Over saturation in software engineering?

I'm sure sentiments like this are well-intentioned, and it's good advice for those passionate about the field, but something needs to be said for those unsure about what moves them and developing anxiety over making a serious life decision on whether or not to get into the field. There are some nuances to consider.

I know mediocre people who get plenty of jobs in non-CS fields.

This isn't really the case in CS. There is a very high bar for junior-level CS positions. This is a competitive field that attracts the brightest and people willing to spend hours of their life on LeetCode or attending 24-hour coding events and building things for free. "But I know so many mediocre people in this field." I get that, but put them in another field, and chances are they will be much smarter than your average drone.

I'm in my late 20's. Observing career trends of all my peers, any hard-working, socially well-adjusted person in any field is generally successful. Software is one notable exception, and it's an interesting case given how many people are swarming into the field, so you get a chance to see a diverse population from all walks of life try to break in. Reality hits that many of them simply can't hack it.

When I took a nursing standardized admissions test, I scored in like the top 0.00001%. A professor in one of my pre-requisites remarked I got the highest exam marks he has ever witnessed in his history of teaching that course.

As a second-degree CS student, I was painfully average to the point that I questioned myself so many times, coming from someone who has set the curve in some of my social science/humanities classes. Just to put it into perspective. Both nursing and software are fields where saturation from career changers tends to be talked about a lot, but the level of competition is like night and day, and this is rarely taken into account when we talk about supply and demand for a given labor market.

Career potential and opportunities are great, but that doesn't mean it's easy to get in. I know very smart and accomplished people who couldn't break in. Being smart and accomplished, it follows that they can kick ass in other fields; they absolutely do.

I wouldn't "default to CS" just because of its potential. There's more to consider than that.

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