QotD: My Dream Job

What's that secret dream job you've always believed you'd be good at, but never gone for? 
Submitted by wedgeh.

It's fitting that this is the QotD this morning- my last Monday at my current job, which also happens to be my first 'Dream Job'. Unfortunately I don't really qualify for this question- because I did go for that dream job just over two years ago- and I got it. So instead of discussing the dream job I never went for- I'd like to reflect on the dream job that I got, and that I'm leaving at the end of this week.

In hindsight, I think that perhaps I could have done things a little differently. But perhaps things played out exactly as they were meant to. In the past year especially I've found it difficult to forge forward in my work. The workloads have been ever-increasing, the stressors from life inside and outside of the office have intensified, and as we all moved ahead with the day-to-day duties, things went from being extremely exciting, fresh and new- to dull and dreary and unmotivating. There became no sense of completion- no sense of accomplishment, but perhaps even more frustrating was having no real support from the rest of the staff- things would be put onto a live production site that hadn't been thoroughly tested properly because no 'had time' to look at it. When something was completed it's rare I would hear any kind of thanks or congratulations- but the criticism and on-the-fly changes were always a guarantee. "Why can't we do this instead?" "That's not what the client wanted it to do" etc. Communication around this office, and moreso perhaps, management of not only projects, but people, dwindled as we all found ourselves drowning in a sea of new projects, custom modifications to the software, missed deadlines, meetings, etc. And as things have continued to intensify- at some point one has to begin analyzing how to relieve some of the pressure.
Two years ago when I started this job I learned that the only way of moving forward in life is to physically remove some aspect of it- whether it's losing a childhood home, or a close friend, or changing jobs. Change is constant, and necessary in the progressive movement of life.

Today, my 'Dream Job' isn't the same as it was when I started- sure the work is still generally the same, but the atmosphere and environment is completely different- and a big part of that is found in truth that, I myself am not the same person I was when I started at this job. And sometimes if your energy simply no-longer 'jives' with the energy of your situation, causing friction- and pressure, then the best thing for all parties involved is to make that change so you can all move forward in life.

I've had a very hard time in the last several weeks in coming to deal with the reality that I've put in motion. The concept of leaving a job that, at the core of it all, I do still truly enjoy and love, that truly and honestly gave me a new lease on life- feels so foreign and strange that it seems as though it isn't real. But what I've come to realize is that, strategically- in terms of where I want my career to go, in order to reach my true 'Dream job' -this is the right move to make in that it will allow me to free up my 'mental load' from jumping between two very different programming projects (chaotic at work, abstract at home) and focus all my programming energies on my project and do something different during the day.

It's important for me to realize that at the end this week I'm leaving my first 'Dream Job'- not my only one. I will absolutely, undoubtedly miss all the little things that have made my time at this job so memorable and enjoyable. I have no ill-feelings leaving this place, perhaps some underlying frustrations, but nothing like how I've left jobs in the past that have left we essentially disgusted with the company and the industry which it is a part of (notably Cineplex). I hope to continue a relationship with this company well into the future and would entertain the idea of doing some work for them on the side in the future.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to ending my time here- freeing up my mind from all the hang-ups that have been swirling in my head for the last few years, and while I do feel a little sentimental about the idea of leaving my first 'Dream Job'- I'm 'Fired Up' to take on what comes next in a new position with a new company, in a new office.

The changes continue... stay tuned...