This told essay is based on a conversation with Cristina Estupignan, 33, of New Providence, New Jersey. Her identity and background have been confirmed. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Boston University in January 2017. I went to college to study chemical engineering, but took a computer science class and ended up changing my major.
After graduating, I moved to San Francisco. A friend helped me land a temporary, non-technical job at a large tech company, but when it ended, I had no clear path forward. The computer science classes I took in college taught me a lot, but they didn’t really prepare me for working as a software engineer.
Then another friend told me that she attended a 3-month coding bootcamp and got a job right after. I decided to sign up, and after registering, I was hired by a startup as a front-end software developer. I stayed there for a few years and then moved on to similar roles at three other companies.
In December 2024 I was laid off. Previously, it never took me more than six weeks to find a software engineering job. But this time it was different. Six weeks turned into six months and eventually a year.
AI overload
While job hunting, I realized that every company is an AI company of some kind. Either I need to use AI as part of my job, or the product itself is AI, and that was the problem for me.
I don’t think we need AI for everything, and I’m concerned about the environmental impact. But in job interviews, recruiters always ask, “What excites you about AI?” Frankly, nothing excites me about AI, so I always thought to myself, I have to create something.
All in all, I applied to over 700 jobs and made it to the final round of several, but I didn’t get a job offer. I was told multiple times that I wasn’t senior enough, and some companies even told me they’d freeze hiring midway through the interview process.
There was one company in Europe that I interviewed for earlier this year that I was absolutely sure I would get into. It was definitely the best interview I’ve ever had. I felt like I had a good rapport with the hiring manager, but a few days later I received an email in the evening with a generic rejection message.
That email was the culmination of everything. My mental state was at an all-time low. I gained a lot of weight and moved back home to my parents in New Jersey. I was isolated from social networks.
job change
At this point, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to work in technology anymore. My parents encouraged me to consider a career in the medical field, so I did. I decided to go into this industry because I thought it might not make as much money as the tech industry, but it would probably offer more job security. Once you make a decision, it’s done. I’m not going back.
In May I started taking nursing classes at a local community college. Once you complete the 10 prerequisite courses, you will be able to apply to Rutgers University’s accelerated nursing program. My ultimate goal is to become a psychiatric nurse and open my own practice.
In the meantime, I’m working part-time in retail and it’s going great. I have never worked in a service job before, so I am learning customer service skills. I have become more active because I stand up more often. I really like the people I work with.
Starting a new career at the age of 33 is not easy, but I felt I had no other choice. Most of my connections are from the tech industry, so it’s a little hard to look at LinkedIn and sometimes I feel like I’m missing out. They’re doing cool tech stuff, but that’s not my life anymore.
Still, I have no regrets about my decision. I get excited thinking about becoming a psychiatric nurse. I have a lot of experience dealing with mental health issues of my own. The thought that I can help people in the future is what keeps me going.