Who would have thought? A guy with whose BS and MS are both in Parks, Recreation and Tourism, he is an aspiring computer geek working for a computer company. Frequently I listen to people, especially those my age, those of us starting out in our careers, lament their jobs and bosses. I lament neither. My boss is incredible and I love my job. Landing this job, it really was just plan luck.
Having just moved to Charlotte, I was desperately looking for a job in GIS. I had no clue ESRI's southeast regional office was located in Charlotte. A friend who I had run with in high school, Bret, had the connection leading to this job. Bret was working on his Ph.D. at Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colorado, and had just moved into a new place with a new roommate. Bret and his new roommate were sitting at the kitchen table when his roommate got a call on his cell phone. It obviously was an old friend. They were jovial and laughing.
After the phone call Bret's roommate began telling Bret about this friend whom he had grown up with. They had grown up in northern Minnesota in some tiny town. This friend's name was Ben, he worked in GIS for some compnay called ESRI as an instructor, and he lived in Charlotte. For those unacquainted with GIS, ESRI is sort of like Microsoft for PC operating systems. Although there are other small players out there, ESRI is pretty much the de-facto standard for getting the job done.
Knowing I was looking for a job in Charlotte in GIS, Bret got Ben's contact info from his roommate and passed it along. Although I had never met Ben, he managed to get me a casual meet-and-greet kind of pre-interview thing with his boss, Martha.
Upon meeting Martha, her first words to me after sitting down were, "We all have careers we are passionate about, and they have nothing to do with what goes on in this office." This was followed by a discussion of how everybody gets the job done, but when it is quitting time, it is time to get out. I could not believe what I was hearing! A place where people get the job done, but also understand what is supposed to happen at five. Oh, and it also happens to be the best GIS company in the world.
About two months later, I was working for ESRI as an instructor, and continue to get a kick out of my job. Teaching is a blast. Being in the classroom is great! I get to learn about and play with the coolest toys out there, the best GIS software on the planet. This is overseen by a great boss who understands what is means to have balance in life, to have a life outside of work. There are those who complain about work. I do not happen to be one of those people.
