Originally Posted by WinchesterAA

Hey, Robot_Parade, regarding your statement to be prepared to have a good explanation for gaps in employment history --

Assume I want to be a developer, perhaps for a kickass video game company or whatever programmer heaven looks like, or perhaps I want to be part of a research and development firm that explores different ways of doing something, in order to find the best way to do that thing.

I've had 3 different types of jobs in the 5 years of my total work history.

Pizza delivery for a year, off 6 months, pizza delivery for 6 months, off 6 months, pizza delivery for 6 months, off 6 months, cable technician for a year, off for a year.

Although, in every case, 80(+/- 5)% of the time off has been dedicated to brute force self-education combined with institutional learning, and the rest for anything else (including free time, time with the girl, and time to fix things that aren't in-line with the education or business.)

Starting at the end of the cable tech business was my independent business of running cable, phone, and internet lines, and soon to be expanded to residential technical services ranging from system building, repair, and modification to disinfecting, backing up, and restoring systems currently in place, personal customizations, etc. (really, my style is built to allow the customer to add more tasks to the order, including tasks that are mostly unrelated to the original task. -- I get more market share that way, the customer views me as something of a golden goose, and I can handle that position. < -- that being the main one)

Also, on top of that I just had the fortune of meeting a good friend who needed a database, and I've since embarked on a new line of work involving databases and politics. I've already made a few friends, and future business opportunities should be available as soon as I've come up with the proposals, and adequately prepared for follow-through.


How does my personal way of doing business look to an employer? Obviously it expresses a lack of focus on anything specific, but I counter that argument with a broader focus involving acceptance that not everything is a great idea, and some things, though great ideas they may be, don't need to be done by me forever. In this way, I do many things very well, but in small doses at a time to minimize the effects of absolute failure and/or burn-out.

I would describe it as "trickle-charging" my experience in a controlled environment.

I don't know that I'll ever apply for another "job" type of job, wherein my duties are explicitly outlined, and payments based on formal conditions. I do pretty well when entirely separated from that model. I am curious, however, what it would be like in the event that I did apply for a job I really wanted.

"So you say you pretty much said fuck the normal way, and set off on an ad-hoc quest for financial stability? Why'd you come here, then?"

Shit, I want the job!