The earlier posts were just pretty much descriptions of my entire IT career in chronological order, spanning close to 12 years - so far. Here goes my thoughts...
Somehow I'm at this stage where I feel that I need to make a decision. A big one. I'm not sure what hit me or what got me thinking. Age? Now that I'm coming to 35. The start of the "midlife crisis" period. Or was it the fact that I'm getting married and I need to settle down? I don't know.
Coming to 4 years in my current company, where do I go from here? What would be the next step?
I keep telling myself that it's almost time to move, but I can't seem to envision the path that I should take. It's unclear. I don't quite know what to do.
Today I had a meeting with my usual reseller, and he happened to bring in some vendors. At first glance, I looked at one of the guys. He looked somewhat familiar. After revisiting my memories, I recalled he used to work in one of the companies I had worked in before. What a coincidence. He gave me his card. I thought to myself 'wow he's now a country manager'. Well, this was not a one-off case. I've met ex-colleagues who are now in managerial positions of some sort - during my tenure here - (it is me, or that the IT community is relatively small?) or they are doing something outside of the industry that they enjoy doing.
I thought to myself and asked, 'am I really happy doing what I'm doing now?' That's the basis of my reflections, which was why I somehow had to write those 4 previous posts.
If I were to look at it pragmatically, through each job I've learned and gained new skills and experience - be it technical or interpersonal - which I may or may not utilize in the next job. The hands-on is something I quite enjoy, to be honest.
Of course, I love making new friends too. I don't deny the fact that I like to make the office a fun place to work in. I mean, I make nonsensical jokes and do many other silly actions. But when it's time to get things done, the focus should be there. Sometimes we just need a bit of laughter to get our mind off things and make our day better. Otherwise, we're just on autopilot - get up, go work, end work, go home. Where's the joy in that?
On the flip side, I've learnt how unreasonable and unrealistic people can be. One word that is often abused is "URGENT". It MUST be taken out of the dictionary. If everything is so urgent, how does one prioritize which is above the other? Sometimes you just feel like strangling that person to make a point that not everything is urgent.
Another thing I've learnt is that wanting to be the higher up doesn't necessarily mean that it will be better than being at the bottom of the ladder. Sandwiched between the demands of the people below, and the expectations of the much higher ups. Decisions had to be made, and those come with some levels of risk - of getting screwed. Therefore, everyone decides to mitigate by 'cover one's own ass' or 'taichi-ing' - as in the act of transferring the load of a certain undesired task or pointing fingers as an act of blaming someone or something.
I'm almost deviating, so let me steer back to the right direction.
Let me analyze me - this is purely my own view about myself, and I may not write reasons why I think that way because... I have no idea how to justify.
*this might have to wait because I'm sleepy. I will continue and amend the title later*
Coming to 4 years in my current company, where do I go from here? What would be the next step?
I keep telling myself that it's almost time to move, but I can't seem to envision the path that I should take. It's unclear. I don't quite know what to do.
Today I had a meeting with my usual reseller, and he happened to bring in some vendors. At first glance, I looked at one of the guys. He looked somewhat familiar. After revisiting my memories, I recalled he used to work in one of the companies I had worked in before. What a coincidence. He gave me his card. I thought to myself 'wow he's now a country manager'. Well, this was not a one-off case. I've met ex-colleagues who are now in managerial positions of some sort - during my tenure here - (it is me, or that the IT community is relatively small?) or they are doing something outside of the industry that they enjoy doing.
I thought to myself and asked, 'am I really happy doing what I'm doing now?' That's the basis of my reflections, which was why I somehow had to write those 4 previous posts.
If I were to look at it pragmatically, through each job I've learned and gained new skills and experience - be it technical or interpersonal - which I may or may not utilize in the next job. The hands-on is something I quite enjoy, to be honest.
Of course, I love making new friends too. I don't deny the fact that I like to make the office a fun place to work in. I mean, I make nonsensical jokes and do many other silly actions. But when it's time to get things done, the focus should be there. Sometimes we just need a bit of laughter to get our mind off things and make our day better. Otherwise, we're just on autopilot - get up, go work, end work, go home. Where's the joy in that?
On the flip side, I've learnt how unreasonable and unrealistic people can be. One word that is often abused is "URGENT". It MUST be taken out of the dictionary. If everything is so urgent, how does one prioritize which is above the other? Sometimes you just feel like strangling that person to make a point that not everything is urgent.
Another thing I've learnt is that wanting to be the higher up doesn't necessarily mean that it will be better than being at the bottom of the ladder. Sandwiched between the demands of the people below, and the expectations of the much higher ups. Decisions had to be made, and those come with some levels of risk - of getting screwed. Therefore, everyone decides to mitigate by 'cover one's own ass' or 'taichi-ing' - as in the act of transferring the load of a certain undesired task or pointing fingers as an act of blaming someone or something.
I'm almost deviating, so let me steer back to the right direction.
Let me analyze me - this is purely my own view about myself, and I may not write reasons why I think that way because... I have no idea how to justify.
*this might have to wait because I'm sleepy. I will continue and amend the title later*
