Leaving my first job

I have finally decided to leave my first job.

I was in M-DAQ Global Pte Ltd for 5 years and grew from a Associate Cloud Engineer to a Devops Engineer and was then given a Senior Devops Engineer on the 4th year. My colleagues are great. They were smart and motivated, full of job and laughter. It was the perfect job as a first job. My boss was great too! He trust our work, got our back and doesn’t micro-managed us. It was quite an enjoyable journey in M-DAQ Global and I do hope to continue keeping in contact with the peeps there! I love the work I was doing in M-DAQ. I had flexibility to develop and influence change, talk to engineering managers and improve things. Overall, I was well taken care of and enjoyed my tenure there.

So why did I leave such a great place?

1. I realized that I got too comfortable with the technology. I was not moving forward or moving at a much slower pace then when I first joined the company

2. I find myself focusing on health, fitness and life. Diverging away from improving myself with technology.

3. I felt that I was easily replaceable in my work. I am losing out and I should take on a new challenge.

4. I fell into the “Grass is greener on the other side” fallacy. I have heard that most of the engineers that left M-DAQ went to bigger companies with high salary pay and they are enjoying themselves. If they could do it, I could do it as well!

   • I called it a fallacy as I realized that the grass is not always greener on the other side, and of course we only hear the good stuff. No one would share to anyone that they are in a worst place.

5. I found myself lagging behind my peers in other companies. They have been job hopping and experiencing different tech stack. They shared that it’s not easy, and they have to endure hardship to learn and advance. My envious and “kiasu” mindset made me want to take on this challenge and advance my career.

6. I want to meet new people, new engineers, learn from people with different background and work in a different environment/industry.

Do I regret it?

No.

Today (15 Oct 2025), I am 6 months into my new job and I looked back. After I have placed myself in a new environment, I manage to grow and progress on my technical skills and personal mindset.

I probably should have taken this leap of faith earlier in my career but then again, the outcome would have been different.

M-DAQ & it’s engineering team grew me, I left strong, and I have a feeling that I might return stronger if it’s possible.

Resignation Letter

With that much sentimental to the company and the work I have contributed in, It was hard for me to hand in the resignation letters especially when I was well taken care of by my boss!

This is my first job, and I am not sure of the process on how to resign as well. I had to look for tips and ask my peers for help.

After I handed in my resignation letter, thankfully my boss made it easy for me and accepted it. I was honored that the CEO and my engineering manager tried to retain me, but I know I have to reject them and advance for the sake personal growth.

Retrospective

I guess this blog is to remind me the feeling I felt when I get too comfortable in a job.

When I reflect, I realized that changing job was a justification for my incompetency to learn when every was stable. I should continuously improve myself regardless if I’m in the same company or not.

Now, a new job with extra hardship, different environment and the competition to shine is just a motivating factor to push me further. I do hope and will try to keep the motivation up for greater heights.