Stand Out in the Tech Job Market: Show Proof, Not Applications

Bashiri Smith · Facebook reel · 2026-09-21 · 1:12 · 6,419 views · Open on Facebook

Topics: Resume, Job Search & Interviews, Portfolio Projects, Industry Trends & Job Market · Level: beginner

Summary

Bashiri Smith argues that the people struggling most to get hired in tech are "boring" candidates: people with average degrees or jobs who never built anything significant. Getting hired is now a fight to be noticed, and you win it with visible proof that you've built things and solved real problems. Mass-applying, complaining, and building the same project as everyone else won't work. Showing domain knowledge and high agency will.

Key points

• Hiring is hardest for candidates with nothing distinctive: an average CS degree or a job where they didn't build anything significant.
• The old path no longer works: send a resume, get an interview, pass it, get the job.
• Getting hired now means being visible, and the way to be visible is proof that you built or achieved something significant for a company, yourself, or someone else.
• Ways to stand out: build interesting projects, post about them consistently, start a startup or freelance business, or build things for friends.
• What doesn't work: sending thousands of applications, complaining about the job market, building the same project as everyone else, or chasing whatever is trending on X (e.g. 'harness engineering').
• Companies want proof that you can solve their problems. Show domain knowledge and high agency: find a problem and build a solution.
• The creator says he has seen hundreds of people he didn't expect to get hired land jobs in the past year.

Try this

• Stop mass-applying with a generic resume. Focus on being visible instead.
• Build original projects rather than the same project everyone else builds.
• Post about what you build consistently.
• Consider starting a startup or a freelance business, or building tools for friends.
• Show domain knowledge in a specific problem area.
• Show high agency: find a real problem on your own and build a solution to it.
• Don't chase every trend people on X are hyping.
• Build a solution to a real problem you find in a field you know well, to show domain knowledge
• Build software for friends or a small business to show real-world impact
• Start a freelance practice or small startup around something you built