Look before you leap - but what if...
Relocation time again! This time it was from San Jose to San Diego. San Diego enjoys consistently moderate weather throughout the year. I can't imagine any flight ever being canceled at the San Diego airport due to bad weather! Beautiful weather coupled with scenic beaches and the environment of a small town make it a perfect vacation.
I was offered a job to work for a research group. It was wonderful because my wife could start her graduate studies while I gain deeper insights of how R&D groups work in USA. It sounded like the good getting incredibly better!! While I was admiring our good luck, I was aware that God has unique ways of putting price tags on everything He offers.
Research is a strange animal. Researchers work on topics they venerate with fervor for years together to understand it better and help advance human understanding of any science. Research, by definition, is an independent activity. On the other hand Agile methodology, a project execution mechanism followed by Software Companies, advocates collaborative work. Working very close with teams, solving manageable problems in a foreseeable amount of time, learning from other people's mistakes are all highly encouraged. In short, agile methods orthogonally collide with research, especially in the area of team work.
The southward ride from the Bay to the International border was nice. We squeezed all what we had into our car and drove down; thanks to a luggage rack my wife found on Amazon. San Diego welcomed us in moist and dark ways - the apartment's floor was soggy and the ambiance was a bit dull. We set right these small issues and quickly settled in.
The first few days of any new job is always fun. You get acquainted to everything new - process, environment and people. Mine started off smoothly. It took about a fortnight to get my email setup, thanks to my long last name! The HR was flabbergasted with my simple questions. Miraculously after 15 days, emails started trickling in! Shouldn't I be surprised? The same activity took me only 10 minutes in my previous jobs! A short business trip to Virginia was the highlight of my honey moon period at the new job.
I, being a very strong proponent of teams, found things to be very different in this office. People did not see each other for days together. They were working on their own, in their dens. The weekly meeting was like "meet and greet" where team members provide status updates - the only things missing was some food and drinks. Many team members missed these rare festivities quoting reasons like travel, busy, unavailable, etc, definitely not a compelling reason for me, as I was delighted at my agenda - meeting people!
Since I was a part of a team of researchers, it was assumed that I will work independently. This was not new to me. But working independently without any team members, that was new. I had never worked in isolation! I felt like a horrible teacher in a rubber room. I realized why solitary confinement is one of the worst punishments. I had worked independently, but working without anyone around made me inefficient. I did not feel any value add to my career from this job. I felt as much out of place as a doctor in a hospital gown managing traffic.
My job expected me to lead the development effort. The first dilemma was - "Who am I supposed to lead? There are no people around!". My learning of the subject matter was always lesser than what was expected - that is right, I did not come here to do my Ph.D!! They wanted me to learn everything before incorporating changes. This left me with a bitter experience of reading material without any method of understanding its application. This added with the unavailable team structure... need I say more. My wife patiently and supportively listened as I vented my frustration; without a patient ear, I could have lost my mental equilibrium. However arduous, I suggested some tremendous performance improvements - while a few were ignored, the remaining were implemented by someone else due to unfathomable reasons. "Leading without independence" - sounds like an oxymoron? Well, this is my situation. The most dreaded thought started to dawn on me - should I find another job again?
By a twist of fate, I started working for another group which had a more conducive team setup. I did some good work there, but was not able to make it operational due to ownership issues - something I hadn't heard of before! The thoughts of finding a job was not as prevalent now, but hey! it is my career and there can never be a dull moment. My job at the other team was done and I was back. This time it was for real - I had to find something else suitable.
Since San Diego is a small town there are fewer jobs. Being a permanent resident did not help much as many jobs required security clearance, hard luck! Things chugged along and I started the job hunt seriously. I attended interviews in a few very big corporations but they rejected my application. It took me about 4 months to find a suitable job. Small and simple is beautiful - a startup company offered me a job! Hurray! Not only was their offer exciting, I was relieved that I am getting out of my current job.
Let truth be told - I am changing jobs more frequently than I would like to. Though, I had calculated the risks involved in this job, I failed to see its shortcomings. I hope the next relationship will be a long, stable and mutually beneficial.
My job situation has been rough,
I am hanging in there, no doubt.
I am hanging in tight,
Over and out.
