I have accepted a job with VMware, as a Technical Account Manager (TAM).

To say I’m excited about this would be a gross understatement. VMware has been the company I’ve spent the majority of my technical focus on up to this point, and since announcing this change on Twitter last week I’ve been thrilled with the replies like “I’ve been here 4 years and it’s an amazing place to work.” During the interview process, one of the current TAM’s told me point blank: “This is the best job I’ve had in my career.” All of this has maintained a level of anticipation about this career change that I’ve not had for any other.

It’s not as if this is a surprise because I interact with so many great people on a regular basis who work for VMware, who seem to genuinely love the work they’re doing. But it’s been refreshing to get the same messages from people I’d never even met before.

The last year has been a rebuilding year, for me. In early 2017, I left my role as an data center engineer at a Value Added Reseller, to go back into a customer role. I had been working as a consultant for nearly six years, but prior to that I spent seven years on the customer side. So now I was back working 9-5, at the same desk. It was tough because I loved consulting, and I literally couldn’t wait to get back, but for various reasons I needed the transition. The role I took was intentionally outside my comfort zone, to force myself to do something different and pickup new skills. It was challenging in ways both expected and unexpected. The team I was working on has some great people, and it has been a fun to work with them, even if all the while I knew this wasn’t the place I wanted to stay at for very long.

This year in transition was a change that I needed, being a customer was a place to lay low, reset, and figure out my future and my priorities. There was no travel and no on-call, not even an expectation to even have email on my phone, let alone respond after hours to it.

But now I’m back, and ready to get to work doing what I love, for the company that I’ve spent the last decade focusing on, in the company of all the great people who’ve helped me get to this point.