Career Change Ahead

Like many others I’ve been watching with apprehension as the tech and finance sectors have faced layoff after layoff. Last month my employer announced organization-wide restructuring which left my position in question.

I’ve been laid off before, so I spent several weeks fearing the worst. When the time came, my fears were all but confirmed – my role (and team!) had been eliminated as a consequence of the restructuring.

I was devastated. I had just crossed my 10-year service date. By all accounts I had always been told my work (and my team’s work) was above-and-beyond. Yet despite that, our entire function was being dissolved. It was hard to reconcile.

Thankfully, though, this was not to be the end. Instead of getting the boot I was given the choice between two stellar job offers. As it turns out, I have a lot of incredible co-workers in my corner, and they worked their butts off to keep me around. I cannot adequately express my gratitude for their efforts, so I can only hope to repay the favor in the future.

After spending a couple days weighing the options I made the decision to accept a new position as an Associate Software Engineer. I start next month and suffice to say: I’m excited. And nervous. And eager. I’ll be joining a team I love, doing work that relates to the business knowledge I’ve built during my tenure so far. So, in a way, it feels like less of a total career change and more like a level-up.

Of course, there will be a LOT of ground to cover. To get started I’ll be following The Odin Project’s Full Stack Ruby on Rails curriculum. I’ve also set up a new repository where I’ll be keeping track of things I find interesting as I learn. Feel free to follow along!