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Tuesday April 10, 2007

The Best Job at Sun

Do you know how often you hear that at Sun?  In a recent series of video vignettes we captured for new hire orientation, several of our executives spontaneously started their remarks about their groups with those very words...

"I have the best job at Sun."

Which I thought was rather interesting because, in fact, I have the best job at Sun.  No, seriously, folks, I do.  Consider:

• I work with this amazing team of folks, all of whom are smarter and more creative than I am (and certainly more organized).  And they come to work every day excited about their jobs, and looking for ways to make a difference in this company.

• I have full license to get my job done however I need to, with restrictions similar to our blogging policy - be interesting and don't do anything stupid.  Oh, and one more - stay within budget.  (OK, maybe that part isn't so much fun but it is reality.)

• We've been allowed to interpret our charter broadly, and to influence others in the company to adopt some key parts of our philosophy.

• We're given challenges that stretch our brain cells and imaginations and make us smarter, better, more valuable.
  

• I spend more time laughing and being on an adrenalin high here than at any job I've had.

• I can see the impact of our work on employees, and that makes it all worthwhile.

So if you ask Greg Papadopoulos how he feels about his job, he'll go on and on about the amazing opportunities he finds at Sun.  And if you ask Mary Holzer, she'll talk about how her job gives her the opportunity to combine her engineering mindset with her love of marketing.  And if you ask Jack Schwartz about his job, he'll talk about the great customers he gets to meet and how much fun it is to get them to think about Sun differently.  And if you ask...

How about you?  Do you have the best job at Sun?  Let me know if you do - and why.  We're trying to capture the attributes of why talented people want to work at Sun (it's called an employee value proposition, or EVP, just to prove that human resources can have confusing acronyms, too - it's not just something engineering gets to do!), and I'd love your feedback.  Email me at terry.mckenzie@sun.com, or post a comment.

It's all about you!



Posted by terrymckenzie ( Apr 10 2007, 04:15:55 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [10]

Trackback URL: http://blogs.sun.com/tmac/entry/the_best_job_at_sun

Comments:

Hi Terry! I hate to tell you... but I have the best job at Sun. Wondering why? I get to market Sun innovation and work with the absolute smartest people on the planet. Check out http://blogs.sun.com/innovation. Some of the people in this company are so amazing, they have a halo. I met Robert Drost a couple of weeks ago. He's like James Gosling. You meet him, and want him to sign your t-shirt. And did I mention Hal Stern? He's the genious that hosts those fabulous innovating@sun podcasts. Last but not least - I met a customer at the Sun Analyst Summit that is so pleased with us, he told me that if he had to quit his job, he would still keep in touch with the Sun account manager and system engineer. 'nough said.

Posted by Laura Ventura on April 11, 2007 at 01:55 PM PDT #

Actually, Terry, I have the best job at Sun:

I get to write the manuals that accompany the Sun Cluster product, one of Sun's most mature and biggest moneymakers.

I get to work with a bunch of savvy and experienced technical authors who know how to produce spot-on quality documentation and know what's what.

I get to write every day. (I love writing. I've always loved writing (since I was in the 4th grade), and I'll always love writing. It's my greatest passion. My license plate says it all: ♥WRITNG.)

I also get to work in an open, creative, and free daily work environment.

And I get to do it all on UNIX, another great passion of mine (since 1983).

Posted by Brian Keith on April 12, 2007 at 10:59 AM PDT #

...lucky that job at Google didn't work out then Brian ;)

Posted by Mash on April 15, 2007 at 02:29 AM PDT #

I work in SunIT. A couple of months ago I sent an email to Bob Worrall about why I have the best job at Sun. I always was a KUQ (Kiss-Up Queen), but I'm sincere. There is no doubt that Sun is an awesome place to work and here's why I appreciate my job in SunIT.

10) SunRay@Home - worked out of the box in 5 minutes! And it's fast!

9) Blogging - What a cool way to communicate! Any company that encourages employees to tell the world exactly how they feel has got to be a great place to work. I get a kick out of telling the world how "ILoveSun" or showing IT how "Full of CHIT" I am. (CHIT =>a blog about CHange in IT)

8) Fun - Whether it be the Broomfield Tiki Bar, the Holiday Party, the photos on the walls or the liberal holiday decorations, there is usually something fun going on in IT (at least in Broomfield!).

7) Work From Home - The flexibilities of the openWork program are a perk I find invaluable. For the first time in my 22 years of being a working Mom I finally feel like I have the perfect work/life balance.

6) Leadership that puts Values first - I'm very impressed with the focus on values we see at Sun IT. Frequent messages exemplifying values from leaders and the Transformation Team show that our leadership is serious about identifying and focusing on what is most important.

