lojjic.net
Home of Jason Johnston
Monday, January 21, 2008
This morning I put in my two weeks notice at Intrado.
It's been part of our plan from the beginning of this whole "lifestyle makeover" that we'd move to downtown, Julie would start up her consulting business, and I would find a swank job within walking distance where I could be a Web rockstar. It's happened a lot faster than either of us expected but we're now three for three.
I'd been keeping my eye out for job postings for a few months but hadn't actively pursued any. At November's Refresh Denver meeting I met Jay, a developer at Local Matters in downtown Denver. He told me a bit about the company and that it was a great place to work, and I took a look at their job postings and it sounded like exactly what I was looking for. Fast-forward two months and I got an interview.
I made the walk down to the Local Matters office on Friday morning -- brisk but not uncomfortably cold once the blood got pumping. I filled out an application and then met with Jake, the manager of the development team. He gave me a very thorough introduction to the company's business, internal development processes, and culture. Then he brought in Jill and Ross, two of their user interface engineers, who grilled me on my experience with various UI technologies, Web standards, preferred tools, and beer preference. I think I really realized the interview was going well when they started ribbing me about my affinity for Blue Moon.
The company seems to have a real startup-like atmosphere, though it seems very well established and successful so I don't feel the level of risk of a startup. The thing that stuck out most to me was that they really realize the value of brain power... they obviously have been extremely selective about the engineers they hire, so everyone there is very smart and brilliant at what they do. And they realize that smart people can come up with innovative, business-altering ideas if allowed the opportunity and resources to experiment. Basically it's exactly the sort of environment where I thrive.
They obviously realized the match as well, since they made me a very good offer only about an hour after I got back from the interview. I held off accepting on the spot so I could discuss the benefits package etc. with Julie (this whole marriage thing is a collaborative effort after all) but ended up accepting later that day.
So this morning I got to break the news to my boss Victor and the rest of my colleagues. Everyone has been very congratulatory but sad to see me go. It's definitely bittersweet for me, because Intrado has by and large been very good to me over my four years there. I've been given plenty of opportunity to grow and learn -- I came in not knowing a lick of Java but now consider myself a senior-level Java programmer -- and have enjoyed working with the people there. It's also rare to be able to know that the code you're writing is directly saving lives by making sure 9-1-1 calls get routed to the right emergency services.
But when I really think about what's important to me in my long-term career, both professionally and personally, Intrado just doesn't match up. The commute is long and grueling, but I want to be able to walk or bike to work. I'm a Web guy who's attracted to the freedom and sharing of information that the public Web provides, but Intrado's applications, while largely browser-based, are all private. I want to be able to work with cutting edge technologies, and even help invent them, but that doesn't fit in with a 9-1-1 company where technologies must be stable and proven for reliability. I only want to be limited by my own intellect and programming skills, but too often at Intrado I find myself limited by the processes of a large company. This all says that it's time for something new.
So two weeks from today, on my birthday, I will start my new job as User Interface Engineer at Local Matters. These next two weeks promise to be very full as I do my best to transfer as much knowledge to my Intrado colleagues as possible. I'm extremely excited about the new opportunities I will have, and how all the difficulty and frustration we've experienced with our lifestyle plans over the past year are coming together exactly how we hoped. Life is good.
