Software Engineers REAL problem with AI and Jobs
Summary
TLDRCarl, a 35-year software veteran, discusses the impact of AI on the job market for developers. He refutes the notion that AI will replace software engineers and addresses the issue of AI tools flooding job applications, leading to difficulty in getting resumes noticed. Carl suggests that human contact, networking at meetups, and engaging with recruiters directly are more effective strategies in the current job market. He advises job seekers to learn about in-demand skills from recruiters and possibly develop side projects to showcase these skills.
Takeaways
- π€ AI's impact on the job market for developers is significant, but not as a direct replacement for software engineers.
- π The use of AI tools for resume customization and job application has led to an oversaturated applicant pool, making it difficult for employers to find suitable candidates.
- π‘ AI screening tools can inadvertently filter out qualified candidates whose resumes don't match the desired keyword frequency or order.
- π The selling of AI services to both companies and applicants has created a cycle where both sides are less satisfied but feel compelled to continue using these services.
- πΌ The traditional method of job hunting, which involves human interaction, is suggested as a more effective approach in the current AI-dominated market.
- π’ Networking through meetups, job fairs, and conferences can help bypass AI filters and establish valuable connections with potential employers.
- π Cold calling recruiters can provide insights into the in-demand skills and technologies, offering a chance to stand out in the job market.
- π Researching recruiting firms and understanding their specializations can help target job searches more effectively.
- π« Avoid giving recruiters blanket permission to submit your application, as this can lead to conflicts and missed opportunities.
- π οΈ Learning about the skills that are currently in high demand can guide personal development and project work to enhance employability.
- π The internet, including AI and software development, is full of opportunities despite the challenges posed by AI in the hiring process.
Q & A
What main issue does the video address regarding AI's impact on job hunting?
-The video discusses how AI tools, used both by job applicants to auto-customize resumes and by employers for screening, have flooded the job market with applications, making it difficult for genuine candidates to stand out.
Why does the speaker believe that AI will not replace software engineers, despite common beliefs?
-The speaker, Carl, argues that the notion of AI replacing all software engineers is exaggerated. He believes this based on his 35 years of experience in the software industry and the content of his previous videos.
How do AI tools used by job applicants affect the job application process?
-AI tools allow applicants to auto-customize their resumes with job posting keywords, auto-generate cover letters, and auto-submit applications, leading to employers being inundated with applications and making the process inefficient.
What problem arises from employers using AI to screen applications?
-The use of AI by employers for screening leads to many applications being filtered out if they don't match the exact keywords or criteria set by the AI, regardless of the applicant's true qualifications.
Why does Carl suggest that the only winners in the current situation are AI service providers?
-Carl believes that AI service providers benefit from selling services to both companies and job seekers, exploiting both sides for profit without genuinely improving the hiring process or job search experience.
What does Carl predict about the future of job hunting and AI?
-Carl does not claim to know exactly how the situation will evolve but suggests that a return to more traditional, human-centric methods of job hunting might be necessary as a counter to the problems introduced by AI.
What strategies does Carl recommend for finding a job in the current market?
-Carl recommends networking through meetups, job fairs, and contacting recruiters directly as more effective strategies for job hunting, emphasizing the importance of human interaction over relying solely on online applications.
Why might recruiters play a crucial role in the job hunting process now?
-Recruiters, especially those who understand the specific needs and buzzwords of the tech industry, can provide valuable insights into what skills are in demand and help applicants find opportunities that match their skillsets.
What caveats does Carl mention regarding his advice on job hunting?
-Carl mentions that his advice is based on the US job market and may not be applicable everywhere. Additionally, his strategies might not be as effective for remote jobs due to the challenges of establishing personal connections at a distance.
What is Carl's view on the future necessity of software developers, despite AI advancements?
-Carl believes that there will always be a need for software development and opportunities for companies to profit from software, indicating that AI will not replace programmers in the foreseeable future.
Outlines
π€ AI's Impact on the Job Market for Developers
Carl, a software professional with 35 years of experience, discusses the impact of AI on the job market for developers. He refutes the idea that AI will replace all software engineers and highlights the real issue: the overuse of AI tools in job applications, leading to employers being overwhelmed with automated applications. He explains that AI is being used both to flood job postings with applications and to screen resumes, which is detrimental to both job seekers and employers. Carl suggests that the traditional method of job hunting, which involves human interaction, is more effective in the current AI-dominated job market.
