Topic 15 of 16 in the learning path

Resume, Job Search & Interviews

Resumes, finding roles, interview prep, negotiation and career moves.

Reels and posts (26)

• The 5 Categories Asked in Every AI Engineering Interview · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:21: Bashiri Smith lists the five topic areas he says come up in every AI engineering interview: LLMs & RAG, integration/agents/orchestration, ops & evaluation, safety & ethics, and ML
• 6 AI Career Paths for Software Engineers and What Each One Focuses On · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:16: A short reel listing six AI-related career paths open to software engineers and the main focus of each: AI Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer, AI Solutions Engineer, Machine Learn
• Find Hidden AI Jobs: Search by Skills (RAG, LLMs), Not "AI Engineer" Titles · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 1:03: Bashiri Smith points to an Andela study of Fortune 500 technical job postings.
• Optimizing Your X Profile to Gain Followers · Melvin Vivas, X: Personal-branding tips for X (Twitter): the parts of your profile visitors see first and how to set them up to turn visits into follows.
• How to Grow an X (Twitter) Account: 9 Practical Tips from Melvin Vivas · Melvin Vivas, X: Melvin Vivas lost his original X account and rebuilt a new one.
• Problem Solving Over Keywords: The AI Skill That Never Expires · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 1:50: The video starts with a clip of Yann LeCun.
• Stand Out in the Tech Job Market: Show Proof, Not Applications · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 1:12: 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.
• 90-Day AI Engineering Job Search: Targeted Companies, Outreach & Loom Pitches · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 1:29: Bashiri Smith lays out a 90-day plan for landing an AI engineering job using only a laptop.
• Beat the Hiring "Signal Problem": Referrals, Targeting, and Volume · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 1:34: Hiring managers get thousands of applications, and the resumes all look the same, so being qualified isn't enough.
• Apply While You Build: Get Job-Search Feedback on Your AI Project Early · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 1:12: Bashiri Smith says the biggest mistake aspiring AI engineers make is waiting until a big portfolio project is finished before applying for jobs.
• Why Software Engineers Should Move Into AI Engineering · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:49: The creator argues that AI engineering is a natural next career step for software engineers.
• 3 Worst Mistakes When Trying to Land an AI Engineer Job · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:53: Bashiri Smith lists three mistakes that hold back aspiring AI engineers.
• What It Takes to Become a Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE) · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:41: This short skit explains that the forward-deployed engineer (FDE) role is not entry-level.
• Theo's YouTube Packaging Masterclass: Thumbnails, Titles and the Algorithm · Melvin Vivas, X · 13:09: Theo (t3.gg) explains how to package YouTube videos so the right viewers stop scrolling, click, and watch to the end.
• Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:10: A quick checklist for software engineers moving into AI engineering.
• AI Engineering Interviews: Answer Every Topic With a Number, Trade-off, Failure Mode · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:08: An 8-second reel with no speech.
• 5 Lessons from Helping Engineers Land $3M+ in Tech Jobs · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 1:31: Bashiri Smith shares five patterns he saw over two years of helping engineers land jobs worth more than $3M in combined salary.
• AI Engineer vs Forward Deployed Engineer: Which Role Fits You? · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 1:08: The video compares the AI engineer and forward-deployed engineer (FDE) roles side by side.
• Using the September Hiring Surge: Volume Plus Quality in Your Job Search · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:29: Bashiri Smith explains that the "September Surge" is the second-biggest hiring season of the year.
• Red Flags That Hurt Your Chances of Landing an AI-Era Coding Job · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:13: A 13-second hook video listing warning signs that a developer won't be competitive for coding and AI engineering jobs in the next few years.
• Wannabe vs. Hired AI Engineer: Beyond RAG, FDE Roles and Degrees · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 1:22: A short skit that answers four common misconceptions of aspiring AI engineers.
• Why Software Engineers Should Move Into AI Engineering for Job Security · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:48: The creator argues that software engineers who worry about job security should move into AI engineering.
• Which Current Tech Roles Map to Which AI Engineering Roles · Bashiri Smith, Facebook · 0:47: This short reel says people already working in software, data or business analysis are well placed to move into AI engineering.
• Coding agent harness knowledge as a new developer job skill · Melvin Vivas, X: The creator argues that developer job descriptions should now ask for knowledge of coding agent harnesses.
• Pure dev roles are fading: product knowledge is now essential · Melvin Vivas, X: Melvin argues that technical roles have changed: engineers can no longer focus only on development.
• Kimi Office Agent: Build an ATS-Optimized Resume by Chatting · Melvin Vivas, X: This post shares Kimi Office Agent, which turns a chat with your details into an ATS-optimized resume.

