Content creation changed my life

This is supposed to be a quick one. I just have something on my mind. I just sent a message to my friends on Discord and it made me realize how important content creation has been in my life, even though I'm a developer.

The Message That Started It All

This afternoon I got a message on my LinkedIn. A random guy texted me—well, not a random guy, but someone I met more than a year ago at a two-day event and we haven't spoken since then. He never liked my posts. He never left a comment. He doesn't post much either. So he's basically a random guy at this point.

This video is just to explain the weird compounding effect and the butterfly effect of content creation.

My Content Creation Journey

For three or four months, I was sharing content every single day about my mobile app because I was developing a mobile app. I was sharing basically all my struggles, all my wins, all my discoveries—everything I would do, I would share on LinkedIn.

My personal brand was all around the app I was developing. At the end of every post, I would always add my CTA: "My name is Arthur. I'm a fullstack developer building real-world applications because I believe that showing real work matters more than a resume PDF. Follow/connect for more."

The Doors That Opened

For three or four months, I would post every single day religiously about my mobile app. This opened so many doors in my life that if I told you—well, I'm going to tell you—but it's just crazy.

In a world where everyone is saying that developers are fucked, that kids get out of school and don't have a job, that developers are being laid off—it's incredible to think that I didn't have this problem.

The Reality Check

I graduated back in April from a 2-year college diploma here in Canada, and I didn't learn anything through school. I think I have one classmate who's currently working and has a full-time job in tech. Everyone else just doesn't.

Well, I have a full-time role. I was offered another one this week, actually. I got a message back from the guy and some other freelancing opportunities.

The Opportunities That Found Me

First Opportunity

Someone I knew from events sent me a message asking if I was looking for a freelance role. I took it and helped him with a couple of things.

Second Opportunity

Another freelancing opportunity for a startup. After I finished the dashboard integration for them, they wanted to hire me.

Third Opportunity - My Current Job

I met someone at an event. The guy liked me. He kept seeing my posts, my stuff. He recommended me to my current employer, and then I was hired.

Fourth Opportunity

I went to another event. I heard the speaker saying, "I only hire if you have a good GitHub." I was like, "That's me. I have a good GitHub. I have lots of projects. I have lots of contributions."

I made a post saying, "This is what the speaker said the other day. Here's my GitHub." The guy, the speaker, saw my post, saw my GitHub, and referred me to a sibling company. I already had a job so it didn't go forward, but it shows I'm getting opportunities.

Today's Message

Today, the reason for this video: I got a message from someone I met once and never saw again. He basically saw my journey, saw everything I've been posting, and today he sent me a message. "Hey man, how you doing?" He opened with good conversation and then pitched me an idea.

It was something in the financial world. He has an idea, has a solution, and is inviting me to get coffee. I'm probably not going to take this opportunity because it doesn't make sense. I have too much on my plate, and starting as a founding engineer at a second startup isn't the goal.

The Compound Effect

But this shows that all the small actions I took three to four months ago compounded over time. Today I get passive offers. I get passive invitations. I don't have to go after people. Opportunities come to me because I showed up every single day.

I kept sharing about my app. I kept sharing about my wins, my losses, about everything I was doing. And today, if I look back, it was worth it.

The Simple Truth

It really is that simple. Everything you have to do is show up every single day. Build something. This is the best way to get a job in tech nowadays.

If you're a recruiter, you probably receive so many résumés every single day from unqualified people. Everyone says, "Oh, it's too hard to get a job in tech as a junior developer." But yeah, because all juniors are trash. That's the truth. Most of them are not even juniors—they're just people who went into computer science because their parents said it's the best way to get a good-paying role. Now they have no passion for software, computers, hardware, or machines.

The Playbook

If there's one thing you should take from this: you have to build something. You have to build something if you're a junior developer and share with the world.

If you have a simple calculator, it doesn't matter. If you have a simple portfolio, it doesn't matter. If you have a simple to-do list, it doesn't matter. If you have a simple weather app, it doesn't matter. None of it matters.

All that matters is that you were able to put together a full-stack end-to-end application. You build something complex, you prove your skills, and you don't wait to learn from your employer. You learn, and then you join your employer and learn even more.

Stop Positioning Yourself as a Student

Position yourself not as a student. This is something I see from most people in the early stages of their careers. They position themselves as students. They have the "open to work" banner on their LinkedIn profile. Their bio says something like "student learning, looking for my first opportunity."

Don't say that. Position yourself as a professional, as someone who knows what they're doing and who has built multiple full-stack applications.

Just build something and put it out there.