Three weeks have passed since I began working at my current company in the beginning of this month. Well, technically I have just worked for two weeks because I was in Penang for a trip on four of the five working days last week. I look through the calendar and realise I have only three more weeks or so working in this company before I go back to Kiasuland to resume my second year of tertiary education.
I begin to think more deeply about working life in those moments when I was unable to progress with the tasks at hands. Initially, my excuse to myself is that there isn't anyone to guide me properly because most of my senior colleagues(I'm the youngest) are either not in office or busy with their own work. And so I took it as such that I can delay in completing the task because I don't know how to do or I'm not sure whether I will do it correctly or not.
How wrong am I in having such excuses and thoughts. I came to the realisation that 'I don't know' or 'I'm not sure I do it correctly or not' simply just isn't a good enough excuse when it comes to the working world. This happened after my boss demanded that he wanted the results the next working day after he asked for it. Though he did not request for the results to be checked afterwards(probably because I went to Penang trip the next working day), one of my colleagues, that is understanding, was kind enough to remind me that I should find ways to get the task done even though I'm not in ideal situation to do so(I'm working on it now).
It's definitely a good thing that I came to this realization in my second job. I have another similar situation during my first job when I was asked to do telemarketing on accounting software to law firms. My only excuse now is that promoting isn't one of my job scope that was discussed during the interview.
Not only is 'I don't know' or 'I'm not sure I do it correctly or not' not a good excuse in the working world, it's the same thing in college or university. In college or university, having the 'I don't know' mindset simply isn't good enough for you to score well. You got to use your brain more proactively or ask people to find the solutions. My, oh my. Talk about applying what you learn in school/college/university into the working world. I guess I fail miserably so far. haha
It's one thing you realise what have you done wrong, it's another thing that you are finding ways to correct it. That is the problem I'm having right now in university. For your information, I struggled a lot during my first year in university and not doing as well as what I wish or expect from myself. I'm not the kind of person that like to ask in studies because most of the time I done well in studies by just being hardworking. I finally came to the realization that being hardworking is not good enough in university if you're not smart enough. The fear to ask has certainly done more damage and I hope I will be able to change my attitude and approach towards studies for the remaining three years in NTU.
(Back to WORK LIFE ramblings) I told my second brother about me unable to complete difficult tasks at work because I'm not properly guided. His response to me was like: "aiya work less than two months there, cincai la." I'm certain that cincai isn't his attitude at work because I don't think having the cincai attitude at work will get him a monthly salary of more than RM10k. Anyway, my second brother is sort of my inspiration now because I set myself a target of earning(hopefully) at least half of what he's earning now(though I will be earning S'pore dollars, again, hopefully) in the future. Spending so much money on my parents' part to pursue an oversea education not only give me pressure(self-pressure as my mother calls it) to be successful in my career, but also make me aspire to work in a big corporate company in the future.
To achieve my target and aspiration, I'm doing things now that I never done before or attempt to do during high school or college to better prepare myself. Firstly, I made the decision to run for the Special Project Officer of NTU Heritage Club in the hope that I could improve my soft skills and learn how to deal and work with people as well as learning how to solve problems. Second, I also become more conscious of building my resume and equip myself with working experience(especially since I'm not doing quite well in studies in university). Funnily, when I'm planning and writing my resume, the feeling is the same as if I'm counting my As on my SPM/A Level certificate(hahaha).
One of my employer's words during interview came back to my mind: "we want to hire people that could solve problem, not just spending time here." And after two weeks of working there, I'm not sure I fulfill that requirement to my employer's liking. I have a reasonably good working ethics in terms of being hardworking and responsible, but sadly it is working initiative and efficiency that satisfy the employer's needs and expectations. I guess the quick excuses that I could find now are that I'm still young and I'm working in a small company, but still I must learn and develop the correct working habit quickly as it's only one and a half years left to my internship and three years until I become part of the full-time working force out there.
To conclude this post, I want to thank a person. I'm not going to name him/her, though people I'm close with will know who this person is. Thank you for serving as an extra source of motivation with your oh-so-mature thinking and all your criticisms about my ego. As Michael Jordan puts it, everyone needs a wood to be added to the fire as they move along in their life. You definitely are my wood now but not in the capacity that keeps me burning, more so the wood that I'm itching to burn in the future.
That's all for this time and I'm signing off for tonight. Goodbye and goodnight. =)
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