Kabir Dhillon

“Software engineering is dead” “Devin will replace software engineers” “Your work as an engineer is now worthless” My feed has been flooded with ‘experts’ claiming “SWE roles won’t exist anymore” To me, it sounds absolutely ridiculous. You’re just putting fear in young, talented minds. Everything goes through innovation and adaptation. Calculators did not replace mathematicians. They just made the mechanical process of calculating unbelievably easy- almost like magic! That’s exactly what Gen AI is doing today. It’s an assisting tool. Gen AI won’t replace software engineers. I will just elaborate on one of the several reasons why I believe so- - Writing code is a small part of a software engineer's daily work. - Coding-related activities generally decrease with an engineer's seniority. The focus starts shifting towards making architectural decisions. - In any company of decent size, ownership of software architecture is distributed amongst several teams. These teams have single-threaded owners who lead a mix of junior and senior engineers. Each team has a roadmap and a certain direction. Things work when all of these teams work together. - SWEs are often involved in discussions involving multiple teams. There are arguments around the pros and cons of various things in the roadmap. - SWEs have to defend their team’s decisions, which might be necessary to overcome problems localized to their team’s charter. This stuff is too nuanced to handle for AI, considering where it is currently. Honestly, I don’t see how AI would ever do these activities. The final thing in this regard is that there are existing businesses making millions and billions of dollars in revenue with the software that their engineers have built. Do you think executives, leaders, and even investors are going to trust an AI bot to change or control that? I don’t think so. P.S. If you are wondering about Devin, just see the demo- It is nothing more than an assistant(at best) to a SWE!

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Let’s talk about the job search timelines for students. This applies to both internship and full time job seekers in the US. Specifically, how, when and which companies to apply to.  This works well for students who graduate or start their internship in May/June. December graduates will have to modify their timelines accordingly. The first step is to update your resume. If you want tips for the same, please refer to my other post on this topic. ( https://lnkd.in/ghVxeUUW ) 1. August - September - Apply to financial institutions like Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg etc as they are the first ones to open their roles in August. An easy way to find these companies would be to find the top players in finance categories like Asset Management, Consumer Banking, High Frequency Trading etc. - Large tech companies start their process from Mid-August to Mid-September. Make sure to apply as soon as the role opens up. Depending on the company, referrals may or may not add value. 2. October - December - Around these months, midsize companies generally start hiring for university roles. If you are not aware of the company names, these roles do generally show up on LinkedIn  jobs, Builtin, University Job Portals etc.  - Another way to search for these company names is through ETFs like S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, QQQ. Similarly looking at the top players in multiple sectors like Healthcare, Pharma, Communications etc. 3. January - February - Small and Mid sized companies continue to post roles during this time. I would recommend continuing to apply for all the positions that you see on listing sites. 4. March - April - This is a good time to start reaching out to managers on Linkedin. Specifically just search the word ‘hiring’, ‘hiring swe’ etc with different combinations. - Be kind and have a short 4 line message about you, why you are reaching out and the relevant details about your experience. Please do not spam people with multiple or long messages, it does not help anyone. Bonus Tip: Technical conferences, Hackathons(eg: MLH), Internal University Mailing Lists are also some good ways to network. Volunteering for conferences helps get free entry, so consider applying early for them.   Lastly, remember to keep applying, be optimistic and don’t be dejected by any rejections. The process can be tedious and requires effort & patience. In the end, everything works out!

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I'm fully aware that Alex Chiou's most recent post was a hot take, or more accurately, rage bait, but it inspired me to share some resume advice that has gotten me some traction recently. The kind of advice not behind a paywall because this type of advice should be free. Let's set something straight. You do not need to keep your resume to 1 page. The length of your resume has no bearing on your work as an engineer. If you're giving this advice...stop. Just make sure that all of the important information is on the 1st page. On your first page you can include: - A summary. Something that describes what you've done and what you're looking to do. You can use the past, present, future model here. Example, "I did X, I currently doing Y, I'd like to do Z." Keep it professional and skill-based. No one cares that you love cats and have 10 of them. - A list of relevant skills, perhaps broken down by category, such as languages, tools, libraries, software, etc. - Your work history. Include 3-5 bullet points per position. Be sure to include your accomplishments and metrics. Don't include your duties. For each bullet, use a verb to start and use the "Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z]" template. An example could be "Increased website visits by 20%, as verified through Google Analytics, by spearheading front-end development and adoption of a user-centric approach utilizing Next.js, Sanity CMS, GROQ query language, and Tailwind CSS framework" - Any projects you're working on, such as open source, personal projects you're proud of, anything that shows you're expanding your skillset. - Your education. (Personal opinion: avoid graduation date as it can lead to bias in the hiring process) Look, here's the big secret: Nobody knows what they're doing. There is no silver bullet. We're all just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. But what I know for certain is you shouldn't have to pay for resume assistance. That's nonsense. If you have any questions, I'm happy to help... for free! Did I miss anything? #WomenInTech #ResumesDoNotHaveToBeOnePage #LinkedInLunatics

