| So, in short, I'm burned out. I did consulting (Web/Biz Dev) for local businesses for almost 8 years. I am guilty of sticking to a small group of clients that paid very well and completely stopped growing my business. I don't even have a website or business cards anymore. 2 months ago, I stopped doing work for them completely, the work was soul crushing. My decision now, for many reasons, is to join a company even as low as a junior front end developer or growth hacker. Reasons for starting back at junior if need be: 1. My web projects have sucked over the last 3 years, I started focusing on business development and did really well for them with that also, but they hired cheap developers and the work became completely unacceptable for a portfolio. Their expectations were too high and budget too low. I had spoilt them over the years. 2. I want to work on a team again. My first time I worked for a startup, we knocked it out the park. That role was in sales. Being on a team building products and being around people again is really intriguing to me. 3. I just turned 30 and having never finished a degree (actually finishing one online for personal reasons). I feel completely lost. I have little confidence in job hunting and feel completely off my game. I'm not used to having my career in another person's hands. Here is where I need help, but any advice or guidance would be appreciated: - How can I get a junior front end position or growth hacking position? Should I do some mock projects for a portfolio? How many, what kind? I fell out of touch with some of the modern workflows, but have been spending all my time catching up to getting back to my A game with JS and such. - Any suggestions on the type of roles that may be a good fit for me apart from what I mentioned? - How do I get in front of companies and show them that I am an excellent hire? Thanks for reading this far and I look forward to anything you guys have to offer. |
If it was flattering for 37signals (read: influential company) to see this -- http://jasonzimdars.com/svn/ it will be even more flattering for not-yet-famous-company-X to see something similar.
1. pick a company that solves a problem that's interesting to you. or who's founder said something that resonated (in a talk, interview, or essay) 2. research their founding team 3. write / build / hand-craft / hand-deliver something (website, message in a bottle, anything, things non-digital like hand-written letters are particularly effective). 4. offer or do something unsolicited (logo, find a new customer, write effective copy for a campaign) 5. don't attach a resume. just write clearly, use nice paper, and expect nothing in return.
bonus: follow up if / when you don't hear back.
There is a line between irritating and hungry. You won't always be the latter but aim for it.
Do this 2 or 3 times, to companies that aren't yet big names (look through http://angel.co), and you'll floor their founding team with your level of effort and at least land an in-person.
Don't pick the job, pick the people and the problem. You'll find sufficient motivation later.