WEBVTT

00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:04.980
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode

00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:07.679
of Data and AI with Mukundan. I know it's been

00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:12.419
a while since my last episode. I think it's been

00:00:12.419 --> 00:00:15.419
about two months. Well, since then I've been

00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:18.059
taking a break to focus on my personal stuff.

00:00:18.980 --> 00:00:21.320
I had family come over so I was busy on that.

00:00:22.179 --> 00:00:24.120
So it's just like there's a bunch of things going

00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:28.079
on. So I just took a break there and you know.

00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:32.000
I just promise to be back every week. So just

00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.820
be on the lookout for a new episode every week

00:00:34.820 --> 00:00:39.299
in the data and AI space. And yeah, you will

00:00:39.299 --> 00:00:44.060
get an idea about who I am as well in addition

00:00:44.060 --> 00:00:47.979
to these episodes. So today's episode, I just

00:00:47.979 --> 00:00:52.219
want to talk about like a personal topic, just

00:00:52.219 --> 00:00:56.500
like every other episode. But this is when...

00:00:57.500 --> 00:01:02.299
you know i was like really down this particular

00:01:02.299 --> 00:01:06.900
day so my portfolio basically was not i mean

00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:10.340
i was just thinking about a lot of things during

00:01:10.340 --> 00:01:13.319
this particular time so it's not just the tech

00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:19.379
my life my work my career growth so a lot of

00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:21.659
things that i was contemplating during this one

00:01:21.659 --> 00:01:26.920
day and support something that built during this

00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:31.819
rough patch I was applying to jobs as usual non

00:01:31.819 --> 00:01:38.040
-stop and the resume it was already there was

00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:41.379
a github as well so this was about it's a bit

00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:48.579
September to October I would say of 2024 I had

00:01:48.579 --> 00:01:52.060
my resume ready github was also you know having

00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:54.280
all the code necessary all the projects necessary

00:01:56.040 --> 00:02:00.140
So nothing was happening on the job site. Like,

00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:03.200
I mean, everything's ready to apply and nobody's

00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:06.000
giving me a call back, right? Like no interviews

00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.180
scheduled. Nobody's reaching out saying that

00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:13.460
they like my resume or something. So no feedback

00:02:13.460 --> 00:02:18.639
or anything, just, just the radio silence. So,

00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:22.699
and I was thinking around this time, what, how

00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:29.740
do I overcome this? and around this time i also

00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:35.520
started to get into ai tools so i started to

00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.500
i thought like well let me try to build something

00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:43.319
here right um it's not because i had some really

00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:48.520
big plan but i was just tired of this complete

00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:52.939
silence that i get from recruiters or hiring

00:02:52.939 --> 00:02:57.449
managers where it was basically a lot of self

00:02:57.449 --> 00:03:01.569
-doubt that I started creeping in that you know

00:03:01.569 --> 00:03:06.229
maybe I'm not enough and I don't know about you

00:03:06.229 --> 00:03:09.349
but a lot of people go through this thinking

00:03:09.349 --> 00:03:10.969
that they're not enough and especially during

00:03:10.969 --> 00:03:13.930
this particular time as well I know that a lot

00:03:13.930 --> 00:03:18.370
of my peers who are still looking during this

00:03:18.370 --> 00:03:20.969
particular time when nobody's really hiring me

00:03:20.969 --> 00:03:24.590
right so it's it's been a very challenging uh

00:03:24.590 --> 00:03:28.169
work environment to be in especially if you're

00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:33.129
looking or for jobs so what i did i wanted to

00:03:33.129 --> 00:03:35.830
take control of this at least well you know it's

00:03:35.830 --> 00:03:38.409
only so much you can do but what i wanted to

00:03:38.409 --> 00:03:41.409
do was i wanted to be a little more proactive

00:03:41.409 --> 00:03:46.289
and i decided well i want to build my own way

00:03:46.289 --> 00:03:51.650
forward so i built an ai that would read my resume

00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:57.960
scan my github as well and understand the jobs

00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:03.000
that i wanted and also tell me the truth so this

00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.979
episode is about what happened when i did when

00:04:05.979 --> 00:04:11.699
i did just that so let's talk about portfolios

00:04:11.699 --> 00:04:17.360
now we all know we need them like a portfolio

00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:20.569
for a job we we should need them Like a future

00:04:20.569 --> 00:04:22.370
hiring manager should be able to see our work.

00:04:22.750 --> 00:04:26.569
But here's the thing, nobody tells you. A portfolio

00:04:26.569 --> 00:04:31.850
is not a list of projects. It's a signal, like

00:04:31.850 --> 00:04:36.430
a story about you. And most of us, including

00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:40.310
me back then, we were telling the wrong story.

