2023-09-22 | Turning the Page

Shane Fera -

10.25 years.

My last day at my current company was today, and I find myself being really wistful about how much my life came into structure while I was here. From the first code I produced to the last project with which I was involved, I still shake my head in wonder.

10.25 years into a career in software engineering and now with people management experience I have come to realize that you just keep taking the next step, and then the next. You may feel like an imposter, and that feeling will fade over time, but you’ll also find when put on the spot that you have reflexes. You’re learning.

The words will come. The actions will come. You’ll learn that the friction you feel is a process that needs sanding. You’ll learn that a floor swept clean and a foundation polished can stand up more stable code.

You’ll learn that using shared language and expectations will deliver something that will begin to run on its own without your hand on the tiller. It will be intuitive.

10.25 years and I’m taking my next step away from agency work and towards product or ‘industry’ as I’ve most recently learned is the parlance.

10.25 years:

  • Paid Intern
  • Junior Software Engineer
  • Intermediate Software Engineer
  • Remote Senior Software Engineer
  • Remote Technical Lead

10.25 years:

  • Move in with my girlfriend.
  • Agree to reproduce, and then to our amazement, reproduce.
  • Get married
  • Go full-time remote, to a place where we could afford a home.
  • Second child inbound.
  • Raise chickens, raise bees, and so many water-park visits.
  • Decide to have a third child. Twins come instead.
  • Decide to take the next step in my career and accept a meeting, just to see.

It’s a lot that was packed into 10.25 years, and here I am taking the next step excited to see where the next 10 years take me, my family, and the world. AI is no longer knocking at the door, it’s taking its shoes off in the foyer and putting them away exactly where they should go.

VR arrived, but the market turned with covid. I don’t want to wait another 10 years, but I don’t think I’ll have to. It’s here now, but in chrysalis for a bit. Going through an evolution.

So happy new chapter, there’s something coming, you can feel it on the wind.

Peace,

Shane