After I moved back from NYC I continued to work for Instinet for anther year and a half. After that ended, I interviewed with a company just a mile from my home, Axium. They do payroll services and accounting for Hollywood production companies and were looking for a senior Java developer. The first part of the interview went well. I talked with the IT director, a guy my age, about real world experience and problem solving. He was impressed with my resumé. Then he said ‘Let me call in my associate to ask you some technical questions.’ In comes a kid, maybe 25, who asked me all sorts of questions straight from his Java and Design Pattern classes from his graduate school. I couldn’t answer any of them. I think I knew the concepts, but I didn’t know the jargon. That’s when I realized that I would not be able to compete with kids coming out of the Java technical schools, otherwise known as universities. So I looked on the horizon to see what was coming next, and jumped on the PHP and MySql bandwagon. (Since then I’ve also added ActionScript to the mix.)
Well, this week Axium went out of business, laying off all 400 employees in four cities, after defaulting on a loan and having their assets seized. If I had worked from them, I’m sure I’d be a Java expert now, and I’m sure I’d have plenty of money in the bank to live on while looking for a new job. But I’m glad I got away from Java.
And technically yes, I am unemployed, as I’m not currently making a salary. But I guess it’s by choice. I did do some contracting (hey San Antonio, you were my only source of income in 07, scary huh?) But I’m not sitting idle, surfing the web all day. (ok, sometimes) The last few months I’ve been putting in many many long hours working on a startup. This time it’s one where there are actually other people involved, with investors and everything. But whether my bank account runs dry before I see a return is a concern.
Fortunately, the economy is good and we’re not heading into a recession or anything, and I’ll be able to find a regular job real quickly if necessary.
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