Well you clearly have talents, because this article is very entertaining! I would say you already know how to stand out from the crowd :D
Jokes aside - the only thing I can say (and it's not very original, but still) is that, as a developer, you should have your 'basics' covered - have a good grasp of the fundamentals, because those won't quickly become obsolete ...
And yeah, developers who have a good grasp of when (and how) to use AI in the SDLC (software development lifecycle), and in organizations in general, will have an edge - but, how to acquire those skills ... ?
Thanks for the advice! I can agree it's still important to learn fundamentals and knowing your roots!
And yeah, developers who have a good grasp of when (and how) to use AI in the SDLC (software development lifecycle), and in organizations in general, will have an edge - but, how to acquire those skills ... ?
This is tricky because one, you need a team and two, you need feedback. I would say join a community that cares for your development and seek out to see if someone can work with you, following the SDLC, and provide feedback on it. Mentors are really useful for this case. Overall, a lot of researching, which is expected since I am not expecting everyone to cut corners (which I don't recommend regardless of the small win).
Well you clearly have talents, because this article is very entertaining! I would say you already know how to stand out from the crowd :D
Point is, the "fundamentals" are sort of an immutable/unchanging body of knowledge and skills, and provide a steady foundation - it's something you can always fall back on ...
But knowing how to use AI effectively? Those skills are highly sought after by companies, and are what can potentially make you stand out as a developer - the problem though is that in this area (AI) everything is still fluid and in motion, and definitive answers are hard to come by - and boot camps etc don't really teach it ...
Everyone is still looking for answers and partially reinventing the wheel when it comes to AI - that's why it's hard to become "good" at it (and how do you even gauge that, how good you are at it) ...
Indeed. I saw companies are falling back with AI because of the cost usage and how developers are spending tokens more than a developer's salary, which is insane!
Though, I guess a good skill is using those tokens effectively and how you are using AI.
Spending tokens more than a developer's salary, yeah that's insane - unless with those tokens they manage to produce the output which 2 or 3 "unaided" developers would produce - then it might make sense! ;-)
By being yourself! Everyone can copy the same projects, the same resume templates, and even the same AI prompts now, but nobody can copy you. Your story, your interests, and the way you think are the one thing that can’t be vibe coded. I also love your point about self-reflection, because you can’t really be yourself until you know who you are. Yugi didn’t win by copying the meta deck, he won with his own. Great post, Francis!
Exactly, ignore the part that Yugi "allegedly" cheated in the anime lol, he is himself! You are you and what makes you unique is you! That part is no longer that if you start copying others. What IS okay is learning from others and getting that aspect and figuring out how it will fit you. Thanks Maame and thanks for the Gem!
Blue-Eyes White Dragon 🐉 was always one of my favorites, and I loved thinking about different combinations and combos around the cards I had.
But over time, power creep changes the game. A card that once felt incredibly strong can eventually lose its place in the meta.
Sometimes, if you want to keep getting stronger, you do have to let go of things that worked in the past.
But I don’t think that means the time spent learning them was wasted.
The fundamentals you built along the way become the foundation for whatever comes next, and some old cards can still find a place in a new deck.
At the same time, if everyone only built the strongest meta deck, I don’t think Yu-Gi-Oh would have become nearly as interesting.
Part of the fun was watching characters like Yugi or Joey build around their own style, enjoy the game, and sometimes win precisely because their decks felt like theirs.
I’m not sure this analogy applies perfectly to everyone in tech 😹, but maybe standing out is some combination of fundamentals, adaptation, and individuality.
We need enough fundamentals to understand the game, enough flexibility to adapt when the meta changes, and enough personality to avoid becoming just another copy of the same deck. 😸
Hey Nyao! Indeed, having the combination of fundementals, adaptation and individuality is a great combo! I gave you a gem not only because of the analogy expansion, but what led up to the standing out in the first place.
In order to be good at Yu-Gi-Oh, you need to know how to play. For me, I started playing Duel links using a Six Samurai Deck. Then, went over to Master Duel to play that deck there lol. It's still my favorite deck, though recently I bought myself a Blue Eyes Structure deck (which I heard can be played in locals). It's at least a good starting point for me to play in the TCG xD
Adaptation is critical because it shows if a person can adapt to a fast pace environment. I feel like the notion "I can work in a fast-paced environment" is taken literally in tech space. Action speaks louder than works, so if you can do it, you can do it lol.
Individuality makes one unique, which makes sense since you mention Yugi and Joey. They have their own style and their own ace card like Yugi's dark magician and Joey's Red Eyes Black dragon.
It’s a good question whether it’s worth standing out from the crowd. I’m trying too, even after more than 40 years in IT. What worked for me was entering competitions. I started more than two years ago with this program: dev.to/pengeszikra/a-l-i-e-n-s-o-l...
Of course, I didn’t win, and practically nobody saw it, but I’m persistent. After a while, I started making increasingly useful things. Along the way, I also got over how few people look at what I make. So I keep going. Right now, I’m putting together my entry for this competition: https://start-developer-competition-26.devpost.com/?ref_feature=challenge&ref_medium=discover
And if you’re just starting out, go for it and try to find your own way of expressing yourself. In a way, development is an art form too, perhaps just a little more modern than the classics.
Standing out is less about volume than a portfolio of evidence: a system you shipped, a decision you can explain, and a failure you can diagnose. In an AI-assisted market, being able to show the constraints and trade-offs behind the result is more durable than simply producing a polished demo.
Exactly—the strongest portfolio stories make the constraint visible, not just the outcome. Showing how you narrowed a trade-off or recovered from a mistake gives people a much clearer signal of judgment than a polished result alone.
The Yu-Gi-Oh meta analogy works so well. Chasing the meta deck means we start over every season, and when we build a deck we understand card by card, we adapt to any ban-list. In tech, the closest thing to that deck might be writing and talking about what we learn: a blog post or a small meetup talk shows how we think, and every hiring team can read that.
The third step, use the environment to your advantage, is the one I found most practical. The vibe-coding example makes the point well: if everyone is building the same full-stack restaurant app, building the rarer thing is not just contrarian, it is where the open space is. I also liked the five-year question in the self-reflection section. Asking whether I would be satisfied bringing my current knowledge forward five years is a much sharper test than asking whether I am keeping up, because keeping up has no finish line. The advice-as-a-grain-of-salt point pairs with that nicely: a method that worked for someone else is data, not a prescription.
The meta deck analogy works well, especially the cost of switching when the ban list changes: chasing whatever stack is popular this month means rebuilding from scratch every time. The players who last tend to understand why a deck wins, not just which deck wins, and that carries over when the meta shifts. In tech terms that might be knowing how systems fail rather than which framework is hot. Which of your three points do you think newcomers skip most often?
I would say that self-reflection is the most skipped thing. We tend to be so busy on chasing trends in order to "fit in" or to show off, but we fail to realize that all your doing is chasing a mask, not the actual value your getting from it.
