Joe Lee

🚀 Tech Stack Trends in Australia 2025 Here’s what I've been seeing the most so far this year Frontend - React continues to dominate. Next.js is quickly becoming the default for full-stack apps. Backend - Node.js, Go, and Python are all heavily used, however, I'm finding a lot of businesses wanting more Python developers right now. Databases - PostgreSQL is the go-to to but MongoDB and DynamoDB are also common. Cloud & DevOps - AWS is the most widely used. Docker, Kubernetes, and serverless frameworks are also now standard. What does your current stack look like compared to this? Am I on the money?

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Thinking about moving from perm to contract in the NZ dev market? Here’s how it actually works 👇 How people really land their first contract? -> Recruiters they already know -> Ex-employers calling them back Cold applying almost never works. Who contracting actually works for? 👌 -> 5–10 years’ experience -> Strong backend/ full stack engineers -> Auckland enterprise = .NET land Think: -> C# / ASP.NET / .NET Core -> Microservices -> Azure -> Middleware & integrations (RabbitMQ, IBM MQ service bus, etc.) -> Not heaps, but a decent amount of mobile development. Large enterprise and banking environments in Auckland are consistently contractor-heavy in this stack. Timing (this is the most important bit) ⏲️ -> Best time: straight after redundancy, immediately available -> Worst time: quitting a safe perm role in a tight market hoping something turns up. Money 💴 💵 💶 -> Typical rates clearing: $80 –$125/hr -> These rates usually require sole contractor setup -> PAYE costs more for the employer → noticeably lower take-home -> Expect 4–10 interviews a year as normal churn If the market slows, you can be without work for 6–12 months. (I have someone on my books who has contracted for 12 years within NZ enterprises, and unemployed since 2024) P.S. - Contracting pays more because someone has to carry the risk. That someone is you ❤️ If you are considering a move like that, come chat.

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At the risk of sounding arrogant, I'm going to write this post bluntly because the point is that important. I've spent about 8 years building software engineering teams in startups. I'd argue I'm one of the best in Australia at it - hiring software engineers and assembling fantastic startup engineering teams is something that I really excel at. And yet, even from that starting position, over the last 6 months I've been relearning - almost from the ground up - what a good software engineer is. That will continue for at least the next year. If you haven't meaningfully changed how you assess - or even define - what a good software engineer is in the past 6 months, your definitions and assessments are outdated. Startups are in pole position to adapt and carve out an advantage. But that also means they'll be punished most for failing to adapt, and you need to be adapting now. This is only half the problem though. When you do hire engineers who are excellent by the new definition, they require a company that's ready and set up to receive them - and most aren't. That means product, design, and the entire roadmap and the speed in which it's executed changing to accommodate what's now possible in engineering teams. It's a business-level shift, affecting how the entire company operates, not just a change to your hiring process. This has knock-on effects to funding, growth expectations, salaries, metrics, and more. Everything is changing, and it's changing now. It will continue to change, probably even more rapidly. But this isn't about predictions. It's already happening. First movers realised this 12 months ago. I realised it 6 months ago. The vast majority are yet to realise it. You should be realising it by the end of this post.

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Ruby's core team has merged SJIT, a revolutionary new just-in-time compiler, into the reference Ruby implementation following approval at RubyKaigi 2025, marking a significant advancement in Ruby performance architecture. Developed by the same team behind YJIT, SJIT represents a fundamental shift towards a more traditional "textbook" compiler design that prioritises community contribution and long-term maintainability over incremental optimisation approaches. Key SJIT Architectural Advantages: 🔹 High-level SSA-based intermediate representation (HIR) for easier community contributions 🔹 Whole-method compilation instead of single basic block processing 🔹 Historical type profiling from interpreter data rather than lazy basic block versioning 🔹 Modular high-level optimiser working on HIR for better code analysis 🔹 Multi-platform LIR assembler with sophisticated register allocation The compiler transforms Ruby code through a clear pipeline: YARV bytecode → HIR → LIR → optimised assembly, with each stage providing specific optimisation opportunities that weren't possible with YJIT's architecture. While Ruby 3.5 will ship with both YJIT and SJIT, the long-term vision focuses on SJIT becoming the primary JIT compiler once feature and performance parity is achieved. The team emphasises this is early-stage development and not yet production-ready. For Rails developers, SJIT's traditional compiler architecture opens new possibilities for community-driven performance improvements and represents Ruby's commitment to sustained performance evolution. What performance optimisations are most critical for your Rails applications? We're connecting with Ruby developers interested in next-generation language performance. #SJIT #RubyPerformance #RubyOnRails #CompilerTechnology #TechRecruitment

