First Week of Work
This past Monday, August 8, 2011, marked my first day of work as an engineer at Raytheon. Prior to the first day, I was feeling anxious more than anything. My mind was preoccupied about all the little details like… Will I be able to fall asleep? Will I be able to wake up on time? What am I going to do for lunch? All the worries that seem like nonsense but are inevitable.
The first day orientation was to begin at 7:45 am. I thought I had given myself ample time, but I proven wrong by the unpredictable Los Angeles traffic. I was stressing out as my car crept along the 105-W. I got to the building lobby at around 7:55 am. Thankfully the orientation didn’t begin until 8:00 am. A bullet dodged. My paperwork was collected and we, the new hires, sat through the morning of presentations and videos. The material was dry but necessary I suppose. The rest of the day was spent with my supervisor and taking care of administrative items. I attended a meeting where I met some of my coworkers and team members. I was exhausted by the time I got home, probably the result of so much anticipation and adrenaline. I ate dinner and was pretty much ready to call it a night.
The rest of the week was spent going through my orientation checklist and taking care of each item. It took a couple days to finally get my computer set up so I couldn’t really do much before that. I did feel sort of lost for a few days while trying to make sense of my future tasks. I was reading through all sorts of different presentations, spreadsheets, and documents to try to bring myself up to speed. Initially it took a bit of effort to reach my team leaders but having talked with them really cleared up my confusion. Honestly, I already felt like I was under pressure to perform and create something of value. My supervisor knew that I would think/say that so he explained his expectations for me. In summary, it is all about my attitude to learn and be proactive. He was also helpful in explaining the philosophy and culture at Raytheon. From my short time there, I can already tell that he is really involved in fostering the growth of his section members. This might mean that I have a challenging career path ahead of me, but the hard work will definitely pay off in due time.
I also spent a considerable amount of time with one of my team members. He has been working at Raytheon, previously Hughes Aircraft, for almost 3 decades. He took his time to show me around and give me his career advise. Don’t look at it as pressure. Look at it as an opportunity. He said that to me and it serves as a good reminder. I graduated from a good school and did relatively well while I was there. If my supervisor didn’t think I had potential, they would not have hired me. I need to be confident in myself and my abilities. Cheers to the beginning of my career!