Future Proofing Your Career with AI by Taylor Desseyn 🔗 **Source:** [Future Proofing Your Career with AI by Taylor Desseyn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [career-development, artificial-intelligence, tech-hiring] > author: Taylor Desseyn > source: All Things Open Conference > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU > date created: 2024-12-19 10:30 > > # 🏷️ Title: Future Proofing Your Career with AI > <!-- deep-read:sections start --> ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Join X/Twitter and follow industry experts — build professional network #networking - [H2] Look at AI job descriptions to identify skill gaps — career planning strategy #skills - [H3] Sign up for torque.dev community platform — access mentorship and events #community ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [Torque Community Platform](https://torque.com/community) - [All Things Open Conference](https://allthingsopen.org) ## 📝 Summary - Taylor Desseyn delivers a keynote on career adaptation in the AI era after five years of conference rejections - Tech hiring continues despite headlines, with AI job postings up 7x in 2024 and startup funding increasing 75.6% - Key career strategies include joining online communities, finding mentors, building in public, and learning from job descriptions - The "great hesitation" in hiring and over-hiring from 2022 create current challenges, not AI displacement - Professionals must adapt like the React transition - early adopters found continued success ## 📖 Main Content Taylor Desseyn, VP of Global Community at torque.dev, presents a career resilience framework for the AI era. His core argument centers on adaptation rather than resistance - comparing the current AI transition to historical technology shifts like React's emergence. He challenges the narrative that AI is killing jobs, attributing current hiring challenges to the "great hesitation" (extended interview processes without closure) and 2022's overhiring correction. The presentation emphasizes community engagement as crucial for career advancement, citing his own journey from five consecutive conference rejections to keynoting. He provides concrete statistics: AI job postings increased 7x in 2024, startup funding rose 75.6% year-over-year, and big tech companies invest billions in AI while conducting layoffs - indicating strategic repositioning rather than industry decline. Desseyn advocates for proactive career management through online presence, mentorship, and skill gap analysis via job descriptions. He positions startups and non-traditional tech sectors as emerging opportunities, challenging the big-tech-only mindset prevalent in developer communities. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=0) — [H1] Persistence pays off - five rejections to keynote - Key idea: Don't give up on opportunities after repeated rejections - Evidence: "I have submitted to All Things Open for the last five years. I have got rejected after rejected" #### ⏱️ [01:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=90) — [H2] One action away from career change - Key idea: Single actions can dramatically shift career trajectories - Evidence: "You are one email away. You are one DM away. You are just one action away from changing the trajectory of your career" #### ⏱️ [04:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=240) — [H1] Tech hiring is not dead despite headlines - Key idea: Job opportunities exist beyond mainstream media narratives - Evidence: "Hiring in tech is not dead. It's not dead. No matter what the headlines are saying" #### ⏱️ [06:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=375) — [H2] AI job postings surge 7x in 2024 - Key idea: AI-related opportunities are rapidly expanding - Evidence: "AI job postings are up 7x since 2024" #### ⏱️ [08:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=510) — [H2] The great hesitation affects hiring - Key idea: Extended interview processes without closure create market friction - Evidence: "How many of y'all have gone through five rounds in an interview lately and never heard back" #### ⏱️ [11:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=660) — [H3] AI has a marketing problem, not a job displacement problem - Key idea: Overhiring in 2022, not AI, causes current layoffs - Evidence: "The blame should be the overhiring that happened in 2022. It's not AI" #### ⏱️ [13:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=825) — [H1] Navigate where the wind is going like sailing - Key idea: Career success requires anticipating industry direction - Evidence: "When you sail the wind's coming at you and you can't go into the wind... you got to see where the wind's going" #### ⏱️ [15:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=920) — [H2] Big tech invests billions in AI while laying off workers - Key idea: Strategic repositioning, not industry decline, drives