Tech Industry Trends for International Students

Jul 8, 2024

Tech Industry Trends for International Students

Key Points Discussed in the Lecture

  1. Introduction and Overview

    • Strange happenings in the tech industry for international students.
    • Drop in programming demand; focus on senior software engineers.
    • Predominant focus on AI in tech news (TLDR, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal).
    • Presenter: Current software engineer at Microsoft.

  2. Topics Covered

    • Update on layoffs.
    • Senior-only tech market dynamic.
    • Updates from FDA and interest rate departments on hiring processes.
    • Tech industry outlook for 2024.

  3. Layoffs in the Tech Industry

    • Cases of instant layoffs without notice.
    • Emotional and practical impacts of layoffs: panic, no time to collect personal belongings.
    • Cultural aspects: High layoff rates (part of American culture), toxic nature of laid-off process.
    • Research findings on negative impacts: lifetime earnings decline, increased risks of divorce, depression, cardiovascular disease, and even suicide.

  4. Reasons for Current Layoffs

    • Third quarter of 2024 saw several layoffs from big tech companies (Microsoft, etc.).
    • Non-AI reasons: Elon Musk's major cutdowns at Twitter from 8,000 to 2,000 employees.
    • Example: Twitter now operates better with fewer employees.
    • Hiring more employees to impress investors but having no real necessity for those roles.
    • Overstaffing in certain roles (Examples: UI/UX engineers at Snapchat).

  5. AI's Role in Layoffs

    • Shopify CEO's leaked message indicates AI-related layoffs.
    • AI is replacing some customer engineering jobs but not skilled engineers with cloud platform expertise.
    • Engineers knowing multiple cloud platforms (AWS, GCP) less likely to be laid off.
    • Example: Amazon AWS planning to use nuclear energy for AI data centers shows demand in cloud-based learning.
    • Distributed systems and cloud computing skills in high demand.

  6. Job Market Trends

    • Rough job market for international students: 60%+ international students struggling to find jobs.
    • Federal Trade Administration (FTA) changes allowing easier movement between competitors for lower-wage employees.
    • New market favors senior engineers earning above 150k.
    • Strategies for new job seekers:
      • Add 'Senior' to job titles where possible.
      • Utilize AI tools like ChatGPT effectively for resume enhancements.
      • Focus on skills that are in high demand like cloud computing, distributed systems, AI.

  7. Current In-Demand Jobs in Tech

    • Senior software engineers, data scientists, machine learning engineers, AI specialists are in high demand.
    • ChatGPT and other LLM tools can be used for improving resumes with appropriate buzzwords.
    • Network at specific tech events where recruiters are actively hiring.
    • Use platforms like Luma for finding tech events in areas like the Bay Area.

  8. Practical Advice

    • Stand out by focusing on in-demand skills like Kubernetes, Docker, cloud computing (AWS, GCP, Azure).
    • Recommended Resource: Code Cloud for learning cloud services and related skills.
    • Leverage AI and cloud knowledge to be valuable in the tech industry.

Conclusion

  • Current tech landscape is challenging, especially for international students.
  • Focus on gaining high-demand skills and understanding market dynamics will help in job seeking.
  • Strategic networking and effective use of AI tools can significantly improve job prospects.

Full transcript