Grinding Out in the Grindless
I think just about anyone that has pivoted to the tech industry can relate to the ambiguous stretch of void in between declaring the pivot and landing a job in tech.
My story is probably much like yours if you also graduated from a bootcamp. I lost my job in May partially due to COVID-19, but also some personal factors. The sum of those factors prompted a move back East; from Sacramento to North Myrtle Beach. Arriving in the summer was perfect; the waves and warmth restored my soul in a way that only the beauty of nature can.
In March of 2020, when I sensed my job was in deep danger, I started thinking of alternatives. I’ve always loved computers and been good at them. I’ve always had a passion for languages. I’ve had a stint of graphic design and site management, which I always enjoyed and so I made the decision to pivot to software engineering, a field that saw growth amid the pandemic and lockdowns; and one that generally pays well to boot!
I joined a General Assembly cohort in September. It gave my life some much needed definition as I was struggling to answer basic questions again like, who am I outside of my work? I found a good group of folks and we formed a small community. Now 3,000 miles from the life I knew, these were my only peeps.
We grinded out the cohort together. We helped each other early mornings, late nights, cracked jokes about life and circumstances. I have a feeling that I wasn’t the only one in the group on hard times.
As the end neared, we made the blood pact to stay together. “Bruno stans only” is still the description of our Slack workspace. We determined that this study group would never die (to date, it hasn’t!).
Enter the Finale.
All projects finished. All criteria met. No more structure. No more class. Now, not only the arrays were destructured (ES6 pun), but so was out time.
We know we need jobs. We know we have to send out resumes like Sting sent out S.O.S.’s to the world. We know that referrals account for ~85% of hiring decisions — which translates into the need to network. We know we have to keep our hands coding and building. We’ve each heard from senior devs we’ve talked to that outside of professional experience, projects are the next in importance.
But also, we’re tired. A quick message to Slack about how exhausted I’ve been for the past two weeks was instantly met with “SAME” and “YES” emojis (that we created).
We know we need to grind. But in reality, there’s no grind to be ground. The only goal is to get hired; yet, that’s not really up to us. We know what we know. We’ve been in the field less than a year. Most people aren’t clamoring to get us on their team (though I am thoroughly convinced they’d be happy if they did).
For my part, I log about 30–40 hours per week networking, applying, studying, reading, building things I know to stay sharp and building new things to continue to learn (that’s another point of contention — everyone has their own theory on what is important to learn next.js…crap, I mean next. Just next. So what is important?).
Between the ambiguity, time crushing my stress at the gym, WoW Shadowlands, my dog, my excitement to build apps and websites, my excitement to learn…there’s a lot vying for my attention. It’s a time to grind in a timeframe that is grindless by nature; and this week, I’m tired.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, remember that research shows that grit was the greatest single factor that determined achievement (Angela Duckworth in Grit). Not talent, not current skill-level; but hard work. Hard work under pressure. Hard work under less than amiable circumstances. Hard work that was relentless despite pressure. So be gritty.
Trust the process. If you keep grinding in the grindless, if you keep being gritty, you will achieve your goal; it’s science! Know yer facts (reference to @nickydoobs Florida Girl impression).