Aravind Bargur Hiriyannaiah
Feb 13, 2011
I was offered a job to work for a research group. It was wonderful because my wife could start her graduate studies while I gain deeper insights of how R&D groups work in USA. It sounded like the good getting incredibly better!! While I was admiring our good luck, I was aware that God has unique ways of putting price tags on everything He offers.
Research is a strange animal. Researchers work on topics they venerate with fervor for years together to understand it better and help advance human understanding of any science. Research, by definition, is an independent activity. On the other hand Agile methodology, a project execution mechanism followed by Software Companies, advocates collaborative work. Working very close with teams, solving manageable problems in a foreseeable amount of time, learning from other people's mistakes are all highly encouraged. In short, agile methods orthogonally collide with research, especially in the area of team work.
The southward ride from the Bay to the International border was nice. We squeezed all what we had into our car and drove down; thanks to a luggage rack my wife found on Amazon. San Diego welcomed us in moist and dark ways - the apartment's floor was soggy and the ambiance was a bit dull. We set right these small issues and quickly settled in.
The first few days of any new job is always fun. You get acquainted to everything new - process, environment and people. Mine started off smoothly. It took about a fortnight to get my email setup, thanks to my long last name! The HR was flabbergasted with my simple questions. Miraculously after 15 days, emails started trickling in! Shouldn't I be surprised? The same activity took me only 10 minutes in my previous jobs! A short business trip to Virginia was the highlight of my honey moon period at the new job.
I, being a very strong proponent of teams, found things to be very different in this office. People did not see each other for days together. They were working on their own, in their dens. The weekly meeting was like "meet and greet" where team members provide status updates - the only things missing was some food and drinks. Many team members missed these rare festivities quoting reasons like travel, busy, unavailable, etc, definitely not a compelling reason for me, as I was delighted at my agenda - meeting people!
Since I was a part of a team of researchers, it was assumed that I will work independently. This was not new to me. But working independently without any team members, that was new. I had never worked in isolation! I felt like a horrible teacher in a rubber room. I realized why solitary confinement is one of the worst punishments. I had worked independently, but working without anyone around made me inefficient. I did not feel any value add to my career from this job. I felt as much out of place as a doctor in a hospital gown managing traffic.
My job expected me to lead the development effort. The first dilemma was - "Who am I supposed to lead? There are no people around!". My learning of the subject matter was always lesser than what was expected - that is right, I did not come here to do my Ph.D!! They wanted me to learn everything before incorporating changes. This left me with a bitter experience of reading material without any method of understanding its application. This added with the unavailable team structure... need I say more. My wife patiently and supportively listened as I vented my frustration; without a patient ear, I could have lost my mental equilibrium. However arduous, I suggested some tremendous performance improvements - while a few were ignored, the remaining were implemented by someone else due to unfathomable reasons. "Leading without independence" - sounds like an oxymoron? Well, this is my situation. The most dreaded thought started to dawn on me - should I find another job again?
By a twist of fate, I started working for another group which had a more conducive team setup. I did some good work there, but was not able to make it operational due to ownership issues - something I hadn't heard of before! The thoughts of finding a job was not as prevalent now, but hey! it is my career and there can never be a dull moment. My job at the other team was done and I was back. This time it was for real - I had to find something else suitable.
Since San Diego is a small town there are fewer jobs. Being a permanent resident did not help much as many jobs required security clearance, hard luck! Things chugged along and I started the job hunt seriously. I attended interviews in a few very big corporations but they rejected my application. It took me about 4 months to find a suitable job. Small and simple is beautiful - a startup company offered me a job! Hurray! Not only was their offer exciting, I was relieved that I am getting out of my current job.
Let truth be told - I am changing jobs more frequently than I would like to. Though, I had calculated the risks involved in this job, I failed to see its shortcomings. I hope the next relationship will be a long, stable and mutually beneficial.
My job situation has been rough,
I am hanging in there, no doubt.
I am hanging in tight,
Over and out.
Aravind Bargur Hiriyannaiah
Feb 13, 2011
"Look Before You Leap – But What If..." raises an interesting question about the decision-making process. This thought-provoking article explores the concept of taking calculated risks and the potential outcomes that may arise. It encourages readers to consider the possibilities and embrace the unknown, ultimately inspiring a mindset of balanced exploration and thoughtful decision-making. what does many applicants mean on Indeed
ReplyDelete