A good chair is useful. On a budget, I attach a lumbar support to my chair, which might be an option if you are not getting the perfect combination in a single chair.

I don't have an adjustable height desk, like I did when I worked in the office. So, on my desk I have an elevated platform where the monitor is and one where I can place my laptop on, to spend part of my day standing. Especially for meetings, when not typing, standing feels better and easier to be up straight naturally. With an elevated laptop, or eye level camera while standing, I find it more comfortable for remote calls.

Staff Data Engineer at 🧑‍💻

Lenny Ardiles

I agree with Jessica that the catastrophes were predicted repeatedly. Before '08 there was the dot com bubble. In 2000, people thought planes would fall out of the sky and nuclear power plants would melt down all at the same time.

The job market is cyclical. Just a couple of years ago, right before the layoffs, there was the "great resignation". People newer to the job market are seeing that as the comparison point of normal. 

If news is impacting your inner peace, the you don't need it. Turn off notifications, uninstall unneeded apps. Interruptions makes it hard to get things done. 

They job cycle will rerun with increase demand for tech workers. The layoffs did not initiate from AI. They started from an expected economic downturn and sharp increase in interest rates, both contributing to a decreased appetite for investments. In the other hand now, there are 3 expected interest rate cuts planned for the year, a positive indicator.

Focusing on objectives 1 and 2 related to finding work referral or a project partner, they can only happen from people being aware you are looking for that. Often it also helps if they know what related skills you have or which you are looking to develop in. Targeted communication helps connect better to the right audiences.

Networking is a way to talk about shared interests. This can also be done on social media, but depending on your audience size, you sometime need to reach beyond your usual circle to widen your view and current knowledge.

I think of the difference between searching a specific book online compared to going into a book store. Online you find what you are looking for, if you already have enough details. In a bookstore, you pass by books on subjects you wouldn't have considered, you browse, and expand your scope of interests.

Since you referenced transactional, when I think of that word, I think a $100 is exchanged for  something worth $100. For networking, you can give away information that costs you $0 (no work), or maybe $1 (the time to communicate it), but the receiver gains the $100 in value. 

Let's say you did that 5 times that day, costing you a theoretical $0-5. Someone else may do the the same where you are the recipient of the value $100. It doesn't even have to be the same person. This is a more distributed way of value creation. 

One thing I do, when I want to be sure to contribute to a meeting is to not try to come up with everything on the spot. You can adjust according to the conversation, but having a few bullet points ready before a meeting can get you past the dead air thinking time.

You also don't always need to be insightful. Other forms of contribution that I often wish to see more of is when ideas or options are presented, to give your opinion on which you prefer and why.  This can support a teammate or avoid them going down a path that no one is aligned with but voices weren't raised. 

I agree with Rahul's comment about habit stacking. I was most consistent with gym, when I would go directly after work. It could be directly after any task, but associating with something else you do regularly helps it stick. I learned about that and several other tips from the book "Tiny Habits".

It can depend on the company, industry, timing, and skills matching.

### Referrals

Some companies such as Facebook are good with following up on on referrals, others like Amazon are not. It helps for getting visibility. 

### Timing

At a time where there are many layoffs, it could be more challenging if you are applying to the same roles. 

### Industry

Keep an eye out for the trends on which industries are hiring. There are general trends that happen around the same time. When talking with recruiters, ask and learn what is in demand.

### Skills

Do your skills line up with the job requirements? How well is the resume read and parsed by ATS systems, before reaching a human reader? Are the experiences communicated on the resume in a way to get picked?

Leet code is an important part of most software interviews, but if your problem is getting the interview in the first place, focus on the set of skills for getting the interview first. If you get no calls from recruiters, get referrals and improve your resume. If you get calls, but do not move forward, figure out the blockers and work on it step by step. Best of luck.

I have had the same feedback in a prior role.

One audio book I found helpful to me for keeping it short and getting to the point is "Pitch Perfect" by Bill McGowen. 

<https://www.audible.com/pd/B00IA23AUM>

This class contains a systematic, focused process for Managing Up successfully. It covers how to manage up in a variety of situations and to different people such as senior peers and skip level leaders.

Ethan Evans: Managing Up

The software engineer interview grind is almost always far harder than people realize, and the existing resources to help don't do nearly enough, focusing far too much on DSA and LeetCode. This course solves that by going into the far more important "meta" parts of a job search like the overall structure and mentality.