R.I.P.

The first tweet I saw this morning was one of Chester’s death.

You never really think about how much a random person’s death could mean to you until it happens. But Chester Bennington isn’t just a random person, is he? He growled his way into so many of our lives through all those Linkin Park songs and gave a voice to angsty millennials all over the world. Me included.

Chester was, and always will be, one of my biggest inspirations in life. I might not be able to sing like him. I doubt anyone ever will. But if I never heard him sing like that, I might never be the vocalist I am today. Chester’s voice was a powerful instrument and one that he used to its full potential. Through every belt, every growl, every scream, you could feel the emotion in your bones. Chester was one hell of a singer. And I loved him for that.

The past year wasn’t kind to him. Having so much undeserved hate being thrown at new Linkin Park songs and losing his close friend Chris Cornell surely did not help. It is only now so many people see what those “crappy” new songs as what they are. Sure, Heavy wasn’t the nu-metal rocker that so many have come to expect from a Linkin Park song but in no way was it a “sellout” to sell more records. You hear it in the lyrics and his delivery of the song. It pains me to listen that song again because the lyrics hit even harder now that Chester has left the world the way he has. He was fighting demons of his own and many dismissed it with harsh comments, hiding behind the anonymity of a computer screen.

I am still in shock. I have been since I read the news of Chester’s passing. Maybe his death will help to shine a stronger light on depression and all the other mental illnesses that take so many lives away. I hope it will. Rest in peace, Chester.

Dealing With Work Stress

A few months ago, I had a breakdown. I was in my car with tears just streaming down my face. I didn’t stop crying even when I manage to brave through the horrendous traffic and reach the office. I was stressed and burnt out after only three months into the fancy graduate job I ended up in after leaving university. I wanted to quit. And I almost did.

I was losing sleep every night because I was always thinking about what I had to do at work the next day. I had to force myself out of bed every morning just to get myself to the office. Work was taking over my life in a way that left me extremely exhausted and unhappy. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into but I definitely overestimated myself. I thought that I could handle the stress and the long hours. But truth is, I wasn’t prepared at all for this job.

For one of my first engagements on the job, I was thrown into the deep end by being the only person on the engagement besides the manager who wasn’t always around to help a poor freshie like me. Eventually, I started to feel like I wasn’t good enough for the job and that the my manager’s trust in me was misplaced, even when I wasn’t necessarily making any big mistakes. My other colleagues seemed like they were coping with their engagements, so I thought that I was the problem. Everything was just a bit much.

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It’s been a couple months since then and I managed to pull through somehow but what if it happened again? I still come home mentally and physically exhausted sometimes and I still lose sleep over work sometimes. But enough is enough. I needed to deal with this if I was going to continue in this job.

Establishing A “No Work Zone”

My room used to be the place where I did almost everything, including work when I had to. That needed to change. I stopped doing any work-related activities in my room, only resting and relaxing was allowed. It took some time, but after a while, I stopped associating my room with any sort of work and now I am able to sleep better, even though some days I still lose sleep when the stress gets a bit out of hand.

Me Time

Secondly, I limited the amount of time I spent on work when I leave the office. I would not even take out my laptop from my bag once I got home unless it was absolutely urgent business. It helped me get back some time to spend on my own projects. I started to spend more time working on music, writing, reading and sometimes, just doing nothing. Leaving time for myself to relax and do what I enjoy helped me get my mind off work outside of work.

Complaining

I also started to complain more. I am lucky enough to have friends who joined the same accounting firm as I did, under the same graduate scheme and at the same time even. It helps to have them around to complain to because they are experiencing the same thing and they actually know how it feels. By talking to them more often, I didn’t feel so alone in my struggles anymore. We complain to each other almost on a weekly basis and it honestly feels great to just have someone to b*tch about work with every now and then.

Crying

Yes, crying. When all else fails and it just gets a bit overwhelming, I just let myself cry. I cry. I punch things (mostly pillows because who can deal with bloody knuckles?). I scream into pillows. Anything to let out the pent up frustration. And it helps. Once I get past the initial sense of helplessness after throwing a tiny tantrum in the comfort of my room, I would feel more relaxed and calmer than before. Sure, the problem hasn’t gone away but just giving myself permission to cry and throw a tantrum actually puts me in a better headspace to deal with the problem. My head just clears up a tiny bit and every tiny bit helps.

