Bigger and Better Things

I like to take a month or so off from blogging during the summer, but my CCIE R&S written studies pushed that back a bit.  I’ve finally got my lazy self back on track, but it may just be for a few days since I’ve accepted a new job in another city and am in the process of moving.

I am really excited about the new position.  Since I haven’t started yet, I’m not going to reveal who the company is, but you’ve all seen the name.  They’re forming a new group to handle specialty services for customers, and I’ll be working for the manager of that team as the Senior Network Engineer.  My future boss is a CCIE, so that’s a great start; we didn’t even have a CCNA at my current company until about 2007.  The job is going to be great, and the wife and I are both up for new adventures.

So, why am I leaving?  I’m going to take the high road here and not whine about all the little issues, but there are several that pushed me to look for a new job.  For one, my current company is primarily in print media – newspapers, magazines, books, etc.  When was the last time that you read a newspaper?  Hell, I haven’t read a newspaper in 13 years and I work for a newspaper company.  Sales of print media have been dropping quickly since this whole Interwebs came about, and revenue from the online versions of media are less than 10% of those from print.  It’s just a matter of time before the whole industry goes away, and I wanted to move on gracefully.  Scrambling for a job in this economic online blackjack training climate wouldn’t be a happy place.

The most pressing reason for leaving the company, though, is the fact that the IT services are in the process of moving to a new joint venture company headed by NIIT Technologies.  While this opens up a much broader world, there is always the question of how long my job will be in place with the new company.  I’ve spent the last 4 weeks meeting with the NIIT guys, and they are absolutely wonderful.  They know their stuff, ask the right questions, and do their homework when learning about the network.  Without a doubt, I’d enjoy working with them, but the my group’s future (and even the future of the whole new company) is no longer a certainty.  Again, it’s time to move on gracefully.

Now we have to move to the big city of Atlanta.  I have a small apartment there to live in while we work to sell the house.  The wife is staying for nowto get the house ready to sale, but I’ll make the 5-hour drive on weekends to help out.  It’ll be a struggle for the next few months until the house is sold, but it’ll definitely be worth it in the end.

I start the new job on Monday, 7 November, so I’ll be making my way up with my TV and blow-up mattress this weekend to start the adventure.  My last day with my current company is actually tomorrow, so I’ll be on the road to headquarters to hand in all my stuff.  Hands will be shaked (?), lunch will be eaten, “do they have any openings” jokes will be told.

Most importantly, though, something bigger and better will begin.