π€ Building Relationships in the Industry
Carl emphasizes the importance of building relationships with others in the software engineering field. He suggests that attending meetups, job fairs, and conferences can be beneficial as it allows for networking and meeting potential future colleagues. He also discusses the role of recruiters, advising job seekers to contact them directly to understand the skills in demand and to establish a connection. Carl stresses that recruiters can provide valuable insights into the job market and can be a useful resource for finding opportunities that match one's skillset.
π Direct Approach to Recruiters
Carl provides advice on how to approach recruiters directly. He recommends using the phone to make initial contact, as it shows recruiters that they are dealing with a real person rather than an AI bot. He suggests that job seekers should research recruiting firms, look at the jobs they are hiring for, and then call to inquire about positions that match their skills. Carl also advises on how to handle the conversation with recruiters, explaining that they can provide information on in-demand skills and that job seekers should avoid giving recruiters blanket permission to submit their applications.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘AI
π‘Job Market
π‘Resume Auto-Customization
π‘Cover Letters
π‘Job Postings
π‘Hiring Process
π‘Recruiters
π‘Meetups
π‘Networking
π‘Remote Jobs
π‘Hybrid Jobs
π‘Buzzwords
Highlights
AI's impact on the job market for developers is a hot topic, with claims that AI will replace software engineers.
Carl, a 35-year software professional, disagrees with the idea that AI will replace developers and has made videos discussing this.
The real problem AI is causing in job hunting is the automation of resume and job application processes, leading to inundation of employers with applicants.
Developers are more likely to use AI tools to gain an advantage, which exacerbates the issue of automated job applications.
Employers are also using AI to screen applicants, which can filter out human resumes that don't match AI-generated criteria.
AI services are being sold to both companies and applicants, creating a cycle where both sides are unhappy and hiring rates decrease.
Carl suggests that the traditional way of job hunting, which involves human interaction, is more effective in the current AI-dominated market.
LinkedIn and other job platforms were initially useful, but Carl believes their effectiveness has decreased due to AI interference.
Carl emphasizes the importance of meeting humans who make hiring decisions, as they have not been replaced by AI.
He advises attending meetups, job fairs, and conferences to connect with people in the industry and potential future co-workers.
Recruiters can be a valuable resource, and Carl suggests reaching out to them directly to understand the current market needs.
When talking to recruiters, Carl recommends explaining your skills in a way that non-technical people can understand.
Carl advises against giving recruiters blanket permission to submit you for any job, and to maintain control over your job search.
He suggests using conversations with recruiters to identify valuable skills and potentially learn new ones to increase marketability.
Carl's advice is specific to the US market and may not apply to other regions.
His strategies may not be as effective for remote jobs due to the difficulty of making personal connections over long distances.
Carl concludes by encouraging developers not to lose hope as AI will not replace all programming jobs in the near future.
Transcripts
Welcome to the Internet of Bugs.
And if this looks familiar, you've
come to the right video.
My name is Carl.
I've spent 35 years as a software
professional.
And this video is about how AI is
really impacting
the job market for developers .
The hype on YouTube these days is
that AI
is going to replace all the
software engineers.
I think that's crap, and I've done
several videos about it,
and I've got more in the works.
So subscribe if you want to see
those.
But that's not what we're going to
talk about today.
Now today, we're talking about what
AI is actually doing
to cause a problem with and what
you might do about it.
The problem with job hunting these
days
is the number of people that are
using tools
to auto-customize their resumes,
to match the keywords of the job
postings,
auto-generate cover letters that
make it seem like
there's a person doing the applying,
and then auto-submit their job
applications.
And that means that as soon as a
job posting opens up,
a whole bunch of automated tools
spam the heck out of it,
and employers end up being
completely inundated
with applicants, covers letters and
redsmays.
This is happening for all kinds of
positions,
but it seems especially bad for
developer ones,
probably because developers are
more willing
than other professions to turn to
AI tools
to try to get an advantage.
And it only takes a few hundred
people running
auto-applying bots targeting
keywords relevant to you
to ruin the whole thing for
everyone in your space.
I'll put some links down in the
description
with more details about this.
But the short version is it's a
mess right now,
and it's taking time for the
industry to react
and figure out what to do about it.
If that wasn't bad enough, to make
things even worse,
more and more employers are using
AI
to try to screen the applicants
and the resumes that come in.
So AI is screwing up your ability
to get your resume in front of the
right person twice.
Once, by flooding all of their
screens
with resumes of other people,
and again, by filtering out your
resume
because it doesn't have all the
desired keywords
in the right order with the right
frequency
like it would if you paid for the
AI service.
This is the real impact of AI.
AI services are sold to companies
as a solution
to a problem like screening
applicants
to make sure they have the right
keywords.
And then AI is sold to applicants
as a solution to submitting jobs
to make sure their resumes and
cover letters
are customized to get past the AI
screeners.
