>

Yeah, I mostly blame wealthy executives for rigging the system against nearly everybody, up to and including the people who work at tech.  Like, they inherit wealth and property from their families, and as soon as they inherit positions of power and authority from said families, as well, they demonstrate their incompetence in these positions multiple times at the expense of that many of their own workers and customers.  And even with these failures and that much incompetence at their jobs, these executives still rake in insane amounts of money from said workers and customers.
People don't understand how the world works when it comes to such things. A career in tech is not suitable for everyone just like becoming a doctor or teacher is not suitable for everyone. You need certain inclinations/talents. >

No, you don’t need talent. You do need desire >

Clearly not. Only the lowly English major needs to know the definition of words. >

The real success is to be good in a domain you like. >

People post what they know, comp sci has more access to Reddit throughout the day so you get more Comp Sci people posting their experiences. It's nothing more than that. >

I'm in tech and I'd love to leave it for something else. I've grown to hate it. I was thinking the other day what else I could possibly do to make ends meet. I think I'd have to drastically cut back on everything, or start my own business, or go back to school for some sort of medical degree. >

same. A cage with golden bars. >

A 100%, What I hate the most is if your tech job sucks.. these days the only change you make is for 1 money or 2 new team. the job it self remains mostly the same.. Which makes finding a new job super hard as you know you will not be happy in the long run and change job again.. repeat untill retirement... :( >

that's exactly the situation I am in. I know I hate my job and want to quit, but then I think: to do what? all other job prospects would be more of the same >

Welcome to the club man.. 🎉 At Least recruiters leave you alone in this field right?  RIGHT? >

As a software engineer, I actually advice people/new high school grad the opposite way lol. if you’re not really passionate about big chunks of math and hours of automating/programming things + another hours of searching for solutions to errors, this isn’t really your stuff and you will not be successful lol.
Programming is truly very boring. I just don’t understand how I’m able to keep doing this for years now. I like to advice people to a much more “ social “ subject if they’re not willing to pit up with this. Most people just didn’t listen to me, thought it’s cool and easy to code, 90% ended up switching majors lol. >

I don't know, I find programming pretty entertaining compared to other tasks. But not everyone will feel the same way obviously, and that's fine. But I think you're selling programming quite short here, it can be pretty damn satisfying, haha. >

Oh it is if it runs first time without any segmentation fault errors 😀 >

Statistically speaking, if you want to make money, go to tech. 
Not everything is measured in financial success and you can have an amazingly fulfilling life doing important things to society like being a teacher or a social worker. But it is really hard to make a decent living doing those types of things. >

But you don’t need a stem degree to work for a tech company. My wife makes more than me as a product marketing manager and she has an English major. I am a product manager and used to be a programmer. There’s plenty of pathways into the tech world without a stem degree. Sales, and marketing are necessary for businesses to thrive and those do best with humanities degrees. >

I was a Business Development Manager at a tech company before med school. 
Of course you don’t need it, but statistically you will get better higher paying jobs. >

Eh. Marketing is run by people in humanities and they make as much as engineering. My pmm wife makes 165k. >

No, you don't need to a stem degree to work in a tech company, but it's an easier way, and the most meritocratic way, in for people that rely more heavily on their technical skills than soft skills.
Sure you can succeed with almost any majors, but poor people don't have the luxury of trying their odds with marketing themselves.
With a tech job, you can more heavily rely on showing your skills instead of marketing yourself.
Of course there are overlaps, but at the entry level you can fully get in by skill alone and almost no marketing.
Someone in the humanities that want a marketing or product job need to present themselves well immediately. Tech you can cruise by for a short bit with just skills alone.
Just see how I ramble on above. This isn't going to pass as someone in product or marketing, but I'm in tech so people put up with it because I know my shits and they need me to do the work. >

Except tech people/programmers aren’t writers and aren’t the best marketers. Marketing needs interpersonal and communication skills at a different level than what engineers can provide. It’s why roles like product managers exist. When I say marketing I don’t mean self marketing. I’m talking about the Marketing division, which is one of the major avenues of business for tech companies. 
If you’re talking about entry level programming Va entry level marketing, that’s a maybe. Most people I know in marketing started straight out of college and moved up really quickly. It’s just a different pathway to success and in my opinion has the same velocity of success as programming. >

