[Daishiman]

> If the answer was yes, why do you think we’re in a situation where you need to dedicate that much of your own free time, sans compensation, just to make yourself attractive to companies so you can at best fall back on temporary employment?

Do you think good products just sell themselves? Do you think marketing departments exist because companies love to waste money? There's your answer.

[danaris]

Do you understand that what you're saying is that in order to be hired, you not only need all the skills needed to do the job, but also all the skills of a full-fledged marketing department, regardless of whether the job requires any of that?

Some of us think that's top-shelf bullshit.

[Daishiman]

Yes. Because knowing the job and showing people you know the job are two complementary skillsets. Spends some time working with technically-illiterate managers and clients and you'll see. Don't do it and you'll be left hanging wondering why people can't see your brilliance and competence.

I'm sorry you don't live in the world you'd like to live in but that's life. Been at this game for 25 years and it has never been different.

[JustExAWS]

Look up the concept of “luck surface area”.

https://modelthinkers.com/mental-model/surface-area-of-luck

It’s about doing the work and telling people you do the work. It was never my intention to land in BigTech at 46. I was actively opposed to it because I didn’t want to move from my big house in the burbs and we were fine. I had spent the last seven years at startups leading projects and “transformations”, learning AWS and updating my LinkedIn profile. AWS reached out to me in 2020 (as has GCP since I left but I rather get an anal probe with a cactus than go to BigTech again and I’m damn sure not going into an office) and I said why not interview?

While I was there, I was building a network with coworkers and clients, learning how strategic consulting works on the highest level, contributing to an official very popular open source “AWS Solution” in its niche. Releasing my own open source solutions in their official repository, did a couple of blog post that are still on their website, etc.

When Amazon started Amazoning, I waited for my severance offer and had multiple job offers within two weeks with a $40k+ severance in the bank just by reaching out to my industry contacts I had made.

It may be bullshit. I might think gravity is bullshit. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to jump off of a 25 story building out of defiance. I play the game because I have an addiction to food and shelter.