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Long road ahead

No job in the world doesn’t come with its fair share of stress and we all have our ways to deal with it. Maybe others are just that perfect and amazing that they are able to get through their work without giving in to the stress but I’m not them. I think that maybe sometimes, just sometimes, we should be allowed to just cry and give in, even if just for a few minutes. Just let it out.

Then get down to business because you and I are resilient BAMFs who gets shit done.

#TalkingAboutIt: My Truth About Living With Social Anxiety

The dreaded phone

For the longest time, I’ve been terrified of speaking to people on the phone. Given a choice between, texting or dialing a number, I would always choose to text. Growing up, being asked to call a restaurant to book a table would result in me panicking for a while and trying to plan out the entire conversation. Then, I would spend a good 5 to 10 minutes just trying to work up the courage to make the phone call. Once I make the call and hang up, suddenly it seems like it isn’t that big a deal. And it really isn’t. But my brain doesn’t think so.

Living with social anxiety isn’t easy. Phone calls are just a small part of it and what I experience can sometimes border on crippling. Calling a person isn’t that hard. People have been doing it without problem for years. Why should I have a problem doing it? When I have to make a phone call, my brain just goes, “Oh, what if I call them and they’re busy?” or I’ll spend ages planning out the entire conversation because you can obviously predict what people say down to the last word.

Besides phone calls, meeting strangers is probably one of the most stressful things I have to deal with. In any situation in which I have to make conversation with a stranger, or even a barely known acquaintance, causes so much anxiety for me.

What do I say? How should I act? WHY ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?

When I got to university in first year, I was desperate to meet new people and try new things. I went to socials for loads of different societies and met some pretty amazing people, a few whom I’ve kept in touch with throughout my entire university life. But going to those socials were terrifying for me. It took so much effort just to convince myself to go to these socials alone just to meet new people. Even now, being a working “adult”, attending anything that remotely resembles a networking event is a bit of a nightmare.

I’d be lying if I said that having social anxiety isn’t affecting my work life in any way because it is. Being an auditor, having to deal with strangers who’d already rather do without your presence isn’t the greatest situation to put a socially anxious person like me but heck, I chose this job. I practically dug myself into a hole.

It isn’t that bad once I get to know the clients and can completely focus on the fact that I’m just doing my job but that isn’t the case all the time. The problem comes when I start to delay my work because I am too scared to bother clients because they “look busy”. That’s just an excuse to not talk to them and that has genuinely affected the speed at which I get my work done.

Sometimes, I find that the easiest way to deal social anxiety is to just throw myself into whatever situation is making me anxious which probably isn’t the healthiest thing to do. It does nothing to alleviate any anxiety I might experience in that situation nor does it help me overcome anxiety in the future but at least I get the job done?

The worst part about having social anxiety is the fact that social anxiety itself stops you from reaching out to other people for help to deal with it. I rarely talk about it with other people. Not even with close friends because why should people care? But the thing is, people do care when I do open up about it. That’s why they’re my friends and I’m forever grateful that I have them.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know why I wrote this. Besides a friend encouraging me via Twitter to write about this, I did not really have a reason to write this. Maybe I’m just oversharing. Maybe I just want to talk to someone about this. Or maybe it’s time that I acknowledge that I have a problem and learn to deal with it in a way that doesn’t hurt myself.

#TalkingAboutIt is hashtag created by Sammy Nickalls to encourage people to speak up about their experiences with mental health issues. Check her out on Twitter.

Year in Review: 2016

Credits to Patrick Chin (Death to the Stock Photo)

It’s finally the dawn of a new year after the proper mess of a year that was 2016. 2016 wasn’t just shitty for me on a personal level but also for the world in general. There was Brexit and Trump along with the rise of the alt-right in politics all over the world. There were humanitarian disasters and many a dead celebrity, including personal heroes (RIP Bowie, Prince and Carrie Fisher). It just wasn’t a nice year.

