Artificial Cheese

For the first two years of my professional career, I worked at the State of New Jersey as a software developer.  When I was hired, I wasn’t much of a professional.  I lacked skills, experience, and above all, confidence.  The hire came after a demoralizing eight month job hunt.  The only thing that I had going for me was that I was willing to work for peanuts.  Thats when the State acknowledged my need for a job and hired me. 

During the first few weeks of my employment it was hard to convince anyone that I was headed in the right direction, including myself.  But as the months passed my confidence grew, and I aquired skills at a very rapid pace.  I started to find qualities that I never knew existed, like leadership and problem solving.  I found a work ethic that was no where to be found while watching four episodes of Star Trek a day while unemployed.  People started looking to me when they needed guidance.  Needless to say, my confidence shot up very quickly.

For the next year and a half, I slowly became convinced that my decision to seek state employment was a correct one.  When I spoke to others in the field that began their work in the private sector they always complained about being channelized and forced to specialize in one mundane task.  At the state I had the liberty to take on any task that I chose.  I believe that at my age, this was more important than any feasible salary that I potentially could have aquired in the private sector.

Now I am at a point where I have value to a company through skills and experience, but also provide versatility.  So to those of you out there out of college and looking for a job, don’t be ashamed to take a low paying job if you know that the job will give you freedom to develop.  Be patient and learn while you can, it’s an investment that will surely pay off.