For the past few years, I have read quite a few materials on cybersecurity. In 2017, my professor at SJSU asked me to write a paper on IoT Security and Machine Learning techniques used to protect IoT systems. That was really interesting. Learnt about IoT, Fog Computing, Privacy and Security issues with IoT systems during that time. Since then, I’ve spent a few hours on the weekends on this topic, did a Coursera course, some readings as part of SCW (Secure Code Warrior) and beat CTF competitions. I was even thinking of enrolling in the Cybersecurity Bootcamp at Berkeley. But there was never time. There was always a burning issue in the to-do list that was past due.
What if there is a question about continuing in the same domain and possibly growing to a higher position or trying to learn something new? I could divide my 18+ years of experience after B.E. graduation as
- 8 years of Payments (6 yrs at PayPal, 2 years at ebay PGW/Billing, some experience with CC Transaction Processing system before that)
- 8 years of e-commerce (at ebay)
- a couple of years in misc domains (Healthcare, Insurance).
If you had a finite number of working years, say 40, would you pack it with one domain or multiple? The answer probably is different for different people. Of course, a domain like Payments is a mansion with a lot of rooms. A lifetime is not enough to cover all the payment processing schemes and rails. But for a Computer Scientist, a domain is another problem space that needs the right software tools.
Someone in the past had asked me to do this Thought Experiment when confronted with the question of this or that - “If you had all the money that you wanted, what would you do?”. In this case, I would definitely say, time to learn something new. I think the idea of learning something new or doing the same thing in a new way, appeals to people at a fundamental level. In small or big ways, everyone is an inventor. Invention is at the heart of being human.
Though knowledge wins hands down, most of the time, the biggest inertia for a job change is always the people. The people you work with have become your friends and like extended family, especially if you’ve pulled off a project or two that had extremely tough deadlines, debugged several hairy bugs together or brainstormed and argued about the design of new systems, etc. It is the people that make work enjoyable, they are the loved ones that have your back. But the best way to expand your friend circle is also to charter into new domains to forge new fellowships and be a bridge between different circles of your friends.
Nevertheless, the greatest work is one that is enjoyed and done with the heart’s content.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart,
even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection,
even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy,
even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead
are standing about you and watching.
~ Kahlil Gibran