Fwd: Career 2.0 Testimonials

[Jared Richardson]

Hi all,

Many of you have heard the Career 2.0 talk I've given on tour. Matthew Bass and I are working on a book based on that material. One of the areas we're adding is people's career stories. If you'd care to share, we'd be very grateful. 

We're looking for what you consider to be your best and worst move. Did you have a strategy? If not, should you? If so, did it work? 

Looking back with the proverbial 20/20 hindsight, what would you differently? The same?

You can find more on this blog posting, but feel free to answer here, there, or privately.

http://career20.blogspot.com/2009/01/whats-your-strategy.html

Thanks,

Jared

http://NFJSOne.com

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brian Sletten <br...@bosatsu.net>

Date: January 29, 2009 10:57:03 PM EST

To: Jared Richardson <jared.r.r...@gmail.com>

Subject: How's this?

"Stumbling Gracefully"

Brian Sletten, President

Bosatsu Consulting, Inc.

I am mid-way through my career; a reasonable place to stop and reflect. On the whole, I am content with where I have arrived and how I got here. The path was equal parts hard work, self-knowledge, risk tolerance and good-timing. Finding your own version of this place will take effort. You certainly will not get there by being passive, introverted or risk averse. I did not always know what I was doing which is why I say I have "stumbled gracefully." Here are some principles that I followed that I believe helped me in my career so far.

Take Control

------------

The vast majority of my successes can be traced directly back to decisions I made to reach for what I wanted. It was never easy. It often required hard work, preparation and the emotional and financial support of my family. It always involved deliberate and proactive choices, however. You will not get where you want to be by waiting for opportunities to come to you.

Embrace your failures

---------------------

One of my favorite interview questions is "What is the worst bug you have ever written?" Bad answers include "I don't write bugs." or "One time I had a label that was about five pixels off on the screen." Good answers usually cause the interviewee to light up, roll their eyes and laugh at themselves a bit. Failure is a far more instructive teacher than success. My worst bug ended up killing an IBM RS/6000 box for which we did not have the installation media. My boss had to pack it up and drive it to the customer site an hour and a half away to reinstall the OS. I ultimately figured out the complicated sequence of events that caused the problem so I could prevent it from happening again. In retrospect, I am very proud of figuring out what went wrong (although, yes, I am still embarrassed too!).

Know What You Want/Do What You Love

-----------------------------------

In college, I was exposed to Unix and the X Window System. I fell in love with this environment and knew that I wanted to work with these technologies right off the bat. I found a job doing X/Motif development. From there, I got into OpenGL and 3D graphics and helped build one of the first "whole earth" 3D environments. I had a blast and always enjoyed going to work. As I decided to move on and started to look around, I realized that I did not just want "a job". I needed to find something that I was going to be passionate about it. When you love what you do, it is rarely a drag to go to work.

Do What is Necessary

--------------------

Unfortunately, you cannot always do what you want. I have more than once been caught off-guard by a sudden change in job situation. Even if you cannot find something that you would normally seek to do, be prepared to do what you need to do and do it well. If you play your cards right, you will give yourself the runway to find something else you enjoy. You may be surprised, as I was occasionally, that you can be passionate about lots of different things. Don't pigeon-hole yourself and don't turn your nose up to work that needs to be done.

Network, network, network

-------------------------

Personal and professional networks are worth more to your career than knowing any particular technology. People who like you, respect you and enjoy working with you will seek you out for new opportunities. People who do not like you or have had negative experiences with you will find a way to show up when you least want them to. Always leave on good terms. Always. Stay in touch with people. Help other people find opportunities, answers, etc. even when it is of no direct benefit to you. Go to user groups, study groups, conferences and meetups. Find online communities around topics of interest and become an active participant. Cultivate social and professional networks and you will always have more opportunities than if you live in a shell or leave a scorched trail.

Learn Non-Technical Skills

--------------------------

Technology is great. I love technology, but it cannot by itself be the foundation of a good career. You need to master your craft, but you also need to learn to deal with people. You need to learn to communicate. You need to learn problem-solving skills that help you think laterally and within constrained environments. You need to understand business value and how you can affect it. Read technical content, but also read books, blogs and magazines about society, culture, psychology and business. If you understand how people work and communicate, you will be better positioned to provide them with solutions that are embraced and make a difference.

Be diligent. Be involved. Be awesome. Be bold.

--

Brian J. Sletten (br...@bosatsu.net)

GPG: http://www.bosatsu.net/gpg/brian.asc

FOAF:http://www.bosatsu.net/foaf/brian.rdf

[DaveKlein]

Hi Jared,

I posted a comment on your blog post.

To everyone else on this list: Go check out that blog post and read
the comments. There are some real gems in both!

My thanks to Jared, Matthew and all those who have shared their
stories.

Dave

PS: Only 24 days til the 2009 NJFS season kicks off!