My Career as a Technologist

In the late '90s, I started my career in technology by providing support for Microsoft Windows 98 and Internet Explorer 4. After a year, I left pursue a Master's in Philosophy at University College Dublin. Upon completing my Master's, I started working for a company there who created educational software. When I moved to Chicago in '01, I continued in that vein until my boss stopped paying me and skipped town.

Next, I joined a startup that was using online advertising to get leads for lawyers. I was the company's fifth employee. I taught myself SQL on my lunch break and went from being the first developer to being the director of development. 8 years later, things crashed and many of us were let go. I was able to find a job as a DevOps engineer at a content management company. Fast-forward to 2018 when that company was purchased by DocuSign and I was back working for a large corporation, my first time since leaving Microsoft in 1998.

I lasted at DocuSign through the pandemic but by 2022, I had lost interest in the role and the company. In 2023, my wife found an opening for an associate director of technology services at the Illinois Holocaust Museum. I was initially hesitant but my wife encouraged me to pursue it. I wrote a cover letter and submitted my resume and an hour later, I heard back. I started there in October and have enjoyed it since day 1. My goal is for this to be the final job of my career.