…I haven’t mentioned much about it aside from a few stray posts on the Forum: I got a new job. After working at a bakery, a telemarketing firm, a summer camp, Ponderosa, and the Great Adirondack Soup Company, I have finally landed a “real” job. The whole story is kind of serendipitous really.

While working at the soup shop it came to my attention that my current financial status was insufficient to support my chosen lifestyle (i.e. marriage). So I began to look for a full-time job. I spent many hours at the Department of Labor pouring over job postings. I even interviewed for a data entry job at a warehouse. The searches were fruitless and the bank account was sad. I decided to supplant my income with some freelance webwork. Heck, I figured, my crappy site works better than a lot of the sites people pay for. I could do a better job and charge less. So, I snagged a few clients and started spending my waking hours creating websites. It wasn’t immediately profitable but it was more fun and rewarding than any job I had had before (with the exception of being a Haven counselor at the summer camp, that was untoppable).

I started praying a lot about what I should be doing with my life. College was a bust. I had had a very unremarkable year. I was passionate about web design so, with some encouragement from my beautiful wife, and a leading from the spirit, I quit my job at the soup shop and became a freelance web-developer. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. I hadn’t been jobless for almost four years. Even the longest vacations don’t compare to knowing that you don’t have to go into work, EVER. The fascination with my new lifestyle quickly turned to concern for my credit rating. However, God in His infinite incomprehensibleness saw fit to send me manna in the form of a tip.

My good friend, Scott, a former bandmate from my Feed the Fish days, told me about a job opening at a local community college. I read the job posting. Words like “Web Coordinator,” “Salary” and “Benefits” really stuck with me and I began to craft my first resume. As I was doing this other words made themselves more clear: “ASP.net, SQL Server, Application Development Lifecycle.” Daunting words to say the least. No matter. I had mastered the intricacies of QBasic many years before. The technologies would bow to me as well.

When I got a call back for a phone interview I almost wet myself, then, I spent five and a half hours at Borders reading “Visual Studio.net 6 in 1 Desk Reference for Dummies” cover-to-cover. I totally blew the phone interview, horrible first impression. But, I got a call back for an in-person interview. this went far better and I learned a lot more about my job and the people I would be working with. A few long days later and I was a new hire.

I have an office near the coffee machine, two computers, and a bookshelf with my Master Chief figures. What more could a guy want? Oh, also I’m learning all about .NET and how to make really good websites and I get to talk to people about how cool the web is and how they can use it to make their jobs easier. Basically, it’s what I wanted to do when I was ten but now I’ve got state funding. ;)

In the past I haven’t really mentioned my job much on here. However, now that my job is the Interweb I don’t think it would be inappropriate to discuss some of my observations, particularly about the transition from a grease-collar job to an IT guy in a professional setting. It’s a big shift!

The moral of this story is to always trust God. He knows what’s best for you. Don’t be discouraged by bad circumstances. Smile, be still, and know that He’s in control. :)

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