Tired of people here saying just get a CS degree

I've been around the block a few times here. Right now a GOOD CS DEGREE w/ INTERNSHIPS is the only CONSISTENT pathway to an entry level job right now. **This doesn't mean that you should get a CS degree and not go to a bootcamp!!!** What this means is that companies aren't hiring entry level engineers from less good CS degrees and from bootcamps right now **AT SCALE,** but on an individual basis some people can get jobs with bootcamps. The bootcamps grads and non-top tier CS grad strategy to get jobs is similar right now - networking, reach outs, referrals, friends. The top-tier CS grad strategy is internships, recruiters on campus, apply online - i.e. the "easy way". Now why is this happening this way at scale at big companies? At top tier companies - the majority find that Stanford and MIT grads perform better over time so they focus on hiring those people as interns as early as possible and get them to join full time when they graduate. Bootcamps produce too inconsistent output and generally even the best people need extra hand holding and time before doing really well, so bit companies tend to avoid them. It really sucks if you are one of the top bootcamp grads, but if you are one of the best of the best, you'll find a job through networking, projects, etc...

SWE is an interesting field because you can get in the industry with your brain and problem solving abilities, and it's a high paying and impactful job. There's no bootcamp to be a doctor or lawyer. I think bootcamps will survive this downturn but by evolving. A 12 month part time bootcamp that costs $20K versus a 12 WEEK bootcamp costing $20K might make more sense. OR perhaps people need more AI driven self-paced learning + projects. Maybe SWE will start forking into more tiers of jobs and the goal will be to do a bootcamp -> super entry level transitional role (e.g. prompt engineering) -> SWE job. Maybe being a SWE will be like being an MD Doctor, and all the physician assistant, registered nurse, nurse, etc... jobs with portions of the 'powers' of an MD will be the jobs you get out of a bootcamp, and the SWE job is the job you get after a couple of years if you are interested in high level architecture work and have an ability to solve the hardest problems. Who knows! Programing started off as a low paying job that analysts did to become more efficient versus using a calculator all day and I'm sure it will continue to evolve :D

I disagree with that. I personally agree that AI will change what engineering means, just like computers changed what engineering means. In the future, maybe there will be a new degree that doesn't exist yet for people take to work on leading edge technology, but for now a CS degree at a top school is a good option.