layoffs - Evidence: "Microsoft plans 80 billion in AI spend while laying off 9,000" #### ⏱️ [17:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=1020) — [H2] Startup ecosystem shows massive growth - Key idea: Non-big-tech opportunities are expanding rapidly - Evidence: "US startup funding for the first half of 2025 is up 75.6 year-over-year" #### ⏱️ [19:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=1170) — [H1] You're not behind in AI adoption - Key idea: Current moment allows for catching up with AI trends - Evidence: "You're not behind. Everybody look to your neighbors... you're not behind" #### ⏱️ [21:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=1275) — [H2] AI transition mirrors React adoption patterns - Key idea: Early technology adopters historically find continued success - Evidence: "The individuals who learn React, who pivoted quickly, they're the ones that have continued to find success" #### ⏱️ [23:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=1425) — [H1] Join communities for career advancement - Key idea: Professional communities create job opportunities - Evidence: "We had somebody attend a Torque event Sunday night... 'Do I think I got a job offer?' Not surprising" #### ⏱️ [26:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=1560) — [H2] Use X/Twitter for professional networking - Key idea: Social media platforms provide direct access to industry leaders - Evidence: "Brian Douglas, met him on Twitter, slid into his DMs... Angie Jones came on my podcast. Slid in her DMs" #### ⏱️ [28:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=1710) — [H3] Build in public to establish expertise - Key idea: Consistent public communication builds professional reputation - Evidence: "There's this girl in our Discord. Her name's Naz... She's yapping about Python 24/7. Guess what I know her as now? Python Queen" #### ⏱️ [30:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU?t=1815) — [H2] Job descriptions reveal required skills - Key idea: Market research through job postings identifies learning priorities - Evidence: "The answer to the test is on the internet. Look at job descriptions. What are people wanting?" ## 📚 References - [Torque Community Platform](https://torque.com/community) - [All Things Open Conference](https://allthingsopen.org) - [Whiskey Web and Whatnot Podcast](https://whiskeywebandwhatnot.fm) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Career resilience requires embracing industry shifts rather than resisting them, similar to how React adoption separated successful developers from those who remained stagnant - Current hiring challenges stem from process inefficiencies and overcorrection from 2022's overhiring, not AI displacement as commonly believed - Professional community engagement and public visibility create more career opportunities than traditional job application approaches ## 📰 Newsletter 🚀 **Career Navigation in the AI Era**: Taylor Desseyn's keynote at All Things Open offers practical strategies for WordPress professionals adapting to AI integration. Key takeaways include leveraging community platforms for networking, building expertise publicly, and viewing AI as an opportunity rather than a threat. **Practical Applications**: WordPress developers can apply these strategies by joining WP community Slack channels, sharing block development experiments on social media, and analyzing job descriptions for emerging skills like AI-assisted content generation or automated site optimization. **Community Connections**: The WordPress ecosystem thrives on community engagement - from WordCamps to local meetups, these relationships often lead to career advancement opportunities. Resources: [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [Developer Docs](https://developer.wordpress.org/), [WP-CLI](https://wp-cli.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### DevRel - Community management: Host virtual resume review sessions, create mentorship programs with structured guidance - Developer experience: Develop job board integrations, skill gap analysis tools - Developer marketing: Build in public campaigns, industry expert interview series #### Community - Contributors: Create "build in public" challenges for skill development - Mentors: Establish structured mentorship matching with clear outcomes - Ecosystem: Cross-industry networking events, startup showcase platforms #### WordPress - Community: Expand mentorship programs, AI integration workshops - Training: AI-assisted development curricula, career transition learning paths - Marketing: Success stories from career pivots, industry trend communications ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Professionals who actively engage in online communities will have 3x higher job placement rates than those who don't - Early AI adopters in traditional tech roles will command 20-30% salary premiums within 2 