Both sides are less happy, hiring
those way, way down.
But neither side can stop paying
or they'll get swamped or blocked
by the AI
on the other side of the
conversation.
The only people that are better off
in this situation
are the companies providing AI
services.
It's a giant scam to extract money
from everyone involved
and the only way to win is not to
play.
What that means for you is that at
least the moment,
the way that job hunting has worked
for the last 10 to 15 years is not
working anymore.
It's gonna be slower, it's gonna
require you to be patient.
I'm sorry about that,
but this is just the world the AI
companies have made for us
and we just have to put jobs in it.
Now, I'm not gonna lie
and say I know exactly how this is
gonna shake out.
I don't, companies need to hire
and so something is gonna have to
happen,
but I don't think anyone right now
knows exactly what that's gonna be.
But I have a guess at how things
might work,
at least in the short term,
based on how we used to do things.
So back in the long, long ago,
back before LinkedIn was really a
thing,
we used to get jobs the old
fashioned way
by actually talking to people.
I know that sounds scary,
but sometimes it's just what it
takes
to get around the AI scammers.
I joined LinkedIn in 2004.
I think I got my first job through
LinkedIn in 2011
and I've gotten a bunch of jobs
that way since then,
but at least for the time being,
I think that's run its course.
But it turns out I got a lot of
jobs
and a lot of other people got a lot
of jobs
back before LinkedIn
and even before the internet was
really a thing.
So let's talk about how that used
to go.
The way to get a job has always
eventually involved
talking to a human because at least
so far,
it's always been the humans
that made the final hiring
decisions.
All LinkedIn, Monster, indeed, and
the like really did
was to provide a convenient
intermediate step
for you to figure out which humans
to talk to
and for those humans to figure out
which applicants to talk to.
In other words, you talking to an
actual human
is gonna be even more important now
because on both sides of the
initial contact these days,
it's just a bunch of AIs wasting
everyone's time and money.
So the next question is,
how do you get in contact with the
right humans?
Before we start a couple of quick
caveats,
first off, I'm gonna be talking
about the US market.
That's where I live and that's what
I know.
That's what I'm gonna be talking
about.
It may or may not be at all useful
to those of you that are not in the
US.
I'm sorry about that.
I just don't have any experience
outside the US
and I don't wanna pretend that I do
and I don't want you to follow it
my advice
if it turns out that I'm completely
wrong
about the way things work in your
country.
It might work, humans have some
things in common,
but I have absolutely no idea
if it might be relevant to you non-US
folks or not.
Second caveat is that what I'm
gonna talk about
is not going to work nearly as well
for remote jobs.
Remote jobs inherently have the
problem
that it's harder to make a person
to person contact
over long distances so the AI job
services
can mess everything up a lot easier.
That said, you may be able to
apply some of these strategies
for your remote work and I wish you
the best of luck.
If you only want remote jobs though,
I'd recommend you jump over the
next chapter
and go to the chapter about voice
calls.
Okay, strategy number one is to
find the places
where the people that you want to
talk to physically are
and go to those places.
A great source for this is meetup.com,
although there may be other sites
or organizations
in your area.
I ran a local meetup group here in
Austin, Texas,
where I lived for seven years until
COVID killed it off,
although it had been dropping off
over some time before that.
Early on, we had a lot of recruiters
that would show up to the meetings,
just hoping to meet people.
That eventually stopped,
but my guess is more and more of
that's gonna happen again.
So look at where the meetup groups
are in your area.
Look at the organizations and the
job fairs
and the conferences and the other
groups of folks
that do the kinds of tech that you
do
and find where they get together
and try to meet up with them.
Those meetup groups are starting to
have face-to-face
get-togethers again.
Finally, just in time to be useful
for this.
Now, there's a perception amongst
people
that are newer to the industry,
that there's a lot of competition
between people that do the same job.
There is sometimes a little of that,
but in my experience,
I found that most places that hire
software engineers
hire teams and knowing the other
folks in your area
that you might be on a team with is
very useful.
That way, if someone ends up
needing a new member
to their team and there's someone
there that you've met,
that might give you a leg up.
So don't think of the other folks
at the meetups as competition.
Think of them as potential future
co-workers.
The other thing that happens around
meetups
is that when a group of people
that have a particular skill set
get together,
recruiters that want to find people
with that skill tend to follow.
That has not been nearly as true
lately
because most of that stuff moved to
the internet
and especially since the pandemic,
all of that stuff stopped
completely.
My guess is a lot of that's gonna
start back up.
