Vindication at Last

I left my job as a lawyer with no safety net, no branch to catch, no nest of feathers to fall into. Rather, I left based on an assumption about the world and the way it turns. I left hoping to prove out a theory of mine, which goes like this: if you are honest with yourself and others about what you want, doors will open.

That theory was vindicated last week when I received an offer to join Amazon as a software developer.

I had been studying to become a software developer for about five months. I had no professional experience as a developer, nor any groundbreaking side projects to show off besides a few plugins for Unreal Engine and this website. I had read almost four thousand pages worth of textbooks related to computer science fundamentals and programming languages, but I had yet to create any substantial, scalable software with that knowledge. Despite having consumed so much information in such a short amount of time, it often felt as though I had only broached the tip of an ever-growing iceberg.

And yet, Amazon (and a few other companies that I interviewed with) saw the potential for a bright flame in the embers of my career. Over the course of a coding assessment and four (fairly pleasant) interviews, the company saw through the veneer that is my resume (which is untraditional, to say the least) to the deeper truth about where I am headed, why I am headed there, and the conviction with which I am following that path. I was humbled by their willingness to think outside the box in their recruiting process, and I hope I will be so bold when faced with similar decisions in the future.

I cannot say what comes next, and I doubt I will concern myself with that question for some time. For once, I am thoroughly satisfied with the present.