Reclaiming my time

slowing down the job search

I’ve had a few new signups recently. If you’re new here, thanks for joining. If you’re not so new, thanks for staying around.

Times are intense and exhausting.

I recently decided to get serious about bringing in income and figured the most direct way to get there is probably to get a job. In a part of my effort to secure employment, I started a hashtag and support group, #100DaysOfJobSearch. It’s been great to have other people on the journey with me. One group member accepted an offer for exactly the role he was seeking (go, Juan 🎉).

I’m still in the job search, but over the past week or so I made a conscious decision to scale back the amount of time and energy I put into it. Several events led me to that decision.

1. Someone from a huge company reached out and referenced this tweet. This showed me that the possibility of doing my work on my terms is still an option. I don’t want to work for anyone. I can do great work in a great company, but the best-case scenario is to do that great work in my company.

   Nikema Prophet ❤️✨ @dev_nikema

   If under the current circumstances anyone wants to give me a budget and role where I can put my effort into creating access for underrepresented job candidates, you know where to find me. hello@nikemaprophet.com

   June 5th 2020

   19 Retweets60 Likes

2. There is now a budget set up that is for my exclusive use right now and until I reach financial stability. We have raised over $2,000 in donations. That small buffer has done wonders for my mental health and clarity.

3. My (now second) most popular tweet to date, led to several leads that allowed me to skip the application step at several companies I was already interested in. I’m in the interview process with them now.

   Nikema Prophet ❤️✨ @dev_nikema

   I will say this once and leave it alone. Tech companies, y'all are sleeping on me. I'm available to hire now and that won't always be the case. Whoever gets me is getting a great team member. Just saying.

   June 5th 2020

   361 Retweets1,424 Likes

4. I broke down in tears at the beginning of an initial interview. I was so emotionally exhausted. It was a wake up that I need to slow down.

I guess I’m doing well. Something will work out and I will not leave 2020 in the same financial condition I started it with. I have hope, I’m doing the work to make it happen.

If you’re reading and have job leads, here’s what I’m looking for:

• A full-time, salaried role in a tech company

• A community, talent acquisition, or diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI/D&I), focus

• Remote

I want to use my technical skills in service of the tech community. I’m best suited for work that can take advantage of my abilities to speak code, to see people, and connect them to resources.

If this interview cycle doesn’t yield offers, I’m moving away from applying to engineering roles. I have a strong voice and more of an audience daily. I have things to say that tech needs to hear and I don’t feel like being an engineer is the best way to share my gifts and unique perspective.

Also, the engineering interview process is wack. It’s awful.

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On another note, in an earlier email, I mentioned that I was drinking alcohol every day and decided to stop. I’m happy to tell you that’s exactly what I did. I haven’t had a drink since.

A side-effect of not drinking is that the pain I’ve been in for all this time moved to the forefront. I was using alcohol to self-medicate and dull my pain. I’m sure stopping contributed to that breakdown I had in an interview. On top of everything else that’s happening in the world, I’m in pain daily. It’s too much to deal with.

Once I have a job or steady income, I can make some of these problems go away or at least lessen them. Wish me luck.

Nikema ❤️