Rising Above Mediocrity

Someone I follow on Twitter bemoaned the lack of job applicants who knew about test driven development, saying that the first candidate he interviewed who knew TDD would be hired on the spot. Of course, as an incorrigible smartass, I asked whether it required actual experience with the practice.

The answer was no, and he invited me to send him a résumé.

My reaction was mixed. First was elation: holy crap, this guy actually thinks I might have a shot at working there! That was short-lived, however, as my loyalty and my anxiety simultaneously kicked in: not only would I have to quit my current job, I’d have to move about two hours away.

That’s really what I’m concerned about. I don’t particularly mind the thought of leaving my current job. It’s clear that I’m not a perfect match for my current employer. I rock the boat too much. But leaving the friends I’ve made here would be difficult. Hell, my dad lives about 45 minutes away and I only see him a couple of times per month. I can’t see driving 2 hours each way to visit Bartow, particularly with practically nothing else to lure me back. Also, with the hiring freeze in effect, it’s likely that they wouldn’t hire anybody to replace me, increasing the workload on everyone else.

The other issue is that this place feels like home now. I live in an apartment, but it’s home. Not to mention the hassle involved in moving. (I just bought a washer and dryer, for cryin’ out loud!) There’s no way I’m going to haul my furniture—in particular, my heavy-ass desks—down the stairs and into a new place by myself.

So, there’s a lot of inertia keeping me here. What’s driving me toward Ocala?

Primarily, the reason I’m considering accepting a job with the aforementioned company in Ocala if offered is simple: they seem to get it. I work for a large government agency, and even with a small department, it’s nearly impossible to change as fast as modern software development requires. Besides, I’ve met the guy who told me about the place (the one I follow on Twitter) and he seems to be someone I’d get along with. And needless to say, I could learn a lot about TDD and other agile practices, and programming in general, from him.

Just to be clear: I haven’t been offered a job yet. I haven’t interviewed for a job yet. I don’t even know if a job’s even open. But the idea is still there. And the same applies anywhere in the country; in fact, even more so, since a two-hour drive would be replaced with an airline flight. If I don’t live near either of my parents, I could just as easily live anywhere in the country. The question is whether I want to do so. And I genuinely don’t know.