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Tell HN: Title: The UC Berkeley Job Market Meltdown–What No One Wants to Admit
I work in administration at UC Berkeley, and I need to say this: something is deeply broken.
For years, Berkeley’s Computer Science program was a direct pipeline to top-tier tech jobs. Didn’t matter if you were just "above average"—if you made it through, you'd land a solid job with a great salary. But now? I’m watching some of the most brilliant students, the ones with perfect 4.0 GPAs, prestigious internships, and research experience, graduate with nothing. No offers. No interviews. Just radio silence.
Professors are noticing it too. Students who should be drowning in job offers are instead emailing their advisors in a panic: “What do I do now?” “Should I apply for grad school?” “Was this all a waste?”
And here’s the part that really scares me—this isn’t just a temporary downturn. The people who should know what’s going on—our faculty, career services, recruiters—have no answers. They just keep telling students to “network more” or “apply to startups.” But those startups? They’re laying people off too.
The harsh reality is that a UC Berkeley CS degree is no longer a ticket to job security. The system that promised students a clear path to success is breaking down, and the people in charge are too scared to admit it.
I don’t know how this plays out, but I do know this: If you’re a student banking on a Berkeley degree to guarantee your future, you need a backup plan. Because the old rules don’t apply anymore.
The question is—what happens when the smartest students in the country realize the system has failed them?
https://archive.ph/PMb00
Contact Professor James O'Brien
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- toomuchtodo 2y agoCan you suggest how this can be independently validated?
- UCBThrowaway 2y ago[flagged]
- inverted_flag 2y agoThis is another doomposting troll similar to: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42999774 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42999774
- UCBThrowaway 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- oldpersonintx 2y ago[dead]
- billconan 2y agoI want to change job now, but recently I have read many articles talking about the poor IT job market, which made me anxious. I contacted my previous colleagues in one of The Magnificent 7. One told me they wanted to hire a senior for a long time, but couldn't find any, then they had to hire a new grad. Two others also told me they are interviewing and couldn't find anyone good.
- markus_zhang 2y agoI see the same thing with Waterloo students with multiple interns. Maybe it's just a tech doom like the 01s.
- oldgradstudent 2y agoThis industry is cyclical. People forget that because this cycle was so long and so deep. UC Berkeley produces more CS graduates than it ever did. So does every university, and every bootcamp. The market cannot grow forever. And things that can't go on forever, eventually stop.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- antih1bmaga 2y agoThe problem is the H1Bs flooding the market in an unsustainable way.
- bdangubic 2y agoyea, the percentage of H1Bs is so big compared to the market that we will soon be shutting down all higher ed facilities
- antih1bmaga 2y agoWell higher ed is one of the biggest lobbyists for the H1B program. Foreigners come here on student visas, pay the universities international tuition rates with no aid, get their degrees, and then convert to H1B. So it would be interesting to see how that plays out.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Lockal 2y agoPlease stop creating *Throwaway accounts and posting LLM-generated texts pretending to be someone you're not.