The latest articles on DEV Community by Edwin (@emaj7b5). https://dev.to/emaj7b5 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F777805%2F7a8c048a-afaa-42fe-8b17-a68fc00e315d.jpg https://dev.to/emaj7b5 en Edwin Fri, 23 Oct 2026 09:58:51 +0000 https://dev.to/emaj7b5/turning-the-page-part-2-18ha https://dev.to/emaj7b5/turning-the-page-part-2-18ha <p>Hi, </p> <p>I am in the process of reshaping my career, I started this series with the intention to document my journey while staying grounded and confident. I've seen how IT roles are evolving and merging and how requirements seem to be more and more complex and confusing.</p> <p>These last few weeks have been exciting and rewarding I have learned quite a few things and have a couple of things to celebrate.</p> <h1> Learn </h1> <ul> <li>I got my hands on Claude Code and have been coding small apps, mostly for my portfolio while facilitating my lifestyle, I'm quite excited of the possibilities</li> <li>I had a few interesting conversations that provided interesting perspectives on how I would like to orient my career, I guess sometimes is good to hear advice from someone outside of our personal bubble</li> <li>Personal value and dopamine regulation have been hot topics on my mental health.</li> </ul> <h1> Wins </h1> <ul> <li>I completed the first stage of my GCP certification program</li> <li>After almost a year, I got a freelance gig, not the greatest pay but sets a starting point to look forward</li> <li>I've been interviewing more confidently on a foreign language, I still don't dominate it but I feel I've been dropping my self judgement</li> </ul> <h1> What's next </h1> <ul> <li>Build more interesting projects to showcase</li> <li>Allow myself to have fun experimenting</li> </ul> career careerdevelopment mentalhealth Edwin Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:34:58 +0000 https://dev.to/emaj7b5/turning-the-page-5fd https://dev.to/emaj7b5/turning-the-page-5fd <p>I decided to document my journey towards a career shift, on a previous post I vented out about my current struggles and my coping mechanisms. As a personal exercise I will be documenting my progress towards reshaping how I see myself and how I want to present to the market. Coming from a workflow automation background I want to expand into infrastructure automation and devops. For context, I am unemployed and I'm struggling to stay relevant on a market that caught me off guard.</p> <h1> Week 1 </h1> <h2> The job search </h2> <ul> <li>I submitted way less job applications this week than my average, my first step is to reduce my scope, think on more tailored roles</li> <li>I have at least one interview scheduled per week for the remainder of the month, with the change of my application rate I am expecting this to substantially decrease</li> <li>I am on my way to register as a self-employed person. Handling my own taxes and stuff is a small price to pay from my point of view</li> <li>A developer contacted me to offer a what it seems a dream job, realistically speaking I have the seniority but lack some of the tech specifics, still gave it a shot.</li> <li>I put my pride out and applied for my previous role on the company that let me go one year ago. In the end I see them as a customer.</li> </ul> <h2> Upskill plan </h2> <ul> <li>I am still hardly driven by low-code/no-code automation platforms, and while that seems to be on demand it also seems like an overcrowded path, still I am completing the n8n paths to have something more to show to current prospects</li> <li>I secured a spot on a google certification program, it looks promising</li> </ul> <h2> Achievements this week </h2> <ul> <li>I learned the foundations of Ansible</li> <li>I built my first coding agent, with GPT Luna</li> </ul> career careerdevelopment discuss mentalhealth Edwin Tue, 29 Sep 2026 16:24:18 +0000 https://dev.to/emaj7b5/the-many-layers-of-job-hunting-hell-2kd3 https://dev.to/emaj7b5/the-many-layers-of-job-hunting-hell-2kd3 <p>I've been unemployed for over a year. This post might seem a rant, and probably it is, I just want to vent out my experience in this jungle called job hunting. I was laid off last year among a few other colleagues following a reorganisation that wiped off half of the development team, a year from it I am still the only one who hasn't been able to find a suitable role.</p> <p>I come from a place where one of the main export products is outsourcing, and within my nationals I was able to do quite well in the RPA and automation space, nailing senior and architect roles, sometimes with multiple simultaneous offers. Until I moved to Europe, I was able to find a role at a medium-large company, the role was way less senior as roles I had back home, it felt like a relief as I got rid of a ton of stress that represented an architect role coming from working for U.S. Corporate. </p> <p>While the role was not that demanding, I had quite a few other demons chasing me, the language, the work culture, being neurodivergent and facing migration, plus other personal issues derived from the process. Still managed to make it work.</p> <p>Fast forward to the lay off, we had ups and downs as normal but over time we started getting less and less tasks, which lead me to believe something was cooking so I started scouting the market around 6 months before the official notice, then it all felt sudden, the notice, the rise of AI, the market shifting and me finally adapting to a new country left unemployed and up to some point underskilled.</p> <p>I have been trying to land new roles ever since, gaining knowledge, improving my language domain, but still have a huge sense that the market is broken, and is really easy to feel not enough. I've been struggling to maintain my mental health and developed new coping mechanisms.</p> <p>In this journey I learned quite a few things, my goal is to share my perspective and challenges, wins and coping strategies so far.</p> <p><strong>Challenges I've found</strong></p> <ul> <li>I feel over experienced for entry roles, yet under skilled for more experienced roles</li> <li>It feels like many job posts are looking to find a finely tuned skillset leaving little to no room for skill transferability </li> <li>Language barrier, even when all internal communications are in english</li> <li>There are recruiters/companies who are just douchebags. Quoting a recruiter "Let's face it AI can do what a person can, and if AI is going to make mistakes, but people also make mistakes, it is cheaper to make mistakes with AI", was hiring for an "AI Strategist"</li> <li>Hiring managers not able to elaborate what they need</li> <li>Rejected from roles, that are filled and reopened later</li> </ul> <p><strong>What I've accomplished and learned</strong></p> <ul> <li>How to build a CV that gets interviews</li> <li>Loose the fear of speaking on a language that I don't fully dominate</li> <li>The value of networking</li> <li>How to allow myself to feel vulnerable</li> <li>How to be humble, loose the ego</li> <li>How to ask for help</li> </ul> <p><strong>How I've been coping</strong></p> <ul> <li>Music</li> <li>Gaming</li> <li>Sport</li> <li>Taking time for myself</li> <li>Acknowledge that I can't do everything myself</li> <li>Taking time to rest and reset</li> <li>Talking about my problems</li> </ul> <p><strong>My focus</strong></p> <ul> <li>Improve my portfolio</li> <li>Keep upskilling</li> <li>Improve my presentation and negotiation</li> <li>Networking</li> </ul> <p>It's been painful, but I'm doing my best to stay resilient. I know the right role is waiting for me, even if it involves a 180 degree shift. I hope my experience helps someone out there who is also struggling.</p> career mentalhealth Edwin Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:21:09 +0000 https://dev.to/emaj7b5/one-year-unemployed-the-market-is-shifting-and-i-just-dont-know-how-to-keep-up-1igj https://dev.to/emaj7b5/one-year-unemployed-the-market-is-shifting-and-i-just-dont-know-how-to-keep-up-1igj career mentalhealth Edwin Mon, 21 Jul 2025 18:55:27 +0000 https://dev.to/emaj7b5/ive-working-on-rpa-for-quite-some-time-to-the-point-that-i-have-become-very-senior-but-is-no-4hmo https://dev.to/emaj7b5/ive-working-on-rpa-for-quite-some-time-to-the-point-that-i-have-become-very-senior-but-is-no-4hmo rpa cloudcomputing career discuss