Moving on – I’ve got a new job!
Sam McGeown2013 has been an amazing year for me – I was awarded the vExpert title, I’ve taken and passed my VCP5-DCV, VCAP5-DCA and VCAP5-DCD and spoken at the London and UK national VMUGs. I’ve attended my first VMworld and spent countless hours in the lab and on study, generating about 30 blog posts. All I can say is that it’s been a truly blessed year.
After two and a half years working as a Senior Infrastructure Analyst for a global insurance company, the time has come for a change! For a while now I’ve felt that I’ve outgrown my current role and that perhaps it was time for a change. I have worked with some really excellent people on my team while here, and I’ll definitely be sad to say goodbye to some of them! I’ve had the opportunity to work on some huge-scale environments and highly complex systems – all of which allowed me to learn and grow in ways not possible in a “normal” size environment.
I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a lot of really good guys through Twitter, VMUGs and VMworld – including several of my colleagues-to-be at Xtravirt. Gregg Robertson, Daren Woollard and the rest of the Xtravirt guys are a real testament to the company and so when Gregg asked if I’d be interested, I jumped at the chance to interview for a role there – despite being quite far along the process for 2 other roles and having an offer on the table.
In the end, I chose to join Xtravirt because I believe they are market leaders for virtualisation and specifically cloud consulting, and they continue to learn and strive for excellence as a matter of course, which fits closely with how I approach my work. I am really excited to be joining and for the chance to be part of a company that I feel I can make a difference for, as well as developing and learning myself. While it may sound cheesy (or even a little obsequious) Xtravirt has a bit of a family feel to it, and that too makes it a very attractive place to work.
So there it is – I will be starting in January as a Senior Consultant for Xtravirt and I am really excited to get my teeth into the role!
Finally, I have to thank my amazing wife Ruth for supporting, encouraging and believing in me, and for her patience and understanding while I went through the process that ended here.
🙂