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Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

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Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#81

Post by sandreas »

- Understanding git (deeply, including PR, cherry-pick, merge, etc.)

- Using modern tools (ChatGPT, Phing, Copilot but also GH Actions, docker, etc.)

- Workflow improvement (Faster typing, how to use keyboard shortcuts, write scripts for automation)

- Debugging and measurement (Finding issues quickly, Analyse performance, etc.)

- Basic infrastructure understanding (Networking, Orchestration, Deployment, CI, etc.)

- Automated Testing (How to write Unit-Tests efficiently to save time ignoring all the TDD 95% coverage bullshit)

- Learning Markdown (How to write good technical documentation quickly)

- Learn concepts, not Frameworks[1] (tinker with other languages, command line, GUI, Web, etc.)

- Basic Operating System and Hardware understanding (Tanenbaum: Modern Operating Systems, drivers, etc.)

[1]: https://pilabor.com/blog/2021/05/learn-concepts-not-framewor...

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#82

Post by p1esk »

harshalizee wrote: post #76
p1esk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The obvious thing is gpt-6 (or even gpt-5) will be able to do your job better and faster than you. This will happen in 1-2 years. That doesn’t scare you?

Knowing how to code doesn't make you a Software Engineer in the same way being able to read and write in English doesn't make you an author. If you truly believe the current and future iterations of GPT can code better than you, look to elevate your own skill. If ever, a GPT-like LLM/AGI ever exists where it can distill business requirements, understand modular designs and intelligently establish complex relationship…

unprecedented disruption at a macro scale that humanity has never seen before

Exactly.

How likely do you think this will happen?

I estimate the chance of this happening after the release of GPT-5: 50%. Chance of this happening after GPT-6 is released: 90%.

You painted a pretty bleak picture of what might happen. I tend to agree with your assessment, but there's a chance that the total automation of everything will make things so cheap that quality of life will actually improve for majority of humankind. In any case, we still have a few years to prepare for this disruption.

p.s. I'm not sure why people are talking about software engineering as some sort of a subtle skill that is hard to automate. It's quite likely that GPT-5 will be able to talk to my boss, colleagues, and any other other stakeholders to understand what needs to be done, access all relevant information, iterate on requirements, ask for help, and problem solve, and it will do so better than me, or anyone else in this thread. Even if GPT-5 is not quite there yet, it's almost guaranteed that GPT-6 will be (barring some unlikely global catastrophic events preventing further technological progress). At that point, there will be no reason for my boss to employ me, or for his boss to employ him, and so on.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#83

Post by p1esk »

aristofun wrote: post #68
p1esk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The obvious thing is gpt-6 (or even gpt-5) will be able to do your job better and faster than you. This will happen in 1-2 years. That doesn’t scare you?

let's bet 1000USD that in 2 years there will not be even 2 confirmed real cases where any algorithm is doing a full time job of senior+ software engineer?

In two years the job of a senior software engineer will be completely redefined, so I'm not sure how we could test your prediction. Would someone who tells an AI model to build something still be an engineer, or would we call that person a manager?

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#84

Post by p1esk »

badpun wrote: post #70
p1esk wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Progression GPT1-2-3-4 in last 5 years, with no indication of any slowdown in the near future.

There's no indication that the pace of innovation for LLMs in the near future will be anywhere near what it has been in the past few years.

Is there an indication it won't be?

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#85

Post by em-bee »

gogobio wrote: post #41
5350-uiop-1130 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The real value and security in tech is in the edges, not the mainstream. disagree. fewer jobs. less turnover. like yourself - 3 decades. better go for the next big thing. whether AI, VR or something. long as it has a barrier to entry. even just complexity.

