me to work harder to avoid disappointing my
Ahmed joined Raya IT as a professional service trainee
in 2006. His journey witnessed remarkable achieve-
ments as he managed to balance between the work-
load and his aspiration for learning and development.
The surrounding work environment supported me to
acquire top notch security certificates, (Cisco CCIE,
CISSP & CISM) and advance to be a Presales Manager
Challenges
As a fresh graduate I lacked the practical aspect of tech-
nical field, my main challenge was gaining the needed
technical knowledge to match that of my colleagues
and be able to meet my managers expectations.
Moreover, I began to consider getting
certified to advance my career path; this
required a great deal of time to study for
certificates such as Cisco CCIE security,
CISM & CISSP. Finally, the major stepping
stone was the career shift by moving to
the sales /presales team, coming from a
pure technical background.
With the help and support from my superiors and work
colleagues I have become more accustomed to the new
job requirements and became more business oriented.
How Work Environment Helped
I feel lucky in part that my superiors recognized my tal-
ents and encouraged me to pursue career advancement
& growth opportunities to capitalize on the knowledge I
have acquired. During my preparations for the certifi-
cates, my manager with the co-operation of my team
members used to offload me from certain tasks and fill in
for me when needed. This motivated
people.
What I appreciate more about Raya IT work envi-
ronment is the exposure to a wide spectrum of
practices, enabling me to explore new fields and
finally consider moving to the Presales team. I
was able to make use of the competencies I ac-
quired and thus adding more value to my accu-
mulated experience.
Finally, I greatly advocate the idea of flexible work-
ing hour model as I felt it contributed significantly to
balancing between working and advancing capabil-
ities.
Lessons Learned
Many young engineers will struggle with proving
themselves at work either when trying to acquire
work experience or getting certified, the trick is to
set goals responsibly and prioritize tasks. One rule is
to categorizing your activities into #now #next &
#later categories. . Now is for tasks that are critical
and usually meet very close due dates (2-3 days).
Next is for the short term projects that should be
achieved during a length of up to 2 weeks and are
not as crucial as the now category. Finally, later is for
the long term projects that are nonetheless signifi-
A little trick that goes along the way, is shar-
ing the knowledge you obtain with your col-
leagues and subordinates and being pre-
pared to answer their questions. When you
choose to mentor colleagues/subordinates,
you reinforce your know-how and leader-
ship skills.
Final words set your goals responsibly and always remember
what is driving you to succeed and let it guard you against any
distractions or disappointments. Dedication and ownership are
main factors to build a solid career in the IT industry.
If career advancement and growth opportunities are im-
portant to you, make sure you submit your CV to
cv_itlob@rayacorp.com