I mentioned in my last post how bad decisions by the powers that be have made the people who work with me want to leave. I helped them along by putting in my 2 weeks notice. I have been thinking about a change from them prior to the announced move to the suburbs, but that decision merely made it much easier to go out, reach out to my contacts and apply for jobs.
The process itself was not that hard; as I alluded to previously, the tech market is quite good in Vancouver and folks with my skill set are lucky enough to be in demand. I have new UI technologies to be exposed to and a new company and technology stack to be exposed to. There are at least 3 familiar faces there that I know of and many more people who know people I know. I did apply to a few places and talked to quite a few people, recruiters and other wise, and after interviewing at 2 places, accepted the job I found to be the most acceptable.
The most interesting thing since the change is the knowledge that many others have, and are applying for work where I am going. My contact there has been asking me if I know person x and y and it is gratifying to know that I may end up working with some of those folks again, in a new environment.
This is a bit of an aspirational post; I don't know what work will really be like, but I am hoping to learn a lot and become a good contributor quickly. There is a lot of new stuff to learn, so I expect to be kept busy with that.
Now, in terms of the issues I brought up previously - vacation, commute and pay - all three have been checked fairly positively. I get more vacation - quite a bit more according to the folks I spoke to there. This excites me much; I am hopeful that I can travel a bit more with the time I have available.
The commute is a real dandy for me. It is a shorter walk to the new place than the old one. I reckon that I will save about 5 minutes each way. The grocery stores I go to are both right beside it as well, which should make after-work shopping a bit easier. The only negative with this commute is that the office is apparently going to get quite full, leading to a possible office move. I did inquire about what their intentions were if that happens, and they assured me that no one is moving to the suburbs; rather they will move around downtown somewhere. I did think out loud during the interview about how there will be some prime real estate that was recently renovated at my current work place, likely available in a couple of months! That would be déjà vu for sure.
Finally, the pay. I told them I would not take a pay cut and that they need to compensate me fairly. A part of me is a bit unhappy that I did not get a raise; every job I have taken has been a decent raise and anecdotal evidence suggests that a new job is the best way to get paid more. They did pay me what I asked for and with the bonus, I should be doing decently better than my current job (sans all the RSUs). If I were not so desperate to get out, I think I would have asked for a bit more; but given that I needed a decent spot to land in fairly quick succession, I decided to forgo a pay raise for a new job.
All in all, I am happy to move on. My coworkers that know tell me that I look happy - and I am. A bit of me is sad to leave my colleagues behind, but if I have learned anything from the Vancouver tech market, it is that you will eventually run into the same people elsewhere. I anticipate more people putting in their notice by the time I am out; and I am happy for those that stick around and for those that move onto new adventures. As for myself, I am incredibly relieved that I am off on a new adventure, one with a lot of promise and growth ahead.
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