Should I Have Been a Carpenter?

This year marks my 20th year working in the technology industry. It’s a significant milestone and has me thinking back to the alternate career paths I could have / might have taken. When I went to St. F.X., I was on a track to get a degree in Accounting and then go on to Dalhousie Law. This alternate path never came to be as I ended up dropping out of St. F.X. while simultaneously falling in love with technology. It worked out and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Earlier in life, I wanted to be a carpenter like my Dad. There’s probably some study somewhere that shows that 86.7% of children’s first desired profession is that of their parent(s). I was no different.

Recently, my Dad agreed to help me rebuild and expand the rear deck on our house. This gave me a glimpse of what could have been had I followed in his footsteps. In all, it was about 4 days of effort for us to completely replace the deck and build a set of stairs to the ground. We had a great time working on this together and let me tell you… even at 67… that dude’s still got it!

So, what did this experience tell me about my career choice? I know I’m where I should be… behind a keyboard . I will say that there is something very gratifying about expending effort and seeing immediate return. Most of my work these days has a much longer tail to it and outcomes are realized months or years in the future.

Hats off to all the carpenters out there. is where the is and that special place wouldn’t be possible without you.