Yes, exactly. I'm not disagreeing with you. We do need these other fields as well, but those soft skills are hard to market because you don't show hard results in an interview as easily.
People do succeed in these fields, don't get me wrong, and we do have great pay for marketing, product, design, writers, etc... but these fields is different from tech in that your entry process is a lot about marketing yourself and finding a way in.
You can't show your skills as easily for a product role. I have seem interview for product roles and it is very much a test of communication and organiziation skills, which is presented purely by talking and marketing yourself in the interview.
For tech, it is closer to a trade in that you literally show your hard skills and either you get it or you don't. There isn't as much, not that there is none, of a subjective measurement.
And again, we are talking about statistics. We simply just have to go with the number of people that got into their field after college.
Of course there are people that go straight into their field from marketing or w.e, but what majors have the best statistics for that?
Some people want the best odds, for those people we should show them the odds and let them decide.
If someone feel strongly about marketing, business, english, or theater, they should go for those after knowing the odds.
You are simply considering what you observed instead considering what's the entire population observe. >

If the marketing jobs require marketing yourself it seems the system is working correctly. I don't think tech roles are as quantifiable as you think or the management ones as nebulous, I recruit for both similarly >

Not everyone ends poor with humanitarian career path, but statistically significant part. It’s not to shame humanitarians, it’s an advice of much simpler life. You can be mediocre in tech and still be okay. But you need to be beyond excessive to feed your family on majority of humanitarian path >

That's blatantly not true. Economics is a part of the humanities. Psychology is a part of the humanities. Foreign language is a part of the humanities. All of these fields can make serious bank. 
People think of history, philosophy, and art history when they think of the humanities and its a gross misrepresentation. >

It's rare that people who major in those actually go into those fields though. Econ majors don't become economists. The closest they go is maybe logistics, but they pretty much go anywhere most of the time (that was my major and my career path now has 0 to do with econ). Most psych majors don't become psychologists. They also go into just any field (my wife is an example of that). And foreign language people also almost never become translators.
These are all over-saturated majors. I think the real root of this issue is not that no one wants needs jobs in those fields but instead that most jobs out there are not in any field at all. Most jobs are either very generalist or so specific to the details of the job that they don't need any major. >


It's rare that people who major in those actually go into those fields though.

That's neither here nor there. Your original argument is people who go into humanities are going to struggle to feed their families. 
What they choose to do with the degree is their personal choice. It doesn't mean the degree itself is the cause. I got my degree in psychology, and I work in finance. It's actually a huge part of the reason my company hired me. >

I didn't say humanities major people struggle to feed their families. >

Oh you're not the original person I replied to. My bad. >

Even if you're talking about the original poster, he basically said you need to be exceptional in humanities versus mediocre in another field. Not that nobody could feed their families in humanities. >

And I disagree. You don't need to be exceptional in the humanities to feed your family. That's the entire point I made. A humanities degree does not mean you have to be amazing to make enough money. >

But your whole point was that you didn't work in humanities. You went into finance. Which is possible, but far easier with a business degree. Your degree was mostly meaningless to your field. >

That's...my point. Humanity degrees are incredibly versatile and offer you a lot of different career paths. What you choose to do with said degree is on you, not the degree. 
Also no? My psych degree is invaluable when it comes to finance. I can assess my clients risk aversion far more accurately than my co-workers, which is the first thing you should be doing with any client. I am aware of cognitive biases that can have a huge impact on your return, something none of the business/finance majors I work with were aware of. I can understand my clients' needs and tailor their investments to match far more accurately, too. Like I said, my employer was happy I had a psych degree and saw the value in it. >

I'm so tired of tech people looking down on the rest of us. Like excuse me? No one would even buy your product if the English major wasn't marketing it. 
Apple, arguably one of, if not the most successful tech companies in the world, got to that position because of marketing, not because they were so much better than everyone else. 
Teslas cars are above average at best, and for about a five year period, they were the most desirable car in the world for tech bros because of their marketing. 
Get the fuck off your high horse people. >

Thank you. Literally every Reddit thread about careers is "go into tech/engineering!" >

The financial difference between tech and everything else is not so big when considering the purchasing power of the regions where the highest-paid tech positions are (it's still high, but not tha much). Other fields such as finance, management, law, medicine etc. also perform well in terms of money. I think you can become financially successful in almost any field, though. Being a plumber or a human rights activist is not seen as profitable, but if you rise enough and/or start your own business, you can do pretty well.
I believe tech is cool because it grows rapidly and is not as conservative as other high-paying fields. So, more people rise earlier in their career, which would be hard in mature fields such as law or medicine. But you do what you like. I chose marketing over tech because I simply like it more. >

