The professionals shared the ins and outs of business of engineering — how to climb the ladder, how much money can be made, and what are the viable career paths. On the other side, the audience is made up of 16 year olds whose most immediate concern is getting an A+ in next week’s Calculus class, and who see work as a distant reality. And because they see work as a distant reality, they still have big hopes and dreams about changing the world.

This is a good example of how our mentalities evolve (or devolve?) to cope with our surroundings. I’m at a point in my life where I’m clumsily stumbling into adulthood, while I reluctantly shed the husk of childhood. So I can understand both sides of the story. A part of me hopes I can make an impact on the world — no matter how big or small. At the same time, I’m also fully aware of the harsh demands of real life, and can appreciate the guidance the panel is trying to give.

This disconnect between the kids and the adults is something that we as a society really need to reflect upon. Why do we make it so difficult to change the world with unnecessary impediments like bureaucracy and implicit social rules? If we truly want to create a better tomorrow, we need to create the right environment and conditions for it today.

On the other hand, if we are happy with the status quo, then we need to manage our kids’ expectations — that work is not really about building a future, but surviving through a stagnating present that we as adults are unwilling or unable to let go. In this case, we should expose our kids to the harshness of real life at a much younger age, so they can be better prepared for the “future” that awaits them, lest they become soon-to-be-disillusioned 25 year olds like me.

And if there’s something I learned over my 3.5 years in real life, it’s that all resources — time, money, psychic energy — are finite. You only have enough to dedicate to preserving the present or funding the future. You can’t have both. So we as adults need to seriously consider what we want to dedicate ourselves to before we start talking to kids.

No related posts.

I was under the impression that career = skill + passion + luck (or as Malcolm Gladwell likes to call it, planned happenstance.)

But I recently realized that I left an important part of the equation out. It has to do with how I view success — what gives me a sense of accomplishment. The thirst for accomplishment can someone overcome their limits.

Society dictates that success equals having a certain level of material wealth, power and authority. While it may be true for some people, (and while it would be nice for me to have that too,) these things aren’t going to truly make me feel accomplished. I can’t help but think, “so what?” and “what comes after this?”.

Deep down inside me, I’ve always known answer but have refused to admit to it because I think my definition of success is something society would probably categorize as childish.

So, the other week, I bought this career astrological report. And there it was — my definition of success, the one I spent my whole life running away from, on the first line.

Success, for you, means making a definite mark on the world.

It even goes on to say what I couldn’t articulate:

It is not material gain which motivates this deep ambition, nor simple vanity or desire for superficial status. It is a deep impulse to define yourself through your ability to make some kind of real and valuable change in the outer world through the exercise of your talents and abilities. Don’t try to hide from this impulse because you think it is “selfish”, or avoid its call because you are afraid of failure. You might be materially advantaged in a well-paying job, but you will not feel your life has purpose or meaning unless you know you have the power to make some small change in the world into which you were born.

(Let’s leave the credibility of astrology for another discussion.)

Childish as it is, I’m not impractical. I do realize that this is not something that I can accomplish overnight. In fact, I’m still very far from this.

But by publicly admitting it, I’m now one step closer to my calling — whatever it may be.

So, what does success mean to you?

No related posts.

Great advice but the problem plaguing me, and perhaps some of my Gen-Y peers, is that we don’t know what the hell we want to do.

Of course, some may ask do you really need to like something to do it well? My answer is no. All it takes is a little bit of initiative and some benchmark analysis a la Google to do something well.

But ‘well’ is not good enough for me. All ‘well’ is doing is pushing the innovation bar a little bit higher — it’ll never bring about great change (by the way, when I say change, I always mean for the better).

To effect great change, you need to push past your 100% and do whatever it takes to make it happen. And the first pre-requisite is to truly care about your cause.

