LeeMobile

Moving On

Well, it’s been a good 13 month run with Waypoint (www.waypointinfo.com) but it’s about that time to move on to another job.

On Monday, I started my new job at Rove Mobile (www.rovemobile.com).  They’re situated right in the middle of the Byward Market, so it’ll be a fun environment to work in.  It’s a bit of a commute, but hopefully it’ll be worth it.  It is definitely a nice change from the isolation from my previous office.  I do believe that your environment can stimulate you in many ways.

A career in software development is unlike a lot of jobs.  It’s a career where you change jobs often.  Of course, there are a few exceptions such as running your own company, working in a very large corporation, or in the government.  Even then, there are always stories of Microsoft employees and Googlites switching jobs quickly too.  Yours truly left the federal government to enter the private sector.  I personally think moving around is healthy, albeit at the cost of job security and a fat pension.

I guess it comes down to the nature of work in software development. It’s a job where you do problem-solving on a daily basis. It requires that developers are always on their feet, ready to adapt and solve various problems that are thrown at them.  That’s why I’m in it, because I wanted a career where I wouldn’t have to continually “grind” over the same thing.  The unfortunate side effect is that when we’re not challenged, developers quickly become bored and leave.

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Life at Waypoint had its ups and downs, like any company.  The people there were great, and the atmosphere was casual.  However, for a small startup I didn’t feel like I was part of a focused and cohesive team. I think that’s an essential ingredient for succes, because it’s too costly to be inefficient when you’re small.

Compensation was a sticking point too. Right now there are just way too many jobs and too few quality developers.  Hell, in this market you don’t need to be great to find work, just simply being decent will get you pretty far.  It’s the simple case of supply and demand, and the supply is really small and the demand keeps on growing.

Salaries are rising each year, and I was forgoing a bit in the hopes of getting into a company early on.  For me to stay any longer, I would’ve had needed to be convinced that there was a better chance for great success.  It couldn’t just be average success, or mediocre success, because that’s all too easy to find in a city like Ottawa.  It had to be worth the opportunity cost.

I learned a lot of things there at Waypoint, and met some really good people.  I’ve never felt as confident about my skills, and I attribute that to my experience with the company.  I wish I could have stayed longer, but it was about time I had to go.

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Anyways, enough with the negative news.  The positive news is that three days in with Rove Mobile I’m pretty happy and assured that I made the right choice to switch.  I get a pretty good set of benefits and a pay bump.  More importantly, I’m part of a more energetic and vibrant work environment.  There is a greater sense of focus, and they seem to be much more agile and current in an industry that is always changing.  The people are pretty friendly, and though the commute is a little longer it’s nice to see crowds of miscellaneous people again.  I’m already holed up in Barhaven, so it’s nice to get out.

The working environment really helps too.  I get a pretty nice desk, dual screens, and the company has invested in a lot of Herman Miller Mirra office chairs.  If anyone remembers the dot com bubble, those $1000 chairs used to be the icon of startups.  I even got my own box of business cards!  I’ve never had business cards before.  I must be moving on up.

Anyways, things change and life goes on.  Things seem really good at my new job so far, I hope things stay that way.

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