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“We stopped chasing unicorns. We build them.” That’s what a Melbourne tech leader told me this week. Their team gives junior devs: 🧠 Training budgets 🕐 Time to explore AI tools 💼 Real projects to apply them on They’ve made upskilling part of their retention strategy. Not just talk. Action. Here’s what they’re seeing: - Lower attrition - Higher engagement - Long-term capability built in-house But let’s be real… Not every org has the time to wait 6–12 months to build that. Sometimes, hiring externally is the only way to compete now. So what’s your take? Are we still chasing unicorns, or growing them? #AI #Upskilling #Recruitment #HiringStrategy #Retention #MelbourneTech #Leadership

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The 7 habits keeping ANZ tech candidates stuck in “maybe” and how to fix them 1️⃣ Applying for every role instead of targeting 10 high-fit jobs. → Fix: Pick roles where you meet 70-80%+ of requirements. Track them in a simple spreadsheet so you can follow up strategically. 2️⃣ Writing “responsible for” instead of showing results. → Fix: Rewrite each bullet to start with a strong verb + measurable outcome. Eg. “Cut AWS costs by 18% in 6 months.” 3️⃣ Wasting the first 3 lines of your CV. → Fix: Use that space for a results snapshot: “8 years in cloud infrastructure • $1.2M in cost savings • 3 successful AWS migrations.” 4️⃣ Using outdated buzzwords. → Fix: Mirror the job ad’s language for skills/tools. If they say “Kubernetes,” you say “Kubernetes” and not “container orchestration.” 5️⃣ Networking only when unemployed. → Fix: Book 1 virtual coffee a month with someone in your target industry, even when you’re happy in your role. 6️⃣ Ghosting your LinkedIn profile. → Fix: Post once a week or month. Share a short insight, metric, or lesson from your work so you stay top-of-mind with recruiters. 7️⃣ Spending hours on a cover letter (that doesn't get read) → Fix: Instead, send a 4–5 line email with your CV highlighting 2–3 key results that match the role. Reality check: In Australia/NZ, 70–80% of hiring decisions happen before the ad closes. If you’re not visible and specific, you honestly risk falling behind. Which one will you fix this week? ☺️ --- Inside The Careersy Community, I walk members through every one of these fixes, with recruiter feedback, templates, and real-world examples from the ANZ market. If you want to stop guessing and start getting interviews, that’s where you need to be.

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The best Engineers don’t wait around, so neither should your hiring process. In the current Adelaide talent market, speed isn’t just an advantage, it’s the difference between securing top talent and losing them to a faster competitor. What the data tells us: - 10–14 days, that’s how quickly top engineers are typically snapped up once they start looking for their next role Indeed - Companies that streamline hiring cut time-to-hire by 37% and boost quality of hire by 22% LinkedIn Talent Insights - Engineering roles remain some of the most in demand on SEEK, meaning slow hiring isn’t an option if you want the best. Our advice to clients: Fast doesn’t mean careless. It means building a process that’s structured, decisive, and candidate friendly. Clear role expectations, and empowered hiring managers = faster hires without compromising quality. In recruitment, the fastest employer doesn’t just hire first, they hire best. As a business you only get one change to make a first impression, so be swift to secure the right engineers before the competition does. #engineers #recruitment #adelaide

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Xero TechTalks recently hosted the LaunchDarkly team in our Melbourne office. They shared insights on how their Guarded Release feature can lead to 'More Sleep and Less Risk for Engineers'. LaunchDarkly's Guarded Releases measure, monitor, and automatically mitigate each change before it causes an outage. Tom Totenberg explained how real-time telemetry, automated rollbacks, and proactive monitoring enable teams to ship with confidence. #techtalks #xero

