Based in London and have my dream role? Tell me!

Just under a month ago I announced my plans to up sticks and move back to London. A lot has happened since then and I've had a lot of time to think about where I am now and where I want to be in the future.

Although slightly later than planned, I'm still moving to London. But there is more. I've also been reconsidering my current situation regarding (my self-imposed lack of) employment. While the motives behind this decision still apply, recent events in my life have caused me reconsider my options and take a different view on what's important to me right now.

The long and short of it is that I'm keen to explore the options available to me, one of which is traditional employment. I'll outline my desires around employment in a bit more detail below, though you can just go straight ahead and email me (rob@rawkes.com) if you think you have something I'd enjoy!

What am I after?

If the last few years have taught me anything, it's what's important to me in life. Put simply, I've learnt that if something doesn't make me happy then I don't want to be doing it. But what does happy actually mean in this case? Perhaps a better word is worthwhile. If I don't feel like what I'm doing is worthwhile then I quickly lose interest and become unhappy. Life is too important to waste away doing things you don't enjoy.

Something else that I've learnt is that I don't like feeling constricted in what I can do. Without freedom it is too easy to feel restricted and eventually lose interest in what you're doing (because you want to do something else). Whatever I do, it needs to have freedom balanced with the necessary focus to prevent that freedom turning into a different problem (too much choice and a lack of direction). Whether that's freedom built into a role, or freedom gained from part-time employment, it's something that's very important. I don't want to give up my side projects and general tinkering.

So what am I after exactly? A few things. Here are some key words that sum up individual things that make me happy…

• Developer engagement
• Data visualisation
• Prototyping
• Demonstrations and hacks
• Speaking
• Freedom
• Flexibility
• Learning
• New and shiny
• Interestingness
• Technology
• Programming
• Being around others

Basically, I'm keen to explore options that allow me to continue experimenting and tinkering with various technologies. Extra points for options that give me to opportunity to share that learning with other people. What I'm not interested in doing is the same thing day in day out — there has to be variety.

I'm a patient man and I'm prepared to wait for the right role to appear; I'm in no rush to simply get a job.

Got the perfect role?

Are you based in London and have a role that fits? Get in touch (rob@rawkes.com) and let's talk!