My Job, My Education

Electronic mail, instant messages, electronic documents and all other electronic records are a part and parcel of the world we live in today.  These are invaluable assets, if not resources for most organizations nowadays.  Organizations are required to safeguard these assets, given that a large number of electronic documents carry very important information.  Many electronic documents are also required by law, especially after the infamous accounting scandals that captured the headlines in the recent past.

My organization, ABC, Inc., develops software products that capture, archive, and store all forms of electronic documentation and provide organizations with the ability to efficiently search and locate these documents on demand, should they be misplaced or deemed lost.  My major responsibilities on the job include designing software and orchestrating the development, quality assurance, and release activities; creating and maintaining the team project file, and managing the time and resources for an ongoing project; and evaluating the evolving risks and communicating them to the upper management on a regular basis.

An organization’s strategy is the foundation for the actions that its employees take to reach its goals.  This strategy must be aligned with the organization’s mission.  My organization’s strategy happens to be quality improvement, which is aligned with its mission to deliver high quality software products to its customers.  As an employee of ABC, Inc., I am proud to have an impact on the organization strategy, given that all the employees of my organization use this strategy as he foundation of their actions.  In addition, I work on quality assurance, and hence, the impact of my work on the organization strategy may be considered greater than that of many others.

My decision-making ability with the organization is also quite high.  After all, I am held responsible for the management of time and resources on the project that the entire organization considers extremely important.  What is more, I evaluate risks and communicate them to the upper management.  My organization relies on my evaluations and decisions to a certain extent.

My Education

Tom Kozicki, Director of Marshall’s MBA Career Resource Center at the University of Southern California, has said that “Regardless of what is going on in the economy, the need for an understanding and mastery of business fundamentals will never change.”  Perhaps this need is inherent in us all!

In May of 2000, a year before I graduated with Masters in Computer Science, I had to choose between job offers from a start up technology organization and a well known software giant.  I chose the start up company at the time to become its fifth employee!  This decision called for a variety of challenges, including long working hours.  Had I joined the already established and popular software firm with over ten thousand employees and successful processes in place, I would not have faced the challenges that I faced in the new company.

The reason why I opted for the start up company was that I felt that I needed to have hands on experience with all pieces and parts of a technology company at the beginning of my career.  This kind of experience was only possible with a new company that would have been willing to trust and initiate me into all of its processes.  I required the kind of attention that the good old software giant could not have allowed me to get.

I have never regretted my decision because the company that I joined permitted me to work on almost every aspect of software business.  I grew with my company and gained most necessary skills to start a business venture of my own!

One of the most important customers of my company was a Japanese firm by the name of Matsushita Electricals (MEW), deploying my company’s software in almost all Asian countries.  Working closely with this client made me understand the Asian work culture besides the growing importance of Asian markets.

After I finished my startup experience, I joined a mid-sized organization with software development and testing teams based in India, China, and Japan.  I was fortunate once again, for this time I was able to not only interact with the Asian teams but also to lead an offshore team.

Today, I foresee my own career moving in the direction of Asian-American business, initially from a technical lead perspective and ultimately in a leadership role within the software industry, preferably with another start up organization.  This thought process has evolved from my past experiences in the software industry, and my perspective of the evolution and growth of the industry itself.

Keeping in view the direction in which my chosen industry is headed, I believe that immense windfall gains and comparative advantages are in store for US-trained/thinking business leaders and managers in the Asian markets in the coming years.  I therefore seek to accelerate my career with great enthusiasm, trusting that an MBA degree from XYZ University would provide me with the ramp for my career at the same time as I continue to grow in my organization.

I completed my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from a reasonably reputed university in India before doing my Masters in Computer Science in the United States.  I know that I bring my rich culture and heritage with myself into the MBA program.  My technical and management experience with Asian and American businesses will certainly be of great help to my colleagues in the program.  What is more, I love to socialize and to share my ideas, enthusiasm and energy with others.  This, I believe, is of additional advantage to all the people I interact with.

Bibliography

• 1. MBACareers. “Up Close and Virtual Interviews with Leading B-School – The Marshall School, University of Southern California.” Available at http://www.mbacareers.com (26 January 2006).
• 2.The Mihalik Group. 2005, “Organization Strategy and Goals.” Available at http://www.themihalikgroup.com/consult_org_strategy.html (26 January 2006).