I heavily disagree. To preface - I have a recent and a successful PhD in Comp Sci. During grad school I've known active grads who jump onto the "next big thing". Well, long story short - almost every "next big thing" eventually dies down, every single one of them ended up being a generic Software Engineer after heavily specializing in the "next big thing" because, unfortunately, the cycle of the next big thing just k…

when i was young, being in a niche area allowed me to get jobs on 3 different continents and travel too. but eventually, that was not enough. i had to leave that niche and accept a python job so that i could work and live in china. it was great while it lasted, but in the long term it proved to limiting because the jobs weren't where i wanted to be (if there were any jobs at all. i stopped looking)

the problem is of course to figure out what has potential, and what it takes to get into that field.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#86

Post by aristofun »

p1esk wrote: post #83
aristofun wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

let's bet 1000USD that in 2 years there will not be even 2 confirmed real cases where any algorithm is doing a full time job of senior+ software engineer?

In two years the job of a senior software engineer will be completely redefined, so I'm not sure how we could test your prediction. Would someone who tells an AI model to build something still be an engineer, or would we call that person a manager?

I bet another 1000$ that it would not be completely redefined

At best it would embrace using some AI assisted tools in no more extent than today's cars use algorithms for those safety features.

But the nature of the profession will only change when the mainstream computers design changes drastically (and there is no strong signs of that yet)

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#87

Post by em-bee »

jessenaser wrote: post #74

Do what no one else can do. What no one thinks is possible, or worth their time, but you know it is. The future you can bet on is the one you create.

that alone is not enough. i am already doing that. problem is, it is difficult to sell, so i am struggling to make money doing it.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#88

Post by sirspacey »

nickd2001 wrote: post #61

"It’s obvious the game has changed" - it's obvious you haven't been in tech all that long. ;) that was a joke answer - no offence intended :) But seriously, I've heard "the game has changed" many, many, many times over the last few decades. Its true. The game is constantly changing. :) "what you all are focusing on to stay employed in tech". - Same answer as its always been. Be reliable, show up, get stories in the D…

You’ve written an entire book’s worth of advice in a paragraph.

Everyone who works in tech or aspires to should read it.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#89

Post by meiraleal »

em-bee wrote: post #80
bruce511 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Competition never hurts :). Quite the opposite, I spend a lot of time training others in the field, and passing work in their direction. I can't go into detail here though, as that would dox me, and I'd prefer my HN person not to mix with my IRL person. The thing about niches is that you don't really "look for them" - you stumble over them as your skills develop. You -could- learn my job, of course, but it would take…

i know what you mean with not going into detail. i only need to list all my favorite programming languages for someone to be able to identify me. but, if i may ask, is that work that can be done 100% remote? would it make sense for an older software developer to pick that up? i am a generalist with lots of experience and i'd love to train up in a niche field to help me find work. if you think that makes sense id appr…

> if you think that makes sense id appreciate if you could ask your IRL person to email me :-)

He just explained that he has no intention to dox himself plus with 31 years of experience he is one of the few in his field. Do you think you would be able to catch up and be able to stand your ground in this market with less than say 10 years? It wouldn't make sense and you probably wouldn't risk doing the change so even if he thought it made sense to send you an email, it would be for nothing. You can still get his advice and use it for the specialization you can get based on your current experience.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to stay employable in tech in the next 1-5 years?

#90

Post by em-bee »

meiraleal wrote: post #89
em-bee wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i know what you mean with not going into detail. i only need to list all my favorite programming languages for someone to be able to identify me. but, if i may ask, is that work that can be done 100% remote? would it make sense for an older software developer to pick that up? i am a generalist with lots of experience and i'd love to train up in a niche field to help me find work. if you think that makes sense id appr…

> if you think that makes sense id appreciate if you could ask your IRL person to email me :-) He just explained that he has no intention to dox himself plus with 31 years of experience he is one of the few in his field. Do you think you would be able to catch up and be able to stand your ground in this market with less than say 10 years? It wouldn't make sense and you probably wouldn't risk doing the change so even…

sending a private email is not necessarily doxing himself, at least not publicly (which is what doxing usually implies)

besides, the email would not have to even reference this thread. anyone reading who is in a similar situation could be responding and i would not be able say if it is the same person.

for the experience part he said he is training new people, not knowing what the field is, the question is if it is something a developer could specialize in. the answer could be "no". for all we know the specialization could be in bee-keeping.

so for that matter, if anyone has recommendations for a software developer on what to specialize in that they do not want to share publicly, please contact me.

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