Working hard, one step at a time.

(Photo source: http://pinterest.com/pin/126945283219467852/)

Disclaimer: Please forgive me, as this post may be too long and wordy. :)

I started working really young, just right after I turned 18. I braved the real world and applied in a BPO company in Ortigas. I've always wanted to be independent, so when my friend asked me if I was interested, I immediately tried it out. 

I was in my third year in college when I started working. I stopped for one semester since I wanted to focus on my new found "career". My mom was really surprised when I told her that I found a  job and will start working by end of April and I was going to stop school for a while but made a deal and promised that I will go back as soon as I'm settled. She agreed and that's when my working life began. 

I was part of the pioneer batch of our account and was the youngest. Most of my colleagues had working experiences and I did not. I still remember how anxious I was during my final interview and how excited I was when I took my first call. Working in a call industry was really life changing. You get to meet all types of people, from different walks of life. You get to witness stories that you thought would only happen in movies or soap operas. It was liberating. 

I was on the phone for six months and tried my luck to apply for a higher position which was to become a floor coach wherein you get to assist your team members in the absence of your team leader. Luckily, I got the post and kept the role for a year until a new post opened. I applied as a Product Trainer. I've been wanting to be pre-school teacher, so I said, maybe this can serve as my practice. I got the position and I've never been happier. 

As promised, I went back to school after a year. I was a full time employee and at the same a full time student. Imagine how difficult it was, to only have 3 to 4 hours of sleep everyday and travel from Caloocan to Manila to Ortigas, sometimes, Mandaluyong. It was very exhausting but being able to pay for my own tuition and managed to work and study at the same time - I've never felt so fulfilled. 

After three years, I decided to leave my first company. It was heartbreaking since I had to leave my friends, trainees and the whole office that became my second home for three years, I practically grew up there. But then, I had to make a decision, I wanted change and development so I chose to leave my comfort zone.

On February of 2010, my former boss asked me to try and apply to a new company in Makati. She said that her friend was the HR Manager and they currently have a lot of available positions. The next day, I went to Makati and applied for an Assistant Training Manager post but unfortunately, they required 4 to 5 years of experience for the job, I was not qualified. I did not feel really sad because I just really tried it out and I knew that I was still really young for the position. After the application, the HR Manager reached out to me and asked if I was interested to try out a different field, it was HR. They currently have an opening for a contractual post and since they are a start up company, there's a big chance for me to be absorbed as a regular employee. Though I was not given any guarantee on how long will I be in the contractual status and how my salary will be 3 thousand pesos lower, I still took the risk and accepted the job. That's when my HR career started. 

When I moved to my new company, it seemed like I moved to a different world, I was in the regular world. I had a regular schedule, I saw and met with regular people. I had a regular work. My first task was to do filing. (I think this is every HR's nightmare, to file and file) HAHA It was exciting at first but each paper cut you get will make you hate the task. After filing, I facilitated recruitment tests then tried to sit-in to some interviews and eventually, conducted initial interviews on my own. Luckily, I was regularized after three months from my hire date. One day, sone of my colleague had to leave for Australia for an emergency, so the tasks were divided. I handled compensation and benefits - Talk about government remittances, computing of SSS sickness reimbursements, maternity benefits and the like, I did it! I felt like a real HR. It was a very good exposure and I was really thankful that my boss gave me that opportunity. My boss was one of a kind, she was my mentor and I really look up to her. 

But after a year, I felt really burnt out. It felt like I was in a crisis but I couldn't identify the reason behind it. I just woke up one day and told myself that I needed to have a different environment or else I will go crazy! I decided to leave. I moved to Quezon city, I was still in HR but this time, I handled Employee Relations. For me, this was the most interesting facet of HR, maybe that's also the reason why I chose it to be my specialization. ER can be really complicated but it can sure test your judgment. It will train you to distinguish whether the person is lying or not and my favorite, you'll be given the power to make the employee stay or crash his dreams and terminate his services. 

I only stayed in Quezon City for eight months, it was the shortest stint that I ever had in my six-year old career. I decided to leave since I did not like the environment, I did not like how people were treated, I did not like the management. I was very eager to leave and so even if I did not have any new employer yet, I still filed for my resignation. But just right before I left the company, I received a call from my current employer, they had an opening for an HR Generalist and they asked if I was interested. Of course, with the timing and all, I said yes. I was interested. I initially chose to be assigned in their Mandaluyong site but I think the HR Manager thought that I was too young for the position and since it was a supervisory level, she had to choose someone who's older because for her, "Wisdom comes with age" which I guess was true but then I did not accept it at that time, because I was really confident that I was best fit for the job. 

It took quite some time before I received another call from them, until after a month, the HR Manager from their Makati Site called me and asked if I can meet with him for an interview, again, my age became the topic and I was asked how will I handle such big role, knowing that I need to enforce discipline and there were employees who will be way older than me? I still remember my exact answer and I said, "First of all, I don't think that my age should become an issue because knowing that we are in the BPO industry, it should not matter. We are known to be a non-discriminatory industry since we hire employees from different walks of life. Age should not matter for as long as you work hard to try to earn their respect", I was then scheduled for a final interview with the HR Director and next thing I knew, I was given the job offer. :)

I am still with the same company after a year and four months now. It was full of ups and downs but working in my current company gave me the best time of my life. I met my husband there. (Uy, yun pala ang punchline! haha) , With all of what I experienced in my one year of stay, I can say that I really learned to strengthen my work ethics. 

I know that most of us hate Mondays because it's the start of another work week, I am even guilty of that. I would even post how I hate Mondays in my twitter. But then I realized that I'm just whining. I should be grateful for my job. Not just because it pays the bills but because I am given the opportunity to get free life lessons everyday. Being an HR is difficult, it's a thankless job but I am happy to have chosen this profession. 

Working for six years taught me a lot of lessons. I learned that if you really work hard, no matter how long will it take, it will eventually pay off. Development does not happen over night, you have to work hard, one step at a time and lastly, I learned that if you really want something, you have to work on it. You can't just wait for it to happen. You got to make it happen. 

xx