Watch, free (2)

• Why Your Job Applications Keep Getting Ignored · video · youtube.com · free
  Bashiri Smith's YouTube video on his strategy for standing out among applicants and getting interviews.
  Mentioned in: Software Engineer to AI Engineer Before 2027: A 5-Step Career Plan (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), Beat the Hiring "Signal Problem": Referrals, Targeting, and Volume (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), Using the September Hiring Surge: Volume Plus Quality in Your Job Search (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• Theo's video 'We're leaving GitHub' (rebranded 'Get in, we're leaving GitHub') · video · youtube.com · free
  Theo's video that flopped at first and then beat his channel average after it was repackaged with a new thumbnail and title.
  Mentioned in: Theo's YouTube Packaging Masterclass: Thumbnails, Titles and the Algorithm (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)

Read and use (25)

• BASWE.Ai Engineer (Skool community) · community · skool.com · paid
  The creator's paid community and program, with an AI learning roadmap (including the full ops and evaluation track), daily calls with engineers and recruiters, resume and portfolio help, and a job-search pipeline.
  Mentioned in: Basic RAG Pipeline in 60 Seconds: From Documents to Grounded Answers (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), Pointer to Bashiri Smith's Complete AI Engineer Roadmap for 2026 (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), Step-by-Step Roadmap to a $200K+ AI Engineering Role (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), How to Evaluate a RAG Pipeline: Retrieval vs. Generation (Interview Answer) (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes) and 77 more
  In a shared PDF: 5 books to upgrade from software engineer into Ai/ML engineer - shared in this reel on Facebook; Evaluation Field Guide (baswe.ai engineer accelerator – Ops and Evaluation module) - shared in this reel on Facebook, this reel on Facebook; The AI Pivot Field Guide - shared in this reel on Facebook, this reel on Facebook; How to become an expert in RAG (BASWE AI Engineer Field Guide) - shared in this reel on Facebook, this reel on Facebook; The Interview Engine: The 7-Step System to Land AI Engineering Interviews - shared in this reel on Facebook
• LinkedIn · website · linkedin.com · free
  Professional network, used here to find warm-lead connections and the names of contacts for cold outreach.
  Mentioned in: Step-by-Step Roadmap to a $200K+ AI Engineering Role (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), 7 Habits to Become an AI Engineer: Books, Tooling, Research & Shipping (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), 6 Steps to Build a Resume Project That Lands an AI Engineering Job (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), 6-Step Framework for Building AI Projects Target Companies Care About (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes) and 4 more
• BASWE.AI · website · baswe.ai · paid
  BASWE's AI engineer accelerator site, which also mentions an application manager service for high-ticket placement clients.
  Mentioned in: 6-Step Framework for Building AI Projects Target Companies Care About (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), Comment-to-DM Offer: Claude Prompt, 27 AI Engineering Projects & BASWE.AI (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
  In a shared PDF: Evaluation Field Guide (baswe.ai engineer accelerator – Ops and Evaluation module) - shared in this reel on Facebook, this reel on Facebook; The AI Pivot Field Guide - shared in this reel on Facebook, this reel on Facebook; The Interview Engine: The 7-Step System to Land AI Engineering Interviews - shared in this reel on Facebook
• 100 AI Engineering Interview Questions Guide · pdf · drive.google.com · free
  The creator's guide of 100 AI engineering interview questions, covering LLMs & RAG, agents, ops & evals, safety, and ML foundations.
  Mentioned in: The 5 Categories Asked in Every AI Engineering Interview (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), AI Engineering Interviews: Answer Every Topic With a Number, Trade-off, Failure Mode (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• Hunter.io · tool · hunter.io · free
  An email-finding tool: domain search shows a company's email pattern, the email finder returns a person's likely address with a confidence score, and it can verify addresses before you send.
  Mentioned in: AI Engineer Roadmap: 5 Skill Areas, a 24-Week Study Order & Interview Strategy (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
  In a shared PDF: The Interview Engine: The 7-Step System to Land AI Engineering Interviews - shared in this reel on Facebook
• Loom · tool · loom.com · free · recommended by both Bashiri Smith & Melvin Vivas
  A popular tool for recording your screen and camera to share video messages and demos.
  Mentioned in: 90-Day AI Engineering Job Search: Targeted Companies, Outreach & Loom Pitches (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), Clueso Agents: AI That Records and Edits Product Demo Videos for You (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• AI Engineering Interview Questions Training Video · video · free
