Finding a Job 💻

After recently being laid off due to downsizing, I've had to consider what I bring to the table while determining my next pursuit. While knowing how to do the job is very important, I believe there are attributes that need to be present in order to bring the most amount of value, both to myself, and to the people I work closely with. 

In this article, I will take some time to talk about what I bring to the table outside of the 'hard' skills. These are the 'soft' skills I find very important:

• I get stuff done.
• I'm passionate about what I do.
• I love learning.

Execution

It is difficult to do a job well if we fail to execute on the tasks that matter. I've found myself keeping busy on silly things throughout my days as a developer. I've that just because I'm at my desk working does not mean that I'm doing anything meaningful. 

The best way I've found to avoid busywork is by creating the smallest tasks possible so that when each is complete the whole task is finished. This leaves little room for tweaking that annoying bit of code, or refactoring 'just because'. I also get that nice dopamine hit when I cross off each item. 💪🏻

Passion

I want to help make a dent in the universe.

That phrase drives me. It should drive you, too. Imagine... if everyone had this thought rattling in their head all day every day - how would we act? What would be different? I imagine we might be more conscious about how we spend our time, or how we interact with people. We might go as far as pushing ourselves in areas where we are uncomfortable, knowing ourselves well enough to see where we fail and having a desire to be better.  

I spend SO much time working. I want it to be spent something that I love to do.

Learning

If I'm not learning, I'm dying.

Learning something new might not always be fun. I think we should be okay with that. The question is: can we push through the difficult moments?  If we have a 'make a dent' attitude, I don't think there is any other option. 

Forward motion isn't always forward, sometimes we fall back into habits. The trick is learning how to think big while executing small, as mentioned above! Keep your eye on the goal, but lets try and enjoy each moment, even if there's a bit of "suffering" on the way. 

Life is beautiful.