Systems Analyst for a software company. I will tell you one thing, I thought I knew a lot about computer systems and I now understand I know little. I have 5 computers networked together with an exchange server going through a proxy for the internet. There is so much to learn, I feel like I am 25 again. The training now being developed is insane. It is 75% logic behind the processes and 25% application work. He wants everyone to be logical, not mechanical. If were are going to be mechanical (error code means XXXXX and do YYYYY) we should hire in India and China. If you are mechanical and YYYYY does not fix the issue you are lost. If you are logical and understand processes, what they do, and how they work together you will be able to figure out how to fix the issues or move in the proper direction. Even though India and China are cheaper, they are extremely mechanical and at the end of the day they don't add real value. They can handle the low hanging fruit but anything complex, they stumble hard.
The good thing is they also teach you structure and how to manage yourself and the things around you. I know that seems easy but it's really not.The training is about all aspects of work and just not the technical side. This week I am being mentored by someone who has been there for 6 years about time management and how not to get stressed out over the little things. Also don't grind to much, if you need help just ask. They expect me not to know everything. The key is to ask with a thought process. This is what is happening, this is what I have done, I am stuck at this point. They will not give me the answer outright, they will lead me in the proper direction (sometimes they will draw a picture to help explain what's going on) I never realized how great that is. It increases your knowledge 10 fold rather than giving the answer. He feels if the answer is given, We would forget it in 2 hours.
He is like bizzaro Merck. Actually the whole place is like bizzaro
Merck is moving jobs overseas and he sees no value in doing that. They may work a lot cheaper but the quality is not there.
Merck keeps loading you and stresses you out. He thinks that is counter productive and you will ultimately do less work and your thought process is not sharp. You will be more prone to making simple mistakes.
Merck prefers to layoff people with a lot of experience. He feels that the knowledge and experience is priceless and imposable to replace.
Merck loves to layoff people in general and he feels once you layoff people, you will loose the money they make. Also when things pick up, you must scramble to get people, train them, and make sure they will fit into the system.
Lucky you were not expected to be to be up and running pronto, especially now in this economy. I praise your employer for keeping his jobs here and not importing to Mexico, China, India etc to save money. I see Merck is doing it and shame on them for turning their back on American workers and tossing us aside. IT analyst. Something I doubt many of us without a tech computer would find open to us. Good luck, I am sure you realize you are lucky to find that position.