2 Weeks and 4 Days
November 28, 2008 – 3:15 pm… that’s how long I stayed in the previous company. I started at this IT consulting company, one of the biggest in Canada and has a three-letter acronym, about 3 weeks ago as a Systems Analyst. I didn’t like it at all, and probably have made up my mind to quit within the first week. (For the record, I am not proud of changing jobs so soon. In fact, I enjoyed working at YottaYotta, the first company I joined after grad school. I worked there for 2 years and 4 months, and I could have worked there much longer if not for the company acquisition.) There were lots of reasons why I quit, and I am going to write a separate post to expand on it. In a nutshell, it is too “big” for me: not in the sense of company size or market capital, but there is just too much frameworks, processes, protocols, standards, compliance, templates, time sheets, etc.
The project itself is interesting to me. However, I am afraid I need to fight a lot of battles before I got to do what I love: software design and development, the technical stuff. Some of my friends suggested me to stay for a little longer, because they think some work experience on government projects with a large company can pad up my resume. I sincerely appreciate my friends’ suggestions. They are clearly thinking for my own good. But I already got interviews from Google, Amazon, BioWare, and I aced my interviews with Research In Motion. I am either a very lucky bastard, or my resume is good enough as it stands. I can’t give my best performance if I need to cry every morning before coming to work. The project manager, who is a car enthusiast, mentioned during coffee break that he would be happier if he were a car mechanics. His words resonated with me. I believe I made the right decision.
It is all OK now. I don’t aspire to people wearing suits and working in downtown skyscrapers no more. Been there, seen that. Now back to the basics.