本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Knowledge, Skills and Process
I like to explain those concept in IT terms:
You possess the education and rigorous training from a top university in science and
engineering. You have a solid grasp of relevant subjects such as discrete math.,
data structure and algorithm. You also know, for example, how the banking system is run
and how a transaction is completed.
What is missing?
Skill to convey you knowledge.
On you table at home, you have a PC loaded with MS VC++. There is also a book lying beside
the computer <<Master VC++ in 21 Days>>. You are a smart guy and you go through the book
in 10 days. You are lucky that an interview is waiting for you for a IT position in a bank.
You know banking system well, you know the VC or VB so you have be skill. You go for
the interview as scheduled.
In a shiny room of a high-rise building at Bay and Queen, you are interviewed by a HR person
and an IT manager. To your surprise, they do not ask what you have prepared. They already
know it from your resume, otherwise, you would be there to meet them. They ask you about
the version control, configuration management, product life cycle and QA assurance. You
are now in woods.
They are interested in the process.
Another illustrating:
One of our country men immigrated from Europe with Ph.D in solid mechanics. He is a
top-notch researcher and found a post-doc position immediately. He is absorbed in
the research and has high regards toward it. He dismisses the commercial softwares
because of their imperfection. The results? he is still a post-doc in the university
even he wanted to find a industry position for better job security and income.
His wife, a down-to-earth lady, began her career from a textile factory run by a Chinese.
She is a learner, good at personal skill and know how to get things down quicker and
better. She was prompted to group leader. Then she found another job in a auto-part
plant and, after a while, got prompted again. Now she is the pillar for the family
finance.
She does not have strong skills as a textile worker or auto-part assembler. But she
knows how things works and desires to make it better. She knows the process well and
was able to find the suitable position for herself in the process.
You might noticed that the immigrants with experience in joint-venture and subsidiary
of the international companies in China have better chance to find a job. In terms
of technical background, they might not be superior. However, their understanding of
the process prevailing in USA or Canada and their process awareness give them an edge over
you.
If you want to apply for a job in a particular company, you'd better start up by knowing the
business of the company. If you know the process adopted in this company, you will have a
bird-view how the business is running. You can figure out the spot for you and develop the
proper skills for it.
For example, in the metal forming industry, there is a trend that die designers are required
to conduct some primary analysis to make sure that the working piece can be pressed to the
desired shape without tearing, breaking and wrinkling. If you, as an applicant of die designer
position, know this segment of process, you also know there are some softwares available in the
market such as fast3d(www.forming.com), pamstamp and ls-dyna. You have extra points if those
terminology appears on your resume. Even you have never touch them, the knowledge to understand
the nature of those program and the effort you put to know their process will be deeply appreciated
by the visionary employers.
Process awareness is also appreciated in many ways.
It is often mentioned that in the advertisement that it is expected for the applicants to be
able to "work independently or with minimum supervision". What does it really mean?
Do you think they encourage you to work in your own way as long as you achieve the goal set
for you only? It really means that you are expected to work independently in the process.
Even you get your job, the attention to the process is not only a must, but also a step
stone for your advance. You manager, overwhelmed by many issues, desperately needs some help
in managing the process. If you can manage your own process (that means work under no super
vision) and report the progress and plan in timely manner, your direct boss can spend more
time to think something big, which could involve asking you to share more responsibilities.
You know what I mean by that.
It is encouraged for all the job seekers (IT or non-IT) to pay attention to process and
think in big picture. This is particularly true for the non-IT workers since IT, as a emerging
industry, shares the similar process across be world. However, in the traditional industries, such as
mechanical and chemical, even each companies might have distinctive process. One example is
Toyota Way.
To be a new comer, it is not easy to know the inside information about industry. Here are some
of my suggestions:
1. Read professional magzine. If you are of mechanical aptitude, pay attention to magzines like "mechanical
engineering", "automotive engineering" and "Manufacturing Engineering", some articles details the
process prevailing in then industry or specific company. You can even get the information from the
commercials of some companies.
2. Talk to the people in the industry. Do not ask the questions like " what kind of software are you using?"
only. Ask them "how do you get the design and manufacturing done?", when he explains, you can get more
information.
3. If possible, get involved in the professional activities. There are many professional organizations holding
acitivities periodically. Even you are still unemployed, you can be still there to expose yourself.
In this article, I try to help my country men and women to develop a new perspective
to look at your career path ahead. My comment is not authoritative and I am open for
input from you.
Thanks for your reading.
