Why developers should share their #First SevenJobs

Cognitive Dissonance: Believing two opposing things at the same time.

Just about everyone is sharing their #FirstSevenJobs on Twitter right now, and I’m having fun imagining the amazing tech people I follow as young teachers, ice cream scoopers, bartenders, musicians, retail workers, paperboys, baristas, admin assistants, lifeguards, dish washers, stay at home parents, writers, and more. This hashtag may sound silly, but it’s doing such a good thing — this experience sharing is helping to fracture the cognitive dissonance about the backgrounds that are valued in tech.

Mixed messages

We simultaneously hear something like “ we value diversity of experience and this job involves wearing a lot of different hats….but people who switched careers into tech are complete beginners in every way who just need to learn to code as fast as possible.” It’s hard not to feel a penalty for doing one, or seven, other jobs first.

Here are my #firstsevenjobs, by the way.

🍦 Ice cream scooper & cake decorator

📎 Administrative Assistant

🍺 Hostess promoted to Waitress at a brewpub

🎨 Art Camp TA and Counselor

👔 Receptionist promoted to Program Assistant

📚 Community college tutor

🎨 2d Design Teacher promoted to Art Director

Front end developer isn’t on the list, and that’s okay. I was passionate about tech from a very early age, but I also loved art, teaching, and have always admired people working in the non-profit world. Also, I was very partial to being able to pay rent and afford food.

I enjoyed every bit of my non-linear and sometimes two jobs at once while going to school at night adventure. I learned so much, I made a difference, and I am proud of what I have accomplished. I’d never go back in time and stop little 7 year old me from drawing and encourage me to focus on programming instead. My path to a career in tech was long and winding, but every step I took brings value to my work today.

I’ve been making ideas a reality and solving problems for years, and now I can also do that with code.

If you posted your #FirstSevenJobs on Twitter, thank you. I love hearing all of your stories. They are all so damn validating.