Different Strokes for Different Folks

Over they years I’ve been commended for being able to explain technologies to system administrators, managers, and end users with terms and examples that allowed them understand the technology.  Because of this a friend tried numerous times over a three-year period to get me work for him as a technical pre-sales solutions architect.  For multiple reasons I kept saying no but after some changes in my own life and at the company I decided to take on this new challenge.

At first it was great. I love meeting new people, talking with system administrators at different companies and designing simple up to complex solutions to meet their needs.  It was great walking out of meetings and people saying how much they learned from me.

After about a year I wasn’t very happy and it was getting worse every month.  I was working twice as many hours as I was at my previous job and only make 20% more. The additional income was in the form of bonues so they were taxed higher and the “additional pay” put me in a higher tax bracket.  Taking my previous pay rate versus my new one, I was losing money.

Management structure changed and the amount of FUD going around in sales training meetings drove me nuts.  It’s so hard to sit back and listen to blatant lies in these meetings.  I never wanted any of this info to be spewed to customers but it sometimes did.  I guess the small-town values my family instilled in me while growing up are too hard to ignore.

The peer-pressure driven sales environment I was in was wearing very heavily on me.  Way worse than the money issue, my health was at risk.  It was time to go.

I know all the culture at all companies are different and all companies are out to make money.  At some point I had to acknowledge that I’ve made a bad decision and move on. It was hard to do as I like so many people I worked with.

I’m currently working at a spot where I have a less than desirable amount of hands-on work.  I’m enjoying it though and will keep an eye out for the next challenge.  We must learn from them, acknowledge them and keep moving forward.