Heart Space #51: Work Experience Chapter 1.

The content of this blog came to me a while back. I want to document the stages of my work life for I have worked for a decade. I figured it is noteworthy to detail the takeaway from each of the company that I have worked for and the experiences that I have gained.

First of all, I am not a habitual job hopper. I stayed in my first company for 5 years, 4 years for the second company and I am halfway into my 2^nd year in my current position. I know of some folks who move from company to company, pocketing huge increment in remuneration with each jump. Through the years, I have learnt that this seems to be a good way to get huge salary increment, for it is more often than not, the increment if you stay is mediocre.  Unless you are promoted, the increment that you will get within a job is often limited by HR policies, performance of company and individual. How much you’ll get, you have absolutely no say in it, for the only choice you have is not take it and quit.

People do not usually switch jobs without a double digit increment (usually 10-20%). It is different when you change job as I perceive every job hop as a transaction or bargain. You state your price, go through negotiation and people willing to buy (hire in this sense). You have a choice to take up the offer or not. This flexibility promotes the mindset of workers to look and shop around for that ideal job.

For me, job hunting has been a bit different. I am not motivated totally (like many others) by the promise of huge increments, which I will explain later. I looked for jobs that I deemed as the next logical step to take and the benefits that the job will bring. In the chapters to follow, I will share what my rationale was at each stage of my work experience. 

1. IT MNC company.

My first job, being fresh out of university and didn’t know exactly what I want to do for a living. It was a contract position as a Java developer working on a government project. It was a hell period for a lot of us. I have seen my fair share of folks being stretched to their limit, working 7 days, 24 hours a day for long stretch without break. It was also a place where I have spent countless nights, resting (can’t even sleep) in the office.  The funny thing now that I looked back, I did enjoy the stress. It was gratifying in a weird sense of way and probably self motivation was the key to survival.

Looking back and having gone through this kind of gruelling work lifestyle, one is made aware of his own capabilities in terms of handling work, timeline and stress. I also gained valuable insight of the internal mechanism of big MNC and how the rewards and responsibilities are “distributed”. The fast pace of things, intensive people management, and targeted performance delivery and intensive performance expectations are all part and parcel of everyday situation. A lot of us gripe about being contractors and not having the perks that was due to us. Therefore at some point in time, some of us were converted to permanent positions (including me).

So I was in this developer role for a year before I transitioned into a team lead role. This role marks the start of the actual learning process in this company. Transitioning into an operation role allowed me to really work the ground, know clients directly and making an impact to the lives of the people affected by our systems. We had a tight team who was carefully selected which made the night batch jobs bearable. It became fun and exciting to go to work, and team morale is always at a high. This role taught me a few key points that I hold dearly:-

·         Importance of ownership

·         Enforced personal integrity

·         Importance of team structure and morale

·         Office politics can be deadly

·         Your promotions can be cut short by unrelated events

·         Importance of being /having a good leader

Finally… why did I move or quit? Being rotated to another government project was a key push factor. I did not want to remain and grow my government experience especially within the same vertical. Another push factor, is that I want to be a project manager (having done team lead) and in a commercial company, preferably in financial sector. Thus, I quit without a job and was bumming around at home for 6 months before the job that fits ALL my criteria came along. I been to dozens interviews and was even close to being an insurance agent (or now they are referred to as Financial Consultants). It was a long wait, but having set that target, I was unwilling to compromise on the position. I accepted the job offer at my last drawn remuneration package. It turns out to be my finest and best move ever….

End of Chapter I …