Tech Layoff Survivor Joins Nursing School Because AI Won’t Hire Feelings

KEY POINTS

•Cristina Estupiñán graduated from Boston University in 2017 with a BA in computer science after switching from chemical engineering.
•After multiple front-end developer roles and a layoff in December 2024, she faced a brutal year-long job hunt amid AI hiring mania.
•In May 2026, she started nursing classes in New Jersey aiming to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner, while working part-time retail.

Cristina Estupiñán, a 33-year-old Boston University grad who swapped chemical engineering for computer science in 2017, spent years clawing through the Silicon Valley jungle only to be dumped in December 2024. Despite acing coding boot camps and front-end roles, 700 job applications later, she couldn’t land a gig due to AI fever—recruiters grilling her about enthusiasm for AI despite her preferring analog empathy over machine overlords. After Europe ghosted her with a form rejection email at year’s start, she fled to New Jersey, gained weight, moved back in with her parents, and bravely pivoted to nursing classes aiming to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Meanwhile, she’s retailing smiles and sanity on her feet, acknowledging the cruel irony of losing tech friends yet gaining newfound hope.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Applying to 700 AI jobs and telling recruiters you’re not thrilled about AI is like telling a vegan you only eat bacon sometimes. Spoiler: it doesn’t get you hired.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Who needs mental health support when you can just switch from tech code to nurse code after 700 job rejections?

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Turns out being ‘not senior enough’ means you get dumped by AI companies that can barely muster interest in humans anyway.

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