Friday, October 23, 2009

Leap of Faith

Tuesday of the previous week...One of my productive and talented colleagues send an emotional farewell message to us; as it is her last day for Work. Starting next week she'll be having a new job and we won't be seeing her that much. A majority of my colleagues were sad...I do too...but I was more excited that she'll be embarking in a new challenge on her life. I remember when I was her age (I'm a few years her senior) I often found myself doing the same thing. The previous employment that I have and this present one are the jobs where I spent the most years. Often it would just last for a few months until a year. This is my fifth job, by the way.

Leaving your present job to start with a new one is not always an easy decision to make. Especially if you have already spent a few years working there and have already befriended a lot of your colleagues and had learned how to love the job itself. But as always; there is a lot of reasons entailed to reach that hard decision.


I too, had a fair share of colorful experiences regarding Job Hopping. Below are the reasons behind it:


***The Pay was not that Good


It may sound cliche'; but back when I was still in college; there was a time that my Father can no longer afford to send us to school; not willing to stop our education..my sisters and I looked for a job. And so...we became "working" students - landing menial jobs like being a canteen helper (for my older sister), service crew (my younger sister) and data encoder (me) while on vacation, during weekends and holidays. Since these jobs are done only on a part time basis (to avoid conflict with school); the pay was not enough. So...after graduating from college; I finally experienced how it is to have a full time job:


***Monotonous Routine / There is no room for Growth


When you are a newly graduate; don't expect that you will be able to immediately land the kind of career or job you were always dreaming of. I for one, started out as a toll operator - connecting long distance and overseas calls. I only spent two months on that kind of work and then left; to learn more about office stuffs and improve my computer skills (office applications were relatively new at that time); which landed me to my third job:


***Harsh / Toxic Environment


I did get what I wanted. I worked as a clerk on a contractual basis of employment (under a human resource agency) and was assigned to the Accounting Department. There; I learned how to use the photocopying, printer and fax machine (don't laugh...I weren't given a chance to learn how to use them on my previous jobs, remember?); I was able to re-learn stuffs about accountancy....unfortunately, since I made a very serious mistake of throwing out cancelled invoices in the thrash can (so stupid of me); I became the subject of cruel jokes in that department. Because of that, I was de-motivated and no longer find enthusiasm towards my work there. And so...again, I resigned and find my fourth job:


***Office Politics / Unhappiness


Again; I worked as a Data Encoder (although the HR Officer thought I was overqualified - having earned enough experiences from my previous jobs and passed the Professional Civil service Examinations). I learned a lot while being assigned on their Engineering Department. I did multi-tasking; I handled customer calls, dispatch technicians towards their service destination, help out on customer relations officer and supervisor's weekly and monthly reports and a lot more. The monthly salary was minimal (considering I was doing a lot of work outside of my normal job description). But the benefits far outweigh them. They had paid sick leaves (just half of what you left unused); Salary bonus (equivalent to midyear bonus); Profit Sharing (employee's share from a percentage of the company's annual profits) and 14th month pay (equivalent to what you received from the mandatory 13th month). I gained lots of friends while on this job. Unfortunately, since they did not fulfill their promise of promoting me to a higher position (despite of the additional workloads - without additional pay) and because some of my colleagues started mud slinging (to promote themselves); I became unhappy....and so again....


Here I am. on my fifth job (and hopefully the last one); where I met the productive and talented colleague of mine whom I mentioned above. Before she resigned; we were sharing a lot of stories, dreams and aspirations.

As you have read above; when I was younger, jumping from one job towards another was easy for me to do - in order to find what I can't have from the previous one that I have. But as I read books, articles and blog entries pertaining to personal finance, I realized that Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad) was right; hopping from one job to another would just make you feel restless and would always give you the same results.

That's why I promised myself that if ever I would resign from my present employment; I would like to permanently, if not irrevocably remain self employed...or ambitious as it may sound - be an Entrepreneur myself.

That way, I would be able to use what I studied in college and take charge of my destiny instead of just allowing myself to follow the "employment" path like everyone else does.


I pray that hopefully; someday...this dream of mine materializes.

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