Losing my purpose

I started 2016 with the hopes of capping off my university life with a first-class degree and a job in a country that I wanted to call home. I came close on a couple of occasions but it never really happened. For most of the first half of 2016, I was stressed and, admittedly, was not taking care of my own mental and physical health. I was essentially sacrificing much of my time and effort into a dream that would never come true in the time that I hoped it would.

It was around July/August that I really accepted that I had come to what I felt was a massive failure on my part and decided to go home. I had two major goals that I had failed to achieve, add on the end of a relationship and it was just too much for me to handle. I felt dejected and demoralised. I didn’t feel like I was capable of achieving anything that I set out to do. I didn’t feel like I was capable of maintaining a relationship. Cue the months of self-pity.

I spent much of September and October acting like a zombie. When I met friends, I would always be distracted and detached. When I went out with family, it was like I was in my own world. I had never felt like a failure on such a scale before and I fell hard.

Finding my way back

Yet, somewhere along the line, I managed to get myself a respectable job which was the start of me picking myself back up. For a good couple of months, I floated around without much of a direction. I was just going through each day on autopilot. There were good days on which I would manage to work on my own personal projects and there were the bad days on which I just lay in bed feeling bad for myself. But when I got the call telling me that I got the job, I finally had something to work towards again.

Before I started the job, I decided to take up a short internship with a company that inspired me and it was one of the best decisions I made in 2016. Meeting so many people who believed in what they did for a living put the drive back in me and helped me get back my self-confidence. With that new-found confidence, I went into a new chapter of my life hoping to make myself proud.

Hearing my own voice

One surprising constant throughout 2016 was how well received my personal SoundCloud project was. I started monthofjiun without much expectations. I just wanted a way to express my creativity. But for some reason, people started to actually listen to my covers. I used shitty MIDI tracks that I made myself and there’s always that bum note that slips past me. I don’t even think that I’m that good of a singer. There are so many people who are way more talented than I am. Who would even want to listen to me?

I’m glad that I was proven wrong in this instance. I don’t think anyone actually knows that every time someone compliments a cover on my page, it actually makes my day. I started monthofjiun to listen to myself and I guess that other people listen to me too.

Looking forwards

Credits to Patrick Chin (Death to the Stock Photo)

It was one hell of a journey and I think that I’ve come out stronger, in no small part thanks to friends, family and people I’ve met this year. God only knows how I would’ve survived without the amazingly supportive people around me.

I now know what I want to achieve and where I want to be. The dream may not have come true this year but it definitely isn’t dead yet, just delayed.

2017 isn’t going to be any easier than 2016 was and I can’t say that it will be a better year for me or for the world but I can say that, if anything, I am more determined than ever to become who I want to be.

From Startup Life to the Corporate World

I just said goodbye to my colleagues at Biji-Biji and I’m preparing to say hello to a new bunch of colleagues at PwC tomorrow. Yesterday at a party when I was looking around at all the people I’ve met while at Biji-Biji, I knew that I was going to miss every single one of them.

One of the reasons I feel that way is because I felt appreciated while I was there. I actually implemented a few changes with regards to the way they manage their stocks and it was no small change. The fact that my views were appreciated and that I was trusted to carry out these changes was refreshing. Again, like I mentioned in my first post about Biji-Biji, it was a result of their open and collaborative company culture.

I know that I will miss working at Biji-Biji not just because of the casual workplace and the mission of the enterprise as a whole but also because of the people. These are people who are passionate about their work and work tirelessly to make sure that the business is doing the best that it could but at the same time, they have brilliant work-life balance. Yes, there will be times when they will need to work late nights. Yes, there will be times when the work seems overwhelming. But they still find time to relax and have fun. It’s not always about work all the time. Weekends are weekends and work is work.

The wall right next to my work station. Pretty, isn’t it?

