
Ask HN: Application Security vs. Software Development - a_lifters_life
Which is more recession proof?<p>I&#x27;ve done software development for about 5 years, and application security for 5 years (professionally).<p>When I was a sole developer - i never had issues with employment - there always seemed to be 10:1 jobs (10 jobs to every qualified candidate).<p>I recently took a application security role - about 1.5 years ago, well I find out Friday I&#x27;m laid off.<p>I&#x27;m wondering which of appsec vs software dev is more recession &#x2F; covid secure?<p>Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
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Nextgrid
Recession-proofness isn't as much about your role and more about which
companies you target.

Bullshit startups ("Uber for dog-walking" or AI-powered dog food for example)
are not sustainable to begin with and only existed because of operating on
essentially infinite "credit lines" from VCs. These companies will be the
first to go during a recession and we're already seeing it with Bird for
example.

The companies you need to target are the ones that solve a _real_ problem or
demand (and not one manufactured by themselves) - let's take roads for
example. Recession or not, the roads are needed and will remain used by pretty
much everyone (whether it's shipping, delivering food into supermarkets, etc)
so there will always be business opportunities there. Same with energy, water,
sewage, etc.

Look for "boring" companies and work with (or learn) "boring" tech. If your
entire career is based around whatever Javascript framework is considered
"hip" that day then you'll have trouble because these companies are too busy
delivering _real_ value using whatever "boring" framework they are using.

~~~
a_lifters_life
I wish this were true, because i was apart of a boring company ... doing
impactful work for private/public orgs, but do appreciate your thoughts - so
thanks for writing them.

