Navigating Today’s Tech Market
Kevin Howell ’11
Principal Software Engineer, Red Hat
2025-03-04
About Me
W&M CS ’11
Principal Software Engineer at Red Hat
Raleigh, NC
Note
These are my own opinions and experiences, and not those of my employer.
My Career
Agenda
- Trends
- Resumes
- Networking
- Job Hunting
- Interviews
- Resources
Trends
Artificial Intelligence
Both in early 2025:
- Jan 21 - US to invest $500 billion
- Feb 11 - EU plans to invest €200 billion
Tough Market
- Applicant to job ratio
- Inflation
- Interest rates
- Investment in AI
- Experienced engineers are moving less
- Layoffs, hiring freezes
Cycles
- Smartphone Apps
- Cloud Computing
- Big Data
- AI
Resumes
Skills
- Artificial Intelligence
- Problem Solving
- Collaboration
Side Projects
- Shows initiative
- Potential interview topic
Open Source Involvement
Examples:
GitHub
good first issuelabel on GitHub projectscontributing.md
Microcredentials
- Credly
- Free & Paid Trainings
Collaboration
- Side-projects
- Open-source involvement
- Non-technical community involvement
Certifications
- Not expected for early career
- Many companies pay for professional development
- Discounts
- Non-technical (e.g. project management) can give you an edge
Resume Tips
- One page
- Emphasize skills related to the job
- Consider checking your resume against AI (e.g. https://enhancv.com/resources/resume-checker/)
Networking
Meetups
- User groups
- Virtual meetups
- Have a job/need a job
- Learn what opportunities exist in an area
Conferences
- Job boards
- The “hallway” track
- Free or cheap
- Practice public speaking
Conferences - Suggestions
- AllThingsOpen - Raleigh, NC
- Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE) - Pasadena, CA
- Seattle GNU/Linux Conference (SeaGL) - Seattle, WA
Referrals
- Contact before applying
- Contact after applying
Job Hunting
Recruiting Cycles
- Recruiting cycles are tied to budget cycles
- Cycles tend to be quarterly
- Summer and late fall are slower
Internships
- Mostly late fall/early spring
- But don’t give up looking
Roles
- Backend Engineer
- Frontend Engineer
- Fullstack Engineer
- Technical Writer
- Data Engineer
- AI Engineer
- Quality Engineer
Job Boards at Conferences
- Employers recruit at conferences
Saved Searches
- Look for jobs on a company’s website
- Set up a “saved search” or “alert”
Down-leveling
- Sometimes employers compromise
- Sometimes bringing in fresh talent is valuable in itself
Consider All Industries
- Healthcare/Life Sciences
- Finance
- Retail
- Technology
- Non-Profit
- Academia
Consider Contract-to-Hire
- Work as a contractor for 6 months to year
- Then convert to full-time or find something else
Interviews
Embrace In-Person/Hybrid
- Early career
- Mentorship
Practice Coding Interviews
- HackerRank
- Advent of Code
- Beware of interviewing scams
Show Continuous Learning
- Talk about microlearning or side-projects
Do NOT Lie
- Or make up answers
- Instead admit you don’t know, relate to something you do know
Resources
Skills
- Linux Foundation
- edX
- Coursera
- O’Reilly - free through W&M Library
- LinkedIn Learning - free through W&M Library
- ACM Skills Bundle - O’Reilly and PluralSight - $175 annual
- roadmap.sh
Jobs
- Don’t limit to LinkedIn
- opensourcejobhub.com
- idealist.org
- Check company sites
Other Good Resources
- levels.fyi: titles at companies
- progression.fyi: career progression at various companies
- survey.stackoverflow.co: tech job trends
- pragmaticengineer.com: substack newsletter & book on software career
Thank You
Image Credits
- Title Slide Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash
- Trends Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
- Resume Photo by Van Tay Media on Unsplash
- Handshake Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash
- Binoculars Photo by Ran Berkovich on Unsplash
- Interview Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
- Bookshelf Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
Navigating Today’s Tech Market Kevin Howell ’11 Principal Software Engineer, Red Hat 2025-03-04