At the end of the day, your still you in the current state. Nothing changed. Having that self-reflection allows you to understand your strengths and weaknesses and knowing what you actually need. You already stand out, you just need to embrace that.
One more comment because I keep seeing your post. 😹
I have come to enjoy the amount of exploration and learning that comes with not being super prominent. I get to work on all my side projects. Hiding or not being well known for anything can actually be a blessing in disguise. When you realize that could change, it kind of makes you want to go back into hiding. XD
As someone who's been in the industry for 10 years now, I can say it has always been harsh and unforgiving in one way or another. Layoffs are bad, of course, but AI is also creating new opportunities.
AI is a strange thing. In a way it's an equalizer, but it's also an amplifier, and which one it is for you depends on where you position yourself. Being creative and interesting matters more than ever, I can't stress this enough. Because now literally anyone can build a classic to-do app... but can you build something that's actually appealing and interesting? That's a different story.
So here's a high-level strategy for anyone feeling a bit down about the recent changes: use AI as an equalizer to keep up with the market, then use it as an amplifier to push your skills and creativity beyond what the market offers. It's easier said than done, and it's a continuous process. You never stop doing the reps.
Very good advice Giorgi. AI can definitely do anything, but it's up to who uses it. If you simply build a To-do app via AI, then it's not interesting. However, if you use AI in the process with your creativity in the mix in some aspect of development, then it can stand out really quickly instead of 100% relying on AI. Thanks Giorgi :D
I'm Marco Somma, a cognitive systems architect, technologist, and builder of modular reasoning tools. Creator of OrKa, I reduce uncertainty around AI systems - Playing with interpretable AI since 2016
My 2 cents: find a hard question and spend years digging into it. That’s what has worked for me, and still does.
For the past 15 years, I’ve been chasing one seemingly simple question: “How can a system stabilize without a source of truth?”
For me, it’s a question about adaptability: how a system can keep adjusting when it has no definitive reference telling it what “correct” looks like. I’ve been lucky that this question has stayed relevant across general IT and web development, and feels even more relevant in the AI era.
Seeing people building cool stuff, being appreciated and earning thousands on social platforms, made me believe that to stand out in tech, I need to build something big too. I tried, but what worked for others will not necessarily work for me. So, to really stand out, to become great, I just keep exploring different things and sharpen my skills.
Recently I was thinking about building a god tier programming language which will make every other language obsolete (that's how delusional AI made me). I spent hours doing research on it only to end up realising I can't do it alone. But I learnt many new things like compiler design, AST, etc. and it was fun.
At least you learn something from it! Back then, I also thought of making my own programming language (before AI). For my case, I was too overconfident since I was learning Data Structures during that time.
I never made it lol. But based on what you learnt, never a bad idea to learn it for myself!
Finance grad shipping a local-first AI project with Claude Code + Ollama. I write about small-model reliability, dev subagents, and what I've learned along the way.
Location
United States
Education
University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Isenberg)
Hey, love the advice here. I am currently one of those vibe coders that you mentioned, working on my own projects and am somewhat relatively new to "tech". I've been vibe coding the same project for the past 10 months and often find myself asking similar questions, such as "How do I stand out?" I know AI is a huge buzzword right now, and I know everyone in the tech industry is vibe coding. I do believe in the project that I'm building, but I'm also taking a huge bet that smaller models will get a lot better in the next couple of years.
Hey Micah! Glad you liked the advice! Yes, everyone is vibe coding and I think that's not going away anytime soon. Do keep in mind that there are reports of companies backtracking AI because of the spending cost of tokens that is more than a developer salary.
One thing I heard that you could stand out is learning System Design. Anyone can vibe code a project, but having that understanding of why the project is build that way via design allows you to get the upperhand! Perhaps give it a try? :)
Finance grad shipping a local-first AI project with Claude Code + Ollama. I write about small-model reliability, dev subagents, and what I've learned along the way.
Location
United States
Education
University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Isenberg)
I have Claude pro to use Claude code in windows powershell, so I don’t pay per token just $100 a month. Right now I’m working on building my own version of webUI with a custom rag and memory system, that also acts as its own harness. I’m the design the entire systems from specs to architecture. I’ve learned a ton about what I’m building because I ask the questions that need to be asked that create questions that Claude needs to ask me and I make those decisions. I know a lot about how my system is designed and why it has to be designed a specific way but not a ton about other systems, if that makes sense. I appreciate the input and would love to connect further!
Your point about never getting feedback from interviews really hit home, because silence teaches you nothing about what to fix. One loop that does give honest feedback is the issue tracker of tools you already use. A clean, reproducible bug report or a small fix usually gets a reply from a maintainer, and that reply tells you more about your work than a rejection email ever will. Writing up what you broke and how you fixed it does something similar in public. Did blogging give you that same feedback loop, or did it come from somewhere else?
Blogging is a way for myself not only to share but to also get feedback. It tends to be hard in the beginning because you know, you just started. Overtime, you tend to get more people and more people means more feedback on the things you shared! Thanks Kiell :)
Developer, maker, and perpetual project starter. I build web apps and dev tools mostly, things that I think are really useful and should exist and be simple to use. I also like to experiment with AI.
Really great post, and I think this is something a lot of people need to hear right now.
One thing I'd add is that it's not just people who are new to tech who are struggling. Even people with years of experience are having an incredibly hard time finding work. My husband has around 20 years of experience in IT, and he spent over a year trying to find a job. He was applying for everything, including basic help desk positions he was honestly way overqualified for, and still wasn't getting anywhere.
Nearly every job posting seemed to have 100, 200, or even more applicants. Just a few years ago, we weren't seeing anything like that. It's been pretty shocking to watch how much things have changed in such a short time.
I don't know how much of this is directly related to AI versus layoffs, the economy, or other factors, but something has definitely shifted. And I think it's important for people, especially those just starting out, to understand that struggling to get hired doesn't necessarily mean they're doing something wrong or that they aren't good enough. There are experienced people struggling right alongside them.
I really like your point about finding what works for you instead of just following everyone else's advice. I think that's especially important now. Keep learning, keep building, and keep putting yourself out there, but also don't measure your worth or abilities entirely by whether someone hires you. Sometimes the market itself is just really tough.
Hey Jessica! Yes, seeing 100+ applicants has been a norm for sometime, even before AI. When I was finding internships during my undergraduate, I have seen stats like these, so I thought it was normal. Finding jobs from unexpected places really helps. For example, developer jobs at Target or a thrift store.
The market is tough for sure, but if you keep researching, you will find gold eventually xD
Yea but in order to GET to the interview, you would have to have connections for that to happen. Then you would stand out in the interview. At least that's how I think of it. I can't imagine you walk into the interview and some luck the interviewer knows you.
