After wrapping up a contract earlier in the year, I wrote a post about how I looked for a future job. Now it’s around about the time that that job is wrapping up. So why not write another post about this hunt? Maybe there are some things that are different.
Last time I pitched myself as a “mercenary developer wizard”. While I enjoy developing code, nothing brings more joy than developing people. Running the Culture Amp JEP was some of the most fun-at-work I’ve had. I would love to do that stuff again. So I’ve been pitching myself this time as someone who would rather be developing people, than developing code. I could definitely do both!
The appetite for this sort of work has been incredibly lacking. It appears from my perspective that more companies are still more interested in hiring senior “mercenary developer wizards” who can “crush code”, than training up any developers at all.
I’ve been banging the drum around hiring juniors for almost a decade. For the status quo to remain the same for this time is disheartening. Perhaps the developer drought is not severe enough for companies to act. The impetus is not strong enough. Despite all these companies being so ravenously thirsty for senior developers.
I dearly, desperately want a job where I am not just somebody who can crush code, but someone who gets to work with other people to improve their skills. That’s my jam. That’s where I get the joy.
But, fine. Okay. That job doesn’t (seemingly) exist.
I need to be real.
So I’ll just go and pick up a senior dev role at some shop somewhere, “crush code” and earn a paycheck so I can pay my mortgage.
I’m disheartened by the current outcomes from the current iteration of the job hunting process, but things have changed before and might change again.
Always the next step.