TMS
Editor’s Note
Page 4
Note Cont.
Where do you want to be?
Reviewing back on the people-persons, the techies, the information people, and the concepts
people, we can start seeing that each may have a talent for technology and for management. It may
seem that a techie, a person who loves technology, would benefit by moving into a specialty like radiology or laboratory. This would definitely be a step up in pay and responsibilities. However, it may
not satisfy the other qualities. For example a technical person who also loves coming up with new
ideas, is someone who likes taking on challenges. Working in a specialty, but not being allowed to
express your creative side, may result in you being unsuccessful. Where would someone with these
primary qualities find success and happiness; maybe in research? Another person, who thrives on
data and information, may sound like the perfect manager or director. You need someone like that
who can endure what may seem like an endless process of paperwork, memos, quotas, deadlines,
and other non-technical data. I know some people at the college who run their days, weeks and semester by the numbers. Ultimately, analyzing where you are and where you want to be should help
determine what you need to get there.
The plan: College Education training or both?
Obviously college education and training, whether it is manufacture training or an in house training program aren’t the only ways to learn. However, they are the most practiced because they are
the most known and therefore the most trusted. Which type of learning you decide to participate in
will have to do with where you want be. An easy example is management or technology. If I were up
against these choices, I’d weigh what it was that made me want to go to work; besides the enormous
teacher’s salary in my case. If I liked the administrative side, the management, the work flow, I’d
probably want to be in management. Then I’d look for what was required at my place of employment
to become a manager. If it required bachelors in business or management then I would plan to apply
and register for college. College isn’t the whole answer. You may learn the tools used in business at
college, but you need to supplement that with business related assignments at your work. As you
finish the degree program, and put in several years of experience, you would be in a better position
to apply for a management position if one would become available. If I wanted to be a supervisor, or
a technical director (like a clinical engineer) then I would talk to human resources and ask, what are
the minimum education and experience requirements to apply for a position like this when it becomes available.