😭bro I was being sarcastic in my reply but okh jokes apart in order to truly Standout in Tech is (my personal opions btw)
Have genuine Interest I was reading a book called ikegai and I was so surprised to find that certain group of people in okinawa (dk if the place is correct) they dont believe in the concept of retirement they choose a work they love and they will keep doing it until their body is healthy
I have read other comments and most people just say that be authentic which I respectfully disagree because i think its very very rare to come up with an absolute new fresh idea (its same like imagining a new color you will think of combinations of color but not a new color) so keep getting explore to new tech, trends maybe you might get a new derived idea
Taking regular break or having a hobby outside of tech might be music , gym, skating etc most of the senior enginners I have met so far they havent resolved their life around tech
Technical writer covering Python, AI, and the craft of learning in public. 30 articles on Python fundamentals, projects, and developer education. FreeCodeCamp Author
The line that hit me: "If you think about it, you're not really standing out if everyone else is doing it."
The Yu-Gi-Oh "meta" analogy is painfully accurate. I see so many beginners jumping from learning Python to JavaScript to Rust just because a blog post said it was "the future." They end up with a mile-wide, inch-deep skill set and a GitHub full of half-finished tutorial projects.
But I think the part about your own journey (realizing cold applying wasn't working and starting to blog) is the actual secret sauce.
AI can generate a 10,000-line full-stack app in seconds. It can write a "perfect" resume. But it can't build a genuine relationship. It can't write a blog post about the specific bug you spent 3 hours fixing, or the emotional rollercoaster of learning something new.
Standing out now isn't about having the most impressive project; it's about having the most human presence. People hire people they trust, and trust comes from seeing your actual thought process. Great post!
That is true! People hire because they trust that they can do the work. It's worth noting that cold applying doesn't work because if you think about it, you wouldn't hire some person you just met. Which is why connections is important to have because it allows them to get to know you more. Thanks Sameer!
The ban list example made me think of a better portfolio prompt. Pick one project and write down which constraint made you choose its design. Then flip just that constraint and explain what you’d rebuild. You can do the same thing with a prachub question if you want a small rehearsal before talking through your own code. For the restaurant app, I’d start with what happens if the kitchen loses Wi-Fi during lunch.
Thanks, Francis. I’d show that decision in the project write-up with one concrete constraint that changed and what it forced me to revise. That gives an interviewer an easy way into the trade-off.
Been with computers for over 40 years. Initially integrated computers & servers into our University. Also mitigated the Y2K bug at a Bank. A bit late to AI's party but not too old too learn. hey all.
That hit home. I myself have been in the tech industry when the "commodore 64" was all the rage.. yeah, I'm that old! Tech has really evolved since.. slowly at a normal walk, then a run, then it just took off.. now with AI, just waiting for my flying car.. oh wait! that's already here!
For me, its blink and you missed it. That was great article.. Good interspection of one's self and where they are heading. Keep moving forward!
Been with computers for over 40 years. Initially integrated computers & servers into our University. Also mitigated the Y2K bug at a Bank. A bit late to AI's party but not too old too learn. hey all.
Thank you for the article. I am currently in similar boat. I keep thinking "What can I offer? How do I stand out?"
But what I am seeing is that everyone is struggling. Don't try to tie your self-worth to the job market. It is often not personal.
I think we just have to keep trying. I wish I had a better advice though 😅
Adding another point is why chase the next fad even before AI it was almost unreasonable to jump on the next big thing. The next big thing is typically still in their infancy and are usually unstable or buggy or both.
Chasing every trending framework just to keep up leads straight to burnout.
What really stands out right now is looking at the gaps in the ecosystem. While everyone else is vibe-coding standard full-stack clones, the real leverage is building the actual infrastructure and tools that developers and AI agents rely on—like utility libraries (think Lenis for smooth scrolling), security scanners, or developer tooling.
Building things that power other projects gives you a much stronger portfolio than just another cookie-cutter app. Great read!
Data Center Network Technician | Technical Program Manager Trainee | CCNA · CompTIA A+ — I write field notes from real break-fix work: fiber, optics, and the tickets in between.
From the data center floor, standing out has never been about chasing the newest stack or the loudest opinion. The techs people remember are the ones who document the fix properly, label what they touched, and leave a ticket note the next shift can actually follow. That kind of reliability is quiet, but it's what keeps a team trusting you when something breaks at 2 a.m., and no resume trick replaces it.
I love this advice! I think building connections is one of the best ways to go about finding a job, but probably not in the way most people think. For me, tech has so many different roles within it that you might not have come across the role you'd be perfect for! That's where building connections and focusing on expanding your network can be invaluable as you can see the careers others are building and the roles that got them there!
Exactly! It's also worth noting that "networking" is a fancy way of saying "meeting new people". You can't really get a job by simply not knowing anyone at all. It's takes courage to meet new people and learn from them! Thanks Amy!
Great post and plenty of useful suggestions!
I’d love to add a few insights I’ve gathered throughout my career:
1) Prioritize real-world experience over a fast graduation. As a student, I fought for an internship at IBM. It was expensive and delayed my graduation by a year, but it taught me how the professional development world actually works. It also taught me how office dynamics work: the most brilliant developer sat quietly in a small corner, while others constantly took advantage of his deep knowledge!
Don't just rush to get a degree; seek to understand the world you are about to enter.
2) Master the fundamentals, not just the languages. In tech, tools and languages change constantly. Today, anyone can "vibe-code" an application, but very few can actually prove it is production-ready. And trust me, simply typing "make it production-ready" into an AI prompt won't make it so.
3) Commit to continuous learning. You need to study every single day. Understanding how to build a sustainable, stable product that handles thousands or millions of users is a skill you have to actively discover. While AI is a great tool for accelerated learning, the best way to stand out is to build personal projects on GitHub that actively demonstrate your commitment to production-grade quality.
4) Never overlook security. Security is an infinite, high-value field. If you start implementing solid security practices into your personal projects now, your next employer will absolutely notice.
5) Have fun in every single activity you do... this is magic and make you stand out!
Thanks for the advice Pietro! One thing that stood out is continuous learning. If you are a developer in tech, it's expected from everyone to keep learning new things since technology is endless!
Absolutely but as well explained in the book "The Psychology of Software Teams":
“every single person (developer) […] interviewed described effortful learning as absolutely integral to solving problems and pushing software forward, yet nearly all of them also described a deep tension between how they saw their work, and how they felt their organizations saw it. It was clear […] that developers weren’t getting the time and space they needed to learn.” amzn.eu/d/04d4p2X0
I’m a technical writer focused on simplifying programming, web design, and developer tools. My day revolves around crafting content strategies and documentation that eliminate mental roadblocks.
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Nigeria
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After graduating from Anara Secondary, my learning in computer science continues endlessly.
Pronouns
I am a man down to my DNA 🤸😂, and I will embrace having you refer me as He/him or simply Soma. 🙏
Let's us hear the conclusion 😁 of the whole matter, there is no one way to stand out, there is no magic bullet but for you to get hired you need to stand out and the thing that will make you to stand out you gat to figure it out yourself.
