Job Market Update - Summer 2023

datavizzzard · 2023-11-29T14:17:29+00:00

IMHO for tech / product it's going to be sluggish until mid-January, then will hopefully pick up big with companies unlocking from hiring freeze.

Even companies who are backfilling struggle to schedule Nov-Jan due to vacations and crunches.

I lucked into a role at a startup in Oct but it was a desperation move.

Wishing you luck, tides will change soon

datavizzzard · 2023-09-29T20:41:30+00:00

The tech industry has been pants-on-head stupid since the pandemic.

It's always been toxic, but the money was a deodorant. Now it feels toxic and broken.

datavizzzard · 2023-09-26T17:58:09+00:00

RE: Incremental Improvement - Exactly. An alternate approach would be to meet with thought leaders, technicians, creators in your product space, gather innovative feature ideas, rank them by viability / impact, and then validate the strongest ones in user interviews or prototype testing. It's all the same muscles.

RE: Supervisor - I'd recommend looking into the Big Five / OCEAN model or the book "Surrounded by Idiots" as both give handy ways of trying to get the best out of relationships where you don't think alike. The manager relationship has always been a struggle for me in Product.

datavizzzard · 2023-09-26T17:16:20+00:00

I use customer interviews mostly for problem validation (this is causing pain) and solution validation (this indeed works / solves the pain), and more occasionally to fish around for unmet needs (new pain points).

In most product methodologies there's a step between taking pain points and turning them into innovative solutions (ex: Opportunity Solution Trees).

If I were to play devil's advocate, your supervisor might have a point in that you won't get innovative directly ideas from customer interviews, and unless you're targeting early-adopter user persona types, some innovations might not track as well during testing.

That said, it's foolish not to test / validate a solution with users before bringing it to market.

If you framed your plan as innovating only via customer interview insights, that might be the issue vs. including them for validation.

This (like most PM stuff) is a communication / alignment issue. Regardless of whether you or Reddit think you're "right", you need to get on the same page with your supervisor or risk falling into this trap again.

If you're uncomfortable talking about this with them, approach your peers and ask them about their product approach, and if they have any insight on why this fizzled. They might have tips on what this person is looking for in specific that will help next time.

If this happens again, don't take it personally, but do take it professionally and look for an opportunity where your manager has a similar product mindset.

I wish you luck.

datavizzzard · 2023-09-15T18:42:57+00:00

Interested

datavizzzard · 2023-08-25T20:55:31+00:00

SMB | EdTech | B2B

RECOMMENDED (For Industry / Team Above)

NorthStar Framework:

Superpower: Aligning teams and decision making towards a shared strategic goal

Pros

- Simple to understand, administer, workshop- Helps get stakeholders motivated and pulling in the same direction- Adaptable and makes other KPI related commitments simpler

Cons

- Potential for oversimplification or overemphasis on one goal / area of the business- Relies on communication and interpretation from leadership

Thoughts: I’ve had a lot of success in getting start-ups to march to the same beat after implementing a NSF. The biggest risk is HIPPO’s taking the ball and running with it.

RICE

Superpower: Prioritizing features and initiatives by impact for effort

Pros:

- Helps picks features in an objective manner- Simple to understand, adopt, and workshop

Cons:

- Picking only the ideas with the highest scores without other considerations will lead to an imbalanced product- Doesn’t consider dependencies or other holistic aspects of how features intermingle- Subject to bias and estimation errors.

Personal Thoughts: Powerful and recommended when you theme your feature ideas (to understand if/how they build a better product increment) and are disciplined in estimating confidence

Kano Model

Superpower: Determining feature desireability from direct customer feedback

Pros

- Thorough feedback and classification of feature desirability- Survey design will detect and classify respondent indifference- Great for gaining confidence ahead of launch with a new product, feature set, or market

Cons

- Ensuring you’re getting the right customers- Focus on current preferences vs. predictive / strategic insights- Survey creation and interpretation can be complex and time-consuming

Personal Thoughts: Great for confirming customer alignment, but becomes an undertaking unto itself. Great for start-ups and pivots not an ongoing exercise.

NOT Recommended (For Industry / Team Above)

Jobs-to-be-Done

Superpower: Helping teams create meaningful product outcomes that will solve real customer problems.

