Michi goes Techie
My new adventure begins in the thick jungles of the online job boards. I feel like an explorer as I have been actively looking for a job since I left my last “career” job in February. Hacking away the jobs that pay too little or the ones I have no interest in is like carving a path through the jungle with a dull machete. I took a job with a start-up company and it was like coming across a little village that provided food and water, but we didn’t speak the same language. I knew taking the job would be a risk, if it went well, I could be on the ground floor and if it took off, so would I, skyrocketing my next career. However, if the business didn’t go well, I would find myself in the position I am in today. Back in the job market jungle.
I have to say, the most difficult part of “finding” a job is deciding which job I want. What do I want to do? What do I enjoy doing? As most of you know I love doing my artwork and trying new things, but… they didn’t coin the term “starving artist” for no reason. Let’s just say Picasso didn’t see any of the millions of dollars his artwork now sells for. Also, a part of my passion for art is a creative release. I get to do it when I want, how I want, etc. If I were to try to turn it into a job, it may take the “fun” out of it. So, what will I enjoy and pay the bills (with maybe a little left over for fun)?
In casual conversation, my boyfriend’s son talked about his job, I’m not sure his exact title, but he’s in Web Development. I always just thought of him as a “computer guy”, I didn’t know or care to know the details of what he did, it sounded too smart for me. He talked in a foreign language of HTML, JAVA, Python, CSS, and so on. My brother, (who I have mentioned before in my blog “It’s Tech” ) had also tried multiple times to teach me this new language, but I thought pretty close to the same thing, I can’t understand that stuff. I really thought that #1 wouldn’t be interesting, #2 overly complicated, and #3 would be too difficult and time-consuming to learn. So.. I started looking into it and quickly realized my 3 main points were not valid:
#1 -It wouldn’t be interesting … It is a secret language, which in fact makes it interesting. You get to have “instant gratification” by seeing your code build something that wasn’t there before. And if you’ve read some of my other blogs, you know turning nothing into something really appeals to me.
#2 – It is overly complicated…At first, it is overwhelming. You essentially are learning a new language that is spoken with as many symbols and parentheses as one can imagine. However, so far in my learning, it seems logical. I also see that you don’t have to work from scratch every time, copy and paste are your new best friends, invite them for dinner because you’ll be spending a lot of time with them. While there is a lot, I mean A LOT to learn, it’s not nearly as complicated and overwhelming when you know what it means and what it does.
#3 -It would be too difficult for me to learn… I have only just begun learning, I’m only at the “tip of the iceberg”… scratch that, actually I am still five feet above the tip of the iceberg. But what I am finding, while it is a lot and it will take time to learn, it is not too difficult for me. I have been watching introductory videos on YouTube and LinkedIn, and I am actually following along just fine. I have to remember that I can learn anything when it’s broken down into the right steps.
With my top three concerns slayed, I am actually thinking this could be a good career path for me. There are numerous facets and specialties, and the demand for these skills is high. So why not? It can be a whole new adventure. I’m going to keep learning and see what uncharted territory I can get myself into.
The troubling part is it will take time to learn, practice, and understand well enough to actually get a paid job in doing it… but the bills won’t wait for me to learn ( I asked, and they said No). Since I am not independently wealthy, the one slashing and thrashing through the jungle of the job boards will be me, at least for now.