Saturday, February 14, 2009
A week at Work!
I have finally started work on monday and it's been a week of enjoyment.
I'm working as a marketing executive for an organistion in the beauty wellness industry, somthing which I had always wanted to do. My salary is decent for the current situation, or so many people say. Well, ask me if you want to know where I work and how much salary I draw!
My boss is a nice and approachable person whom I communicate well with. Whatever changes I suggested to him, he will always listen and agree if it's good. Of course, I have also done a good job on my part.
Next would be my colleages. When I was 1st offered the job, shiqi told me she thinks she has a friend working there and helped me find out more. It puts me at ease to know that there is at least someone who's already working in there and gave positive feedback about the company. I finally met her and she's a really cute and bubbly girl who's my senior (same JC and Uni).
I do not have many colleages as we are the HQ of the business and I can easily count them with my fingers. Lunch with them is real good as they enjoy eating good food as much as I do! It does help that our office is located at Lavender and all the good food are there! All of them are very chatty and helpful too! Lunchtime is something I look forward to everyday at work.
So far I have been kept busy with preparing marketing materials and there's really one point which I have to make! My internship in marcom has really helped prepare me for this job and given me the relevant knowledge and experience to handle what I need to do now! That said, my advice is for students to go for internship in something which they hope to do in future. I was thinking about how I would have been so lost and useless without the prior experience I gained from my marcom internship. For example, I wouldn't have known how to guide a designer to design a flyer and where to source for stock photos.
On top of that, I also have to mention the uber-good aspect of my Communications and New Media course which aided in my job now. Haha =P I had to revamp the company website and without the knowledge I learnt from NM3217 (Linda Perry), I wouldn't have known how to spot visual diasters in a website. Yeah, I really love the course!
Well well, now everything is looking in place for me after fulfilling my dreams of Work and Travel in US and a short trip to Japan and the various other trips that I had and now a 9-6 job for 5days a week with a decent pay.
My message goes out to those who are still actively seeking a job - Don't give up!
It was a down period for me after I returned from US and was jobless for 2 months. Yeah I know 2 months is short but it got me and I can really feel how those people who lost their jobs feel. Especially when they have mouths to feed. In fact, I only felt restless after a month as I was still trying to settle down for the 1st month.
In any way, I am now constantly encouraging fresh grads or job seekers alike not to give up, just like how my loved ones and friends have given me their support during my job-hunt period.
Just so it helps, I have sent out a total of close to 60 resumes, had more than 10 interviews with job agencies and MNCs, got scrutinized very badly by 2 interviewers at a very famous MNC, got praised by some interviewers for my impressive resume as a fresh grad and spent a sum on transport for interviews before landing my current job.
Most big companies are interested to meet me but not interested to hire me due to the lack of "proper" (permanent job) experience. I've only got internships, school event organisation and part-time relevant experiences so they're keen to see what I can offer. Some of them even praise me but I never did hear from them subsequently. Ultimately, I guess there are many more experienced people out there who are willing to take up the job for the same pay as me.
I also offered a biz support job in the travel industry with a promised one and a half weeks europe tour as part of the employment package. I was then offered a slightly higher pay as a counter-offer to the amount I proposed but decided against it as the pay cannot substain me. I need to service bank loans and there's this minimum amount that I can accept although I was really keen on the travel offer. I liked the job and the company likes me too but we just could not meet eye-to-eye on the terms.
In the end I continued on my quest and finally got his job. I am still enjoying every moment of it!