years - Startup ecosystem hiring will grow 50% faster than big tech hiring through 2025 - Public building/sharing correlates directly with professional opportunity creation ### 📊 Methodology - Survey torque.dev community members on job placement rates vs. engagement levels - Track salary data for AI-skilled vs. traditional developers across 18 months - Analyze startup vs. big tech job posting volumes and hiring velocity ### ❓ Questions - How do we measure community engagement impact on career outcomes quantitatively? - What specific AI skills provide the highest ROI for traditional developers? - Can the React adoption playbook be systematically applied to AI technology transitions? ### 🔮 Future Research - Longitudinal study of career trajectory changes post-AI skill acquisition - Community platform effectiveness analysis for professional development - Startup vs. enterprise hiring pattern evolution research ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Shift from reactive job searching to proactive community building - Education: Integrate public building exercises into professional development programs - Funding: Allocate resources toward community platforms and mentorship infrastructure - Security: Consider reputation management strategies for public professional presence ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 10th grade (accessible, conversational tone) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Statistics slides, career trajectory diagrams - Improve: Industry trend visualizations, skill gap heat maps #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Full keynote audio, conversational delivery style - Improve: Podcast-style follow-up discussions, audio summaries #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear analogies (sailing metaphor), practical examples - Improve: Industry terminology glossary, career story comparisons #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Action-oriented recommendations, platform signup tasks - Improve: Community engagement checklists, networking activity guides #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Statistical evidence, cause-effect reasoning - Improve: Decision tree frameworks, ROI calculations for career moves #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Community platform emphasis, networking strategies - Improve: Peer accountability groups, collaborative skill-building #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Self-directed research suggestions, individual skill assessment - Improve: Personal career planning worksheets, reflection prompts #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Industry ecosystem analogies, market environment analysis - Improve: Career niche identification guides, ecosystem mapping exercises ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear heading structure, descriptive presentation flow - Improve: Alt text for statistical slides, transcript formatting #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Sequential content flow, logical progression - Improve: Skip links for main sections, keyboard shortcuts documentation #### Contrast and readability - Present: High-energy delivery maintains engagement - Improve: Slide content contrast verification, text size optimization #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Responsive transcript formatting - Improve: Scalable slide content, mobile-friendly resources #### Media and captions - Present: Full video transcript available - Improve: Time-synchronized captions, downloadable transcript #### Forms and interactions - Present: Clear call-to-action instructions - Improve: Accessible QR code alternatives, form field labels ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Inclusive community building emphasis - Improve: Global career market examples, international networking strategies #### Inclusive language - Present: Gender-neutral career advice, accessible terminology - Improve: Multiple career path examples, diverse success stories #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Structured presentation format, clear action items - Improve: Multiple engagement options, processing time accommodation #### Representation - Present: Personal vulnerability sharing, family life integration - Improve: Diverse career trajectory examples, varied industry backgrounds #### Psychological safety - Present: Encouraging tone, failure normalization - Improve: Specific support resource recommendations, community guidelines ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Big tech AI investment + layoffs = strategic repositioning (strong) - Inductive strength: Personal success story generalizes to broader principles (moderate) - Causal reasoning: Community engagement causes career opportunities (strong with examples) - Analogical strength: React adoption mirrors AI transition (strong parallel) #### Fallacies - Survivorship bias: