Employability in an accidental career

Here is what's new in my world. As some might know, or relate, I was laid off when Illinois shut down last spring. When my previous employer began re-opening, which they did almost immediately, the new owner/managers decided outsourcing from a friend would be the best way going forward. It probably didn't help that since the December just previous I had been out on short-term disability, with my heart surgery and subsequent recovery. I guess they got used to me being gone, and when I was cleared to come back, it was only 2 weeks before the shutdown. So, onto un employment, a desperate search for affordable health insurance, and week by week reliance on unemployment, pandemic stimulus checks, garage sales and the extreme generosity of family and friends.

So, I've been looking for programming/IT work since last April, with little to no interest. When I could even find appropriate positions, I never heard back, not even an acknowledgement that I had applied. One of the things that grinds my gears is the total lack of communication most hiring outfits have adopted. Even an automatic email saying "Thanks for your interest" would be nice.

I revamped my resumé, (Thanks to a FB friend in the hiring biz for some advice),drastically dropped my salary expectations, and now I'm starting to get nibbles. It's kind of funny how a little thing like asking for what you are worth locks you out, while asking for what you will settle for opens doors.

Well, I had a phone interview late last week for a job that would require at least 6 months on Oklahoma, possibly a permanent relocation. If I were 15 years younger, that would be a lot more tempting. As it is, there may still be remote work, or possibly work at their home office in Wisconsin that would not be a bad commute. Today I had a phone interview, and a Teams video call for a remote programming position. My experience is almost a fit, which is where I start to get nervous.

My whole IT career has been accidental. I gave up studying and participating in Theatre because I didn't think I was good enough to actually make a career that could support a family out of it. I had done a lot of computer study in college, but never actively pursued it. When the temp job in the stockroom at Woodward turned into a permanent hire, I thought, "Fine, this would be a good company to work at. I can move up to other shop jobs, and maybe get some training." Well, they give all new hires a programming aptitude test, first created by IBM in the 60's. I passed, so the made me a programmer.

So now, more than 30 years later, I've done programming, IT infrastructure, Help Desk, documentation, consulting, design and system administration for companies ranging from 1 man shops to international telecoms. I've lived and worked in the middle of Alabama, in the summer, on a contract with a company that repairs railroad engines. I wrote custom software for a cell phone company in Denmark that sent SMS messages notifying customers that they had email, back before the US even had text messaging.

Along the way, I've had to learn, on my own, hardware, communications, databases, programming languages, business requirements, IP cameras, security systems, phone systems... I learned how to listen to what a customer says they want in a system, and deliver what they really wanted. (This is actually a thing. Anyone who has done a project for a client, from landscaping, to remodeling, to graphic arts and beyond knows this.)

The fact is, all of this I learned on my own, to solve a problem. I never had a career goal in mind, except to make enough to provide for my family. I wish I could say I was successful at even that, but not always. I know this has hurt me, especially now, as I'm in the older demographic, which in the IT world can be an unspoken handicap. If you are my age, but do not have a long list of certifications, or an advanced degree, or management experience, it's hard. Raw experience isn't worth as much as you might think.

So, back to the interview today. It went well. I was contacted by a headhunter, and she is passing me off to her client. Which is when the fear sets in. I'm not a perfect fit for the job. There are some bullet points they want, which I do not have. Yet. In the past, I was confident I could learn what I needed to get started, and pick up what I needed to get the job done. I've been off for a year, and before that I was 9 years at the same place, building the systems and solutions the company needed from my own experience and knowledge. I'm not sure my brain is flexible enough to pick up what I need, soon enough to actually succeed. My biggest fear is that I will get started, not be able to get my feet under me, and lose the position, and have a strike against me in the marketplace.

So, that is a much longer brain-dump than I was planning to write. If you made it this far, Thank You.