The word is out. I’m changing employers. For the sake of all parties involved, let me take a minute to explain the move. I realize some people are making assumptions, and I want everyone to be clear.

First, no ill will towards the old employer

I love what they’re doing. The whole idea behind CommonWell is genius and I hope it becomes a larger reality. They took a WinForms developer and gave him the chance to become an experienced, certified web developer. I got to fly out to San Francisco enough that I was able to learn the sitar. I got to work on the latest technologies. I had a great set of coworkers that were very capable, with an unusually low amount of egos.

There were frustrations, and occasional drama. But what workplace doesn’t have that? And, even in retrospect, those issues were less frequent than most jobs I’ve had and definitely less than a lot of people I talk to at other companies.

So, to be clear, I am not leaving because I’m overly frustrated with something or someone.

It came down to career direction

About eight months ago, a few months before this WordPress account was created, I sat down and tried to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my career. I realized I had two choices. I could stay where I was and use my developer talents to create software in the medical vertical, or I could harness some of my other talents and be something more.

So what are those other talents? In spite of being really smart, I have pretty good social skills (that was a paraphrase of real compliments). I can take relatively complex concepts and break them down so that people can understand them. And, based on the grades of my papers in college, I’m at least a decent writer. All this adds up to the fact that, in addition to coding, I could be facing customers. I could be blogging (is blogging about blogging redundant?). I could speak at conferences or teach.

All those things sound fun, and I wanted to morph my career path to use all those. And that’s where the slight disconnect happened. My employer did not have such a position, and it could be argued that they shouldn’t have that kind of position. They’re selling a set of web services, or a platform, for their customers to use. The realization of that platform did not require the other activities I wished to pursue. In fact, time spent on those other activities would take away from time spent making the platform awesome.

Enter the new employer

The new company has a different model. They’re a consulting firm that sells consulting services. Those services are only as good as the consultant performing them. Therefore, it is in their best interest to have well known hot shots who are part of the development scene. That means they want, or even need, people that are blogging, speaking, and teaching, in addition to developing solutions.

And that is how we came together. My career path exactly matches their employee needs, and together we benefit from some kind of symbiosis. They give me time and budget for blogging, speaking, and going to conferences. With that, I gain stronger skills and notoriety. In return, they are able to sell more consulting because they have a demonstrably better staff than the competition. Imagine how easy it is for the salesperson after they show blogs proving that the company has thought leadership in the area the customer needs.

Final Thoughts

All jobs have hiccups. Your coworkers aren’t perfect. Some of the processes are inefficient. You shouldn’t let those things get to you, or you end up jumping from job to job, letting your emotions dictate your career path by accident. Instead, figure out how to handle those things. Listen to your coworkers before judging, and give them the benefit of the doubt sometimes because technical people are known for having bad communication skills. Remember the qualified compliment I mentioned earlier? I only have pretty good social skills, in light of how smart I am. We all need to be tolerated sometimes.