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As IT pro's, we find ourselves searching for many things. We search for solutions. We search for truth (both regular and capital-T truth). Most of those things we either have a good chance of locating, as long as we're persistent and intelligent about it.

But one of the searches that many (if not all) IT pro's undertake is the search for the right fit in their job.

Forums, job boards, and advice columns - not to mention innumerable after-work-over-beer discussions - are filled with tales of horrific bosses, harrowing workplaces, and hideous jobs.

If there were easy answers, they'd be out there already. After 30 years, the only wisdom I can give is this: it's the same as any other problem. You have to be persistent. You have to be smart. You have to be willing to abandon your preconceived notions and start over - again and again if necessary. You have to accept that the solution which worked for another person in another place may not be your solution.

And sometimes the search has to be given up for now, with the trust that you'll take it up again another day when you are fresh and ready to try again.

  • I have been Searching for so many things. I have searched far and wide.

  • With the thoughts on searching for answers above, the thought occured to me that sometimes we forget to search within.

    We all have come across the IT Pro in our time that is quick to reach out to others instead of starting with "the googles". While they can be, and oftentimes are, a point of contention in a team, it occurs to me that we are all equally as guilty.

    From a personal standpoint, I have the great benefit of working with one of the smartest and most magnanimous engineers in my time (mrxinu​) and I (far too often) can get lazy and use him as a crutch.

    It's easier to just ask him "Hey, how do I setup a variable to hold an array again?" than it is to actually go search for the answers myself. While I cetainly am I HUGE advocate for helping each other, sometimes we can limit ourselves by searching in the easy locations, insteaded of pushing our own boundaries in an effort to cement the knowledge into long term memory.

  • Most of the time as a data professional I have an idea of what to search for; the meaning behind an error message, or examples of code, or how to repair a corrupted database.

    But searching for a career is different because you often have no idea what you are searching for. The old "do what you love" sounds nice but quite often what we love is something that won't bring home the bacon.

    I think this image sums up what you are searching for.

    skills_love_money_rz.jpg

    And I am #blessed to have found this for the past six years. I often joke about how I can't go back to having a real job anymore. I found something I truly love, but the search was very difficult. It took a long time to write down all the things I love to do and the things I don't enjoy and keep navigating my way to where I am today.

  • "Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul."

    -Epicurus

    In I.T., we are always searching for answers to challenges and new initiatives, but how many times in life do we worry about small things? I am reminded of a passage in the Bible, where Jesus is teaching. He says, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." (Matthew 6:33)

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