Category: Career

Is my role relevant anymore?

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Is my job function still relevant? Is my business becoming a dinosaur? Relevancy questions that often come up when we are in the verge of disruption. The question is one of concern, one laden with uncertainty and doubt. More often than not, the timing of the question becomes a tad late.

When I was a project manager a few years ago, I used to get such existential questions a lot from fellow project managers who are used to waterfall style of software development. If you are in the technology industry, especially in Silicon Valley, you could probably relate to the fact that many tech companies are moving away from Program Management Office towards a nimbler Agile style development approach. Nowadays the lead engineer takes on the role of a scrum master and drives the work product delivery. Although the fundamentals of project management has not changed, the title has.

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Why Mentors are Important in Your Career

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A few months ago, John Donahoe (eBay CEO) wrote a LinkedIn article that talked about how instead of trying to learn a lot from a few people, he had to learn a little from a lot of people.  It is definitely worth a read.  Check it out.

Specifically in that article, when I read the following sentence it resonated with me at many levels:

“I realized the perfect Yoda-like mentor didn’t exist, and no one person had all the wisdom I was seeking….”

In his post, John references mentors and managers interchangeably.  In my opinion managers can be mentors. But mentors does not have to be your managers.  Luckily I had the good fortune of having some great managers and mentors.  Spanning approximately two dozen years working for small to big companies, I have had nearly 20 managers in my career so far.  Most of them turned out to be great mentors.  Also in my career as a project manager and then as program manager, I was fortunate to interact with some amazing leaders who I consider to be my mentors as well.
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If I Were 22: I Would Want To Fail…Fast

iStock_000005383278MediumI was asked by LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago to write a post on what would I do #IfIWere22. Since then I have been racking my brain on what could I possibly tell the graduating class of 2014.  I honestly believe 22-year olds now are lot smarter, better informed, socially responsible than my generation.

Finally I decided to share three lessons I learned in my career.  Before I explain what those are I wanted to share my personal story.
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5 reasons Why Project Management is a Good Career Move

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Recently few of my network connections were interested in switching over to Project Management.  I thought I’ll share my experience on this post why that’s a good decision.  Wait, scratch that.  That’s a fantastic decision.

If you are looking for a change in your career,  whether you are in a technical role or a non-technical role, Project Management could be a great stepping stone.

I spent much of my career as a project manager and it has helped me gain invaluable lessons in my current role on the business side.  As I look back in my career it was one of the best decisions I probably made.
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3 Things That Can Help With Your Job Search

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After my last post (Why you should change jobs every 4 to 5 years) couple of my friends were wondering how to go about testing the job market.  It made me realize the previous post is not complete without the “how”.

Obviously it’s one of those life events.  Changing jobs is a big decision and comes with a fair amount of anxiety.  So I thought I’d follow up with another post on what worked for me.  Hopefully it works for those of you looking to change.

1) Look at the Career pyramid:  One of our ex-CEO used to say, one should build a career as a pyramid and not a ladder.  There is a fair amount of truth in that theory.  We tend to look at career growth in a linear fashion, but at times the growth is quicker if the move is lateral.  We see many people in our lives, who start off in one field and thrive in another.  Program managers who have excelled as great product experts.  Information Technology specialists who became great school teachers.  Engineers who thrived as entrepreneurs.  There are enough people around us who pushed themselves out of their comfort zone.
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