Lee Geiger

In Seattle, you haven’t had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it’s running.

Jeff Bezos

The last time I wrote about Keith Geiger was September of 2021, when he got promoted to Senior Software Engineer. I’m happy to report that last month he was once again promoted, this time to Software Engineer.

Huh? Since when does dropping “senior” from your job title turn into a promotion?

It’s actually quite easy. Here’s a Keith Geiger D.I.Y. promotion kit.

1. Place nose upon grindstone and get busy coding at SciPlay, a maker of mobile casino games in Cedar Falls, Iowa. After toiling for three years, you’re ready for a new challenge. Plus, it’s time to exit Iowa.
2. Apply for a job with Bungie, a legendary video game company located near Seattle that became famous in the early 2000’s for developing a masterpiece called “Halo” and is now the developer of a hugely popular online game called “Destiny 2.”
3. Hear nothing for six months. Six. Months.
4. Get promoted to Senior Software Engineer at SciPlay.
5. Finally get a response from Bungie, interview via Zoom, and receive an offer to join the company as an Associate Software Engineer.
6. Spend ten seconds discussing with Jude (Keith’s girlfriend) whether he should accept the job and move to the Pacific Northwest, or remain with SciPlay and buy a John Deere riding mower.
7. Accept offer.
8. Say goodbye to Iowa and move (with Jude and Huey, their too-cool-to-be-bothered black cat) to Bothell, WA.
9. Join Bungie in November 2021. (fyi…Sony buys Bungie in July 2022)
10. Get promoted to Software Engineer in October, 2022.

Keith now has a serious job with a serious company in an industry he loves. It’s what he always wanted, dreamed of and worked hard for. And while the timing of his ascent to Video Game Mountain have taken longer than he had originally planned, Keith, now 28 years old, wouldn’t trade his trek for all the Pokémon in Tokyo.

Why?

Because Keith never meets his soulmate unless he lives in Iowa.

Because Keith doesn’t live in Iowa unless he graduates from Full Sail University in Orlando, FL

Because Keith doesn’t graduate from Full Sail University unless he has the guts to admit, to his parents as well as to himself, that a degree from Carnegie Mellon University wasn’t for him.

Keith Geiger, Software Engineer at Bungie. Damn, I’m proud of him.