Reddit Experience · 2026 Q2

Is it possible to get a high paying CS job if you haven't been dabbling in this field your whole life?

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Interview Experience

So I'm a first year CS student and this is my first real exposure to programming. I'm decently tech-savvy, I know my way around a computer but not a command line. I am disappointed to find that I don'

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So I'm a first year CS student and this is my first real exposure to programming. I'm decently tech-savvy, I know my way around a computer but not a command line. I am disappointed to find that I don't possess an innate aptitude for coding, but that can always be rectified with some hard work and elbow grease right? Question is though, can it actually? I know that the glory days of this career path are long over. I only chose it because someday I would like to become a game developer and because I spend so much time around a computer that it probably suited me best. I definitely don't wanna go into the trades but neither do I wanna be a doctor, banker, or lawyer so CS it is. I know that the competition for the highest paying jobs is fierce. But is that competition solely amongst passionate programmers who have been dabbling in this since they were young? Do I stand any chance at all if I were to apply myself now at this age or am I screwed if I didn't print my first hello world shortly after leaving the womb? Will all my hard work result in nothing more than a job that pays 80k if I'm lucky, are the vaunted 6 figures for bona fide geniuses only?
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