Job Change in My Mid-30s (feat. AI Utilization Matters More Than a Portfolio)
I've had a lot on my mind since my recent job change, so I wanted to write it down. I'm a backend developer with 4 years of experience, and the hiring market has completely changed.
First of all, the job postings themselves are different. Almost every posting now includes a preference for AI-related experience. In interviews, they asked more about "how you've used AI tools in your work" than simply your coding ability.
I actually interviewed at 5 companies, and these were the common questions:
- How much did GPT or Copilot increase your productivity?
- Have you tried AI code review tools?
- Examples of applying prompt engineering in practice
In the end, I think the gap between those who actively use AI tools and those who don't will continue to widen. I need to spend my spare time studying AI more.
4 answers
Yeah, these days if you don't know AI, you'll have nothing to say in an interview.
I'm also a backend developer with 5 years of experience, and I went through something similar when I switched jobs last year. Just adding one AI project to my portfolio changed the interview atmosphere noticeably. I also talked about how I actually ran code reviews with GPT. It seems like these days they look more at 'how you've integrated AI into your work' rather than just 'knowing how to use AI tools.' Interviewers are also really into prompt engineering. Seems like studying AI in your spare time is the right call.
Well, I don't think so. It's true that AI has become important, but not every company is like that—many are just jumping on the bandwagon. I had an interview last month, and they didn't ask a single question about AI usage; instead, they asked about basic data structures. Even if the job posting says 'AI preferred,' a lot of companies still do things the old way.
Oh, I didn't know that. But how did you explain the cases of applying prompt engineering in practice? Would it be insufficient to just have GPT do code review?