Reflections, feelings and job search

Hello!

Another week of the job search. A few more preliminary interviews and now a few rejections as well. The latter was bound to happen, as this is, in part, a game of probabilities.

Even though you could say that, by now, I should be accustomed to the process, some rejections still hurt and some are frustrating.

The ones that hurt are mainly the ones in which I have high expectations of, when the company, the role or what they preach seem to align with my vision. The ego's hurt as that company that seems to be a great opportunity, and in which I could contribute tons, doesn't think the same. The feeling of inadequacy is there, but also there's a counter feeling that tells me that I'm not only good enough, but great.

The frustrating ones happen when the feedback for not moving forward is ridiculous.

Deep down, the frustration comes from not being able to maximise the opportunity to put me in a better light, to “sell” myself. A thirty-minute call is like an elevator pitch or speed dating. The fact is that in those thirty minutes what they perceived of me was not at all what I am, what I can be or the skills I bring to the table—or another possibility, that my perception is wrong. While some of that is on the hiring process, there's also room to improve from my side.

Luckily, while the frustration and hurt ego are there, they don't last long. Maybe a few minutes or hours, while I rant loudly to the air until I'm satisfied, as if I were one of those people that scream at the TV. How I handle the stress, the “setbacks” and the emotions that come with all of it have changed over time, for the better. Success in this area is how quickly I can get over it, learn from it, adapt to it, and keep moving forward, all of that in a healthy manner. Probably, a younger me would've taken it harder, feeling blue for a few days or even weeks, getting into less than healthy habits and spending many weeks going back to a good routine.

If there's one thing I realize looking for a job and having worked in a few companies already, is how much better things could be in many ways. To the point that I want to keep working on becoming a “solopreneur” and on the idea of creating a company in the future. Of course, it might be the naïveté talking, I know nothing about being a founder or running a company and there are many things to learn, experiences to have. But I feel strongly that we could do better and more importantly, we could do it deliberately, consciously, with care and humanity, regardless of where we end.

This week’s briefer:

• Why can't we all just get along?

• From Async Code Reviews to Co-Creation Patterns

• Co-Evolutionary Design