If you could write one essay to every scared new grad and young person in software… What would you tell them?
Prizes: $10,000 first place / $1,000 2nd and 3rd
Deadline:
It’s a bad time to be a young person in software. At least it is if you’ve been reading the news. And posts. And threads. And comments.
But is dooming the right response? Is every young person in software just cooked? Or is there something more useful we could be telling these people? If there is, what? We haven’t seen a truly great piece of writing aimed at addressing what has become a life-altering anxiety for millions of people. We would like to see one. (Or many.)
You’re writing to people with doubts like:
- “What’s software engineering even going to look like in 20 years?”
- “Should I switch career paths?”
- “Claude knows way more than me. What can I do to not become obsolete?”
- “Are we all cooked?”
You have 2,000 words. Imagine we can magically guarantee that what you write will be read by every single young software engineer, design engineer, PM, etc. in the world.
What do you write?
You’ve already entered. Check your email for the rules. Use a different email
Judges
A very smart and interesting panel of judges we will announce soon :)
FAQs
Who can enter?
Anyone above 18 (or the legal age of majority) in their country.
Do I have to be a software engineer?
Nope. We envision engineers, PMs, VCs, founders, etc. having possibly the most relevant thoughts on this but we might be totally wrong. Maybe a poet wins. If you think you could write something that these people should read, then write it, regardless of your career path.
What can I write?
Anything. We are open to reading short stories, fiction, nonfiction, advice, whatever.
Do you have any advice?
We are not particularly interested in reading pessimistic rants. We have already read lots of those (see: some of the headlines at the top of this page). The world doesn’t really need more. If you truly believe the best thing for all young people in software to read is a doomer-ish kind of essay where you tell them to switch careers or something, then you can (and should) write that. Generally speaking, though, we are not looking for uncritical pessimism.
When will winners be announced?
Barring any unforeseen delays, we will announce winners sometime in January 2027.
Can I use AI?
We aren’t your parents, or God. But we discourage using AI to write or to provide you with ideas. We do not think it generally leads to high quality and/or effective writing.
Who is running this contest?
This is a Medium Rare contest. We have run others (see: DEAR ALIENS).
How can I submit?
Drop your email in the box at the top of this page and we will send you instructions. (We know it is annoying, but we find it helps filter out obvious low-effort and automated AI submissions.)
I have other questions that this page definitely doesn’t answer (and I know this because I have read the page very carefully). What do I do?
You can email us with any doubts or questions at contest@advicewanted.dev. If your question is about contest rules or how to submit, first enter your email at the top of the page and read the instructions we send you. If you still have questions, you can reply to that email.