You can make a lot of money as a plumber though >

You can. Trades are great. But as someone who did a trade and then later engineering, I can tell you the engineering pays (inc. bonus/equity) a lot more. You can’t compare the best plumber to a mediocre engineer. Compare like for like. 
And exclude business owners as that is a different type of job and comes with a lot of risk your typical engineer doesn’t have to take. Guess you could compete business owning plumbers with business owning engineers. >

Almost all medical fields that require a lot more education. In the US, doctor and dentist require 8 years of school minimum and that’s before residency. >

A lot of tech jobs do pay very well and if you have an aptitude it's kind of a great fit. >

As someone working in IT: if everyone would switch to IT that would be a nightmare. Not everyone is able to do it and obviously we (currently) need more jobs than just IT. That being said: there are some degrees that are kinda pointless (especially in the US where everything has to be a degree even if it‘s just slightly harder than flipping patties at McDonalds). But yeah, not everyone can code and not everyone should code. We‘ve got more than enough buggy and vulnerable software. Plus if people start anything they‘ll usually overestimate themselves which will lead to even more issues. There‘s nothing wrong with getting a degree in medicine etc. And while quite a few jobs will be automated they‘re currently still useful. But then again… some degrees aren‘t. And I don‘t really know why they‘re still offered at universities. And those degrees tend to be a part of liberal arts / hunanities. >


And I don‘t really know why they‘re still offered at universities

Maybe because you go to university to study something you're interested in, not for a job training. Sometimes it's connected, but it doesn't have to be. Though I get why Americans would think that, since apparently getting a degree is very expensive there. >

I‘m not from the US… that‘s the entire point. In the US people pay for their degrees. In other countries tax payers need to fund these degrees. So if people in the US want to get a degree in dog sitting I don‘t care. If they want to waste tens of thousands of dollars that‘s their issue (at least at first). But I don‘t live in the US so I have to pay for people to study something that won‘t have any significant return on investment. And you do study at a university to get a job. Things you‘re interested in that you don‘t want to do for work are called hobbies. And you don‘t study a hobby at a university. I played an instrument when I was younger. That‘s a hobby. I didn‘t study music. Why? Because I won‘t work as a musician. If you want to learn things about a hobby there are countless guides, manuals, websites, clubs etc. that can help you. You won‘t study 3-4+ years for something you definitely won‘t do for a living (in most cases… some people actually study to be allowed to have that title, get student benefits etc. but that‘s not the norm) >

Welding. >

Getting a degree in finance is quite reliable too >

Accounting yes. Finance and business? Maybe. Very few who major in finance end up crunching numbers in an actuarial capacity, those are usually accounting or math majors. It's possible to go into public sector budgeting, but those are usually filled with accountants too. If you go into business or finance you're signing up for sales. Nothing wrong with that but I've found most people don't connect the two until after they graduate. >

This is just flat out wrong. Banks are some of the largest employers out there with a range of roles from investment banking, institutional banking, retail banking and everything in between. Those with finance degrees aren't needed to crunch numbers in an actuarial capacity - actuaries do that. Unless you categorise lending, trading, deals etc. as sales, I think what you've written is misleading >

Ah yes banks. You’ll be approving loans. Investment banks? Managing accounts and hustling for more clients, ie sales. >

Stem in general. People act like a stem degree automatically gets you a good, high-paying job when there's plenty that don't. >

Tech opens a lot of doors not just in programming but not everyone is made for software programming. There’s a bunch of other fields to be well off in - like a lot of things in life, it takes a combination of intelligence, talent, street smarts, experience, and luck. >

I’ve never in my life heard that is the only way to be successful, just that it’s a good and common way. >


tech is a quick and easy way to get rich

As someone who majored in computer science and is in tech I can only say... LOL.
Yeah it's a comfortable income (which ensures a comfortable life NGL) but rich... that is absolutely not the case. >

I drive big truck. I run big machine. I giggle and bank account gets larger. That is all. >

I tried computer sciences in a tech school, shit was not for me. And I like doing stuff on a computer, just not programming. >

Agreed. Psychology degree. Am 29 years old. Will be retired by 35 absolute latest. >

