I almost spent three months considering if this job transition was going to be worth it. I applied in early December and started almost three months later, and those three months were filled with a lot of research, planning, and pondering.

I was in deed very lucky to have my position at Wells, but there were a lot of things that didn’t make the job feel productive, yet I was getting a very good pay with a larger and more stable company. With a wife, a son, a mortgage, and bills at stake if a job transition went sour, I needed to make sure I was making a good decision before it was too late.

TechTracker wanted to do a small project with me before hand, which was good because it got me into the office again and I had a bit of work experience with two employees. I researched the company online, and weighed my options.

On Thursday I went down and got everything setup. I’m now using a brand new dual core Windows machine with 250 GB drive space and 1GB of RAM, a large monitor (CRT, but it’s doesn’t matter) and a Mac - not sure on the specs yet. Thursday went very well but didn’t involve any actual work, just lots of downloading, installing, and waiting.

On Friday I was ready to get started, and I began setting up some tests on a development server to fix one of the four bugs currently assigned. Within a few hours I had found the problem and had a solution in mind. The fact that I had so quickly found the problem for something that had baffled everyone before made it’s way around the office and I was already getting a great feeling. I continued working the rest of the day, but as I’m still not clear on exactly how they have everything setup, I’m going at a slow pace.

During lunch I can peruse the Borders store two blocks away, eat, walk around downtown, or maybe shop. On Friday I went out to the waterfront for a bit (it’s literally across the street) and just enjoyed it.

The environment is just as I had predicted - very friendly but also hard-working and very flexible with schedules and needs as long as the job gets done. There’s also the option of telecommuting, which I won’t really want to use unless it’s necessary.

If I’m this comfortable after only two days, I’m excited for the rest of my time there.

I began working at Wells Fargo Bank as a temp through Talent Tree on April 15th, 2003. All I was told about my job before showing up was that my call-center experience (Stream) would be needed. At the time I lived in Murrary Hill and had an hour commute via Tri-Met to the center. After arriving for the first day I discovered that I was headed for an inbound-assistance line that helped bankers and customers with their home equity applications. After six months of work as a temp, I was hired on with Wells directly on October 1, 2003. I officially became the last remaining member of a six-person class.

I continued working on the service team through May 2004, handling an estimated 30,000 phone calls in that year and one month. The company decided to promote the entire team, as upcoming changes needed us elsewhere. I accepted the promotion and began training with twenty of my teammates around May 20th, 2004.

Almost immediately my then-supervisors approached me about a new position that they thought I would enjoy. They felt that my technical, logical, and organization skills would make me a prime candidate for a new position. I applied, interviewed, took a test, interviewed again, and on June 14th 2004 I began as an Operations Analyst.

The job was so new it was essentially undefined, I just knew I’d be involved with “various projects”. For the first six months, I investigated the phone system. In October 2004 I had completed a 24-page report detailing the problems with the phone system, and presented it to senior management. It was an extreme over-achievement, as I had simply been asked to present some of the problems, not document every single issue. Though I may have stolen a spotlight, I got a lot of recognition from the senior managers.

Eventually, I was awarded the Rookie of the Year award for all of my work with the telephone system (out of which came the T.A.S.R. application). Though I was happy with the award and certainly happy with the recognition, I was afraid I may have set the bar a little too high for myself.

As 2004 changed into 2005 the focus of my job changed a bit. I had discovered all there was to know about the telephone system, so I needed different work. In April 2005 we began two large projects, one that would last until May 2006 - remodeling the interior of the building.

2005 was a very busy year. Lots of Access databases, hundreds of Excel reports, hundreds of meetings, tens of reports, a few presentations, etc. I taught an email management class to the senior managers in April or May, and I most likely would have done another for supervisors if I had stayed. Though I never did receive a similar award as 2004, I won seven Excellence In Action awards, 5 Team Member Awards, and a plant.

I’ve taken excellent care of my Zebra plant, and have actually had it for more than a year now. This type of plant is said to do very well in an office environment, and though I don’t talk to it and I haven’t named it, I’m attached to it. I’ll definately bring this plant to my new job later this month, and see how it does with a bit more natural light as well.

2006 isn’t much more exciting than 2005, the same old reports and meetings, and other stuff.

I spent so much time on so many projects that never saw the light of day. So many heads spent so much time arguing about the best way to do something that it never actually gets done. The IT department is a group of guys who work with computers because they get paid to, and don’t know a single thing beyond what they read in a Microsoft book. Their lack of passion for technology and their ignorance immediately made my job more difficult. I lost all respect for the IT manager after two utterly stupid and unfair phone conversations with him.

Wells lost Beth and I as customers almost two years ago, and I would never recommend their products. Everything is so political that it’s embarrassing and a lot of what I do is extremely pointless - either because some technology is broken and requires manual work, or because some one thinks it would be nice. I’ve done it because I got paid, and because I certainly found an amazing position considering my age. To receive two promotions in two weeks and to get so many awards makes me feel good, and I had some good friends as well.

However, those friends will be the only thing I miss when I leave.