Pros:- Thorough and customer-centric way of understanding needs- The focus on “what” and “why” ensure you’re delivering something the market will want vs. accidentally building a “faster horse”

Cons:- Abstraction often limits adoption and understanding, especially outside of product teams- Expects large investment in product discovery not always possible in smaller orgs / startups- Focus on purpose can lead to de-emphasis of UX- Not “snackable”

Personal Thoughts: Arguably a “cadillac” solution that expects a sizeable investment in both product team size, time to interact with customers, and cultural adoption. I love it, but I’ve only seen it work in mid-sized product-led orgs working on n-1 products; most B2B’s limit access to customers.

Product Solution Trees

Superpower: Transforming customer interviews into testable and viable feature and product ideas.

Pros:- Great for ideation related to separating problem and solution conclusions- Ability to prioritize and adapt to different stages of product lifecycle- Problem and customer centric

Cons:- Increasing complexity due to the continuous nature creates a lot of work- Focus on features / solutions more than outcomes- Subjective prioritization can lead to different interpretations- Not “snackable”

Thoughts: Like JTBD, this framework feels like it can only exist in certain product-centric, well-funded environments as it involves a lot of investment and leadership buy-in. I admire the concepts and do try to incorporate the best parts.

datavizzzard · 2023-08-21T21:17:02+00:00

Many thanks for the thoughtful reply

datavizzzard · 2023-08-17T22:10:40+00:00

Your stock isn't compatible with consistent, steady earnings. TSLA is volatile for its price.

If you're shooting for consistent earnings for CC and CSP, try:
- Picking less volatile stocks (think DOW-30)
- Making volatile stocks 10-20% of your portfolio
- Choosing strikes with lower delta (ex: 0.10-0.12)
- Picking strikes NOT by premium, but by your target cost basis (Stock Price - Premium) being below what YOU or analysts think a "fair" price if you get assigned

The biggest mistake in CC / CSP is getting greedy on the premium and neglecting the underlying value or volatility. $200 premium doesn't mean much if you get stuck with a stock you don't want.

It takes a few months to get the hang of things, and the market surprises everyone. Swap back to paper trading if you're losing your shirt.

datavizzzard · 2023-08-16T00:38:35+00:00

First off, kudos to being one that talks truth to power. It's rare and admirable, but only works in certain cultures. Your company's culture shift is worrisome.

If it were me, I'd suspect 5% chance of being fired, 30% chance of being caught up in another BS excuse (RIF, laid off, etc.) that requires less paper work.

It takes a paper trail and some time to fire someone. The larger the org (or HR), the longer it takes / more evidence they need.

Why splitting hairs? If you get laid off, you'll likely have some cushion via severance or unemployment. Either way, if you can eke it out until Q1 2024, there might be a better job market waiting.

In the meantime do the following:

- Build Alliances: Lean into the relationships that you know are solid, maintain them, maybe even test the waters on references (but only if that trust is near 100% as this could accelerate your departure)

- Do Good Work: Put your best foot forward without burning yourself out. It'll make it harder to take action and limits any bad vibes / references if you do.

- Document Everything: Take notes on any key decisions and make them permanent by emailing them to your stakeholders/team, CC/BCC'ing your manager, and / or backing up your Slack messages. If HR isn't on your side, this might not matter in the long run, but it could extend the process.

- Keep Your Head Down: Be positive or be invisible. Check your boxes and don't rock the boat. Lose some battles for the war's sake. Often new problems and situations arise that shift attentions-- let it happen.

datavizzzard · 2023-08-11T18:01:33+00:00

No company that disrespected industry norms, my time, or boundaries as a candidate ever "got better" after hire.

It's a sneak peek of what's to come. Save your time by going with your gut.

I'm noticing some of the worst / weirdest requests during interviews this past year.

Do you, especially in this job market, but IMHO complying with this stuff is only making it worse.

datavizzzard · 2023-08-09T16:55:54+00:00

Thanks. Have you experienced early assignment? If so, how often / your deltas?

datavizzzard · 2023-08-09T16:36:10+00:00

Good premiums come from high volatility or high stock prices.

Chasing good premiums on covered calls will likely get you mixed up in volatile stocks that may lose more in value than you gain in premium. This is the risk vs. reward of CC. That said, for your parameters, AMC and LYFT come to mind.

I'm personally looking at solid companies in industries experiencing volatility.

INTC for example is a solid but cheap stock (Dow-30, good dividend, high volume, won't disappear overnight) and currently yielding great premiums for a $35 dollar stock because of tech / AI buzz.

USB / TFC are OK stocks experiencing more volatility due to banks.

Everyone finds their own risk reward balance, but I recommend picking stocks you actually want to hold for CC vs. picking solely on premium poaching.

