Hello! I just wanted to dump my thoughts regarding my three (3) years at my current job. I thought of the title "Moving Past 3" because I wanted to look at how much I grew during those years and what else is there for me to learn moving forward. This post, by the way, will also include the journey of how I landed my current job. So, be prepared for a tsunami of words. Oh, and it's going to be in two (2) parts since there are a lot of thoughts here haha
Disclaimer: establishments and names mentioned were only used as character references for this post
So, let's start with how did I land this job? I left my previous company because I was going to take up my master's but things changed and I had no backup plans, hence my unemployment. I was fortunate enough that even though I had no job, it didn't have any impact on our household since all of the financial responsibilities were handled by my parents. Since the unemployment, I lost interest in many things, but I slowly got back up. I started helping around the house, taking all the chores that there is just so I could make myself busy. But being confined in the house by myself for months with nothing much to do but wake up, cook, clean, etc. didn't sit well with me. I didn't like the fact that I felt powerless for not having any income. So, I started looking for a job. I prepared myself to face multiple rejections once again. Even if I stayed for four (4) years at my previous job, I felt like I didn't grow as much as I wanted. So, selling myself to employers felt like a thesis defense. It's a hit or miss for me when it comes to the question "where do you see yourself 5 years from now?" How would I know? I didn't even plan on being unemployed haha
Back to the question, I landed this job unexpectedly. I was looking for a place for my brother to stay since his work commute is time-consuming. I came across this start-up company that offers a fully furnished boarding house. Which was something that my brother was looking for though the price is beyond his budget since he was just starting his job. The name of the company was catchy and the UI of their website was beyond my expectations for a "start-up". So, I looked them up on Kalibrr, hoping to find a position that I can apply to. Unfortunately, they only had one (1) opening that's sort of close to what I did at my previous job, I submitted my application without expecting anything. Days went by with me receiving rejections and applying for jobs that I had no chance with (I even applied to be a personal shopper, I don't even know what that is haha) then one day, I got a text message from the start-up company, inviting me for an interview.
Anyway, the interview day came and I was surprised to see their office. It was small, located in the basement of a building, and it was see-through. The only thing that's separated me from them is the glass walls. And I'm 100% sure I looked stupid because I was walking back and forth making sure that I was in the right place... There was no indication that it was their office. Unless you're an employee, then it's no big deal haha. So there, my interviewee came and she was the opposite of the person I thought I would be talking to. While she was talking to me, she disclosed that it was actually her first time interviewing someone so she looked up questions to ask (that took me off-guard tbh), and then she asked about what were my expectations for a boss. I said I was looking for someone who's chill but also knows when to be serious to which she replied, "I'm a chill boss." She did in fact, become my boss.
After a week, I received a message from them telling me that they wanted to talk to me about a job offer. I even asked my mom what they meant by a job offer since it was not the usual "you're hired" kind of message. Funny, I know. Hmm, the core memory of that day was we entered a newly converted one-way street. There were a lot of swear words and car honks that day haha we brought chaos to a supposed-to-be normal traffic kind of weekday.
We discussed the position they offered which was a Procurement and Document Control Officer. The job basically means that I'm responsible for procuring and purchasing things for the office and for our six (6) existing buildings for them to be fully functional, or something like that. The Document Control part means that I have to organize all our physical and soft copies of legal documents, which by the way I'm not familiar with -- oh Lord. We also discussed the pay, the benefits, and all the normal things.
During the meeting, there were two things that shocked me, first; most of the employees were around my age or younger (like my boss, she's 3 years younger than me), and second; once I'm regular, I could rent one (1) of their units at half the price. (Moving out in my twenties would now be a possibility 😏 hehe).
On my first day, I arrived around 6:30 AM and it was just me and another employee... It was awkward at first because I have no place to sit and my boss, let's call her Tokyo, comes around 9 AM. The work environment was different, it felt like I was part of a team rather than just an employee. Everyone was welcoming and helpful. The first few months were a struggle since I had to adjust to the environment and also because the position they gave me was something I'm not used to. I had to make calls and source out suppliers I never knew existed, I mean who knew that Ace Hardware, Handyman, or True Value were not the only place you could buy hardware from?? Like you can buy 20 pieces of doorknobs and get a 30% discount or more.
So yeah, now that I've shared how I ended up where I am now, hope you can wait for the next post where I'll share my career growth and probably some goals I have in mind moving towards my 4th year (hopefully), peace out! 💜