(Master copy – 610610)
Given my limited bandwidth/O2, IF I must choose one of
P) generic, portable knowledge
L) local sys knowledge
THEN short term take L but later P. L keeps me this job, but P keeps me marketable.
No matter which one you focus on, you can be more careful about protocol, empathy, conform, stick-out…
My GS team lead isn’t good with etiquette and protocol but he gets things done — real business value. Users appreciate him and one of his bosses adores him.
I feel if i could spend 6 months each in microsoft, google, oracle … i could probably find more tech leads (grass root or architect levels) with low protocol/etiquette.
Wall street is possibly similar. If you can get things done, then u can afford to be arrogant, uncooperative, territorial, .. and still survive since they can’t easily replace you. There’s a limit though. Many senior managers believe every individual tech genius is replaceable.
I was less high-maintenance on EOS, Aise, pershing, hamper… because I know these better than anyone in the world.
Email-review-by-mgr is classic highman.
Highman is infinitely better than offending people. I messed up with my emails to GS users. In citi, external (support) team is also considered “user”. Yet, in the big picture, I still fare better in written than oral communications.
It’s easy to feel rejected, inadequate. Let’s consider the other side.
– I didn’t fail at GS. I tried transfer (and passed) so one (of 3) mgr gave me that review to block me.
– I didn’t fail at GS. Many strong developers were let go, but I was retained so many times.
– most GS lateral hires fail within 1-2 years
– I didn’t fail at Citi. I avoided feedback. I didn’t want to promise I will stay here.
– I didn’t fail at citi. I attended so many interviews that I was prepared to offend them and get sacked.
You did notice that I don’t conform to many of the everyday conventions, but you said you didn’t realize it affects my work.
Wait a minute — anyone who doesn’t even know he is behaving differently is kind of “half color-blind and half-deaf”, so this individual would soon run into workplace communication issues, right? So why were you surprised? I hope you could shed some light when free.
Someone suggested a (long) answer. My sister acts even more differently than I do, esp. in the eyes of mainland Chinese. She is more westernized. She has many more friends than I have and very few are Chinese. However, she doesn’t have workplace communication issues because she is not half-blind or half-deaf – she is very sharp. I feel most “odd-looking” individuals are like her, so you feel I’m also that type?
Well, now you know some individuals are more “simple” and “naïve” than that…
Thanks for sharing and listening to me — this is my biggest career “weakness” over the last 15 years.
No need to reply. I know you are busy even on weekends but spent 90 minutes counseling me!
Forgot to say that Huang Cheng left a smaller firmware company and joined Apple, a few years ago. He had a son about the age of your son. I think he was into video codec. He got Green Card around 2007/2008. I asked if he is a team lead but can't remember his answer. He is definitely interested to play such a role.
I no longer feel “stick-out is a good thing”. Rather I try (a bit) to shrink myself in group lunch or meetings.
Attitude, perceptiveness and your action plan are 3 sides of the same triangle. I'll remember your suggestion to “conform (qu1tong2) on every little behavior”. Such an attitude will force me to think why my behavior sticks out and force me to feel how others feel and slowly sharpen my empathy.
The issue with my perceptiveness is – i don't know which behaviors stick out.
– My mentor (now VP) sometimes sends out very short emails to a large audience. I guess that sticks out. I feel i should follow the “norm” and not follow him.
– On a group lunch, almost any topic you create would stick out (in my perception). I often keep quiet and avoid attracting attention, since i'm very poor at dining conversations. People told me i was a bit boring, but it's actually risky to raise a new topic or even respond to a topic.
– when I receive an email cc'ed to 22 people, i frequently remove 20 and reply to just 2 people. I do this more often than other colleagues, because i am more cautious, but does this stick out? I don't think so.
It all boils down to perceptiveness and judgment – what counts as stick-out. I have a very limited perception power — half color blind. I have a modest goal to improve it incrementally over the next 10 years. Your suggestion is the most concrete action plan so far.
By the way, I can mis-judge people's feeling for me, but not frequently. We all can tell if someone likes us or is keeping a distance. Many colleagues didn't need to but did help me beyond mere colleagues. That's why i feel many colleagues are on fairly good (not super) terms with me. My senior mgr was lenient with time booking and my project time-lines but unsatisfied with my overall performance.
In short, try to make yourself helpful to other people but otherwise be invisible.
Hi ZR
(Another blog post. No need to reply.)
You mentioned “attachment” to (and over-heated preoccupation with) career growth through self-improvement. I sometimes feel i’m paying a big price with family life.
Now I spend 30-60 min each evening learning C++ and java. I feel that’s not enough but at the same time i don’t have enough time for my baby boy and not enough time for workout. Luckily grand parents were here to help with the baby boy, so he gets enough play time and chitchat time (he speaks his own language; we pretend we understand most of it)
I also feel fortunate that grand parents could help my wife a bit. Before they came, i couldn’t get any time for my home study.
Anyway, since i have a lot of zest and motivation but insufficient time, something has gotta give. I feel job hunting is one, including phone calls with recruiters, reading those job emails, responding to recruiters.
Another one to let go is green card.
A third one to give up might be those sight-seeing trips for the family.
A 4th one — maybe i should sleep less.
Another one to de-prioritize is c++. Not enough real projects to work on, but i feel i should consider to persevere.
Overall, my work load is much lower than before. I feel so lucky. Maybe i should stay in this kind of job.
HI XR,
(another blog)
If you think my resume and my background are strong among job candidates, you are wrong. I now recall that my resume was sent to about 20 – 40 wall street positions since end of 2009, but only citi, barclays, JPM, MS, UBS and RBC had positive feedback. Many of those jobs i didn't pass the tech screening. Majority of those hiring managers didn't like my resume at all. If you ask me, they like
* strong employer names like GS, MS …
* relevant domain experience. I actually failed many trading system positions due to lack of experience. That's why i'm so keen to get into mainstream trading.
* online test scores
I probably did better in person than online tests. I guess your test score is higher. Did you really read up on applet, AWT, Swing, RMI, XML?
* voice recorder — record a few words to remind oneself of something
* shoot a picture and send out as MMS
I tend to focus on a sub-sys, become an expert , and demonstrate my value-add. perhaps ok for a short-term assignment. For a long term project, over time client may be surprised that “Bin doesn’t seem to know enough beyond that module”. Slogan — find out expectations of the manager. I guess i should align my understanding with the manager’s. Suspend my own judgment a bit longer.
Soundbyte: “adapt”. communications, work habits…
Some users may be rough and demanding -> pressure
Get feedback before leaving any team.
productivity issue? “you may or may not have.”
If tech team is adequately staffed, then i might feel better.
My goal is to survive 3 months. 1 month? tough period may not be so short. Slogan — i survived GS for 2.5 years.
high-maintenance? Depending too much on others? “Adapt”
I feel i have the right attitude of only-the-paranoid-survive.