news.ycombinator.com• May 21, 2026• 1 min read
Peak unemployment for a software engineer. What did I do wrong?Back in 2019, I was a CS student in Iraq. I taught myself Node.js, React, and TypeScript. Then in 2020, the pandemic started, and honestly, it was perfect timing for me because suddenly a lot of local businesses needed delivery web apps.I was lucky enough to know some of those business owners, and I ended up building 4 delivery apps by myself. I was coding solo, finishing the apps, setting up Docker, deploying everything, and actually getting paid for it while I was still in my second year of college. It felt unreal. I remember telling my parents, “I have my own money now, you don’t need to give me.” It was one of the best feelings in my life.Later, I got an internship at a company, and I was so happy about it. I honestly couldn’t believe I was already working as a developer while still studying.After the internship, I had an idea for a mobile app. I learned React Native in one week and felt really comfortable with it. I started building the app, but eventually it failed and during tha
