You Are Never Too Old to Ask the Burning Questions

Jason Phan, Network Planner

I didn’t truly understand the value of asking questions until I realised how it helped me be better in my role.

I was born with an inquisitive mind. The younger me has probably exhausted my parents with plenty of questions, one after another. However, when I entered school and later university, it became harder for me to ask questions to my teachers and tutors. I think the fear of being seen to not know something that everyone else did was a natural part of growing up. Silly I realise now, no one expects you to have all the answers and asking questions is a critical part of growing in a role, and as a person.

This realisation came to me on completion of my role as the first member of the Networks Graduate Program working from the Sharesource Vietnam Hub. This program allows graduates to undergo a 3-month training program that exposes them to the work in the industry of fiber-optic networks. I learned many new skills during my time in the program. Some of these were more technical based around understanding fiber cabling and coding and although these technical skills are important the key learning for me is there is much more to the program than the purely technical side, and if I hadn’t asked lots of questions I would not have learned anywhere near as much as I did.

During the program I was constantly encouraged to be inquisitive to ask lots of questions, the more the better. During the program and since, Sharesource has provided me with personal and social skills that are helping me grow as a person giving me confidence that I didn’t have previously. I have discovered that I really enjoy taking my learnings beyond what I do today, applying these to help others with other projects over time.

One of the things I have been involved in since finishing the program is the recruiting process to locate new graduates. I am proud of the role that I have played in this process and am excited that we now have seven graduates in the Vietnam Hub.

I know I have much to learn if I am to become a Project Manager which is my immediate goal, and I know that the skills I am learning now in supporting the new graduates will help me achieve this. Just some of the things I share with all new graduates is the importance of asking questions as a part of the learning curve, and not being afraid of getting things wrong the first time because this is one of the ways we all learn. This supporting role has given me confidence in my ability to one day be a mentor for new people who join Sharesource which will be very special to me personally.

It is a great feeling to know that in unleashing my own potential I am also helping others to unleash theirs.

#UnleashingHumanPotential; #SocialImpactOutsourcing