Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
What I've Taken, And What I Have To Give
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2009 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
As of right now, I'm looking for new opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area, greater Boston, and here in NYC, starting in the next few months. I'm especially interested in tiny startups (let's say fewer than eight employees) or nonprofits starting new projects with tech. I'm starting machinations to ask friends and acquaintances for the names of relevant folks I should meet during my trips to Boston and the Bay this month.
I love writing technical and functional specs, translating among QA, engineers, and businessy/world-facing folks, and recruiting. I'm looking for someplace where I can bring my writing, public speaking, rolodexing, and investigative skills to bear. I want to work with superiors I can learn from, emotionally and intellectually. And I want to help make services/sites/products that delight people - for profit or non.
I'm not a programmer but I can be a good abstraction layer for software projects. I'm looking for someplace where I'll have equity or ownership, or the possibility of rising to those -- a project where I can exert all my talents and pick up real responsibilities.
That's what I'm seeking. I couldn't go after this if I hadn't already found unexpected treasure.
One of the gifts of the Internet is that I can find role models for so many traits I wish to nurture in myself, especially ambition and discipline. Just to name a few, I have Benjamin Mako Hill, Beatrice, Leonard, Brendan, Kris, Ned Batchelder and Susan Senator, all my Systers, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Rachel, Rivka, and these days especially Mel Chua. Mel's speaking right to me on "coming from a place of abundance":
In order to have a sense of playful empowerment, one must be free to change, rewrite, scrap, delete, wreck, rebuild, and tinker with all aspects of the project at any time during its course.
We can play with the inessential things without anxiety if we know they're inessential and our heart feels safe. So what is my heart's desire? To feel useful, really. And this, right now, is how.
Comments
Beatrice M
http://www.paisleychick.org
04 Jan 2009, 18:59 p.m.
I wish you the best of luck with your search and am humbled and honored to be included in such an illustrious list of people. I hope you get exactly what you are looking for and that your new job fulfills your needs and desires. You have a lot to offer.