William Pannapacker

@TechLayoffLover This

Kid graduated with a 3.87 GPA from a decent state school three months ago $191k in student debt between undergrad and a CS masters degree Has applied to 1,340 entry-level positions since graduation Zero offers. Twelve phone screens that all ended the same way. "We've restructured our junior pipeline around AI-assisted development" "Senior developers with Cursor can now handle what used to require a full team" "We're looking for candidates who can hit the ground running with minimal supervision" His girlfriend landed a consulting gig making $95k. She has a sociology degree. His roommate from the dorms got hired at Goldman doing Excel modeling for $140k. Finance major with a 2.9 GPA. Meanwhile he's watching YouTube tutorials on prompt engineering at 2 AM wondering if four years of algorithms and data structures was completely fucking pointless. Student loan payments start in January. His parents keep asking when he's going to "use that expensive degree" The career center at his school is still sending emails about "abundant opportunities in tech" Last week he applied to be a shift supervisor at Target They told him he was overqualified

@maya_sen RMP will still be there, along with word of mouth. Demand too much from students, and your courses may not “make.” And then you don’t get paid, if you’re an adjunct, as most are.

The easy way to get rigor back in university courses to get rid of anonymous student evaluations but nobody in university leadership wants to do that

Internships indicate social class. That’s why they are essential.

@DavidAstinWalsh Five generations

When an entire generation of the best teachers and scholars are being pushed out of the academy, how can *anyone* defend the existing labor system? (Unless, of course, they're personally benefitting from it.)

This is why I firmly believe the tenure system should be abolished, because it punishes hardworking and productive non-tenure-track scholars while rewarding apathy and sloth for a small handful of tenured faculty.

@DavidAstinWalsh Nepotism, politics, and identity?

The thing I say over and over again to my students who are interested in law school is that it's *just* a numbers game. Your GPA and your LSAT, and that's it. And in order to get into a T14 law school you need *at least* a 3.9.

@PhD_Genie Exploiting adjuncts and graduate students. There won’t be any.

What aspect of academia AI will never be able to replace?

@kinginvestings How will that be enforced?

If a job requires a college degree, it shouldn’t pay under 50k. Period.

@PhD_Genie We rarely have co-authors in the humanities. Those articles don’t really count. But there are field variations.

@pannapacker Solo papers or with co-authors?

Academics who publish a paper every year. What is your secret?

Fighting evil creates new evil. That is the genius of evil.

@ronsterd89 Yes, for not praying with enough fervor.

Did you ever get hit by a teacher as a kid?

@_letterbxmb All their fancy book-learning

It feels like nobody hates teachers more than the United States

@lady_valor_07 Teary-eyed with gratitude

You come home hungry, almost no groceries, no money left. This is the plate your wife (or husband) makes you. Your real reaction?

@bluewmist My job, my home, my community, and my marriage.

What's something that Covid took from you that you never got back?

@BTCBreadMan I'm a realtor. Buyers in competitive markets typically need to offer at least 10% above asking prices, even if those prices are not justified by comparative market analysis. But is renting a better option?

A house just went up For Sale By Owner in my neighborhood for $880,000. The zEstimate is $785,000. Boomers have truly lost their minds.

@danmartell Tell your dependents that.

Quitting a job is OK. Moving on is OK. Struggling is OK. What's NOT okay is staying somewhere you're not valued and appreciated.

@Mubarak_mubious PhD?

what’s a subtle sign that someone is high functioning but silently drowning in life ??

@haha_girrrl That’s not why.

Applied for an internship to gain experience and got rejected because i didn’t have relevant experience ❤️

@difficultpatty If they have all the other 6s.

Men who read books are hot.

@rushicrypto Life expectancy is shorter.

Some days I feel like I blinked and the world changed overnight. Everything is faster, louder, more confusing… and I’m only in my 30s. I can’t imagine what it feels like at 50+ trying to keep up with all this. If that’s you… what keeps you steady? What keeps you sane?