(And what’s your job?)
I’m a programmer, which is in a pretty bad spot if you’re looking for work right now.
I was laid off in January and had to start looking again. While it’s important to be able to demonstrate your skills, the only way I got an interview for my new job was by being referred by an old colleague. Turns out maintaining relationships with people who can vouch for your work is a very big part of the process.
I made my own job.
I run my own ride service. I work the apps like uber but I also have a large (and growing) list of private clients that call me for airport runs or to see if I can get them to and from a dinner with friends/colleagues/etc.
I’m in the piedmont triad of NC. I actually live in a small outskirt town and work all over the central part of NC.
I’m a professional photographer. I’ve been a photographer for about 15 years but I started my own LLC in 2021. I studied the business side on YouTube/ googling stuff and listened to a TON of podcasts on the subject. Now wedding photography is my full time gig and I have a studio where I do boudoir, newborns, and rent studio space to other photographers. My future ambitions include hosting workshops where I teach other aspiring photographers. When I started in the industry it was male dominated and now that’s changed dramatically and it’s nice to see. I struggled a lot to be taken seriously in the early days. That’s why I was so inclined to start my own business/be my own boss.
IT service desk at an MSP.
Put in my resume on the company site, conducted an interview and showed up on the first day.
This was a while ago. My college didn’t have a CS major (small liberal arts college) so they brought in an adjunct professor who was a Director of IT of a small market research firm. After 4 semesters as his student, he offered me a job my senior year. Longest interview ever.
That was over 20 years ago.
My current job (big tech) was from my friend who I worked with coming up to me and saying “A recruiter from [company] is calling you tomorrow. I gave them your name.” Never in a million years did I think I was at that caliber, but I went through it anyway because the worst they could say is “no”.
They said “yes”.
