My Honest Thoughts On The Software Engineering Market In 2024

ClΓ©ment Mihailescu
20 Aug 202422:47

Summary

TLDRIn this video, the speaker candidly discusses the 2024 software engineering job market, starting with a stark warning of its current challenges, particularly for those with limited experience. They recount the industry's 'Golden Era' in the 2010s, when tech was booming, and contrast it with the brutal job market of today, marked by high competition and layoffs. However, they pivot to optimism, noting that companies are still hiring and AI's potential to augment, not replace, engineers. The video ends on a motivational note, encouraging viewers to focus on controllable factors like skill development and networking.

Takeaways

  • πŸ“‰ The software engineering job market in 2024 is experiencing a downturn, making it a tough time for new and moderately experienced engineers to find jobs.
  • ⚠️ The speaker warns that the first half of the video contains negative insights about the industry, which might not be uplifting for those struggling to get a job.
  • πŸ”„ The speaker attributes the current job market's difficulties to a combination of economic factors and a saturation of software engineers due to the industry's previous growth and appeal.
  • πŸ’Ό Reflecting on personal experience, the speaker highlights how the tech industry's high salaries and low barrier to entry attracted many people, including those switching careers, to become software engineers.
  • πŸ“ˆ The 'Golden Era of Tech' in the late 2010s saw an influx of software engineers, which has contributed to the current oversupply and increased competition for jobs.
  • πŸ’‘ The speaker suggests that the high productivity enabled by AI does not necessarily mean fewer engineers are needed, as businesses will always find more work for highly productive teams.
  • πŸ›‘ The video mentions the impact of rising interest rates and economic conditions on tech companies' hiring practices, leading to cost-cutting measures including layoffs and hiring freezes.
  • πŸ€– The role of AI in software engineering is double-edged; while it can increase productivity, it also raises concerns about job obsolescence among engineers.
  • πŸš€ Despite the challenges, the speaker remains optimistic about the industry, noting that companies are still hiring and that software engineering remains a high-paying field with good work-life balance.
  • 🌐 The speaker encourages focusing on controllable factors such as personal skill development, networking, and interview preparation, rather than worrying about uncontrollable external factors.
  • πŸ”‘ The video concludes by suggesting that software engineering is still a viable and recommended career path for young people, despite the increased difficulty of entry.

Q & A

  • What is the main topic discussed in the video?

    -The main topic discussed in the video is the current state of the software engineering job market in 2024, focusing on both the negative and positive aspects.

  • Why did the speaker decide to learn coding?

    -The speaker decided to learn coding after noticing the high salaries and job opportunities in the tech industry compared to other fields, especially after graduating with a math degree and finding lower-paying job offers.

  • What does the speaker refer to as the 'Golden Era of tech'?

    -The 'Golden Era of tech' refers to the period from around 2015 to 2022, characterized by a high demand for software engineers, low barriers to entry, and high salaries.

  • What major economic change occurred in 2022 that affected the tech industry?

    -In 2022, interest rates in the United States and many places around the world started to rise, making it more expensive for companies to borrow money and leading to a more cautious approach to hiring and spending.

  • How did the increase in interest rates impact the tech industry's hiring practices?

    -The increase in interest rates led companies to become more defensive with their finances, resulting in a slowdown or cessation of hiring and even layoffs, which increased competition for the remaining software engineering jobs.

  • What is the speaker's stance on AI's potential to replace software engineers?

    -The speaker believes that AI will not replace software engineers in the near future, arguing that the risk associated with relying solely on AI is too high for rational businesses.

  • What advice does the speaker give to those looking to enter the software engineering field?

    -The speaker advises focusing on controllable factors such as studying hard, networking, and preparing well for interviews, rather than worrying about uncontrollable external factors like interest rates or AI advancements.

  • What is the speaker's view on the future of software engineering as a career?

    -The speaker views software engineering as a thriving career with high pay and good work-life balance, despite the increased competition and challenges in entering the field.

  • What is the name of the company the speaker founded, and what does it offer?

    -The speaker founded AlgoExpert, a company that provides software engineering interview preparation materials across various disciplines such as coding, systems design, and machine learning.

  • How does the speaker suggest using AI advancements in the context of software engineering?

    -The speaker suggests embracing AI as a tool that can make software engineers more productive, rather than fearing it as a replacement, and focusing on the increased efficiency it brings to the job.