I agree with this so much! People tell me to learn to code or something but I simply cannot understand that stuff, nor am I interested in it. >

Computer Science is the worst major for socializing and having a life outside of school. Unless you’re very efficient with studying and/or understand the material easily, you will spend an inordinate amount of time in the library/dorm studying.
If you’re a male, it’s practically akin to going to an all-male school. If you’re a female, well, I think you know what I’m going to say.
It was a sausage fest a decade ago, and it’s still a sausage fest today.
The money is great and for some it’s certainly a great option, but know what you’re getting into. The same applies to engineering. >

College experience <<< the rest of your life. College is fun and all, but you’ve got a 40+ year career afterward. >

There are other fields of study that pay well with a more balanced ratio of sociable men and women. >

  So I’m not going to speak to the tech part because that was never really an option for me.  I got a degree in history and English in 2009.  At that point the job market was shit.  To be a teacher I needed specific education credits.  To be a historian I needed specific knowledge relating to preservation and connections that I just didn’t have.  To work in literary fields you needed major connections that again I did not have.  I did have connections in the medical field through my family so I got an entry level position because I needed insurance.  11 years later I’ve worked my way up to a decent salary and had a new education payed for.

   The other day I was speaking with a nurse and a patients last name was Walden.  I said “oh like the book” she had never heard of it so I explained what it was and how it affected American history and literature.  She said “I wish I could have studied American history I was too busy working and raising my kids.”  It really struck me how lucky I am to have that knowledge and how many people want this type of education but just can’t get it because capitalism does not incentive it.  Am I in eternal debt that I just don’t think about? Yes  Was it a waste of time and money?  The older I get the less I feel that way.

   I would not go into the humanities with an expectation of a career unless you have connections, are good at making connections, or are an incredibly talented academic.  Most people I know that work in the humanities work for non profits with very low pay and rely on their parents to finance a portion of their life.  That doesn’t mean it’s not possible to be extremely successful and happy doing that or that they are any less because they get help from their parents.  The jobs just aren’t as plentiful or lucrative as other fields and it’s good to be aware of that before you get into debt. >

There are way more tech jobs that pay really well than just programmers - data analysts, marketeers, account managers, data scientists, product managers, sales and hybrid roles and many don’t need technical backgrounds, tons of people research roles and learn on the job >

Agree 100%, it's extremely difficult to find a tech job nowadays unless you have tons of experience. >


Like…are people aware you CAN get a good job with a humanities degree? It’s quite common actually?

Define "good" and give me 5 jobs with salaries that qualify. >

The only jobs you should be looking for in the future is robot repair & AI therapist. Learn how to fix the robots the robots can't fix. Be the therapist for future AI sentience. Every frigging AI in modern literature goes whacky, be the human that can make HALs frown go upside-down. >

Anyone who promotes tech and tech based careers, I assume, is a fucking idiot. I work in tech as a non-tech person, but regularly engage with engineers, project managers, scientists, etc. Granted there’s levels to this shit that go waaaaaay beyond my head, but the amount of stupidity I see from said tech people is amazing
I was stuck in a meeting where engineers spent 50 minutes on a Friday at 5pm trying to figure out how 2 products’ flow paths works and whether or not a new part was comparable with a change to them because we only had enough to cover x number of modules in a timeframe. I, a scheduler, whose sole job is to tell people what to build and when to build it, checked out for the majority of the meeting. I wanted to call it a day and get off the call (which I could have) but I knew this shit could affect what I do. I was checked out for 95% of the meeting, checked in because I wanted to leave and asked why they don’t just move all the shortages to 1 product since there’s enough so they don’t have to worry about whether or not the other part was compatible since they figured 1 was ok to switch over. What 5 engineers were discussing for 45 minutes and I solved within 3… I’m not a genius by any means but goddamn
I like the kind of work I do (not necessarily my current job) but I’d trade in for a non-tech job in a heartbeat. It’s not horrible but it’s not that great like people make it out to be, either >

I’m in computer science and you can definitely find people in this field as well as other stem fields who are of the opinion that humanities and even social sciences aren’t important. I however know that is just not true at all. It’s important for people to be well rounded but even without that, theres so much stem in humanities and social sciences. 
I took a music course recently because I had too for my university program. I learned so much. There’s so much math involved in music and sound waves and stuff. The psychology behind how different emotions could be produced from just sound is just so interesting to think about. >

