A bit of validation

Yesterday I had a face-to-face chat about the potential for some future freelance work, and I left feeling excited, energised and validated about the skills and experience I have and how I'm positioning myself.

After months of applying for roles, having initial phone calls, the classic "unfortunately" emails, or more commonly just hearing nothing back at all. The chance to meet with somebody and have a conversation that allowed me to demonstrate the value I can offer and passion I have was refreshing.

Finding a new job is hard, there are a lot of people applying for roles, a lot of talented people. The job adverts themselves often list a LOT of fancy skills with "x" years experience in "x" tool. But I just feel that places are missing out on a lot of great people with sifting out techniques. But also understand that they want people who can get up to speed quickly and such.

I've always been a strong advocate of the view that many of these skills listed are actually just tools "React, Vue, TypeScript, GraphQL" that will either eventually go away, or can be taught and picked up by people with strong understanding of the fundamentals.

Anyway, this half-rant post, was just something for me to look back on and remind myself that when it feels like you don't belong in the industry, your skills are valuable and important to people. One conversation can go a long way.