  • What is the speaker's final conclusion about the current software engineering market?

    -The speaker concludes that while the 'Golden Era' of tech may be over, software engineering remains a high-paying and desirable career with challenges but also significant opportunities.

Outlines

00:00

😟 Negative Outlook on the 2024 Software Engineering Job Market

The speaker begins by warning viewers of a negative perspective on the software engineering job market in 2024. They discuss the difficulty of finding jobs for software engineers, especially those with less than five years of experience. The speaker suggests that the situation may not improve, reflecting on the 'Golden Era of tech' in the 2010s when it was easier to break into the industry. They share their personal story of transitioning into tech post-college in 2016, noting the stark contrast between the job opportunities and salaries available then versus now.

05:01

πŸ“‰ Market Downturn and Its Impact on Software Engineers

This paragraph delves into the economic factors that have led to a tough job market for software engineers. The speaker explains how rising interest rates and the resulting scarcity of investment capital have forced companies to become more cautious with hiring and cost-cutting, leading to layoffs and a surplus of skilled engineers competing for a limited number of jobs. They describe the increased competition for positions and the heightened difficulty of securing interviews and job offers.

10:03

πŸ”„ The Changing Landscape of Tech Companies and AI's Role

The speaker discusses the shift in tech companies' approach to hiring, suggesting that businesses have realized they can operate effectively with fewer software engineers. They highlight the maturation of big tech companies and the overhiring that occurred during the growth phase. Additionally, the emergence of AI and its potential impact on the demand for software engineers is explored, with the speaker expressing concern that AI advancements might reduce the need for human engineers, although they also acknowledge the impressive capabilities of AI tools.

15:05

πŸš€ Positive Insights Amidst the Software Engineering Market Challenges

Despite the negative tone, the speaker offers some optimism, noting that companies are still hiring and there are jobs available. They share anecdotes about being contacted by recruiters from major tech firms and mention specific industries like blockchain and crypto that are actively seeking software engineers. The speaker also argues against the fear of AI replacing software engineers, suggesting that AI will not eliminate the need for human expertise in the foreseeable future.

20:07

πŸ’ͺ Focusing on可控 Factors and the Resilience of Software Engineering

The speaker encourages viewers to concentrate on aspects within their control, such as studying computer science and networking, rather than worrying about uncontrollable factors like AI or interest rates. They emphasize the enduring demand for software engineers and compare the profession to construction, suggesting that as technology evolves, the need for skilled engineers will continue to grow. The speaker concludes by recommending software engineering as a solid career choice for young people, despite the current challenges.

πŸ€” Mixed Conclusions on the State of the Tech Industry in 2024

In the final paragraph, the speaker synthesizes their thoughts, acknowledging the end of the 'Golden Era' of tech but maintaining that software engineering remains a high-paying and balanced career. They recognize the increased competition and barriers to entry but still endorse software engineering as an excellent career path for those starting out. The speaker invites viewers to share their thoughts and concludes by encouraging engagement with the content.

Mindmap

Keywords

πŸ’‘Software Engineering Market

The 'Software Engineering Market' refers to the current state and trends of the job market for software engineers. In the video, it is discussed as being in a 'brutal' state, particularly for those with limited work experience, due to a high number of applicants and fewer job openings.

πŸ’‘Golden Era of Tech

The 'Golden Era of Tech' denotes a period, particularly the latter half of the 2010s, when the technology industry was booming, and software engineering jobs were abundant and high-paying. The video contrasts this period with the present market conditions, suggesting that it may be over.

πŸ’‘Barrier to Entry

'Barrier to Entry' in the context of the video refers to the difficulty level for new or inexperienced software engineers to enter the job market. The script mentions that the barrier is higher now due to increased competition and fewer job opportunities.

πŸ’‘Work Experience

In the video, 'Work Experience' is a critical factor that affects a software engineer's ability to secure a job. It highlights the challenges faced by those with no to four or five years of experience, especially in a competitive market.

πŸ’‘Interest Rates

'Interest Rates' are mentioned in the script as a significant economic factor that influenced the tech industry's downturn. Higher interest rates made borrowing money more expensive for companies, leading to cost-cutting measures, including hiring freezes and layoffs.

πŸ’‘Hiring Freeze

A 'Hiring Freeze' is a company's decision to stop hiring new employees. The script describes how many tech companies implemented hiring freezes in response to economic changes, contributing to the tough job market for software engineers.

