Today was my last day at Dell. I turned in all my equipment, my badge, and walked out the door. One of my coworkers was also leaving today as well and we left at the same time. It was sorta odd to walk out to my car and realize that I’d never be back again. I told almost no one that I was leaving until today and most people will only find out from the email that I sent out at the end. It still hasn’t really hit home that it is over, but I’m sure it will eventually. For now I’m just going to enjoy some time off.
Archive for July, 2007
People keep asking me if it is raining where I am. The answer is yes, yes it is. It rains at least once a day, just about every day. There is water standing and flowing just about everywhere, even on the high ground. Rain is also in the forecast every day. I don’t mind it, but I’m sure the people in flood prone areas are getting pretty tired of it by now. The only thing bothering me is the humidity. Yuck!
After receiving tons of negative feedback on my previous color scheme, I decided to change it. So here is it, a sort of greenish, earthy look. Let me know what you think.
If you haven’t yet, go see Sicko. I think it is Michael Moore’s best film yet. And it’s more than just a hit piece on healthcare in the US, it’s also about what is wrong with us as Americans. I’ve known that our values have been screwed up for a while, but this film really made it hit home.
It’s been a while since my last update and I think it’s time for a public announcement. I have decided to end my career at Dell and move on to other things. My last official day with the company is August 3rd. I am leaving on good terms and of my own free will. Overall I have had a great experience in my seven years at Dell. I have learned a lot and done things I didn’t think I was capable of doing. I saw a lot of changes to the company which has grown tremendously since I began working there in June of 2000. But with all that growth, Dell still treats its employees well and has always treated me with respect and fairness.
So why am I leaving? I decided that even though the pay, benefits, and work/life balance were good, I’m not really happy with the work I am doing. I am capable of performing my duties, but it is not what I enjoy doing and I certainly don’t see myself doing it the rest of my working career. These feelings have really hit home recently as I have been looking for jobs outside of Dell. At first I thought my problem was with the company and began looking for jobs similar to the one I have at other companies. However, as I read the job descriptions online and in the papers, I soon realized it wasn’t Dell, it was the job I didn’t like. There are many opportunities at Dell, but the more I looked into them, the more I realized they weren’t for me. I decided that it was time to take a different approach, so here I am.
Where do I go from here? Leaving my job at Dell has turned out to be a scary and hard thing to do, but over the past few days I’ve really come to grips with it and I realize there are many opportunities in life, some of which have been right under my nose. I’ve been researching some of those opportunities and I’m now even getting excited about them. Stay tuned for further updates as I move through this transition period.