They are not totally wrong, since we don't value the Humanities and such anymore >

Who is we? >

I mean capitalistic societies. >

People say go into tech because it's very easy to get a job in. Pretty much as soon as you graduate college, you will have recruiters knocking at your door begging you to work for their company. It's common to start out at 100k+ for your first role and within 3 years get up to 200k+. So when we see people graduate from college and say they're struggling to find a job all we can do is laugh at them, they could have chosen the easy route like we did but instead they made it hard on themselves for no good reason >

Where the hell are you working where starting salaries are 100k right out of college and 3 years later you’re making 200k? That is absolutely not the norm and you’re lucky to get that. Starting salaries here are more like 60k, which is still really good but nowhere near 200k >

60k is not a really good starting salary. Like at all. Every big tech company offers over 100k starting salary for newly grads, plus other compensation. You can find these companies in any big city in America. Don't settle for 60k. That's what a plumber makes, if you're in tech you are worth much more than some plumber >

Holy shit that’s classist. I hope you never have a busted pipe and have to call “some plumber” to help.
And even if you are in tech, not every tech job is “big tech in big american city.” I thought the main argument for a tech job’s attraction was its stability? Yeah sure you can make 200k living in a HCOL area in the US (which not everyone lives in) but that’s only with a handful of companies in a handful of areas.
These jobs are absolutely not for everyone. Not everyone only cares about money. I know I would be miserable at FAANG regardless of any giant salary. >

It doesn't take a genius to learn how to code. A decent university should be able to teach you the fundamentals relatively easily, and then it's up to you to make a portfolio of decent projects to showcase to potential employers. Anybody with an average intelligence can get a Computer Science degree and a lucrative job if they put in the work for it. Especially since anything you need can easily be Googled. 
And it doesn't have to be a FAANG company to make six figures right out of school. Major financial institutions and defense contractors also pay six figures and other large businesses that can afford the expense for a quality candidate. It's only mid sized businesses or small businesses that do not pay six figures. 
Also, it's not classist to say tech workers are worth more than plumbers. It's just an objective fact. We are paid more, offered far more benefits, have a much better work-life balance, can see our family whenever we want, and usually tend to be of higher intelligence. Sure, plumbers are useful for society, but they don't make companies billions like we do. For example, Meta wouldn't be a thing without people like us >

You do realize, that Meta building wouldn’t even exist without plumbers, or other trade workers. 
Source: me, a tradesmen, who’s help build tech buildings for every major tech company. >

And? I already said they are useful to society. They still are worth less than tech workers. By a significant amount >

You literally wouldn’t have a building to work in or road to travel on to get there, without them, but somehow that makes them significantly worth less? >

The salaries make them worth significantly less 😂 there is no scenario where a plumber outearns a tech worker at Amazon, Meta, or any other large tech business. I know this is hard for tradesmen to understand, but working fewer hours for a much higher salary means tech workers are worth more >

So, enlighten me since use tradesmen don’t have high enough cognitive abilities. You said starting your make 100k, what is that after taxes? Roughly 70-75k, am I close, I don’t math well? 
Okay that’s cute, now let’s see if I can manage some more math. I don’t remember the unions wage off the top of my head but I know it’s between 50-60. Let’s use 50 as an example. If we work 4-10’s, that’s 32 hours of straight time and 8 hours of time and a half. Say we needed to work a Friday, that’s an additional 8-10 hours of time and a half. 
While you “make more” on paper, in reality you only pull in 70ishk a year. While we “make less” on paper, in reality, we net over 100k a year, with ease. >

Same. >

My dad who had a midlife crisis and decided to follow a bachelors in software engineering, got a job in his first year, making quite a lot of money and is now trying to convince my mom, my sister and brother and I to also start coding and learning computer languages otherwise we’ll be poor. Cause computers are apparently the future >

Thats a great way to completely devalue the job and cause a huge flooding in entry level developers which will lower overall salaries. >

Is that bad? More of that and engineering/CS come down some and the fields they leave go up some. >

