Career Strategy: Hiring Takeaways from San Francisco Tech Week
As a Career Counselor, I’m always helping clients connect two things.
The career and life they want
What the job market needs
The market keeps shifting, and the conversations happening at San Francisco Tech Week made that even more visible. Here are the key hiring takeaways from the event and what they mean for your current strategy.
The Tech Job Market Remains Tough
Hiring continues to be selective. Many teams are still operating lean after reductions, which means there are a lot of highly qualified candidates in the market at the same time. People are interviewing for roles where the bar is extremely high, and the competition reflects that.
It’s important to say this clearly. There is hiring happening. It just doesn’t look the way it did a few years ago.
Growth roles are slower. Nice to have roles are rare. Companies want people who can start strong, work with minimal ramp, and make a clear impact on the business. If you’ve felt friction in your search, it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with your experience. It often reflects the current hiring climate.
AI Hiring Is a Clear Bright Spot
One theme came up repeatedly across the events during the week. AI is hiring.
And not only for engineers or highly technical roles. More and more AI focused companies are emerging, and they’re hiring across functions such as:
Operations
Program and project management
Marketing and go to market work
Sales
Customer success
People and culture
Strategy
AI is becoming a full business ecosystem. These companies need people who can run teams, build processes, launch products, support clients, and strengthen internal structure. If your experience sits in one of these areas, you may have more transferable value than you think.
What This Means for Your Career Strategy
If the Tech industry is part of your career plan, it may help to look more intentionally at AI organizations. You don’t need to become an AI specialist. It’s about understanding that many of these companies are hiring for a wide range of roles that match what experienced professionals already do well.
If you’re struggling to get traction in Tech right now, here’s something that often makes a search harder. Expanding into jobs that don’t match your background. In a competitive market, that move can make the search more challenging.
A better option is to shift industries rather than your function. Look for companies that need the work you already do well, in a market where your experience stands out more. That’s often where momentum returns.
Career strategy isn’t about chasing everything. It’s about finding the environments where your skills are needed and valued right now.
If you want to revisit your own priorities, this connects directly to the work I do in my Career Strategy Coaching sessions.