So it’s become incredibly frustrating to not know what I want to do with my career. I can’t help thinking that I’m being left behind in the race of becoming successful. While others are investing all their resources – emotional, financial and time – into something they really believe in, I’m here wasting much of my youth and abilities into seeking what I should be believing in.

But all’s not lost. I have a better inkling of what I want to do now that I’m two years into my first real job.

I love people. I love change. I am learning how to manage people and change — it’s challenging but I’m enjoying every part of it. These passions are still too broad to narrow down into a career path but at least I have a starting point now. And the great thing is that both people and change management can be learned and applied to any role in any field until I am ready to dedicate my life to something(s).

What do you think? Do you have a passion or cause you work would dedicate your life to? If you know me personally, what can you see me do?

No related posts.

Featured on Web Design Galleries

Big thanks to all the CSS galleries and web design blogs for featuring my latest theme, Nami. And another thank you to those of who gave me feedback, when I first rolled out this theme. Web design has been a long-time hobby of mine, so it’s always nice to receive recognition. I got to know many people as a result too! (I know I haven’t replied to some of you, sorry about that! Will get to it soon!) So thank you to CSS Mania, Spyre Studios, Web Creme and the many others!

Switched to a Smartphone

As I was saying in the Nexus One entry, I’ve been reluctant to switch to a smartphone since I didn’t want to become too connected. But my dumbphone recently lost the ability to send texts, and I was able to borrow the Sony Ericssion Xperia X10, so I switched. Thanks to the Xperia, I now sync my phone contacts with Google Contacts, which pretty much guarantees I’ll be loyal to Android phones for the next few years.

Since the phone isn’t mine, it doesn’t seem right to do a review. Hahaha! But let’s just say, despite its specs and price tag, it’s still got some way to go before I could classify it with the likes of superphones like the iPhone, Nexus One, HTC Desire, Motorola Milestone or the Samsung Galaxy S.

Touched an iPad!

Thanks to my colleagues and Justin, I got to spend some time with the Apple iPad. I wasn’t too impressed initially. It’s a phenomenal e-reader but there’s no way a tablet is befitting for a content creator like me. I have to admit my initial thoughts was slightly clouded by my disappointment with Steve Jobs and his letter to Adobe. (I switched to a Mac because Photoshop works better on it. So for Apple to declare its disapproval of Adobe’s alleged “closed system” felt like they were backstabbing a partner to me.)

But after I realized I could type a proper email on it without making mistakes, I was pretty impressed. As touch tech improves, tablets will slowly, but surely replace laptops in the future. With that said, I won’t be buying an iPad so soon. It can’t really replace a laptop or even a netbook for me just yet. I need multitasking support, and I don’t want to be held ransom by the App Store. Guess I’ll just wait until I see OS X or Win 7 running smoothly on one.

Sayonara, Social Media

On the work front, I’ve officially relinquished my social media responsibilities to someone even more passionate and capable. (That doesn’t mean I’ll stop blogging or tweeting though!) Social media was a good entry-point to the corporate world, since it was something familiar. I now do traditional comms for financial-related matters. It’s not an easy transition since the learning curve is fairly steep, the responsibilities are greater and perfection is just a minimum requirement. Nevertheless, I’m enjoying myself so far. I like being constantly challenged. Keeps me on my toes, keeps me learning. And it’s definitely the right place to be to learn more about the tech and telco business, both of which I’m pretty passionate about.

Thanks to the change, I can finally answer the question I’ve been struggling with for the longest time: “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” I’d like to move from a support unit like communications into the business. But more on this another time.

Upcoming Blog Posts

I attended a few interesting blogger events earlier this week, so do expect those entries to be up soon. There’ll be one on Nokia Connection 2010 and another on the Infocomm Accessibility Centre. I’ll probably disappear again after that because my boyfriend is coming back to Singapore this weekend! This time for good!

Okay, back to sleep. My fever is unfortunately still not subsiding. Blah.

