New(er) Beginnings
October 1, 2007, 5:48 AM | 11 Comments
This may seem like déjà vu to the regular visitors of my site, but life is changing again. After a brief cup of coffee at Blue Coat Systems (actually, several cups thanks to the impressive coffee machine in their kitchen) and an unfortunate incident involving my car, I have decided to take my career on an exciting new adventure.
Starting on October 1st I will be joining Sapient in their Toronto offices as an Associate Front-End Developer. I’m extremely excited about this position and I’m really looking forward to rubbing shoulders with the talented people at Sapient and working with some incredible clients on great projects.
There are a few reasons for my decision to leave Blue Coat so soon, but really there are only 2 that matter. First, the fit just wasn’t right. If you’ve ever been working at a job and feeling like you should be doing something else, well then, you understand. I really don’t have anything against Blue Coat because they are a great company to work for, but it just wasn’t right for me. Second, I really missed the type of work I was doing at Barking Dog Studios (read: developing websites on a daily basis) and I came to the realization that my position at Blue Coat just wasn’t going to offer me the opportunity to do what I love doing on a consistent basis.
Being passionate about the work you’re doing is absolutely imperative to your overall job satisfaction and I think (in a sense) I sort of found that out the hard way. If you’re not totally passionate about the work you’re doing, you won’t enjoy waking up every morning and heading into the office (or wherever your work happens to take you) and you certainly won’t feel like you’re making a difference.
For me, web development is a passion and something I really find satisfaction doing. Yes, like every job it has its ups and downs but at the end of the day, I really love what I do and that’s extremely important to me. So it’s with a lot of anticipation and excitement that I join Sapient and I can’t wait to get started!
Now all I need to do is figure out how I’m going to handle the daily commute into “The Big Smoke”…
Posted in: Life
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Comments
1. Web - October 3, 2007, 1:35 PM
Let me be the first to say (again) congratulations and that we (Sapient) are equally (if not more) excited to have you join us!!
I hope we get to work together on some projects soon.
2. Brad Touesnard - October 3, 2007, 4:28 PM
Congrats Jonathan! Great to hear you’re not settling into a rut, which can be easy to get caught into. Best of luck with the new job.
3. Jonathan Eckmier - October 3, 2007, 9:25 PM
Thanks so much guys!
4. Elliot Jay Stocks - October 5, 2007, 7:02 AM
Congratulations, Jonathan! I hope it’s working out well so far. You’re absolutely right about the need to have passion for your work. The way I see it, we spend the majority of our waking hours working… so we might as well make sure it’s something we love doing!
5. Jonathan Eckmier - October 6, 2007, 10:05 PM
Thanks Elliot!
The way I see it, we spend the majority of our waking hours working… so we might as well make sure it’s something we love doing!
You’re singin’ my song man!
6. Chris Iwanowski - October 8, 2007, 9:03 PM
Say hi to Todd Beckett, another ex-Dog who works at Sapient.
7. Terry Evans - October 12, 2007, 2:15 AM
Congrats Jonathan! Looks like you’re on the road to some good times… your philosophy is right on, and can only lead to success.
cheers!
8. Geof Harries - November 8, 2007, 2:04 PM
I had never heard of Sapient until you mentioned them, but apparently they’ve been in business since 1990. Shows how unaware I am of the Canadian interactive agency landscape; thought I knew all the big players.
If you don’t mind me asking, what was it that drew you to Sapient? There’s mention of talented people and great projects, but what about the culture, vibe, workspace? Did those attributes influence your decision as well?
9. Jonathan Eckmier - November 8, 2007, 9:28 PM
@Terry: Thanks man! Hope everything’s going well for you too!
@Geof:
There’s mention of talented people and great projects, but what about the culture, vibe, workspace? Did those attributes influence your decision as well?
Absolutely! To me, culture is an enormous component of a job’s fit. If you really think about it, we spend so much time at work, shouldn’t we be working in an environment that helps us be creative and produce the best work possible? One that pushes us to be our best every day? If the culture doesn’t jive with you, you’ll feel very much out of place.
10. Geof Harries - November 10, 2007, 11:27 AM
Sapient looks like a cool place to work, well, at least from their website. Do they have any public photos (Flickr, etc.) of the office space that you’re in? I’m just interested because I’m looking at setting something up for my company.
11. Jonathan Eckmier - November 15, 2007, 7:34 AM
Hey Geof,
Funny you should ask because that’s actually one of the first things I started looking for when I was researching Sapient. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find anything either. Maybe some day I’ll take some pictures of my workspace and throw them on Flickr. For now though… think open-concept, bright & modern with some nostalgia mixed in.
I know, that doesn’t really clear it up, but I’m not totally sure how to describe it :) It’s a very creative environment, and I think that starts with the physical office space.