Why don’t I strap on my job helmet and squeeze down into a job cannon and fire off into Jobland where jobs grow on jobbies!
Charlie Kelly, It’s Always Sunny In Philidelphia
I nervously walked through the doors of the digital agency, resume in hand. The job posting was for a video editor, and as such I had tailored my resume for my Video Editor experience (as I had just graduated with a Radio/Television Production degree).
The lobby was brightly lit with shiny white floors and expansive swaths of glass. It was a long way from my existing job in a warehouse office in an industrial part of Orlando, where I could see sunlight through a gap in the roof from my chair.
The woman behind the desk asked who I was here to meet. I said I was responding to a job posting by a Mr. F., and she said to wait a moment.
She called someone, made a few remarks, and then responded, “Just leave the resume with me.” I was insistent. “Is Mr. F. in? I’d love to talk to him about the resume.” “Just leave the resume with me and I’ll make sure he gets it.”
I left, dejected. I have been through that before, with the same result every time. Then my phone buzzed.
“Is this Jared Porcenaluk?”
“Yes. Is this Mr. F?”
“No, this is Mr. J”
“Oh.”
I had no idea who Mr. J was, and I had no idea why he was calling. A knot in my stomach formed. Half of me believed Mr. J was going to tell me to stay the hell out of the digital agency and to stop soliciting my resume in person like the street urchin I was.
“I see you have on your resume some web development experience.”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“Do you know Flash?”
“No.”
“Do you know C#?”
“No.”
“Are you willing to learn?”
“Yes.”
I’m sure my memory is failing me. I’m sure there was more said, but that’s all I recall. A few weeks later, I had a tiny contract to do 16 hours of front-end web development work for them with nothing but a promise that if it went well, they’d consider hiring me. The compensation was $50 per hour, a mind-boggling sum considering the $14 per hour I was being paid in my full-time job.
Leverage my ten years of software engineering experience to find a tech job that matters, get hired, and get paid what you deserve.
It’s all in my book, Handshake Protocol – the step-by-step guide to getting hired as a software engineer.
I spent more than 30 hours doing that contract, but only charged for 16. I didn’t want them to think I was incompetent. I could do the work, but maybe not as fast as they expected. I hoped it was enough.
A few weeks later, I had a proper interview and got a full-time position as Web Developer.
When I met Mr. J in person, I understood why he championed taking a chance on me. It was my hustle he respected. Although he was a software developer, not a manager, I can imagine he raised hell to get the company to give me a chance. I’m truly grateful he cracked the door open the slightest bit to allow me to get a toe through.
