When I think of how I do my job I can't help but actually think, I'm the best person I've ever known to do my job. I'm not really just talking about me being a good worker, which I think is a big part of it, but more like... I know all the in's and out's of the things that I need to do every day more than anyone else I've ever known in this business. I'm the person that people call when they have a problem, even if it's something I may have never seen before, I'll get called and it'll get fixed/done... at least 80% of the time... if it's something that I can't do I always know the right person to call about it. People respect my opinion on pretty much any issue because I've become "someone that knows what's up"
For example... my team consists of 11 people. Yesterday something came up that anybody in my area can do but nobody ever does it because they don't know how to do it. I've done it in the past and showed others how to do it but since it doesn't come up very often I'm always the one who does it. Which gets on my nerves sometimes when i'm really busy but it gives me an odd feeling of satisfaction knowing that I'm the only one around with the ability to do something. I'm all about training others and tend to think I'm really good at it, if others can't learn or grasp what I'm training them in then it's their fault that it doesn't sink in. But, for the most part, it's not that they don't really know how to do it... it's more like they are just not confident in doing things that they don't do every day.
This confidence in my work is the thing that sets me apart from pretty much anyone I've worked with. I have absolutely 100% confidence in any work decisions that I make because, like I say all the time, I'm always right...lol Being always right is not something I've always had, but it's something I've developed over time by learning pretty much everything about what I do. I went from an everyday button pusher to the one telling everyone which buttons to push, when to push them, and why to push them. My area is one of the best running areas in the fab (place where we make silicon wafers into microprocessors) with the least problems and excursions and i'd like to think that a good amount of the reason for that is myself. My expertise in what I do has rubbed off on some other members of my team and now we all have a vast understanding of the things we do and what's expected out of all of us. We all have different roles to fill on a daily basis and out of the different roles each person has I'm the only one that has all these different roles balled up into one. I can do everything in my area, nobody else I work with can say this.
What sets me apart from other that have held the same positions in my area is that I don't ever kiss people's asses. I'm the guy that tells people with authority when they're wrong, tells my manager that something needs to be done a certain way because it's not working the way it is. During a review session about me last year, someone (a somewhat high level boss for my area) said that I've had a bad attitude but when that was said another person jumped in to defend me by saying, well he gets things done and that's all that really matters. I found out about this later from another person in that meeting and it felt good knowing that people felt that way about me. As a whole though, my lack of ass kissing has led me to not get the big raises in the past because of how this company works. It's never made me not work 100% though, I just get pissed and bitch about it and get on with work. This past year I finally got a new manager that knows what hard work is and that kissing ass just doesn't work with him. He went to bat for me in my last review session and I got a nice 20% raise and a promotion to a new pay grade level.
Review time is coming up again soon and I'm actually hoping to get another big raise because of how this year's went for me. I'm seriously at a point now where I don't think my shift would be nearly as efficient as it is when I'm here. I feel that just me being here makes my company a few million dollars every day. It's a good feeling and even better to feel this is recognized by everyone else.
This is the reason that I can be a happy person day in and day out even if stressed out at work, I actually get a feeling of accomplishment from what I do, many people will work their entire lives and never have this.
Sounds very good cracka. :D I hope you get that raise. A sense of accomplishment - feeling like you're actually doing something and going somewhere, making some kind of difference is pretty important. Spinning your wheels going nowhere has got to be one of the most frustrating things ever.
__________________
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
