It has never felt so uncertain to be looking for a job in tech.

If you had asked me a few years ago what the future held, I would have had plenty of ideas—but this current landscape wasn’t one of them. We are in the middle of a bizarre transition period where neither companies nor candidates seem to know exactly what the new rules are.

The biggest point of confusion right now? Artificial Intelligence.

Recently, I spoke with some folks from Microsoft. Their advice was clear: they want to see candidates leveraging AI, and they want to see a strong online presence (which, full disclosure, is the actual reason I finally started this blog). It sounds like a solid, forward-thinking strategy. But then you look across the aisle at other companies, and the story entirely flips. For some hiring managers, the moment they suspect you used AI in your application or workflow, you are rejected on the spot.

And the sad thing is, both of those extremes are actually the “good” kind of companies to deal with—because at least they are clear about their expectations. For a vast majority of the market, it is incredibly unclear what their goals are or what they actually want from you. You have AI companies that seemingly require candidates not to use any AI to prove their raw skills, and on the flip side, you have traditional, legacy companies trying to be hip by forcing it into their hiring process. It is just a mess.

Even the “experts” are at a loss. I recently went to a handful of career advising services provided by my university, and I walked away with wildly conflicting information. Everyone has a different opinion on how—or if—we should be using AI to get hired.

Honestly, I don’t really care which way the industry goes; I can adapt to either. But being stuck in this middle ground is exhausting. It is undeniably clear that something massive is shifting in the tech world, but we are stuck in that messy in-between phase where there is absolutely no public consensus.

Am I just frustrated by how this impacts my own life and career trajectory? Yes, probably. Am I still excited about the underlying technology? Yes, as always.

But on the other hand, it is incredibly draining. It is nearly impossible to deal with industry-wide changes of this magnitude when you can’t even get a straight answer on what companies and HR departments actually want from you. The rules of the game are changing daily, and right now, nobody seems to have the official playbook.