πŸ’‘Layoffs

'Layoffs' refer to the termination of employment for a group of employees. The video script explains that layoffs have increased the pool of job seekers, intensifying competition for the limited software engineering positions available.

πŸ’‘AI (Artificial Intelligence)

In the video, 'AI' is discussed as a double-edged sword. On one hand, it is seen as a potential threat to the job security of software engineers by automating certain tasks. On the other hand, it is also viewed as a tool that can increase productivity, although it is not expected to replace human engineers entirely.

πŸ’‘Productivity

'Productivity' in the context of the video is associated with the impact of AI on the software engineering workforce. It suggests that while AI can make engineers more efficient, it does not necessarily lead to a reduction in the number of engineers needed.

πŸ’‘AlgoExpert

'AlgoExpert' is a company mentioned in the script that provides interview preparation materials for software engineers. It is used as an example of a resource that can help engineers prepare for the competitive job market.

πŸ’‘Career Path

The 'Career Path' in the video refers to the journey and progression of an individual's professional life. The script suggests that despite current challenges, software engineering remains a viable and recommendable career path for those seeking a high-paying job with good work-life balance.

Highlights

The speaker shares their honest thoughts on the current state of the software engineering job market in 2024.

A warning is given about the negative tone of the first half of the video, which may not be motivational for those struggling to find a job.

The software engineering job market is described as brutal, especially for those with no to four or five years of experience.

The speaker predicts that the job market is unlikely to improve in the near future, based on current trends.

A brief history of the 'Golden Era of tech' in the 2010s is shared, highlighting the high demand and high salaries for software engineers.

The speaker's personal story of transitioning into tech after college and the lucrative job offers they witnessed is shared.

The influx of people into the tech industry from 2016 to 2022 due to the perception of high pay and low barriers to entry is discussed.

The impact of rising interest rates and the subsequent economic changes on tech companies' hiring practices is explained.

The speaker details how cost-cutting measures led to hiring freezes and layoffs, increasing competition for the remaining jobs.

The difficulty of securing interviews and the high bar for passing them in the current job market is highlighted.

A recommendation is made to check out AlgoExpert for software engineering interview preparation materials.

The speaker argues against the fear that AI will replace software engineers, stating that it is unlikely in the near future.

AI's role in increasing productivity is seen as a positive, suggesting that it will not necessarily reduce the need for software engineers.

The enduring demand for software engineers is emphasized, comparing it to the constant need for construction workers despite technological advancements.

The speaker encourages focusing on controllable factors such as study, networking, and interview preparation rather than external influences.

A conclusion is drawn that while the 'Golden Era' of tech may be over, software engineering remains a high-paying and balanced career choice.

The video ends with a call to action for viewers to share their thoughts in the comments and to subscribe for more content.

Transcripts

play00:00

what's up everybody how's it going in

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this video I'm going to share my honest

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thoughts about the current software

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engineering Market in

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2024 I figure that the best way to do

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that is to share first my unfiltered

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negative thoughts about the software

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engineering Market in 2024 and then to

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share my unfiltered positive thoughts

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about the market right now and then we

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can kind of combine the two thoughts

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together and come to a conclusion so

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with that said I have to give you a

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warning the first half of this video is

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going to be quite negative so if you're

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kind of feeling down right now if you're

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struggling to get a job or something I

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would encourage you to watch the entire

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video because the first half is

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definitely not going to motivate you or

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make you feel any better it's going to

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probably like make you feel even worse

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but I do think that this is the best way

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to share my honest thoughts about the

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market so with that said the negative

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thoughts about the software engineering

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industry right now what is so negative

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about it well to put it simply I think

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it comes down to right now is a brutal

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time to find a job as a software

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engineer particularly for the software

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Engineers that fall in the bracket of no

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work experience all the way to four to

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five years of work experience which is

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basically senior software engineer at

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that point so very very brutal to get a

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job as a software engineer especially in

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that bracket and what makes this even

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worse the really depressing part of this

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is that that honestly I don't think it's

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going to get better anytime soon if ever

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like there's a world where it doesn't

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get better than right now now in order

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to understand why it's so brutal right

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now we have to rewind the clock a little

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bit and go back to the Golden Era of

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tech which I'd like to think is like the

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2010s but particularly the latter half