And the reason that I think that is
because I'm guessing that in most
HR departments
and in most recruiting firms,
there are people who are old enough
that they remember how we used to
do it.
And when they realize the new
internet way is falling apart,
some of them are gonna say,
"Let's go back to trying the old way,
at least for the time being,
till we figure something else out."
Next thing, this is gonna sound
weird, but hear me out.
You can call recruiters yourself.
I know that over the last couple of
decades,
recruiters have gotten a bad rap
for sending you email out of the
blue
or calling out of the blue or bugging
you.
And especially for contacting you
about jobs
that don't actually have much to do
with your actual skills at all.
It's often become a joke about
getting called by a recruiter.
But there are a lot of recruiters
out there
that actually do a really good job.
And especially if you're unemployed,
you don't really have much to lose.
There are bad recruiters and you
should avoid the ones
that appear to be just spamming out
a bunch of requests
without mentioning what the job is
or what skills it needs.
But there are a lot of recruiters
out there
that you can actually learn a lot
from.
Although earlier I said call, email
might work too.
But in my experience,
actually getting someone on the
actual phone will work better
because they'll know that they're
dealing with a real person
and not just another time-wasting
AI bot.
If you need to use just email for
some reason,
try to target it as a specific
recruiter's work address
instead of just a generic email
address for a company.
Most recruiters that I know,
and I've known a lot of them over
the decades,
are people that like talking to
people.
And they especially like talking to
people
that understand the kinds of
technologies
that they are recruiting people to
work on.
Keep in mind that often recruiters
know
that they're looking for someone
with a particular buzzwords,
but they're not developers.
And they don't necessarily have a
good understanding
of what those buzzwords mean
or how to use them in a sentence or
that kind of thing.
And they know that makes them sound
stupid and they hate that.
So being able to have a
conversation with a recruiter
about what a particular buzzword in
your field means
is usually valuable information to
them.
And in return, you can usually get
information
about what kinds of skills,
what kinds of buzzwords are
particularly hot at the moment
in this particular area,
and what kinds of things someone in
your position
might be able to do to stand out at
the particular moment.
Remember that although you might
know a lot more than them
about what tech is good or bad or
popular or not,
they know a lot more than you
about what skills companies are
actually wanting
to pay for at the moment
and what they're having difficulty
finding.
And that's very valuable
information for you.
So how do you cold call a recruiter?
I would say start with Googling
recruiting firms
in your area or an area that you'd
like to work
and then look at their websites.
Most recruiting websites have jobs
posted on them.
They're usually not anywhere close
to all the jobs they're currently
looking for.
But by looking at what kinds of
jobs
that recruiting firm is looking for,
you can find whether or not that
recruiting firm deals
in the kind of tech or development
that you're skilled at.
Then most of the websites have a
phone number
or fill out this form and we'll
give you a call kind of pages.
I would say you're probably better
off
calling the phone number than just
filling out the form
or at least that's been my
experience.
You won't necessarily get to talk
to a recruiter immediately.
Sometimes you end up getting voicemail
and you end up leaving a message
and that's fine.
Just tell them who you are, how
they can contact you
and what kind of work you're
looking for.
At least in my experience,
most recruiters like talking on the
phone.
It's not the kind of job that a
person would likely choose
to do if they didn't like talking
on the phone.
So a lot of recruiters would rather
respond to a voicemail
than respond to a web form.
Plus, if they hear your voice on
the phone,
they know you're not just some spam
bot
that filled out contact form on
their website.
A voice on their voicemail isn't
guaranteed not to be a bot,
but the odds are they aren't
getting AI generated voicemails,
at least not yet.
When you actually talk to them,
tell them it's your developer
and give them a really brief
description of what you do.
Like, "I'm a full stack developer,"
"I'm a javascript developer,"
"I'm a front end developer," whatever.
And then tell them that you'd like
to know
what kinds of skills and jobs in
your area
they are looking to fill.
As you have that conversation,
they will probably start asking you
more
about your background and what
kinds of job you're looking for.
That's cool.
Take that opportunity to talk about
your experience.
Let them ask questions,
but talk to them as if you were
talking to a sibling
or a friend who's not into
computers
or at least not into computers the
way you are.
And when you talk about what you
did someplace
or what side project you're working
on,
mention the technologies and
mention the buzzwords,
but describe what you did not in
terms of references
to a bunch of other buzzwords,
but in terms of how a non-professional
would describe it.
And generally they will find that
very helpful.
It's probably not the case
that the first recruiting firm you
call
will happen to have a job
that exactly matches the kind of
stuff you do.
That would just be too big a
coincidence.