Full-stack engineer, 8+ years shipping web apps, APIs & AI systems (Python/FastAPI, TypeScript, React, AWS). Worked across fintech, logistics, Web3 & generative AI in Finland and Japan, end-to-end.
This one hit close to home, because I'm living your "put yourself out there" advice right now. Until recently, I mostly just read DEV. Since then I've been commenting, wrote my first post, and met great people here, including you. You're right that nobody tells you to do it, but it's already been worth it.
Your step 3 also connects with my work. In AI training, I see every day where AI gets stuck, and those are exactly the places where humans still stand out: judgment, fundamentals, and knowing when something feels wrong. So "observe the environment" can also mean watching where AI fails, not just what everyone else is building.
Also, I sent you a connection request on LinkedIn. Would be great to stay in touch there too!
Really well-explained breakdown. The practical context and nuanced points here make a lot of sense, especially considering how fast tooling workflows have been evolving lately. Thanks for sharing this!
Full-stack engineer, 8+ years shipping web apps, APIs & AI systems (Python/FastAPI, TypeScript, React, AWS). Worked across fintech, logistics, Web3 & generative AI in Finland and Japan, end-to-end.
This one hit close to home, because I’m living your “put yourself out there” advice right now. Until recently, I mostly just read DEV. Since then I’ve been commenting, wrote my first post, and met great people here, including you. You’re right that nobody tells you to do it, but it’s already been worth it.
Your step 3 also connects with my work. In AI training, I see every day where AI gets stuck, and those are exactly the places where humans still stand out: judgment, fundamentals, and knowing when something feels wrong. So “observe the environment” can also mean watching where AI fails, not just what everyone else is building.
Also, I sent you a connection request on LinkedIn. Would be great to stay in touch there too!
I measure AI coding claims in public. LGTM — Let's Get the Measurements: real runs, real numbers, receipts. Every article is an experiment I actually ran. Books & packs: aheadkit.gumroad.com
The decorated-resume-getting-rejected-by-ATS bit stung a little, because I did exactly that — spent an evening making a resume pretty, then wondered why nobody replied. Ran a test a few days ago with two resumes, 30 applications, and the plain one won by a mile. Your Yu-Gi-Oh analogy holds up better than most career advice I've read, honestly. The meta changes, the ban-list hits, and you're rebuilding the deck from scratch again.
The self reflection step stands out to me the most. It is easy to copy whatever is working for someone else and then wonder why it feels hollow. I have found that the work that lasts is usually the work that fits the person doing it, not the trend of the month. Thanks for writing this up so honestly.
Adding a second comment - one "way out" would be to start your own company, i.e. become an entrepreneur - meaning you're not dependent on employers to hire you ;-) ... but (here's the catch) - that does require a vastly different skillset!
P.S. I think another "way out", which an increasing number of people will consider, is a literal "way out", i.e. to look at a different career path/industry ...
But, that might just "shift" the question: which profession/industry/career path is still "safe" from the onslaught of AI ? I guess we can't all be plumbers or carpenters, lol ... ;-)
Usually for that advice, it tends to start early 20s because it's still a learning phase in that age. If the company didn't turn out well, at least you learn something from it. You don't really lose anything if it doesn't work out.
If you start later, there is usually a risk because around your 30 or older, you tend to have more responsibilities such as needing to pay your bills and such.
I've shipped quite a few small tools, and one thing I've noticed is that building something useful beats building something impressive. The best projects usually come from solving a problem you actually had yourself.
That's right! Usually projects that makes an impact or is found useful for someone tends to stand out more than someone building a project just for the sake of it. Thanks Julian!
It is quite scary, through once you start doing the work it becomes less scary to think about as you become more familiar with your skills. What are you goals after graduation?
I am currently doing an internship in a software firm. If they take me in after my graduation, then I might stay here. Otherwise, I want to apply for backend or AI roles in the MNCs and software companies. But nothing's set in stone, I am still exploring my options
JavaScript enthusiast with a growing passion for Python. I love exploring the world of programming, experimenting with code, and discovering new ways to turn ideas into reality.
JavaScript enthusiast with a growing passion for Python. I love exploring the world of programming, experimenting with code, and discovering new ways to turn ideas into reality.
This looks really beautiful! Your friend must have spent quite a lot of time making it. By the way, I honestly couldn't recognize you at first with your new profile picture lol
The branch nobody in this thread takes: the work doesn't decide whether it stands out. The person who repeats it does.
I've spent a month measuring this on my own writing. One piece: 26 readers, 4 likes, 0 replies. The next: 55 readers, 12 likes, 0 replies. Good stats, empty room. Every time a stranger actually reached me it came from a comment I left in their own thread, not from my post. Eight for eight.
So the meta deck isn't the project. It's one sentence about your work that a stranger can repeat when you're not in the room. Anyone can copy a project. A sentence is the only thing that leaves with them.
Before you ship the next thing, say it in one line. If the line needs the artifact to make sense, keep working.
You wrote the question; I only answered it. The line is yours to test: say the thing in one sentence, then watch who repeats it when you're not in the room.
[...] I have fallen into this mistake where I always follow what everyone else is doing
That's a hard mistake, but I feel it's almost inevitable in the early years.
Take Advice as a Grain of Salt, regardless of how useful it may sounds!
I like your statement about taking advice, especially considering, as mentioned, that the industry is always changing. What I can add to try to answer the question "What do I need for myself to stand out is that it also depends on the professional step the person is:
*1) Entry-level (novice, junior...): *
This one falls into the herd challenge. There is a whole universe of things to learn, build the fundamentals, and a lot of competition in the market. Here, words such as "proactive", "consistency", "communication," and "patience" come to mind as attributes to stand out
2) Mid-level
On this level, looking back to own path, is when I got some self-consciousness about what I am actually good at. I started to specialize in that, going deep into the subject, which allowed me to tackle hard questions about related skills; This definitely helps on standing out.
3) Senior-level+
This level is all about ownership and accountability, in my perspective. Once the professional gets enough experience, it's time to start owning more responsibilities, plus being able to focus and demonstrate real-world impacts of these owned solutions.
I write $0-stack engineering guides: running local LLMs (DeepSeek, Qwen, Llama) on consumer laptops, and shipping full-stack apps on free tiers. Everything benchmarked on real hardware.
The single most effective way to stand out right now is being the engineer who understands cost and hardware constraints.
Right now, 95% of candidates build AI portfolio projects by chaining closed API wrappers (OpenAI / Anthropic) that burn $20/month per user and collapse under real unit economics.
If you can demonstrate:
How to deploy and quantize open-weights models locally (llama.cpp, Ollama, vLLM) on budget consumer hardware.
How to replace recurring $500/mo SaaS stacks with robust $0 tiers and self-hosted open-source tooling.
The exact memory math (KV-cache footprints, layer splitting, context bounds) that separates 35 tok/s GPU execution from a 2 tok/s CPU crawl.
