Hey Reader,

Welcome back to Guided Growth where we talk about the skills that accelerate your career beyond just writing great code.

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In August of 2025, I interviewed 3 engineers that I’d have hired in 2023.

Same experience. Same fundamentals. Strong system design.

All three got rejected.

Not because they couldn’t code. Because, when I asked how they use AI in their daily work, the response was the same three times:

“I have been wanting to go explore that.”

Meaning to. For two years. Seriously???

Here’s something no one tells you: AI is not the enemy. Your response to AI is.

The one who got through had 3 years experience from a tier-3 college. He’d created an internal tool using Claude, and he said it saved his team 6 hours a week. No certificate. No Udemy course. One actual issue, automated, measured, documented.

That’s it.

I am a hiring manager at GoogleWalmart. I review many applications. I don’t see AI eliminating engineers from that list. Engineers are holding themselves back. They perceive “learning AI” as taking place sometime down the road.

Someday doesn’t appear on a resume.

Here’s how the engineers I’m hiring differ from the engineers I’m not:

Hard Skills: Key technical skills. They matter in this field.

Qualification: Relevant experience in similar positions

Problem-solving skills: Learn to face a challenge. Know how to solve it.

Teamwork: Works well with others. Communicates clearly.

Adaptability: Quickly embraces new tasks. Adapts to new environments quickly.

They didn’t study AI theory. They used it on a real problem. They measured the results. They can explain it in 3 minutes.

That’s the bar. Lower than you think. And hardly any one is clearing it.

This week, the most repetitive task I did was checking emails. I clicked through my inbox many times. Each time, I scanned for important messages. I replied to some and marked others to read later. It felt like a cycle that never changed. Use Copilot or Claude to automate parts of it. Document what changed.

You’ve just outperformed over 90% of the engineers I interview.

The market doesn’t care that you are scared. It cares what you made in spite of it.

Thanks,

Abhishek: The Guided Growth

P.S. Do reply and let me know what one task you’re going to try this with. I will reply to the first 10 replies whether I think it should go on your resume.