vlbrown-mzydt

I am presently conducting a job hunt (not entirely by choice). As part of that, I decided to re-read What Color is Your Parachute, the best-selling “job-hunter’s bible” for over 30 years.
An important thread, running through the book, asks “Is this a traditional job hunt or a life-changing job hunt?”.

A “traditional job hunt” is defined as “find a job, any job, as long as I can do the work and find it quickly”. A “life changing job hunt” on the other hand, begins by assessing the job hunters interests, favorite skills, hopes, and desires for a job. Instead of “just a job” the goal is to find a satisfying job.

As I often do in these situations, I’ve been writing (“journaling”) — about what I like to do, the sorts of jobs I like, the kind of career I want to have, the sort of company where I would like to work if I had my druthers.

My resume reflects an eclectic career. I’ve been a programmer, tech writer,
and quality lead, among other things. I’ve worked on “contract” (1099 and
W2) and as an FTE, in both short and long term positions, for companies and
teams of various sizes. My shortest contract was a couple of weeks; my
longest job ran for six years.

Given all this, a not uncommon interview (or pre-interview) question is likely to ask:

What do I like to do best? What do I want to do?

When I was asked this question recently, I said that when I write docs for a
while, I get itchy to write code and vice versa. In either case, I want to
feel that I’m needed, to be working for people who can use what I do, and to
believe that what I’m doing makes a difference. Thus, I prefer internal
docs to user guides and internal tools to application development.

But it’s more than that.

Five years ago, I was looking for general internal tools projects, code
cleanup and maintenance projects, and data filter writing projects. I was
looking for scientific programming projects. I was looking for internal
documentation projects in just about any area.

I’m not as interested in those sorts of projects any more.

I have a passion for Communication, Documentation, Quality, and Process.
Over the past decade, I have built up a consuming interest in the World Wide
Web, particularly in the areas of social software, communication, and
collaboration. I want to work on projects that support those interests.

It’s not enough, anymore, for me just to be needed. To support my own
interests, regardless of whether I write text or code, I want my project to
be related to the web. I’m no longer particularly interested in working on
tools and utilities that aren’t web-based, even if they’re for an internal
audience. I’d rather work on web tools. Or web content.

Getting even more specific, “web-related” alone is not enough to satisfy
my deepest interests. The web is, after all, simply a network. It could
almost be said to be an implementation detail. So, what do I really mean
when I say I want to work with the web?

I don’t mean e-commerce or vertical web application development. Intranet
content is interesting to me; it combines internal documentation and web
work. In my last job, I was very happy to be able to take over the task
of improving my company’s intranet content.

I would especially like to work for a company that has projects in the realm
of collaborative applications and/or Social Software. Some possibilities might include grassroots journalism, weblogs, wikis, and educational applications.

I want the result of my work to be important and needed, not just by my
colleagues within the company I work for, but by people outside, on the
World Wide Web. I want to help other people to use the web, to understand
its potential, and to leverage the possibilities that the web can offer.

Working with and on the web gives me opportunities to reach and help even more people.
That’s the color of my parachute.