Success story may not represent typical outcomes, requires broader data validation - Hasty generalization: Limited sample size for community engagement benefits, needs systematic study #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: High-energy, encouraging, authentic with personal vulnerability and practical optimism ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No denial patterns present - Attack: No attacks on opposing viewpoints, respectful disagreement framing - Reverse victim/offender: Not applicable to content - Emotional cues and rhetoric: Positive motivation, personal storytelling builds credibility without manipulation ## 🎯 Conclusion Career resilience in the AI era requires proactive community engagement and strategic skill development rather than defensive resistance. Desseyn's five-year rejection-to-keynote journey exemplifies the persistence and relationship-building that create career opportunities. The key insight is treating AI adoption like previous technology transitions - early adapters who build public expertise and community connections will <!-- deep-read:sections end --> ## 📺 Video ![](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU) --- # 📄 Full Transcript *Auto-generated from YouTube captions · timestamps roughly every 30 seconds · [watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV7TO7UEBU)* **[00:00]** All right, listen. I am pumped to be here. Um, this is this is a pinch me moment for me. Um, uh, I'm going to pick on Todd real quick. Um, we're dear friends now, but I'm going to, but I I want to start this out by basically saying that like to not give up. To not give up, right? So, I have submitted to All Things Open for for the last five years. I have got rejected after rejected after **[00:33]** rejected after rejected after reject. That's five if y'all can't keep count. I went South Carolina were, you know, math did great. And finally, finally, thank you. It's basically you and my wife laughing at my jokes. Basically, the six I for last year I almost did not submit. That's not funny, but I appreciate your support. I almost didn't submit. I was like, you know what? Let's do it. Why not? So, I submitted. I got accepted to **[01:06]** talk, right? That's cool. Talk last year. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. It's not We're not punchline quite yet. Not punch line quite yet, but I appreciate that. Then I kind of stayed in touch with Todd. Then basically, this is not part of my talk, so I'm gonna have to fly through this thing. But basically, Todd then asked me to come speak uh a few months ago at Fidelity. Anybody at that meetup? Cool. That's that same talk. So, you can zone out for the next 15 minutes, right? I texted my wife on the way there. And I **[01:37]** was like, I think Todd is auditioning me for to keynote at his event. Three weeks later, Todd texted me and said, hey, would love for you to keynote day two of the conference. I said, absolutely. Listen, I will tell you this. I know this is a small microcosm of things, but listen, do not give up. You are one email away. You are one DM away. You are just one action away from changing the trajectory of your career. Again, my name is Taylor Des. I'm VP of global community at **[02:07]** torque.dev. And listen, I'm not going to talk about MCPs. I'm not going to talk about Goose. Angie, I love you. Also, it's terrifying to go after Angie, by the way. I love Angie to death. Have the utmost respect for her. I tweeted I was like, "Oh god, I'm going after Angie." What I'm going to talk about for you today is I'm going to go over some pretty useless statistics that but I put in there to like, you know, gain credibility on my slides for y'all to pay attention to me. But basically, I'm going to talk to you about the rest of of really your career and how you should position it with AI. So, who am I? I'm a **[02:39]** father. I'm a husband. I have a beautiful 5-year-old daughter named Ari. I have a 14-month-old really handsome son that takes after me. And surprise, I have a third on the way. Uh, thank you. Appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah. YEAH. WAS NOT PLANNED. WAS NOT PLANNED. UM, I I I uh I I'm a mediocre golfer. I'm about as good as a golfer as like it looks in that picture with the captions cutting it off. Uh, I'm an ice hockey player. I **[03:10]** play in the A division in Nashville. We are backto back league champions. I have a miniature dog and a miniature donkey and four horses and live on 15 acres and I love my family dearly. And shout out to my wife Jackie for allowing me to be here and supporting me and the kids uh to speak. Yeah. Yeah. Give it up. All right. I want to talk about Torque. What is Torque? We are a community first talent marketplace. Listen, we are so passionate about community. We are the next evolution I would say of staffing **[03:41]** companies, right? What's the biggest