I know I was supposed to be posting more but things have been slightly crazy around here. Now that things are calming down a little I can start writing more to get you up to speed to where I am currently. So buckle up because this is one heck of a ride.

I left you wondering if I was going into panic mode or if I was going to be okay in my last post. Well, when the new year had started, I was still buttoning up some paper work for JSWebb Development LLC. I was fortunate enough to find a small business course that ran for a week in Oswego, NY. I attended the course which gave me some great information on what things I could and could not do as a small business owner. It was a great experience for me and I recommend anyone looking to start their own business or a small business attend a course if there is one in the area where you reside.

After having gone through the small business course, I was spending my days scouring over job postings and making sure that my resume would at the very least get me an interview or two. I was still recording episodes for my podcast and trying to take on more tasks for it.

I must have looked at hundreds of job postings. I would see one that would interest me and when I would get to the point of what they wanted for qualifications I would become defeated. Almost every job posting I looked at would want three or four things that I didn’t have experience with so I never applied. I was starting to become frustrated with the entire process.

I was also starting to have a bad taste in my mouth for all the companies and sponsors who were at the kick off ceremony for Careers in Code but did not show up to the graduation ceremony to see what we had accomplished. They all talked a really good game at the kick off and seemed to be excited about being able to have a new pool of candidates to possibly hire for their company. One thing I think the Syracuse tech community could benefit from is having more intern positions available. Maybe an intern you hire isn’t a good fit for your company but they could be a good fit for another company. I mean that’s part of growing the community right? Hiring interns to teach them so they can help grow the tech community in some sort of fashion.

That was and is another thing that I struggle to understand, expecting a junior developer to have years of experience. How can a company possibly expect a junior developer to have all that experience? There is a reason they are a junior developer. If you want years of experience don’t advertise the position as a junior role.

Those were all things that I was feeling and some of them were not putting me in a good place. I had to take a step back and see how to approach looking for employment. I was still keeping in touch with a few of the instructors and students from Careers in Code and found that I was not the only student feeling that way.

I had also been keeping in touch with Jesse Peplinski, the man behind Careers in Code. He had happened to mention a position that was available so I took a chance and sent an e-mail because by this time I was starting to go into panic mode.

I was starting to panic that I would never find a job. I was starting to panic that I wouldn’t get any clients. I was starting to panic that maybe I made a huge mistake by quitting my job and that maybe I wasn’t cut out to be a programmer.

So what happened when I sent the e-mail about the job? Well, you’ll have to come back for the next post to find out. You didn’t think I was going to give away the ending that quickly did you? Nope, not happening, you’ll have to come back and see where the next turn in my journey takes me. Hope to see you soon my friends.