Bert: Would you like to share some of your background to start with?
Kenneth: I'm working for about 6 years in IT, 1,5year at VDK Spaarbank, 3,5years at IBM and 1 year until now at Axxes. I've mainly been working as analist programmer but I also have a strong interest in everything social, learning and team work. At the moment I'm working as a java developer. Coming from IBM I did a bit of java but decided it was time to delve deeper in java and aim higher with it. I'm developing parts of enterprise systems with it now. For leasure, I play the saxophone, play badminton at competition level, snowboard once a year and I like to fly these helicopter things.
Bert: At what competence domain(s) would you consider yourself ‘competent’?
Kenneth: Developing applications in no matter what language. Analyzing solutions. Finding the right tool for the job.
Bert: How did you become good at what you do? How do you stay good?
Kenneth: By listening to other people, how they do what they do. Use the solutions they use. They become your own method of working after you get used to them. I stay good by following courses, doing certification courses, seeking adventures and challenges.
Bert: Do you see yourself doing something completely different five or ten years from now?
Kenneth: Yes, I like challenges and I get bored pretty quickly by something I need to do. Once I know to good how to do it, it's not interesting anymore and I want to explore new horizons.
Bert: What do you think of the responsibilities of the knowledge professional at one hand, and the
employing company at the other hand in terms of competence development?
Kenneth: Both parties have to work together to get the best out of the professional. The company should foresee possibilities to get certificates e.g., to go to conferences to stay up to date, to follow courses, ...
But on the other hand it's still the responsibility of the professional to grab and find opportunities for himself to learn from, only you know best what you are interested in. The company can present opportunities but it's still you that needs to study certain material to master the matter at hand.
Bert: How do you feel about the ‘self-reliant’ professional? Do you find the evolution to ‘self’; selfsteering, self-succeeding or self-failing, ... a liberating evolution or one that rings alarm bells?
Kenneth : As said above, you know best what you want to learn, what you're good at. But it helps if there's a company behind you that steers this, that creates opportunities for the professional to become better. The perfect company has a feeling for its professionals where it feels someone is able, but also eager, to grow massively in a certain domain, then it's that company's task to create and feed that hunger to grow.
Bert: Describe your ideal environment to thrive in.
Kenneth: A fast changing environment which is responsive to clients needs. What I do should have tangible results. Many new challenges, not too long lasting projects. Probably the typical gen-Y profile.
Bert: Thanks you very much for the interview. Any last words?
Kenneth: The world has many exciting opportunities to offer, don't stay where you are if you're not happy being there.
- - -
Previous interviews:
No comments:
Post a Comment