How did you get to where you are now?

In My Humble Opinion
21

When I was in the Navy, I competed for and was selected for a program that led to my engineering degree. I know there are those who assumed I got it because of being female, but the year I was selected, of the several hundred who made it, I don’t think a dozen had internal plumbing, so I’m pretty sure it was a combination of past performance, qualifications, and a stellar interview.

Getting my first engineering job was luck and networking - I had a very menial and low-paying job, but one of my coworkers was married to a man who worked in plant engineering at a local Navy base. He helped me fill out the application paperwork and hand carried it to the man who eventually hired me. While I had an engineering degree and 11 years as a technician and administrator in the Navy, I had no hands-on design experience. I didn’t even know what CAD was, but John obviously saw my potential and he launched me on a successful 26 year run.

During that time, I applied for and lost out on several positions or promotions, but before I retired, I’d worked my way up to the most senior working-level engineering position. I had no desire to be a manager, so I’d maxed out, and I was quite satisfied. And I know I advanced because I was good at what I did and my boss knew he could count on me to deliver a good product on time. I know full well I wasn’t the best engineer in the organization, but that didn’t matter. I was the best I could be, and that was pretty darn good.

And now, as a retiree, I’m doing an outstanding job! :smiley:

22

Excellent job advice there!

23

Even being born in a 1rst world country is a major luck of the draw when you consider life in 3rd world countries even for the best and brightest. Like this one friend from Ecuador told me. He said (using his hands) “you are either HERE (holding his hand high) or THERE” (holding his hand low). “Almost nothing in between and hard for anyone down low to work up”. Most of Mexico and central America is like this.

24

Aside from everything that I did myself, most of where I got was accident of birth. I was born with white skin and high intellect in a prosperous part of a country awash with wealth, where I learned English from birth, from parents who imparted the best of genes and values, during times of opportunity and optimism. With all that going for me, how could I possibly have not made it? There was nothing that needed to be overcome, no challenges.

25

How did I get to where I am now? First, I quit college when I was 19 and drank and drugged my way through a series of crappy jobs for 14 years. At 33, in 1987, I decided I needed to do a lot of things differently. I’m a bit slow.

My sister-in-law was a software developer. I talked to her about her career and education, and she gave me the names of a few other people to talk to. The consensus of what I heard was that if I got a programming degree from a specific community college and graduated with a 4.0 GPA or something very close to it, I would get an entry-level programming job at a good company. I enrolled at that community college, moved back into my parents’ house, and worked as a security guard for the city government while I went to school full-time, a job that my father got for me through bureaucratic connections.

I graduated with a 4.0 GPA and had a good entry-level job lined up before graduation. I worked for that company for eight years, then changed jobs a couple of times in the run-up to Y2K, increasing my salary quite a bit.

Then I met a woman online and moved to Ohio to marry her. Not knowing the local job market, I decided to try being a contract programmer for the first time. My first assignment was at my current employer. When the contract was over, I moved on to another contract. Just as that contract ended, 9/11 happened and the contract programmer market dried up. I got laid off and approached my current employer. They didn’t have any openings, but they had liked my work as a contractor so much that they created a slot for me. Thirteen years and six major layoffs later, I’m still here.

So, I got here through all three. I earned a perfect GPA, which I knew in advance was a weeding out factor for several employers who sought entry-level programmers at my community college. I lucked out timing-wise, in that the company that hired me needed new programmers in 1988 when I graduated. They didn’t hire every year, and that company turned out to be a great place to learn my profession. I lucked out that I happened to be eight years into my career when the Y2K craziness started, allowing me to learn a lot and ramp up my pay. After Y2K, I survived the contraction of the workforce in my field that inevitably followed. I have also survived the relentless contraction of the workforce in my field that businesses in the US have been pushing ever since. The security guard job, which enabled me to pay child support and study all night long, was totally the result of family connections.

Luck, hard work, successful competition, and family connections.

26

Cronyism.

27

I am SO lucky. But I have also worked very hard, because good health and looks can only take you so far in life.

