Do you have a unicorn in your midst?

Earlier today I finished up listening to yet another amazing podcast by the @geek_whisperers speaking on Unicorns.
http://geek-whisperers.com/2014/01/episode-33-unicorn-husbandry-or-employee-social-evangelists/

A unicorn is a unique creature one that may not be tamed.  In the tech world, this can be the saving grace for your company.  When it comes to a coworker, can one work with a team?  Unicorns are those that can think outside of the box, pulling from resources that others may not even consider.  I remember one particular incident we had at work when all of the teams were scrambling trying to decide what the problem was and where was it coming from.  Remember, "It's never the network." and "It can't be a server issue, they're all running fine".  So maybe it was the user?  So after the finger pointing stopped, we were all called into the big meeting room so we could hash this out.  We weren't leaving until we had something to bring to management, we simply needed a solution or at least a path.  Well it took our unicorn to start asking if anything had been patched.  While it certainly wasn't out of the realm of possibilities, patches had been deployed weeks prior.  Turns out that a patch from two or three cycles before had been applied but the server never rebooted.  This server was requested to be rebooted and that's when the trouble happened. On that day we were happy the unicorn was paying attention.

Now I know that this wasn't the primary focus of the podcast, but this is how I can absolutely relate to having one on our team.  So are unicorns born or built?  Some people love being the hero and saving the day.  The accompanying article relates "The right kind of employee evangelist is like a Unicorn: very hard to find. ". I think when it comes to tech, or a product, you need a champion within your organization. Someone who will rise to the occasion and take on those that try to stifle the progress of the project or new beginning. I'm still not sure if I can answer how unicorns come about.  But I think we can all be unicorns if the need arises.

It's not getting easier

I mistakenly thought that my phone would be flying off the hook.

 

But it has not.  I've had a few bites for sure and I'm super grateful for those phone calls.  Suffice it to say, that perfect job hasn't happened yet. I did have a phone interview last week and while it was both interesting and fascinating to have the conversation, I'm not the best candidate at all.  At least the guy was nice enough to continue the conversation until the end of an hour.  He certainly had tons of great questions, but he and I both realized that the position required more of an architect. (OK, he already knew it, but apparently I didn't get it the memo from the job description)   The last time I was laid off from a job, I took some training during the "severance" months.  Increasing my skills is a must for sure!  I know I need to be combing through company websites and job websites to find a job along with continuing to engage on the social networking level.  However, I believe my focus needs to change. 

Tomorrow will be a different day and I'm looking forward to my list of accomplishments and achievements. Oh...and I have another phone interview which I am most certainly looking forward to.

Job searching

It's been quite some time (see previous post) since I was actively searching for a job.  OK, there were a few times when I was ready for something different but those were few and very far between as I really enjoyed working for my previous boss and the strong team we had.  Just like those days, I'm at a new challenge of finding a new place of employment.

While I have found plenty of  "jobs", I'm not sure I want to jump backward into desktop support.  Two reasons.
1. It's been well over a decade since I answered phones in that manner.
2. That's not part of my career path.

I suppose I could add a #3 about how much a desktop support technician doesn't get paid, but I know too many technicians who would be less than happy about that point.

In any event, I'm finding out that my skill set isn't always what others want.  Interestingly enough, most job postings that I'm finding has one or more "needs" that don't quite much what I know.  In other words, I fall short in a few areas.  These areas would take some time to learn and without equipment, I may learn but probably not at the level they are asking to have.

Strangely enough as I read what I just wrote above, it comes across as whining or hopeless and that annoys me.  However, I am looking forward to what tomorrow brings because this first week has not been fun.