Now that I have ended my internship with a sense of fulfillment, I am going into a full-time corporate job that many have described as soul-sucking and I don’t blame them. Audit isn’t the best career path in terms of short term payoffs, at least that was what I gathered from my 10-week internship with PwC last year. It’s a relief when a job is done but then you get thrown right into the next one, then the next one, then the next one and it goes on. Combine with having to study for professional exams and unwelcoming clients, you get the perfect recipe for job dissatisfaction. I might have gotten it wrong and people may disagree with me considering my limited experience. Truth be told, I genuinely look forward to being proven wrong in the coming months.

If there is one thing that I have learned from this internship going into my new job, it is that one should always keep an open mind. I went into Biji-Biji expecting a messy startup that wasn’t really sure where to go after making a bit of a name for themselves as a social enterprise but that wasn’t the case. Sure, it was still a bit of a messy startup but they knew what they were doing and where they wanted to be. They had a vision and were determined to make it a reality and I bought into that. Going into my new job, I will have my reservations but I will definitely keep an open mind and keep on learning new things because that’s what I want from my first full-time job. I want to learn and I have decided that the best way to do that is through audit.

I am going to wish myself all the best and also wish the same to everyone else who may be starting a new job tomorrow or in the near future because you know you need it. Starting a new job is always nerve-wracking, especially if it’s your first but that’s something that nearly everyone goes through and it’s the start of a new chapter of your life. Got to make the best of it.

Time to face the “real world”!

The New Job Checklist

I’m going to be starting a new job in about a week’s time and despite having been through the onboarding process once before when I did my internship there, I’m still a bit nervous. So, I came up with a list of things that I need to do to prepare myself for my first day at a new job and I thought that maybe this could help someone else too.

Here we go:

1. Paperwork

You do not want to turn up at work not having brought every single one of the numerous forms and documents that HR has asked for. You could probably just pass it to them on a later date but if you’re like me and absolutely hate unnecessary worrying then put all the important stuff into a folder and double check them the night before your first day!

2. Office wear

Another thing you do not want to do is turn up at the office wearing clothes that make you stand out too much. You probably should have taken a bit more notice of what people were wearing when you went for your interview but who has time for that when you’re nervous as heck? So, if you’re not exactly sure what the dress code is, just pop your HR contact an email and I’m sure that they’ll be happy to tell you what the appropriate attire is. Then, you can go on a shopping spree for new clothes. Woohoo!

3. How to get there (in time)

Chances are, unless you’ve done an internship there, you’ve only been to the office only once or twice. So, it’d be good to just refresh your memory on how to get there. It could just be a straight line on your local metro/bus to the office or maybe you have to drive there. In any case, make sure that you know the fastest and easiest route to your office so that you’re not late on your first day.

4. Alarms

Most people hate waking up early in the morning but if you have a 9-to-5 office job and the office is an hour away from home, you bet that you will need a bunch of alarms set on your phone to get you up bright and early. I personally have 3 alarms set on my phone and always try to be out of bed at least an hour before I need to leave the house. You know yourself best and so work out the best way for you to get out of bed. Also, start waking up early a few days before then so your body gets used to it and it’ll be less likely for you to oversleep on your first day.

5. Pre-work playlist

I have a playlist that I put on every morning to pump me up for work. Maybe you need a bit of Rocky’s “Eye of the Tiger” or some Eminem or even a bit of Britney to get your groove on for the day. Choose your favourite music and rock out to it before you leave the house.

6. Pack your bag!

Make sure that you have everything in your work bag the night before so you aren’t rushing about looking for stuff in the morning.

7. Yourself

Last but not least, prepare yourself. You’ve done amazingly well to land this job and you don’t want to screw anything up on your first day but you have to make sure that your body is in tip-top condition. Eat healthy and get a good night’s sleep before you first day. Eat an amazing breakfast and do some power posing in front of the mirror. Basically anything to get yourself ready to start a new chapter of your life. Good luck and all the best!

Opinion Onion #1: How Trump Became the Republican Nominee

With the U.S. Presidential election coming to a close tomorrow, I just thought that it would be nice to share this fun little essay that I wrote in while I was in university that examines the Republican presidential nomination race using basic game theory ideas. Just take note that this was written long before Trump was even confirmed as the Republican nominee.