  The creator's full walkthrough video covering each of the 100 interview questions and their answers.
  Mentioned in: The 5 Categories Asked in Every AI Engineering Interview (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• Anthropic Careers – Applied AI Engineer · website · anthropic.com · free
  Anthropic's careers page, where the Applied AI Engineer posting from the video can be found.
  Mentioned in: AI Engineer Salaries at OpenAI & Anthropic and the Skills They Want (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• Apollo · tool · apollo.io · free
  A people database for searching by title at a company (e.g. engineering manager) and pulling verified emails. The guide calls it best for volume; it has a free tier with monthly limits.
  In a shared PDF: The Interview Engine: The 7-Step System to Land AI Engineering Interviews - shared in this reel on Facebook
• Bashiri Smith's free AI engineering interview resources guide · pdf · free
  A free guide in which the creator lists his favourite resources for AI engineering interviews.
  DM only: comment solved on this reel on Facebook and you get it by DM.
  Mentioned in: AI Engineer Roadmap: 5 Skill Areas, a 24-Week Study Order & Interview Strategy (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• DaVinci Resolve · tool · blackmagicdesign.com · free
  Video editing software from Blackmagic Design with a free version.
  Mentioned in: Theo's YouTube Packaging Masterclass: Thumbnails, Titles and the Algorithm (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• Ethan Niser · person · ethanniser.com · free
  Developer and creator whose first YouTube videos about Effect took off with Theo's help.
  Mentioned in: Theo's YouTube Packaging Masterclass: Thumbnails, Titles and the Algorithm (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• HiringCafe · website · hiringcafe.com · free
  Job search site that collects job listings, useful for finding AI engineering roles.
  Mentioned in: Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• Kimi Office Agent (Kimi AI shared example) · tool · kimi.com · check price
  A shared Kimi chat showing the Office Agent building a resume from a prompt.
  Mentioned in: Kimi Office Agent: Build an ATS-Optimized Resume by Chatting (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• LinkedIn Download My Data · tool · linkedin.com · free
  LinkedIn's data export page, used to download Connections.csv (name, company, position and connection date for your network) so you can map warm referral paths.
  In a shared PDF: The Interview Engine: The 7-Step System to Land AI Engineering Interviews - shared in this reel on Facebook
• Microsoft Excel · tool · microsoft.com · paid
  Spreadsheet app you can use instead of Google Sheets for the job tracker.
  Mentioned in: 6 Steps to Build a Resume Project That Lands an AI Engineering Job (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• MLOps.community · community · mlops.com · free
  Virtual AI meetups to attend while you build your network. The PDF's link points to MLOps.com, not mlops.community.
  In a shared PDF: The AI Pivot Field Guide - shared in this reel on Facebook, this reel on Facebook
• OpenAI Careers – Applied AI Engineer · website · openai.com · free
  OpenAI's careers page, where the Applied AI Engineer posting from the video can be found.
  Mentioned in: AI Engineer Salaries at OpenAI & Anthropic and the Skills They Want (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• The Interview Engine: The 7-Step System to Land AI Engineering Interviews · pdf · drive.google.com · free
  A BASWE field guide that lays out a 7-step job-search system for software engineers going after AI engineering roles.
  Mentioned in: Beat the Hiring "Signal Problem": Referrals, Targeting, and Volume (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• Welcome to the Jungle · website · welcometothejungle.com · free
  Job board and company-profile site for tech and startup roles.
  Mentioned in: Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• Wellfound · website · wellfound.com · free
  Startup job platform (formerly AngelList Talent) for finding roles at startups.
  Mentioned in: Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)
• X Analytics · tool · x.com · check price
  X's built-in account and post analytics: views, engagement and follower growth.
  Mentioned in: How to Grow an X (Twitter) Account: 9 Practical Tips from Melvin Vivas (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• X Creator Revenue Sharing · other · help.x.com · paid · open in a browser to verify
  X's program that pays verified creators based on engagement with their posts.
  Mentioned in: How to Grow an X (Twitter) Account: 9 Practical Tips from Melvin Vivas (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• X Pro · tool · pro.x.com · paid
  X's multi-column dashboard (formerly TweetDeck) for following timelines, lists and searches in real time.
  Mentioned in: How to Grow an X (Twitter) Account: 9 Practical Tips from Melvin Vivas (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• YC Jobs (Y Combinator Work at a Startup) · website · ycombinator.com · free
  Job listings at Y Combinator-backed startups.
  Mentioned in: Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes)

