Tech Connects

Hello, and welcome to Tech Connects, Dice’s podcast where we dig into the topics on tech hiring, recruiting and careers that matter to you! I’m your host, Nick Kolakowski, and I’m going to talk to great guests every month about the current state of the tech careers world, including the tech job market, the hottest tech skills, what companies are doing to attract and retain technologists in a historically tight market, and much, much more.  Our latest guest is Mark Chaffey, who’s the CEO of hackajob, which is attempting to upend the tech job market. With the traditional job hunting model, tech professionals apply for jobs. But with hackajob, everything is inverted: companies must apply for tech professionals whose skills and experience match what they need. It’s a fascinating idea, and the experience of spinning up hackajob has given Chaffey some key insights into the tech job market at the moment. We’re going to discuss everything from the current state of tech hiring, to the most in-demand tech skills, to the potential impact of generative A.I. on the job market. Let’s get to it! Here are a couple of quick takeaways from our discussion that could help you out as you negotiate the job market. First, despite all the headlines about layoffs, companies are still having a hard time finding the tech professionals they need, especially when it comes to sourcing specialized talent. That makes some companies desperate, and more likely to spam candidates who might not fit their requirements. If you’re a manager or team leader on the hunt for talent, it’s worth taking a considered, careful approach to your sourcing—you may need a bit more time to fill the position, but the odds are higher you’ll find the right candidate for the job. Second, A.I. is going to have an impact on hiring. But it’s going to be quite some time, if ever, before automation can potentially take over recruiting and hiring entirely—job candidates want the human touch, and it’s up to companies to provide that. Third, there’s a lot of chatter out there about how A.I. will impact how tech professionals do their jobs. We’re already starting to see the effects of this, but it could take years—if not decades—for the impact of generative A.I. to fully play out. And while automation may eliminate some jobs, there’s every chance it could end up creating quite a few more, different ones. Which leads us to the fourth and last point: soft skills such as communication and empathy matter just as much as technical skills. If you’re out on the job market right now, take the time to emphasize your soft skills in your resume, application materials, and job interviews—it could really set you apart from other candidates. We covered a whole lot of other topics during this episode, of course, so give it a re-listen if there was something you missed. We’ll see you next time—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for technologists, the best place to grow your tech career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our latest guest is Shadi Rostami, who’s SVP of engineering at Amplitude, which builds a unified data analytics platform, among other products. She’s built and run engineering teams and spearheaded the development of products and services incorporating Big Data, cloud computing, and much more. That background gives her spectacular insight into the rise of “data democratization,” which is the ability for employees throughout the organization to gather and analyze data without much training or assistance from data scientists, data analysts, and other experts.Lots of companies over the years have pledged to design tools and platforms to make data democratization more of a mainstream thing, and I’m wondering about the current state of those efforts—is data democratization gaining momentum, or is there still much work to be done? Is it possible to make an entire organization data literate? And how does that change the jobs of data scientists and other experts?If you’re interested in analyzing data for crucial insights, it’s more important than ever to be aware of how the push for data democratization and literacy are changing organizations of all sizes. Here are some key takeaways from our chat with Shadi:First, as companies collect and analyze more data, there’s more pressure on data analysts and scientists to deliver results for the organization. This results in the “data breadline” in which employees are lining up for their local data expert’s precious time and expertise. It’s not necessarily a sustainable system, which is why many companies are actively trying to figure out how to best give their employees the tools and datasets they need to perform effective data analysis.Second, companies need to walk something of a tightrope when it comes to empowering their workers and making them data literate. You can’t just throw raw data at someone untrained in analytics and expect them to mine crucial insights; but you also can’t just give them a dashboard and expect them to understand what’s going on. Easy-to-use tools for self-serve data analytics, combined with strategic help from data scientists, can go a long way toward helping an organization succeed on the data front.Third, effective data analysis is also a result of a company’s culture. It’s not just about hiring the right data experts and signing up for the right tools; companies need to really think about practices and culture around data, and how to make sure everyone in the organization is best served by the processes in place. It means that data experts and their company need to examine usage metrics and pause to analyze results. A good feedback loop will ensure everyone is getting what they need.We’ll see you next time—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for technologists, the best place to grow your tech