Back in the Saddle Again
I’m happy to report that I have returned to work at the company I started at in 2023, continuing in a Software Quality Assurance role, and working 100% remote.
It’s a career first for me to be rehired at a company where I’ve worked before. I experienced a different kind of onboarding, as I joined meetings where I knew many, if not all, of the people participating, and felt welcomed back. I had been away from the teams for 8 months, which frankly is the longest I’ve been out of work since the early 2000s.
It was not a career first for me to be onboarded 100% remote, as that was what happened back in March 2023, when I first joined there, after being laid off from a different company. At that time I got hired almost immediately after being out of work, and I felt like a “remote ’til Covid” God. This time around, I had a rockier road from one contract to the next, as I found it difficult to get interviews, despite applying to multiple positions week after week. In 8 months, I only got 3 interviews, not counting the interview my old company gave me.
I worried a bit about how tough it was landing a new job, and speculated in an earlier post that it might be because of my age (60th is coming up for me), or maybe because my late stage career plus the AI takeover means my expertise is becoming obsolete.
You can imagine my relief and my gratitude when the company that laid me off last year offered me another contract. This had actually been promised already as a possibility. Meaning, a large number of contractors had been laid off for budgetary reasons (a RIF, in other words), but I was told that if the company was able to hire again, they would prioritize bringing back contractors that had been let go. I knew for a fact that this had already happened with another contractor who was in the same boat as me, who had been rehired in January.
It’s certainly a good feeling to also be rehired, with the implicit understanding that brings that the company has my trust. The role I am hired into is simliar to what I was first brought on for – I will continue as an individual contributor in my specialized area of expertise. I’m not obsolete yet!
One thing I got out of this experience is an appreciation for the veracity of that old adage, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” As the job search dragged on, and I reviewed how to improve my odds at getting an interview, one thing that came up was to reach out to folks and maintain my relationships. We used to call this “networking,” and it remains as important as ever for career success. I can’t be completely sure, but I think reaching out just to touch base with my old colleagues helped out.
Truly, having a good support network is important to all aspects of living, especially in difficult times such as we are in.
Another thing I wanted to note is that people respond to positivity on social media more than to negativity, at least for me. I got a lot more engagement (likes and comments) with a positive post about getting re-rehired than I ever do with my doomposts over on Substack.
Anyway, I’m glad to be back to work finally, and very glad to continue in the 100% remote mode.
Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.
Yes, the doomposting continues on Substack. You can check it out, and subscribe (for free!) with an email address, at this link: https://stevebarrera.substack.com/