Advancing in a Career - HELP!! Is it worth it?

[DemingJunior]

Hey guys. I'm looking for some advice on the situation i have found myself in.

Im in my mid 20's and roughly a year ago i started my quality career as a trainee quality technician.
Since then not alot has happened. I have not recieved any training and i have not been givin a set role within the company. I still get people asking, "what is it that you do??" Thats when you know your not important lol I spend my days hovering over other quality staff but i feel like im in there way so i dont like to be there to long. Basically i just dont feel like i am learning.
Ive sat down with my boss a few times and explained how i feel but it hasnt got me anywere. The only thing ive got out of this last year is it has made me aware of how quality is not taken very seriously were i work, which makes my learning process alot harder. It surely cannot be like this everywere?!?
The company is very succesfull and do make alot of money, i think thats why they dont see need for change. They dont realise they could be making alot more money if they improved quality. It gets very fustrating because i did think i had landed a job with good prospects but it is not turning out that way.

I need advice on were to go from here. Is it possible still to make a good career working for a company that isnt really interested in quality? Do i need to move on? The ony problem i have with moving on is that there are not alot of jobs out there at the moment and i wouldnt say ive learned much to take elsewere. Which means i really would be starting again!

I look forward to hearing your views guys. Thanks in advance.

 

[Brizilla]

Re: HELP!! Is it worth it?

Since no one else is driving your education at your company, drive it yourself!

Some will say "Get out fast!" BUT you're still in the mix in a highly successful company. That's a place alot of people would like to be.

Come up with a plan. Observe your Quality peers and determine what you need to reach their level. That's a start.

Get involved more with Elsmar and/or ASQ and start drawing in info.

Start charting where you want to be. Develop an educational plan for outside the company and a training plan for inside. Determine who has what skills and whether they will teach them to you.

Take your plan and get your boss's approval. You might have to convince him, you might not. Be prepared to sell him. Get all your justifications in a row. Your only limited by how much you're waiting for others to empower you.

Read my tag line. "There comes a point in time, where you have to stop letting things happen to you, and start making things happen for you."

Good Luck!

Briz

 

[Sorin]

Re: HELP!! Is it worth it?

1. Open your eyes. Wide! Listen, don't just hear!

2. Ask for specific tasks and do them beyond expectations. Draw improvements from them.

3. Get involved and request responsibilities. Do not wait for anyone to hand them to you. It will not happen.

4. Learn! Use cove to the maximum extent possible. I learned here more than I could ever dream of.

5. Question everything. Get to the bone (aka Root Cause). Do not accept any kind of: it was always like this, it cannot be done this way.

6. Do not speak, ever, if what you are saying is not foolproof and if you are not prepared to argument.

7.Whatever you do, do it as good as it can possibly be done.

8. Be always polite in your requests and relations. Do NOT burn any bridges, EVER!

9. Once you accepted a task, even if you do not agree, see no 7.

10. You, and your colleagues, are a team. You are not competing.

 

[arios]

Re: HELP!! Is it worth it?

Since no one else is driving your education at your company, drive it yourself!

Get involved more with Elsmar and/or ASQ and start drawing in info.

Briz

Briz has given to you a great advice. For me, getting involved from the beginning with the ASQ has been a blessing for my career. I have much to thank them.

Check their Certification programs, they can help bust your career in quality management.

 

[BradM]

Hello, DemingJunior! Welcome to the Cove!

1. To stay in your existing job- Do you like it? Do you have fun? Do you reasonably look forward to going into work on Monday, or do you become a grouch on Sunday evening?

If you enjoy your job, then start determining the value of your position. Are you saving the company money? Did you find a defect that would have been costly? How costly?

Many times, words are just that: words. Put management glasses on, and begin to frame your value in language that management can understand.

2. To change the existing job-awfully difficult to do. There's no telling what kind of history or "baggage" that the term Quality brings with it. Simply going into the Image Changing business may be difficult, unless you have the necessary wampum. That.... links into #1.

3. To leave. In short, your decision, and can take many paths and forms. You can improve your situation, end up in about the same position, or get in a worse situation. But... it never hurts to look.

Start working on your resume, and make it a good. Be objective about your current job, and quantify your value.

 

[gpainter]

First, I would define career as to what it means to you. Then, I would say "welcome to the world of quality". Is there anything you can learn or do at this company to broaden your experience. And since you are Deming Jr. you already know the answer and are feeling the frustration.

 

[hogheavenfarm]

Yes, it si worth it. No matter what the present situation in your company is, there is little difference in others.
A few points , which others have made - Drive yourself -
Schedule a certification exam every 6 months, 5 or 6 of them are fairly uncomplicated, and they all build off the others. A cert is something you take with you wherever you go.

Every company needs a quality guy, or several, service or manufacturing, doesnt matter, any company of any size will need you. With such a large field, there are always opportunities.

 

[DemingJunior]

Thanks everyone for the advice, its really helped. I feel alot better about my situation now and i have set targets to work to. This makes me more determined than ever to get were i want to be.
This sites great, il learn alot here from you guys. If i do make it like deming and i write a book il remember to give this place a mention lol

 

[arios]

If i do make it like deming and i write a book il remember to give this place a mention lol

Go for it DemingJr!, please write a book, exactly about the subject you mention, how to advance in a quality career

 

[Jen Kirley]

Thanks everyone for the advice, its really helped. I feel alot better about my situation now and i have set targets to work to. This makes me more determined than ever to get were i want to be.
This sites great, il learn alot here from you guys. If i do make it like deming and i write a book il remember to give this place a mention lol

I would be immensely amused and gratified to see a successful book about a QA journey that didn't seem to be delivering platitudes. I dare to hope to present such a book eventually - if so, some of its chapters can be found now in the Reading Room.

In any case, if you can pull this off, all power to you.