00:04:41.490 --> 00:04:44.870
So personally, I thought if I just keep adding

00:04:44.870 --> 00:04:49.339
more projects, surely it will work. i believe

00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:55.519
i was wrong i was just showing too much and when

00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:57.540
i say that i mean i was just being very weak

00:04:57.540 --> 00:05:02.879
very general i didn't know which projects mattered

00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:08.660
like which ones really mattered and i don't even

00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:14.139
know what hiring managers were looking for i

00:05:14.139 --> 00:05:18.040
didn't know how to explain my work in a way that

00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:24.290
would actually care about and that gap between

00:05:24.290 --> 00:05:29.709
what i'd done and how i told the story was costing

00:05:29.709 --> 00:05:37.310
me i needed help but not from a coach or even

00:05:37.310 --> 00:05:40.490
a course you'll see multiple online courses and

00:05:40.490 --> 00:05:42.389
everybody's always like oh you know you're not

00:05:42.389 --> 00:05:46.149
finding jobs maybe you know go apply for a course

00:05:46.990 --> 00:05:51.389
maybe do an online course or something but I

00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:53.410
mean I have done courses in the past and they've

00:05:53.410 --> 00:05:55.970
not really yielded the results which I wanted

00:05:55.970 --> 00:06:00.970
so again I wouldn't advise in my in my opinion

00:06:00.970 --> 00:06:04.129
at least it's not something that I look at too

00:06:04.129 --> 00:06:07.310
much I don't like to do courses it's not for

00:06:07.310 --> 00:06:11.889
me I'm sure if it you know if it helps you that's

00:06:11.889 --> 00:06:14.930
great it's a good from a learning perspective

00:06:14.930 --> 00:06:20.430
for sure But if I would say like at least when

00:06:20.430 --> 00:06:23.029
it comes to like actually looking for jobs, it

00:06:23.029 --> 00:06:26.829
hasn't helped me. So what I wanted was a system,

00:06:26.910 --> 00:06:32.629
something that could read my resume, understand

00:06:32.629 --> 00:06:37.029
the job that I wanted, look at my GitHub and

00:06:37.029 --> 00:06:42.170
tell me what's working and tell me what's missing.

00:06:43.980 --> 00:06:46.800
Here's how you can explain it better. So I wanted

00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.620
something that would tell me that So I built

00:06:50.620 --> 00:06:58.339
it like a simple app Which uses AI the GPT -4

00:06:58.339 --> 00:07:03.699
and Python based streamlit the front -end where

00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:09.959
we can just drop a resume add the job goal select

00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:14.899
select github projects And then it would analyze

00:07:14.899 --> 00:07:19.439
everything and give you which are the top projects

00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:23.600
that you should highlight to the hiring manager.

00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:29.120
Which are the skills that you're missing. And

00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:33.560
also a complete rewritten project summary as

00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:38.199
well. Now it's like having a very brutally honest

00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:41.879
hiring manager who... was actually reviewing

00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:44.939
your work and caring for you and for the first

00:07:44.939 --> 00:07:49.459
time in months i felt like i was getting real

00:07:49.459 --> 00:07:54.639
feedback that really helps me so here's what

00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:58.079
the ei told me so let me read you some of what

00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:01.660
the ai uh in this case my gpt4 told me word for

00:08:01.660 --> 00:08:05.019
word so your best project is buried under fluff

00:08:05.019 --> 00:08:08.120
you're missing projects that show understanding

00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:11.529
of llms and experimentation rewrite this project

00:08:11.529 --> 00:08:13.750
to focus on business outcomes and not the tech

00:08:13.750 --> 00:08:17.990
stack so i usually apply for data analysis data

00:08:17.990 --> 00:08:21.170
science roles and i don't know about you but

00:08:21.170 --> 00:08:24.149
like it's easy to get lost in the tech stack

00:08:24.149 --> 00:08:27.670
right like oh i used looker i used tableau or

00:08:27.670 --> 00:08:34.909
use python sql dbt but are you telling what what

00:08:34.909 --> 00:08:38.970
was the outcome like what did you gain out of

00:08:38.970 --> 00:08:42.610
it right Did you drive any measurable business

00:08:42.610 --> 00:08:47.470
outcome? Did you maybe drive sales by X percent?

00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:50.789
And that would be like a numeric number, right?

00:08:52.350 --> 00:08:54.669
And everybody knows this by now, like you need

00:08:54.669 --> 00:08:59.330
to have a result based point, a bullet point

00:08:59.330 --> 00:09:02.710
in your summary of the project that you worked

00:09:02.710 --> 00:09:08.509
on for the role. But yeah, mine, not every point

00:09:08.509 --> 00:09:12.840
was like that, I think. It was just that some

00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:16.539
of them were still focused on the tech stack.

