I never thought that it was something to rave about. You worked really really hard your whole life, submitted hundreds of applicants, prepared every day, and through incredible determination and will… you got an average paying job?
The work doesn't equal the reward. What about people who want to live outside of work, or have hobbies and families? I'm always getting job advice where I should work harder on one this, obtain this next thing, do this and that. I'm not competitive enough! Yeah, maybe I'm not, but in order to be competitive I have to sacrifice my life? It's just a job.
The industry (tech in particular) feels like a constantly moving goalpost. You can't get a job with a high school diploma anymore. You can't get a job with a college degree anymore. You can't get a job with entry-level certifications anymore. You can't get a job if you don't know people internally. You can't get a job if you haven't had the job already. You can't get a job without projects, a portfolio website, acceptable hobbies, perfect looking LinkedIn, absolutely clean internet presence dating back to 2005…
At this point, people who DO get jobs are just getting exploited. Like, I'm happy you did all that and you got a decent salary. But it was so much work for so little. I struggle to compete because it feels so wrong. Dance, little wagie! How desperate are ya?