Back in September, I had a post up discussing my work where I was looking to jump ship from a company with sinking fortunes. As part of seeking a new job, in early October, I went to my old university campus as they were hosting a career fair for IT. At that time, markets were melting as if the end of the world was in sight. But lo and behold, I met with numerous companies who are on track to double in size and are currently seeking tens of employees.
The job market for IT is hot and it is offering generous salaries to developers, particularly those with development experience on the iPhone, Android and Windows Phone platforms. This is the new world market place and everyone wants to be part of it which is fueling a lot of demand for mobile apps with multi-platform support. It’s a far cry from the early 2000 when the dot com bubble made it very difficult for grads to find a job.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for me to find a job as I landed a product manager position with a small startup in this field. My new company is in bed with Microsoft so we have a steady stream of projects in the pipe and we are looking to double in size over 2012 as the company expands to meet increasing demand. This is one example I can accurately report on since I am right on the frontlines. In my new job, you’d think the TSX is at 15,000 when you look at the project pipeline, demand is on fire (our project pipeline queue is at 200% of our capacity!).
Missing the lottery prize by a number
My ex-company is slowly dying for refusing to evolve their product offering, a fact that I highlighted in my last post. They are embellishing an old product even though the market is no longer there for it. In early November, they cut a significant portion of the workforce and unfortunately, yes unfortunately, I was not included. The company was offering 8 weeks of salary + 3 weeks per year of service. That means my severance package would have amounted to about 26 weeks! 1 week after the layoffs, I resigned as my new job was waiting for me. It still frustrates me to know I wasn’t laid off as the package would have significantly advanced my financial time table. On the other hand, maybe it’s better to just walk out with your head high. Who am I kidding; I would have preferred the money 
Work vs Passion??
For those amongst you who are studying software engineering, the tablet/smartphone sector is the place to be. Make sure you love programming as it takes passion to succeed and with success you will command the high salary you’re dreaming of.
My new job is a major milestone in my career that is the envy of many aspiring colleagues I know. It is much more exciting and challenging as my clients and projects involve top of the line companies like Nokia and Microsoft. But I have to be honest, for me this remains simply a job as my heart lies right here in the oil patch, my calling remains in writing, research, analysis, investment and the art of extracting useful info. Sometimes I get the feeling I work in the wrong field and live in the wrong province!
Forward March
All of this to say: my new job will not affect the operations of this site. On the contrary the focus has now shifted to higher quality articles. Beatingtheindex will go on with the same vigor in the hope that one day this will spawn a new career. I am a simple guy who would choose passion over the prestige of a high level position anytime. Finally, I still consider myself lucky enough since I am able to enjoy my passion through this site.
Are you lucky in your Work vs??Passion??equation’
