The Linux Foundation have uploaded the video of my talk at Open Source Summit in Vancouver this year. The talk is titled "Open Source Your Way Into a Quantum Computing Career", and contains a run-through of the current state of the open source projects in quantum computing, the kinds of roles that are being hired, and what the funding and economics of the industry mean for job prospects.
I effectively rewrote the talk in my hotel room the night before, having just flown into Canada from Australia, and thinking a lot on the flight about my various friends and the wider community being caught up in the FAANG layoffs. The slightly gonzo elements of sharing my story and having the call-to-action at the end was an attempt to be helpful, offer a human face as someone who came from open source roles at Red Hat, and show my path into my role as Head of Product at Quantum Brilliance.
As the video shows, there was a surprisingly engaged audience, and the follow-up was especially so. It stands to reason that open source attracts talented but often introverted people into the community, so it can take a little bit of extroversion to engage with them, and an abundance of call-to-action prompts that make it easy for them to do so. This kind of content can have a surprisingly long tail, as I've experienced writing about the value of contributing to open source as a means to start or grow a career in Product Management. My article for opensource.com and a version of it on Medium still result in emails each month some years on from writing it. And replying to those people who are proactive to reach out and look to improve their career in ways that create genuine value is always a pleasure.
Thanks to The Linux Foundation team for the invitation to speak. If you've read this far and are curious about quantum computing, be sure to check out their courses on quantum computing basics.