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The original was posted on /r/antiwork by /u/primacoderina on 2025-06-20 12:22:01+00:00.

I was raised to believe that there were some degrees that were sensible. Responsible, sensible people choose to go to university and study the responsible, sensible degrees. Then they have a comfortable, stable life. On the other hand, there are irresponsible, senseless people who choose not to go to university or don’t choose to study a sensible degree, so they can’t get a steady job.

I was aware of course that it requires privilege to have access to education and the ability to complete it, but for those who have that privilege I thought the answer was pretty straightforward.

I did the “sensible” thing and studied computer science. I will probably be fine since I have 13 years of experience. But I’ve been volunteering as a mentor for new graduates for many years now. The past 2-3 years have exploded everything I was raised to understand about sensible life choices.

All these mentees did exactly the sensible thing - they studied computer science so they could have a solid, safe job. In 2023, I suddenly saw a whole group where none of the new graduates could get jobs. Now I am overwhelmed by the questions they are asking me.

• Is AI a trend that will blow over or is AI the safe option now? Should I go back to studying (at financial cost) and learn AI instead?
• Will the job market for developers recover? Should I get a job as a barista for now and keep doing side projects to keep my skills up while I wait it out until I can get a job as a developer and start my career in a year or two?
• Or is the developer job market permanently dead and I need to take the financial and time cost to start over studying something else entirely? Energy engineering? Data science? Nursing? Plumbing?

The tragedy is that I have to tell them I don’t know. Nobody knows. They keep assuming there is a “sensible” option and they just need me to tell them which option is the sensible one.

But it is a gamble. There is no “sensible” option that ensures a solid, stable job. That was a lie. We are forced into the same gamble as anyone who plays the stock market, with our entire lives at stake. Going to university and choosing a degree is the same level of gamble as putting your life savings into a stock package and hoping you picked the right one.