I have been searching for jobs for a couple months now, knowing that my contract with my employer was set to expire in August with no sign that I was any closer to doing what most interests me - making web applications. It has been with some pain that I have restrained myself from discussing job possibilities for fear that doing so could cause me to lose my job with nothing yet to replace it. And it has been particularly difficult to not discuss the job I accepted today, as I felt the job offer was becoming increasingly certain after the phone interview, and then the interview. I have told people over the past few days that I was about 80% sure I would get a job offer after my interview this past weekend. But that 20% of uncertainly about unemployment just isn't worth a juicy weblog post.
But now I have a new job. In late May I will begin working at The Integer Group - Midwest in Des Moines, Iowa. I will be a web developer working mostly on standards-compliant and open source-centric intranet applications for Integer's employees. But I may also have opportunities to do things like Dashboard Widgets, AppleScripts, OS X desktop applications and pretty much everything else I currently do for fun.
The actual work is just the tip of the great new job iceberg. The office sits on a hill with an excellent view in all directions, and is filled with natural lighting, food and drink, interesting people, pretty things, and everything else I imagined I would find in a dot-com job straight out of college before the tech bubble burst. The interview process involved several long, interesting conversations with people throughout the company, during which I was never once asked about my salary expectations. Instead I was asked things like what I learned in Taiwan, and how I managed to hit myself in the head with a boomerang. The interview was more fun than stressful.
I have little doubt the job will also be as much fun as work. But it will be a lot of work. And it will also be a lot of work to move and get started in a new town where I don't really know anyone. And it will be sad to leave my friends and family here in Bloomington, particularly Los Vivos. I may still play with Los Vivos one more time at the upcoming show at the Tremont Turkey Festival on June 11, but by then I expect to be pretty well settled into a new job, a new town, and a largely new life. And I'm very much looking forward to it.