What a Firmware Manager at Zoox Wishes They Had Known Before Entering the Technology Industry
Ryan, a Firmware Manager at Zoox, emphasizes the critical importance of "effective communication" and patience in the industry, lessons learned through experience of delivering "crappy deliverables" due to prioritizing speed over quality; the expectation is higher quality work, even if it means exceeding initial deadlines.
Communication, Patience, High-Quality Deliverables, Time Management, Real-World Work Environment
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Ryan Gleim
Firmware Manager
Zoox
California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University
Computer Science
Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Video Highlights
1. Effective communication skills are crucial for success in firmware management.
2. Patience and delivering high-quality work are more important than strict deadlines.
3. The real-world work environment differs from the academic setting; adaptability is key.
Transcript
What have you learned about this role that you wish someone had told you before you entered the industry?
One of the things that constantly reoccurs is how important effective communication is. I will continue to reinforce that; I wish I had learned that earlier in my career about really spending time on effective communication.
The other big thing is patience. A lot of aspects depend on the type of person. For me, especially coming out of school, I felt like it didn't prepare me well for the real world.
In school, it's like, "This is due Friday, or you get an F." That doesn't happen at work. If I don't get something done by Friday, they don't say, "Okay, you're done. You get an F." They say, "Okay, well you better work on the weekend, or you better finish it early next week, or just when are you gonna get it done?"
So, early in my career, there was definitely a sense of, "Oh, they told me it's due Friday, I just gotta shove it in and try to get it done." Sometimes they would say, "What is this? This is a pretty crappy deliverable." I'd say, "Well, that's what I could do by Friday." They'd reply, "We'd rather you take more time and have it higher quality, more robust, and safer."
I think that's a huge thing, at least for people in the technical world: learning that it's not about getting it done by whatever the timeline is. It's more about delivering high-quality deliverables, typically more importantly than what specific day it gets done on.
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