What Drives You And Your Career Ambitions?

Are you passionate about what you do?  Do you enjoy what you do?  Or are you there simply to collect a pay cheque and be content with coasting.

New flash – managers can tell when employees are coasting, and generally they (coasters) don’t get new assignments, opportunities for promotions or anything else that may pique their interest at work.  Once someone has decided that they are content with coasting, generally there is going to be very little that a manager is going to be able to do – and eventually they will coast themselves out of the job either on their own (by quitting) or by getting themselves fired.

While many will roll their eyes at anyone who is passionate about their career, there are those that truly are.  Not sure what percentage of people that may be, but I’m happy to say that I am one of those.

I love my work.  I love what I do.  I’ve always enjoyed what I do.

My career started out in Accounting.  OK, I hated accounting – it really wasn’t my cup of tea.

But everything I’ve done after that, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed!  My next career switch was to go back into IT and specifically Software Development.  I loved it.  I still love it, but can’t imagine myself spending 10+ hours in front of a monitor anymore.  I still remember thinking to myself “They actually pay me to do something I love” when I started my first career related job at Saville Systems (later ADC Telecommunications, and since has gone through several hands…) as a Software Developer/Analyst.

My passion ensured that I moved onto more interesting projects, had the opportunity to travel to Mexico and Japan and work towards a Project Manager position.

Even with what I do today – manage a small Customer Support center, I still love what I do.  Every call can be a challenge, dealing with people can be daunting – but at the end of the day when you know you’ve helped someone resolve an issue no matter how big (or small) it is there is a certain satisfaction you gain.  I also love the challenge of managing people, and developing processes that ultimately decide how good (or bad) my department will function.

I am passionate about what I do because I don’t always want to direct the group, eventually I want to move up to VP in Customer Operations or Operations.  In fact when polled about what drives them, most employees said:

• Greater opportunity for advancement – 27%
• Better management team – 21%
• More flexible work environment – 21%
• Better compensation – 17%
• Less work pressure – 14%

Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/employment/employees-want-advancement-opportunities-more-than-better-compensation/

Having worked in IT I would say that the list will be a little different, with one of the top items being the ability to take on more technically challenging opportunities.  In fact when I was in IT, advancement opportunities were secondary to taking on more challenging development roles.

What drives you?  Anything from this list, or something else?

image source: http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2011/03/_one_of_the_mos.shtml

Netflix Decision

We all read and followed the Netflix soap opera unfold over the last few weeks.  Missed it?  Here it is…

• Netflix announces price increases
• Netflix announces spin-off of DVD business into its own business unit called Qwikster
• Netflix does not do their research on the name, as the Twitter handle belongs to someone else
• Netflix looses upwards of 800,000 subscribers in one month
• Netflix makes a u-turn and announces it WILL NOT spin-off the DVD business after all

As if all that wasn’t enough, go this in my inbox today:

 

So even now Blockbuster is going after Netflix.

Of course the other big issue for Netflix is that they are streaming someone else’s content.  That can never be a good business model, because once the studios find a way to do it themselves at a lower price, you can bet subscribers will abandon Netflix.

I was a Netflix subscriber for a short period of time, but not enough current stuff on Netflix to warrant the measly $8.00/month.  Then I had read about a recent change to the service (I can’t watch on my iPad, TV and multiple PC’s at the same time) but luckily that turned out to be a glitch in their system.

What is a beleaguered company to do?  Ride it out?  Can they ride it out?

What a roller coaster ride…

So how do YOU get your movies?  Netflix, Blockbuster, download of the web, other streaming service?  Or do you do it the old fashioned way, and rent or buy DVD’s?

Free Cloud Storage

…well, almost.

Amazon is offering (almost) FREE cloud storage.  Seriously at $20.00/year (yes PER YEAR) for 20gb it may be enough to satisfy most users. If you are a power user then it may not be enough, but then you could always opt for your own cloud.

Check out their offer – Amazon offering almost FREE cloud storage.