Right out of college, I thought I had found the perfect career path.
I started my career at a large defense contractor (GE Astrospace — which became Martin Marietta and then Lockheed Martin while I sat at the same desk, doing the same thing). As a space nerd, I certainly was excited about working on space-y things.
I worked in the Survivability group. We ensured that the satellite would work within the naturally occurring and man-made radiation and electromagnetic environments of space — including nuclear weapons threats.
Queue the Oppenheimer movie trailer.
On paper, and before I knew anything about engineering work, I thought this was a dream job. Like Oppenheimer movie cool. But reality turned out differently, at least for me.
The projects were too large. The bureaucracy was stifling. The time frames were too long. The tasks were too myopic. The office politics were overbearing. The workday framework was like kindergarten.
After a while, I really did hate it.
But also, I learned a lot. In fact, I know that place helped me get where I am today. I learned how to conduct myself. I learned how to be a professional. I learned that the more you give and help, the more valuable you become.
Any new opportunity may or may not be what you thought it was going to be. You may end up hating it. But there’s always something valuable to be taken away.
Never miss the nuggets.
