This image demonstrates the major categories of thinking desired by business and recommended by business management research and analysis:
I offer all four across both diverse domains and specifically in technology; application and systems software analysis, design, development, and delivery and still I’ve been out of work since 2017.
It is maddening. I cannot access the degrees that this world demands to ‘believe’ you’re good at something, even though I have thirty years, a portfolio of samples from 1999 to roughly 2011 (before the NDA work largely put an end to portfolio demonstrations).
No one is interested. Over 5,000 resumes submitted since 2017. 97% ghosted, 3% auto-rejections.
It’s frustrated me so badly that I fear I react poorly when some billionaire takes to bemoaning company inability to secure talented workers (because it is clearly a narrative in denial of certain aspects of reality), as demonstrated on the Bluesky interaction on the right.
Needless to say, Branson did not reply. (Status quo)
And so it goes. The unreasonable expectations of billionaires, the terminally out of touch, and of course, the delusional belief that humans are eager to be exploited and undervalued shows no sign of abating.
Not that such interactions are likely to help me find work. Yet I cannot help but point out that the majority of all ‘employment woes’ on the part of corporations exists because they utterly refuse to grant workers the same consideration as themselves. A wholly usual thing, exploitative depredation in western, capitalist cultures, economies, and societies.
Personally, I keep track of what my skills are worth in the marketplace and unlike most, I don’t assume I am necessarily and always ‘worth the most’ because there are concessions that an employer must make to attract and keep me.
First and foremost, I have to work remote because I manage multiple, chronic illnesses, and just cannot manage the commute and related cultural asks around neurotypical behaviors.
Yes, I would require certain accommodation even working remotely, as I am also an autistic human with rather severe sensitivities to light, sound, temperature, and barometric pressure. I would also need to retain the choice of being ‘on camera’ or not during my work day as, depending on how sensory things are going, I may or may not need to stim to manage myself, and I prefer not to be on camera for it as business culture highly stigmatizes these behaviors and I prefer not to open myself to direct bias and attacks in the workplace.
All that said, and at risk of sounding either arrogant or narcissistic, I am damn good at what I do. I have at least three people willing to attest. I have an old portfolio that’s 6” tall in D-Ring binder and of which people have said things like, “I have never seen such pristine documentation in my life” and “As a developer, she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” I also have the unsolicited recommendations I received when I was laid off from WoTC (before LinkedIn cannibalized them and I left the platform).
My insistence upon my excellence is not hyperbole. I can, do, and will continue to dare a company to give me a chance and find out for themselves.
But no, I am no longer begging to work. If these companies are unable or unwilling to recognize my value and act upon it, I’m dodging a bullet and, frankly, even at economic risk, I’m always going to be OK with that. I’m done with being under-valued, under-paid, and over-stressed.
If you want someone who can do the work of four in the time it takes most to settle in before their lunch hour each day, reach out.
If you want someone who can bring you over thirty years of methods, models, and perspectives while also showing you how to crib the pieces that are consistently helpful and leave the rest behind, we should talk.
Or not… keep proving the accuracy of my current disappointment and judgment of the quality of work opportunities… and the companies who ignorantly continue to insist upon a perfection and a devotion they have never successfully offered in exchange.