Does speaking at conferences add value to your career as a software engineer?

Tagged:

The recruiters at the conference will definitely be impressed.

Recruiters that are not at the conference only really know your resume, and speaking at a conference is a rather stupid thing to put on a resume, so probably not.

That said, you should not be trying to impress recruiters. Make the recruiters impress you. If you already have an active career as a software engineer, then you are a hot commodity and you shouldn’t just whore yourself out to anyone.

If you don’t have an active career and are just trying to break in, then give the talk, but don’t pay too much attention to the recruiters and instead spend more time talking to actual working engineers, preferably at companies that you want to work with. Don’t ignore the recruiters, because they can help you find a job, but any interview you get from a recruiter is not going to have seen your conf talk.