Why You Know More Than You Think 👀

Why You Know More Than You Think

I recently sat down with couple of IT recruiters to discuss highly specialized roles, and I’ll admit, my initial reaction was hesitation. Looking at the requirements, I fell into a familiar trap, thinking, “Maybe I have only done part of this” and “Maybe I am not an exact fit.”. For the past eighteen months, my work has been a broad mix of agentic engineering, testing, documentation, and data governance. When you operate as a hybrid, full-stack engineer, you move across different responsibilities daily rather than anchoring yourself to a single discipline.

But the recruiter’s feedback shifted my perspective entirely. They didn’t see a scattered focus; they saw a “versatile team member.” One of them pointed out that my ability to bridge the functional side of tools like LangSmith with the development team was a cross-functional superpower. Another noted an Architect title might be a bit senior for this exact moment, she saw my trajectory heading naturally in that direction, specifically calling out that I am a “super attentive person.”

That word, attentive, perfectly captures a behavioral loop many of us in tech get caught in: the habit of invisible knowledge.

When we first discover a new technology, we are hyper-attentive. We learn, experiment, and if you use a “second brain” methodology, you take meticulous notes. But eventually, we figure it out. We automate the process, and it begins running quietly in the background of our daily tasks. Because the routine becomes automatic and familiar, we stop revisiting our notes. We stop recognizing the effort and skill it required to build that automation in the first place. We discount our own expertise simply because it has become a habit.

If you are navigating a broad, hybrid role across technical, data governance, and software paths, I have a simple call to action for you. Sit down and write out what you actually do. Review those notes from six months ago. You will likely rediscover that your daily routines already rely on industry best practices. Being honest about your knowledge gaps is incredibly valuable for interview preparation, but you cannot let those gaps become a reason to reject yourself before you even apply.

Fun fact: I attended a LangChain meetup in Berlin a month ago, and the sheer volume of new information was intense. What fascinated me most was how beneficial it was to actively recall those seemingly dormant learnings during my interviews, also validated some hypothesis. It was living proof of the second brain at work.

⚡️Dear reader, at this point I hope you get it: You know far more than you think you know.

I will always remind you that investing in your knowledge is the best bet you can make. And if that investment requires you to travel and step out of your usual environment? Go for it. We spend way too much time sitting in the same chairs every day.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend! ✌🏼