State Of Tech Entry Roles, Future And How To Navigate
104: Tech sector, entry roles and what to expect in the upcoming years.
Welcome reader! We are all witnessing what is happening with the entry roles and technology sector overall. Juniors complain, and average white-collar workers claim AI will take their jobs. Both miss that it comes down to being unaware and having skill issues - a mix of both. What should be your priority? What should you expect to happen with the tech sector in the upcoming few years? There will be massive changes. What is left to do? Prepare yourself as best as possible. We are bringing you a quick overview of how to hedge against the tech sector changes.
Fox making great points when it comes to AI.
Current State Of Technology Sector
Working With A Code part of the story
Where We Are: Look into any tech subreddit and you will stumble upon multiple posts saying the same thing. The job market is hard. Things are not what they used to be. Remember that the average Reddit reader is not someone you should take seriously - neither should anyone reading our website compare with them. The BowTiedFox makes a solid case in his article 3 Steps to 6 Figures: How to Survive AI. Explaining what is happening with the AI bubble and what opportunities exist. 1.) point the lowest hanging fruits argument - we don’t think it could be said better. Consequences are already visible. Resulting in entry roles becoming useless. Useless in the sense that it’s easier and faster to write the prompt into the AI assistant. One that will get the job done, rather than spending an hour explaining to a junior what to do. What happens after you have wasted an hour? Junior delivers suboptimal results. Wasting another 20 - 30 minutes of your time fixing the work they delivered. We have all been there. With a guarantee we can say - the junior roles will be automated by at least 60 - 70% in the next few years. When it comes to 2.) point. Fox made - there is truth in it. But we would argue that we are talking about the best-case scenario. One which is not likely to happen in the current environment. What you have to understand is that we are at a breaking point. You have AI and technology becoming cheaper and more efficient. On the other side? You have juniors with minimal experience trying to operate on the same level. The next few years? Crucial when it comes to setting yourself up for the future. What about the remote work and entry roles? Rare. Something you should not be expecting going forward - when it comes to entry roles. Glory days for the new hires are behind us.
Where we will be: If you are already in a tech role, we don’t see why you should worry. Not considering what company you work for and their position in the market. There will be more firings, and no one should be surprised. If you have followed our advice on navigating corporate life and understanding that social skills will save you from getting fired. There is a big chance you are safe. No one wants to fire someone they like. Extra points if they can demonstrate that they are high performers. The whole sector also has an effect of over-hiring, which happened a few years ago during the lockdown. Things went out of control, and loads of unnecessary moves were made from the employer’s side. Some based on the benefits they abused from the government, others because they had to pump up the numbers considering their #1 competitor did the same. Monkey see monkey do. Advice for those in junior roles? Get out of them as soon as possible. Doing this will create enough space to take your foot off the gas. Reaching senior title if you play your cards right. What about those trying to break in? Competition is tough, and companies are not as flexible as they used to be. Considering the current economic situation where everyone is pretending nothing is happening doesn’t help either. Combine that with the AI replacing a solid percentage of juniors work, and you will realize where things are going… Remote? We don’t see it returning for entry roles. For those that are above entry roles the game is different. The paper says office only, but you are working remotely? You are not the only one. We are not planning on going in-depth on how you should interview. It’s important to mention that it doesn’t mean that if it is hard to land a role, that’s impossible. Mass apply, practice your technicals, and ensure your portfolio is on point. Give yourself a shoot with tools such as EasyApplyJobBot and make your life easier. Understand the STAR model and get the other side to like you during the interview. Despite the bad market, we still receive DMs saying how readers managed to get into the sector. Positive in our eyes. Meaning hard work, preparedness, and a bit of luck go a long way. We are leaving you with an amazing comment from our Telegram group.
EDIT: We have received two more DMs today saying they have managed to land the role. No one can deny that there is always a spot for those who are serious.
Selling Code
Where We Are: Now that we covered the coding side what about tech sales? You will often hear sales are the last thing AI will automate. No one can deny that. The hardest part AI will be able to automate is connecting with someone (playing with their emotions) and turning them into buyers. However, most cocky SDRs and those operating in tech sales forget they are paid high salaries for a good reason. The industry is healthy, high margins and yearly contracts. Hard combination to beat. The expected growth across the tech industry in 2024 is about 3%, which is nothing spectacular. We would say that at least 2% of that goes into tech sales, opposite to those writing the code. Nothing new has happened with the entry roles except the standard churn and burn - part of the sales game. Type of the career that you either make it or you are out. What is there to worry about sales roles and technological advancement? Quite a few things. We are not talking about random cold emails by the AI. 90% of those we have seen look terrible and should not be taken seriously. Clay provided a solid solution where they scrap the most important parts and incorporate them into the outreach - great product and great idea. This is the furthest the AI helped with the outreach. What about the cold calling and AI? Yet to blow up. Not discussing automated AI creating personalized outreach based on scrapped data. We are talking about companies like ElevenLabs revolutionizing the game. The hiring? It has slowed down - but not as drastically as for those writing the code. Trying to break in? Similar principles apply. Be prepared to put in the effort other candidates won’t. Do something others will not. One of your goals should be to influence the hiring manager positively. We already cover the easiest way to get that kind of reputation regarding tech sales -before you even land a role simulate your future daily activities. This way you are showing them you are capable and someone who can be trusted.