You instantly separate yourself from the crowd. Anyone can call an API endpoint. The engineer who understands how to build and operate software at near-zero infrastructure cost is irreplaceable.
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Well you clearly have talents, because this article is very entertaining! I would say you already know how to stand out from the crowd :D
Jokes aside - the only thing I can say (and it's not very original, but still) is that, as a developer, you should have your 'basics' covered - have a good grasp of the fundamentals, because those won't quickly become obsolete ...
And yeah, developers who have a good grasp of when (and how) to use AI in the SDLC (software development lifecycle), and in organizations in general, will have an edge - but, how to acquire those skills ... ?
Hey Leob!
Thanks for the advice! I can agree it's still important to learn fundamentals and knowing your roots!
This is tricky because one, you need a team and two, you need feedback. I would say join a community that cares for your development and seek out to see if someone can work with you, following the SDLC, and provide feedback on it. Mentors are really useful for this case. Overall, a lot of researching, which is expected since I am not expecting everyone to cut corners (which I don't recommend regardless of the small win).
lol appreciate it xD
Thanks again :D
Point is, the "fundamentals" are sort of an immutable/unchanging body of knowledge and skills, and provide a steady foundation - it's something you can always fall back on ...
But knowing how to use AI effectively? Those skills are highly sought after by companies, and are what can potentially make you stand out as a developer - the problem though is that in this area (AI) everything is still fluid and in motion, and definitive answers are hard to come by - and boot camps etc don't really teach it ...
Everyone is still looking for answers and partially reinventing the wheel when it comes to AI - that's why it's hard to become "good" at it (and how do you even gauge that, how good you are at it) ...
Indeed. I saw companies are falling back with AI because of the cost usage and how developers are spending tokens more than a developer's salary, which is insane!
Though, I guess a good skill is using those tokens effectively and how you are using AI.
Spending tokens more than a developer's salary, yeah that's insane - unless with those tokens they manage to produce the output which 2 or 3 "unaided" developers would produce - then it might make sense! ;-)
By being yourself! Everyone can copy the same projects, the same resume templates, and even the same AI prompts now, but nobody can copy you. Your story, your interests, and the way you think are the one thing that can’t be vibe coded. I also love your point about self-reflection, because you can’t really be yourself until you know who you are. Yugi didn’t win by copying the meta deck, he won with his own. Great post, Francis!
Exactly, ignore the part that Yugi "allegedly" cheated in the anime lol, he is himself! You are you and what makes you unique is you! That part is no longer that if you start copying others. What IS okay is learning from others and getting that aspect and figuring out how it will fit you. Thanks Maame and thanks for the Gem!
No p :)
I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh a lot too! 😸
Blue-Eyes White Dragon 🐉 was always one of my favorites, and I loved thinking about different combinations and combos around the cards I had.
But over time, power creep changes the game. A card that once felt incredibly strong can eventually lose its place in the meta.
Sometimes, if you want to keep getting stronger, you do have to let go of things that worked in the past.
But I don’t think that means the time spent learning them was wasted.
The fundamentals you built along the way become the foundation for whatever comes next, and some old cards can still find a place in a new deck.
At the same time, if everyone only built the strongest meta deck, I don’t think Yu-Gi-Oh would have become nearly as interesting.
Part of the fun was watching characters like Yugi or Joey build around their own style, enjoy the game, and sometimes win precisely because their decks felt like theirs.
I’m not sure this analogy applies perfectly to everyone in tech 😹, but maybe standing out is some combination of fundamentals, adaptation, and individuality.
We need enough fundamentals to understand the game, enough flexibility to adapt when the meta changes, and enough personality to avoid becoming just another copy of the same deck. 😸
Hey Nyao! Indeed, having the combination of fundementals, adaptation and individuality is a great combo! I gave you a gem not only because of the analogy expansion, but what led up to the standing out in the first place.
In order to be good at Yu-Gi-Oh, you need to know how to play. For me, I started playing Duel links using a Six Samurai Deck. Then, went over to Master Duel to play that deck there lol. It's still my favorite deck, though recently I bought myself a Blue Eyes Structure deck (which I heard can be played in locals). It's at least a good starting point for me to play in the TCG xD
Adaptation is critical because it shows if a person can adapt to a fast pace environment. I feel like the notion "I can work in a fast-paced environment" is taken literally in tech space. Action speaks louder than works, so if you can do it, you can do it lol.
Individuality makes one unique, which makes sense since you mention Yugi and Joey. They have their own style and their own ace card like Yugi's dark magician and Joey's Red Eyes Black dragon.
Thanks for sharing Nyao!
It’s a good question whether it’s worth standing out from the crowd. I’m trying too, even after more than 40 years in IT. What worked for me was entering competitions. I started more than two years ago with this program:
dev.to/pengeszikra/a-l-i-e-n-s-o-l...
Of course, I didn’t win, and practically nobody saw it, but I’m persistent. After a while, I started making increasingly useful things. Along the way, I also got over how few people look at what I make. So I keep going. Right now, I’m putting together my entry for this competition:
https://start-developer-competition-26.devpost.com/?ref_feature=challenge&ref_medium=discover
I also wrote two articles about CVs. Again, what works for me won’t necessarily work for someone else: dev.to/pengeszikra/single-line-cv-...
But at least the app that came out of it is useful to me:
dev.to/pengeszikra/devto-articles-...
And if you’re just starting out, go for it and try to find your own way of expressing yourself. In a way, development is an art form too, perhaps just a little more modern than the classics.
Thanks for the advice Peter! It's always good to know yourself than to just simply copying others!
Standing out is less about volume than a portfolio of evidence: a system you shipped, a decision you can explain, and a failure you can diagnose. In an AI-assisted market, being able to show the constraints and trade-offs behind the result is more durable than simply producing a polished demo.
Right. It's all about ensuring you can show what challenges you face and why you built it the way you did! Thanks Alex :)
Exactly—the strongest portfolio stories make the constraint visible, not just the outcome. Showing how you narrowed a trade-off or recovered from a mistake gives people a much clearer signal of judgment than a polished result alone.
The Yu-Gi-Oh meta analogy works so well. Chasing the meta deck means we start over every season, and when we build a deck we understand card by card, we adapt to any ban-list. In tech, the closest thing to that deck might be writing and talking about what we learn: a blog post or a small meetup talk shows how we think, and every hiring team can read that.
Indeed! Thanks Kate!
The third step, use the environment to your advantage, is the one I found most practical. The vibe-coding example makes the point well: if everyone is building the same full-stack restaurant app, building the rarer thing is not just contrarian, it is where the open space is. I also liked the five-year question in the self-reflection section. Asking whether I would be satisfied bringing my current knowledge forward five years is a much sharper test than asking whether I am keeping up, because keeping up has no finish line. The advice-as-a-grain-of-salt point pairs with that nicely: a method that worked for someone else is data, not a prescription.
