why does everyone want to break into tech?

In today's video, I discuss TechTok, why everyone wants to break into tech, and the romanticization of working in tech!

~time stamps~
0:00 - intro
5:12 - the pay and the perks
8:20 - the anatomy of the work in tech vlog
9:04 - is work in tech propaganda?
12:21 - anti-work and working in tech
15:54 - break into tech ... tok
18:52 - final thoughts on techtok

~sources~
Here’s How Many Google Interviews It takes To Hire A Googler
Living On 210k A Year In NYC
Employers are pumping up the perks. But which do workers really want?
Critique of Work Wikipedia
How Viral TikToks Make Breaking Into Tech Look Easy
The Great Resignation: Why Millions of Workers Are Quitting

~socials~

[BrendaGarcia-tyml]

Instead of switching to tech (which will just saturate the market and lower wages once they see women poc come in) we need to unionize all industries so that everyone gets paid well

[sbel]

Meanwhile I'm the complete opposite: I went into tech purely for the money, got a software engineering degree that I can't stand, and spend my time romanticizing literature and dark academia cause thats what I would have done if I had financial security growing up

[ChinweIdika]

Deleting or deactivating social media sites that made me feel bad about my career choices changed my brain chemistry, I’m thoroughly convinced. That FOMO evaporates when you start to remember that a majority people in their early 20s make like 40k or less per year. The techtok creators you see are like the top 5-10% of earners in the whole country. No one talks about this.

The algorithm boosts aspirational content, that’s why they’re so ubiquitous online. But it’s just not real life. And even on a entry-level tech salary these luxurious lives they’re living aren’t feasible because as income goes up, so does your expenses. Nicer car, nicer clothes, better apartment, dog sitter, income tax, dining out, 401k contributions, savings. Some of them are supplementing their luxury purchases with sponsorships, not their salary. Which skews things even more.

This is coming from someone born and raised in Silicon Valley.

[Kay-buxw]

As someone whose job is to help people get jobs in tech, it is so much harder to break into tech than people make it seem. I help underrepresented communities to break into tech and the market is still so much structured for white cis males with 4 year degrees or more. It’s very hard to break the expectations of people when they realize they can’t make six figures as soon as they come in and can’t take all the days off. Honestly, tech tok has made my job so much harder because there is so much “aesthetically pleasing info” about tech but not how actually hard it is to get in and getting into a good company at that.

[arcanernz]

TikToks that glamorize tech is so annoying. They should glamorize meetings, planning, documentation, and studying by yourself for long periods of time while your friends go out; or debugging for multiple days and still finding no suitable solution just to finally hack around the problem while staying up late to meet a deadline.

[ohmyprettygirl]

My thing is that 90% of these videos don’t show the hard or grueling aspects nor how competitive they truly are. Its always “look at all the free food i get”, “look at how cool and quirky my office looks”, “look at all the cool fun events i gey to go to for free”, “i go home after 5 hours” (assuming they don’t wfh) and “i used to make 40k with no degree now i make 100k working from home”.

It paints an unrealistic picture and I know bc I fell for this. Last year I genuinely thought Id break into tech and stressed myself out in the process of trying to learn certain skills when I realized I wasn’t even passionate about any of it. I was merely charmed by the *potential* lifestyle. Now im in school for something im genuinely interested in (completely unrelated to tech) and can see myself doing.

[neshanoire]

idk if it’s just me, but i get so turned off when social media romanticizes certain ideas/actions. this whole tech movement is a prime example.

i admired the tech industry in the aspect of it being a stimulating industry where you learn some of the best and most sought after intricate skills (i.e., programming, data analysis). but with most of these tech videos just boasting about salaries and working less hours, i feel like it constantly takes away from what the tech industry truly embodies while luring people in just bc of the promising perks, not bc they truly value the industry.

i get it, though. some people just work as a means to an end, and that’s understandable. but to those that are sincerely seeking their passion, don’t follow trends set by social media. follow your heart. ❤️

[julianbell]

I’m an electrical engineer. I’m born, raised, and live in the Bay Area and idolized the valley growing up. I’ve gone multiple times to the Silicon Valley Computer History Museum. The history of the valley is amazing and full of so many brilliant people. Then I grew up and heard stories from people of how horrible it is to work in the valley. I have friends that worked at Google, Apple and Marki Microwave and they have all told me how horrible it is. I work for the boomer, unsexy power company that is fully unionized, pension fund, great work life balance, great benefits, and overtime pay. My friends are all jealous. The base salary is less than what you would get at Google, and I don’t get unlimited kombucha, but everything else makes up for it. The valley is an over glorified nightmare.

[Hakeem]

It's weird for me watch younger people fall for tech propaganda because it's the exact same is old corporate propaganda from the 90s. What we're honestly seeing with the proliferation of this content is the result of more people feeling a sense of desperation to the point that they're willing to overlook the nuances of working for one of these companies. I have my degree in economics and I have about 8 years of experience working for various tech companies in the finance department so I see firsthand how companies devalue the time of employees. This isn't to put off anyone if working in tech is your goal, but the reality is more mundane than fiction. Here's a snapshot of what you should thinking about when applying:

— For junior/apprentice roles, they’ll want you onsite.
— You won’t make anything close to 120k/yr starting unless you're management, engineer, analyst, etc.
— Since the bar is low, thousands will apply and only a few will be chosen.
— Positions may list that no degree/experience is required but I can guarantee you that the people they choose for the job have either one or both.

