This post has been a long time coming. I finally made it. I am currently siting at my new desk in Weston, Massachusetts where I now hold the title of Associate Release Engineer for Monster Worldwide, Inc. Here’s a quick breakdown of the events that transpired:
2/18/2016 – I applied to a Software Engineering Internship position at Monster through their website.
3/3/2016 – I received an email back asking me to come in for an interview on the 15th.
3/15/2016 – I went in for my interview. A number of potential interns were there (over 20 were interviewed in total). We received a brief tour and introduction and then met with the teams. I discussed my abilities and experience and why I would be good for the position. I left feeling good and wrote thank you emails soon after.
3/17/2016 – I give BCNC my three weeks notice. The workload combined with my schoolwork is too much. I needed to leave so I could focus on developing myself for a new career.
3/28/2016 – I receive an email back telling me that I didn’t get the internship, but that there was another manager that might be interested in my skills. Talent acquisition and I exchange some emails and schedule a phone interview.
4/1/2016 – I have my first phone interview with talent acquisition and the manager. More emails are exchanged. I’m asked to come in for an interview.
4/7/2016 – I have my last day of work at BCNC. It’s a somber affair. Having spent so many years there, longer than any other job, it really is hard to say goodbye.
4/13/2016 – I have my next interview with the manager and and some of the devs and engineers. It goes really well!
4/15/2016 – Talent Acquisition calls me back. They’re offering me a job! With higher pay and better benefits than my previous job! My wife and I promptly freak out. The next few days are a blur of paperwork to get the hiring process finalized. Eventually…
5/2/2016 – I start my new job at Monster.
What a ride. I left my previous job with no anticipation of having a new one. It was by complete luck and the stars aligning to give me this opportunity right at the moment I needed it most. It was also incredibly gracious of Monster to give this opportunity. The position was originally earmarked as a senior position. However, one of the senior devs felt it would be more prudent for the company to hire a beginner and train them into the position. I feel like this is something a lot of companies are not willing to do anymore, and as of such, I am incredibly grateful to them. I love my new job and love finally being in the field. I feel like I have forever been on the outside looking in and it seems so surreal that I am finally here.
There’s a lot to learn. Oh my goodness is there much to learn! Monster was one of the first 1,000 websites ever created and there’s a lot of code that has built up since then! There are many tools I am now working on becoming proficient with, including MSBuild, C#, .NET, CruiseControl.NET, Jenkins, Perforce, Jira, NuGet, Confluence and more. But I’m more than willing to do the work. I’m studying my butt off and learning tons. I really can’t believe I’m here doing what I’m doing. It seems much too… soon? I never thought I could make a career transition this quickly. It just goes to show you that if you want anything bad enough, and you put in the time and effort, you can get it.
In other news, I just finished my finals for my Discrete Structures and Intro to Usability Engineering classes. With all of the changes going on in my life, I really couldn’t devote the time to them that I needed and they deserved. I think I still finished strong though, and I’m looking forward to my Fall semester where I plan on taking Computer Architecture and Assembly Language. Until then, I have the summer to enjoy and my new job to keep me occupied. I really haven’t felt this happy in a long time.
See you around!