If you ever have any questions about Celtic Studies, James Moore is your man.
He studied it at UC Berkeley and to mix things up or give himself a break from the books, he picked up coding in his dorm room. He didn’t view it as a career opportunity at the time because for him, it started out as a hobby.
“When I was in college, I recognized there were academic pursuits I loved and software was just a side hobby.”
- James Moore, Engineer on Braintrust
Thirty years later, you can find James’ code all over the world wide web, with companies he’s freelanced and occasionally worked in-house for.
But the biggest struggle for James has always been finding new work. “I’ve built a good network over the years and I’m able to leverage it, but one of my problems has been that I don’t have a good system for finding new work.”
That’s when he found Braintrust.
Now instead of having to reach out to contacts and seek out job opportunities by himself, which can take hundreds of hours, he has Talent Specialists at Braintrust that can vet job opportunities and introduce him to specific projects that he’s uniquely qualified for.
As a result, he doesn’t have to spend his days on LinkedIn or hop from talent network to talent network, saying ‘yes’ to any opportunity that presents itself. Instead, he can go on Braintrust and choose to work on projects he’s actually passionate about in industries he’s always wanted to work in.
And counting. James may not have envisioned the exact career path he’s carved for himself when he was back at Berkeley, but his devotion to learning and continuing to find new and interesting skills like coding have put him in a position to keep building a great career. And thanks to the constant drum beat of great clients and projects, James will stay busy and grow his business on Braintrust.
One of the things that James loves about being a freelancer is the ability to hit the ground running. When working as a full-time employee, it can take months to get fully onboarded and feel comfortable in your role.
But as a freelancer, you can get interviewed, hired, and fully onboarded all in one week. “I think what’s made me successful is being able to come in and be a contributor almost right away.”
It’s that readiness and willingness that allows him to generate the most value for his clients...which just means that he gets to spend more time doing what he’s good at instead of trying to figure out how to operate inside a traditional hierarchical work environment.
Just like James loved learning to write code alongside studying in the Celtic Studies Program at UC Berkeley, he thrives when he’s faced with new challenges. “I love the idea of working on a lot of different projects and getting exposed to new companies and industries.”
When working as a full-time employee it can feel like you’re stuck in one continuous loop. Today’s challenges are tomorrow’s challenges. And the next day’s. And the next.
But as a freelancer, James exposes himself to new industries, new challenges, and new ways of doing things. And as a result, he brings a whole lot more experience to the table than if he had stuck in the same role with the same company his entire career.
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