Thread: Leaving the Industry...

I've talked about this with a couple of you already, and I figure it's about time I make a post about it. Some of you may remember my quest for airline employment (http://nonrev.net/open-discussion/15...mployment.html) long ago, both when I was trying to get a job at the teeny tiny airport in Wisconsin where I went to school, and when I was after a big-boy job post graduation. All in, I've been with the airlines for about 6 years... starting with a summer job at NW in 2008, before I even joined this site. It's been a fun ride, with a dream trip around the world, visiting distant in-laws in Norway followed by the shops of Istanbul, a few day trips to Hawaii, and when I moved away from home, lots of help with my parents coming out to visit or us going home for special occasions.

This past spring, our CIO (Chief Information Officer, reports to our CEO for everything IT related) announced that all IT operations would be moved out of Denver. If I wanted to keep my job, I would have to move to Houston. This was especially hard to hear at the time, as we have had that fear for years, but when our CIO came out to visit for the first time, she assured us that would not happen. Plus, when I took this job, I turned down a significantly better-paying position that was in Houston in the first place! Well, my wife and I had really fallen in love with Denver, even purchasing a house here. The way I see it, people come from all over the world to see Colorado, and it's right in my own back yard. To pull a few things from the "been there, done that" threads, I've stayed in a cabin built in the 1800s and still only heated by a wood fireplace, visited cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park, skinny dipped in a hot spring with a lesbian hippy couple sharing a joint at 8:30AM, and had my car engine go out while going down a mountain. You just can't get experiences like that in very many places, certainly not in Houston. Originally, we considered going back to MSP, my hometown, and see what I could get with DL. They never got back to me for the positions I applied to. Later, I thought about staying with UA if I could find an opportunity in ORD. Cost of living and commuting times were just too much. Couldn't do it. But that 4th of July weekend where I did 2 of the things mentioned above, followed by a block party, made me realize: I want to stay in Colorado. My awesome wife is letting me make the choice on this, and is fine with staying here as well, at least for a few more years.

So, that's all well and good, but I still need to pay the mortgage. Well, it just so happens that most of my time at United has been spent working with a very niche product from IBM. There isn't much demand for it out there, but the demand that is there is for projects at major companies, often big projects at that. And there are very, very few people who use this product. So I've always figured that if I were to get good at this product, I could make some good money doing contracting work for it. When one of my IBM contacts heard what was going on, he referred me to a few of their consulting partners. Both are very, very interested in my skills. I've been interviewing and chatting with both over the past few weeks, and all has gone very well (with comments like "this is all just a formality, [other guy] has plans for you already", "I've got a few questions for you, don't worry too much if you don't get it right, I already like you" and "that [response] was... perfect, actually" when I was nervous giving an answer). My prediction is that I'll be given a couple offers in the next couple weeks. Both jobs would be a mix of traveling to client sites (so I can score some miles and hotel points!) and working from home (45 minutes one way gets reduced to a few flights of stairs, if even that).

My last day at UA is November 1. But that's not my last day here, no siree (or madamee?). I'll hang out with you guys a while longer, especially because I have 6 months of severance flight benefits coming my way. After that, I know a few people who could give me access to UA's employee system. You all aren't the only ones I help out! But for now, I thought I ought to post a little (or a big) something to let you all know what's going on.

Keep in touch,
Brian