Recently, I made the decision that it was time to return to the job market and to try to find a job again in software. Several factors have contributed to this:
- I have 5 kids, several of which are getting into the very expensive teenager phase.
- I'm 41, I do not own a home or have any retirement account.
- I do not make enough money as a pastor to support my family.
- I will never make enough as a pastor to get by in our current church with its current limitations. (Building size, local economy, etc.)
- I had some money coming in from a business buyout that was supplementing my income, and it is gone.
So I'm looking for a remote or local job in the product side of software development (i.e. not writing code.), hopefully for an established company with benefits. I've already told our church, and told them I would have to pull back my involvement some when I did get a job, and they were surprisingly supportive.
What kind of job I'm looking for?
Somehow, over the last twenty years, I've built up a ton of very varied experience in software leadership. Through a decade of freelancing and then through the company I helped start (Build Online) I've done every job in the modern product development lifecycle, including:
- UX/UI design.
- Project management.
- Business and data analysis.
- Full-stack web development.
- Hiring.
- Devops (deployment)
Of all of those jobs, the part that I enjoyed the most was in the planning and shaping of projects. I implemented Design Sprints at Build Online, and helped kick off dozens of projects, guiding them through the early stages of design and ideation.
Over the last few months I've been working on sharpening my UX/UI Skills through online training courses offered by Google and CalArts and working on small projects to build out my portfolio in that area. But the truth is I would accept any job in software that had decent benefits and was willing to hire someone who is committed to pastoring a small church. Including an entry-level position in:
- UI/UX Design
- Project Management
- Business or Data Analysis
- Front-End Web Development
Why don't you...
The three pieces of pushback I've gotten on this are:
- Why can't you just cut expenses?
- Why don't you just go to a bigger church in a wealthier area?
- What about Congregation Hub?
Why not just cut expenses?
While I wish I could just cut all my expenses and live a simpler life - my reality is more complicated than that:
- I have to make monthly trips to downtown Chicago for my son's health needs, and that gets very expensive.
- I have family who lives in three separate places, all over 600 miles away, who expect to be visited with some regularity.
- I have ghost expenses from past ventures that still cost me money.
- My kids are homeschooled, which limits how much my wife can work.
Why don't you just go to another church?
I've had well meaning people (both inside and outside of my church) tell me to just find another church that can pay me better. I seriously considered this last year, and I just can't do it. I can't explain that and don't expect anyone to understand it, but leaving my church for a bigger church would feel about like leaving my wife for a younger wife. I can't do it and won't do it unless they force me to.
So I'm looking to make staying in my church sustainable for the long term, and this seems to be the best solution.
What about Congregation Hub?
I would love to make Congregation Hub my job. (I still think there is huge potential for simpler, more affordable Church Management Software.) I worked for months on a second version of the platform and it was really starting to shape up into something good.
But, currently Congregation Hub costs me money. If someone wanted to be my partner on it, help with marketing and underwrite a year or two of development, I think we could make it work. I would jump at that opportunity with the right partner, but I don't even know where to start on that. Until that happens (and that is the longest of long shots) I'm looking for a job.
How can you help?
If you know of any jobs (or want to talk about Congregation Hub), I'd love to talk to you. In the meantime, you can pray with me that I'll be led to the right position.