📖 Thoughts: The Last Four months

A couple of winters ago, I read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I was so taken with his writing style that I made the bouillabaisse recipe from the book and savored it with bread and rosé. The novel tells the story of Count Alexander Rostov, sentenced to lifelong house arrest in a hotel in Moscow in 1922, shortly after the Russian Revolution. Despite his circumstances, Rostov finds ways to live a full and meaningful life.

This summer, I started reading The Lincoln Highway, an adventure story with a different style from Towles's previous novels. The novel follows four young boys who set out on a cross-country road trip in 1954 in an old Studebaker. They are all searching for something different: a new start, a sense of belonging, and a way to escape their past.

Staying Engaged

I've been staying engaged and keeping my skills sharp during my job search by working on several projects:

• Building a new cross-platform networking tool that aspires to simplify the management of networking resources across cloud platforms based on Golang. I'm calling this project CraftPort. I'm planning to introduce it in a blog post very soon.
• Contributing to The RealTheory Journey, an initiative that I'm passionate about because it allows me to participate in the evolving startup landscape.
• Solving coding challenges and documenting the solutions. I'm soon sharing these insights on my blog, contributing to the knowledge-sharing community.

Staying engaged during the job search has been essential for several reasons. It helps me keep my skills sharp, stay motivated, and build a network of contacts. This journey has been a test of patience and resilience. Still, it's also been an opportunity to learn more about myself and the job market.

CraftPort's Evolution

CraftPort is a work in progress but has a clear roadmap for future growth. I see the need to enhance the developer experience in this space and reduce the cognitive overload of learning many command-line interfaces (CLIs) that follow different command structures. The focus is on standardizing an interface to optimize integration into the development workflow better. CraftPort design intends to be a user-friendly and efficient tool for managing networking resources. It will support various networking tasks, such as creating and managing DNS zones, security groups, and virtual networks. The next development phase will augment its capabilities with additional networking features like route tables and firewalls. I am the only one working on the project, but I am passionate about learning and simplifying networking management. I am looking for other engineers to join the team and help me grow the community. A community of users and contributors is essential for the success of any open-source project. The code base is currently private, but I plan to open-source.

Challenges:

• Building a community of users and contributors
• Keeping up with the rapid pace of change in the cloud computing market
• Ensuring that the project is secure and reliable

Opportunities:

• Providing a valuable tool for developers
• Standardizing the interface for networking management
• Expanding to support other cloud providers and networking features

RealTheory

I have contributed to the RealTheory team since November 2020. RealTheory is building a Kubernetes SaaS solution that addresses three critical use cases: observability, governance, and cost management. I focused on developing code solutions for various technical tasks on their Kanban board. This allowed me to refine my understanding of critical technologies such as Golang, Terraform, AWS, Azure, and Kubernetes.

Given the anticipated recruiting bump expected in the coming months, I have paused my contributions to RealTheory to focus on my job search.

Navigating the Unfamiliar

I started my job search journey nine months ago after six and a half years at my previous employer. I was looking for fresh challenges and opportunities for professional growth. I transitioned into a tech engineering management role, where I joined a startup as an engineering manager in February 2023.

During my interview process, I asked the company's leaders about their plans for the future and about the challenges they faced in the past. I also asked them about their agile processes and how they were maturing. I learned the importance of asking the right questions and being persistent in getting the needed information. However, I also learned that some red flags can only be identified after you start working at a company.

Unfortunately, several teams, including my own, experienced a Reduction in Force (RIF) within two and a half months. This was a setback, but it also taught me the importance of resilience and adaptability. I am still excited about the opportunities ahead.

I knew the company had faced some challenges. During my interview, I asked the company's leaders about this, and they assured me they were committed to long-term growth - the evolution of their platform.

I am now looking for a new opportunity where I can use my skills and experience to make a positive impact. I am confident that I can find a company that is committed to growth and innovation and that I can thrive in a challenging environment.

Moving forward

As I continue my job search journey, I remain proactive and determined to learn and adapt at every turn. The challenges faced and insights gained only reinforce my commitment to securing a role that aligns with my aspirations.

I will continue to work on my projects, contribute to the knowledge-sharing community, and enjoy the family time I have been afforded.

I hope to open-source CraftPort and build a community of like-minded engineers passionate about cloud-native development and Golang. I am excited to see what the future holds.