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of the 201 TS so let's say 2015 2016 and

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beyond all the way to

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2022 and uh going back there I'm going

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to share uh very briefly my story how I

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got into Tech because it's very relevant

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here I got into Tech uh after I

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graduated from college in 2016 I had

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never written a line of code many of you

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know this uh I had a degree in math and

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um I remember the the few jobs that I

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had applied to that had nothing to do

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with tech nothing to do with software

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engineering they were all offering like

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the the sort of advertised salary ranges

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were somewhere between like 40,000 to

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$60,000 a year and this was in New York

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City mindu which is a high cost of

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living area arguably the highest cost of

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living area in the United States and um

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I remember I had some friends who were

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like the same age as me just graduated

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from college but with a computer science

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degree who were Landing jobs that were

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paying you know 110$ 1220 $130,000 a

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year here in Silicon Valley and I was

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like okay wait like what is going on

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here and that's why I decided that I

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needed to learn to code I went to a

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coding boot camp for about three months

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learned to code really enjoyed it and

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then got a job at Google which is right

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around the time that I uh founded my

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company algo expert and uh the key Point

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here is that I was not the only person

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to do this right there were many other

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people who did this at the same time as

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me and then after me you know after 2016

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so in 2017 18 all the way through 2022

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more and more and more and more people

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did the exact same thing now not all of

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them were new grads like me many of them

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were in other Industries you know they

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were like two five 10 years 15 years

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into their careers and they were like uh

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I'm not making a lot of money or I just

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don't really enjoy my job and they s

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this opportunity in Tech and so they

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flocked to it it was this feeling of you

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know there is easy money to be made out

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there easy good money not like bad money

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not small money a lot of money to be

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made out there with a low barrier to

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entry I have to get in and so over these

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you know the second half of the the 2020

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2010's decade into 2020 and Beyond you

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had hundreds of thousands of developers

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that flocked into the industry and the

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industry meaning the companies you know

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software engineering companies or

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companies hiring software engineers

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welcomed them with open arms they hired

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most of these people and the reason they

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did is because back then everybody was

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hiring can you imagine that back then

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there was at least supposedly there was

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a shortage of software Engineers like I

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remember when I got in the field and and

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during the few years after I got into

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the field you kept hearing that there

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was a shortage of software Engineers

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there were not enough software Engineers

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to fill the demand from companies like

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companies were hiring too many rules

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needed to fill too many positions and

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there weren't enough software Engineers

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or at least qualified software Engineers

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very hard to imagine like right now in

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2024 when everything seems so [Β __Β ] but

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so okay you had all these people who

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flocked into the industry and the

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industry accepted them so everything was

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you know great all sunshines and

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rainbows until early to mid 2022 why

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what happened in early to mid 2022

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interest rates in the United States and

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in many places in the world started to

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go up and so that meant that slowly but

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surely slowly but suddenly money became

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very expensive to borrow money became

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very expensive to raise and so what do

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companies do when money becomes hard to

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borrow money becomes more expensive to

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borrow hard to raise they start to be

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much more defensive of their money

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suddenly Money Matters suddenly it

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matters that you're profitable if you're

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a big company it matters because you

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want your stock price to keep going up

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if you're a small company or like a

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startup it matters because if you're not

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profitable you die if you can't raise

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money right and so what these companies

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did is they started to know cut costs

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you know we need to make sure that we

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can make money that we can make a good

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amount of money we cut costs and so they

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stopped hiring they stopped or they

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slowed hiring but a lot of them stopped

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hiring altogether and then on top of

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that many of them did layoffs so what

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happens when so many companies stop

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hiring and do layoffs well you've got

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the entire cohort of like new upand

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cominging software Engineers from 2021

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to 2022 is that can't find a job

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suddenly and then you've got the entire

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like you've got you've got a huge amount

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of software Engineers from the cohorts

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of like 2016 all the way to 2022 that

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get laid off so they get thrown back

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into the market and they also need to

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find a job so suddenly you've got all

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these software Engineers competing for

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the few jobs that are still available

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cuz we have to clarify like it's not

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like everybody stopped hiring it's not

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like there were no more open software

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engine positions completely whatsoever

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no there were still some just way fewer

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I think at the bottom of the market I

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think there were like 70% or 65% fewer

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open jobs um compared to the top in like

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early to mid 2022 but so suddenly you've

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got all these people competing for very

