This wasn't just the only software job I ever had it was also the only one I ever interviewed for. I went from being the receptionist who surprised everyone with the best interview pretest they ever saw (my own director's words) to fired for attendance over four years later.
A couple of years into the job I had my son in a very controlling and abusive relationship. It was so bad his own mother paid for my son and I to get a flight to go live with my mom on the other side of the country. It's been about ten months since I moved and became a single mom. I have a great support system, but I don't have anyone to watch my son when we are sick. This has been the worst for my work/life balance because toddlers are ALWAYS sick. I'm also fighting a wicked custody battle, which consumes a lot of my time and yes, I've spent hours on the phone at work over this divorce. I understand what led to my firing.
My previous boss, who is now the director, was much more lenient than my new boss, who has probably only been my superior for a few months after being my peer for four years. I have taken too many unexcused days off and though my previous boss was more willing to accept shorter days, the new boss wasn't.
I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I have contacts that work for several software companies big and small but I can't leave my state due to divorce proceedings. There aren't many options here in this state aside remote work. I am applying for remote work and have a freelance gig lined up with a few promising leads for more, so I think overall this could be a really good opportunity... But I'm not sure how to spend my efforts. I need money now, so if I don't find something in a few weeks I'm going to have to go pick up shifts at a retail store or something - anything - until I can get back to software engineering. I know I'm really good at what I do but I also worry about a few things...
- I have no degree, just coding bootcamp under my belt
- I have been fired from the only software job I ever had
- I have been taking 2-3 days every few weeks to work half time, or only make meetings whenever my son is sick
- Probably about once a week I end up needing to go to a lawyers office, doctors office, take a phone call, or do something that pulls me away from work for an hour to three hours. I always do extra work in the evening after my son goes to bed, or make it up on a weekend day or something when this happens. And when I know about the interruption in advance, I block it on my calendar and let my team know.
Do any companies out there accept when life gets in the way like this? Does my life even allow me to work in software engineering any more?
