Down But Not Out: How I'm Continuing to Serve as a Tech Lead 3 Years Unemployed
327 | Sat 03 Aug 2:25 p.m.–2:45 p.m.
Presented by
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Jordan Hewitt
@DamnGoodTek
https://damngood.tech
Jordan is a tech lead providing quality technical expertise to enterprise businesses. He was initially drawn to open source software early in 2007 with an apprenticeship at Open Source Development Labs during the same time when Linus Torvalds actively worked there. His dream is to build a thriving open business ecosystem where everyone is able to utilize their gifts and talents to improve peoples' lives. He currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with the aim to get married and raise a family.
Jordan Hewitt
@DamnGoodTek
https://damngood.tech
Abstract
When my freelancing "side gig" took off in 2020, I was finally able to quit my stop gap retail job and take on 2 to 3 clients at a time. However, I soon found around 2021 the market was shifting, and, lacking the knowledge on how it was changing, I ended up losing all my clients and starting from square one--unemployed. I hadn't built any notoriety with any major clients yet, so I was basically a nobody. I was naive early on: after all, I have 12 years software development experience--someone's bound to want me! But it became clear that it was now a cutthroat job market. After thousands of job applications, hundreds of ghostings, and many reimaginings of my brand I could have given up, but I've never stopped serving the tech community, despite not getting paid for it. In this talk, I'll share what what's working, what's not, and how the tech community can help not only me, but thousands of other highly-skilled tech workers to not only find a job, but thrive in their career.
When my freelancing "side gig" took off in 2020, I was finally able to quit my stop gap retail job and take on 2 to 3 clients at a time. However, I soon found around 2021 the market was shifting, and, lacking the knowledge on how it was changing, I ended up losing all my clients and starting from square one--unemployed. I hadn't built any notoriety with any major clients yet, so I was basically a nobody. I was naive early on: after all, I have 12 years software development experience--someone's bound to want me! But it became clear that it was now a cutthroat job market. After thousands of job applications, hundreds of ghostings, and many reimaginings of my brand I could have given up, but I've never stopped serving the tech community, despite not getting paid for it. In this talk, I'll share what what's working, what's not, and how the tech community can help not only me, but thousands of other highly-skilled tech workers to not only find a job, but thrive in their career.