[cactus2093]

Is this a real problem? The hiring market for engineers is really hot, and if anything tech really over-indexes on technical/coding interview questions and under-indexes on past experience and having a formal degree. If you can reliably solve medium Leetcode problems you can easily get a junior developer job at all sorts of companies (and hard Leetcode problems will get you a job at FAANG) without any past experience.

I think the much more common problem for new folks trying to break into software engineering is "not very good at coding yet, can't get a job". Not sure if Digital Corps is optimizing for these people but they really should be (given that they can't compete with the private market on comp).

[vmception]

A lot of DC area people view federal public sector as the “amazing [stable] opportunity” and dont think FAANG opportunities as options, many dont know about them

High five figure to low six figure salaries are the aspiration

Everything else is too absurd or too risky

Very risk averse dynasties there that will drill this into their neighbors and children their whole life

Many contractors are also chasing a carrot on a stick hoping to convert to a federal employee if “mastuh is pleased”

There is a whole industry there catering to that

There are also a lot of opportunities for actually ambitious people such as making the contracting firm or selling something stupid to an agency that your friend working there signed off on

[gunsch]

It's a real problem.

I've got a friend who went through the Code Fellows program last year. They advertise 93% job placement within six months. Based on conversations we had through his program, it seems like they're generally teaching a well-rounded set of skills, though tbf it's still a bootcamp, not a full CS degree.

Six months later, only 2 out of the 10 members of his cohort have gotten software jobs. He's still applying, but he's getting very few interviews and so far no offers.

[pgcj_poster]

I applied, and was not accepted, to this program. I did a 5th-year Master's program in CS, had a part-time dev job in undergrad, developed a full-stack web app that has thousands of free users, and have been applying to jobs, without success, for the past 6 months. I can solve Leetcode problems, but have only ever been given one algorithmic problem in an interview. Perhaps I could get a job in FAANG, but I don't want to: I want a job that will benefit society. That market for junior engineers in government and non-profits is not "hot" – it's close to non-existent.

[R0b0t1]

If you're not in the right area yes it is a huge problem.