For day 41, I started my path to finding a job by beginning my resume.
Discomforts:
- Selling myself
- Effort
- Time
- Change
- Researching
Thoughts On My Resume
As a self taught developer, I’m going to need to take a different approach to my resume.
Putting myself in a recruiters shoes, what would I want to see in a resume? I’d want to know that interviewing this candidate is a good use of time. I’d want to see they are capable both technically and emotionally.
How much risk to take in my resume? Part of me says, go all in. For example, why don’t people put pictures on resumes? I want to. So I might. Even though it’s not recommended.
I read this thread for inspiration: What should a self-taught/no experience programmer’s resume look like?
What Did I Learn
I normally would procrastinate to avoid a small discomfort like this. My job hunt officially starts on October 27th. But I’m getting ready 23 days in advanced. Do I need to? No. But preparation helps keep me relaxed and confident.
Discomfort is interesting, because the math of it is bizarre. If you do something slightly uncomfortable now, you lower your net discomfort later. People tend to increase their net discomfort by avoiding discomfort. The comfort-discomfort spectrum is a special kind of dance.
Reflection On Discomfort
I heard about a Rabbi that did a sermon about global climate change. In response to the sermon, a synagogue member asked the Rabbi if the synagogue could take initiative locally. The rabbi didn’t know what they could do.
So the member went to the synagogue administrator and asked if the administration knew anything about landscaper’s treatments on the big grass synagogue lawn. The administrator was uncomfortable questioning the landscaper about his practices, afraid to offend him. Still, she reluctantly contacted him .
The landscaper responded, saying eco friendly weed killers don’t work to he uses harsh chemicals. The administration didn’t want weeds nor to offend the landscaper. So the synagogue continued using the harsh weed killer and the Rabbi continued to give sermons about the environment.
This story was fascinating to me. Even though the synagogue stood by one virtue, the tricky dynamics of discomfort stopped them from following through. Let’s look at exactly how. The synagogue didn’t take action because they felt uncomfortable asserting their goals to the landscaper.
What did the synagogue feel comfortable doing? Talking. Virtue signaling. That’s what gets you praise.
On the other hand, action gets people offended. Action hurts the landscapers feeling. Action makes you uncomfortable because you have to hurt the landscapers feelings. But action is real. Talk is: fake, pretending, blaming.