[LabMechanic]

LLMs don't necessarily need to think to be useful. Having a simple minimal working example from an API you're trying to grok is helpful, as long as it's error-free and not redundant.

However, given the availability of LLMs, how would you justify the expense of hiring junior developers fresh out of school?

Check Microsoft.com or Google.com's career pages as an example (you will also see something similar going on within mid-sized companies), do you find any jobs for entry level applicants? Are those entry level jobs offered mostly in India or Eastern Europe?

So tell me, how is the ability to think helpful for an entry level applicant, when HR departments won't hire you because you lack “2+ years of non-internship C++ experience” for an entry-level position?

My point: being able to think is of course fine, but HR departments require you to do back and front flips, speak perfect reverse Mandarin Chinese and have 2+ years of non-internship experience in C++ on top of that. Being able to think won't justify the expense of hiring a junior dev fresh out of school in a high-income country. (At least this is my impression of the current job market.)

PS: So, I just finished school last year, and I'm still on the hunt for a job. It seems like a lot of companies in wealthy countries are holding off on hiring newbies like me. I get why they're doing it (e.g., inflation, interest rates), but it's really frustrating when you're the one affected.

I mean, how are we supposed to get experience if no one's willing to give us a shot, right? It's a tough spot to be in. Then the LLMs (even if they cannot think), they still bring value and accelerate development (with a potentially lower headcount). Seniors will be fine without us juniors given the prevalence of LLMs and high inflation environment (which makes companies risk-averse and very picky).