career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our next guest is Tony Chan Carusone, who’s a Professor at the University of Toronto and CTO of Alphawave Semi, a tech company pushing forward a number of cutting-edge initiatives, including the design of custom silicon for artificial intelligence, hyperscale datacenters, and much more. Tony thinks the semiconductor industry faces a number of key challenges that will need to be solved over the next several years and decades, including a desperate need to grow the talent pipeline of tech professionals who specialize in all the various processes related to chip creation.According to one recent report by Deloitte, the semiconductor industry will be short 1 million employees by 2030. And when you think about the centrality of chips to everything we do everyday, you realize that potential lack of talent is a critical issue. Let’s listen in as Tony breaks down both the current industry and solutions for the future.Chips are so pervasive in our everyday lives, powering everything from our smartphones to our cars and appliances, that sometimes it’s easy to forget they’re even there. So it’s illuminating to talk to Tony because he illustrates just how central chips are to everyday life—and how quickly the semiconductor industry is evolving in new, interesting ways.Here are a couple of other takeaways from our discussion:First, if you’re interested in a tech career, think seriously about semiconductors, especially if you’re interested in hardware and electronics. You’ll have a real chance at making a huge difference in peoples’ lives if you help advance the semiconductor industry forward.Second, the semiconductor industry is speeding up. As Tony mentioned, there are open source tools that enable microchip design. There are startups trying to create custom silicon for next-generation functions such as artificial intelligence. There’s a lot of opportunity there for anyone to have an impact and contribute critical ideas, even just out of school. If you want to break into the field, gaining a solid foundation in math and science is critical; from there, there are lots of pathways to specialize in different aspects of the field. Third, the semiconductor industry will remain absolutely critical for a long time to come, but even with the attention devoted to building up a talent pipeline, there’s every chance that demand for tech pros will sustain well into the future. Keep an eye on how this field is evolving; it could make a good long-term play for your tech career.We covered a whole lot of other topics, of course, so give it a re-listen if there was something you missed. We’ll see you next time—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for technologists, the best place to grow your tech career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our next guest is Kathryn Minshew, the CEO and founder of The Muse, a website devoted to providing jobs, coaching, and advice to the next generation of job seekers. The site’s content covers everything that job candidates need to succeed in a dynamic and often uncertain job environment, from common interview questions to the need for soft skills to overcoming imposter syndrome. Her position gives Kathryn extraordinary insight into the job market at the moment. Let’s listen in as we talk about everything from the current economic environment to remote work to finding purpose in your job.  As you'll hear during the podcast, there’s a lot of reason for optimism out there. The news headlines seem focused on layoffs and the possibility of a recession, but companies are still hungry for talent, and job candidates have a lot of opportunities out there. Here are a few takeaways from our discussion: First, even though there are widespread fears of an economic recession, job candidates still expect to be able to vocalize their preferences and have their top priorities met. Many of them want a sense of purpose and an opportunity for growth. That means companies still need to provide the benefits, perks, and mission that candidates want. Second, employees aren’t willing to stick in a job they hate, especially if they have highly specialized skills that make them valuable. Many employees are experiencing “shift shock,” where a new job’s reality doesn’t match up to their expectations going in; some 72 percent of those surveyed by The Muse had experienced this phenomenon at some point. To avoid this kind of mismatch, companies must be honest, accurate, and straightforward about company culture and what they’re offering candidates. Third, if you’re a tech professional (or any other kind of worker) on the job hunt, take the time to do a personal inventory and figure out your career priorities. For example, do you want a position that allows you to engage in deeply focused work, or do you want to work constantly with a team? Are you willing to sacrifice a chance at higher compensation in order to work for a particular cause? Once you perform that sort of breakdown, you can get a better sense of the moves you need to make to have a truly fulfilling career. And that’s it folks! We covered a whole lot of other topics, of course, so give it a re-listen if there was something you missed. We’ll see you next time—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for technologists, the best place to grow your tech career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest today is Sethu Meenakshisundaram, co-founder of Zluri, an SaaS management startup that offers ways for companies to make their SaaS spend more efficient. Like many co-founders and CEOs right now, Sethu is gearing up to welcome a new group of interns into his company’s offices, and I thought it’d be great to talk through how companies can find interns who match their culture and priorities, what potential interns should look for as they pursue opportunities, and how tech teams can ensure that interns access a company’s data in a safe and secure way.  