New Job!

Two years ago, I decided to accept a position as a software engineer with Micron in Boise. The company was doing well, hiring, paying generously, and offering relocation to Boise. It seemed like a good financial move and it has proved to be one. However, roughly 8 months after my start date, the company decided its IS (information systems) costs were too high and decided to outsource as much of its IS department as possible. This was slightly problematic because my relocation assistance included a two year commitment for which the penalty was full reimbursement. In other words, I was stuck if they chose to keep me!

It turned out they went with a 50% headcount reduction, with all of that being workers and none of it being management. Even though management created the cost problem, they certainly weren't the ones to be held accountable! For some unknown reason, my position was retained. In February and March, I had to record training sessions to teach the replacement workers how to do my job. By early May, my team had went from 14 employees to 4 (of which I was the only remaining software developer). Once my team was gone and my job duties outsourced, nobody seemed to know what I should be doing. It was at this time that I realized that November 6, 2008, would be an important date - it was the date my relocation commitment expired!

Once I had no team and sat adrift in a sea of vacant cubes, I ended up working on low priority projects by myself for roughly 4 months, until the work ran out. After that, I was left with a bunch of idle time waiting for management to reconfigure themselves so they could tell me what to do. Lots of great web surfing was accomplished during these days. There's nothing like having a meaningless job in a stink-pit post-apocalyptic cube farm downwind from the sugar beet processing plant!

In October, after approximately six months of me performing useless work, the management team decided I should work on their business intelligence systems, an area in which I have had no training or experience. But they had gotten rid of all of the previous developers and I was twiddling my thumbs, so I guess it made a good fit (in the Micron sort of way). Fortunately by this time I had starting interviewing elsewhere!

I had two leads but only one made an offer: Telemetric. I was very impressed by this company during my interview and they seemed very interested in bringing me on board. The company is doing well and the position seems well suited to my skills and desired career path. I start as a senior software engineer on November 17th.

Today, one day after my relocation commitment expired, I had the pleasure of informing management that my time of needlessly consuming company money was over. They have tight budget reduction goals to hit, you know! Anyway, I put in my notice at about 9:30am and was out the door just after 12pm! Woohoo! Freedom!

But before my career path continues on its meandering journey, one thing remains.... Vacation! To Florida!!