From One Desk to Another: My First Time Changing Jobs

This post is a bit late – okay, very late. I left my first software engineering role over six months ago, and I’ve now been in my new position for almost half a year. But better late than never, right? This blog marks the start of my writing journey, a way to reflect on my experiences, share lessons learned, and hopefully inspire others navigating similar transitions. So, let’s rewind to my first job switch and dive into the early days of my new role.

My first company

I started working as a C++ software engineer at a local company in Belgium called OMP. The company provides software solutions for supply chain planning. At the time, it had around a thousand employees with offices in different locations (US, India, etc.), but most of the engineering teams were based in Belgium and the US.

It was a nice company to work for, with a lot of focus on employee well-being. From an engineering perspective, it was a great start. I got to work for a company with global offices and became familiar with the industrial software life cycle. This included designing new solutions for customer requests and improving existing ones.

However, there was quite a bit of legacy code and applications, as the company was founded in 1985. The “not invented here” syndrome was very present. There were several internal applications and systems that weren’t well-maintained and often slowed us down, even though there were well-crafted external alternatives available.

I enjoyed my time there, but after 18 months, I was yearning for something new. I learned a lot, but honestly, “supply chain” didn’t interest me at all. Additionally, the software we wrote would only reach customers after more than a year, which wasn’t very motivating. Having never worked at another software company, I was curious about how things were done elsewhere. I also really wanted to move to a different country, so I started applying for jobs in the background until I landed a great opportunity.

Amazon

I got an offer from AWS in Amsterdam and accepted it immediately. Of course, the pay bump was nice, but the amount of experience I would gain there sounded amazing. Even though the Netherlands is close to Belgium, it still feels very different from my hometown. The added benefit is that I can easily take the train home to visit friends and family.

I’ve now been working at AWS for about six months. I’m part of one of the many teams working on Amazon Q. The difference compared to my previous company is huge. Getting started wasn’t easy – there was a lot of reading documents, familiarizing myself with AWS infrastructure, and getting used to the culture (Leadership Principles, document writing, etc.).

I really enjoy working here. The work-life balance is pretty good, there’s a lot of self-responsibility, and not too many processes. The sheer speed of shipping new features is truly amazing compared to my previous role. Everything is about taking action and ownership, and I love it! There’s a lot of work to do in this space, and things change all the time, which can be annoying. But in the end, I think it’s important to stay flexible and recalibrate so that we work on something that truly brings value to customers.

Thanks for reading! Maybe I’ll make an extensive list of differences (good and bad) in a future post :)