Thanks for the "link" ;-)
On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 12:31 PM, ben lipkowitz <fenn@sdf.lonestar.org> wrote:
> "In short, synthetic serendipity doesn't just happen. You must create it."
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On Wed, 26 Mar 2008, Simón Ruiz wrote:
> FWIW, I got where I am by pursuing my own interests both on and off
> the job, and by doing it in the open source community I left an open
> "paper trail" (blogs, mailing lists, published stuff) that my current
> employer was able to use to assess my aptitude in lieu of a
> certification. (Though I'm now pursuing my LPI cert.)
>
> A year ago I was working as bottom-rung tech support at a high school,
> but I'd gotten a chance to work with Linux and I loved that; it
> scratched an intellectual itch I hadn't been able to scratch in a very
> long time. I scratched and scratched that itch.
>
> Scratching that itch plugged me into all kinds of different
> communities revolving around my interests and passions. The
> announcement that this position was opening up landed in my Inbox, and
> it practically had my name on it.
>
> The opportunity came to me, and I was ready to recognize it and take
> it, because I'd pursued my own genuine interests. I'd woven a web (no
> pun intended) and eventually something landed on it.
>
> I will gladly acknowledge that there was a heavy element of
> chance/luck/synchronicity; I definitely feel blessed/lucky. I'm still
> sort of in awe at how the stars aligned right when I was ready for
> them to.
>
> I would be selling myself short, though, if I didn't acknowledge all
> the work that I put in to be in the right place at the right time,
> even though I wasn't doing that work with this outcome in mind. (I
> don't think I would have put that much effort into it if I had been
> doing it just to get a job, to be honest.)
>
> Simón
>
> P.S. I did have to be open to moving away from Bloomington—not
> something I'd wanted, or have totally gotten over yet—to be open for
> the opportunity I took. The Bloomington job market is pretty brutal.
>
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