Yes, getting a first software developer job may be harder and look different from the path many experienced developers took—but the evidence does not show that software development is disappearing. Recent U.S. studies find pressure on early-career hiring and a higher experience bar in junior software vacancies, while the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics still projects growth in software developer employment overall. For a student, the practical response is to build strong engineering fundamentals, get experience working with others, and learn to verify AI-generated code rather than betting on one tool or agent framework.
Why a tougher first job market can coexist with a growing profession
“Are there fewer openings for beginners?” and “Will there be more software developers overall?” are different questions. Junior vacancies describe one point of entry; occupation-wide projections include workers at every experience level and openings created when people leave or change jobs. A positive long-term outlook for the occupation does not guarantee an easy first job search.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects 10% employment growth for software developers from 2025 to 2035. It projects about 106,100 average annual openings across software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers combined over that decade. That combined figure includes replacement openings and is not a count of entry-level software jobs.
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchPC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Two studies of hiring since ChatGPT’s introduction point to more immediate pressure on new entrants. Their measures are specific to the United States and do not establish what every graduate, employer, or region will experience.
#1 Best Overall
What recent hiring studies actually found
Early-career employment fell in the most AI-exposed industries
A working paper from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies reports a regression-adjusted 12% employment decline for workers aged 22–24 in the most AI-exposed quintile of industry-state cells across the ten quarters following ChatGPT’s introduction. This is not an estimate for all CS graduates or all software jobs. The author reports that hiring rates largely recovered by early 2025, in part because the employment base had become smaller. The paper also discusses earlier trends and other possible contributors to the decline; it does not attribute every change to AI alone. Read the Census Bureau working paper.
Junior software vacancies declined relative to senior vacancies
An IZA Discussion Paper using near-universe U.S. online vacancy data reports a 14–15% relative decline in junior versus senior software developer vacancies following ChatGPT’s release. The authors attribute rising experience requirements mainly to employers requesting more experience within the same job titles. In the remaining junior listings they studied, wording increasingly emphasized problem solving, communication, and attention to detail rather than AI-specific skills. That does not prove employers elsewhere do not value AI fluency; it does show why a portfolio that demonstrates sound engineering judgment matters. Read IZA Discussion Paper 18723.
Other evidence signals change, not a settled forecast about agents
A March 2026 Federal Reserve discussion paper links occupational data to report that coder employment growth decelerated sharply after ChatGPT’s introduction, while continuing to grow more slowly than before 2022. The authors describe the paper as preliminary research circulated to stimulate discussion, not an official Board forecast. The Census, IZA, and Federal Reserve work examines labor-market outcomes around ChatGPT or generative AI exposure; it does not isolate the future causal effect of autonomous coding agents. Read the Federal Reserve discussion paper.
What to learn—and what to be able to show
The evidence points toward a higher bar for demonstrating readiness, not a proven checklist of trendy AI tools. BLS says developers need a strong programming background and must keep up with tools and languages. It also identifies analytical, communication, creative, detail-oriented, and interpersonal qualities. The vacancy study’s emphasis on problem solving, communication, and attention to detail reinforces the value of being able to explain your work and collaborate reliably.
Build fundamentals that transfer between tools
- Write and read code in at least one language well enough to explain your design choices, trace bugs, and make changes without relying on generated answers.
- Learn data structures, algorithms, databases, APIs, version control, and the basics of testing. Choose projects that make you apply these ideas rather than only reproduce a tutorial.
- Practice debugging from symptoms to cause. A useful junior teammate can narrow down a failure, describe what they tried, and ask a specific question when stuck.
- Learn to test behavior, review changes, and consider maintainability. A feature that works once is not the same as code another person can safely extend.
Make one project easy to evaluate
Build a project you can explain from the initial problem through to the running result. Include the requirements you chose, trade-offs you made, implementation, tests, debugging, deployment, and maintenance. A concise README, clear commit history, and a short walkthrough can help a reviewer see how you think, not just that an application exists. This is practical preparation, not a guarantee of an interview or offer.
Use AI assistance as something to inspect, not authority
It is prudent to practice asking an AI coding tool for a draft or explanation, then checking the result: run tests, inspect edge cases, verify dependencies and assumptions, and be ready to explain or rewrite the code. Treat this as sound engineering practice for a changing workplace, not as a skill the vacancy study established as a universal hiring requirement. No particular agent product, framework, or prompt technique is shown by these studies to be necessary for a first job.
Compare entry routes by the experience they provide
Traditional junior developer jobs are not the only possible starting point. QA and testing roles, internships, apprenticeships where available, and adjacent technical roles may provide relevant experience, but the reviewed evidence does not rank these routes or show that one is universally required. Compare actual opportunities by the work and support they offer:
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
| Route to investigate | Programming and debugging | Mentorship and review | Exposure to delivery work | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior software developer | Will you implement and debug production code? | Will someone review your code and help you improve? | Will you see testing, deployment, and maintenance as well as feature work? | What will a typical task look like, and who will review it? |
| QA or testing role | Will you write automated tests or investigate failures, as well as perform manual checks? | Will you work with developers to reproduce and explain defects? | Will you learn how testing fits into the team’s release process? | How much of the role involves scripting, test automation, or debugging? |
| Internship or apprenticeship-style work | Will you work on real tasks with a defined learning plan? | Is there a named mentor, regular feedback, or code review? | Can you follow work through testing and release? | What will you be expected to deliver, and what support comes with it? |
| Adjacent technical role | Does the role involve scripting, troubleshooting, or working with code? | Will you collaborate with software teams or experienced technical staff? | Can it build experience with systems, testing, or software delivery? | Will the skills and work be legible to a future developer employer? |
This is a way to assess an offer, not a claim that every job in a category includes those opportunities. Geography and work authorization also affect which roles are realistic. BLS groups developer and QA occupations in its outlook, but its projections do not establish which route is easiest for a new graduate.
Best Value
Keep the geographic evidence in perspective
The hiring figures above are U.S.-focused. A separate UK government survey offers useful context about AI-sector hiring in the UK, but its results should not be blended into U.S. software-job statistics or generalized to every UK developer role. Among surveyed UK AI-sector organizations, 97% identified at least one skills gap, 35% reported difficulty filling AI roles, and 31% cited candidates lacking work experience as a recruitment barrier. The survey also found that 88% of organizations used on-the-job training rather than structured education or training programmes, and 13% of graduate schemes included AI training. These are survey findings about the UK AI sector, not a forecast of entry-level software vacancies. Its 57% figure refers to respondents planning to adopt agentic AI within the next three years, not adoption already achieved. Read the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology executive summary.
Quick Recap
A practical plan for a CS student
- Choose a project with real constraints. Solve a problem you can describe, define a manageable first version, and make deliberate choices about data, behavior, and scope.
- Finish the engineering loop. Add tests, debug real failures, deploy the work if appropriate, and document how someone else can run or maintain it.
- Get feedback from people. Seek team projects, internships, apprenticeships, or other work with mentorship and code review where available. Explain your decisions and respond constructively to review.
- Apply across credible entry points. Look at junior developer, QA/testing, and adjacent roles, but assess each posting for the actual programming, support, and delivery experience it offers.
- Keep learning tools without tying your prospects to one. Try AI coding assistance, but make your value visible through the ability to understand, verify, improve, and communicate about the resulting software.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
