Teacher Turned Web Programmer

In this series of posts, I am sharing a variety of real-life examples of people who have changed the way they are perceived--and in some cases, the way they perceive themselves--simply by reframing the way they tell their story.


Installment 2:
Tom spent the majority of his career working as a teacher and trainer before he went back to school to become a web programmer. In his early fifties, Tom was what some might call “realistically pessimistic” about his chance of success:

“I absolutely love programming, but I have to be honest—there are kids in junior high who are naturally more gifted at this than I am. I really don’t see how I will ever find a company that will pay me what I need to survive. I’m starting to wonder why I ever spent any money going back to school for this in the first place.”

In this case, Tom’s overly negative view of the situation is the direct result of a disease I like to call “compartmentalitis.”

Compartmentalitis - The strong and irresistible urge to view skills and experiences in isolation most often characterized by the automatic, almost reflexive, dismissal of all but the most obvious and directly applicable to the job at hand.

What this means, in plain English, is that to market yourself effectively and compete successfully in the job market, you have to be creative about how you view your experiences. You do yourself a tremendous disservice if you view your skills and experiences in isolated, air-tight compartments.

Based on Tom’s assessment it is clear that he sees himself as either a teacher/trainer OR a web programmer. This flawed perception could lead to more than a few missed opportunities because it ignores the possibility that a company might hire Tom simply because he is qualified to do BOTH.

There are millions of teachers/trainers and web programmers in the world, but there are relatively few people who have done both. The important question then becomes, “What company or industry would most value this combination of skills?” Naturally, this opened a new set of possibilities and prompted Tom to change the focus of his job search. He immediately began targeting companies dedicated to e-learning and online education.

Even though other web developers might be more accomplished from a technical standpoint, Tom can potentially add more value given his understanding of the fundamentals of teaching and learning. By highlighting the value of his skills in combination, Tom has the opportunity to effectively change the job requirements in the mind of a hiring manager. Furthermore, if Tom can convince a company that it makes more sense to hire a web developer who is also an accomplished teacher, he will have succeeded in narrowing his potential competition.

Think about it. With so few candidates likely to match the description, a company would probably never spend money advertising for such a unique combination of skills. But it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be happy to find it. For example, there are probably e-learning companies that have no idea people like Tom even exist. That is what makes combining skills so valuable.