Rahul Verma ·
If you are trying to break in right now, the thing that moves the needle is evidence you can work without a spec
Anything where you decided what to build, dealt with a real user, and shipped it counts more than another tutorial project. That is the exact skill the shrinking category no longer demonstrates, and it is what a hiring manager is nervous about when they look at a junior in 2026.
#juniors#portfolio
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What is actually happening in hiring right now - AI screening, ghost postings, the junior squeeze, and what still works.
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- The market is not shrinking so much as changing shape, and the aggregate numbers hide that
- One finding that got less attention than it deserved
- When response rates fall, the instinct is to apply to more roles. It usually makes things worse
- The junior squeeze is real, and pretending otherwise does not help anyone
- Using AI to write your applications is now normal, and it is quietly making applications worse
- Roughly half of employers now use AI somewhere in resume screening