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few positions and boom there in comes

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the brutality of the current software

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engineering job market and uh what makes

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it really particularly tough is that

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like you like for people who have no

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work experience who who only have like

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one to two years of work experience

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they're competing against people of

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their own level but they're also

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competing against people who have three

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four five maybe even six years of work

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experience because think about it

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imagine you're like a senior software

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engineer at Google and you got laid off

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in one of the Google layoffs and now the

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only job that you can find is at let's

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say a startup okay a startup called uh

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XYZ and that startup XYZ is only hiring

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for one software engineer and that

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software engineer is going to get paid

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$150,000 in let's say California okay

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well for that senior software engineer

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from Google who used to be making

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$350,000 at Google like that is a an

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entrylevel software engineering role you

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know at least based on salary but if it

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is the only software engineering role

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that he or she can apply to and get then

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they're still going to go after it right

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and so all of a sudden all those

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entrylevel people or Junior people

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they're competing against that senior

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person for the same job which makes it

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really really brutal very brutal to uh

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land an interview very brutal to

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sometimes even find the open jobs

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because a lot of companies they don't

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even need to put their job posts on like

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open you know job boards because they

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get flooded with applications and

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instead they can just like go to their

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internal existing software engineers and

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just get referrals like that um but and

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then it's it's a lot harder also to pass

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the interviews because if you've got you

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know let's say like a thousand people

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applying for one job or you know 10,000

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people applying for one job you know you

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narrow it down to like I don't know 50

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people and then of those 50 people all

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interviewing for that one position and

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so the the bar to to pass is much higher

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and uh yeah it's all around brutal now

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of course if you do get one of those

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highly coveted interviews you you want

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to make sure that you prepare and that

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you do very well because that's going to

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you know be your your one shot at

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Landing that job so here of course I'm

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going to recommend that you check out my

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company algoexpert algoexpert.io we've

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got you know the best uh software

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engineering interview prep materials

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across all disciplines like coding

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interviews systems design machine

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learning front end definitely check it

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out infrastructure iOS

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um algoexpert.io us a promo code clam CM

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for discount on the platform but so as

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we just said yeah very very very brutal

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market and the reason that it's not

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going to get better anytime soon and

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perhaps ever which to me is the is the

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more negative part of this entire story

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is that um companies have kind of

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realized that they're not really worse

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off now with you know half as many

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software Engineers than they were before

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and here to be honest I think you know

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there's a few components at play uh one

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of the components is that particularly

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in the big companies like fan companies

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Google meta Amazon uh a lot of them you

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know throughout the 2010s they were in

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their hyper growth mode um now you know

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they've been alive for like 20 30 plus

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years and some of them are really

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reaching like maturation where it's a

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lot more kind of like maintenance you

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know improve the existing systems and

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products which you know may or not be

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may or may not be the best like you know

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strategic way to keep the company going

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but uh the point is like if they're not

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in super hypergrowth mode they may not

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need as many software Engineers as they

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needed before and then also uh the other

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the other component to this is just that

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you know um you don't need that many

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software Engineers I think a lot of

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companies back in the the 2010s over

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hired they saw everybody else was hiring

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and they were like okay well we need to

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hire two especially like in the startup

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world it was like to raise money you had

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to say that you were going to be hiring

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100 people or 200 people which is just

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complete nonsense if you know anything

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about software engineer you know that

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you know past a certain threshold you

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start to lose productivity so the fact

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that so many companies have realized

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that they're basically better off with

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fewer software Engineers really doesn't

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help and then on top of that on top of

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that you have two letters that got

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sprinkled into the mix and that didn't

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make anything any better and these two

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letters are a i artificial intelligence

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I think that you know we all knew that

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AI was coming like during the 2010s uh

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you know I kept hearing like machine

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learning machine learning AI but it's

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really in 2022 with the launch of Chad

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GPT that things just started like to

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explode and then you know year after

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year month after month it's just been

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absolutely insane and um AI has gotten

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to the point where like you know there's

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an argument to be made that maybe it's

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going to obsolete software Engineers

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altogether like this morning I saw

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another video of like someone you know

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demoing an AI tool that was doing like

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front end Engineers work you know

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building like a website with just like a

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one paragraph prompt and it's like

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actually legitimately pretty good and

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impressive and like responsive design

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and actual like you know uh clean UI and

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and cool ux and all that but even if it

