Where the Hell I Have Been All Year, Part II
by Scott Hardie on August 13, 2006
I have a job! It sounds silly to keep that a secret, and yet I did for two years. I was fearful of being dooced for the slightest remark, since nearly anything can be interpreted as inappropriate with enough reasoning. But, it became dishonest not to discuss the subject, since it's a huge part of my life. I still won't say anything negative (or specific), but that should be easy; I love my job and have no complaints. By my refusing to write about it for two years, all you've missed is my gushing about how great it is. If you want to read a few paragraphs of gushing, by all means keep reading.
How blessed I am to have this job, to have come from so little hope to such great heights. When I got out of college with an English degree and zero ideas what to do with it, I bounced around for two years between lousy odd jobs like insurance salesman and fast-food shift supervisor. It was depressing, because even though the jobs were meager, I'd still fail at them, and it looked bleak. This site, in fact, is what got me through it: By teaching myself php and having fun expanding this little enterprise, I kept my wits for two years, and inadvertantly taught myself job skills. I had enjoyed working on web sites for a long time, but I never thought my html talents were sufficient for gainful employment – and when I learned php and looked at how professional my little site had become, I finally had the confidence to go after web jobs. And within four weeks of trying it, I had one, in May 2004. I wish I'd tried a lot sooner. (Lesson learned: That old cliché about how dreams come true if you go after them? It's true.)
The job required an immediate move to Sarasota, which I wanted to do anyway to be closer to my mom, but otherwise it was a no-brainer: A successful publishing firm with a fun atmosphere, where I would help them build sites with php and mysql, using more or less the same methods I already practiced for fun on my own site. Who wouldn't want to get paid a great salary to do all day what they already do all day? I'm the Office Space high school guidance counselor story come to life. And, by working with other web developers, I would enhance my own talents; I learned more about code on the first day than in an entire year of my own toying around. It was occasionally difficult work with occasionally long hours, but doing it induced such euphoria that I thought I'd gone to heaven. I remember still being there at 8pm on a Friday and being told I was the last one left in the office and not wanting to leave yet because I was having too much fun.
Gradually, my career took off. We didn't have a distinct team for maintaining sites back then, but I'd have been hired into it when I started, the junior developer with no professional experience. What I lacked (and still lack) in technical skill, I made up for in quality standards. That seemingly useless English degree had made me an obsessive proofer who didn't like even a single comma out of place, and going the extra mile helped me get ahead. Before long, I was lead developer on big projects, accounts with hundreds of thousands invested in the sites, and the work was earning Webbys and Addys. Best of all, I really loved the work, and the people I worked with. We had a great time, a bunch of amateur stand-up comics every day.
As lead developer, I got to assign different people to different tasks, and evaluate how their skills and experience helped them work better in different ways, and I'd like to believe that I helped them enjoy the work more by giving them tasks that were just challenging enough for each. I made it clear I was interested in management, and in October 2005, I got that chance: The department manager had too much work and needed someone to supervise day-to-day operations, and I became the web production coordinator – little actual authority, but the chance to do what I loved every day and make things better for the department and the company. It came at the cost of my free time, especially during the first few months when going home at 10pm became normal, but gradually I developed systems for delegating tasks and being efficient, and I was able to work the same hours as everyone else without missing a beat.
As of two days ago, my ten-month term as coordinator came to an end: I've been promoted to web development manager, which is the same thing except it's officially my department now. I hire and fire my own people; I run the budget; I call the shots. It's a bit scary to be responsible if there's a major incident, but I'm excited to keep improving production for the better, and through it all I absolutely love what I do and who I work with. My growing staff includes six developers, an animator, a content administrator, and a server administrator. The hours can still be long sometimes and there's stress, but I couldn't imagine loving anything else this much. When I vanish from this site for a few days because I'm busy working, know that I'm having the time of my life doing it.
Five Replies to Where the Hell I Have Been All Year, Part II
Denise Sawicki | August 14, 2006
Scott, that's great! I'm jealous too. I wish I liked *something* that much.
Aaron Shurtleff | August 14, 2006
What? You have a job?! Get out of town! ;)
Seriously, it's awesome to have a job where you can do what you love every day and get paid for it! It doesn't stop all of your friends from missing you, but we all understand (and, really, I think we did before too...now we better understand).
Jackie Mason | August 16, 2006
[hidden by author request]
Scott Hardie | August 16, 2006
Thank you all. I count my blessings the best I can. And if this post gushed too much about how great the job is (or how good I am at it, sheesh), I meant it.
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
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Amy Austin | August 13, 2006
That's great, Scott! I'm really happy for (and envious of!) you... it's terrific when you get to follow your "calling" and not just work a "job" -- lucky you!
Now... what about the other secret -- is that a moot point now, or am I in trouble for even hinting at it? :-)