Ask HN: Should I stop pursuing a future career in software engineering?
Its no secret that the software job market doesn't look too good right now. I would like a stable career that can support my future family. Should I switch while I'm still young? If so, what should I switch to? If not, how can I prepare myself to succeed?
Context: I will be starting my junior year as a computer science undergraduate in the fall. My current plan is to found a tech startup through my university's startup incubator my senior year. After graduation, the plan is to continue to grow the startup if it works out, or if it doesn't, pursue a software engineering role at another company.
Short answer: no, stick with the CS degree. A downturn or an LLM headline doesn’t erase the long‑run return on mastering how information actually moves through silicon. The coursework forces you to think in abstractions that outlive any single tool - memory models, distributed consensus, algorithmic trade‑offs. Those are the levers you’ll pull whether you are debugging a flaky startup backend or bolting an AI copilot onto a Fortune 500 workflow.
What changes is how you package that foundation. Sprinkle in some applied AI electives, tinker with open‑source models, learn to measure and mitigate their failure modes. Pair that with product sense from the incubator project, and you are not the engineer AI is replacing—you are the engineer shipping AI safely and profitably. That combination buys you optionality, which is the real stability you want for a future family.
A CS undergrad degree is still good value, as long as the university you're attending gives good foundation/theory courses and doesn't put you six figures in debt. The sandbox program (did I guess right?) will give you a first taste of what building a business of your own would look like, though you may consider getting a business minor if you're strongly interested in that direction.
You're concerned about the job market. You're willing to switch careers. You're only half way through college, and probably haven't done much programming yet. You want to start a company. All of that to me spells business major, not necessarily anything having to do with computer science. Figure out what you really love to do, even if you're not paid to do it, and make that your dream of a future business.
CS degree will be fine.
> I would like a stable career
> My current plan is to found a tech startup
This is a bigger mismatch. I'd look more towards industry+academia tracks or even campus socials over founding a startup. Startup founder is one of the least stable career tracks and that was just as true before.
Easiest way: take an aptitude test.
You should follow your passion but before you find it, you should just do whatever pays the bills and gives you a cushion to pursue entrepreneurship.
Software engineering, working at other companies, working for others are stepping stones. You need one or more of them. And they would open the doors.