The story thus far…
About a month ago, I quit my job with nothing lined up. This is the second time that I’ve done this. The first time, about a decade ago, I worked in a big corporation, in a cubicle, had a nice salary, good benefits. It was horrible. I quit. About a week after that, I received an acceptance letter from a master’s program. Easy, peasy, done.
This time the sailing has not been so smooth. I was working in a fire department as a firefighter and paramedic. Great schedule, best people you could ever hope to work with. The political situation in the upper ranks was destroying morale in the entire department. I quit. I decided I wanted to be a software developer.
I have a master’s, but it’s not in computer science. I’m living off savings at the moment, which makes this a race: Find a new job in my new chosen field before the money runs out.
I have two phone interviews set for this month so far. One this week and one at the end of the month. I’ve completed a few online courses, building to some certifications soon. That’s the good. What’s the bad? No one wants to talk to a firefighter about developing code. Preventing my resume from getting thrown straight in the garbage has been a challenge. I got each of those phone interviews because I know someone who works in the company.
The ugly? The days blend into each other and the constant rejection feels like an assault on your person. There is no one to drive you forward, there are no deadlines to force you to work. It’s so easy to get lost in Facebook or YouTube. It’s so easy to internalize all the rejection. It’s so easy to want to give up.
If you’ve done this before or if you’re doing it now, you know how important it is to always keep some forward momentum, however small it might be. Another class, a project of some kind, anything to keep moving. One thing leads to another and progress staves off the unwanted voices. Stagnation is death.
