Have you ever heard the saying,” The moment we give up is usually the last moment before we get what we wanted”? After giving it some thought, I realized that it’s very true when our careers are concerned. After I recently heard this saying, I spent some time reflecting on my Intel career (which is nearing its 10th Anniversary) and want to share some reflections with you.
But first I’d like to confess – not every job I had at Intel was my dream job. Even worse, in the past nine years there were several assignments which I almost hated. There were different reasons for such an attitude – I didn’t like most of the stakeholders I had to deal with, the timelines provided weren’t realistic and put extra pressure on me, etc. There were cases when after working for some time in a team, I realized that I didn’t like my manager (and he didn’t quite like me as well). You’re not surprised these things happen at Intel, are you? It’s not something we could be proud of, certainly but what I can be proud of and what I like about my company is that I didn’t have to quit because I found myself in one of these situations. And here’s where the importance of patience (and sometimes even persistence) comes to play.
At Intel, all of us have a lot of interesting and challenging opportunities. Our corporate culture values the diversity of opinion and experience individuals bring and as nobody is perfect, there may be situations when team members don’t fit together very well. In such a situation, it could be better for the team and its members if one or several people find another job within the company. But it requires patience and persistence. While new opportunities flourish, they’re not available all the time. So it takes time to find new role, make initial arrangements with gaining and losing managers, all while keeping up with your current work regardless of how difficult or unpleasant it may seem. And sometimes it seems that just quitting is the best way out. But remember the quote I put forward in the beginning? If you give up you never get the reward of getting what you wanted, so keep trying! Being patient always pays off.
Before closing with a more or less traditional request for comments I’d like to make another point. At Intel we have a zero tolerance policy for harassment of any kind. So when I mentioned these difficulties between team members or employee and manager, they are more or less in a “never-ending storming phase” of team development. No case of conscious misconduct is tolerated and there are solid procedures in place across the corporation to ensure it. But this is a topic for another story. And now – back to the point. Do you agree it pays back to be patient in surviving ‘storms’ and persistent in pursuing your goal?
9 Responses to The Value of Patience
I can’t say I agree with surviving “storms” when we could develop environments that have beautiful weather conditions. Not when there is disease, ignorance, and inadequacies among every element of human life; Harming in the form of scarcity and unreliability. Perhaps even far worse, insensitivity, hazards, and disease could potentially be the end all to a human being as well as those they love around them. We can formulate respect for one another, much like how we can learn how our own understandings can improve everyone’s lives as a whole. Patience, in a way, delays the success and progress of society, quality of life, and constancy as a whole. Or at least this is the sad feelings I experience when I think about the problems of the world, such as people not getting along, principally flawed products or postulates, and/or perishing lives; and how my patience to get through school is holding back the voice I could be lending.
Raymond, I would agree – not every situation at work needs “patiently surviving it through”. My point is – rush actions when you’re under pressure don’t lead to any good (maybe just purely by chance – I wrote of it some time ago). It’s always good to have a load of “patience/persistence/ability to stop and reflect mix” to apply it in stormy situations – just to be able to steer to right way and get past the storm with minimal loses.
I try to apply jobs in intel, wat should i do?
Hi Yuki,
You should search our openings for matches based on your skill set and interest and apply to those. Good luck!
I uploaded my CV to the Intel site with the hope of furthering my career in the design dept……no news as yet but I will be patient and persevere with my dream of one day working for Intel………I think Intel are and have been changing the technological world and I WANT to be a part of it!
Regards,
Emmet Butler
Dublin
Ireland
Good luck to you Emmet! Btw, we’ll also be at the Jobs Expo, come by if you can! http://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/item/29400-jobs-expo-2012-to-have/
Hello Vladimir, the fact that one needs to put in efforts to ‘fit into’ a team (in any organization) is something that only people who’ve worked extensively with teams before, may realize. Handling the daily challenges together and maintaining a sync in the team ideas takes time and effort and in this line the value of patience and persistence cannot be emphasized enough. Only when we have ended up a nicely performing team, overcoming such small, daily basis hurdles is what counts as our ‘work experience’. Many thanks for reminding us this.
Hi, I had uploaded my CV for the role of Graduate Intern Technical. I have completed my Masters in System on Chip in University of Southampton and have 2 years corporate experience (though not in relevant field). This is the second time I am applying to Intel after my under graduation. I just get a reply telling that ‘unfortunately you are not selected to interview for the position’. Where could I find out the reason for not getting a good response from Intel ? I want start off by at least an internship with Intel where I will get to learn a lot about the innovation Intel is doing every day and later I aspire to be a part of such a team within Intel.
Hi Rishika,
If you’re not currently a student, you would not be eligible for intern positions. It sounds like our experienced positions would be more relevant for you–try applying to those. Good luck!