The move was totally by accident. The economy was bad and one of my headhunters came up with a seasonal job in software QA.
To backtrack just a bit, I had taken a look at the market and decided that moving information around was going to become a much larger piece of the pie and back in 2001, I looked into IT classes. Also, at that time, I had been laid off after 9/11 as the4 economy took a hit. So I jumped in and started taking DB and programming classes. Not a bunch but just enough to start working my way in a directions.
My background in accounting and tax required me always to be a computer user and I had a solid foundation in a couple large tax software programs. So when you put the things together, I was a very good fit for the position I found which is software QA. I never knew such a position existed, or at least, never gave it much thought. So the main thing was that I knew how to use. The other thing is that I have a very strong inclination towards making things work properly. And being a perfectionist didn't hurt. I have had to harness my perfectionist tendencies to a certain extent in the name of getting the job done.
Moving forward, the seasonal job ended and I had moved to another temp job. But when they needed someone new as a fulltimer, they interviewed me as well as a few others and I got the job. I have enjoyed thie job very much. I have been involved in a number of different projects and have a solid knowledge of many tax areas. I stick my fingers into everything. Now I am taking project management classes as I look for my next opportunity.
Just an aside, at the time this job came about, I was at my wit's end regarding work. I had been on temp jobs or unemployed for a couple of years. I knew that I couldn't go back to actually tax work and was a week away from moving (even telling my ex of my plans to move) to Las Vegas to use my skills in casinos (I was read the riot act on survivors). Then my current situation came up.
So to sum, I had a background in a discipline that I enjoyed from an academic side but not a practical side. I had developed a number of practical skills. Also, I had a thought about the direction of the information business and I ended up using knowledge in a new way (for me). One of my teachers had told me to just keep taking classes and a direction would eventually become apparent. And I was persistent in calling headhunters.
I hope this gives you some insights intop the things I did. And please, feel free to ask me anything.
And now to bring it full circle, DBing made a difference in this situation. If something doesn't work, do something different.