Today is my last day at Wells Fargo. My manager took me and a coworker out to lunch at Applebees and I’ve been collecting some email addresses from friends to keep in touch. All of my work has been reassigned and today has been a simple one. I’ve finished up a few last things and am waiting on a single item to come back, which may not arrive before I leave.

As I’ve said before, the only thing I’ll miss are the people. Several people have asked if I’m excited and of course I am, but it will take some adjustment as usual when beginning a new position. I’ll be leaving my contact information for business and personal reasons, as I want to keep in contact. I’m sure a few questions might popup after today that only I can answer, so I’ll expect some communication later on.

A few months from now I’ll come in and visit because I live so close, I’ll be interested to hear what became of certain projects or what happened with certain issues. I will wonder what my life would be like if I had stayed, and it visiting may help show me what would have changed.

The only aspect of the new job thatI don’t like is the longer commute, and that’s not that big of a deal. I have more time to listen to my music, and maybe even read, but overall I think that this move is worth it. Of course, that also means I’ll need to get up earlier.

I’m not nervous at all because I’ve been so careful about my decisions that I’m 100% sure I made the right ones. There are a hundred reasons why I took this new job, the top reasons being:

1. Better pay.
2. I really want to work closer with web technology, and with people who know it as well.
3. I’ll be able to cut back a bit on my Botsko.net projects, and have more time with Boo, Beth, and Me.
4. The commute will allow me to listen to my music more, something that’s really important to me.
5. I love working in the downtown area, and until the company moves into a newer building I’ll have a window overlooking the waterfront, sure beats a cube in the middle of a large building.

Luckily I’ve kept some pictures and such of people that I work with, and of my cube. I’m an hour away from turning over all of my files, yet it doesn’t quite seem like it’s the end.

On 12/12/2005 I responded to a job listing for a web-developer on Craigslist. A few phone calls, an interview, and a meeting later I was working on a freelance project (redesigning a page) as a test - to show them that I knew what I was doing and to make sure that we could work together.

Yesterday morning I received a job offer from TechTracker Inc. for the position of Web Developer. The position seems to be just what I want right now, and everything seems to suggest that I accept the offer.

Pros

• I’d love to do web development as a full-time job.
• They have decent time off, great benefits, and 401k (among other things).
• They have transportation reimbursement.
• After working with the managers on a small project, I feel like we’d be compatible.
• The office seems to be a very professional and friendly place.
• It’s located downtown, and I love downtown.
• They’ve been around more or less since 1996, and since I used their products since around 2001 before I knew about the company, I feel that they’re not going anywhere soon.
• I would really enjoy being able to speak to people about technical things, and not receive blank looks back.
• Better pay.
• Better pay means I can cut down on the side-job work I do, meaning more time for Beth, as well as time to just sit down and PLAY.

Cons

• Wells Fargo is obviously much more secure, but there’s nothing above what I do now that I would enjoy doing. I wouldn’t mind getting away from the large corporation aspect of Wells, and there’s certain aspects of my job that I just don’t enjoy.
• TechTracker would require a 50 minute MAX ride every day, whereas Wells is just five minutes from the house.
• I won’t truly know what it’s like to work there until I actually do, so I cannot be 100% sure.

This would be a very big transition for me, and this is not a good time for such a transition to go sour. Granted I would have Wells as a backup, but I’m not sure that I could do what I do now. In order to be sure that this would be a good idea, I’ve done some research.

I’ve contacted a few former employees to get their opinions on their former company. Since techtracker is a small company and most tech people post their resume online, it was pretty easy to find them. I’ve spent time researching the company on the internet. From reading old press releases, news items, to searching the net for “techtracker sucks“. I’ve even tried reading comments from customers who hate their products, but there are not many to find (relatively).

I’ve asked several questions about the job and gotten answers that I was hoping for. On February 10th I’ll be visiting the TechTracker office for the third time to get a better idea of the projects I’ll be working on. I’ll get to see the machines (that’s machines, plural!) I’ll be using, meet other employees, etc. I think that what I learn from just hanging around on a “preliminary first day” will make or break the deal.

I decided to submit my three-week notice to Wells Fargo today, February 1. My last day will be February 22 assuming nothing in the next three weeks changes my mind about TechTracker. My first official day will be February 23rd, a Thursday.

Wells Fargo was a good company to work for. I began on April 15, 2003 as temporary employee working through a temp agency. On October 1st, 2003 I was hired directly with Wells as a telephone rep for their Equity applications department. In May 2004 I was promoted to an application processor for two weeks, as I was promoted again in the middle of my training. My new position was as an Operations Analyst, essentially someone who works on projects.

From planning moves, scheduling, telephony routing, and lots and lots of Excel reports my name made it’s way through the emails of managers in several states. It was an excellent position for someone who was 22 / 23 years old. I worked with senior managers on a daily basis doing this, that, and the other thing. Taking this position is what really saved us after the problems Beth had when she was pregnant. Now that we’re finally getting things wrapped up from almost three years ago, this new position will definately help.

2006 will certainly be an interesting year.