Thanks for sharing!
The meta deck analogy works well, especially the cost of switching when the ban list changes: chasing whatever stack is popular this month means rebuilding from scratch every time. The players who last tend to understand why a deck wins, not just which deck wins, and that carries over when the meta shifts. In tech terms that might be knowing how systems fail rather than which framework is hot. Which of your three points do you think newcomers skip most often?
Hey Gautam!
I would say that self-reflection is the most skipped thing. We tend to be so busy on chasing trends in order to "fit in" or to show off, but we fail to realize that all your doing is chasing a mask, not the actual value your getting from it.
At the end of the day, your still you in the current state. Nothing changed. Having that self-reflection allows you to understand your strengths and weaknesses and knowing what you actually need. You already stand out, you just need to embrace that.
Thanks Gautam!
One more comment because I keep seeing your post. 😹
I have come to enjoy the amount of exploration and learning that comes with not being super prominent. I get to work on all my side projects. Hiding or not being well known for anything can actually be a blessing in disguise. When you realize that could change, it kind of makes you want to go back into hiding. XD
lol you could also reply to your own comment with this comment xD
Glad you see the post again haha. It's always scary knowing that you could change. It's either for the better or worse, so I can see why.
As someone who's been in the industry for 10 years now, I can say it has always been harsh and unforgiving in one way or another. Layoffs are bad, of course, but AI is also creating new opportunities.
AI is a strange thing. In a way it's an equalizer, but it's also an amplifier, and which one it is for you depends on where you position yourself. Being creative and interesting matters more than ever, I can't stress this enough. Because now literally anyone can build a classic to-do app... but can you build something that's actually appealing and interesting? That's a different story.
So here's a high-level strategy for anyone feeling a bit down about the recent changes: use AI as an equalizer to keep up with the market, then use it as an amplifier to push your skills and creativity beyond what the market offers. It's easier said than done, and it's a continuous process. You never stop doing the reps.
Very good advice Giorgi. AI can definitely do anything, but it's up to who uses it. If you simply build a To-do app via AI, then it's not interesting. However, if you use AI in the process with your creativity in the mix in some aspect of development, then it can stand out really quickly instead of 100% relying on AI. Thanks Giorgi :D
If you must choose a thing, choose something you like. Also, seek advice that works in many domains, not just in tech!
Always good the one you like, not something you need to because it's "required". Good points Anna!
My 2 cents: find a hard question and spend years digging into it. That’s what has worked for me, and still does.
For the past 15 years, I’ve been chasing one seemingly simple question: “How can a system stabilize without a source of truth?”
For me, it’s a question about adaptability: how a system can keep adjusting when it has no definitive reference telling it what “correct” looks like. I’ve been lucky that this question has stayed relevant across general IT and web development, and feels even more relevant in the AI era.
Seeing people building cool stuff, being appreciated and earning thousands on social platforms, made me believe that to stand out in tech, I need to build something big too. I tried, but what worked for others will not necessarily work for me. So, to really stand out, to become great, I just keep exploring different things and sharpen my skills.
That's great to hear Manan! Always good to explore new things that interests you! What are some things you found recently?
Recently I was thinking about building a god tier programming language which will make every other language obsolete (that's how delusional AI made me). I spent hours doing research on it only to end up realising I can't do it alone. But I learnt many new things like compiler design, AST, etc. and it was fun.
At least you learn something from it! Back then, I also thought of making my own programming language (before AI). For my case, I was too overconfident since I was learning Data Structures during that time.
I never made it lol. But based on what you learnt, never a bad idea to learn it for myself!
Hey, love the advice here. I am currently one of those vibe coders that you mentioned, working on my own projects and am somewhat relatively new to "tech". I've been vibe coding the same project for the past 10 months and often find myself asking similar questions, such as "How do I stand out?" I know AI is a huge buzzword right now, and I know everyone in the tech industry is vibe coding. I do believe in the project that I'm building, but I'm also taking a huge bet that smaller models will get a lot better in the next couple of years.
Hey Micah! Glad you liked the advice! Yes, everyone is vibe coding and I think that's not going away anytime soon. Do keep in mind that there are reports of companies backtracking AI because of the spending cost of tokens that is more than a developer salary.
One thing I heard that you could stand out is learning System Design. Anyone can vibe code a project, but having that understanding of why the project is build that way via design allows you to get the upperhand! Perhaps give it a try? :)
Regardless, thanks Micah :D
I have Claude pro to use Claude code in windows powershell, so I don’t pay per token just $100 a month. Right now I’m working on building my own version of webUI with a custom rag and memory system, that also acts as its own harness. I’m the design the entire systems from specs to architecture. I’ve learned a ton about what I’m building because I ask the questions that need to be asked that create questions that Claude needs to ask me and I make those decisions. I know a lot about how my system is designed and why it has to be designed a specific way but not a ton about other systems, if that makes sense. I appreciate the input and would love to connect further!
Your point about never getting feedback from interviews really hit home, because silence teaches you nothing about what to fix. One loop that does give honest feedback is the issue tracker of tools you already use. A clean, reproducible bug report or a small fix usually gets a reply from a maintainer, and that reply tells you more about your work than a rejection email ever will. Writing up what you broke and how you fixed it does something similar in public. Did blogging give you that same feedback loop, or did it come from somewhere else?
Blogging is a way for myself not only to share but to also get feedback. It tends to be hard in the beginning because you know, you just started. Overtime, you tend to get more people and more people means more feedback on the things you shared! Thanks Kiell :)
That makes sense, and the slow start is probably where most people give up. Thanks for the conversation, and good luck with the next posts!
Really great post, and I think this is something a lot of people need to hear right now.
One thing I'd add is that it's not just people who are new to tech who are struggling. Even people with years of experience are having an incredibly hard time finding work. My husband has around 20 years of experience in IT, and he spent over a year trying to find a job. He was applying for everything, including basic help desk positions he was honestly way overqualified for, and still wasn't getting anywhere.
Nearly every job posting seemed to have 100, 200, or even more applicants. Just a few years ago, we weren't seeing anything like that. It's been pretty shocking to watch how much things have changed in such a short time.
I don't know how much of this is directly related to AI versus layoffs, the economy, or other factors, but something has definitely shifted. And I think it's important for people, especially those just starting out, to understand that struggling to get hired doesn't necessarily mean they're doing something wrong or that they aren't good enough. There are experienced people struggling right alongside them.
I really like your point about finding what works for you instead of just following everyone else's advice. I think that's especially important now. Keep learning, keep building, and keep putting yourself out there, but also don't measure your worth or abilities entirely by whether someone hires you. Sometimes the market itself is just really tough.
Hey Jessica! Yes, seeing 100+ applicants has been a norm for sometime, even before AI. When I was finding internships during my undergraduate, I have seen stats like these, so I thought it was normal. Finding jobs from unexpected places really helps. For example, developer jobs at Target or a thrift store.