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🔥 JOB ALERT 🔥 I curated this list primarily for early career software engineers and those pivoting into tech by way of self-study and bootcamp since I've been the "career mom" to so many of you who started out in tech stressing out over the fact that you didn't have as much real world experience as your competition. Here's something that I've learned from having pivoted a few times over the last 30 years myself and from the 100's of people I've known over the course of the last 10 years that I've been in recruiting and career coaching who have also made successful pivots: ✅ As long as you're pragmatic about the fact that you have gaps to cover and ground to make up but are willing to put in the work to even the field... ✅ As long as you're willing to push past your comfort zone.. ✅ As long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other... ✅ As long as you heed good advice and throw out bad advice... ✅ As long as you have a job search plan that you not only know how to execute but modify along the way... I promise you, no matter how daunting nor difficult the journey ahead may appear, you will get to your destination and a year after that, you'll look back at where you were just 12 months before and you'll not only be proud of what you achieved but you'll be able to look at what you've gained and you'll know the trials and travails that you had to go through to land that first big job was worth it. Always remember, career success starts with a strategic plan and job searching is a marathon, not a sprint. And when you need help landing the right job faster, with no guesswork and less frustration, call your career mom. 😉 Dezzi #earlycareer #hiring #techjobs #softwareengineerjobs

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You submit your code for review and see the comment "LGTM." You think, "What the hell, are they saying LGBT? Do they want my code to be more inclusive?" Then you realize it just means "Looks Good To Me," and you laugh, imagining your if-else statements waving rainbow flags. #programming #coding #softwareengineering #lifeofsoftwareengineer

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Things to keep in mind as a laid off #softwareengineer I've been affected by #layoffs for a couple months now and wanted to condense some thoughts that may help others that find themselves without a long term role. 1. Prioritize #mentalhealth It's easy to fall into a dark spiral while laid off. Keep your mind clear with #exercise, eating healthily, (for me meditation helps) and enjoying your hobbies/friends/ the warm weather. Relax a little - you won't get the opportunity to when you're working full time again. Life has given you a Costco-sized bag of lemons - enjoy some lemonade on the beach, and with some friends. 2. Leverage tech and your #network It takes more to get noticed today. Leverage #AI to help you touch up your resume, resume scanners to improve your chances, and people you know to get that referral and recruiter phone call. 3. Slow and steady wins the race Applications are a numbers game. Keep up the grind, consistently, and don't burn out. If you're in #tech like me, learning #algorithms and #systemdesign is a lot like scaling a mountain, but with consistency you can turn that mountain into a... large series of manageable hills instead lol.

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30 Days of Giveaway Series: Helping Folks Succeed in Their Job Search During These Tough Times - Day 13 On Popular demand bringing leetcode premium giveaway back🔥🔥 🚀 Leetcode Premium Giveaway Marathon! 🚀Everyone interested in this deal who comments will win this subscription. In the next 24 hours, I’m giving away as many leetcode premium subscriptions as possible to help you stand out in the competitive job market. Plus, I’ll be referring qualified candidates to roles at Walmart! To enter, Like this post 👍 and Follow me on LinkedIn 🙋‍♂️And also comment or dm me leetcode premium and I’ll be sending you the details. I am personally dedicating my time and resources to provide this service to you. ♻ Share this with your network to spread the word. Let’s do our part to help each other succeed in this tough market. #JobSearch #CareerGrowth #Walmart #Giveaway #TechCommunity

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