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doesn't completely obsolete uh software

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Engineers it's certainly making them way

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more productive and so you know the idea

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is like if your engineers are suddenly

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doubly productive like do you need as

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many Engineers or can you just cut your

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software engineering Workforce in half

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you know maybe you can cut it in half um

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and so I think that that that's not

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helping you know like the the whole AI

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fear is not helping uh with the current

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job market for software engineers and

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it's certainly not helping with the like

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psyche of software Engineers like that

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that thought that you have in the back

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of your mind of like am I going to be

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completely obsolete within like five

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years or three years or one year given

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the the pace of AI you know that's not

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helpful um and so yeah those are my

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honest negative thoughts we're going to

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get to the positive in a second those

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are my honest negative thoughts on the

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current software engineering Market in

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2024 now let's get into the positive I

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know that was a lot of negative if you

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made it this far um what would be a

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positive Emoji let me look on my like

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what's a positive Emoji okay if you made

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it this far in the video just put a a

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party emoji so whether it's like the

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confetti or like the the little Emoji

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that's like blowing the the party thing

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or like you know a balloon just put one

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of those emojis if you made it this far

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in the video and I'll try to hard it um

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that that'll that'll uh tell me that you

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you made it through the the negative uh

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part of the video so the positive part

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of the video okay what are my positive

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thoughts about the industry well first

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and foremost um companies are still

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hiring flat out just got to say it like

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there are still jobs out there uh and a

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good amount of them um anecdotally I can

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tell you that uh I've been contacted

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numerous times now by uh recruiters at

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meta and Google asking me if I want to

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come back to work there now granted I

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worked at those companies so they're

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asking me if I want to come back but

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still that means that they're hiring and

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excuse me the most recent of these

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emails was uh just like a month ago I

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think or two months ago and I also had

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uh one of my friends he was my cooworker

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at Google he joined Facebook right after

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I did he's still there you know like

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four five years later now he got

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promoted and he uh just a week ago told

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me that like if I ever wanted to come

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back at you know meta his team has

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headcount so they're hiring um and just

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you know again anecdotally speaking I've

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heard from a lot of people that meta is

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hiring and actually quite aggressively

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within the context of like the current

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market but they are hiring quite

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aggressively so um you know companies

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are hiring there's a lot of pockets in

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the world that are hiring like just

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because one industry has been really

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badly affected doesn't mean that all

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Industries have been badly affected

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remember during the pandemic you know

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some industries were really like

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destroyed While others were thriving and

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by the way like you know during the

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pandemic tons of people got into

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software engineering right because it

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was so easy you could do it remotely but

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so here you know one example that I gave

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in a recent video I'll give it again is

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like the blockchain industry crypto

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industry uh they're hiring a lot two

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companies that come to mind are coinbase

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and chain link Labs they're both remote

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companies they're both you know really

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like leaders in the space and they're

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hiring so if you're a software engineer

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go check out their career pages and many

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other companies in that space and uh

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just in general like I don't know like

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Airlines you know maybe airlines are

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hiring or maybe uh credit card companies

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are hiring you're just got to look

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around right and uh you will find uh

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some open jobs now the second thing that

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I think is not all doom and gloom and is

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actually quite positive is AI I will

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take the reverse side of that argument

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before that I don't think AI is

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something that you should fear I really

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really don't think that AI is going to

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replace software Engineers even though I

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will concede that AI is extremely

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impressive and the pace of advancement

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is like starting to make you feel like

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huh it's going to be able to do things

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that I never thought were conceivable

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before however it I don't think it's

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going to replace software engineers at

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least not anytime soon like not in the

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next five to 10 years and you know the

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best point I can give you is like you

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you you are delusional if you think that

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a sane rational competitive business is

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going to risk like getting rid of all

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their software engineers and replacing

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them with AI that just makes no sense

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like the risk of that the risk of

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suddenly you have a bug that is like

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unfixable or your entire website or

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company goes down and you you can't do

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anything about it because you just have

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an AI that like is stuck is just

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ridiculous and so I really don't think

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that AI is going to completely replace

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software engineers and even the whole

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thing about like it makes them so

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productive that suddenly you need fewer

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Engineers I don't think that's like

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quite accurate I think that maybe for

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for a few companies for some companies

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where it's like hey we really only need

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one or two software engineers and if

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they have ai we truly have no reason to

