A friend of mine from my USA Uni days, Raouf, recently shared a post he found interesting on Twitter

Today, i wanna talk about that post, because i’ve been going pretty HAM on A.I - researching it, reading about it, watching youtube videos, playing with some tools, but most of it is just mental masterbation to be honest

Still, I do see the promise of A.I, not in reducing workforces, or giving us AGI or some magical world where we dont work anymore

A.I is kinda like money, it just makes your life easier, and the more of if you got, the more you can do

Let’s get stuck in

JOBS

Amazon, as well as every large corporate, is going on a hiring FIRING spree

What could this be about?

1. AI and Automation taking jobs

2. Managing capital expenditure and reducing costs

3. Forecasting business decline and reducing workforce to meet demand

Which of the 3 or combination of the 3, do you think it is?

Personally, I think AI and Automation is a joke, i spend more time maintaining my automations (and building them), then they saved me in manual work

I also think AI is a joke, and that no one actually uses it meaningfully, at least not at a scale to displace people

So it leaves me with points 2 and 3 and I think its both - the world is in a recession, companies are reducing costs to stay alive or to keep profits “healthy”. Very few companies are hiring, growing, expanding and corporate is responding to the economy by reducing its expenses, to meet the decreased growth or decline.

INTERVIEWS

Too much experience can $%^k you

Getting rejected due to being "overqualified" is absolutely a thing.

Both recruiters and hiring managers can think the following:

• You're using it as a bridge job

• You'll get bored on the job and quit

• You'll simply be much more expensive

• You’re bullshitting them and your experience isnt all that

This has always been a thing, but has been more amplified the past few years during this employer's market.

So how do you handle that? I dont know, I dont think I have THE answer, but I have AN answer

Explain what makes you STAY at a company, explain what makes you LEAVE a company, explain why you are worth what you want - and have PROOF (not “trust me bro”)

You have to alleviate the companies fears, and you have to raise that to their attention. Don’t be scared

Lastly - networking is best, I’ve gotten stuff i was no where NEAR qualified for, cause people liked me, and saw my energy and hunger - similarly, when i was qualified, I beat more qualified people because I had my network vouching for me.

More on this in the Career Section

CAREER

This was my biggest mistake in my career

I honestly thought I was hot shit - smart, funny, handsome, charming - dont get me wrong i’m still all that 😅 🤥 

But that lead to some big mistakes, namely:

I let my work speak for itself

Fair enough, it did speak quite nicely, i got promoted quickly and with less than 3 years of work experience, I landed a role paying me 1.2 million ZAR

BUT that is peanuts, compared to what I would have made, had I spoke for myself, and not just had the work doing the talking

My biggest regret is not networking enough

• Have coffees with colleagues, with bosses, with boss’s bosses

• Go to events, put myself out there, find out what people are doing

• Be genuinely interested and helpful to others

This strategy works, whether you are an entreprenuer, intreprenuer or want to be a well paid and looked after employee for life.

You will get paid more, you will find new opportunities easier, you will explore whats out there easier, the richness and quality of your life will improve

Relationships and Networking is something I am only just now taking seriously, but i should have done it a long time ago

The best time to plant a tree… as they say… so start TODAY

Events, Conferences, Meetups, Work, Company drinks

Go on my young grasshopper

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

I’ve been studying AI

Oh and i guess, the main point of today, is this post from my friend - study found that AI makes you slower, dumber and has very little real world net productivity gains.

Anyway - for me, what that means is, it takes time to learn new tools, you will get slower, before you get faster - still, awesome paper and read

I think I’ll start making content about what im learning, so here’s something for you

Get an account here - it’s dope - you talk to it, and it makes the automation

If you’re a good dev, let it make the automation, then you code it yourself and make it great, cause there’s still plenty of room for improvement

THATS A WRAP

I know I’ve said im back like twice already haha - once was after some much deserved rest and another after like 3 weeks of not writing.

Its not easy doing this stuff you know :)) but honestly, i missed this

I missed sitting by my macbook pro m1 (13inch) - lying on the couch, and having my fingers go at it for 30-40 minutes

ANY HOW!

Let me know if you like this and as usual:

1. LinkedIn - I’m always hiring - but only 2 to 4 people a month - connect with me on and send me your CV - currently, I only hire people with 7 or more years of experience - if you have less, but are EXCEPTIONAL, i’ll make exceptions

2. Youtube - i’m always making content to help you out, subscribe and binge

3. Free Career Advice - i’m going to be giving away CV feedback for early subscribers for free, I usually charge $100 for a resume roast - i’ll make a recording and send you feedback - just reply back to this email with your CV - its totally free for first 10 people