Anything that's not STEM or a trade is advanced basket weaving. >

There are plenty of ways to define success and plenty of ways to become successful. But it's way easier to have financial security and an enjoyable life if you have hard, technical skills. 
Most of my friends in engineering and computer science type of jobs work at most 4 or 5 hours a day and play games the rest of their "shifts" after their projects are done. Or they have to work longer hours but have flexibility with the exact hours worked so they can travel while working without being digital nomads. They're all getting paid very well for this, deservedly imo but still important to note. 
Meanwhile I'm working a senior client service role making a little under 6 figures but actually working 8-10 hours a day and I'm 31 now. I get that the tech jobs require a LOT more specific expertise and finesse, but if I had the competence for it, I'd much rather have work life balance and get paid more than live to work for barely enough to survive in a HCOL area. >

You can go into a lot of other technical fields of engineering and make the same amount of money. The building industry isn’t as fancy as tech, but there is a huge demand at the moment (MEP, Structural, engineers, etc…. ). $150k+ after getting your license and a couple of years experience, and that isn’t for silicone valley cost of living, that’s just normal city living. >

Accounting is also good >

Who says this? >

The trend seems to be going towards tech, but you are right. There’s more to life than coding and the world needs people to do other things too.  Life would be kinda pointless (and non-functioning) if everyone had the same one skill. 
I also think it’s a bit silly the way people just blindly say ‘get a tech job’ as if the market for those jobs isn’t gonna get completely flooded in the next decade or so.   People used to think having a degree guaranteed you a job. And it did. Until the job market became saturated.  Same thing will happen with ‘tech jobs’, to put it in broad terms. >

Ooh as a CS student myself, I've always had this fear. I'm due to graduate in 3 years (and maybe I'll do another 2 years of Masters) and by the time I get out of Masters, the market would be oversaturated >

My favorite (/s) part of this idea is that it ignores all of medicine! There is no excess of doctors and other healthcare professionals at all levels! There never will be! >

The only succesful life is the happy one.
Money isnt everything. Especially if you do something you dont even like. >

Talk to the people being downsized and outsourced.  
I would say the trades would be a better bet. Electrician, plumbing, etc
AND you can trade services with other contractors >

As an IT guy, IT guys (especially entry level guys) are annoying and arrogant. For what it's worth, most of those guys won't go beyond their entry level jobs any time soon because they're kings of their little world and that's enough for them. But, for anyone working beyond that, it's not easy and definitely not making most of us rich. >

Oh bless your heart if you think even half of us know how to write REST APIs. x)
But seriously though, you're right. To each their own. Besides, wanting everyone to go in tech is stupid anyway since that would create way too many tech majors for not enough tech jobs, and then some other major would become the new "Computer Science". >

Finance and Wall Street are always an option! I had a pretty crap gpa and still made it. Just need to be good at talking. >

I agree.  I think the worst part of the push for tech careers is that public schools push that focus on students.  Math and science classes are regarded as more important than social studies or language arts, even in elementary school.  Like drawing? Learn to draw on a computer!  Interested in stories?  Let's make a podcast!  Interested in politics?  Let's make an app!  Do you like to write?  Let's make a blog or webpage!  The focus always shifts to tech... >

This is Reddit.  It’s heavily skewed on demographics towards computer savvy people, as well as antisocial people.  You shouldn’t be surprised that they all think coding is the best thing ever, and it holds a majority opinion here. >

If you don’t understand technology. Say that! >

They live in a tiny bubble if they think that’s the ONLY way >

Only idiots with narrow thinking believe shit like this >

i don't think anyone says it's the "only" way to be successful. it's a career path that gives you good odds at financial success tho. >

Going into tech is good for some people, but it often means becoming a "computer janitor," which is neither lucrative nor glamorous. You get to do tech support for airheads and boomers making 3x as much as you who somehow don't know how to operate Microsoft Excel.
The IT people at my workplace are rude and abrupt and I'm not even mad at them for it because I know what kind of shit they're dealing with every day. >

90% of the upper echelons of any company can be fed to pigs to zero detriment of the company or society as a whole, because 90% of "upper management" positions are the echelons of upper-class shitheads born into old money that have nothing but shiny names and zero knowledge of the actual workings of their job, because they've "delegated" their work away to people who will get fired for failing one (1) of their extra assigned tasks for a tenth of the pay.
For every one manager that helps get things done there are five that exist solely to fill the job role and bloat employment numbers so they can report less profit
I say one to five not because that's what I've observed but because of my honest observations >

I could never work in tech because I don’t want to work for a private company lol. I’ve only done clinical research at academic institutions (and now applying for med school), and loved every single day, because I’m helping get people access to clinical trials and expanding our knowledge of medicine for the future. Best job ever (for me). >

