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Your 30-Day Action Plan (Junior)

5 min read

Frontend

Week 1: Add Cursor or Copilot to one project. Week 4: Document your AI workflow in a README. Ship something with full transparency.

Devops

Your 30 days: automate one runbook with AI assistance, own one incident postmortem, and write down your 'what I'd do differently' for the next one.

Data Sci

Weeks 1-2: Use AI for EDA and documentation. Weeks 3-4: Own the model choice and validation strategy yourself. Show both in a portfolio piece.

Your 30-Day Action Plan (Junior)

TL;DR

  • Week 1: Add one AI tool to your workflow. Week 2: Own one "above your level" task. Week 3: Build a portfolio piece with AI transparency. Week 4: Prepare for the worst (resume, network).
  • Pick one track and stick to it. Doing everything half-way beats nothing.

Here's a plan Priya could actually execute. No vague "upskill" — concrete actions.

Week 1: Add the Tool

  • Day 1-2: Install Cursor, Copilot, or Claude Code — whichever fits your stack. Use it for one task you do daily (PR descriptions, tests, refactors). Don't overthink it.
  • Day 3-5: Run that workflow 5+ times. Note what you keep, what you change, what breaks. You're building a habit.
  • Day 6-7: Tell one teammate what you're doing. Compare notes. Steal their tricks.

Week 2: Own Something Bigger

  • Pick one task that feels slightly above your level — a small design decision, a cross-team coordination, a doc that no one owns. Volunteer for it.
  • Deliver it. Doesn't have to be perfect. Has to be done. You're proving you can own outcomes, not just tickets.
  • Ask for feedback. "What would you have done differently?" — use the answer.

Week 3: Portfolio + Transparency

  • Start or update one project that you can show in an interview. Add a "How I built this" section: what AI did, what you did, what you learned.
  • If you're not job-hunting, do it anyway. Future-you will thank present-you.
  • Share it (optional): LinkedIn, internal Slack, a blog post. Get comfortable talking about your AI workflow.

Week 4: Prepare for Uncertainty

  • Update your resume. Add your best project, your AI workflow, one concrete achievement.
  • List 3 people you'd reach out to if you needed a referral. Send one of them a "hey, how are things?" message. No ask — just connection.
  • Review your finances. Know how long you could last without a paycheck. Hope you never need it. Be ready if you do.

Quick Check

You're a junior with 30 days to AI-proof your career. What should you do FIRST?

You read about AI for weeks. Maybe take a course. Wonder when you'll 'have time.' Six months pass. Nothing changes.

Click "30-Day Action Plan" to see the difference →

Do This Next

  1. Block 30 minutes on your calendar for each week. Treat this like a project. It is.
  2. Pick your weakest week from the four. Do that one first. Momentum beats perfection.