My Job Search Begins

I need your help to find a new job. Confronted with the nonexistence of venture capital funding in our troubled economy, my company has made the understandable and right decision to cut staff down to the core contributors who will execute on the plan and vision our team built. I have been here before.

There is a certain clarity when the “what ifs” go away. Even though it is unpleasant, I find myself in the same personal calculus our company faced. There are many things I could do. I am fortunate to have skills and potential–and a broad range of experience that, in times of stability, can be overwhelming as to “what should I be doing?” But now, with at least the warning of 5 weeks to work with, it’s not so much about what do I want to do with the rest of my life, but what can I do that people want to pay me for and hire me in a job that includes health care for my family and enough money to cover the mortgage?

There are two types of opportunities that I will pursue:

First is the role of early-stage startup technology leader. I can do whatever it takes to get a company online with its technology. I am fearless and stubborn in my assault of challenges. I have a strong intuitive sense of the path that works and teach myself whatever it takes to get there. That sounds like vague generalities and it will certainly not cause me to be found in a resume database search, but I have found again and again there is some combination of optimistic high-level strategic thinker and pessimistic operations admin that allows me to know what details to sweat and have faith that we can get it done.

The second is strategic consulting. You can read my blog and understand that I can synthesize ideas well. I can write a good story and frame the issues decisively whether it be technology-oriented (e.g. how to develop a social media strategy) or economic development, public policy, book reviews, etc. So I will be looking for opportunities to analyze and recommend solutions–and I have the skills to implement those solutions.

But option 2 is not “fully-baked” is it? So I think we are back to option 1, really. The bad part about option 1 for me is that it really is for “early-stage” companies…and once I have things set up…it is time to move on to new challenges.

My current employer is typical of that pattern–we have a technology infrastructure in place that could be left on auto-pilot for years. My contribution is done. I don’t engineer job security; I engineer for unpredictability and do what works.

At my previous employer, QuitNet, it was a similar story…we had the operations managed…then what? The “what” for me was to start a blog on economic development. But those pesky bills keep coming…

At ConsumerReview, I could have stayed on board, but I had found a new job just in time. When I left, the work of a department was handled by 1 person.

I’m not trying to brag or complain, but to describe the role I fit well. My resume will not show 5-10 years of specialized expertise–it is always zero to sixty in a few weeks–and I thrive on that. In my current job, when I was interviewing, I sold them on my “swiss-army knife” skill set and they entrusted me to manage some linux servers–I had not touched linux in nearly a decade. Two years later and I’m ready to buy an “I love vi” t-shirt. And I leave behind a wiki full of detailed instructions on how to do everything I learned.

One thing is different for me from the last time I went looking for a job. I know people now. My job at QuitNet was a bit isolating…or maybe I just didn’t make any real effort to go out beyond my role there. I hadn’t started blogging and I knew maybe 2 people outside of work. Today, I know hundreds of people from many walks of life. I really believe my biggest challenge is how to describe the role I am looking for in a way that people can help me. So this blog post is a start. And the war begins in earnest on Monday.