Im a php backend dev for over 7 years. (Lately mostly laravel).
Im going to look for a new job and have 2-3 free weeks to try and learn a new language and switch to that in my next job.
Please advise if i should
1. Switch to Python (should be relatively close to php oop) + opens AI jobs opportunity for the future.

2. Switch to NodeJs. (Web/api knowledge similar to php) + will be easier to learn frontend skills later (ie angular/etc)

3. Look for another PHP job. - if 2-3 weeks is not enough time to learn nodejs/python well enough to get an actual job without experience with them.

Really can't decide which path to take, please help

And what about a more sysadmin/devops career change?

@alexbrooklyn devops isnt for me. I'd like to stay on the backend. Looking into the near future nodejs might be good, looking a bit further it's probably python( because of ai).
Maybe js will also progress in the AI area and then it's totally worth it to just stay with js.

If you're motives are to get into AI, go down the python road.

Going from php to python is quite simple really.

I'm sure node will get into AI eventually, but you'll always be expected to handle frontend as a JS dev aswell.

.Net has the future. My opinion.

2-3 weeks isn't enough time to learn any language to a reasonable degree. But you also shouldn't need to.

A lot of adverts these days say something akin to "we work with X, but don't worry if you don't know X already, we're just after good devs."

Others will say "we work with a number of languages such as PHP, python and Java. Knowledge of any one is great!" You can then start as a PHP dev and look to transition to other projects written in other languages.

Other companies may specifically want PHP Devs, but will offer a good annual training budget that you can use to further your knowledge in anything you choose (such as another language.)

Take your pick - but I'd say definitely don't just try to cram, say Python into your brain in 2 weeks then claim you're a python dev. If you do that, you'll always lose out to other Devs who apply with specific commercial experience in Python.

I mean, learning a second programming language isn't that hard but if you only have php experience I would say the most beneficial would some sort of general programming language like cs, python or c++. In the end it's all the same.

Learn HTML and CSS

I too am facing similar situation these days... Having experience of 5+years in PHP.

I decided to go for Python after all my research. It's future proof (at least for now and next 2 4 years).

I have talked to Node JS developers in my network, they find it better than PHP, but they still say it's not very stable and streamlined yet. Node has a long way to get stable ecosystem.

So I am personally going to switch to Python, and afterwards DevOps.

.net core for the world!

You dont need node for front end. If you go front end go directly to react.js or vue imo. Ruby could be an interesting choice as well.