My friend Monty
wrote a story
To Pivot on LinkedIn
He asked me if I liked it
I said Like on!
[scroll down for J4ckp0t]
J4ckp0t
by Peter Bruinsma
Put yourself in Monty’s shoes for a minute…
the kind he wears on a bus to a marathon, with holes in the soles.
Monty
Your name is Monty Carlos.
You are a seasoned slot machine software developer in Las Vegas.
You write polished payout programs.
Your code rhymes and you go to work in a limo!
But, for odd reasons, you’ve lost the love for software and games.
Today, you are leaving the bandits behind.
You spin on your heels with romantic conviction.
You cash out your career to become a poet.
It’s a late bet. Roses and violets and things like that.
A 777 Words You Didn’t Know Could Rhyme poster decorates your toilet.
It’s the first day. You wake up, literally, as a brand new Person of Letters. With high-stakes confidence, you flip a coin…
Tea!
The leaves are steepening and you have blood in your pen.
The starting blocks of a new career.
You go to LinkedIn.
J4ckp0t! You’re in.
The tag line is easy: “I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it.”
You change your current position and your summary:
“Principled Poet”
“Meter and rhyme. Always on time. Well-versed with words. Etc.”
The gurus say: only have relevant hobbies!
With pain in your flank you get rid of “Sudoku”.
You write “Scrabble”, and “Demand-Driven Poetry”.
You tweet your new status with a 140 character resume:
“Freelance Rhymer #poet #knowit
#hireme #ghostrhyming #prose4food https://goo.gl/gWtDIH"
Now, time to relax.
Twitter is waking up and the LinkedIn relevance machine is matching you with romantic high-strikers and rose-colored greeting-card-company veeps.
And Valentine’s is coming up.
You could pen some poetry for the rush while you wait!
After several hours, nothing has happened.
You become proactive and log in again.
The sidebar is stuffed with annoying ads:
Lucky Automation is Drawing a Developer
Are You a Statistics Wizard by Chance?
The Who’s Viewed Your Profile page is a stale array of poker faces and avatars.
You think:
“LinkedIn, hurry up already. I want to see the future, not dwell in the past!”
LinkedIn is still matching on your history, even though you have moved on. Its secret sauce is an archeologist, not a futurist. It will take a while for the world to catch up with you.
Monty is in for a rough ride. A freelancer with skills that don’t rhyme has better odds at a casino. Clients want proven track records and relevant expertise. They do not take cocktails at a roulette table.
No more bets?
Monty knows fixing his profile is only the start.
He will keep betting while the ball spins.
Rather than resting on his LinkedIn laurels, he’s building a portfolio.
He’s pushing prose, one Career-Limiting-Move at a time, to find his niche.
Violets are Blue. My Lawnmower is Broken.
Small Engine Repair, Same Day Service.
They will be in line!
If not, he can make a bundle with an eBook.
About me:
I’m a dad. It was my first life-changing pivot.
I left my career in technology and now I’m writing.
I debuted my pivot with A Troubadour Walks Into a Bar… .
I want to write ad-copy-who-doesn’t, short fiction and non-fiction.
I poke fun at myself as a prototype of imperfection.
I like the word “illth” but I have never used it in a sentence unquoted.
I like cheese, because, cheese.
❤ Like on! if you want to pre-buy the imminent bundle:
Non-Fiction Poetry for Postmodern Pivoters in Flannel Pajamas.