5) Having a boss with a sense of humor - Mega-busy, Colin Carmichael, still takes the time to respond to my KUQy silliness with a response and emoticon that can make my day. When we take the time to smile (or even eSmile) it makes a world of difference.

4) IBIS - I love that I'm a part of this project that will change the way we work. Things are ultra-IBISy these days, making the challenge that much more exciting.

3) Mentoring - The newly announced IT Mentoring program is another program that shows this organization is serious about growth, opportunity, and development.

2) Technology - I've been a computer-addict since my first computer from Radio Shack when I was 10. Getting paid for doing what I love is about as lucky as winning the lottery.

1) People - whether it be via email, conference call, or face-to-face, the people are the number one reason I love my job. There is so much diversity and talent. Every day I get to interact, learn from, and connect with an awesome group of people.

Posted by Yvette Francino on April 16, 2007 at 10:30 AM PDT #

Terry- I beat ya!!! I posted this on my non-work/personal blog in MARCH of 2005: http://ahlersawesomeadventures.blogspot.com/2005/03/work-is-great-how-many-people-say-that.html Title: Work is great! How many people can say that? Subtitle: Better yet, how many people working for a tech company these days say that?? Now while our stock needs a bit of help, I have the good blessings and fortune to work for and with some of the most amazing people I've met in my dozen or so years in the work force. It's one thing to let an employee move to the East Coast (for which I'm grateful!) and another one entirely when she shows up at work and says her FSO spouse has been PCS'd to a country where Sun doesn't have an office. It's been a fortuitous confluence of hard work (on many parts) and a great amount of Divine intervention which put the solution on which I work in a place where parts of the program needed to be leveraged out of HQ/US and into the rest of our geographically established markets. My moving was good for the solution, and for Sun too, I hope. They didn't have to hire and train a new employee on their leading solution, didn't have to move me here, and didn’t have to expend any additional expenses at all. Now I'm in the EU, happily working bizarre hours, mostly because I work with great people, on an interesting solution and feel very loyal to a company that is so supportive and committed to making customers, employees and the world a better place through technology. Sound cheezy? Maybe, but I think that it's really true. I've been in Nicosia for a little over a week, and am finishing my 4th full day back to work. I actually feel pretty well integrated into the time zone, although the 'spring ahead' time change this weekend didn't help! --and now California is 11 hours behind me-- but for this week only. Looks like my work hours will be about 10:00 - 19:00 or 20:00 most days. That way I get the most overlap with CET, GMT and a few hours with PST. 08:00 there is 18:00 here, so dinners are a bit messed up. Ralph has offered to cook on staff meeting days, which is great, and what the heck?! it's a great excuse to go out, right?? While it seems that other techies don't start until 9 or 10 at best, my entire group is very supportive of 08:00 and 09:00 meetings. Things in the tech sector are always changing, and us at Sun, we seem to have an over developed case of ADHD, which makes the work environment very… dynamic. Never the less, I’m so thrilled to be able to keep this great job with an awesome set of people: Yasmin, Toni, Tami, Benno, Ken and many others (note: no last names, no fair poaching my team!). A great big THANK YOU and many special favors are indeed indebted to you from my heart and Ralph’s. Posted by Amy & my boys at 12:11 PM

Posted by Amy Ahlers on April 16, 2007 at 10:46 AM PDT #

I definitely have the best job at Sun, because it's ending next Monday.

Posted by RH on April 27, 2007 at 02:53 PM PDT #

Hrm, I guess to work with some of the brightest people *both* inside and outside Sun - the joys of Open Source, mixed with working remotely in New Zealand.

Posted by Glynn Foster on April 29, 2007 at 06:42 PM PDT #

Pretty good reasons, Glynn!

Posted by Terry McKenzie on April 29, 2007 at 08:51 PM PDT #

I think your high opinion must be proportional to your salary and inversely proportional to the number of years since you were last promoted. Perhaps you should do a bit of research and talk to some employees who haven't had a grade rise nor a decent pay rise in 7 years. Yeah, I bet they _love_ their job.

Posted by BA on May 10, 2007 at 02:51 AM PDT #

BA - If money is what motivates, then the sizable bonuses we've been getting every quarter has got to have put a smile on even the grouchiest curmudgeon.

There will always be people that complain. If people think they are being underpaid, then they owe it to themselves to find a different job.

I didn't always _love_ my job at Sun. For a year I was in a job that was a bad fit. So I worked on a development plan and took action to find a job I DID love. Sun encourages development plans and gives employees the opportunity to take control of their careers. I believe every employee should take a look at what motivates them and what it would take for them to _love_ their job, and then pursue that dream. I feel extremely fortunate that I work at a company that not only allows me to do that, but encourages it.

Posted by Yvette Francino on May 10, 2007 at 04:32 AM PDT #

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