Related posts:

1. I got my hands on a Nexus One!

• want work life balance and a good pay
• can’t handle criticism – even constructive ones
• are flaky and disloyal to the company
• want to be CEO tomorrow
• have an overblown sense of entitlement

As a Gen Y, I have to admit that while some of these comments are quite accurate (especially the bit on entitlement), others somewhat suffer from over generalization. Sure, I welcome a better pay and a fast career advancement — sooner than later too. But I don’t expect it to be handed to me just for showing up on time. Promotions are always based on relative judgments. Compared to my older colleagues, I have one glaring disadvantage; I lack experience. So my way up is to take every opportunity to learn, volunteer for more challenging work, gain that experience as much and as quickly as possible…in hopes that I can do what older people can — but learned in a much shorter time and done in a much better fashion. And if that means I have to sleep in the office, so be it. I’m not naive enough to expect the big bucks, while I go home at 5pm everyday.

For every workaholic like me, I know someone who’s perfectly satisfied with his pay — as long as he gets to go home at 6 on the dot. In every generation, there will always people who live to work and people who work to live. So these career bloggers and columnists could really do us a service by not lumping our demands together because there are differences in opinion and even generational gaps amongst Gen Ys.

With that said, I’ve noticed a worrying trend amongst my peers. Many just don’t stay long enough in their jobs. And I don’t think this incessant job hopping is a good idea. It’s no secret that the corporate world demands some level of expertise. This job hopping is a sure fire way not to achieve that.

Personally, I’ve been fortunate enough to land on a job in a company with people I’m happy to work with and work for. I’m approaching 2 years and I still learn something new daily. It doesn’t have to be a big lesson like managing a multi-million dollar project. Most of the time, what I learn are small, seemingly insignificant things like saying the right things at the right time to give your team the moral support to do their jobs better. It is these small things that often turn a failing project on the road to success.

And sure, there are times when shit happens. If it doesn’t happen, I’m pretty sure it’ll find you soon enough. Shit isn’t a bad thing; it’s an opportunity to challenge you, to take you to the next level. It’s coming up with innovative ways to overcome this shit that’s going to gain you the experience you desperately need.

So I guess what I’m saying is that if you’re a Gen Y and you’re thinking about quitting, I’d like you to re-evaluate your reasons — especially if your reasons are along the lines of “I can’t take this shit anymore.”

Do share your views in the comments!

• If you’re Gen Y, what do you think? Do you agree with these career sites? Are there any common traits you’ve noticed about us?
• If you’re a manager of Gen Ys, what do you think of us? Do share because it’s a good opportunity to learn how we’re being perceived.
• And please, no personal attacks, no naming people. Thanks!

No related posts.

I’m neither the Harvard Business Review nor an experienced people manager but just thought I’d share 5 things I’ve learned about people management:

#1: Great managers assume responsibility

Not-so-great managers are quick to assign blame. Being under constant pressure to make sure nothing goes wrong, I can understand this tendency to point fingers and pass the buck. While it makes quickly lightens the load off your shoulders, it also dampens customer experience and damages teamwork.

Your customers will appreciate when you go that extra mile, even if you fail to deliver. But more importantly, taking on extra responsibility fosters teamwork since your team will stop weighing and comparing their responsibilities precisely because you’ve stopped counting your responsibilities. This is Cialdini’s reciprocation principle at its finest. When you’re willing to take one for the team or just help them out, others will feel compelled to help you too.

But of course, the reverse is also true. When you count pennies with the team, they’ll count pennies with you too.

#2: Great managers listen

Perhaps the speed the world revolves now with Twitter and other ADD-inducing technologies has made it more difficult to attentively listen to people but great managers don’t rush to get their word in. They listen. They acknowledge. And then speak and/or act.

Appreciate what others have to say, no matter how different or perhaps, inferior they may seem to you. Innovative ideas could spring out from conversations with anyone. Two minds are better than one even if you think they only have an IQ of 50.