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hire a third

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engineer okay fine maybe those like AI

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will have a bit of an impact you'll get

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only two two workers instead of three

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but I think for most companies

play18:01

especially like the ones that are in

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hyper growth mode and and that are you

play18:05

know constantly trying to to to beat out

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the competition and everything like you

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want your your your Workforce to be as

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productive as possible and so if all

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your engineers you've got 10 engineers

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and suddenly they're 10x Engineers great

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you're going to have 100x the the

play18:20

productivity um and you're not going to

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just like cut them in half you know

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there's always more work to be done and

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you know this brings me to to to another

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point which is

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like software engineering is not going

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anywhere I think like the some people

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are just leaning too much into the

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dorismar engineering is gone you know

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software engineering is a is a dying

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industry like no that's akin to if you

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had said you know a thousand years ago

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400 years ago 100 years ago that you

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know construction workers weren't going

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to be needed in the future because you

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would be able to build things way

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quicker and and everything it's like no

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you're just going to build more things

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and so therefore you're going to need

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more and more construction workers I

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feel like they're more construction

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workers right now than ever before so I

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think the same is is going to be true

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for software engineering I think like

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there the field is not at all going to

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die it's still it's still going to going

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to thrive and keep on thriving and I

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guess the final sort of positive thought

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that I have here is overall I think that

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like it is very

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pointless for you to

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to let

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like it's very pointless for you to to

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let these external things that you can't

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control like interest rates or like AI

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uh lead your life so instead of like

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worrying too much about these things

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that you can't control why don't you

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worry about the things that you can

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control like you can control how hard

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you study computer science you can

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control how uh put how much time and

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effort you put into networking and into

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applying to jobs you can't control how

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much time and effort you put into

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preparing for uh coding interviews or

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systems design interviews or whatever

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you know algoexpert.io um you you can

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control all these things and so you know

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why don't you just try and focus on

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being the best version of yourself out

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competing everybody and getting that one

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position that has tons of competition

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around it like it's still doable you

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know there's going to be someone who

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gets that position and it's not always

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going to be the person with the most uh

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work experience so um you know you

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should uh you know grab control of your

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life you know you have you have your own

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agency uh you have you you are in

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control of your own destiny for the most

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part um now as as sort of like final

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thoughts mixing the negative and the

play20:38

positive together um I will say that

play20:42

overall I think that the Golden Era of

play20:45

tech as we knew it in the 2010s

play20:47

particularly the second half of the

play20:49

2010s is probably over I think that the

play20:52

like back then it was the Golden Era

play20:54

because it was the easiest meaning the

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the the least amount of like barrier to

play21:00

entry the highest paid and the most like

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relaxing and with the best workwise

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balance career out of basically in a

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career in my opinion and I think in a

play21:13

lot of people's opinion which is why you

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had so many people jumping into it now

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the only part that I think is not true

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is like the barrier to entry it's no

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longer the easiest barrier to entry like

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it has some barriers to entry which is

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like there's a lot of competition right

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now and they're there aren't as many

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like open jobs as there used to be but

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it's still very high paying it's still

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very chill like very good work life

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balance compared to most other

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Industries and like with like all things

play21:41

considered I think is just software

play21:42

engineer engineering is now more of a

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normal typical career that has pros and

play21:47

cons high paying great work life balance

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you know all things considered you're

play21:52

not really like exhausting yourself

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during the day when you're you know a

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software engineer but it's tough to get

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it's tougher to get the it was before I

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would still recommend to someone who's

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like 18 or in their 20s who doesn't know

play22:04

what they want to do with their life and

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just wants to make like good money have

play22:07

a good life you know I would still say

play22:09

like get into software engineering I

play22:10

don't think that there's a a better path

play22:13

than software engineering despite the

play22:14

fact that it's tough to get into

play22:15

software engineering right now

play22:17

particularly as an entry-level developer

play22:19

I still think it's the best career path

play22:21

so these are my honest unfiltered

play22:25

thoughts on the industry right now in

play22:26

2024 let me know what you think think

play22:28

about my thoughts in the comments below

play22:30

do you agree do you disagree do you have

play22:32

any thoughts that you want to share

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definitely let me know in the comments

play22:36

and uh don't forget to smash the like

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button really helps me out uh subscribe

play22:39

to the channel if you haven't already

play22:41

follow me on all my other social media

play22:43

and I will see you in the next video

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