If you’re a CS major who can’t land a job but you’re only applying to “Software Engineer” roles, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Your mediocre coding skills will make you a god in other job families.
Entry-level SWE is shrinking. You’re competing against kids who grind LeetCode 996. If your only strategy is “apply to SWE roles and pray,” don’t be surprised if you’re still unemployed six months after graduation.
So what should you do instead?
Stop treating SWE as the only acceptable path. There are plenty of adjacent roles that value your skills, get you into the industry, and pay well.
Here are five:
🏗️ Solutions Architect (junior) → help clients design and integrate systems. APIs + cloud basics = hired. (perfect if you like talking to people)
🤖 Workflow / Systems / Automation Engineer → Python, Zapier, n8n. Turn repetitive work into code. (ideal for hackers who want to play with AI)
🧪 QA / Test Engineer → script test cases, break software before users do. A classic entry point. (not glamorous, but strong job security)
📊 Business Intelligence Engineer → SQL + dashboards + light scripting. You become the data person everyone relies on. (seriously underrated)
💸 Financial Analyst (technical) → blend code + finance; automate reports, build models, outpace MBAs. (slightly harder to crack, but incredible upside)
Your first job isn’t your forever job. But it is the difference between sitting on the sidelines or starting the game.
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System design is full of tradeoffs, but too many engineers (even senior ones) still fall for the same myths.
In this video, I break down the 5 most common system design misconceptions I see in interviews, on teams, and in real-world production systems
I’ll walk through simple examples — like social apps, messaging systems, and e-commerce services — to show you why these ideas don’t hold up, and what you should do instead.
Whether you’re preparing for a system design interview or just want to build better architectures in practice, this video will give you a clearer way to think about scaling, reliability, and tradeoffs.
Check out my FREE System Design Playbook: https://stan.store/arjay_the_Dev/p/my-ultimate-system-design-guide
System Design Community Interest Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLkc5LUQl8dpXAOH27bodHMX8CAWXChcpso06cbtYRYP8wQA/viewform
— Video Content —
0:00 – Intro
4:00 – Solutions Architect
5:22 – Automation Eng
6:38 – QA / SDET
7:40 – Business Intelligence Engineer
8:32 – Financial Analyst (technical)
This is an incredibly accurate and great take, I have seen the growth of all of these roles firsthand. I am an automation engineer at a healthcare company and use n8n everyday, rolling out solutions for reporting, data migration, Gmail stuff and drive. The payoff is huge and I barely have to code other than Python scripting in and out of n8n. Highly suggest being flexible if you are a CS major or new grad, widen your skillset!
Click bait
Get into Higher Ed, State, and Federal Positions (after the shutdown of course). Its stable and its public funded (they call it taxes). You won't make much (wages are state regulated), but there is a union. I worked in start ups and in FAANG and was always anxious, but now working in higher Ed, as a developer, I could say its quite stable. More Red Tape, but very stable.
There is no more a concept called FAANG, don’t call it, it’s a legacy name now.
People talking about “don’t go into faang apply else where, 1000 other companies to choose from”, I can’t even get a single job 😂
I agree with this guy
Everyone should try systems engineering!
I'm gonna be a male prostitute. Thanks
Great Video! I’m a CS major and I am a network security engineer and I love it
Great video. Some other jobs to add: GRC and Systems engineering are both fields that can benefit hugely from people who know how to code. Both vastly different fields with lower starting pay, but can lead to huge paying jobs towards the middle ladder end of peoples careers.