My new job at 50 years old.

My new job at 50 years old.

People often say you’re never too old to learn, but let’s be honest, it’s quite a challenge! So here it is: after years of being recognized as a “pro” in on-premises technologies—Oracle, SQL Server, Ansible, TOGAF (Archimate), security, and Veeam for backups, to name a few—I made a bold choice. At 50, I decided to trade my undisputed expert status for a deep dive into (very) murky waters: those of Azure Cloud

With a push from a private company that offered me this opportunity, I jumped into the world of Azure SQL, Storage Accounts, Access Packages, Azure Batch, Git, and Pipelines. It’s easy to feel lost, but also to feel renewed! Gone is the comfort of well-oiled processes; here, each day is a new battle to tame the cloud. Azure is a bit like Pandora’s box: you can do everything and nothing, sometimes both at once… but what a pleasure it is to learn so much!

Sure, I lost a bit in salary and in hierarchical responsibilities, but I gained in commute time (15-20 minutes—it’s life-changing!) and personal satisfaction. And above all, I’m lucky to keep progressing in a constantly evolving field, setting myself new challenges and staying up-to-date, even at 50!

So, if you’re also hesitating to change paths to learn something new, let me tell you: it’s possible, and it’s one heck of an adventure—though it’s not always easy on the ego ;-)