"tech is quick and easy to get rich in" not really, if you become a good doctor you'll probably make way more. 
Where tech shines is when you truly have really deep passion for it where you're willing to sit Infront of a piece of code that doesn't work for days until it works. Because if you have that kind of passion for it, you can work on starting your own business in the comfort of your bedroom using your skills.
But as a job, it's like any other job that requires a lot of skill/speciality like an architect, a sound engineer and many others. Maybe it's even worse than those jobs because of how exhausting it can be if done for a while. Most software engineers at google work there for an average of 2 years before they leave to do their own thing (according to a well known ex google employee, clement mihailescu), there's a good reason for that exceptionally small number. >

Never heard anyone claim that before.  With smart use of a bachelor’s business degree, making more money than tech guys is very achievable.  It’s a bit slower out of the gate, but has tremendous upside if you put your time into the right things. >

People should maybe have added the following: it's not the only way to be succesful, and you need to be able to do the work and stay happy(sitting in front of a computer for days solving mathematical problems, and after that all the bugs you didn't expect, isn't something everyone can do sane). But, hear me out on this, it's easy getting succes with this major. Why? Your skills that you learned are the ones evaluated for the job. You don't need a network of people; you don't need soft skills and being able to sell bullshit; you don't need to have done a stupid amount of side tasks during your studies. They want people with this major because of the skills in the very major. That's why people recommend it. >

Well the point will come when most of engineering will be automated by robots. And the only job left will be programming the robots.
You can try to enjoy it for another 100 years until then. >

Never heard this? >

Nah. I know no one that's making decent money in their field except tech and trades unless they've been educated beyond a degree. >

It’s not the only way to be successful but tech is an easier way for people with limited social skills to get high playing jobs. A large portion of young people have no social skills. 100k as a software engineer doesn’t require you to make connections but 100k doing something in art requires you to actually go out and talk to people that can help you out >

As a swe, I 100% agree cs isn't the only way to be successful. Peopleshould go to college/industries that they have passion for. 
However, I've also served in the military and worked in restaurants. If you can't get into your dream industry, do a coding bootcamp. Get a job with a WITCH company.
You do not need talent to do simple stuff. Just a little patience, and some humility. Just find the person on your team that's a conplete geek. Ask them all the questions, and have good convos with em. People skills can carry hard in this industry.
You probably won't pull in the 6 figures, but you'll be doing better than most. Definitely better than you would in a service industry. At the end of the day, you'll still have tons of time/energy to pursue your passion.
I leave work menatlly drained, but I abosulutey love it. And it is 100% not for everyone, but it should be something ppl consider before joining the military. >

Lol the only people that say that are mother’s basement dwelling pc gamers >

Agreed. I feel like there are so many posts for people to circle jerk about how someone’s inherently going to be unsuccessful because of their major, and it’s so unproductive. Let people major in English or science or business or whatever. It is their money. If they regret it, that’s their regret to have. If they’re successful, be happy for them like a normal person. There are also so many ways to measure success, and it’s really sad seeing people call strangers “unsuccessful”. Is that how you talk to yourself? For me, it’s a sign for someone who’s struggling with their own self image. >

eh, i was invited into the CS program at my school based on my performance in a coding class. got my degree, got fired from two tech jobs within a year, and have been a failure at life ever since. i’d be homeless if i wasn’t married. >

Late to the thread, but I agree. Tech jobs are here to stay obviously and are rapidly taking over the job market. But not everyone wants to stare at computers all day long or if they do, wants to code.
I tried coding at various points in my life, it never jumped out at me and made me want to do it.  Why should I subject myself to something I don't wanna do? Because of money? I just feel that's a silly way to live. 
It makes me think back when I was on another message board and all these fresh high school graduates wanted to go into engineering because they'd "make bank" as they put it. Didn't seem to be about an interest in the field or anything. Nope,  solely because they'd make six figures. 
Dunno, just seems empty to me. >

Personally I ended up changing the career I’m studying in to tech, because unfortunately my dream career pays poverty wages by comparison. I still like tech but it’s unfortunate that the world doesn’t value work that’s equally as valuable. >

