working at qad

I recently had a conversation with a colleague in India. This colleague-turned-friend is similar in age and personal interests, but from a very different culture. We were talking about work when he asked what drove me and my career. After brief contemplation I answered that I work for the things I believe in, and that I work at QAD. The words “for” and “at” having a subtle but important difference in definition like “motivation” and “behavior”: the former describes why, while the latter describes what, where, etc. It’s possible to interpret my statement as “I could be happy anywhere.” Sure, I admit that I do believe that. The cynic might conclude that I don’t really care about the “where” of my work, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I consider myself fortunate to have the privilege of possessing sought-after skills, and a choice of where I get to apply them. Therefore the “what” and “where” of my job can actually contribute to fulfillment, instead of be something that I merely survive in order to find fulfillment elsewhere.

Why Do I Work at QAD?

Let’s start with the “whys” of my work. My top three motivations are:

  • to improve myself.
  • to improve the world I live in.
  • to improve the organization I work for.

Working at QAD allows me to do all of the above in abundance. In theory, this all sounds nice and pretty, but if you’re like me, you need more than flowery rhetoric to believe this; you need concrete examples.

Opportunities for Self-Improvement and Exploration

I can honestly say that I’ve improved myself while working at QAD. Having grown up in a mixed-race family in Santa Barbara, I came to realize that I love learning how to adapt to cultural differences, and that my hometown (though stunningly beautiful) has its limitations. As a services consultant for QAD I enjoy amazing opportunities to travel around the world to places such as France, Poland, Japan, Australia, Spain, China and India — all within the last two years. There’s nothing like soaking in a new culture, food, language, transportation system and everything else that comes with world travel. Beyond being thrilling in the moment, travel has also taught me how to understand that our deepest desires are all the same and the differences are in how we express and chase them.

Improving the World You Live In

I’m part of the QAD Automation Solutions team. We bring ERP functionality to the manufacturing and warehouse floor to collect data at the point of use, therefore improving timeliness and accuracy. On the surface it benefits QAD’s customers. In my heart I also believe it benefits each of you who are reading this. From an economic standpoint, getting faster and more accurate data can mean lowering costs for the supplier and the customer, ultimately saving you money. From a human perspective – think of any product recall you’ve heard of. Put yourself in the shoes of the quality engineer: would you rather have a wealth of accurate digital data surrounding product genealogy, or a closet full of paper records? How quickly can you determine if that failing part ended up in your car?

Taking QAD to the Next Level

The Automation Solutions (AS) team is new. I liken it to being part of a startup, but with the benefit of full funding, HR support and a known customer base. Startups with even more resources have failed. Instead of failing or stuttering, AS has scaled its customer base, revenue and team size all by hundreds of percentages within the last three years. As an original member of the Services team, I am extremely proud of the progress that my coworkers and I have contributed to.

I work at QAD because every day I experience a fantastic balance of making a living, making memories and making a difference. Find your place at QAD, check out our Careers page to see what opportunities are waiting for you!

4 COMMENTS

  1. Always enjoy stuff from QAD. I was a software engineer in R&D at QAD in the 90’s. I made life long friends there. Glad you’re enjoying your time there too.

    I too run sound for live bands. Something about art and technology.

  2. Thanks for the comment Greg! It’s encouraging to see QAD employees who have moved on still following us and looking back with fond memories.

    Yes – the music helps me be more creative in technical design, and technology helps me organize live bands into a logical system. Someday I’ll draw the sound system as an ERD to show musicians the difference between adjusting gain and fader levels.

  3. QAD is one of the best organizations where every day is a challenging job. One can explore, learn and contribute to make enterprises effective.
    I had worked in Cloud Operations, but Dell Boomi was my favourite area of interest. For first hacakathin, I worked on mobile app development using Telerik for Cloud Operations.

    Without sports, I am incomplete. Won QAD India Football’14, Football’15, Cricket’15.

    Also QAD Explore presentations give directions.

    Great place for overall development.

    • I agree Saurabh, there opportunities to challenge yourself every day. It is great to be in an organization large enough to have a global impact, yet small enough to see the direct results of our contributions.

      Great to see another athlete. I was invited by the AS team in Mumbai to play in the Football’18 tournament (soccer for the US). I hope to meet you on the field!

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