My career goals
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| Character, Cars, and Computers |
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My career goals |
Computers - My Career Goals
Computing For a Job, Explained
It really didn't dawn on me until high school that working with computers would be something I could take an interest in.
I had already been playing around with videogame systems for years as a kid, and on the computer as well. As my years rolled by, pc maintenance came more and more naturally to me, until my parents and my family started turning to me expectantly to keep the computer running. I knew how to configure memory back in the days of DOS, and found myself tinkering with Windows 95 and 98 when they were released. The desire to program was a desire to create, to make things happen on the computer. I still have it running around in me. I would still like to put skills like that to work.
Why? Because I am quite fascinated with the idea of turning a project from a picture or series of notes into a reality. Computers allow us to do things today we could only dream of back in the 80s (and even the 90s). We can get so much more done with them now than before.
Computers are a part of my upbringing, and the desire to work with them is going to continue to permeate my career aspirations. With the discipline I have gained from a collegiate computing focus at Stevens Institute of Technology, and the desire to work hard to succeed, I hope to be able to make a comfortable living, providing my expertise to companies to help them do better.
Below are some of the career paths I would like to take.
Fandom, Workdom - My Subaru Connection
Subaru of America is looking for employees who can get passionate about their product and sell it with confidence. Considering their track record, it would probably be a surprise if they were not one of the most sought-after companies for employment in the world.
Subaru of America has quietly but persistently built itself up to now be one of the biggest players in the American automobile market, and holds its own rather well today. Starting in the 60s with economical and practical automobiles, progressing through to the 80s with slightly different automotive ideas (e.g. the Brat), and cementing the all-wheel-drive platform in the mid 90s, Subaru has officially arrived as one of the big-name heavy hitters of the car industry. No longer a third row contestant, Scooby antics take center stage on tv and in car events like the World Rally Championship and American rally competitions.
These people have built a unique powerhouse of performance, value, safety, and fun. How would a person like me fit into their mold?
No one likes working with a grouch. It's no question that we can't always be smiling (dealing with all of life is an important question of balance). At the same time, most folks would agree that a flexible person with reserved manners, confidence, persistence, and an encouraging smile, is definitely an asset in most any company. I can offer a positive, can-do mindset that power projects when the crunch begins to be felt.
The Japanese principle of kaizen is something that I model my work ethic and performance behind, with my judeo-christian upbringing and beliefs backing up the rest of this statement: My work performance directly impacts the company I work for. If I sell unacceptable product quality, or if I resort to questionable ethics to pursue success, I pay the price for that. My reputation is based on my work.
Ever since I saw what Subaru products could possibly do and project as a teenager, I wanted to learn more and more about them. Today, I am a fan of the Subaru mark, and of the technology that goes into making each car what it is. Subaru simply makes great cars - safe, sporty, versatile vehicles that have carved their own niche in the auto market. Their all-wheel-drive all the time principle is something that automobile manufacturers can learn from (if I was creating my own line of automobiles, I'd start by studying them). They solidified themselves by studying manufacturers like Porsche, and have incorporated the idea of their horizontally-opposed engine into their designs. The result? Their Forester, basically Subaru's SUV, performs with a lower center of gravity and that much more reduced risk of rollover.
It would be a fantastic day if I would be offered a position with their company.
Pharmaceutical IT Support - Service With Immediate Impact
When I started on a cooperative education program with my university, the first company that I got hired for was Warner-Lambert (now Pfizer). I provided information technology support for their pharmaceutical division. This was one of the first jobs I had in which I realized that the impact from my work would be directly translated into the product each customer buys.
It's the same with any company, but especially in a pharmaceutical environment, attention to detail, quality performance, and cost-effective solution design are not just desirable, they are essential to success. Such an environment is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that quality product is all that leaves their laboratories and gets sold. Performing at the top of your game is the way to go - there is no room for mediocrity (since it simply slows things down and costs the company money - in certain cases, excruciating amounts of money).
Why a pharmaceutical position? The satisfaction that I would get from helping a company produce products for their customers would fuel my resolve to work at my best. Anyone can say they gave a good performance at their job. Performing first-class it support for a pharmaceutical company, so that their scientists and manufacturers can produce the necessary tools and medicines to save lives as well as to improve them, brings about a special level of satisfaction unique to the field. At least for me.
Working to support companies of this nature would give me meaningful employment on a daily basis, not necessarily because of who I work for, who I work with, or even what I do, but what I help to create. Contentment on the job begins when you square with what you really want to work towards. Helping improve human life is certainly something I can find myself devoting time to.
Coding for Fun and Profit
Ever since coding my first basic game, the light has not burned out in my brain which thinks of me programming videogames. But why this? Why consider one of the more difficult industry careers to crack into?
It's a difficult decision to make, especially considering the kind of commitment, talent, and desire required to make a game a reality. Even people who simply modify games for fun could probably tell me how hard it is sometimes to make ideas reality. But at the same time, having played more games that some folks may ever play in their lifetimes, the idea of creating a game is simply a natural extension of my curiosity to show folks a good time.
It would also be a great experience to give to others so that they can have family-friendly alternatives to violent entertainment options out there. As more and more consoles and more and more games get sold, and parents wonder whether or not they are able to make educated decisions regarding gaming, the idea of creating family-safe games, be they action, adventure, mystery, puzzle, or simulation-based, is a noble idea, a thoughtful idea, and a potentially lucrative idea as well.
In America, the public votes with its feet, and with its money. Creating games like this could be a great way to support myself and my future family. I do fully understand of course that this could also be an incredibly difficult way to support a family, given the wants and desires of the industry, the publishers, and the gaming public itself. Not everyone who started programming videogames became successful. But given the chance, I think I would at least like to know that I tried.
Software Consulting - The Independent Frontier
The idea of going freelance - being a software free agent, if you will - is ripe with fear: are you really sure you have secure ways of ensuring employment? While the truthful answer is no, freelance consulting is probably an incredibly lucrative career to those who walk the tightrope every day. Outsourcing is one way of getting a job done, and when you outsource and pay for the talent, you can tell them to do precisely what you want them to do, and on a contract basis, that's what needs to get accomplished.
It is a double-edged sword, no question about it. But at the same time, if I became successful enough to make my own career like this, it would place me in a unique position to hire my services out to companies, instead of getting hired by them. It could even be the portal to my own business. At the same time, however, I don't think that's going to be a scenario for me. I have always envisioned myself to be someone who can come in from the ranks to help, whether working on my own or with a collective of people. Owning a business alone would probably be more of a task than I'd like it to be. It would certainly be a humongous hobby.
Software consulting? Probably a more favorable alternative. And depending on how much effort I put into it, a potentially good measurement of how knowledgeable about computer affairs I am. Realistically, it is not in my future at the moment, but in the future, it might be what I choose to do. Only God knows.