So, in short, I'm burned out. I did consulting (Web/Biz Dev) for local businesses for almost 8 years.<p>I am guilty of sticking to a small group of clients that paid very well and completely stopped growing my business. I don't even have a website or business cards anymore. 2 months ago, I stopped doing work for them completely, the work was soul crushing.<p>My decision now, for many reasons, is to join a company even as low as a junior front end developer or growth hacker. Reasons for starting back at junior if need be:<p>1. My web projects have sucked over the last 3 years, I started focusing on business development and did really well for them with that also, but they hired cheap developers and the work became completely unacceptable for a portfolio. Their expectations were too high and budget too low. I had spoilt them over the years.<p>2. I want to work on a team again. My first time I worked for a startup, we knocked it out the park. That role was in sales. Being on a team building products and being around people again is really intriguing to me.<p>3. I just turned 30 and having never finished a degree (actually finishing one online for personal reasons). I feel completely lost. I have little confidence in job hunting and feel completely off my game. I'm not used to having my career in another person's hands.<p>Here is where I need help, but any advice or guidance would be appreciated:<p>- How can I get a junior front end position or growth hacking position? Should I do some mock projects for a portfolio? How many, what kind? I fell out of touch with some of the modern workflows, but have been spending all my time catching up to getting back to my A game with JS and such.<p>- Any suggestions on the type of roles that may be a good fit for me apart from what I mentioned?<p>- How do I get in front of companies and show them that I am an excellent hire?<p>Thanks for reading this far and I look forward to anything you guys have to offer.
>How do I get in front of companies and show them that I am an excellent hire.<p>If it was flattering for 37signals (read: influential company) to see this -- <a href="http://jasonzimdars.com/svn/" rel="nofollow">http://jasonzimdars.com/svn/</a> it will be even more flattering for not-yet-famous-company-X to see something similar.<p>1. pick a company that solves a problem that's interesting to you. or who's founder said something that resonated (in a talk, interview, or essay)
2. research their founding team
3. write / build / hand-craft / hand-deliver something (website, message in a bottle, anything, things non-digital like hand-written letters are particularly effective).
4. offer or do something unsolicited (logo, find a new customer, write effective copy for a campaign)
5. don't attach a resume. just write clearly, use nice paper, and expect nothing in return.<p>bonus: follow up if / when you don't hear back.<p>There is a line between irritating and hungry. You won't always be the latter but aim for it.<p>Do this 2 or 3 times, to companies that aren't yet big names (look through <a href="http://angel.co" rel="nofollow">http://angel.co</a>), and you'll floor their founding team with your level of effort and at least land an in-person.<p>Don't pick the job, pick the people and the problem. You'll find sufficient motivation later.
Get in front of companies by:<p>1) Tapping the network you likely have
2) Go to events like Meetups. Make yourself visible.
3) Might want to build that website and portfolio so you can show what you did. Sounds like it should be easy for you to throw together
4) Start applying to jobs. There are tons of positions for people with your skills. I'm sure you can make it happen. If you want to do front end then do that. If you want to be a growth hacker then you'll probably get in even more easily.
Hi Rich,<p>Look around for the kind of company you want to work for. Explore outfits mentioned on HN, but also on sites like TechCrunch.<p>When you find a few, explore their tech stacks and see if any interest you. You don't need to be an expert in the technology, but you need to like it.<p>Can you visualize a kind of dream role there? It's great that you're ok to start over (I love starting over, like re-learning French or re-reading my ancient copy of K&R).<p>Look for best practice in CV's - google them and see what makes sense and what doesn't. Revise your CV so it's better. Apply lots, fail lots, take the agile approach to job hunting. Don't get disheartened when you don't get the one you really want, you WILL get there!<p>Cheers,
Andrew.
After being on your own for 8 years, do you really want to leave your career in another person's hand? The corporate jobs really aren't as safe as 8~10 years ago. People get laid off all the time from their corporate jobs.<p>I hope that it gives you comfort in knowing the corporate people have a lot of fear going the other direction, too.<p>You survived on your own for 8 years, that should give you a lot of confidence. You have done Bus Dev, you can sell yourself in a job hunt; you have learned web development w/o a college degree, you can learn JS and PHP - the languages and DEV platform are getting easier and easier.
You seem to be inherently motivated. As noted you have transferrable skills that are desirable, and an ability to showcase them. So do so. If this is where your passion lies, all the better.<p>Read up: Quora.com
Study up: Khanacademy.org<p>Any potential workplace you meet with will glean far more from your enthusiasm and expertise of a topic than most degrees.<p>Hire character, train skill.<p>Lastly you have to consider relocation as part of the equation. Got to go where the work is. This may lead to a step back in lifestyle, but is just part of the ride...
My job hunt feels like an episode of Seinfeld:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBn8XttrSew" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBn8XttrSew</a><p>And my Hail Mary if all fails:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zpOVmhkEaQ" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zpOVmhkEaQ</a>