There’s this narrative going around that if you didn’t get into tech before 2021/2022, you’re basically locked out.
Many say tech became a closed system, that now with AI juniors have no chance, and the people who got in earlier “won” and pulled the ladder behind them.
It’s a convenient explanation, but it’s not correct. What actually happened is much simpler: the market got stricter. And this started before ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.
In 2019–2021, companies were hiring fast, often inefficiently, and absorbing a lot of profiles that today wouldn’t pass a first filter. There was more room to learn on the job, more room to be average, more room to figure things out while getting paid.
Now that margin is gone.
The expectation is to show value earlier. Not potential in the abstract, but something concrete: projects, understanding of tools, ability to execute, ability to communicate.
And this is NOT just about juniors.
There are plenty of people with years of experience who are struggling to get interviews. Not because opportunities disappeared, but because their profiles didn’t evolve at the same speed as the market 😶
Outdated stacks, no ownership, weak communication, no use of AI tools. All of that gets filtered out much faster now.
So framing this as “you missed your chance” avoids the real point.
The bar moved.
At the same time, something else changed: it has never been easier to build and ship things independently.
This is usually either ignored or overhyped, with no in between.
You don’t need a company to validate you before you can start creating value. The tools are there, the access is there, the distribution is there. Most of these projects fail, that’s true. Most startups fail. They never generate revenue.
But the important shift is this: relying only on a traditional “trainee role” as the entry point is no longer enough in many cases when trying to gain experience.
The path is less linear and more demanding, but also more open in different ways.
👉 The real problem is that both candidates and companies are still approaching the market with a 2021 mindset, expecting similar outcomes in a completely different context.
This is the layer Normies Network is focused on: what’s actually working between candidates and companies in a more selective market
Join us