So, I've been wanting to share some happenings in my life since pretty early last year, but COVID struck, and (as a result) I kind of disconnected from everyone but my partner, some really close friends, and even closer family. Even as vaccines were rolled out, I was incredibly hesitant to jump into any social situations due to some personal obligations that were demanding my attention. Once 2021 came into view, things started to turn around, and that's why I want to talk about it.
In January and February, I got my COVID vaccines. While I was super stoked to get back out there, socialize, repair some relationships, and meet new people; I was also up to my eyeballs in some long-running work projects that required an immense amount of energy and focus. I work in IT, mostly enterprise and provider level stuff, and I do enough IT stuff at this level that I typically just summarize what I do as "making the Internet work". The projects I completed in January - March were around standards definition/implementation/compliance and Engineer Onboarding and Professional Development. Completing these projects (there were about a dozen in total), put an exclamation point on my 2020 (the most productive and impactful year of my 20-year career in IT). With my projects completed and all of my 2020 goals exceeded, I put together and submitted my leveling packet with pretty high confidence that my consistent hard work would be rewarded. The highlight of March would have to be celebrating my 3rd anniversary with my partner (she's the best, btw, full stop).
In April, we started house shopping. I had spent most of 2020 getting my personal debt under control so that we could get the best value for what we were expecting to spend. Of course, we had already started this process when I got news from my leadership team that --despite 2020 being the company's most profitable year ever-- 1) they would not be considering anyone for leveling in 2021, and 2) the company would not be awarding merit increases, but that my job was safe and that I was at zero risk of being laid off. So, in addition to starting a house search, I also started a "passive" job search.
In May, I turned 41 (my mom turned 59, and 14 other family members also celebrated their most recent lap around the Sun). With COVID still wrecking everything I wanted to do for celebrating, I decided to put an offer in on a house, and my offer was accepted (given the market in Phoenix, the best birthday present EVER). May kind of bled into June with the house stuff (inspections, mortgage, concessions, final walkthrough, signing, etc.), but by the end, we had keys to our new home.
On July 1st, we moved into our new home, then proceeded to finance a new water filtration and softening system (if you live in Phoenix, this is the best investment you'll ever make for your health), some new tools (I have a yard, and a pool, and a garage and I am so excited to do projects again), and other things you don't typically have if you've been living in apartments for a while. The following week, the AC in my car (a 2011 Volkswagen GTI, which I loved) stopped blowing cold (if you live in Phoenix, you already understand this is a disaster of epic proportions). After getting a quote for repairs (holy ouch!), I decided I would be better off buying a new truck. After a few test drives, I walked into a Toyota dealership and drove off in my brand new (13 miles on the odometer, 8 of which were from my test drive!!!) Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro.
I guess the Universe made the decision that I needed to find a new job shortly after/before I purchased my truck, because about a week later I got pulled into a zoom session with my manager, my director, my executive sponsor, and HR so they could let me know that I was "being laid off, that the decision had nothing to do with me, and that I was entitled to a severance package upon completing 6 months of service wherein I would be expected to interview, hire, onboard, and train my offshore replacement. At this point, I had very little goodwill left for the company, so I switched my job search from "passive to active".
In August, I committed to 3 - 5 interviews per week. This was a pretty solid limit considering the amount of interest I was getting (15 - 40 daily contacts). Now, I'm pretty picky about where I work, so there are brutal filters at every step of the process. Of the ~400 inquiries I got regarding my interest, I had 43 phone calls with recruiters, leading to 28 first interviews. About half of my first interviews converted to second interviews (15), 10 of which resulted in an offer. After reviewing everything I knew (compensation, signing bonus, stock options, benefits, perks, culture, career development, etc.), I chose the one I felt was the best fit, counteroffered (note: always counteroffer, but counteroffer intelligently), and accepted a new role. I ended August by submitting my 2-week resignation notice.
In September, I picked up a temporary roommate so that he has a place to stay while he looks for a new house. Aside from all the busy work that comes with a new job (background check, clearances, work authorization, NDAs, etc.), I mostly spent September trying to catch my breath. We did make a trip to Valencia to ride rollercoasters at Six Flags Magic mountain. Of course, we stayed for Fight Fest, and got to catch a sweet ride on Goliath just after sunset where my partner did the most romantic (for me) thing ever: she proposed right before we plunged 255 feet (~78 meters) accelerating to 85 mph (~38m/s), putting me on an incredible high before starting my new job the following Monday.
2021, what a fucking year, right?!