IQ of 50 + your IQ of 150 = 200. Enough said.

#3: Great managers are courteous

Just because you are in a superior position, doesn’t mean you get the privilege to talk down to someone. It not only makes you look crude, but also destroys team morale. And when your team morale is low, your customers sure ain’t gonna get great service. Creating a lose-lose vicious cycle just because you think you’re better than others just isn’t worth it.

#4: Great managers plan ahead

This may not be so obvious in the office but it sure is when it comes to events. Shit happens. If it does not happen, it will eventually find you and make itself happen. No matter how quiet or peaceful the status quo seems, you have to be prepared to deal with all kinds of potential shit that may be hurled in your general direction.

So don’t be complacent and plan ahead. Of course, foresight isn’t an easy skill to develop and is probably honed with experience but it never hurts to try anyway.

By the way, I appeased a very angry customer by planning ahead. Won’t go into details but this makes a good topic for conversation should we go for coffee.

#5: Great managers know themselves

This is the most important lesson I’ve learned at APEC. I have talents. I have flaws. I also have predictable behaviors to certain circumstances. As a manager, I need first be able to manage myself to adapt to all kinds of situations and all kinds of people, so I could effectively manage other people. This means I need to have some level of self-awareness and self-understanding.

My interest in personality psychology has helped a great deal in learning more about myself. One of my favorite personality tests is the MBTI. Although I don’t think the MBTI is the definitive answer to self-understanding, I find that it’s a good gauge of my natural tendencies. By the way, my MBTI type is ENTJ; being an ENTJ means that:

• Extraverted: I’m easy to talk to but I tend to speak before I think.
• iNtuitive: I easily see the big picture and patterns in theories but I tend to overlook details.
• Thinking: I make my decisions by being impartial, rational and logical but I tend to disregard people’s emotional needs.
• Judging: I like to organize and plan ahead but tend to panic when I have to think on the spot

To become a better managers, people need to capitalize on their strengths and overcome their negative tendencies. Great people managers should be able to find that sweet spot between their natural personalities and the mirror image of their personalities.

And for me, that means I need to become a little more ISFP-esque:

• Introverted: Listen, acknowledge and think before I shoot my mouth
• Sensing: Pay to attention to minor details
• Feeling: Take other peoples’ feelings into consideration.
• Perceiving: Allow myself room to sometimes be spontaneous.

If you have no clue what this mirror personality bit is all about, you can read up on the four dichotomies of the MBTI here.

I’m no CEO or psychologist so I doubt my observations and judgment are 100% correct. But at 23 years old and 9 days of people management immersion, this is what I think great people managers should be like.

As always, I’m sure time and experience will change my perception again.

Dear Readers, what do you think great people managers should be like? And I’d love to find out your personality types, so do share! And if you don’t already know your MBTI type, take the test here!

No related posts.

It was 2am on the final race night. I was scraping for whatever energy I left to stay awake, when the field engineers walked in asking if everything was okay. Usually the conversation would end there, as there just isn’t enough in common between a 20-something corporate communications professional, who primarily speaks English and 50-something engineer, who primarily speaks Chinese peppered with a few English technical terms.

But I attempted to continue the conversation anyway.

I learned that he spent almost 40 years in the company. It was his first job – and would likely be his last. He shared how life as a telecoms engineer in the 1970s was like. Back then, land lines were an absolutely rarity. It took many months to get for a phone line because that’s how long it’ll take for the engineers to lay the cables to a particular village or a town. And the day the engineers would arrive at the customer’s house, they would be welcomed like Athenian warriors coming home from a victorious battle. They were treated to a feast, adorn with praises and gifts.

Fast forward to the present. Today, field engineers are usually greeted with frustration, anger and impatience, since their presence almost always means that something is broken.

Fix my goddamn internet now!
Why isn’t my phone working?
What do you mean it’ll take 2 hours to fix?! Hurry the ^&%$ up!

