Drive

It is day one of week three at my new job. Today is the first day where I am stalled for work here. I have completed my last assignment ahead of schedule (as I did with my previous tasks) and I am now waiting on redlines before proceeding with the next phase of this multi-step task. I am waiting on one of three supervisors to hand me the redlines. Three supervisors, WOW, what a change from my previous employments. All other offices I have worked at I have been the sole CAD Engineer. Here I am one of five CAD Operators plus three supervisors/managers. That is eight employees in the Engineering Department alone. In most cases that is more people in the entire office of my previous employers never mind just one department.

My new title of CAD Operator seems so small to me. It is not that I am an egotistical person but it seems small compared to what I know I want to be, Project Manager. In all of my previous employments my title has been similar but has carried more with it. I have had to wear the multiple hats of a CAD Operator, Engineer, Project Manager, Estimator, IT, and any combination thereof. In a smaller office you cannot just perform one sole job or else you will be out of a job. But here in a company of more the a hundred employees (in a slow economy) I do just that, I am exactly what my title tells you I do, I am a CAD Operator. I strictly work on drawings every day, all day. I may be working on a 3D model one day, Preps/Layouts another, Fabrication Drawings the next but I am solely working on drawing production.

I wanted this, I wanted a change of pace, I wanted to feel like I was working to my fullest potential, to feel like I am striving to get to the next step in my career instead of feeling stalled…well I got what I wanted. My work day is filled with work (opposed to twiddling my thumbs and trying to make 2 hours of work stretch to eight hours). It is currently challenging because I am learning new systems, new projects, new routines, new criteria, new procedures, new, new, new…everything is new. What has remained the same is my self confidence in my capabilities and my desire to absorb information.

I have my goal of becoming a Project Manager. That goal is based on me wanting to achieve more, more success, more challenges, more knowledge, more respect, more self worth, more money, more job security, more, more, more. I am never satisfied with staying where I am at in my career, I do not feel as though I can settle or be complacent in my current position, knowledge base or skill set. I want to be more. I know I can be more.

So here I go, back to work, back to striving to be more then anyone (including me) thought I could be.