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diff --git a/content/entry/my-career-path.md b/content/entry/my-career-path.md index d4f4af2..0589fb8 100644 --- a/content/entry/my-career-path.md +++ b/content/entry/my-career-path.md @@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Nevertheless I feel very out of place working low wage entry-level positions, bu ## Looking For Internships I've tried applying for free software internships, but no luck so far. The only place I'm certain I wouldn't have any freedom issues is the granddaddy organization of the free software movement, the FSF. I haven't had any luck there yet either. According to the statistics I've read, less than 5% of applicants get approved for many of the free software internships. There's just not as much money and positions available in free software as there is in proprietary software. A lot of internships are targeted towards minorities and being a straight, white male doesn't help. A lot of them are exclusive to students, which I am no longer. -Something that has been discouraging is seeing so-called "open source" internships use proprietary software for project development and communication. It makes no sense to use Goolag docs, Slack and Github for project development when you're developing free software. User freedom matters, but what about developer freedom? Don't developers deserve freedom too? Many of the sites for free software internships require proprietary JavaScript to apply and they include Goolag Analytics, which goes to show how seriously they're taking the whole freedom thing. +Something that has been discouraging is seeing so-called "open source" internships use proprietary software for project development and communication. It makes no sense to use Goolag docs, Slack and Github for project development when you're developing free software. User freedom matters, but what about developer freedom? Don't developers deserve freedom too? Many of the sites for free software internships require proprietary JavaScript to apply and they include Goolag Analytics, which goes to show how seriously they're taking the whole freedom thing. ## Interacting with Free Software Communities Since dropping out, I've communicated in various free software communities. @@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ The first part of my plan is applying for more internships. So far I've just bee I need to broaden the scope of my search and consider other career options that fall within my interests. I have an Associate of Science degree and a minor in Mathematics. I also have this blog and some code samples on git.nicksphere.ch to show to potential employers. So it's not as if I'm locked into applying for computer-related internships. The worst thing that can happen is I get rejected and apply somewhere else. The best that can happen is I get hired and advance my career. ## Network -To get a better idea of potential career paths, I should network with people who already work in careers I'm interested in. It would help me get an idea whether that's something I really want to do, what ethical concerns there might be and it could help me get my foot in the door. +To get a better idea of potential career paths, I should network with people who already work in careers I'm interested in. It would help me get an idea whether that's something I really want to do, what ethical concerns there might be and it could help me get my foot in the door. ## Avoid Formal Education If I need to learn something for a career, I'm confident in my ability to teach myself. I know how to read textbooks. I don't need to pay for an expensive human text-to-speech engine. I'd like to avoid the expenses. @@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ Since I refuse to use non-free software, it would be better for me to get a loca It will be much easier to avoid proprietary software and other ethical problems working for small businesses where I might can retain some degree of control over some aspects of the work versus at a large corporation where there's already well-established ways of doing things that aren't going to change. Also unless I'm mistaken non-profits tend to be more ethical to work for than for-profit organizations. ## Keep Blogging -While blogging hasn't helped me get an internship yet, it does help me organize my thoughts. It has helped me put more thought into my career plan than I otherwise would have. So I'm going to keep doing it. +While blogging hasn't helped me get an internship yet, it does help me organize my thoughts. It has helped me put more thought into my career plan than I otherwise would have. So I'm going to keep doing it. ## Consider Self-Employment Being self-employed would give me more freedom in my work. It would allow me to use the free software tools I want to use rather than being commanded to use proprietary garbage by an employer. It would also allow me to do some actual good. Perhaps I could find a niche that there is demand for but hasn't been occupied yet. @@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ I have the least respect for this argument because it's so easily refuted. It's The first reason is that it's impossible to know for sure that individual actions won't make a big difference. Most of the time individual actions don't cause any major changes. But occasionally they do. Just look at Greta Thunberg. -Her claim to fame was skipping school sitting alone outside the Swedish parliament. She has inspired millions and is now a household name. But it didn't have be that way. One can easily imagine it going the other way. Maybe in an alternate universe no one took notice, she never became famous and the strikes inspired by her never happened. +Her claim to fame was skipping school sitting alone outside the Swedish parliament. She has inspired millions and is now a household name. But it didn't have be that way. One can easily imagine it going the other way. Maybe in an alternate universe no one took notice, she never became famous and the strikes inspired by her never happened. The only way to guarantee failure, in most important contexts, is by not trying at all. Therefore as long as there's any chance at all, one must try. |