As I've written recently, I accepted a position with a contractor to a federal (US) department after seven years of government service at both the federal and state levels (my first professional jobs). While I've been an avid study of MT/CT for the past three years and I think this will help me greatly, does anyone have recommendations for transitioning from public sector to private sector?
Further, I'm going from a becoming a cube dweller to a remote worker. Any suggestions here?
I'll be honest in saying I'm a little bit stressed about this and very excited at the same time. Any help is appreciated.
Your role?
Are you going to be in a management or an individual contributor role?
John Hack
My Role
John, I'll be an individual contributor.
--Steve
(DiSC 5435)
Transitioning to virtual
Andy,
Regarding the shift to virtual (since I know little about the public sector, it's hard to comment there...)
First, listen to the podcasts on being virtual:
http://www.manager-tools.com/2007/07/effective-teleconferencing-part-1-…
http://www.manager-tools.com/2005/10/virtual-teams
The team podcast is more manager-oriented, but useful info nonetheless.
From my own experience, a few pointers:
- Have an office in your home, dedicated, with a door that you can shut.
- Have a dedicated phone line for your home office; don't share with your family or personal line.
- Network like crazy: call people, not just email. You'll have to work extra hard to be part of the team. If you aren't talking to colleagues every day, you're not networking enough.
- Focus on deliverables. Make sure your boss and colleagues have a clear understanding of what you're creating (sales leads, documentation, code, marketing brochures, whatever) so that your output is clear. They can't see activity so this is crucial.
- Get to the office whenever you can. Schedule meetings with people who share your mission, HR, IT, etc ahead of time.
John Hack