Here are some key takeaways from our discussion: First, if you’re an executive or team leader who’s hiring interns, keep in mind that interns want enriching experiences. If you’re committed to just having your interns do grunt work, chances are good the relationship won’t fully work for either you or them. Second, companies should be prepared for their legions of interns. That means ensuring that interns can do meaningful work without inadvertently causing chaos. Review with your team what you need to do to ensure that everyone accessing company data does so in a safe, informed way, for example. Third, keep an eye on your driven and engaged interns—they might end up becoming some of your best full-time employees. And with that, we’ll see you next time—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for technologists, the best place to grow your tech career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our next guest is Sachin Gupta, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of HackerEarth. We’ve had Sachin on the show before, and he’s always great at providing insights into the tech industry and how companies are hiring. A developer by trade, Sachin is passionate about the developer community and ensuring every developer is connected with the right opportunity. During this episode, we’re going to dig into the current must-have skills, how tech recruiting has changed in the post-pandemic period, the best ways to survive a technical interview, and much more. Let’s listen in! As Sachin mentions during our chat, the tech industry is experiencing a bit of turbulence at the moment. However, there’s still a widespread hunger for technology professionals, especially those who have mastered key skills such as blockchain, data science, and machine learning. By keeping your skills up-to-date and becoming comfortable with organizations’ hiring processes, you stand a good chance of landing a life-changing job interview. Here are some other takeaways: First, some of the biggest of the big tech companies have laid off thousands of workers, and some tech startups are having trouble getting funding. Nonetheless, multiple organizations across a broad swath of industries continue to hire aggressively. Sachin believes that much of the tech industry will rebound, as well, once we’re past all the turbulent events of the past few quarters, such as rising interest rates. Second, there’s continuing interest among developers in cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain and machine learning. For example, even though the cryptocurrency industry has undergone some spectacular meltdowns, there are still significant business applications for the blockchain such as smart contracting. Staying aware of the latest, most cutting-edge tech can only benefit you. Third, depending on the roles you’re applying for, chances are good you’ll face a technical interview of some sort. While these technical interviews are potentially intimidating, it’ll be okay so long as you follow some basic steps. Take as much time as possible to prepare, including reviewing the fundamentals of your particular specialization. Also, hiring managers and recruiters might be more forthcoming than you think about the contents of a technical interview; feel free to ask them about what any assessment will actually include in terms of concepts and tools. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our next guest is Errol Pierre, who’s a healthcare executive, professor, public speaker and author. He is a Senior VP at one of the most notable healthcare nonprofits in New York, and was previously COO at Empire BlueCross BlueShield. His recent book, “The Way Up,” breaks down how underrepresented groups from all walks of life can grow to their full potential and climb up the corporate ladder. He’s also a huge advocate for mentoring, and I wanted to speak with him about how mentorship had changed his life, and how anyone can use a mentor to achieve their goals.It’s fascinating to talk to Errol because he’s thought so deeply about mentorship and how it can impact careers. Here are a few things to keep in mind if you’re seeking a mentor, or if you’re a tech pro who feels ready to mentor others who are earlier in their career.First, it’s important for a mentor and mentee to have chemistry. If you’re seeking a mentor, make sure what they’re saying really resonates with you, and that you feel at ease while talking with them. As you deepen your relationship, your mentor may come to you with issues and questions of their own; take the time to listen and give them the best possible advice.Second, you’re not going to have one mentor (or mentee) throughout your career. People grow and evolve, and you should pause to evaluate your mentoring relationship every so often. It’s perfectly normal to move on if you feel it’s time—but make sure to never lose touch with someone who’s helped you so much.Third, you’re always potentially ready to mentor someone, just as long as you can devote the proper time and resources to the relationship. You don’t need to be a CEO or CTO to help someone along in their career; if you’re able to answer their questions and help them navigate at least some professional issues, you can mentor.And with that, we’ll see you next time—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for technologists, the best place to grow your tech career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The next episode of the Tech Connects podcast is here! Every month, we have great guests who share their expertise about the current state of the tech careers world, from the hottest tech skills to the state of the tech hiring market to what companies are doing to retain and