I’m a senior in high school right now and definitely need to consider what I’m going to do in college and for work.
For a very long time I’ve been into computers, and am a developer with a few big projects under my belt (this is a burner account for privacy). So, my logical choice for a while was to become a software developer professionally.
Nowadays that plan doesn’t look too promising. AI has basically replaced junior developers (with dubious results) and the competition has gotten much fiercer. I’m not even in college yet so I have a good amount of time to potentially pivot to something else before choosing a major.
I’ve got quite a bit of experience with Linux and I manage a home server, but that probably doesn’t differentiate me much. I’m honestly interested in most things computer related, but don’t know of any specific fields to seek out. If it’s so hard for fresh CS graduates to get jobs, why would any other option be different?
As a high school senior self-hosting, you are at least a couple years ahead of the curve in your cohort in this area. Don’t write yourself off, even if you are just half-blindingly running scripts for now, keep exploring and tinkering, then learning will come naturally with it.
Assuming you are in the USA, unemployment is low yet few are hiring. Trump’s tariffs and meddling in everything has made many businesses across the world hesitant to make any hiring or firing decisions (aside from Silicon Valley tech which thinks AI will do all the jobs). I’ve encountered several reports like this over the last year, which means if you were a new grad looking for a job right now, in many fields you would struggle to find one.
Definitely ask recruiters for their insight on job market trends, and also start talking to employed people in the fields you have an interest in. Ask if their department recently hired or had layoffs, and other questions to help you decide if that’s the kind of work you could see yourself doing in the future given honing your skills through higher education and hobby development.
One kind of career that sounds up your alley based on the skills and interests you described could be systems administration. Those roles will still be necessary for the most part, AI or not.