When I was in high school one of those tests told me my calling was healthcare administration. I went a different route, but a few years later I found myself doing exactly that and couldn't be happier.
Do what works for you. >


the only way to be successful is to major in computer science and go in tech

yeah I agree that is BS. 
Let me assure people who work in finance and banking make a LOT more than CS guys in tech. 
Lawyers and medical doctors too, often. 
Also what is the definition of "successful". I do academic research (physics) and pay is not as high as some other sectors (still Ok though), but I love it. >

Ha...tech jobs have become almost blue collar over the last 20 years....
If you wanna make alot of money with little educational dollars invested...
Become a plumber or HVAC specialist.....not hard to quickly see 100 dollars an hour in those gigs. >

LOl to me who just graduated in CS and can’t find a job >

Yup, told one of my CS friends I was a business major and her response was total disappointment. Have never felt insecure about my major until I heard her response. >

I think it's just one of the last "sure fire" ways to be assured financial security. Most professionals are paid next to nothing, and the average Joe is well below the poverty line. Even just a couple decades ago University/College was THE root to success, but it just isn't anymore, in fact you may just be worse off in most cases, due to crippling student debt, the rising cost of services, and the decline of quality education. It's a different landscape now, but people still try to cling to the idea that "so long as you play your cards right, go to school, follow the dotted line, you'll be ok." But most of is just aren't, and the only thing that still kinda fits into that old way of thinking is tech/conliter sciences. There's is other ways to be successful, you can make more money doing other things, but being good in tech is the most "sure fire" we've got. >

Once the masses know it’s too late. There’s going to be a flood of tech guys coming onto the market soon and salaries will adjust with less demand.
In any capitalist society if you want to make money the best thing is to look for a shortage or new industries, growing industries. 
I have camera op friends that made a fortune getting in early with drone videography. 
You just have to try find what’s around the corner and gamble a bit. >

I literally haven't heard anyone say that since the 90's. >

How many people are actually upvoting unpopular and downvoting popular opinions? >

I could be wrong but this seems like a pretty broad generalization of the Reddit user base. With millions of users and a pretty diverse demographic spread out across the world, I’m would wager that only a small fraction work in that field. If anything, I think some may be using the term “computer science” as a blanket term for anything digital related. As a UX Designer, the assumption is made constantly that I know everything about computers (I.e. Father in laws computer won’t start so I’m the go to guy because I do “computer stuff.”) Although it may seem like the popular narrative that professional success is easiest found in the computer science realm, I doubt it’s the standard. >

My brother restores older homes. He restores ceiling murals and is a wood worker, replacing spindles, crowns, baseboards, etc.
He can charge whatever he damn well pleases. 
He is booked through June 2024, and continually turns down work.
I wish I had an ounce of his talent. >

Lol I work in tech and my degree is in parks and recreation. Study what you want- do want you want, I think it’s harder to become financially stable in certain fields, that’s why I went and got certifications but you can be and also financial success isn’t everything. >

Well the fact that liberal arts and humanities are the degrees with the highest amount of people not working in their degree field as well as the highest percentage of people with degrees that are working and under-employed because the job market is so small that they can find anything but a Starbucks to hire them.  
      That right there is half of your argument gone. 
As for the tech being the only thing to be successful.. I haven't seen that posted really anywhere. If they do they are sadly mistaken.  My wife make 130k a year as a nurse. I'm an electrical engineer and make 82k working in an air conditioned office in a comfortable plushy chair.   Before deciding to do this I was a general contractor for property management companies and cleared 100k a year. My buddy makes 100k plus driving trucks. I have other friends that are handyman and contractors and they make 80-150k a year. 
This isn't an unpopular opinion.  It's just an ignorant opinion. >

As someone who is planning on taking all humanities for A-level and obviously a humanity for a degree at University, I completely agree with you there. Sure we are all becoming more dependent on technology which makes having a degree in that area useful in some ways, but it's not like I can't be successful with an Ancient History Degree or something and be illiterate with technology (and a lot of careers require a specific Humanities degree anyway). As you said, you won't be "a complete failure who is destined for poverty and misery if you don’t know how to code." >

You don’t have to go into Computer Science. You could also go into any of the core engineering disciplines, medical field, or become a lawyer. Lots of choices. >

You sound like my parents. You just gave 4 out of thousands of potential occupations and told me my only options are a) extremely complicated math based coursework or b) extremely selective and difficult graduate degrees.
I think you're missing the point I'm making. >

Sounds like my parents wanting me to work with computers but I'd rather work with cars and get my hands dirty