It feels so good to be writing again!
I am back, and I am happy to be back. Let me review what I've been doing for the past year!
From my last post until December of 2020 I was happily mentoring students who were going through a coding boot camp. I would oftentimes show them the benefits of how knowing how to program; I guess you could call me an over-glorified tutor. This was a full-time job that helped me support my family better than any job I've ever had in the past so I am extremely grateful for the opportunity presented to me by my previous employer, however, I was just laid off in January - causing my 2021 to shake a lot harder than my 2020 did.
In November of 2020, I picked up a contract-to-hire role with a mobile-ordering company, which was huge for me. I thought to myself "I did it! I finally landed a role as a Software Developer!". I was over joyous because I just wanted the opportunity to write clean code for a cool company to build a career. This contract was supposed to end in January, and afterward, I would find out whether or not they wanted to hire me.
January 2021 came, I had no full-time job and I had no answer about being hired on by the company contracting me. My days became more and more hopeless. I have no job security, no options for failure due to raising a child, and no one I can rely on if my career decides to crash and burn. I took 2 weeks to reflect.
During that time for reflection, I thought to myself, "How can I redirect the trajectory of my energy?". Honestly, I had and have no idea how to do that but I decided to dive headfirst into my contract position. Thanks to my ability to work and work hard, the company I am contracted with is making big pushes for me to become a full-time part of the team. I am lucky enough to still be on a contract with them so I am not struggling completely but I do miss the feeling of having a job. I am still not full-time or an employee of a company for reasons I can't speak of but I am still trying my best to be a great contractor.
I am still pursuing employment, and have had a total of 4 interviews since losing my job. I've made it past the first round in 3 of my interviews so I am looking forward to what comes to fruition from those employers. One of these employers decided to not choose me for the role.
Current Learning Challenges
I've challenged myself to become an adequate Python developer. In my hometown - Fresno, CA we have many positions for Python developers and a huge local community surrounding the language. I've also seen firsthand through my contract how versatile the language can be. I've given up the whole idea that developers need to stick with just one programming language. This was a toxic idea given to me by prior mentors.
I am starting to carve my own path, create my own challenges, build my own opportunities and own up to my failures. I hope you decide to stick with me on my journey, and if you've got connections - help me with finding my next role. I am also always open to working on projects with others if you have a project with issues that need to be worked on. I am huge on the community, so if you've got a group of like-minded people that have healthy conversations about the industry I would love to join in!
The Bottom Line
If you're reading this, let's chat!