From Software Engineer to Nursing Student: A New Passion Emerges

After enduring hundreds of job applications without a single offer, Cristina Estupiñán made the difficult decision to step away from the tech industry. Her unease with artificial intelligence (AI) made an already challenging job search even more daunting as employers increasingly leaned into this technology. Now 33, she is retraining as a nurse and finding new hope in starting over.

This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with 33-year-old Cristina Estupiñán of New Providence, New Jersey. Her identity and background have been verified. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science from Boston University in January 2017. I initially enrolled in college to study chemical engineering, but I took a computer science class and ended up switching majors. After graduation, I moved to San Francisco. A friend helped me get some temporary nontechnical work at a large tech company, but when that ended, I didn’t have a clear path forward. The computer science classes I took in college taught me a lot, but they didn’t actually prepare me to work as a software engineer.

Then another friend told me she had attended a three-month coding boot camp and had quickly landed a job afterward. I decided to sign up, and after I finished, I got hired by a startup as a front-end software developer. I stayed there for a few years before moving into similar roles at three other companies.

In December 2024, I was laid off. In the past, it had never taken me more than six weeks to find a software engineering role. But this time was different. Six weeks turned into six months and eventually a year.

AI overload

As I was job hunting, I noticed that every single company was an AI company of some sort. Either you had to use AI as part of the job, or the product itself was AI, which was a problem for me. I don’t think AI is needed for everything, and I’m concerned about its environmental impact. But in job interviews, recruiters would always ask, “What excites you about AI?” I always thought to myself, well, I have to make up something because, frankly, nothing really excites me about AI.

Overall, I applied to more than 700 jobs and made it to several final rounds, but I didn’t get any offers. I kept hearing that I wasn’t senior enough, and some companies told me halfway through the interview process that they were going on a hiring freeze. There was one company in Europe that I interviewed with at the beginning of this year that I really thought I was going to get. It was hands-down the best interview I’d ever had. I felt I had really connected with the hiring manager, but a few days later, I received an overnight email with a generic rejection message.

That email was the culmination of everything. My mental health was at an all-time low. I had gained a ton of weight and moved back home with my parents in New Jersey. I was isolated from my social network.

Changing careers

By this point, I was questioning whether I wanted to work in tech anymore. My parents encouraged me to consider a career in healthcare, and I did. I figured I might not make as much money as I did in tech, but I’d probably have more job stability, so I decided to go for it. Once I make a decision, it’s made. I’m not turning back.

In May, I started taking nursing classes at a local community college. Once I complete 10 prerequisite courses, I can apply to Rutgers University’s accelerated nursing program. My ultimate goal is to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner and have a private practice.

Meanwhile, I’m working part-time in retail, and it’s been great. I’d never worked a service job before, so I’m gaining customer-facing skills. I’m also more active because I’m on my feet a lot. I really like the people I work with.

Starting a new career at 33 isn’t easy, but I felt like I had no other choice. It is a little hard to look at LinkedIn because all of my connections are people in tech, and I sometimes feel like I’m missing out. They’re doing all this cool tech stuff, and that’s not really my life anymore.

Still, I don’t have any regrets about my decision. When I think about becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner, I get excited. I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with my own mental health issues. Knowing I’ll get to help people in the future is what’s keeping me going.