attract top talent.Our latest ‘Tech Connects’ guest is Josh Millet, who’s founder + CEO of Criteria, which builds assessments and tools so that organizations can make objective, evidence-based talent decisions. When done right, good assessments should drive great hiring outcomes while reducing bias. But how do you create a truly objective assessment? How can companies adjust their hiring processes to boost hiring successes and retention while reducing turnover? Let’s listen in! Even under ideal circumstances, hiring is a tricky and stressful process for pretty much everybody involved, so it’s interesting to talk to people like Josh who are trying to revolutionize the process. Here are some key takeaways from our discussion:First, any company can set up a hiring process that minimizes the potential for bias, especially if they focus on a structured and rigorous process based around the job’s objective aspects. For example, the tools and languages involved in software engineering. Quantifiable assessments and an evidence-based approach can help organizations hire the most effective talent.Second, even though offices are opening back up, many organizations have embraced the idea of doing at least some hiring interviews via video. As Josh explained, many are doing the initial interview over Zoom, then moving to in-person for the final interviews. For managers and tech professionals, that means maintaining and perfecting both your video and in-person interviewing skills. Third, there’s a growing movement behind using assessments to inform growth, development, and teambuilding. If you’re a manager and you’re concerned about your team’s morale, consider an assessment-based approach to evaluating their happiness and willingness to leave.We’ll see you next time—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for technologists, the best place to grow your tech career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, and welcome to Tech Connects, Dice’s podcast where we dig into the topics on tech hiring, recruiting and careers that matter to you! I’m your host, Nick Kolakowski, and I’m going to talk to great guests every month about the current state of the tech careers world, including the tech job market, the hottest tech skills, what companies are doing to attract and retain technologists in a historically tight market, and much, much more. Our next guest is Nick Durkin, field CTO of harness.io, where he’s responsible for the organization's worldwide field engineering team, post-sales engineering team, and a portion of product. Harness.io leverages artificial intelligence to streamline core DevOps processes, which gives him key insights into how automation is changing the nature of work for tech professionals everywhere. Let’s listen in as we talk about all things A.I., ChatGPT, and developers. There’s been a lot of chatter lately about how A.I.-powered tools like ChatGPT can potentially impact software developers and other tech professionals. Some of this chatter is really negative, with developers fearing that chatbots will eventually take their jobs. It’s fascinating to talk to Nick because he’s so positive about the effects of automation on software developers, especially their workflows. As he said, technology like this has the potential to eliminate some of the worst parts of your job. As A.I. and chatbots become more sophisticated, it’s also important to keep in mind that machines can’t replicate human creativity and ingenuity. Even the best chatbot can’t make the same intuitive leaps as an experienced engineer when confronted with a particularly difficult challenge. If you want to truly future-proof your career, focus on skills like management, problem-solving, and strategizing.  That way, even if these A.I. tools gain the ability to execute on even more complex tasks, you’ll still prove vital when it comes to completing projects and moving your organizations forward. Plus, there’s always an upside: A.I. might free up more hours for you to focus on what really matters to you. We’ll see you next time—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for technologists, the best place to grow your tech career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest today is Kaitlyn Albertoli, who’s CEO and co-founder of Buzz Solutions, which uses predictive analytics, A.I., and other cutting-edge technologies to inspect and evaluate the power grid. This is critical work, as power companies need this kind of data for everything from anticipating power outages to ensuring we can modernize the power grid and make it “smarter.” It’s always fascinating to see how technologies like predictive analytics can not only be used to tackle intense, real-world problems, but to also update the aging, often antiquated systems that we depend upon for so many things. As Kaitlyn says during our chat, it’s going to be fascinating to see what happens over the next five to ten years as these technologies mature and end up applied to different industries.Here are some other quick takeaways from our talk:First, if you’re interested in launching a startup, take the time to identify the pain points in the market, and whether your idea is a real solution that can solve that pain.Second, it’s still very early days for artificial intelligence and machine learning. If you’re in a business where you’re dealing with people who are unfamiliar with A.I. and its potential, take the time to educate them on how it works. By walking them through the strengths and weaknesses of the technology, you’ll get them onboard with your plans for using it.Third, whatever your industry, a real key to success is effectively analyzing data. Without analytics, you’ll have a harder time achieving tactical and strategic goals, especially over the long term. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.