[ale] Career decision

[Louis Zamora]

Dear Friend,

In 1993, due to Congress cutting back defense budgets, California was hit
very hard and technical jobs were drying up.
I lost my great job and all the Employment Office could say is that if I
wanted to work in IT, I had to leave the state and here I am.
Having been in your shoes, I'd like to share some information with you:

1. Money, job and titles come and go and should be secondary to your
decision to move. In fact, they should be secondary to why you are leaving
your current company (majority of fortune 100 C-Levels stayed put as young
employees, when opportunities where screaming to take them elsewhere). A
friend of mine left Atlanta, 4 weeks ago, to work in Washington state. He
was fired yesterday and his and his truck was stolen last weekend.

2. If the move is going to draw you closer to the person(s) you love, do it.
If it will draw you away don't. I guarantee you will pick up bad habits if
you don't resolve this issue first. Many migrant workers come to America
"for work reasons" and emotionally abandon their loved ones back home. Those
who deny the hurt try to anesthetize it with alcohol, sex or drugs. The
fortunate ones bring mama and they temporarily sacrifice together rather
than starve apart.

3. If the move is going to expose you to people and cultures outside your
"comfort zone" it is absolutely worth it. All I knew was that Georgia was
one of the 13 colonies (having limos and cash in California it was easy to
ignore my arrogance and stupidity).

4. If the individuals, you will be working with, value integrity, honor and
openly demand the same of you, run to them.

Moving to another city is still as emotionally exciting, risky, challenging
and demanding as it was in the days of  our forefathers when fulfilling our
Manifest Destiny. Remember, not everyone became rich, as they thought they
would,  but many left incredible legacies for their children. To date, my
greatest title in Georgia is Grandpa.

I will soon be celebrating my 10 year anniversary in Georgia. Those who
loved me 10 years ago love me more. Those who I have met along the way have
changed, challenged and forced me to become a man I never imagined I could
be. I am grateful that I moved and I am grateful that my IT experience
opened the door and has brought me thus far.

I hope this helps and I am available offline.

Louis Zamora
www.delacruzinteractive.com
www.revival-usa.org
www.blueoats.com



-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org]On Behalf Of
Willie Leave
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 12:15 AM
To: ale at ale.org
Subject: [ale] Career decision


Ok.  For months now I've seen a foreboding front
crawling across the horizon.  Programming jobs *seem*
to be slowing disappearing or moving away, whatever
the reason.

As luck would have it, I've been offered a Director of
Software Development position at a company in
Greensboro, NC.  The group I'd manage initially is
small (5-6 programmers) but could grow.  They're using
some closed-source cruft now but the VP is interested
in going open source, and he's an ex-manager of mine,
hence my offer.

The money is ok, the relocation won't even begin to
cover the cost of moving and paying the !$*#$ realtors
(man...do those guys bleed you), the time for selling
our current house is not good (typically, Nov - Feb ==
worse time to sell a house).  Lots of negatives.

However, on the flip side, this is Director-level
experience.  While it may be a relatively small group,
I can grow it, make a difference, and look quite
different on a resume in two years.

This is probably one of the most difficult decisions
I've ever made.  I have a family to think about.  I'm
worried about being able to sell our house here, and
worse yet, if something ever happened to my job (or
when I want to move back, which I estimate about 2
years out), trying to sell my Greensboro house in a
worsening economy there.

So, I'd love to hear input from the group.  Is a
"Director" label on your resume worth it in the long
term?  Will it add job security?  Is the management
experience worth it?

I personally believe in taking risks, so I'm leaning
towards making the jump and possibly taking a loss in
$$ in the short term.  However, feel free to let your
opinions fly... ;-)

Thanks for the input!

<name undisclosed to protect the innocent>

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