Joined 2 years ago
I’ve been a software engineer for about 10 years, and these days Claude Code is basically my coding buddy and documentation assistant(and yes, I’m one of those devs who doesn’t love writing docs or design docs encouraged by big corporate) — and I use ChatGPT daily for research, quick explanations, or brainstorming. At this point it feels weird to work without them.
Though they’re not as magic as I want. I have to do the followings with AI: - review everything AI spits out, because it can sound confident but be dead wrong - Clear instruction and rules make a huge difference (like claude.local.md) yes, writing them can feel like doing documentation ...
Even with those quirks, the net gain is huge for me, I just need to learn how to mentor them — AI saves time on documentation, debugs, gives me new ideas, and helps on side projects.
From my perspective, AI is unstoppable. We’re at the start of a new era in software development, and within 5 years it’s going to replace many different roles in our circle or other indurstry : )
I tried chatGPT, claude, claude code, cursor and ampcode. I sticked to claude code at the end.
Keep trying for fully remote roles if that's your priority. It might take time, but they're out there.
Consider hybrid roles to expand your options, as more companies are asking for RTO (return to office) lately. e.g. Amazon
Create an online portfolio as your online resume, showcasing your work from the past 1.5 years. You can host it for free on GitHub - search for Web Developer Portfolio for examples, some are really great.
Update your LinkedIn profile, set your status to "looking for a job," and create remote job alerts. Recruiters will reach out directly, helping your resume get seen and get first interview. When you talk to recruiters or company's CEO in LinkedIn, online resume is really helpful. Passing coding tests with flying colors might mean your resume isn't even reaching the hiring teams. So LinkdedIn is a really good approach to have a cold message with target role.
Ask for referrals from your connections and keep an eye on remote job websites.Search keywords and you will found some useful remote list. Referrals significantly increase your chance to get the interview.
If you're worried about the time frame, consider freelancing on platforms like Upwork in the meantime. I was working as a contractor when looking for a remote full time job last year.
Good luck!
Community funding is a great starting point. Set up a GitHub Sponsors account or use platforms like Open Collective or Ko-fi. Many developers are happy to support projects they find useful. You can check the open source repo with Sponsors enabled.
I have seen a monetization case from a popular Chrome extension - I cant remember the extact name. While free for users, it displays sponsor logos in its GitHub repo and within the extension itself.
Finally, take inspiration from Tailwind CSS, which is a famous open source project. They offer Tailwind UI, a paid, advanced component library built on their free core framework.
From my personal experience, monetizing a SaaS project isn't easy, but it's certainly possible. However, establishing a steady income stream is a different case altogether.
Good luck! Look forward to hearing more your experiences from this!
Jump on LinkedIn and check out their job board. It's way more useful for getting a real feel of the job market and how good/bad it is the role you want to switch. Meanwhile, I don't think you should worry about the life cycle of job posting - as this is caused by multi factors and inrelevant.
So yeah, mix it up. Look at some data if you want, but definitely spend some time on job boards. You'll get a much better feel for what's really going on out there.