But at least once you get put in
their database
or once you get fresh in their mind,
they're a lot more likely to be
talking to a client
and see a position and think,
"Hey, maybe that person I talked to
the other day
might be a good fit for that."
It's also useful to talk to more
than one recruiting firm
at a time, although there is an
issue.
Know that recruiters get paid
usually based on a fraction
of the salary that they place a
person at.
So if you have two recruiters that
both put you
in the same job, only one of them
is gonna get paid for it
and the other one's gonna get
annoyed.
It's not unusual for recruiters to
be searching
for a position and talk to someone
and find out that person has
already been submitted
to that position by a different
recruiter.
That's just the price of doing
business
and they might be disappointed,
but they don't generally get upset
about that.
What they get upset about is when
they think they have
the right to represent you for a
given job.
And then they learn that you
actually got submitted
to that job by somebody else.
Just make it clear to them that you
were calling
around trying to find jobs and that
you'd be happy
to talk to the recruiter about a
specific job.
And if they have one, please to let
you know
if something comes up, they match
your skills,
but don't give them blanket
permissions
to be completely in charge of
finding a job for you.
In those conversations, a lot of
times,
what you can find out is what
technologies,
what frameworks, what buzzwords,
that recruiter
is currently having trouble finding
people for.
And that gives you an idea of what
kinds of things
might be worth learning, what kinds
of side projects
you might want to work on and what
kinds of technologies
you might want to steer your
current job toward
and what kinds of things are marketable
and what's really useful
information to have.
Because if it turns out there's a
specific skill
that a lot of jobs are looking for
that they haven't found any
candidates that have,
that's an indication that you can
read up on that
and play around with it a little
and maybe do a little side project
on it.
And then the next time you talk to
someone,
you can be able to go, "Oh. Well,
I haven't actually done that for
work,
but I did do a side project with it.
Let me tell you about that."
And if they're having trouble
finding someone
who's got that buzzword and they're
experienced
and they'll probably be willing to
put you
in front of the client,
even if it's not a tech you've
worked with professionally,
but just when you worked with on
the side.
Unfortunately, this isn't a fast
solution.
It's worked for me for years,
but it's not nearly as efficient
as the LinkedIn pipeline was back
before the AI people ruined it.
So that's my advice. To recap.
One, feel free to submit your
resume to jobs online,
but don't expect it to get you
anywhere.
Two, you're probably better off
looking for a hybrid
or on-site jobs in your area,
rather than purely remote jobs.
Although people's circumstances are
different
and sometimes you don't have a
choice.
Three, find places like meetups or
job fairs
or trade shows in your area
that are relevant to your job
experience
and go to them and talk to people.
Making actual human contact becomes
much more powerful
in a world of money sucking time-wasting
AI services.
Four, contact recruiting firms or
firms
that recruit in either the area of
the country
or the area of technology that you
are in
and call them and ask them what
kinds of skills
they currently have clients looking
for.
There's no guarantee they'll have
stuff for you,
but they're in a better position to
know than you are,
if all you're doing is doom-scrolling
job listings
and even if they don't have a job
for you now,
knowing recruiters often turns out
to be useful later.
Five, never give a recruiter
blanket permission
to submit you just anywhere they
want to on your behalf.
Make sure and tell them that you'd
be happy
to talk to them about particular
specific positions
if they have something that might
be a fit for you
and that they wanted to submit you
for.
Tell them that you're calling
around
and talking to other companies and
other people
and that you wouldn't want to have
them waste their time
submitting you to someplace
that you've already been in contact
with.
Six, use those conversations with
recruiters
to find out what skills are
valuable in your area
of the country or area of
technology
and take that as a sign that it
might be useful
to read up on that, to learn more
about that
and maybe do a side project on that
because if they're having trouble
finding people who do that,
that's an indication that there's
an opportunity there
that you might be able to take
advantage of.
So I wish you luck, I know it's
hard,
but just keep in mind that there's
a ton of software
in the world and there are a ton of
opportunities
for companies and investors to make
money with software,
so there will always be a need for
software
to get created and written.
If you're afraid that all this is
pointless
because AIs will be taking all the
coding jobs
in addition to ruining all the
hiring processes.
Well, then One, I have no idea why
you watched
this video to the end.
And two, on this screen now should
be a playlist of videos
about why my experience tells me AI
cannot
and will not be replacing all the
programmers
in the foreseeable future.
So that's what I have for you in
this video.
If you have questions that you'd
like to hear
an experienced developer's
perspective on,
please leave them in the comments
below.
Subscribe if you wanna see more
and most of all, never forget that
the Internet
is full of bugs. Let's be careful
out there.
Thanks for watching.
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