I've always preferred living in the south rather then New England for various reasons but in the last year, the urge to move has been pretty large. I've never been a cold weather kind of guy, snow gets boring after 10 minutes.
So you might ask yourself "Ryan, why not just move then?' Ah, there are numerous reasons but a few really stand out.
- The job - this is the biggest reason. I enjoy my job a great deal. I'm a big fan of the firewall management part of our business. It's extremely interesting and the troubleshooting, normally, doesn't drive me insane. I actually feel like I've come into my own in this respect, being able to troubleshoot firewall issues, setup VPNs, etc.
- The people I work with - I have an excellent team behind me. The shift is really rough, but I get to work with some smart and fun guys/gals. Our shift is pretty close and we have a lot of fun while getting a huge amount of work done. It's really the reason I haven't changed shifts
- The job - I know I said it earlier but it really is the job. Good money, good people, and good fun.
- The economy - It's a bit harder to find a job now adays. Finding a job without 10 years of experience maybe a bit tough. Leaving my current job without a job offer would be a huge problem.
Besides those points, I really don't have much holding me in New England. My family moved out of New England when I went to college and I don't have a significant other at the moment. I'd really like to move someplace South/Southwest. Texas seems really nice but I'd be open to almost anything south of Jersey. I guess I'll just keep a lookout and work on getting a good chunk of certs for a little while.