Because it was part of my coursework, it is written in a pretty academic style but it’s not that long, so it shouldn’t be a hard read. Of course, it’s best to have a basic understanding of game theory to fully appreciate this piece but I’ve included links to Wikipedia pages in the post so you can just pop over to read up on the concepts that I touch on. Check out my essay below. Enjoy!

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The recent Super Tuesday event in the United States of America (USA) resulted in Republican frontrunner Donald Trump winning primaries in 7 of the 11 states which were voting (BBC News, 2016). Of the 7 states in which Trump obtained the majority vote, besides Massachusetts, the collective total of votes garnered by the other candidates in each of the states is larger than Trump’s, meaning that the majority of Republicans prefer Trump not to win. In a way, this could be described in terms of a tragedy of the commons (which has been described as a form of prisoner’s dilemma) for the Republicans who do not support Trump (non-Trump supporters).

Non-Trump supporters will be better off if they all support a single candidate assuming that any other candidate besides Trump will be preferable as a presidential candidate for the party. The problem lies in that voters in general will vote for the candidate who can appeal to their own personal opinions therefore splitting the vote among the other prominent candidates – Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and to a lesser extent John Kasich and Ben Carson. This is assuming that non-Trump supporters will gain some sort of satisfaction and payoff from voting for their preferred candidate.

Elinor Ostrom explores several possible solutions to the tragedy of the commons. One of those solutions is the use of a Leviathan suggested by Ophuls (essentially having a strict overseeing power that governs the ‘commons’). This will obviously not work in this case as it goes against the basic idea of democracy in the first place. The second solution examined by Ostrom is privatisation which is not applicable to this case as it does not deal with the allocation of physical resources.

Ostrom suggests that a third solution to this dilemma would be to form a binding agreement to cooperate. This is unlikely to happen in this case as the decision to vote for a candidate is highly dependent on where a voter’s political views fall on the left-right political spectrum and how these views align with a candidate’s proposed policies. As can be seen in this case, even among the right-wing Republicans, there are enough differing views on one side of the spectrum to have multiple candidates appeal to different groups of voters. Therefore, it is unlikely to see non-Trump supporters coming to a collective agreement to support a single candidate to oppose Trump.

At this point, it is clear that unless the candidates themselves drop out of the race, Trump is likely to become the Republican candidate in the presidential elections. This is another game entirely played by the candidates themselves which could be described as a game of chicken. Each candidate would definitely prefer not to drop out but to ensure that Trump does not win, ideally, there should only be a single candidate going against Trump. By continuing to compete against Trump, each individual candidate will only diminish their own chances of winning which will likely lead to Trump winning. This is assuming that if other candidates drop out, their supporters will then support the remaining candidate standing against Trump.

In conclusion, to deny Trump the Republican presidential nomination, there are two possible solutions which is to have all the non-Trump supporters rally behind a single candidate or to have the other candidates pull out, leaving a single candidate to run against Trump. Both solutions are highly unlikely to occur in reality due to differing political views and each candidates’ personal ambitions. Therefore, come July, it is highly likely to see Trump announced as the Republican presidential candidate during the Republican party’s national convention despite his polarising and controversial views.

Originally written on 3rd March 2016.

Dear Employers, Don’t Ghost on Applicants

The staged work setting.

About a year ago, I was in the midst of submitting a number of job applications in the hopes of landing a job before I left university. We all know how that panned out in the end (spoiler: I didn’t). In the process of putting in about 40 applications, attending numerous interviews and going for a total of 3 assessment centers (one of which was just a mock), I read my fair share of career advice articles. Many of those articles deal with the issue of how applicants should deal with rejection emails, including this brilliant one. However, I feel that employers themselves have a responsibility to dole out rejections with a bit of tact and class, if they even dole them out in the first place.

Here are a few types of rejection emails I’ve gotten over the past year:

1. The generic one

This type is commonly found in the early stages of a job application and almost always used by large companies that recruit graduates by the hundreds. It is usually just a generic email template automatically sent to an unsuccessful applicant when their application form and/or CV just doesn’t pass the first round of screening. Arguably the most useless type because it is difficult to figure out where in the application you had messed up. But hey, at least, they actually gave you a rejection, right?

