I left my last job in aviation 14 years ago this week.
While I wasn’t technically a pilot for the last 5 years I worked in aviation, I did support the aviation department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale with tasks such as maintaining flight simulators and even flying planes for maintenance checks when needed. In many ways I miss that job but I was there to get a degree and move into a developer role so, as soon as I graduated, that’s exactly what I did.
I left SIU to work for St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX where I also received my first official title as “developer.” Since then I’ve had a number of tech jobs and moved into management. Life looks as different from 2012 to today as it did from when I first started in aviation in 1998 until I left it in 2012.
It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. I still feel like I’m just getting started in tech and I’m not even half way through it. I have 20 years to go before I can consider retirement.
I don’t know how the rest of my career in tech will look but I’m looking forward to see what I can bring to the table for the next 14 years and beyond.