For the last few years, I have tried to arrange my career around the following two principles:
- Surround myself with the smartest people I can find.
- Be prepared to do the thing that scares me a little bit.
And it’s been working great. This led me to leave a full-time SaaS company to join ILM Professional Services a few years ago. As a software consultant, I was able to work on multiple projects for different companies, learn new technologies and different methodologies, and have a lot of fun doing it. But the best part about ILM is its people. Even though I would go out to work at client sites, ILM fosters a real sense of community and family, so I was never on an island.
I really can’t say enough good things about ILM. If you’re a software developer in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, you love to code, and you have a thirst for knowledge, you should check them out. Tell them David sent you.
These principles of mine also led me to write my book, Learning NServiceBus, which is now in its second edition. Compared to the effort that goes into writing a book, you really don’t get paid that much in terms of raw dollars, but it has been amazing for my career growth. Pretty soon I was speaking at conferences and teaching the official NServiceBus training course.
And that has all led to this moment.
It’s sad to have to leave ILM, because they have become a family to me, but I am very excited to be joining Particular Software full-time on May 4. (That’s right, May the Fourth!) It’s pretty difficult to find someone smarter than Udi Dahan, and it will be a privilege to work for him. Add in all the other extremely smart and talented people in the company, and I just hope that I’ll be able to keep up.
When I first moved away from home to go to college, my father told me, “Well son, this is going to be quite the adventure.” Well, the adventure continues, and I’m excited to get started.