

I work at a large company that is not considered one of the tech bros. I doubt we’re hiring graduates ever again.
For the record, we’re NOT all in on AI - far from it - but what we have found is that 98% of graduate hires aren’t productive and over-estimate their skills.
Maybe it’s different elsewhere in the world, but in and around Toronto, we’ve found that most CS grads have gone into the field because they think it will pay well. Most have no “adjacent” skills, such as VCS understanding, PRs, how work is broken down etc, but the biggest red flag though is just how few of them are interested in expanding their horizons. I currently have one junior right now working on an Android app and he seems incapable of moving past the MVP, java based patterns they learned in college.
The way I see it, Colleges are doing a very poor job right now, and the students are paying the price.







That is partly true; our company should do more especially when it comes to hiring and screening. But you can also only mentor those who wish to be mentored…
I’ve also been in this industry now for over 25 years and I have mentored a lot of junior developers. I feel I have gotten a little better at mentoring, but I do genuinely believe that general skills of graduates have also decreased. I think it may be generational. Devs from a decade or two ago had to find a lot of things out for themselves.
And Yes, I know I sound like an old asshole, but honestly, I think today CS is treated more like a trade than a skill. I wish it were otherwise.