First attempt at a 5 year Career Plan
My manager recently asked me to develop a five-year career plan. He suspects that my career challenges are going to hit me hard, heavy, and soon. If I’m not prepared I’ll end up doing something I’m not any good at, or passionate about – and I’ll be a victim of the Desire2Learn for 2.5 years now, working as a Product Designer- super challenging design position at a fast-growing company, so I feel lucky.
"Work." Kinda.
- People on my Team. I love my development/design/QA team(s). If I can get marketing, PSO, and others in the sphere of influence, even better. Mentor a co-op? Sign me up. While I’m not a great coder/hacker, I know how to get my team to build stuff to believe in.
- Projects. I like micro-project-management aspects: planning, building roadmaps, getting requirements, market analysis, identifying opportunities, etc.
- Direct Contact. Speaking directly to the people who are having the problems (users, clients, buyers etc.) is great. I do well in those situations, problem solve, come back passionate. I like chatting with support, product managers, and other people on the front lines. Scaring a competitor or two is nice sometimes
- Punching Through. If it’s the manager, director, or CEO who needs convincing – I’m not discouraged, and often have success getting them on board. I do it with information, passion, and demonstrable progress - not with proposals and “thought leadership”, as alas I’m not senior enough.
Things that I do now that I’m not particularly good at:
- UI design. I thought I was good … until I actually met some talented user experience designer superstars.
- Managing People. I’m in awe of good managers who have the open personality, tact, and patience required to lead a large program, stay positive, nudge.
Get Good At
These are things that I’d love to get good at:
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