Joe Miller
Potomac Photonics
Baltimore, MD USA
"Look for the resources that are going to get you to the next thing and help advance you. Little by little, you are adding to your bag of tricks."
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Joe's work combines: Engineering, Technology, and Building Things
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
I've always struggled with finding my direction. I saw people around me with their lives all worked out and I knew that I had to figure myself out. There were a few moments where I found myself getting comfortable, but I wasn't really moving or doing anything of value. I decided to just start taking opportunities as they presented themselves and utilizing the resources at my disposal to keep changing if I needed to in order to figure out where I fit.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Life & Career Milestones
I've taken a lot of twists and turns
1.
Grew up outside of Baltimore in a town called Catonsville, Maryland—I was always a good student, but I struggled to find my direction.
2.
As a kid, my father instilled in me the passion for working with my hands and building things.
3.
Attended a local community college, where I started taking classes in a variety of subjects to figure out what I wanted to do, but couldn’t land on any one thing.
4.
I applied to a few larger colleges to transfer to, but got rejected from all of them.
5.
Took a full-time job on-campus at the community college doing a variety of maintenance and event work, but I didn’t feel like that was getting me anywhere.
6.
A friend hired me to work in customer service and operations for his small t-shirt company, but I wasn’t truly passionate about it.
7.
One of my former co-workers from the community college got me a job working at Potomac Photonics, where I started working in the production and manufacturing departments.
8.
I continued taking college courses to gain new skills in different areas of the company and discovered I had a knack for working in engineering—I am now their director of engineering.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
I can't do this. I have to find my own way.
How I responded:
I've always struggled with finding my direction. I saw people around me with their lives all worked out and I knew that I had to figure myself out. There were a few moments where I found myself getting comfortable, but I wasn't really moving or doing anything of value. I decided to just start taking opportunities as they presented themselves and utilizing the resources at my disposal to keep changing if I needed to in order to figure out where I fit.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I've had several career pivots in my life. I've always struggled with finding my direction and just followed the opportunities as they've come along. It's meant that I've had to do a lot of learning as I go.