First off, I know its been a while since I posted here - it makes me feel guilty every week that I dont write - commitment can lead to guilt I guess

So I hope you all have been doing great!

Btw, happy Heritage Day! Crisis even that passed since we last spoke

I’ve been going through major difficulties recently

• Grandma had a stroke and then past away 3 weeks later

• Tree literally fell on the car - 60k ZAR damage (not covered by insurance)

• Client hasnt paid over 100k ZAR in contracting fees, but of course, i did have to pay the developer, so thats a real sore spot

• AND i had a past client hire a developer i sent them 2 years ago but doesnt want to pay for them - so more lost revenue

All told, we’ve had death in the family and down close to 300K zar - all in the space of a few months

Life is funny some times

But we continue - and I hope to be back weekly, in your inbox, delivering some good shit 😄 

Im not writing the above for thoughts, prayers, sympathy - im documenting this, so you can see not everything is always perfect in life, but we must perservere and we must dust ourselves off

I wrote this because I want to show you that I will come back stronger

JOBS

See my last email

I’m hiring for 13 developers now - not saying we will get any of those roles, they arent easy to fill

But if you’re available for a short term contract, and are a very strong developer - lets chat - reply here and send me your CV

INTERVIEWS

Always be interviewing

You can think of this as Networking - but you really got to be doing this all the time, like, every few months

• Interview

• Update your CV

• Understand salaries

• Be open to new opportunities

• Make new connections and friends

You dont even need to interview for opportunities you really want, you need to do it for practice, market research, confidence, leverage, risk mitigation

I mean, the list here is long - but the point is short - always be interviewing

CAREER

Always be improving

I interviewed a candidate last week - needed someone with 8 years of experience in Python and Node.js

On paper, the dude was awesome - the CV read like a dream, ticked every box nicely

Then came the interview and…

…what a let down

You wanna know why?

Because doing the same thing over and over again for 3 years is not experience, it’s repetition - and consistently doing that, is not a career, it’s cope and hope

If you’re not learning, having a job doesnt mean a thing - you think because you’ve been doing something for 10 years, means you can do it for another 10?

That’s unrealistic, and its unfair on yourself, you are literally lying to yourself, and then blaming others when you cant get a job, or when you get “restructured” out of a job

This economy is not friendly, its not an environment for hope, its an environment of difficulty and uncertainty - you will get caught if you’re not improving, and it’s not going to cost the company anything, they’ll get someone else and you’ll be left out

Be honest with yourself - Are you learning anything new?

PERSONAL STUFF

Wanna see a tree on top of a car?

Well, here you go - I went to buy some burgers, parked at the side of the road, 5 minutes later, a freak storm, and a tree falls on my car!

Those 2 burgers ended up costing me 60’000 ZAR lol

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