Also for the love of god stop applying to FAANG companies. I know it's tempting and feels good to think about working for an app that's popular, but there's literally 100s of thousands of better companies with better benefits and better pay where you have a way higher chance of scoring a nice job.

[musiclife]

when you work in tech you are *expected* to work insane hours to get to the product out on its release date. Don’t be fooled everybody, you get compensated so much because you are doing so much. They have perks like cleaners or doggie day care so that you have fewer excuses to not be working

[adelina-]

The important thing these vids don’t show is how hard these people have had to work to get to where they are.

The average person working in tech takes years of education, internships, and resume building experience to be picked up by these big companies.

[EllieElectric]

In my experience, as someone who’s only been on the bottom rungs of tech, those perks can be a bit nefarious. They want you to love being at work so there’s less incentive to leave. There’s still a hustle culture at most companies. Yeah you’re “allowed” work life balance but people really look at you sideways if you try to implement it. A lot of those places can be pretty culty. If you work as a means to an end, you’ll get burnt out real fast if you don’t get shut out first and replaced with someone who “better fits the culture.”

[grammarjedi]

As CS major with several years into my career, I still encourage it if people are interested. 100k+ salaries are very common for engineers. Flex hours are common, remote work is booming now. If you are smart and max your 401k you can retire on time or early and be very much set financially. If you can find a good product to work on, you do make useful things that make people's lives tangibly better.

Downsides: very few women in tech, the tech bro culture is very offputting and you get worn down by it. Management thinks we do magic and constantly ignores your work time estimates, leading to unwanted crunch time. Startups are hell to work in, and 90% of them fail before going to IPO. FAANG companies are alternately destroying the world with unchecked misinformation and selling you consumerist crap that is ruining the planet. You stay in tech long enough and you start to think the Luddites have a point. Midsized companies are the best mix of worklife and finding something ethical to work on, but they don't pay those sweet 6 figure salaries.

Pros outweigh the cons for me, but I think we do women and minorities a disservice if we don't point out the industry wide flaws.

[cashmereglow]

Unpopular Opinion: Many "humanity/helping fields" don't have a high ROI compared to the average computer science graduate. Even biomedical sciences/research in (S)TEM doesn't pay that much. You need a doctoral level degree prior to beginning research. And even after completing, you later realize medical research (especially for women's endocrine health) is neglected and not prioritized.

Unless you plan on fertility/ having kids (male scientists only like women as "incubators". So in conclusion, unless you plan to go into medicine, law, tech, finance, or engineering, those of us who want to go into helping careers are vastly underpaid and undervalued. This is coming from someone who wanted to be a dietitian or a therapist. Ironically, the fields that are underpaid in science/humanities are female dominated. Smfhhhh.

[lilbeth]

I have learnt so much from the comment section. I studied languages up to masters level and I am currently trying to get back into the corporate world. I love working with people. Planning things, translating, communication work, magazines, publishing that kinda thing. I have noticed that people are constantly telling me to go into tech, it’s scary because people think I am not serious for not wanting that but I really don’t see myself in tech. I just want to earn enough, work in a job I love and have a good work life balance. I don’t need so much money, just enough to survive in this late stage of capitalism. I am very aware of my mortality.

[camilleconner]

I have seen so many “hr professionals” selling resumes and “break into tech” courses for upwards of 500 dollars and that is extremely gross to me

[strawberryfrog]

I once visited a family friend at his tech worplace and while I was blown away by all the perks and cool fun stuff they have, the vibe I got from him and his collegues was "yeah, we get dinner here... so we don't have to go home to eat." It's made to feel so homey and fun that you don't need to or even want to leave the workplace. So you can always squeeze in that one last thing on your to-do list or whatever. The guys were open about it and tbh seemed to love it - they love working, hell, they do it for fun on their off days even. But that really shifted my perspective about all the perks.
I'm inherently European in that way I guess, the minute after my shift ends work does not exist in my brain until the next morning

[suzylu]

personally I think that blurring the lines between work and life is actually quite dangerous. it sets up a situation where companies can more easily take advantage of employees, while also essentially, making sure employees have no life outside of work, and work more. however, it is an extremely desirable model for people out of college for many reasons. firstly, since people are having families later (if at all) than previous generations, they need to find something to do with their time. this turns into looking for new friends, and working in these young, bustling companies is an easy way for people to make new friends. As well, oftentimes, many people relocate, and then their new friends are from their work. while working in tech seems fun, it can also be very hard work, while also further promoting capitalist ideals, and takes advantage of employees.

[princessmorebucks]

As someone who broke into tech before it was a thing, it's not always as glamorous as it seems lol... I dealt with a hella toxic work environment, micro-aggresions, sxual harassment, and the best part: burnout that took years to recover from. But hey, the free food was nice!

Not to sheet all over anyone's dream, but be very cautious about which company you work for. And have an exit strategy, once you start seeing major red flags, run!! 💜

[juliettedemaso]

My hubs has worked in several of these ultra high-end office spaces, including offices with stunning rooftop bars, and even one with a “hidden” fully stocked 1920’s Speakeasy (I’m not even kidding) and I’ll tell you the employees almost never get to enjoy any of this Instagram-worthy perks. There’s no rules against using any of it, it’s just that the whole thing is like existing in set pieces, doll houses with all the fixtures painted on the walls.
We fell for it the first couple of times, now we know better. It’s the typical PMC form-over-function behavior. Marketing.