Transitions, Moving On and Moving Forward

This is one of the weirdest blog posts I’ve every written.

An Announcement

In a nutshell, I got a job. A real, go to work, at an office, in a company, job.

It’s been twelve years and almost a month since I was laid off. Here I am, twelve+ years later and I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence.

What does this mean for JobberJobber? Nothing, and everything. Nothing because nothing big will change.. We’ll keep moving forward, and the team has plenty of work to do. Everything because of the way I’m restructuring things, I’ll be more focused on strengthening the core of JibberJobber, and doing the right things for the product and our users.  More on that below.

A “Coincidence”

Is there such thing as a coincidence?

A few weeks ago I started my fourth book, which I’m leaning towards titling The Twelve Year Job Search. Little did I know that half way through writing this book I would accept a job, almost exactly 12 years to the day I was let go from my last “real job.”

The intense emotional roller-coaster I’ve been on these last few weeks was something I was not prepared for. I know a lot about the job search process but had forgotten just how intensely stressful parts of it can be (for me, the parts where I have no control).

A Real Job

For the last twelve years my “real job” has been entrepreneur, founder, owner, and more. I’ve authored three (published) books, became a professional speaker, authored 30 Pluralsight courses, done webinars and podcasts and written ebooks and white papers and blog posts (for others). I built my JibberJobber team bringing in talented contractors from around the world, five of which work as a team on the product right now.

I was looking for a product management job, and happened to see an opening from a company I was really, really interested in (BambooHR). The job wasn’t on the product team, but the description was close enough that it piqued my interest. As I read it I thought “I’ve done all of these things… I could totally do this.” I applied on a whim, thinking I was really more suited for a product management job.

You can read all about this job here: I need a top notch program manager

This is one of three postings I found for this job (they were all a little different). I thought, “Is this real? I know it’s not in product, but man, it seems like this job was written for me!”

A Company and A Boss

I got a reply from the hiring manager and was brought in for my first interview… and the rest is history. But more importantly, in my research and then interview process, I fell in love with the company. BambooHR makes HR software (including ATS software – that strikes me as funny) for small to medium companies.

It’s not the software I fell in love with (I hadn’t had much exposure to it), rather I fell in love with the history of BambooHR and the culture they have created. As I learned more I couldn’t help but want to be a part of this culture. I want to contribute to this culture, as I build out the vision of the thought leadership programs under my new boss, Rusty (see link above).

I found Rusty’s Ted talk, and a short talk he did for Toastmasters, and read about his background. He is the type of person I want to work with. I am excited for the opportunity to learn from him and build these programs with him. I trust him, and believe in his vision, and want to be a part of this!  I know the alternative… working for someone you don’t like or don’t trust, and I have no interest in that. I feel lucky to have found this opportunity at this company for this leader… a great combination!

A Future for JibberJobber

JibberJobber was born almost twelve years ago. We have had over 100,000 people sign up and try to manage and organize a job search. We currently have five people (aside from me) with dedicated roles, including customer support, QA, server admin, and software development. I have been the product manager, and with this big change I started to transition many of my functions to Liz, who many users have already interacted with.

I plan on spending time, regularly, with JibberJobber, as the Chief of Product. Liz will add product manager to her duties, and will work closely with me to ensure the team focuses on the right things for our users and our future. While my team will continue to stay busy, we’ll make sure the limited amount of time we have is spent on the most important projects.

When I spent four years developing Pluralsight videos I spent a lot more time there than as product manager in JibberJobber. After Pluralsight I went back to JibberJobber with a renewed interest and was appalled at where we were at. I take all of that on me, as product manager. This time I will not make the same mistakes. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time with Liz talking about vision and priorities, and have met with each of my team, and I’m dedicated to making this a great time for JibberJobber, not a time of strategic neglect.

I hope this is reflected in the product, and your experience.

A Conclusion

I’ve written a few more pages but really, this is too long already. If you have any questions, let me know. I’ll be available mornings and evenings, and hope to continue our relationship.