As an individual who is able to quickly adapt and build skills to meet the needs of a project, it’s difficult to truly gauge in a relative manner those skills compare to other individuals. In the position I currently hold, I’ve found that it was necessary to re-develop and augment skills in Microsoft Visual Basic that I haven’t used since 1998-1999. I’ve also had to familiarize myself to the peculiarities of VBA for Applications-which believe me, is not the most easy to understand language for consistencies.

In addition to that, I’ve found myself adapting to a managerial position that requires patience and learning to accept situations that make little to zero sense. I analyze situations, my surroundings and people’s behavior. Seeing the decision making process and acceptance of counter-productive choices stresses me, since I want to see projects and people succeed.

That being said, if I ignore the upsetting aspects, I notice that the other opportunities are worthwhile. Software development, process creation for project success/improvement of workplace process as well as developing skills improvement strategies for employees which involve analysis and coaching recommendations-it’s an impressive set of tasks. Which I have only ever thought about and heard a little of.

So, with my employer giving me these sets of tasks which are so different from my previous IT only experience, thanks to my competence in conveying my understanding, how do I translate this in such a way that other employers will appreciate my creative diversity?

It has been so difficult translating my enormous accomplishments into a format that fully presents how gifted I am. I have gone to a few job interviews where I felt like I knew more than the people interviewing me for a lesser position. One interview, I heard later that out of all the individuals interviewed for a sys admin position, I was the only one without a degree-and the only one who answered questions accurately.

I didn’t get hired due to internal politics. Go figure. These days, I find myself trying to branch out my skills. I’m currently reading about ASP.NET in an effort to help further my web development skills. Re-learning VB with a true purpose has helped my confidence and re-kindled my interest in computer science. I’m hoping this will help take me in the direction I want to go-a job that is fun, stays at work and let’s me be creative.