gripe about staffing companies today? I talked to a recruiter and they never got back to me. How many of y'all have had that experience? Raise your hand. Look around. It's common. You know what we're trying to do at Torque? We're trying to single-handedly change that for the entire industry through Ronstad Digital. Ronstad Digital bought Torque as the marketplace, as the platform. And my entire job is to make sure you feel loved on. My community team is here, Bana and Jason. Uh uh please stop by our **[04:11]** booth. We run four to seven uh virtual events a week on resumeé reviews, career help. Anybody in our resume review session yesterday? Yeah. Absolutely unhinged, right? Absolutely unhinged. Um we booked out 4 hours of resume reviews at our booth today. Somebody sent me cold brew. If you want to at least see people get their resume reviewed, we would love to have you there. Um, but again, I would love for you to sign up on our jobs platform. If you want to pull out your phones real quick, scan **[04:42]** this. Uh, my entire job depends on how many people uh, sign into our platform. So, please do that for the love of Jesus. Do that for me. Also, if you want to email me after this, I'll send you the sides. Taylor torque.dev. Um, and we'll move on. Also, I should have brought up that QR code up. That's my QR code to get access to everything I have going on. All right. So what I want to get across say hiring in tech is not dead. It's not dead. No matter what the headlines are saying, do not sleep on **[05:12]** the startup ecosystem for your next opportunity. I was brought up in kind of just this like hey big tech controls all you know big, you know, you got to work for a SAS company, you got to work for a tech company. Listen, I know people work in software in the A space that are making way more money than some people in big tech, right? There are other industries out there. The big, like I said, big tech gets the headlines, but the hiring is happening. And I truly believe we are entering in to the new age of the **[05:45]** internet, right? So, let's talk tech hiring real quick. Listen, it's going up, y'all. Also, by the way, I didn't read Todd's directions. Shocker, a man not reading directions. Um, and I had to put all of my slides from Keynote into Google Slides this morning, so that was cool. All right, so let's talk about some hiring stats. Again, you can Google all this stuff. To me, all I want to show is this. AI job postings are up 7x since 2024. I also want to tell you that I have friends landing jobs right now. **[06:16]** Is Lawrence Lockhart in here? Lawrence? Lawrence, where you at? I don't see you. Oh, well. Anyways, uh I interviewed him on my podcast. He found a job in 89 days. Okay, people are still getting jobs, but you actually have to do the damn thing. Excuse my cursing. All right, let's move on. However, you're probably like, "Well, Taylor, listen. At the end of the day, I do know it's not perfect." You're right. It's not perfect. Let's talk about what's chipping away at hiring **[06:48]** right now. First off, the great hesitation. Anybody heard that term? Anybody heard that term? Okay, great hesitation. Basically what that is, how many of y'all have gone through and uh gone through five rounds in an interview lately um and uh never heard back. Raise your hand and say I. >> I. >> There you go. Few of y'all, right? I'm learning some things. I'm learning some things here. Right. That's the great hesitation. Even it's happened to me. My team, we specked out a program manager role last year. I was like, "Oh, we're ready to rip and roll." My finance guy goes, "Nope." I'm like, "Damn." All **[07:18]** right. So again more emphasis on ladam near shoring listen it's happening right I I think a lot of companies are understanding there's a lot of amazing talent we do a lot in LAM we love our ladam community we do a lot in that area um but that is that's absolutely chipping away at hiring the US listen I still think we're dealing with the overhiring in 2022 and I truly believe AI has has a marketing problem the reason why people are getting laid off is not because of AI I we as human **[07:50]** beings like to blame things. Just call it what it is. We like to put blame on things. And at the end of the day, the blame should be the overhiring that happened in 2022. It's not AI. Okay. Now, I could get into micro arguments with you or probably some people have thoughts on, but find me afterwards. We could talk because I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm already running out of time. All right. Let's talk about AI real quick. Yep. That AI. So listen, again, a bunch of data that you can probably argue or disagree with or find elsewhere. But the the big thing **[08:20]** I want to uh focus on is AI related job titles have surged 7x from last year. So job postings, job titles are through the roof. Anybody in here