Read the stories of three Blue Planet employees at two, five, and ten years into their careers.
Blue Planet, a division of Ciena, provides the industry’s first OSS platform that converges design, delivery, and assurance applications to help Communication Service Providers (CSPs) automate network and service operations and speed the introduction of new services across any network domain or vendor. From the newest intern to the most experienced senior leader, every member of the Blue Planet team has a role to play in achieving success. In this CienaLife story, three colleagues at different stages of their careers share the opportunities and fulfillment they found at two, five, and ten years into their careers with Blue Planet.
Learning from the latest technology: Two years at Blue Planet
A new grad who joined Blue Planet directly after finishing his education, Mohak Gadge is a software developer who works with networking concepts and protocols, operating system levels, UI/UX- back-end development, and algorithms and data structures. When he joined the team, he quickly took on challenging projects that enabled him to develop his skillset and gain unique experiences that set him up for success in his chosen field.
In addition to enjoying the opportunity to gain experience with innovative technologies, Mohak also enjoys the positive and encouraging workplace culture. He specifically values the importance of appreciation among team members, saying “I receive recognition for my contributions, and I also make sure to appreciate and recognize my colleagues.” The positive workplace culture is also upheld by the leadership team, who support early-in-career employees like Mohak by actively listening to employees’ career goals and helping them reach those goals by encouraging them to take on new responsibilities.
Becoming an innovation mentor: Five years at Blue Planet
Like Mohak, Vaibhav Lohani started his career at Blue Planet as a new grad. In the five years since joining the team, Vaibhav has grown into his role as a Lead Engineer and mentor on his team. With one patent awarded and two more pending approval, Vaibhav’s inspiring career path illustrates the opportunities available to early in career professionals who choose Blue Planet to launch their careers in tech.
Vaibhav credits the on-the-job learning he’s received from his manager and team, as well as the culture of innovation at Ciena and Blue Planet for his rewarding career path over the past five years. His team is responsible for adding new features, fixing issues, and solving customer problems, and he specifically has had the opportunity to work on traffic reporting and path computation. The opportunities presented by working with this team enables Vaibhav to develop his technical skills and creative thinking, which has helped him grow into an innovation mentor for incoming new grads.
Mastering work-life balance as a leader and parent: Ten years at Blue Planet
Ten years ago, Shruti Joshi joined the Blue Planet team as a young, early-in-career professional like Mohak and Vaibhav. Since then, she moved into a leadership role while also maintaining a strong work-life balance as she grows her family.
As Shruti’s team designs, develops, and tests software driving closed loop network automation, they work in various languages like C++, Python, and JavaScript. The learning opportunities presented by working with a range of tasks and technologies has enabled Shruti and her team members to advance their careers from new grad roles into product management, architectural, and research and development work based on their different interests and strengths.
Work-life balance is prioritized by members of the team at all levels, as is creating a positive and uplifting environment. She appreciates the “close-knit and collaborative environment” on her team, especially how they celebrate milestones together which helps maintain a strong bond between team members.
If you’re interested in joining people like Mohak, Vaibhav, and Shruti, explore Blue Planet open roles and apply today for your next opportunity.