I think if I were advising a young person, I would tell them to be strategic with their competitiveness. Being the “best” indiscriminately is a waste of time and energy. It’s better to be “really really good” in multiple areas than be the best in just one. “Jack of all trades” may be master of none, but he will likely stay employed.

28

Wonderful story!

29

Thanks! There’s one more factor that I didn’t mention in that post, that came up in an email exchange with a couple of posters.

I went to that community college for three semesters. In my last semester, I took 19 credits and went to school during the day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and at night on Tuesday and Thursday. I was taking programming courses in three diffeent languages. I needed a gym credit as the 19th credit, and golf was the only course that fit my ridiculous schedule. I sucked at golf. I went to the golf instructor and told her I had a 4.0 GPA, that I was definitely going to ace my other six courses because that was totally under my control. That’s all I told her, didn’t ask her anything. She gave me an A. I still suck at golf. So add relying on the kindness of strangers to the list.

30

Oh it’s possible to screw up with all of those advantages. Some of us find a way.

31

I don’t have the white skin so that wasn’t a consideration for me. I am heart-stoppingly handsome however, so perhaps I owe my success to that rather than my academic achievements, or being better at what I do than many.

In all seriousness, I am surprised that being white would be considered a determinant for success one way or the other.

32

Of the three, I’d say the second choice fits best for me. I’ve never gotten an job that did not require a competitive interview or, for internal promotions, that I didn’t prove I was ready for and/or ask for (and several of those were competitive as well). I don’t recall ever having family help, though I did have a friend once point me to a company but not a specific position.

33

I got into my first college because a professor wanted me. My HS grades were abysmal; fortunately my ACT scores were high. I applied the summer before and got accepted on what I’m sure was a greased process.

I got my first job at the agency I work for now because I was related to a retiree, who urged me to apply. I got the job because I killed the testing process, but I was probably given a little leeway as far as assignment due the the connection.

I found myself in my current position due to a couple random things. First, a few people who were eligible and initially interested didn’t apply because they weren’t happy with the posted salary range. Turns out I started in about the middle of the range, which pissed those who didn’t apply off to no end.

Second, I still wasn’t the first choice for this position. The first choice, however, has a visible tattoo on her hand, which not allowed. So I love tattoos, because it got me this job.

I do a good job (great job, if my recent reclassifiation is any indicator) but I’ll admit that my advancement has had a lot to do with dumb luck.

34

A mix of stuff, really.

  1. Started out in a good place. Son of two college grads, upper middle class upbringing in a neighborhood where college was more a question of ‘where’ than ‘if’; largely coasted through high school but did well enough to get into a good college; largely coasted through college but did well enough to graduate.

  2. Then drifted for several years, did this and that. Had a diploma, but only because that’s what was expected of me. I was rudderless for a time after that.

  3. Got tired of drifting, sorted out what I wanted, went to grad school, got my M.S. in math, taught for a few years, went back to grad school, got my Ph.D. in math. No coasting then; it was hard work, but IME hard work isn’t a big deal when it’s the right work for you.

  4. Was a college perfesser for several years, decided it wasn’t for me, found that Uncle Sam was looking for a few good math geeks, and I was able to get in the door at a time my agency was hiring.

  5. Gradually proved myself, got one competitive promotion, and have gradually become the resident expert and go-to guy on a number of things. There have been times when I’ve been merely good, and other times when I’ve been done some really groundbreaking things.

On the whole, I’m pretty proud of what I’ve accomplished, but #1 in that list is pretty important. I started off on second base, and managed to steal third.

35

There’s a lot to be said for doing jobs no one else wants to do. A guy I know who cleans up murder scenes and MRSA in hospitals earns $160k+, you can earn that (or more) working a basic job on oil rigs in the ocean or desert, fully-trained engineers and firefighters working in third world countries in oil and gas companies only work 2 weeks a month and are on very, very good salaries.

