My next steps after AWS
I spent the last 2 years working as the senior developer advocate for OpenSearch at AWS. I loved my role ♥️ The community was incredibly welcoming and I got to work with some of the most brilliant engineers. During my time there I presented 33 times in 7 different countries. I covered everything from GenAI to deploying open source OpenSearch on Kubernetes.
So why leave? Amazon has a serious return to office initiative. The pressure to relocate was relentless. The uncertainty about my position and the notifications I got about being "non-compliant" was unmanageable. I have two small kids, 1.5 and 4 years old, and most of my family and my wife's family live locally. There was just too much support for me here to be willing relocate. I strongly hold to the belief that my family comes first.
I'm not the one to typically leave before I have a plan for what's next. This time was different though. My last day was on Friday March 8th 2023. Without a plan in mind I left AWS. The first few weeks I spent interviewing with different companies, catching up with people, and praying for God to show me what He had in store for me. ~30 interviews and meetings later I still hadn't come across a role that I felt fit what I was looking for.
