Let’s face it—we’re heading into a recession, and my usual strategies for seeking and retaining employment as a software developer aren’t going to cut it.
Prior to a few months ago, I relied solely on my employer’s work to showcase my skills. But anyone who’s been job hunting recently knows that’s no longer enough. So here’s what I’m doing differently:
- Learning Constantly Am I constantly learning? Absolutely. YouTube in my ears, podcasts in my car, research when my kid sleeps, and AI helping fill gaps. The goal is nonstop growth.
- Building Projects My portfolio needed work, so I’m building nonstop—websites for friends, concepts I’d love to see become real businesses, and random APIs ( seriously, my first API, I’d send an integer to an endpoint and it’d return the word “Ron Swanson” that many times). Anything to keep creating, learning, and improving.
- Taking on Challenges 30 days, 30 new web projects. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s progress. NextJS, Laravel, Hono, Payload Docker, EC2, Ansible—each day I have to learn something new and make it real.
- Leveraging AI I’ve used AI to solve problems, and now I’m leaning into it fully—using it to teach myself, rapidly produce content, and refine skills while I focus on more complex tasks.
- Exploring New Opportunities The idea that stable jobs only come from big companies? No more. I’m actively seeking collaborations, exploring entrepreneurship, and saying yes first—then figuring it out as I go.
- Dopemining (Hyperfixation) Thanks, ADHD TikTok. I’m letting my diagnosed ADHD guide me deeply into topics related to software, cloud engineering, or entrepreneurship until I’m ready to move on to the next.
My biggest takeaway from this process: it doesn’t have to be perfect to learn from it.
I don’t know if my approach will help others, but I’m committed to trying. Whatever happens next, I’m really fucking proud of myself for putting in the work instead of surrendering to uncertainty.