A few people here have been impacted, so I want to talk about something constructive that could help them. As someone observing industry trends from the outside for a while, my advice to those looking to get hired these days: Build something useful from scratch – on your own –- that you can show off as soon as possible.
The buzzword everyone is looking for is "high-agency." (No, not those agents, but yes, those will help.) Basically employers want someone who will start something from scratch and take it to the finish line by themselves.
The interesting thing about this is, it is by definition not something you can put on your resume; It is something you show, not tell.
Yes, you need to do this even as you go through the absolute hell that is a job search. But trust me, this will a) help get a much better job, and b) help in the long run throughout and beyond your career. This will be the most valuable skill in the future.
You don’t need to use AI, but looking at the timeframes and skills in demand, yes, you very likely want to use AI.
A few other thoughts:
1. Target an area you are very familiar with. This will sharply cut down the time to MVP. This will be a challenge for the more junior folks, who should consider reaching out to senior mentors. Mentors, consider outsourcing a suitable personal project to them.
2. It could be something you are an expert on at work, if your employment contract and IP laws allow. As a bonus, releasing this as open source, or even a competing product if you’re so inclined, will have that intangible bonus of sticking it to your ex-employer.
3. Even if heavily using AI, keep your hands-on skill active. Most companies still do old-school leetcode interviews.
4. Bonus if you do something multi-disciplinary. Sprinkle in a domain you have no background in -- design, writing, sales, marketing, data science, frontend, whatever. You'll definitely need AI for this, and even when you make mistakes, few will harshly judge somebody down on their luck trying to expand their boundaries.
Hope this helps, and all the best!
I understand that your advice comes from the right place. However "High-agency" is the "Full-stack Engineer" of the AI era.
A single salary covering many disparage positions and roles. It's been reworded b/c with AI, apparently you don't even need to be an engineer (or expect to be paid as one) anymore!
Nothing new under the sun.
Hmm, I think "generalist" is the more current term for "Full-Stack Engineer." But that's more about technical skills. "High-agency" is more a combination of personality traits and technical ability.
So in terms of buzzwords it would be something like generalist + self-starter + go-getter + hustler + finisher.
They won't say it, but everyone wants basically a solo founder, except one who (to your point) gets paid as an employee.
Which is why I am saying this is going to be the most important skill. If they don't pay you enough, you could just go be a solo founder for real.