The astounding Neon Night-Rider and the return of the web

There’s nothing preceding this title. As it says above, I am struggling.

For some time I’ve been thinking about where I want my career to be and what kind of lifestyle I seek. I’ve been at companies since working at fast food joints as a teenager that thought work-life balance was overrated. I started to think the only work that was entirely merit-based and could create the lifestyle I wanted was either in management or in sales. And my highest preference is self-employment. While that is truthfully more work than life, it doesn’t come with the mandatory 12-hour day in an office unless I choose to do so. At the moment, however, it’s a challenge to actually be self-employed, and it’s always attractive to just become another web/creative agency, but without the connections and with newer interests, it’s not the best thing to do.

Just to summarize my professional history, I’ve been steadily holding positions that are tied to web-related services, ranging from SEO to development. I consider this career path my practical career, and I have passions unrelated to that (writing and game production) that I keep watch of. I’ve reached a point where I fear my career will be stagnant and I’ll be chasing entry level positions at a point where I no longer have entry level experience. I’m inching into taking more responsibility-oriented roles, but I’m now more demanding about salary requirements and such than I was before. This makes finding a job easy and self-employment difficult.

Three years ago the idea of working contract jobs steadily was brought to my attention, and I didn’t take it seriously until this year, and having reached a better conclusion, I ask “What’s next?” I’ve been pulling up some old contacts, considering roles like IT recruiting (despite my complaint earlier about it), web accessibility consulting and training or something similar while I try to make time to develop products I’ve had in the pipeline for awhile.

There’s only one “stipulation” I guess that I have. I’m not willing to leave/accept a contract outside of the San Antonio/Austin area. What I’m basically saying is “No, I don’t want to move, but if I have to make regular trips elsewhere, I’m okay with that.” I’m a fan of mixing working on-site and off-site. Too much of one can wear me down. However, this post is really more about what skills people think I should get or should market to further my career, so for anyone with ideas, leave a comment!

Tags: career, contract, employment, jobs, work

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