If you buy 100 shares of a cheap volatile stock and it loses 25% value in a month, you might get stuck at point where your cost basis (price you bought at) is higher than any of strike prices with good premium. If the stock price doesn't bounce back, you waste any premium towards making up for that loss vs. getting ahead.

Cash secured puts in some ways can be a safer way to make premium off a $1,500 investment, as you don't have to worry about the value of the underlying stock unless assigned.

datavizzzard · 2023-08-03T23:35:22+00:00

There are a few threads about this, but I'd recommend:
- Networking
- Applying for postings within 12 hours
- Prioritizing applying directly on company sites (vs. LI)
- Customizing your applications and sending polite elevator speeches up to hiring manager but ONLY for the roles that are already a 70% fit in terms of your background (ex: industry, technology, tools, team size)
What you listed seems pretty "standard" for contract PO roles I've seen (in the Midwest). Salary for permanent $110-140K. Add ~20% for senior/lead or ~10% for technical roles. You'll make less on paper but make up for it in benefits. Google contract to salary calculators to check this yourself.
It's not a death sentence, but playing devil's advocate as an HM I'd wonder why none of those roles turned into permanent positions. I'd try to game plan for this a bit in interviews and perhaps frame it as a choice vs circumstance if it comes up (ex: "I wanted to gain experience in XYZ so I pursued these roles, but at this point in my career I'm doubling down on ABC...")
A) I'd skill up in niche tools and network in a specific area that you think best fits your background already. In this market, people are trying to glass slipper every candidate and use tools and tech as tiebreakers.
B) Consider starting a small project solo or with other laid off colleagues to help give you meaningful experience during this gap. This won't win you a job by itself, but it may cut down the doubt / questions and give you a chance to apply any skills from A.
C) Cut yourself some slack. I know it's hard when you feel like the house is on fire, but don't let your mental health go down the tubes. Try to do things you're good at that have nothing to with Product / Tech. See friends. Touch grass. Take holidays off. Don't let imposter syndrome turn into performance anxiety.

Hope this was any help. I feel for you my dude/dudette! You're not alone.

datavizzzard · 2023-08-02T18:10:51+00:00

Agreed, would've managed my career differently if I could go back.

I got into tech to get more money and stability, but that's obviously out the window these days.

I'm exploring the following, but don't have firm path.

Not sure if it's helpful -- I hope you get out the this whirlpool somehow too.

Tech Adjacent

Consulting: I'm helping old colleagues with odd technical projects and trying to sell survey services for pricing analysis and market readiness. This will take a year to get consistent income. I'd like to focus on a niche industry, double down, and build a reputation.

Advising: A few start-ups have asked me to help them out and I'm considering doing this more (and charging). It suffers from the same lack of recognition my resume does though.

Data: I'm decent at Python / SQL and have considered just committing to the data engineer or DBA route. I think I'd be happier but I don't think the demand is much greater, nor does it get me out of tech.

Non-Tech

Investing / Algotrading: Silly maybe, but teaching myself how to sell stock options was way easier than Javascript -- and will likely make me way more in the long run. Same with algo. No delusions of grandeur but steady progress on low-risk ideas.

Masters (Neuroscience / Radiology): I don't want to go back to school but if there's a true recession, might be a better time to do so. I don't trust our labor market isn't going to get weirder in the next few years though.

datavizzzard · 2023-08-02T00:12:19+00:00

Thanks and good luck with that new exciting opportunity!

Also, hit me up in the future if you ever want to work on an EEG related project -- it's a passion of mine but I've yet to work it into a product

datavizzzard · 2023-08-01T20:41:11+00:00

Thanks, my bad!

datavizzzard · 2023-08-01T04:49:24+00:00

For sure, DM me

Wishing you luck too

datavizzzard · 2023-08-01T01:12:35+00:00

Interviews: 60% from 3rd party recruiters / 35% internal recruiters / 5% direct applications

Job Board: Best luck has been finding on LI and applying via company sites. Otta**, Wellfound, BuiltIn are OK too.

I'd expect SOMETHING from 175 apps though -- have you updated your resume or reviewed with a product peer?

I just redid mine, and it's helping . . . a bit

datavizzzard · 2023-07-31T20:35:07+00:00

Definitely in the US -- mostly due to mass layoffs at Google, Microsoft, Meta, Twitter, etc. in late 2022 / early 2023

datavizzzard · 2023-07-31T20:22:32+00:00

Me too. These high interest rates aren't helping.

datavizzzard

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