So, I am at a cross-roads in my career. Due to some recent circumstances, I will be looking for a new employer effective February 1st, 2014 (my last day with my current employer will be Jan 31). So I will be available for hire in the near future!
The Dilemma
I am facing a dilemma on what I want to do. On what my ideal role would be. Here are a few things that I’ve been thinking about, grouped by “title” (that I feel that I would be qualified for):
Director Of Development - Building and leading a medium scale team (15-50 people).
Leadership is something that I have received a lot of satisfaction from in my current position. Having the ability to grow a team, and grow the members of the team has really been an incredible experience.
Developer Advocate - Representing a company and/or product to the greater community.
It should be no surprise that I like speaking. It should also be no surprise that I enjoy interacting with the community. Being able to do both for a living, would be quite interesting.
Teacher - Teaching development and development concepts professionally.
I definitely enjoy teaching. I like to think that I'm reasonably good at it.
Those are the typical roles that I’ve been thinking about. The dilemma that I’ve been having is that none of them sounds completely fulfilling. And I’m not sure how to make an ideal role that would also be worthwhile for a company…
As you’ve likely noticed, none of those roles involves a ton of coding. That is intentional. I want to move away from production code responsibilities, so I can focus on enabling others. I like solving problems more than I like writing code. And the bigger problems are the interesting ones to me…
The One Requirement
The one thing that I absolutely require is the ability for me to keep being myself here. The number of conferences that I am able to attend may (and likely will) change. The opportunity for me to contribute may change. But I will not accept a position which will prevent me from continuing to interact with this community.
The Other Requirement
The other requirement that I have is that I am only going to consider a New York based role. Relocating is out of the question (for personal reasons). And while I fully support remote workers, I cannot work remotely. It’s not in my DNA. I have tried it, and it’s just not for me (long term at least).
My Call To You
What do you think I should do? Do you have any ideas on roles that would be interesting? Have any advice? Please leave a comment below!
Do you know of any interesting companies that are looking for a role that you think I’d be suited for? Do you want to hire me? Shoot me an email (me@ircmaxell.com).
And above all, thank you for everything.