Meaningful is often a very flexible term, depending on the situation and the circumstances it's definition can change a lot. For example, when working in a smal

Meaningful is often a very flexible term, depending on the situation and the circumstances it's definition can change a lot. For example, when working in a small start-up the development velocity is crucial, because you have limited resources and no revenue to support you, so building something that works is more important than building it perfectly. It's a very generic explanation, but what I'm trying to say, is that there are always reasons for everything and they often form a long chain of causes, that are hard to see sometimes. But let's try to tackle some of your concerns. Finding a job right now, especially without a lot of experience is hard, in my understanding, the main reason is that the companies at the moment are not ready to invest a lot of resources in new developers and would rather find someone with experience. If you are looking for job, try making something practical, like a pet-project, that would show your skills directly. Find some people with more experience, first of all, you can learn from them and secondly, they can reference you as someone they know, who might be a good fit in their company, that level of trust can be very important and help you a lot. And of course, keep learning, there will always be something you don't know and it's okay, the question is how your approach it, if you are willing to push yourself out of your comfort zone and get more exposure to different things, your opinions can become more valuable. About AIs and stuff like that, your code is just a tool for solving problems, but what is unique to you is how you approach these problems, how you think about them, of course, if all you can do is build CRUDs by following precise instructions it won't be very valuable. Basically, work smarter, not harder, it's not the amount of code you can write, but the reasoning behind it. Okay, let's say you landed a job, congrats, but you still feel useless. In such cases, for me, it's always communication, in a decent team you should be rewarded for asking "how can I be better?" or "what should I do differently?", because it means that you want to grow and be better, therefore providing more value to the company. Don't be afraid to talk to people, ask for advice and learn from their mistakes. I'm sure you will get there, just don't stop trying to improve yourself and your surroundings, at some point, hopefully soon, someone will recognize your efforts and potential value. I know that this response was kind of chaotic and I'm sorry for that. It's just a slice of my thoughts not long after waking up. If all of this seems to broad and generic, try to specify on one topic, like "but how should I approach X" or "what can I improve in Y", I'm sure you will get a lot of relevant recommendations. Best of luck, buddy!