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Intel Employees: Rose's 35 years as an admin

Amanda_Trudell
Employee
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Intel has an internal social media platform called Planet Blue where employees can connect with each other. One of the more popular features of Planet Blue is the blogging feature. I regularly make time to go through Planet Blue and read what my colleagues are blogging about: that's when I came across this particular post by Rose and I just knew I wanted to share it. As someone who is still fairly new to Intel, I’m still learning a lot and after reading Rose’s post—it confirmed what I already knew: Intel is a great place to work. Rose has kindly allowed me to share her post with you. Feel free to leave comments (which I’ll share with Rose).

"I’ve been an Intel admin for 35 years. I owed someone a favor on the Circuit News team, and he asked me to write a blog in connection with Administrative Professionals Day (April 21).

I’m going to condense my three-plus decades into three things I’ve learned at Intel. Very hard, I know, and I agree with Mark Twain who once said, “I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time.” So away we go.

1) Life is a little bit of destiny and a lot of chance. I started working at Intel in 1973 after I graduated from high school in Santa Clara, CA. I needed money to buy a car so I walked down to a field in Santa Clara where there was an Intel trailer. I applied for a job and started sorting wafers in Mountain View, CA. There, I met David, an Intel engineer.

In 1978, I followed David up to Oregon and got a job as an admin at Fab 4. One day, he and I left work, drove down to the court house, got married and then returned to work. That was 32 years ago. I’ve worked as an admin for Fab 4, 5, 15 and now 20. The latter is closing down in about two months—something I have never had to deal with in all my years at Intel. You never know what lies ahead, but sometimes you have control over stormy waters, and in those times, you have to navigate to the best of your ability.

2) These gray cubes and walls look pretty darn good. I can say that because in 2008, I had a life threatening experience that made me see that working was pretty darn good. I still get frustrated at times, but considering the alternative as they say I am grateful to be here and appreciate even the smallest things—gray walls and all.

3) We all pull our pants on the same way. I’ve met them all: Andy Grove, Bob Noyce, Gordon Moore. Each and every exec throughout the years. What I’ve realized is that none of us is better than the other. Whether you are the landscaper, the CEO, GM or admin, what you do is important to Intel and you should have pride in your work.

And, you should also treat others as you would want to be treated. I’ve met my share of pompous fools at Intel, but the most successful, most ethical and most respected leaders are always those who treat everyone equally and kindly. We all have families and friends, children to raise, spouses to prop up at times, and really good leaders know that and foster that in their co-workers.

I always remember the story of the NASA janitor years back who was asked what his job was. He replied, “To get us to the moon.” I know I didn’t design the latest 32-nanometer processor at Intel, but I know I had something to do with the success around it. And as long as you take pride in your work, so did you. I am proud to be an admin."

Thanks Rose for sharing! Happy Administrative Professionals Day!