raise your hand and say I that grew up sailing. One guy got Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Two. Right. So So three. So, so if uh what do I got for um so basically when you sail when you sail the wind's coming at you and you can't go into the wind. Everybody understand **[08:51]** that concept? All right. So, what my talk is, and we still got a lot to get through, is navigating and where the wind's going, right? My thing is here is you got to you got to see where the wind's going. And it's absolutely racing and signaling that AI is here to stay. Here's just another stat that really doesn't matter because of time. Uh let's talk big tech again at the end of the day. I want to read there's a lot again. We're talking about we're talking about wind air, right? Where where's it going? Listen, let's read between the lines here. Microsoft plans 80 billion in AI **[09:23]** spend while laying off 9,000. Amazon plans hundred billion in data centers in AI development while laying off 22. Meta, you can you can read. Okay. Right. So again, where's the wind going? Right. It's obvious AI is here to stay, but I do think I I do think that uh the the internet is changing. You need to get with Let's talk startup. So again, I was not really accustomed to the startup ecosystem. A and and and for me, one thing I've realized is that investments are through the roof right now. Here's **[09:54]** some other stats, right? US startup funding for the first half of 2025 is up 75.6 year-over-year. M&A activity for the first half of the year for 2025 is over a hundred billion. Right? There is a lot of activity going on in the startup side of things, right? So, you're like, Taylor, this is a lot of information. Give me some good news. Say less, fam. I got you. You're not behind. Everybody look to your neighbors to the left or right of you and say, "OH, LORD, YOU'RE NOT BEHIND." Say it to the neighbors to the left or right of you. Oh, Lord, you're not behind. All right. However, this does remind me of a trend. Uh, I'm not technical, but **[10:26]** I've been staffing the internet since 2011. I was staffing whennet MVC came out. That was wild, right? We went from like VB.NET to C. We went from Net Web Forms. We have time. You can go a little Sweet. Awesome. Sick. How much time do I have >> left? >> Okay. Sweet. Awesome. Awesome. All right. Well, hopefully I'm not boring people yet. I don't see too many people on their phones. If you are, come back **[10:57]** to me, please. We're almost done. However, this does remind me of a trend. Anybody uh anybody uh raise your hand and heard of a technology and say I with React. >> That's cool, right? That's where we're at. I th this reminds me of when React dropped. People lost their damn minds, right? We had people jumping on React, creating content around React. They were React afficionados, **[11:29]** right? And then there was others. React's a fad. It's not here to stay. Stupid. I'm going to stick doing jQuery, right? I don't know if that's real. I'm not technical, but I can just say things and get away with it. So, uh, so again, like listen, but the individuals who learn React, who pivoted quickly, they're the ones that have continued to find success when that transition happened. Right. I truly believe that's **[12:00]** where we're at. All right, so Taylor, you're like, "WHAT DO WE DO NEXT? THIS IS GREAT. I LOVE YOUR ENERGY. WHY ARE YOU YELLING? I've had two cold brews this morning off no food. It's great." Uh, this drugs, basically. All right, so let's talk what we do next. Is it time to pivot? Listen, Angie Jones, Ken C. Dods. Anybody heard of him? Probably. Ken Cy Dods, Remix, React. What is he now? MCP This, MCP That, Angie Jones, Java Queen. What are we now? Goose MCP. I don't know what these words mean, **[12:31]** but it's wild, right? So, I just get to say this stuff. All right. All right. Next thing. So, IS IT TIME TO PIVOT? I DON'T KNOW. YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF THAT. I got in a conversation yesterday with the Whiskey Web and whatnot, Robbie the podcast. Check it out if you have not. But one thing we talked about is is is me and my business partner Jason Torres. I don't know if you can go to a boot camp as a mer stack developer and find a job as easy anymore. I just I just don't see it. **[13:04]** I will say this. Look where the wind's going. Talk to people in your fields. What's Sally Sue doing? That's interesting, right? I think too many of us and listen mind you I have talked with probably close to hundreds of thousands of engineers at this point in my career. I'm not lying. Some of y'all are too stubborn. **[13:35]** All right. Kind of get amen. All right. Right. So again like be aware. Right. Let's talk to people. Right. LET'S NOT BE STUBBORN. NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO be stubborn, right? Find online communities. Listen, I'm going to