Manoj Jain, Head of QA and India Engineering Operations at Mezocliq, discusses the importance of career development. He outlines common pitfalls like a lack of goals and not learning from experiences. Jain presents three ways of learning - on the job, off the job through books/courses, and networking. He recommends waking up early to read, understanding current and future roles, and networking daily. The key takeaways are that continuous learning, building networks, identifying coaches, and self-discipline are essential to driving one's own career path.

1. CAREER DEVELOPMENT:
INSTANT NOODLES OR GARDENING?
Manoj Jain
Head QA & India Engineering Operations
Jun 26, 2021

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About Me
• Tester since 1999
• Currently working with Mezocliq as
Head QA & India Engineering Operations
• Previously worked with
• Oracle
• MakeMyTrip
• CA Technologies
• Nucleus Software
• Newgen Software
• NIIT
• Speaker & author
• Cyclist
• Philanthropist
manoj.jain@mezocliq.com
manojjain99@yahoo.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/manojjain/
https://twitter.com/manojjain99

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About Mezocliq
meZocliq is a cloud computing company that provides an
innovative technology platform to facilitate big-data analytics
and business process transformation.
meZocliq offers an integrated non-code application suite with
end-to-end functionality. Our suite unifies legacy data and
enables broad-ranging analytics, all at a fraction of the cost of
other alternatives.
New York | Delhi
www.mezocliq.com

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Instant Noodles vs. Gardening

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Is Career
Developmen
t Important
& Why?
Helps in achieving our goals for personal fulfillment.

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Here are some goals (but not limited to)…
Everyone has different weightage for these goals.
Also, relevance of these goals change over a period.

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Let’s review some scenarios
• You’re not working on something that you enjoy
• You’re not getting promotion that you’re expecting
• You’re not getting hike that you’re expecting
• Teams/orgs are getting merged/acquired
• Your immediate supervisor is getting changed
• RIFs are expected in your org due to a business situation
• You’re planning to change your company
• Any many more…

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Any what do we do in such situations?

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Common Pitfalls
• Lack of having short, medium and long terms goals
• Not aware of your strengths and areas of focus
• Not learning from our past experiences
• Primarily dependent on external factors e.g., manager or org
• Low awareness about whereabouts of your network
• Low awareness about latest trends in industry
• Only desires and less of action
• Got comfortable with status-quo

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3 Ways Of Learning And Developing Ourselves
Magnitude of usage
Impact

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Career
Developmen
t Tree

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Learning on the field or off the field?
Do we believe that learning we gain while
working for office is sufficient for our
career development?
Some people dream of success.
While others wake up and work hard at it. - Mark Zuckerberg

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Let’s have quick poll….
• Who believes that s/he is not able to work on strengths?
• Who is not able to progress his/her career which wasn’t the
case earlier?
• Who face challenge with handling critical tasks?
• Who wakes up early morning at 5 or 6AM?
• Who finds it difficult to handle some conversations?
• Who keeps track of whereabouts of their network?
• Who reads book on daily basis, mostly?

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Recommended reads…

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Rx
• Start waking up 15mins early than your regular time
• Daily Reading – Once a day (15mins)
• Start w/ simply books like Eat That Frog or similar
• Avoid random reading but use a book for structured learning
• Keep a realistic target to finish a book
• Understanding of current and future role(s)
• Review JDs of your current role in your org as well as in industry. Act on areas that you’re
not strong at
• Review JDs of next level role and begin playing same by taking baby steps
• Professional networking – Once a day (15mins)
• Connect w/ your contacts in your current and previous organization(s)
• Follow individuals/companies of your field that you admire
• Attend webinar(s)/meetup(s) and connect with individuals that you have interacted

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Key Takeaways…
• Continuous learning is the key to sustained learning path
• Regularly invest in building & strengthening your network
• Identify and learn from coach(s)
• Be disciplined so that you have time for above activities
• You’re driver and THE owner of your own career

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What am I going to do now?
Just unmute yourself and share your plan of action or type in chat box.

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Are these profound observations?

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Questions?
Thanks & Questions…
manoj.jain@mezocliq.com
manojjain99@yahoo.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/manojjain/
https://twitter.com/manojjain99