shinzu.blog

Last Friday was my last day at ray-o-vac. And I must admit, leaving was quite a surreal feeling..

My life at ray-o-vac started a couple months after I graduated from UCI. Graduating in ’03 was a really bad year for the technology industry. There were barely any jobs available at the time.

My first interview happened at quite an interesting time. I was playing Warcraft III when I had received a call on my home line. I promptly said ‘wazup’ when it was an interviewer from ray-o-vac. I was playing a multi player game so I watched my army get decimated while answering questions about Java and software engineering methodologies.

About two weeks later, I got a call from the human resources person telling me to come in for an on-site interview. When I came on site, hr was explaining their benefit package to me where I remember them telling me about STDs. They were saying how for if you get STD the company will cover it for a certain amount of time and that not too many people get STD here at the company. Alright.. at this time I was like wtf, sexually transmitted diseases?? This company is whack! Later on she said short term disability… oh….!

I worked on a total of three projects at the company. My first project was a closed program where there were a lot of security restrictions so I saw only the people on my team and no one else. It was a great place to work due to the great people. I became very comfortable there where I had such a deep attachment with my team I never felt like leaving.

In retrospect, there is a dark side of comfort. Once you get comfortable, you simply stop growing. As humans, we tend to be reactive instead of proactive. Sometimes we need to cast away our comfort zone and try something new. Lucky for me, that decision was forced upon me.

About a year into the project, I was forced off the project and was sent to go support a NATO program. I was so upset when leaving the program. But the only thing I was really upset about was leaving my comfort zone where my emotional bonds with my prior project were strong.

In my second project, I did not like the people as much as the first project. But what the second project provided was a lot more opportunity to learn. That NATO project had a lot of people from the commercial industry and several consultants who knew about every technology stack in existence.

Soon enough, I was sent off to support a similar NATO program. Here though, I had an opportunity to do management tasks such as scheduling, resource management, dispute resolution, budgeting, and mentoring.

My decision to leave the company really came down to the level of difficulty my work had to offer. At the end of the day, I had become really good at my job, and I didn’t really foresee huge difficulties and tasks for me on that career path.

As I said goodbye to my friends the last day, it was a surreal feeling because I knew I may never be able to see the inside of that company again. It’s like moving away from somewhere knowing you may never be able to go back in.

I have to say I really had a great three year run there. I grew a lot as a person career wise and personally. Best yet, I made a lot of great friends whom I love. Here are some tidbits of advice that I learned throughout my time there… your mileage may vary.

If you don’t brand yourself well in the first 3 months, you may have to undo the damage

Ok.. you might be asking.. what the hell does that mean? What I found to be true, is wherever you work, you are branded with the impression you give when you initially get hired. If you just get hired and you are branded as lazy, everyone will think you are lazy even though you aren’t! Is this fair? Not necessarily, but it is reality. The thing you have to know is that perception is often more important than reality.

Find the game

We’ve all heard the saying “you’ve got to play the game” at work. My suggestion is to “find the game.” Every company we work at has some way of moving up the career ladder. In order to do these things, you have to found out what it takes technically, and politically to move up the ladder. When I talk to new grads who enter the company, the first thing I ask them is “who is your boss?” The second thing I ask them is “who give you your promotion?” Very often they can’t answer the second question because they haven’t even realized there is a game to be played.

Market yourself

Engineers are notoriously bad at this. If you are a person who hides in a cube, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. We all have special talents and traits. If other people don’t know about these traits, then how are you expected to get promotions and raises?

Nice guys finish last

Back then, I always believed that being nice was a good trait. But after working for quite a bit, I firmly believe in the statement above. Its not that nice guys don’t work as hard as other people, but nice guys tend to be shy and reserved. They tend to be modest and not take credit for the work. In English, they get screwed! Say you have a vocal guy who sucks at their work, but everyone thinks he does well. And say you have a nice guy who is a super genius but doesn’t take much credit. Guess who is moving up…

Find a mentor

Sometimes companies have formal mentors, but wherever you work, you should find one. A mentor isn’t necessarily your boss, but is someone who can provide you advice on decisions you may have to make and can give you guidance on what your future may hold.

Find your replacement

This is a move many people fail at. Whenever you get promoted for a position, immediately try to find someone who will be your replacement. The rationale behind this is when you are up for promotion again, you may not get it because they might say “you are too important in that position.” That’s why when you want to move up the ladder, you’ve gotta be smart and have your successor in line. Because when you move up, he moves up, and everyone is happy. If you don’t have anyone to replace you in your position.. then expect to get stuck in it. And its no ones fault except yours.

All in all.. ray-o-vac.. gonna miss ya…

Andy, me, and Shandiz

My cubemates! Matt and Jason. We are pretty much the noisy cube always talking about politics haha.

Project buddies.. Kevin, Twie, Toan, Terry, Ryan

My mentee Scott who ended up saving my ass on a task I owned.

Me, Terry, Brandon, Jim, and Ryan

Yoseph, me, and Keith

Mustafa and Samar. I used to go harass and try to scare Samar in her cube every now and then.

A friend at my work made me cake for my last day. Can you believe.. that everything on this cake is edible? And the inside is rum cake with a bubble gum frosting. It was freaking awesome.

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