plug Torque, notdev. Would love to have you. We would love to have you. I think we have probably one of the best communities out there in terms of how to help people find a job. Thank you for the two followers we have. Right. Find find individuals who have **[14:07]** communities. I'm a big fan of Ben Lang. Anybody heard of Ben Lang? He's the head of community for Cursor, right? He formed a startup community called Nextplay. I pay 10 BUCKS A MONTH. I DON'T EVEN USE IT, but I'm just in there to see who's what's doing what. Be a part of a community. If you're not, you're falling behind. Listen, I will tell you this. This is special. This does not happen normally. You understand that, right? So if you see Todd, if you see Danny, if **[14:38]** you see the team today, tell them thank you. This is where the magic happens. We had somebody attend a Torque event Sunday night. He came up to me and goes, "Do I think I got a job offer?" Not surprising. This is where it happens, right? Anybody uh single, say, "I." I'm trying to help y'all out here. Say, "I." Y'all look around. Like like like like like like like like what's the ongoing joke, right? No one's going to jump through your window to date you. **[15:10]** That's robbery. You have to go out and find that person. You're not going to change the trajectory of your career sitting at home flipping through Netflix. Be more efficient. Take responsibility of your career. Also, find a mentor. Listen, that's something I'm extremely happy about. Yeah, we got another I like you. What's your name? >> I like you. >> Oh, there you go. That's awesome. She's great. She's great. Uh, find a mentor. **[15:43]** Listen, this is something I'm super passionate about at Torque. If you go to torque.com community, that's our community page. Torque.com community. Uh, if you need that again, torque.com community, we haven't we we have opened up our ambassador signups. We have opened up our mentor mentee signups. The single most thing I am passionate about for 2026 is making sure we have a team that is passionate about spreading the word of torque and a and a and a badass mentor mentee program that is fundamentally taking care of the next generation of engineers. So if you **[16:16]** are a mentor or if you're a senior engineer and you've always wanted a place where somebody can just give you structure, Jason again, uh my colleague Jason Torres over here, he's helping head that up. would love to have you part of it. If you're if you're somebody who wants a mentor, please go sign up torque. Community. All right, job boards. Listen, you can email me. You could I also just freaking chat GPT this, right? It's not hard. Just go find I see I see some of y'all taking pictures. Just chat gpt ai job boards. Not hard. All right. Other steps you should do. Use X. Use X. For the love of **[16:48]** the Lord, get on X. Taylor, it's stupid. There's politics on it. People are dumb. Yeah, it's social media, man. Have you seen Facebook lately? [laughter] Right. Listen, I can't tell you. Even Brian Brian Douglas, met him on Twitter, slid into his DMs. He came my podcast. Angie Jones came on my podcast. Slid in her DMs on on on Twitter. Get on Twitter. Follow industry experts. Follow **[17:19]** lists. Create your list. There's something called a list. We can talk about it later, right? use X, right? Build in public. Listen, you do understand that you can just start talking about the same day in, sorry, day out and you can be known for that. Literally, you could be junior. There's this girl in our Discord. Her name's Naz. She's junior. She's yapping about Python 24/7. Guess what I know her as **[17:49]** now? Python Queen, right? It's crazy. Talk about what you're doing. Be known for that. Taylor, I don't know a skill set. NEITHER DO I. I AM A TECHNICAL recruiter keynoting, but I have yapped about helping people find a job in the development tech industry for 14 years. You have no excuse. Side note, my dad is 65 years old and is posting on LinkedIn in the restaurant industry. So, none of y'all have an excuse. Also, look at job descriptions. We're almost done. We're **[18:20]** almost done. Look at job descriptions here. You're probably like, "Taylor, I'm so lost. I don't know what skills to learn." The answer to the test is on the internet. Look at job descriptions. What are people wanting? Right, Taylor? I don't know what to learn to jump that to an AI engineer. Look, chat GPT it. It's amazing, right y'all? I just want to say thank you. This was an unbelievable experience. I would love to connect with you again. And I don't know if my QR code even **[18:50]** worked with that down there, but again, taylor torque.dev is my email. I'm Tesen on all of my social media handles. My next talk, there you go, if you want to scan that. My next talk is at 11:30, room 206. It's going to be a more unhinged version of this. Thank you. I love you. Appreciate it.