Build

• Find a real problem someone has, build an AI-powered solution for it, and get real users, so you can list problem, solution and user count on your resume. (from Problem Solving Over Keywords: The AI Skill That Never Expires)
• Build a solution to a real problem you find in a field you know well, to show domain knowledge (from Stand Out in the Tech Job Market: Show Proof, Not Applications)
• Build software for friends or a small business to show real-world impact (from Stand Out in the Tech Job Market: Show Proof, Not Applications)
• Start a freelance practice or small startup around something you built (from Stand Out in the Tech Job Market: Show Proof, Not Applications)
• Build a project idea from a specific job description that solves a problem the hiring team cares about, then pitch it in a Loom video. (from 90-Day AI Engineering Job Search: Targeted Companies, Outreach & Loom Pitches)
• Pick one real problem and build, test and deploy an AI solution for it, such as a RAG app that answers questions using your own data. (from Why Software Engineers Should Move Into AI Engineering)
• Build and deploy a production-level application (the video names this as a prerequisite but doesn't describe a specific project). (from What It Takes to Become a Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE))
• Knowledge Graph RAG for enterprise data (from Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites)
• Multi-agent research assistant (from Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites)
• Self-healing LLM gateway (from Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites)
• LLM-as-judge evaluations calibrated against human scores (from Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites)
• Model distillation pipeline (from Software Engineer to AI Engineer: Job Boards, Stack, Projects and Learning Sites)
• Customer-support AI agent using hybrid search plus a re-ranker, with tests for answer accuracy. (from AI Engineer vs Forward Deployed Engineer: Which Role Fits You?)
• Connect a support agent to a ticketing system with permission handling, and measure whether tickets get resolved faster. (from AI Engineer vs Forward Deployed Engineer: Which Role Fits You?)
• Build a project using a modern GenAI tech stack, such as a RAG application. (from Red Flags That Hurt Your Chances of Landing an AI-Era Coding Job)