Dream jobs

I have been low-key job hunting since May 2023. Things were getting tough with our store, and my initial hope was that I would be able to get a full-time position somewhere and turn over day-to-day handling of the store to a manager. I should be able to earn way more as a software engineer than I could have hoped to through the store.

The first job I applied for was with Automattic. They don’t seem to advertise specific software engineering roles these days, but just have a general application for that department. I figured with my PHP and MySQL experience, I’d at least start to progress through their hiring process. I never heard back. I even reached out to Matt since he had commented on my blog post about when blo.gs ended up in their hands. I never heard back.

I kept looking. About a month later, I applied for a job with Canonical (makers of Ubuntu Linux). The specific role probably wasn’t a great fit for me, but I figured I would at least get on their radar as someone with a lot of open source experience that was looking for work. I got a form rejection the next day.

And then we started the process of closing the store, and my job hunting became more of a full-time endeavor.

Always I will mentally try on the job for size and temporarily fall in love or at least get comfortable with the idea.

Working for ProPublica or The Getty Foundation would be amazing.

Work for Convoso? Sure, I can make that work.

Amazon? Facebook? TikTok? Why not?

I applied to be the Director, AI and Emerging Technologies at the LA Clippers. Why not?

“Our recruiting staff will review submissions and will contact only those candidates who meet our job specific requirements.”

“If your application seems like a good fit for the position, we'll contact you soon.”

“After review, if your application seems like a good fit for the position, we will contact you to set up an interview.”

It is a frustrating process full of silence with a small sprinkling of rejection.

I have had one interview with a recruiter which led to a quick “After much consideration, we've made the decision to not move forward at this time.” (For Centerfield, working on web properties like TheSeniorList.com. It was a hybrid position that would have required going to an office a couple of times a week. Why not?)

The store is closed now, and I spend even more time searching and applying. Mentally trying on the jobs for size.

Some of the jobs seem like a great fit — a dream job.

Some of them seem like they would fit just fine — also a dream job.