00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:21.059
So another thing the AI gave me was like a rewrite

00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:25.720
of one project where it said, use Python and

00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:29.600
ML to create customer churn, which helped improve

00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:35.120
retention strategy by 35%. And that line alone

00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:42.019
made me rethink everything. it was clear it was

00:09:42.019 --> 00:09:48.320
impactful and well recruiter friendly so suddenly

00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:53.220
i realized i wasn't bad at what i did i was just

00:09:53.220 --> 00:09:58.820
bad at telling a story so here's how the app

00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:04.039
works it's a quick breakdown so what i did was

00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:08.909
first use python to build this app streamlit

00:10:08.909 --> 00:10:11.529
on the front end side of the streamlit is a Python

00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:15.309
based library which helps you to give like a

00:10:15.309 --> 00:10:18.549
visual look to your app so it's like your HTML

00:10:18.549 --> 00:10:22.509
but like more fancier than that but basically

00:10:22.509 --> 00:10:26.149
what you see on the front end of your app is

00:10:26.149 --> 00:10:30.570
because it's a Python based app here you can

00:10:30.570 --> 00:10:33.929
paste or upload your resume paste in a job description

00:10:33.929 --> 00:10:39.159
or upload it or just you know add your career

00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:44.379
goal as well it connects your github via public

00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:50.559
API or what I had done was more simple ways just

00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:54.000
click to paste the URL as well so that was also

00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:59.799
working and it runs your input through a custom

00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:04.899
GPT -4 prompt Right and it shows you what to

00:11:04.899 --> 00:11:08.080
highlight what's missing and how to rewrite your

00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:11.559
best project And then you can export the whole

00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:17.179
thing as a PDF It's just that simple But it is

00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:22.379
exactly what I needed Here's what I learned I

00:11:22.379 --> 00:11:25.419
learned that more projects doesn't mean better

00:11:25.419 --> 00:11:29.620
Doesn't mean it's great. I learned that most

00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:34.190
resumes they focus on what you did But portfolios,

00:11:34.269 --> 00:11:39.289
project portfolios, they show you why they matter.

00:11:40.370 --> 00:11:44.269
And I learned that clarity beats complexity every

00:11:44.269 --> 00:11:49.470
single time. Well, at least for me. This was

00:11:49.470 --> 00:11:51.549
my learnings and it could be different for you.

00:11:51.769 --> 00:11:55.029
So what I learned again was GPT -4 when prompted

00:11:55.029 --> 00:11:58.049
right can help you reframe your work in a way

00:11:58.049 --> 00:12:04.070
that makes people actually care. What this app

00:12:04.070 --> 00:12:07.669
did was it gave me back confidence and I used

00:12:07.669 --> 00:12:11.549
that clarity to apply for three rules that I

00:12:11.549 --> 00:12:15.950
normally hesitate to go after. And for the first

00:12:15.950 --> 00:12:20.250
time in a long while, I felt like I was actually

00:12:20.250 --> 00:12:27.129
showing up as someone who is true, like as a

00:12:27.129 --> 00:12:30.269
version of me that I wanted recruiters and hiring

00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:36.539
managers to see. well here's how you can try

00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:40.840
the app now upload your resume add your job target

00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:44.600
goals you want to achieve professionally pull

00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:49.120
in your github projects and get clear ai power

00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:52.679
feedback well even if you don't code just use

00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:55.980
this prompt in chat gpt here's my resume and

00:12:55.980 --> 00:12:59.299
three project descriptions i'm applying to x

00:12:59.299 --> 00:13:01.820
job what should and place the job description

00:13:01.820 --> 00:13:04.629
here what should i highlight and what am i missing

00:13:04.629 --> 00:13:07.409
and can you rewrite one project to sound stronger

00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:13.450
it works that's it like it's basically it's just

00:13:13.450 --> 00:13:16.710
is repeated again here's the prompt i would use

00:13:16.710 --> 00:13:19.570
here's my resume and three project descriptions

00:13:19.570 --> 00:13:24.029
i'm applying to x job and x job is replaced by

00:13:24.029 --> 00:13:26.610
the job you want to apply to the job description

00:13:26.610 --> 00:13:30.370
basically for that job what should i highlight

00:13:30.370 --> 00:13:34.299
what am i missing and can you rewrite one project

00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:40.299
to sound stronger it works it helps and it's

00:13:40.299 --> 00:13:45.460
free like i said so this was one of the most

00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:48.220
useful tools i've ever built not because it's

00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:51.500
fancy but because it gave me the clarity i needed

00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:55.639
at the time so if you're feeling struck or if

00:13:55.639 --> 00:13:57.779
your portfolio just isn't getting attention try

00:13:57.779 --> 00:14:02.080
this let the ai tell you the truth and then Use

00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:04.480
that truth to create something more powerful.

00:14:05.139 --> 00:14:08.879
A story that you can tell through the work you've

00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:12.539
already done and the value that you're ready

00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:16.840
to bring next. Thanks for listening. See you

00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:17.259
in the next one.