Monday Funday

I've been thinking about the direction of my career lately.  It's something that has been weighing heavily on my mind since I graduated from General Assembly's Web Development Immersive program back in August.  As I scoured job postings and applied to many companies, I was overwhelmed by all of the different combinations of skills companies were looking for to fill these positions.  They were all unique and different.  It was starting to frustrate me as I felt like I was being pulled in so many directions as to which language of framework to learn next.

Last night I had a chat with my husband about it.  He is a Senior Wordpress Developer and has been doing this a long time.  He was one of those self starters that learned to code on his own and never got a bachelor's degree to prove it.  I see his success now and know that it is possible to make it in the Tech industry without that piece of paper and hefty debt that go hand in hand.

He reassured me and suggested that I should just pick a language that I like, learn it well and go from there. "Stop chasing the job postings" he said.  I needed to hear that because that was exactly what I was doing.  He also urged to me to consider freelancing more.  Freelancing does sound like a dream, at least for this point in my life. I could work remotely from home, set my own hours and my earnings would reflect the amount of work I do.

It would also be a great way to get experience and improve my coding skills since the job search hasn't yielded any promising prospects.  Except for Pixels 360.  I can't explain it but my gut tells me that Ronaldo (the co-founder of Pixels 360) wants to hire me for the Junior Web Developer position he has open. However, he is on vacation until the 30th and probably won't get back to me any time after that to tell me whether he has chosen to extend an offer to me.  The drive is long (which is what I didn't want) but I liked the vibe of that company and the people I met thus far.  Ronaldo has been completely open and up front with me since the first call we had back in September.  When I think about that company I get excited!  I know I would be doing more maintenance and support but I think that would be a great place to start for me!

I can't get too excited of course. There is so much uncertainty with that prospect. But freelancing is what I make of it.  I do have a pretty sweet office at home.  I am so grateful for that!  I am also so grateful with how patient and supportive my husband has been about my career shift.  I'm a Web Developer now. It's time to make my mark.