A BROWN MAN'S JOURNEY

..continuation

Don't be too depressed that the world is in grave financial crisis right now, because being depressed is the only thing you can do about it. So why bother for something that is beyond your control? Before you think of ways on how to save the world from this crisis or how to solve the global warming, go out there and find yourself a job first. So you can get out of mama's house and be able to support yourself, or at least be able to contribute to your household and the society. And please stop asking coins from grandma to buy cigarettes!

Going back to my story, I got rejected even by the company that I was wishing to be part of. Never mind what was it because it's now closed. Anyway, I then found myself in a very tiny office wherein the only employees are the boss, the secretary, me, and 2 other contractual programmers. Five people crammed in a small office in Makati being shared with a lone travel agent. What was the catch? The catch was that, he will "body-shop" us to other companies as "well-experienced" consultants working on a per-hour basis. So we did an awful lot of trainings about the different financial systems being used in the target company, which by the way, was the same company who rejected me before. What an irony! They rejected to hire me with an X amount of pay, now they're going to pay for my services at 2X the amount, and on an hourly basis. Anything in excess of 8 hours will be automatically charged at 200% rate, and 300% on holidays. What's the kung-fu lesson for this?

Kung-fu lesson 6 - Things are not always as they seem to be, and great opportunities don't present themselves in grand packaging! The small company that trained and hired me, was paying me twice as much as what I was supposed to received if I was hired by one of the companies that I previously applied to. Yeah, they also earned over my rates and I don't have a good medical insurance but hey, that's beside the point at that time. What I needed was a good exposure and break. In short, that's exactly what I got. Thanks to that small company called Prospex! Remember, it's exposure, ok? not exploitation. There are also some crappy companies which are out there to exploit people who are desperate to find jobs, so be careful and don't be too damn obvious about being desperate.

Kung-fu lesson 7 - Once you're in, show them what you're made of and let anybody who works with you appreciate your true value. But be mindful though, learn before you suggest. Be sure to know, understand, and capable of what you're saying, so you won't be part of a known race called "blabbering idiots". There's a lot of these people in companies, so don't be one.

Then, when you're starting to gather experience, changing job every 3 months is not part of it. Job-hopping gives the impression of instability to your next prospect employer. It takes a year for an employee to be fully effective with his/her post. That is why first year performance appraisals rarely reached above par.

Now, I am most certainly contented with where I got so far as an employee. I have set new priorities and goals in life, so it's a whole new "journey" for me this time. Exactly why I started this blog.

I do hope to have impart some little tips for your exciting new adventure. Good luck to all the graduating students out there! Congratulations!