Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
There's a chocolate with less calories and that's far, far less sensitive to temperature.
This was made by geeks. Chem geeks. Food geeks. Folks like Phil and Lem from Better off Ted.
So when you run into people that doubt the power of geekery, you point to this. We've made chocolate better.
– Steven Savage
I was thinking over my last column on why more people don't have geeky jobs. Something that came to mind that people often forget, and that I left out because I was focusing on personal traits, is this.
Geeky Jobs are HARD.
Have you every worried you're not geeky enough for your job?
A weird thing to say when many of us don't want to discuss our extensive addiction to Legend of the Five Rings in a job interview, but it's actually a factor. Jobs like game programmer, artist, writer, reviewer, etc. are positions where you're expected to have a certain level of geek on display. Believe it or not, people do worry about it.
Think of your geekiness as a way of displaying certain talents, affiliations, and even knowledges and competencies. There are expectations people have, and you may find yourself actually being NOT geeky enough – or at least worrying that during that vital interview with the guy who has multiple piercings, your business outfit may have seemed a tad . . . boring.
I've had to deal with this. I still do in some cases as I'm a Project Manager in IT – I am PAID to be the dull guy with Gantt charts, spreadsheets, and organizational skill. I just do it in geeky jobs, and need to communicate my passion about the subject matter before I discuss my love-hate relationship with Team Foundation Server.