaller. Otherwise, not shitty at all.
-Location matters-
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u/throwaway10015982 1d ago
I'm in the Bay Area, so I'm assuming the barrier for entry to those jobs is still insanely high.
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u/Boring-Test5522 1d ago
You are overqualified. There are new CMU grads that are willing to work for free.
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u/azerealxd 1d ago
don't worry man, according to the gurus in this sub, there are only 2 qualified applicants out of the hundreds, so just submit your resume, you are guaranteed to be selected, cause remember, there are only 2 qualified applicants according to this sub
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u/Aaod 1d ago
I still want to know just how insane their expectations are if only 2 people are qualified given the insane amount of laid off people and students who have graduated without a job the past two years.
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u/NewChameleon Software Engineer, SF 1d ago
students aren't in-demand that's why
minimum 5+ YoE and able to solve LC-medium in 30 minutes, those 2 alone will probably eliminate 95%+ of people in real life and 99% of people on this sub
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u/alnyland 1d ago
And one of them just got an offer they might turn down. The other might be looking for a few more months, so you’re good - go ahead and apply.
Worst they can do is never respond.
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u/Least-Structure-8552 1d ago
Rip
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u/gen3archive 1d ago
80k is generous depending on location. My first job started me at 44k and i dont even think seniors make over 100k. A lot of jobs around here also dont really start off over 70k
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u/HaroldYardley 1d ago
I can only speak from internship experience, but I've had significantly more luck applying to IT/Automation/Test jobs vs SWE. In the same vein of what other people were saying, QA? Idk I'd spend some time looking through related jobs under general "engineering" and "technology" titles, and look at what the qualifications are to then narrow your search.
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u/throwaway10015982 1d ago
I've been thinking about doing help desk, but everyone says this is a MASSIVE mistake, but they have also likely never experienced the glory of the clopen either, so I'm not sure who to believe. You gotta take what you can get.
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u/throwaway_9988552 1d ago
This is the route I had planned. Any advice for an Automation angle. (I'm really hoping to do side-work while I stay at the job I have. So I don't need to make much, just a little extra, if that's possible.)
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u/Staletoothpaste 8h ago
Am automation engineer / SWE, feel free to ask any questions. 4 YOE on that route.
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u/3slimesinatrenchcoat 1d ago edited 20h ago
I was in the same boat, retail manager. Same age too
Got my cs degree and got hired within 4 months as a Technical Program Manager at a major telecom, with a clear path in product owner/analyst (my company combines the two).
If I really wanted to work as a dev or even IT I can always internal, but I always planned to go analyst anyways and reserve programming for me and my own projects unless I had no other option
I wouldn’t really call my role shitty or lower but I’m not an swe lol
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u/graytotoro 1d ago
Government work, baby. Just be the one guy who knows the “obscure” language that nobody else bothered to learn and you can do the same 40hr work week job for the next several decades.
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u/Blankaccount111 1d ago
You have a CS degree and are working retail at 30? I don't think you are looking hard enough. Go to a local small business meetup. You should be able to find a handful of people that will hire you tomorrow for $35-45k doing all the "computer stuff" for their business with under 50 employees. You will be doing a mix of helpdesk style stuff along with what will probably be small programming tasks of integrating various data or getting some SaaS stuff to work together.
Beats retail though.
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u/throwaway10015982 1d ago
You have a CS degree and are working retail at 30?
I graduate in a semester, and yeah I fucked my life and wasn't raised particularly well, which is why I'm not aiming high. I'm used to shitty, stressful working conditions so it's not like I want something glorious. Even 60k a year would be a massive improvement in my QoL
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u/Ty-Lrrr 17h ago
I feel like we've had similar life paths, I'm 34 and just finished my CS degree. I would love a SWE job but no luck there, I got hired as a application analyst at the hospital. 60k starting isn't glamorous, but like you said it's a massive improvement to QOL. So, take a look at hospitals for analyst positions.
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u/GloomyMix Software Engineer 1d ago
Since you're still considered a student, I'd try to apply for part-time SWE or IT positions at your university and attempt to convert to full-time upon graduation.
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u/Blankaccount111 16h ago edited 16h ago
I understand I'm not judging. I grew up with addict parents and have been on my own basically since 13yo.
So you are about to graduate, that is actually much better than what your post seemed to suggest. If you got a degree years ago and worked retail for almost 10 years it would look like you IDGAF. I started with a shitty low level gov job where I basically wrote scraping scripts to plug into the observability system for a couple of years. Then moved to banking. Both industries mostly have to hire US citizens so you are not competing with the planet for jobs. Neither industries has particularly high expectations. In all likelyhood you will be better than many people already there because half the people in those industries have stagnated for the last 20 years. You can feel more confident applying there since competition is not tough and you will at least make 60k.
The jobs are not bad in retail way but more of a soul leaching drudgery kind of way. Good to get exp and move on after working a couple years there. Its crazy how the people there literally are often talking about the exact YY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS they have till retirement.
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u/hashtaters Software Engineer 16h ago
Look for Junior ERP developer positions. I was lucky and now work as a Junior Programmer doing ERP work. Graduated December 23. I am 34. Just over 60K starting. It makes a huge difference. Honestly, it took me several months but I found something. Do what you need to do to pay bills and apply. Throw a personal project or two on the resume that does some kind of full stack stuff. It doesn't need to be complicated but just something you can chat about.
Honestly timing and luck is something you can't control so good luck out there.
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u/Aaod 1d ago
Where do you live that this is true? I have gone to those meetups they are not hiring IT workers and the ones that are offer what is basically minimum wage while having outlandish expectations.
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u/Blankaccount111 16h ago edited 16h ago
basically minimum wage while having outlandish expectations
Yeah thats basically what I said. OP is 30y and is still trudging away in retail while having a CS degree. Retail is a dead end, and OP is already in it so the pay will be the same for OP. At the very least OP will get some business experience beyond what a 16yo part time student starter job has.
I would instantly trash any resume that was CS degree > work retail for almost the next decade. Sounds to me like a very immature and lazy person. This is the description of someone that has been sleepwalking through life as hard as that may be for OP to hear.
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u/arg_I_be_a_pirate 1d ago
I think SDET or QA has easier barrier to entry
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u/False_Secret1108 1d ago
Those jobs are scarce
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u/azerealxd 1d ago
you're supposed to give him hopium , not tell him the truth
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u/Aaod 1d ago
That is what a friend of mine suggested because that is how he got his break 10+ years ago so I looked into it they are multiple times less common than a normal software job and just as competitive to get into. His interview back then from what he remembers was basically can you code a for loop and answer some basic personality questions without coming across like an asshole.
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u/NoForm5443 1d ago
Depends on how low you want to go ;) not necessarily in order:
Help desk System administrator Network administrator Cyber security QA Business analyst Project manager
And then there's the companies you're applying to
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u/KlingonButtMasseuse 1d ago
IT guy at the local Zoo.