I did something big yesterday. How big? Well, imagine a day featuring the following events: your first kiss, graduation day, and getting mauled by a radioactive bobcat. Yesterday blew that out of the water. Essentially what happened was, I decided to switch to a different, but similar job a couple miles down the road for slightly more money. Is your mind blown?! Mine was.
I'd been working at the same place since I graduated college and moved to Austin 5 years ago. We had some good times, the job and I. I will treasure such memories as our back-to-back championship softball seasons, my victory in the chili cookoff, and that week when the roofers set some insulation on fire and the whole building smelled like a stinky butt.
Unfortunately, the past year was kinda tough. A lot of my friends left the company, they cancelled a project I'd worked on for a couple of years, and again, the roofers set some insulation on fire right above my office. (Were they trying to stink me out of my own office? We'll never know.) It's still a good company with lots of good folks, but at the start of the year, I decided it was time to see what else was out there.
The job search was actually pretty fun. The market for software developers in Austin is really good right now; I probably could've talked a few companies into providing permanent chaffeur service. I interviewed with some cool companies and, for whatever reason, I seemed to impress some people. Was it my know-how? Was it my dressy, but not too dressy, but kinda fun interview attire? Was it my request not to get paid ever for any work I might do? We'll never know.
The good thing about the job market being good is that I had some different offers to entertain, and I ended up accepting one with a start-up that's starting an Austin office. It's a cool company with some exciting prospects. My first day is February 11; I'll be spending that first week up in Boston doing some training, and then it's back to the 512.
To my new colleagues, I say prepare yourself for Cody Powell, professional bit baffler. To my soon-to-be-former colleagues, I say good times, guys, and watch out for the roofers.
Posted by Cody at January 24, 2008 7:00 PM