| Topic Name: |
New Grad venturing into Real World |
| Message Name: |
...continued |
| Date Posted: |
05/25/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
I think the two most important skills to concentrate on are communication skills and problem-solving skills. The office politics advice covers a lot of things you need to know about communication. But make sure you can deal EFFECTIVELY with all the people you need to deal with. This includes all the "difficult" people that others don't want to deal with. You'll get stuck on projects with people with whom you just don't like or get along with. Successful people learn to deal with these people and not let them walk all over you. Also, be honest and give accurate answers when people ask you questions (for example, if you're behind on a project, be honest about it rather than saying you're ahead). If you are a BSer, it will be found out.
Also, in every job, there are problems that no one wants to deal with. Either they are too hard or too unpleasant. So either they get ignored, or management has to force someone to deal with them (and usually it's the same people). Find those problems, and learn how to solve them. Even if you have to start with the ones that are just not fun (they may not be challenging either), by doing them with a good attitude, you will attract positive attention. And tell your manager that you want to move up to the ones that are too hard for most people to want to do. Then solve them - do it well with a good attitude. Make sure you do a good job with all of your other responsibilities.
For example, I am a software developer. Most people who do this like to write code more than anything else. But there are a lot of other things that need to be done - relatively easy stuff (doing software builds, testing) as well as tough things (dealing with difficult customers and vendors, project management). There are a lot of people who are good coders who have not been successful because they concentrate on coding and nothing else. And there are those who are decent enough coders but not the best who are more successful because they have handled the things that others don't want to do (the harder ones). You may not enjoy the other things as well, but those who do them get the rewards.
Another area to concentrate on is project management. First, make sure you can handle your own tasks, scheduling them and giving realistic deadlines and meeting or beating them. Once you show that skill, you will get to set schedules for other people. If you're good at this, you'll be successful.
Also, make sure you know what is valued in your group. Back to my discussion about the unpleasant tasks - it's good to know how to handle the easier ones, but don't count on that to further your career. Management can force people to do the low-level tasks (usually the new or lesser-skilled people), but moving up to greater responsibility and risk with the higher-level tasks is what gets you noticed. In my group, being a good coder is all fine and good, but those who are really valued also can handle the tough problems that may not even deal with coding programs.
(more in next post) |
| Message: |
Don't get hung up on perfection, either. Learn what "good enough" means, and deliver a little better than "good enough". I could code two programs that are "perfect" (they work, well-designed, well-documented, etc.) in the same time that I could code three that are "good enough" (they work, they are designed and documented a little better than the norm). Guess which will get me moticed more favorably? (Assuming that the programs work as they're supposed to). Perfection ties in with what is valued in your group. An analogy - the best janitor in the company will probably make less than you. Do your job well, but find out what the high-value parts are and concentrate on doing them well rather than ignoring them.
Finally, there are a lot of good books on career advice, understanding yourself (values, strengths and weaknesses), and things like that. It is a good idea to read several of them to make sure that you are doing what will make you successful.
Business is a lot different from school. In school, everyone is doing the same thing at the same time (in each class), and everyone is generally the same age. And the teacher knows exactly what is expected (the correct answers) and feedback is very quick and accurate. Those things are way different in "the real world". Learn to be self-motivated and able to get your own feedback.
Good luck.
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