I’ve just floated from job to job - no real focus - and am comfortable but not in business class, at all, but I love my job most of the time. I worked in banking for 7 years, after a ridiculously easy interview and 5 promotions in seven years, but had had enough by 2006 and decided to take voluntary redundancy. I worked like a dog and spent every penny back then but now I save quite a bit as I teach in the Middle East, so there isn’t anything to spend your money on. Teaching never pays that much but can be quite satisfying. I teach during the summer holidays, because I miss it and can get rusty in the two and a half summer months out of the classroom.

I usually enjoyed school and had a lot of respect for my own teachers, so maybe that has something to do with it. In primary school my favourite teacher - Mrs Pape - had me helping the other children at maths, but it never occurred to me, at the time, that that was an occupation I’d be good at.

36

If I’m applying for a loan or a job or an apartment lease or a date or a perk, or trying to talk my way out of a traffic ticket, I’m still damned glad I’m white. “Success” is an accumulation of thousands of little things that sprinkle one’s life.

37

Luck in the sense I was born with brains and the desire to work hard. Missing either one of these can cause problems.
I’m more competitive against myself than other people. I’ve found that if you say yes to jobs people give you, even crap ones, you’ll go far, especially if you do more than expected. But also have ideas. And don’t be afraid to share them.

Is that luck? I got my first job because I had a great thesis review which was because my project was my idea and thus I could really sell it. My second job was a case of them not being able to find anyone else, and I left in a year. The third was thanks to my reputation, and I’m still here.
If someone is really great at the useful things they like to do, you’ll get offered more opportunities doing stuff you love.

38

I moved to my current job (IT Strategy/management) through small increments, starting from a position packing boxes in a warehouse.

It isn’t always about ‘beating the others’. One thing I have learned is that you don’t always have to succeed by making others fail. In fact, it turns out that championing the good work of colleagues and trying to give others opportunities to do good stuff and move ahead, can really get you noticed as a team player and a candidate for promotion.

Even in interview scenarios, you sometimes don’t have to beat all the others. I took part in a group interview role-play assessment one time; some of the other candidates were trying their best to be ‘outstanding’ - I got through the selection process because I took steps to make sure some of the shy, quiet applicants got a chance to contribute.

On another occasion, in a 1 to 1 interview after a group psychometric test, the interviewer reacted positively about my attitude in the group - all I had done was to say “best of luck to us all, guys”.

Sometimes, you do have to compete to win, of course. I guess I’m just saying it doesn’t help if your competitive nature makes you look like a self-serving asshole.
Unless it’s a job in direct sales, in which case ignore the above.

39

This is a recipe for success.

I started at the bottom also. There was no one pulling strings for me. Rather, the most fundamental and invaluable thing I possessed was a good personality and a good attitude, along with a modicum of intelligence.

The “competition” part, in most cases, isn’t really competition. It is part of my personality to take on new challenges, keep skills upgraded, network with others, help out others, and maintain a good reputation. I don’t do half-assed work either. There is no such thing as “good enough”. This is what gives you a competitive edge when your performance is assessed.

I often won out not because I was directly competing or had vastly superior abilities, but because other people were complacent and stagnant, in that they didn’t update their skills and didn’t make any effort to go the extra mile every now and then. Some people haven’t had a new idea since FDR was President. People can allow themselves to get pretty stale and uninspired.

Having flexibility and adaptability is also important. Things change. They can change drastically. It’s unsettling, but not the end of the world.

The most fundamental thing is your personality. You can have a lot of brains, education, skill, and whiteness (if you believe that counts for something) or whatever else you claim makes someone successful, but if you have an off-putting personality, can’t get along with co-workers, and alienate clients, you are not going to get very far. In fact, most people will go to great lengths to avoid you. They will never risk giving you a reference and they will never want to work around you again, so they won’t bring you along with them when they find better opportunities.

Unless you work in a closet and never have to deal with another human being, having a lousy personality and a lousy attitude is poison to yourself, your employer, and it certainly contaminates relationships with co-workers. Being somewhat weird or different is okay, even interesting; being unpleasant to work with, not so much.

40
  1. I happened to have the right, eclectic mix of skills the job required, which means I got the job instead of anyone else they interviewed. I guess there aren’t too many people who can edit both publications and videos. And was familiar with webinar software and can update websites…