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The $175K DevOps Unicorn Myth Is Killing Your Team Confession that might sting: I keep seeing brilliant DevOps engineers walk away. Not because of money. Not because of tech. Because they’re asked to be everything to everyone. No? The brutal truth in NZ right now: We’re asking DevOps to be: • Kubernetes wizards • Security experts • Cost-cutting pros • On-call heroes All for one salary. Then we act surprised when they burn out or jump to Australia for 40% more. What’s actually broken: • 88% of job ads demand Terraform. • But only 15% of candidates have real production-level Terraform skills. So everyone chases the same tiny pool of “perfect” unicorns. Meanwhile, strong engineers who could learn in 3 months with mentorship get overlooked. The retention pattern I hear from tech leaders: They describe their DevOps team as a “revolving door.” Common reasons? → Roles written for breadth, not depth → 24/7 on-call with no backup → No growth paths What the smart companies do differently: 1. Stop hunting unicorns. One NZ bank hired a Python-strong engineer with basic K8s and trained them up. Retention jumped to 18 months vs the 11-month average. 2. Fix on-call. An Auckland fintech built proper SRE practices (error budgets, post-mortems). Turnover dropped 60% in 6 months. 3. Create specialization paths. Let engineers choose: Infra, Security, or Platform. People stay when they can go deep, not just wide. The economics driving engineers away: • 28% of DevOps pros in NZ are considering overseas moves. • Australia is absorbing 90% of ICT migrants with salaries at AUD $180–220K (vs NZ $130–150K). But it’s not only about money. It’s about escaping the “do-everything” trap. The opportunity hiding in plain sight: Instead of chasing unicorns: • Tap platform engineers moving from dev • Tap sysadmins ready to learn IaC • Tap cloud architects hungry for DevOps These hires + training = loyal teams. Challenge for you: Look at your DevOps JD. If it lists more than 3 skill buckets, you’re part of the problem. Fix is simple: • Pick 2–3 core techs that matter most • Build growth paths • Train instead of demanding perfection • Implement real SRE practices Why I’m sharing this: Because I’m tired of watching brilliant engineers burn out. And of hearing “we can’t find good DevOps people” on repeat. The talent is here. The demand is real. The approach is broken. Want to see which Auckland companies have cracked DevOps retention? → DM me “retention” and I’ll share what they’re doing. Because the best strategy isn’t chasing unicorns. It’s creating environments where good engineers become great ones. P.S. If you’re a #DevOps engineer nodding along: you deserve better than being “everything.” Those better roles exist, you just need to know where to look. ♻️ If this hit home, repost so more leaders stop chasing unicorns and start building real DevOps teams.

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You just set up your Mortgage Broking business in Australia. Here's what successful brokers worked out early: - Tech isn't optional. You can't chase documents at 11pm forever. You can't rename files manually when you're writing $5M a month. Build systems now. Automate the boring stuff. Focus on what makes you money. Document collection. File renaming. Reminder emails. These aren't broker work. These are tech work. If you're a mortgage broker in Australia, who's just set up your broking business and you're keen to leverage tech to streamline your workflow get in touch. --------------------- I'm Guy. I've built a document collection & file renaming tool for Australian mortgage brokers with Farzan M.. It speeds up your document collection and frees up your VA for more important work. #mortgagebroker #homeloans #brokertools

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Aussie founders punch well above their weight! 💪 A new report by AWS and Side Stage Ventures found that Australia is the most capital-efficient unicorn maker in the world, with 1.22 unicorns for every $1B invested. It’s a stat that reinforces what many in the Tech ecosystem already feel: Aussie Founders punch above their weight. But here's the catch...despite this incredible efficiency, we're being held back by a shortage of early-stage capital. For example, Scandinavia (with a smaller combined population than Australia) has nearly double the number of active seed VCs. In contrast, Australia has only 26 early-stage funds that have made 5+ deals in the last 12 months. Demand for local venture capital greatly exceeds supply. Imagine where we would be in Tech/Innovation with increased investment and risk appetite? Full article in comments.

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How to Showcase Your Product Management Impact to Recruiters and Hiring Managers In a sea of talented Product Managers, what makes one profile stand out over another? It’s not just the job titles or big brand names. It’s how clearly and confidently you demonstrate impact. If you're navigating the Australian financial services job market, here’s how to sharpen your story: 1. Quantify Everything You Can Vague = forgettable. Concrete = compelling. Instead of “Improved user onboarding journey”, say “Reduced onboarding drop-off by 27% in 3 months”. Did you grow revenue? Cut costs? Lift NPS? Say it, and back it up. 2. Set the Scene What problem were you solving? What constraints did you face? Context helps hiring managers understand the scale and complexity of your achievements. Think: before, during, after. 3. Speak to Your Stakeholder Savvy Product in financial services isn’t just about features. It’s about navigating risk, compliance, regulatory and customer experience—often all at once. Share examples of how you aligned diverse stakeholders or worked within tight governance frameworks. 4. Highlight Product Lifecycle Experience Have you built from scratch? Scaled a product? Sun-setted something legacy? Be clear about where you’ve added value—and where you want to grow. 5. Tailor for the Role You Want Your CV and LinkedIn profile are not static. Tweak the language, emphasise the wins that are most relevant, and make sure your story is aligned to where you’re headed. Final tip? Don’t just tell us what you did. Show why it mattered. **** Hi, I’m a Senior Recruiter at Parity Consulting where we connect top tier talent with business leaders in their Product, Marketing, Comms, Digital, Transformation, and Data teams who will exceed expectations and drive growth. I personally specialise in Product, Governance and Data recruitment. If you’re in this space, I am always happy to connect.

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