The market is tough for sure, but if you keep researching, you will find gold eventually xD
dk about standing out in Tech but in order to stand out in interview you just have to be the relative of HR or CEO
Yea but in order to GET to the interview, you would have to have connections for that to happen. Then you would stand out in the interview. At least that's how I think of it. I can't imagine you walk into the interview and some luck the interviewer knows you.
Regardless, thanks for sharing Aarish :)
😭bro I was being sarcastic in my reply but okh jokes apart in order to truly Standout in Tech is (my personal opions btw)
Have genuine Interest I was reading a book called ikegai and I was so surprised to find that certain group of people in okinawa (dk if the place is correct) they dont believe in the concept of retirement they choose a work they love and they will keep doing it until their body is healthy
I have read other comments and most people just say that be authentic which I respectfully disagree because i think its very very rare to come up with an absolute new fresh idea (its same like imagining a new color you will think of combinations of color but not a new color) so keep getting explore to new tech, trends maybe you might get a new derived idea
Taking regular break or having a hobby outside of tech might be music , gym, skating etc most of the senior enginners I have met so far they havent resolved their life around tech
Ohhhh I didn't read as that lmao mb. Thanks for the suggestions though xD
The line that hit me: "If you think about it, you're not really standing out if everyone else is doing it."
The Yu-Gi-Oh "meta" analogy is painfully accurate. I see so many beginners jumping from learning Python to JavaScript to Rust just because a blog post said it was "the future." They end up with a mile-wide, inch-deep skill set and a GitHub full of half-finished tutorial projects.
But I think the part about your own journey (realizing cold applying wasn't working and starting to blog) is the actual secret sauce.
AI can generate a 10,000-line full-stack app in seconds. It can write a "perfect" resume. But it can't build a genuine relationship. It can't write a blog post about the specific bug you spent 3 hours fixing, or the emotional rollercoaster of learning something new.
Standing out now isn't about having the most impressive project; it's about having the most human presence. People hire people they trust, and trust comes from seeing your actual thought process. Great post!
That is true! People hire because they trust that they can do the work. It's worth noting that cold applying doesn't work because if you think about it, you wouldn't hire some person you just met. Which is why connections is important to have because it allows them to get to know you more. Thanks Sameer!
The ban list example made me think of a better portfolio prompt. Pick one project and write down which constraint made you choose its design. Then flip just that constraint and explain what you’d rebuild. You can do the same thing with a prachub question if you want a small rehearsal before talking through your own code. For the restaurant app, I’d start with what happens if the kitchen loses Wi-Fi during lunch.
Hey Emily. Good connection! It's always important to update your software and decide on if the design needs to be change depending on the constraints!
Thanks, Francis. I’d show that decision in the project write-up with one concrete constraint that changed and what it forced me to revise. That gives an interviewer an easy way into the trade-off.
That hit home. I myself have been in the tech industry when the "commodore 64" was all the rage.. yeah, I'm that old! Tech has really evolved since.. slowly at a normal walk, then a run, then it just took off.. now with AI, just waiting for my flying car.. oh wait! that's already here!
For me, its blink and you missed it. That was great article.. Good interspection of one's self and where they are heading. Keep moving forward!
Thanks Brent and thanks for reading! Yes, technology does evolve really quickly and I believe it will be much quicker with AI! Hope you are well :D
Quicker is the understatement of the century here..
Yea. Some say we are going way to fast in development..
Thanks for advice Francis !
Anytime Tanay!
Thank you for the article. I am currently in similar boat. I keep thinking "What can I offer? How do I stand out?"
But what I am seeing is that everyone is struggling. Don't try to tie your self-worth to the job market. It is often not personal.
I think we just have to keep trying. I wish I had a better advice though 😅
Hey Lucia. Yes, having consistency and discipline is key to anything! Everyone is smart, but having that discipline is always the hardest part.
Adding another point is why chase the next fad even before AI it was almost unreasonable to jump on the next big thing. The next big thing is typically still in their infancy and are usually unstable or buggy or both.
Yea, but that's is with any software/product really. It's depends on how you would use it and make the most out of it! Thanks Victor!
Building What Matters in the AI Era
Chasing every trending framework just to keep up leads straight to burnout.
What really stands out right now is looking at the gaps in the ecosystem. While everyone else is vibe-coding standard full-stack clones, the real leverage is building the actual infrastructure and tools that developers and AI agents rely on—like utility libraries (think Lenis for smooth scrolling), security scanners, or developer tooling.
Building things that power other projects gives you a much stronger portfolio than just another cookie-cutter app. Great read!
Thanks Yash!
From the data center floor, standing out has never been about chasing the newest stack or the loudest opinion. The techs people remember are the ones who document the fix properly, label what they touched, and leave a ticket note the next shift can actually follow. That kind of reliability is quiet, but it's what keeps a team trusting you when something breaks at 2 a.m., and no resume trick replaces it.
Right! Thanks Dheeraj!
I love this advice! I think building connections is one of the best ways to go about finding a job, but probably not in the way most people think. For me, tech has so many different roles within it that you might not have come across the role you'd be perfect for! That's where building connections and focusing on expanding your network can be invaluable as you can see the careers others are building and the roles that got them there!
Exactly! It's also worth noting that "networking" is a fancy way of saying "meeting new people". You can't really get a job by simply not knowing anyone at all. It's takes courage to meet new people and learn from them! Thanks Amy!
Great post and plenty of useful suggestions!
I’d love to add a few insights I’ve gathered throughout my career:
1) Prioritize real-world experience over a fast graduation. As a student, I fought for an internship at IBM. It was expensive and delayed my graduation by a year, but it taught me how the professional development world actually works. It also taught me how office dynamics work: the most brilliant developer sat quietly in a small corner, while others constantly took advantage of his deep knowledge!
Don't just rush to get a degree; seek to understand the world you are about to enter.
2) Master the fundamentals, not just the languages. In tech, tools and languages change constantly. Today, anyone can "vibe-code" an application, but very few can actually prove it is production-ready. And trust me, simply typing "make it production-ready" into an AI prompt won't make it so.
3) Commit to continuous learning. You need to study every single day. Understanding how to build a sustainable, stable product that handles thousands or millions of users is a skill you have to actively discover. While AI is a great tool for accelerated learning, the best way to stand out is to build personal projects on GitHub that actively demonstrate your commitment to production-grade quality.
4) Never overlook security. Security is an infinite, high-value field. If you start implementing solid security practices into your personal projects now, your next employer will absolutely notice.
5) Have fun in every single activity you do... this is magic and make you stand out!
Thanks for the advice Pietro! One thing that stood out is continuous learning. If you are a developer in tech, it's expected from everyone to keep learning new things since technology is endless!
Thanks Pietro!
