xset

Moving on # 2

// July 27th, 2005 // Personal

Apologies to those who were left concerned by the non-committal tone of my big announcement. Yesterday was all a bit of a blur and I didn’t really consider the implications of such a brief post. Hopefully all follicles are intact?

So …

Yeah …

I quit my job.

Let’s start with a bit of background:

• I work for a large IT company (the largest in the Channel Islands by quite some margin) who we shall refer to from this point forward as MegaComp
• I have worked for them since November 2002
• This was my first proper job since graduating
• I was hired as a web designer
• I have since extended my remit to cover a whole load of things from Intranet implementation through, document management and out the other side.
• About 8 months ago I became aware of a nagging feeling of non-satisfaction*
• About 7 months ago I was offered an opportunity that was very difficult to turn down… but turn it down I did.

I turned it down partially out of loyalty to my current employer but mostly out of fear of change. The opportunity was risky. If it worked out then all involved stood to be very busy (and more than a little well off) for the next 5 years. If it crashed then I would be without a job.

I’ve spent the past 6 months wondering if I made the right decision.

MegaComp then began to work on refining their business objectives and drivers and an awful lot changed. Our target verticals and core competencies had shifted (and rightly so) in such a way that I found myself wondering if I would still have my job in 12 months time. Not to say that I was going to be “let go”, when I say my job I mean the one that I was hired to do, which, coincidentally is also the job I love doing. I would almost certainly be given the opportunity to retrain in a different field but really didn’t find the idea all that appealling.

Then I heard that MegaComp was planning to outsource the development of their internal website.

*snap*

So I made a few calls. The moderately risky but potentially wonderful opportunity was still an option and they were still very interested in bringing me on board.

So I jumped.

I haven’t formalised the details yet but have a 3 month notice period and will be looking to leave MegaComp in October. In the mean time I will be writing rafts of handovers. In my evenings and weekends I will be undergoing an airlift for the new job as I will have to hit the ground running when I start.

And it’s all seriously exciting!

*where as dissatisfaction refers to a negative feeling non-satisfaction is simply the absence of being satisfied