Change is good. I am also a huge fan of stability. There are times when things happen and other times when life idles by on automatic. A recent weather event saw a king tide and an atmospheric river hit the region at about the same time (Jan 2023). That’s almost a good analogy for what’s happening to me right now: a perfect storm.
Change is good. I’d been at a small start-up for 4 years, seeing an acquisition while there. I’m no longer there. I’d say I’m pretty good at my job and mostly enjoy what I do, but I want a change of pace.
I tend to take on larger projects at work; they run about a year each and sometimes lead to a similar follow-up project. I worked on a stereoscopic camera system once upon a long ago. That was followed by developing the integrated hardware for a spherical FoV camera. We kept looking at how to derive a camera array controller from the stereos, and that led me to 6 camera cubes used for the spherical cameras. This led to camera arrays for 360° cameras (Google Jump compatible) and frozen moment captures. What started as a 6-month secondment to the 3-D team led to a 7-year career in “multi-camera” systems across three companies. I’m ready for a few smaller projects; mix it up more.
The last start-up went the same way as the camera company. I was given flash drivers and the file system as my initial projects. I wasn’t on them too long; after fixing a critical bug in the SPI interface and scoping requirements for the file system, I moved on to the adjacent field of OTA Update. The platform software was outgrowing the hardware, so our OTA system needed some enhancement. Working with limited resources often leads to ugly tradeoffs, and shoehorning something big into a small space is fun but not a viable long-term solution. We had new hardware in the pipeline, and I was given the chance to re-architect the on-board OTA update system. Long story short, that became my project for most of my tenure.
You can imagine doing the same thing for a few years straight gets a bit old. I was nearing the completion of my project and was wondering if the next step should be in that company or elsewhere. I was also near the completion of another goal, a job that lasted more than a year or so, in this case, 4 years.
It’s not a secret; I like being in a company of 50-100 people; maybe I’ll explain why some other time. The only trouble with small companies is that sometimes funds run tight, and things change (RIF/layoff). After 6 years at a camera company, I bounced between several small companies for a couple of years. After that, I wanted to show some stability on my resume again. This four-year run was perfect.
I was ready for a change from my project; indeed, I needed a real break. I started talking to my boss about the possibility of a month off, maybe a bit more. There was a corporate re-organization in the works, too. I wasn’t sure how that would look.
About the same time, my old buddy started talking to me about a project he was working on and the stage it was at. It’s back in my old field of ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) and IVHS (Intelligent Vehicle Highway System). He was at the stage of white papers, presentations, and patent applications.
Then came the lay-off.
The timing was just about perfect. I used the severance package to sponsor me through a sabbatical. I allocated 12 weeks for a writing project, thinking it would take about two months to create content and then a month to review, revise, and illustrate.
During this time, I was still entertaining recruiter outreach. I mean, it’s part of working in the software industry; you are always getting solicitations. A lot seem to be from poorly formed searches, and others seem to be mass mailings, but once in a while, you get that golden opportunity, and you take the interview to see where it’s going. During this time, however, I saw the recruiters fall away. It was the holidays, so I took it to be the seasonal dip. One of the more recent e-mails was from a big tech company for a team that announced large layoffs less than a week later.
That brings me to this week.
- Book
- Content creation reached MVP (minimum viable product) Jan 7
- Grammar and readabilty tools 80% passing. Clean enough for tech review
- Peer reviewers identified
- 80% illustrations available
- Resume and career profiles
- Updated CalJobs profile
- LinkedIn is current (save sabbatical/career gap)
- Engaging with career advocates/advisor Feb 1
- Updated headshots scheduled (weather pending)
- Job market
- Viable options
- Stiff competition
- Friends project
- PoC (proof of concept) demonstration identified
- evaluation HW platform in early prototype
- Requires firmware and software for PoC
That’s a lot of things happening. I always said I might be unable to blog when I get too busy. This blog isn’t a revenue stream or an obligation. I’ve been busy trying to get the book to a point where my reviewers have a chance to see the technical content and not get bogged down in bad writing; the blog had to play second fiddle.
I’ve set a Friday deadline to get the book to reviewers. I’ve set Monday as the day to start helping my friend with their project. Nothing changes in the career hunt. A PoC demonstration may well lead to funding and more work, but there might be a sizeable gap between preparing the demo and the financing of an expanded field trial.
And instead of getting technical insight in this post, you get to see a bit more about the day-to-day life of an engineer. We all get to ride the employment rollercoaster. After a few layoffs, you learn to understand when it was something you did wrong or that you were just on the wrong team.
When you are not looking for a job, you will still be participating in courtships with recruiters and potential employers.
When working, you should be aware that you are not fully in control of that situation. It may take some time or a windfall inheritance to build a safety net to see you through such times. At this stage in my career, it seems to take about 3 months to find a new job. Severance packages tend to be 2 weeks per year. You can imagine back-to-back short-run jobs are a costly proposition.
I appreciate that am I have more wiggle room for a sabbatical than most. I have a limit to my resources, so it’s time to start wrapping up that project and get back into the workforce. The PoC will be an excellent project for me. It also has limited funds, so there is a finite time box on it. Another short-term project that fits my need for variety at this time but does not suit my enjoyment of stability. So, a week full of transitions. Yet another step in my life.
About this weeks art.
Again, I can’t afford a real artist, so I had Dall-E work on it. It took several iterations, then I realized I was at my time limit and had to move on.
For the blog post you’ve described, which details a personal and professional journey filled with changes, challenges, and transitions, the illustration should visually encapsulate these themes. Here’s a concept for the image:
Imagine a composite scene that blends elements of technology and nature, symbolizing the writer’s career in tech and the analogy of a perfect storm. In the foreground, a figure (representing the author) stands at a crossroads, looking at multiple paths that lead in different directions, each path representing a different aspect of their career journey – from camera systems and OTA updates to a sabbatical and the Intelligent Transportation System. The figure is surrounded by various tech elements like camera cubes, a stereoscopic camera, and computer code, indicating their work in multi-camera systems and software development.
In the background, a dramatic sky illustrates the “perfect storm” analogy, with swirling clouds and a king tide, symbolizing the convergence of events in the author’s life. This storm is not menacing but has a sense of dynamic change and movement. The atmospheric river could be visually represented by a flowing, river-like formation in the sky, adding to the sense of change and transition.
This composition should balance the technological and natural elements, conveying the idea of navigating through a career filled with diverse challenges and opportunities, much like steering through a stormy but invigorating landscape.
Let’s proceed with creating this illustration.
Here are two illustrations that visually encapsulate the themes of your blog post. They blend elements of technology and nature to symbolize the journey and challenges described in your narrative.
Glorified Plumbing 