Absolutely but as well explained in the book "The Psychology of Software Teams":
“every single person (developer) […] interviewed described effortful learning as absolutely integral to solving problems and pushing software forward, yet nearly all of them also described a deep tension between how they saw their work, and how they felt their organizations saw it. It was clear […] that developers weren’t getting the time and space they needed to learn.”
amzn.eu/d/04d4p2X0
Let's us hear the conclusion 😁 of the whole matter, there is no one way to stand out, there is no magic bullet but for you to get hired you need to stand out and the thing that will make you to stand out you gat to figure it out yourself.
Is everyone following?🙈
This one hit close to home, because I'm living your "put yourself out there" advice right now. Until recently, I mostly just read DEV. Since then I've been commenting, wrote my first post, and met great people here, including you. You're right that nobody tells you to do it, but it's already been worth it.
Your step 3 also connects with my work. In AI training, I see every day where AI gets stuck, and those are exactly the places where humans still stand out: judgment, fundamentals, and knowing when something feels wrong. So "observe the environment" can also mean watching where AI fails, not just what everyone else is building.
Also, I sent you a connection request on LinkedIn. Would be great to stay in touch there too!
Thanks Takefumi! You send the same message twice lol.
I am rarely active on Linkedin, but when I get on, I will for sure connect!
Really well-explained breakdown. The practical context and nuanced points here make a lot of sense, especially considering how fast tooling workflows have been evolving lately. Thanks for sharing this!
No problem! Thanks for reading!
This one hit close to home, because I’m living your “put yourself out there” advice right now. Until recently, I mostly just read DEV. Since then I’ve been commenting, wrote my first post, and met great people here, including you. You’re right that nobody tells you to do it, but it’s already been worth it.
Your step 3 also connects with my work. In AI training, I see every day where AI gets stuck, and those are exactly the places where humans still stand out: judgment, fundamentals, and knowing when something feels wrong. So “observe the environment” can also mean watching where AI fails, not just what everyone else is building.
Also, I sent you a connection request on LinkedIn. Would be great to stay in touch there too!
The decorated-resume-getting-rejected-by-ATS bit stung a little, because I did exactly that — spent an evening making a resume pretty, then wondered why nobody replied. Ran a test a few days ago with two resumes, 30 applications, and the plain one won by a mile. Your Yu-Gi-Oh analogy holds up better than most career advice I've read, honestly. The meta changes, the ban-list hits, and you're rebuilding the deck from scratch again.
Appreciate it AheadKit!
The self reflection step stands out to me the most. It is easy to copy whatever is working for someone else and then wonder why it feels hollow. I have found that the work that lasts is usually the work that fits the person doing it, not the trend of the month. Thanks for writing this up so honestly.
Adding a second comment - one "way out" would be to start your own company, i.e. become an entrepreneur - meaning you're not dependent on employers to hire you ;-) ... but (here's the catch) - that does require a vastly different skillset!
P.S. I think another "way out", which an increasing number of people will consider, is a literal "way out", i.e. to look at a different career path/industry ...
But, that might just "shift" the question: which profession/industry/career path is still "safe" from the onslaught of AI ? I guess we can't all be plumbers or carpenters, lol ... ;-)
Usually for that advice, it tends to start early 20s because it's still a learning phase in that age. If the company didn't turn out well, at least you learn something from it. You don't really lose anything if it doesn't work out.
If you start later, there is usually a risk because around your 30 or older, you tend to have more responsibilities such as needing to pay your bills and such.
I've shipped quite a few small tools, and one thing I've noticed is that building something useful beats building something impressive. The best projects usually come from solving a problem you actually had yourself.
That's right! Usually projects that makes an impact or is found useful for someone tends to stand out more than someone building a project just for the sake of it. Thanks Julian!
A timely writing. Genuinely scared of graduating next year because of all this.
It is quite scary, through once you start doing the work it becomes less scary to think about as you become more familiar with your skills. What are you goals after graduation?
I am currently doing an internship in a software firm. If they take me in after my graduation, then I might stay here. Otherwise, I want to apply for backend or AI roles in the MNCs and software companies. But nothing's set in stone, I am still exploring my options
That's great to hear! Hopefully, you will get the full time role after your internship!
A lot of gifts! :)
Indeed there is! Having Gifs in articles makes it look nice :)
Thanks for stopping by Star!
Your writing style is very nice, I want to be like you! :D
Thanks Star! Glad I am a great role model :D
Cool profile pic!!
Thanks! My friend made it for me specifically! A mix of MHA and Super Mario Galaxy theme lol
This looks really beautiful! Your friend must have spent quite a lot of time making it. By the way, I honestly couldn't recognize you at first with your new profile picture lol
Fair enough! It's not really you expected lol. Though, much appreciated and letting him know that too!
It seems like you and many people this days, trying to find meaning where it not suppose to be.
Hey Arseniy! Can you clarify?
Excellent, I only see that AI is lowering the entry barrier, too many things to do to set yourself apart that are nearly out of touch of vibe coders.
Great post! Thanks
Thanks for reading :D
The branch nobody in this thread takes: the work doesn't decide whether it stands out. The person who repeats it does.
I've spent a month measuring this on my own writing. One piece: 26 readers, 4 likes, 0 replies. The next: 55 readers, 12 likes, 0 replies. Good stats, empty room. Every time a stranger actually reached me it came from a comment I left in their own thread, not from my post. Eight for eight.
So the meta deck isn't the project. It's one sentence about your work that a stranger can repeat when you're not in the room. Anyone can copy a project. A sentence is the only thing that leaves with them.
Before you ship the next thing, say it in one line. If the line needs the artifact to make sense, keep working.
Thanks for sharing ken!
You wrote the question; I only answered it. The line is yours to test: say the thing in one sentence, then watch who repeats it when you're not in the room.
That's a hard mistake, but I feel it's almost inevitable in the early years.
I like your statement about taking advice, especially considering, as mentioned, that the industry is always changing. What I can add to try to answer the question "What do I need for myself to stand out is that it also depends on the professional step the person is:
*1) Entry-level (novice, junior...): *
This one falls into the herd challenge. There is a whole universe of things to learn, build the fundamentals, and a lot of competition in the market. Here, words such as "proactive", "consistency", "communication," and "patience" come to mind as attributes to stand out
2) Mid-level
On this level, looking back to own path, is when I got some self-consciousness about what I am actually good at. I started to specialize in that, going deep into the subject, which allowed me to tackle hard questions about related skills; This definitely helps on standing out.
3) Senior-level+
This level is all about ownership and accountability, in my perspective. Once the professional gets enough experience, it's time to start owning more responsibilities, plus being able to focus and demonstrate real-world impacts of these owned solutions.
The single most effective way to stand out right now is being the engineer who understands cost and hardware constraints.
Right now, 95% of candidates build AI portfolio projects by chaining closed API wrappers (OpenAI / Anthropic) that burn $20/month per user and collapse under real unit economics.
If you can demonstrate:
You instantly separate yourself from the crowd. Anyone can call an API endpoint. The engineer who understands how to build and operate software at near-zero infrastructure cost is irreplaceable.