I’ve worked as an IT Pro since 1994, with the past fourteen years at the same employer and my last day with them was this past Friday. I’ve also been a Microsoft MVP for the past six years, the first two as a PowerShell MVP and the last four as a Cloud and Datacenter Management MVP. Today is my last day as a Microsoft MVP because you can’t be an MVP if you work for Microsoft.

As of tomorrow, Monday, March 23rd I’ll be embarking on a new chapter in my career as a Senior Content Developer for Azure PowerShell. I honestly wasn’t looking for a new position because I had a good job, making good money, and working with good people. When I became debt-free last year, I thought I would probably continue in my current position until I retired and I very well could have. Originally when I was contacted by Microsoft, I thought it meant relocating so I ignored them. By the time I followed up, they had filled the position.

Around this time, I had also been doing some soul searching. I thought that maybe there was more meant for me than staying in the same position with my current employer since I was no longer growing. In January, I went on a three week fast and started searching for an answer to whether or not I was supposed to leave my current employer. The message I received was loud and clear, “if you want to grow, you’ve got to go”. I realized that over time I had slowly become a passenger in my career instead of being a driver and that it was time for a change. A couple of days before the fast was over, I was contacted again by the same person at Microsoft about another opening. I took it as a sign and followed up with them immediately. After a couple of phone screens, I was scheduled to go onsite in Redmond just before the Coronavirus epidemic started in that area.

Two of my children and my wife came down with the flu and strep about a week before my trip. My thought was that if it was meant for me to go on the trip, I won’t get sick and I never did. I spent all day interviewing with different people onsite at Microsoft. When I returned home, I decided that more than anything else, I wanted them to find the right person for the position. My hope was if I wasn’t the right person for the position, that they wouldn’t offer it to me because deciding whether or not to take it and leave my current employer would be a difficult decision. Some events transpired over the next couple of days and I decided to take the position if it was offered. The next day they called with an offer and I immediately accepted since I had already made my decision.

My new boss and I were hoping for a start date of Monday, March 16th to coincide with the MVP Summit in Redmond so I could go onsite for orientation and spend some time with the team during the summit. By the time all the employment prerequisites were completed, the MVP Summit was changed to a virtual event so there wasn’t a rush and my start date ended up being the 23rd. I was able to attend some of the MVP Summit sessions during my last week of work for my previous employer and my last week as an MVP.

If you’ve enjoyed the content I’ve produced over the years here on my blog, in the books I’ve written, and for the PowerShell community, you’ll definitely enjoy the content I’ll be producing for Azure PowerShell at Microsoft.

µ