Professional Pursuits

So my previous employer contacted me about doing some programming for them and it got me started thinking I should get my act together and find some paying work again. I'm working on a contract for them, but in the meantime, I'm also putting together my resume, polishing my interviewing skills (my are they poor!), and determining exactly what direction I want to go. I'm going to try to write a little bit about this process here so that I can continue to focus on it and potentially get some feedback from others out there. (Yeah, like anyone really reads my blog...)

We moved out West for my husband's job, the tech-industry and because we wanted a bit of a change and a better local economy. It sure is expensive out here, though. It has taken me awhile to put my life together out here - especially with a trip back home, a couple trips to visit my sister, and the holidays - but now we have all of our furniture in place, a baby-sitter watching the baby so I can do some work uninterrupted, and no guests or trips on the horizon until the end of April.

Back in the Midwest I had a comfortable job working in the auto industry. I thought I would have it for a year, perhaps two at the most. Those PhDs do take much longer than initially anticipated and it was nearly 4.5 years when we finally were ready to move. I probably should have looked for another opportunity that would better utilize the skills I learned while getting my degrees, but I did have a lot of responsibility, periodic bursts of customer contact, project and people management experiences, and contributions to one major and several minor software development projects. The trouble is that I don't want to do what I did at my previous job, so I need to convince a potential new employer that they should give me a try at something new. In my next few posts, I'll outline what this "new" is about, how I propose to achieve it, and then my progress towards that goal. Wish me luck!