Open to work. What a strange phrase. It makes me think of "Work? Yeah, I've heard of it. Do it? Sure, I suppose I'd consider it." I see many posts in my LinkedIn feed of people who are not just open to work but are actively looking, applying, and hoping. It paints a bleak picture of what it's like to be between jobs right now.

I have been "open to work" for about two weeks now, which means I've been experiencing firsthand what all those posts in my feed describe: a highly competitive market where you can apply for a dozen jobs and never get to talk to a real person. And while that is daunting, I've committed myself to keeping my skills sharp during this challenging time.

Staying Sharp

Here are some of the things I've done over the past couple of weeks to keep my mind clear and functioning at a high level:

• Teams Meetings. I hold daily standups with my children and ask them what they did yesterday, what they're doing today, and what blockers they have. I don't know if this is common at most companies, but our biggest blockers are Super Mario Wonder and naps.
• PowerPoint Slides. I've created a slide deck with all the fun business lingo I've learned over the years. Words and phrases like synergy, paradigm, and apples to apples. Then I asked generative AI to write descriptions of the words and phrases because everything is generative AI these days.
• Self-study. I learned everything there is to know about Kubernetes using tutorials on YouTube. Unfortunately, the last tutorial started with forget everything you know about Kubernetes and then froze. I'll have to get back around to it.
• Performance Reviews. I was fortunate to have struggled with PRs as a manager because my teams were just so good. My children, on the other hand, have many improvements to make, both in hygiene and literacy.
• Business Acumen. I launched a new subscription offering: Science Fiction as a Service (SFaaS). The gist is you give me money, and you get access to every book or story I've ever written or will ever write. It's like a very specific Kindle Unlimited program. It can't fail.

Ready to Work

There is conflicting advice on whether the Open to Work banner on your LinkedIn profile pic helps or hinders you. I've even heard the word desperate thrown around. That's such a bad take. Everyone who isn't independently wealthy is desperate to work in exchange for money. That's just the way it is. This little vacation I'm taking while I'm between jobs is nice and all, but it won't pay for my son's ongoing Minecraft Realms subscription or my daughter's growing collection of Bluey figurines.

I'm ready to work. I am ready to solve problems, build crazy helpful web apps, and use my latent social anxiety and purely theoretical knowledge of charisma to teach a team of people how to build long-lasting customer relationships.

If you're looking for someone to supercharge your support organization, I'm your guy. Message me on LinkedIn, and let's talk about it!