2. The ghost

Ever sent out an application and never hear back? Yeah, it’s not just Tinder matches that ghost on you, employers do too. It’s not that hard to have a generic email template that you send out to unsatisfactory applicants but these employers just don’t bother, even if you bug them with a few follow-up emails after submitting your application. Just this morning, I read a job ad that read “only successful applicants will be contacted” without giving a timeline on when the employer would get back to those “successful” applicants. It really helps to know that you haven’t been successful so that you could go back to the drawing board.

3. The slow one

At some point, you would have classified this cutie as a ghost but in actual fact, they were just slow to get around to rejecting your application. Frustrating but still better than a ghost.

4. The clueless one

This one is a bit of an anomaly but I thought that it’s still worth including because of the nature of this rejection. I had put in a job application to work in a bank and after submitting the personality test (which I still feel was a waste of time), I received a generic email telling me that I was not suitable for the role I applied for. That part was fine. I wasn’t good enough at gaming the test. Fair enough. But what came after perplexed me quite a bit. The email suggested that I immediately apply again for a different role even though I was not allowed to. It’s good to have a basic understanding of how your application process works is probably required before you reject someone.

5. The informative one

This one is more common in the later stages of an application especially if you’ve gone through at least a phone interview. Emails would include the competencies that you didn’t show in your interview or even better, your interviewer would give you a personal feedback call to tell you what you did well and what you totally screwed up. I always request for feedback after receiving rejections even if the email says that they don’t give out feedback and have gotten lucky on a few occasions. Feedback is always good so you can improve!

Look, rejection emails aren’t pleasant to get and I’ve gotten my share of them but getting one is still better than an employer just ghosting on you. At least, I know that door is closed and I can move on. I have had employers who never even acknowledge that they have received my application despite me having sent them multiple emails to follow-up on the application. By the way, always send follow-up emails if you do not hear back within two weeks (or if the company gives you a timeline of their process, send follow-up emails according to that).

I know that many university students will be applying for internships and graduate schemes, so I hope that this helps in its own small way. All the best in the job hunt and don’t be disheartened by rejections! Learn from them and make your next application better. You’ll get there. Eventually.

Back to Work – My First Week At Biji-Biji

So I’ve finished my first week of full-time work since graduating university. Okay, maybe not a full week of work. I had to take a day off to take my brother to the ophthalmologist (eye surgeon and yes, I had to look that up). But, anyway, first week of my internship with Biji-Biji.

The first thing that struck me about working at Biji-Biji was the diversity. This is probably the first place that I’ve worked at that has taken full advantage of having a diverse workplace. I met people from, America, England, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan….the list goes on. It really makes for an interesting environment to work in but that’s a story for another time. Today, I want to write about how my first week here compares to the first weeks of my previous two internships.

Having done a grand total of two internships in large companies like CIMB Bank and Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), I was pretty used to have to go through a pile of paperwork before my first day of work. In Biji-Biji, there was barely any bureaucracy. Want to start work on 24th October? Sure. Go ahead. That really set the tone for the rest of the week.

In my previous internships, there was definitely more of a structure to it, especially with PwC. At PwC, I had to go an entire week of training sessions before I even met who I was going to work with and what I was going to do. On the other hand, my first day in Biji-Biji already had me working on handling stocks, procuring supplies and learning how to handle booth sales. It could have felt like I was thrown into the deep end because of the fast moving environment at Biji-Biji but it really didn’t. I had my super cool fellow intern, Naat to show me the ropes and introduce me to the various products. My immediate “bosses” were also really nice and friendly which really helped me ease into working at Biji-Biji.

One of the main differences between my first week with Biji-Biji and my previous two employers was how quickly I got comfortable working there. At both CIMB and PwC, it took me about a couple weeks to really get comfortable and feel like I belonged there. At Biji-Biji, by the second day, it felt like I’ve been working there since forever. Nearly everybody knew my name and I didn’t feel out of place at all. It was effortless and I felt like I was a part of the team almost immediately. I was trusted to represent the company and sell their products at a booth on just my second day even though I could barely remember any of the product names. That would never have happened in my other internships.