To be continued....更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
I like to explain those concept in IT terms:
You possess the education and rigorous training from a top university in science and
engineering. You have a solid grasp of relevant subjects such as discrete math.,
data structure and algorithm. You also know, for example, how the banking system is run
and how a transaction is completed.
What is missing?
Skill to convey you knowledge.
On you table at home, you have a PC loaded with MS VC++. There is also a book lying beside
the computer <<Master VC++ in 21 Days>>. You are a smart guy and you go through the book
in 10 days. You are lucky that an interview is waiting for you for a IT position in a bank.
You know banking system well, you know the VC or VB so you have be skill. You go for
the interview as scheduled.
In a shiny room of a high-rise building at Bay and Queen, you are interviewed by a HR person
and an IT manager. To your surprise, they do not ask what you have prepared. They already
know it from your resume, otherwise, you would be there to meet them. They ask you about
the version control, configuration management, product life cycle and QA assurance. You
are now in woods.
They are interested in the process.
Another illustrating:
One of our country men immigrated from Europe with Ph.D in solid mechanics. He is a
top-notch researcher and found a post-doc position immediately. He is absorbed in
the research and has high regards toward it. He dismisses the commercial softwares
because of their imperfection. The results? he is still a post-doc in the university
even he wanted to find a industry position for better job security and income.
His wife, a down-to-earth lady, began her career from a textile factory run by a Chinese.
She is a learner, good at personal skill and know how to get things down quicker and
better. She was prompted to group leader. Then she found another job in a auto-part
plant and, after a while, got prompted again. Now she is the pillar for the family
finance.
She does not have strong skills as a textile worker or auto-part assembler. But she
knows how things works and desires to make it better. She knows the process well and
was able to find the suitable position for herself in the process.
You might noticed that the immigrants with experience in joint-venture and subsidiary
of the international companies in China have better chance to find a job. In terms
of technical background, they might not be superior. However, their understanding of
the process prevailing in USA or Canada and their process awareness give them an edge over
you.
If you want to apply for a job in a particular company, you'd better start up by knowing the
business of the company. If you know the process adopted in this company, you will have a
bird-view how the business is running. You can figure out the spot for you and develop the
proper skills for it.
For example, in the metal forming industry, there is a trend that die designers are required
to conduct some primary analysis to make sure that the working piece can be pressed to the
desired shape without tearing, breaking and wrinkling. If you, as an applicant of die designer
position, know this segment of process, you also know there are some softwares available in the
market such as fast3d(www.forming.com), pamstamp and ls-dyna. You have extra points if those
terminology appears on your resume. Even you have never touch them, the knowledge to understand
the nature of those program and the effort you put to know their process will be deeply appreciated
by the visionary employers.
Process awareness is also appreciated in many ways.
It is often mentioned that in the advertisement that it is expected for the applicants to be
able to "work independently or with minimum supervision". What does it really mean?
Do you think they encourage you to work in your own way as long as you achieve the goal set
for you only? It really means that you are expected to work independently in the process.
Even you get your job, the attention to the process is not only a must, but also a step
stone for your advance. You manager, overwhelmed by many issues, desperately needs some help
in managing the process. If you can manage your own process (that means work under no super
vision) and report the progress and plan in timely manner, your direct boss can spend more
time to think something big, which could involve asking you to share more responsibilities.
You know what I mean by that.
It is encouraged for all the job seekers (IT or non-IT) to pay attention to process and
think in big picture. This is particularly true for the non-IT workers since IT, as a emerging
industry, shares the similar process across be world. However, in the traditional industries, such as
mechanical and chemical, even each companies might have distinctive process. One example is
Toyota Way.
To be a new comer, it is not easy to know the inside information about industry. Here are some
of my suggestions:
1. Read professional magzine. If you are of mechanical aptitude, pay attention to magzines like "mechanical
engineering", "automotive engineering" and "Manufacturing Engineering", some articles details the
process prevailing in then industry or specific company. You can even get the information from the
commercials of some companies.
2. Talk to the people in the industry. Do not ask the questions like " what kind of software are you using?"
only. Ask them "how do you get the design and manufacturing done?", when he explains, you can get more
information.
3. If possible, get involved in the professional activities. There are many professional organizations holding
acitivities periodically. Even you are still unemployed, you can be still there to expose yourself.
In this article, I try to help my country men and women to develop a new perspective
to look at your career path ahead. My comment is not authoritative and I am open for
input from you.
Thanks for your reading.
To be continued....更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net