In This Newsletter
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Today's Trade: Ticker, Entry and Exit
Most stock tips give you a ticker and nothing else. Today we'll pick one stock to buy and text you the whole trade: the ticker, the entry price, and where to sell. It's free and takes less than a minute.
Lessons from the Launchpad
Over 400 people have been part of the AI/ML Career Launchpad since we started in April, and many of them have already made the move into a new role.
Beyond all the stuff we provide to help you out (like a resume template, the new tech book club, my skill tracking app, etc.), the most important resource is learning from others who are in the same boat as you.
Here are some career lessons from members in the last month:
Ask for a salary range before you give a number. Something like "I have a range in mind, but would you be willing to share the budgeted range for the role first?" is hard to refuse without looking a bit silly. If they insist you go first, give the middle to upper end of market and phrase it so you aren't locked into it. When they tell you a number is final, treat that as where they started, not where they'll end up. And don't lowball yourself to look easier to hire. They want someone qualified, not someone cheap.
Your LinkedIn headline and your experience section serve different purposes. Put the role you're targeting in your headline, and keep your experience section close to your actual title. A lot of recruiter search is still keyword matching, so if the words for the role you want don't appear anywhere on your profile, you won't come up, even when the work you've done is the same underneath. What I wouldn't do is rewrite old titles you never held. "Software Engineer (AI platform)" is a good middle path.
In-person events are a different beast than cold outreach. The technical staff at a company's talk or happy hour volunteered to be there and expect to be asked about their work. The person you cold-message on LinkedIn is just trying to get through their day. If at all possible, go to as many in-person networking events as you can. Meet people, ask about their work, and see if you can help them out. That’s often the best way to find yourself getting help yourself.
The AI/ML Career Launchpad opens to new members in about 2.5 weeks, and spots are limited. Join the waitlist here to get in line first. 🚀
What to do when you feel "stuck"
Last week I was coming back from a long international trip and wasn't feeling well. On top of that, I had a particularly hectic week in the business.
I felt completely overwhelmed, but also like I didn't have a choice. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get it all done without burning out, and I didn't see any other option.
This experience is pretty common. There are so many areas of life where we're scared of an outcome and start seeing our situation in black and white. Like quit or stay, succeed or fail. And often both options feel emotionally unacceptable.
For me, getting everything I'd planned done that week meant ending up overwhelmed, tired, and burned out. But I also wasn't willing to risk disappointing someone or failing my business by missing a deadline.
"I have no choice" often means something closer to "I don't want to experience what I imagine comes with either choice." That's what makes it feel like a no-win situation.
And then we stop being creative enough to see that there are always alternatives.
When I noticed I was having this black-and-white feeling about my week, I stopped and reminded myself that I was operating from a place of very low agency. I did have a choice. I always have a choice, even if I don't like what the outcome might be.
So I found the most time-consuming thing on my calendar and canceled it. It was a really important event, and I felt bad about not delivering it. But I made a compromise: I sent the participants the materials in advance, made a plan to record the presentation and send it to them for free, and refunded everyone. I lost money, but the most important thing is my ability to stay in the game for the long term.
And to my surprise, the participants were really supportive. Everyone understood that I wasn't feeling well and needed to take care of my health. What felt like an impossible situation actually had a reasonable solution: cancel, refund people, and give them something else that solves their problem for zero money. That makes most people pretty happy.
Next time you're feeling stuck, I invite you to take a more “agentic” approach. Look at what options you really have, and question whether the ones you've ruled out are actually off the table.
I now treat black-and-white thinking as a sign that I'm not being creative, not as a sign that reality is actually that bad.
Come hang out with me at AI.js Day
Want to become an AI Engineer and build a career that lasts?
I'll share a practical roadmap at JetBrains AI.js Day on Friday, November 13, alongside Danny Thompson and Kent C. Dodds. It's free and online!
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