From behind the booth

Also, there was no true feeling of a hierarchy at Biji-Biji. It didn’t matter who I was talking to or who they were in the company, everyone was just as approachable and that really helped me fit in at Biji-Biji. With PwC and CIMB, it wasn’t unusual to have my colleague inform me about a particular director’s achievements and position after seeing me talk to said director. Being constantly reminded of that hierarchy made me feel like a nobody in the company and it wasn’t until much later that I had the confidence to handle myself as an equal human being in front of these people.

Of course, being able to handle myself confidently at Biji-Biji has much to do with my previous work experiences. Without those experiences, I would not have known what I was good at or what I could offer but I do have those experiences. I know what I am capable of and it was easy to use what I’ve learnt from other internships in the work that I am doing now (Hooray for transferable skills! And Excel).

I guess, what I’ve learnt so far is that company culture is important and that work experience does matter. I can definitely see why so many employers prize that so much. If you’re a fresh graduate, it is difficult for an employer to assess your abilities as an employee if you do not have prior work experience. So if you have a chance, get yourself some work experience. It doesn’t have to be with a big name or big company. Even working part time at a café will earn you skills that will be valuable to employers and to yourself. In fact, even being on the exec of a society at university can help you gain valuable work-related skills that employers look for. Just having that experience and knowing that you are capable of handling tough situations will definitely help you perform better at work. At least, it’s worked for me so far. Who knows? I might crash and burn next week.

The Reasons I Write

I used to have a blogspot.com blog (remember Blogger?) that I would update semi-regularly. I started that blog in secondary school when basically everyone had a blog and I continued to write it till I finished university, even when no one was actually reading it. It has seen its share of awkward teenage years *cringe* and has seen me through a rather important phase of self-discovery but I think that it was finally time for it to retire.

Dramatic sunset from a plane to signify the death of my old blog. COMEDY!

In the few months between graduating university and starting my new job (which I still haven’t started yet!), I had a lot of time to think and think and think. One could say that I did a lot of soul-searching. I also had a lot of time to think about what I truly enjoyed doing which was writing. This isn’t a new revelation for me but it is one that I have recently decided to take on semi-seriously.

It doesn’t really matter what type of writing I do, to be honest. I enjoy creative writing whether in the form of short stories or songs or listicles or just a plain ol’ blog. So, to satisfy my creative cravings, I thought that writing a new blog would be a good idea. My old blog was a weird mishmash of random thoughts but with this new blog, I wanted it to embody who I am as a person. I wanted this blog to reflect all parts of my life, the professional, the personal and the creative.

Another reason I wanted to start writing regularly again is because writing calms me down when I face any anxiety. I have always been a bit of an anxious little bug. My anxiety is most pronounced whenever I try to do something new like starting a new job or meeting new people or travelling alone. Writing something, writing anything, has always helped me to quell that crippling anxiety. When I need to calm down, I write something the day before I start a new job (like now!) or I quickly jot something down on my phone before I go meet a new date. Writing is my coping mechanism.

I am starting this new blog with the intention to chronicle my efforts in trying to navigate the difficult waters of “real” adult life, not the farce that was university (just kidding!). As I am writing this, I am getting ready to start a one-month internship with a local social enterprise Biji-Biji Initiative which you should go check out because they do pretty cool stuff. I will be starting that internship tomorrow and after that, I will finally be going into my first full time job as an auditor with a Big 4 professional services firm in Malaysia. I’m going to be busy! But hopefully, I will be able to carve out the time to keep this blog up to date as well as work on my other personal projects which you can check out here.

I don’t know how many people will actually be interested in this but I am mainly doing this for myself and if people respond to it, great! Otherwise, I’m good anyway. That may seem really selfish and it probably is but if you don’t like what you see, don’t read it! Really, you have no obligation to read this. Just saying.

Anyway, I’ve rambled on for long enough.