Never would I have imagined that these emotional sandbangs we easily hurl our words of frustration at were once perceived as heroes.

I don’t think people have become any ruder or angrier over the decades. It’s just that we are spoiled by the convenience of modern technology that even a 30-second divorce from YouTube or Facebook seems like permanent one. And we become so bitter that we often forget to appreciate the people who made communication available in the first place.

So thank you, Engineer for not only putting up the networks, but also putting up with our callow, anger-laden remarks.

No related posts.

Part 1: Self-searching and Job-searching

Wow. It’s really been a while since I last blogged. As most of you know, it’s because I’m still in my transition period. Two weeks for transitioning was a serious understatement. Adapting to cultures has never been a problem, so two weeks would’ve been just around right. But of course, this time, it’s not only about adapting to a hot climate, a strange pidgin accent and a fusion culture. It’s a transition from childhood to adulthood, education to career.

Truth be told, I spent the last month and a half being a hermit, enclosing myself in the room watching anime after anime or idly thinking, in hopes that I could find my Self. Looking for a starting point in my career is a lot more stressful that I had previously imagined. It’s not like I’ve not worked before, but part-time jobs are solely done for money. It really doesn’t matter if I was a part-time barista, janitor or tutor as long as I was earning something. But just thinking about a career is implicitly posing serious life questions: What I want to accomplish with my life? What or who am I useful to? What can I dedicate my life to?

While searching through the plethora of job portals, I realized my problem wasn’t with the resume or cover letter, but was with my lack of understanding of myself. I began to admire those who had aspirations, as well as those who have a particular skill set to specialize, since I have always been the jack of all trades and master of none. At the same time, as a morally-rigid person, I couldn’t work just for money. Things like commissions may or may not make me work any harder.

After being a hermit for a month, I’ve only learnt one thing about myself: I need a goal, a mission. Something great enough so that I will spend all my effort, time and soul in.  Something that is gratifying at the end of the day. Something that will bring smiles to others. Something that will benefit this world in some way. And after all that searching, the Civil Service seems to be the best choice of all. It makes me wonder why I had to go through this process just to return to square one. I had originally chosen my major, Political Science to prepare me for the Civil Service.

How did you decide on your career? If you haven’t started on it, do you have any aspirations?

Part 2: Shadow-searching, Animus-searching and Self-searching

But all is not wasted, it seems. I have realized that I have so little understanding of myself. As a result, I have discovered the Carl Gustav Jung and his theory of the unconcious. According to Jung, the key to a life of a sort of Enlightenment, if you wish, is to understand your unconscious Self – the essence of your being. To do so, you must first acknowledge your Shadow (the part of you that you are afraid or ashamed of), and search for for your Animus (if you’re female) and Anima (if you’re male). The Anima/Animus serve as a messenger between your Unconscious Self and your Conscious Self.

Since I haven’t finished reading Jung’s collection of books, I haven’t been able to start searching my Self, but at least I’ve become aware of figures inside me. My Shadow is a Princess. As I was growing up, I often witnessed kind people bullied by stronger and less morally-bound people. So I felt that my softer, more emotional side would be a hindrance to my life, and decidedly chose to hide it under the guise of independence and reason. My true Shadow is a Princess, who is too kind and extremely emotional. I absolutely hate crying in front of others. I absolutely hate being soft. I absolutely hate being seen as a little useless girl.

I haven’t gone far enough to confirm my Animus. Though, I suspect that my Animus is the Eastern Dragon, which I have mistaken for my Shadow or Self for most of my life. Dragon in Chinese mythology represents the Emperor, hence Male in gender. For me the Dragon/Emperor represents power, independence, justice and courage, when positive, and tyranny, rage and desire, when negative. Since I tend a repress my feminine side, the Princess, I have allowed the Dragon to take over my Conscious persona at times. Yet the Dragon has always been a figure I’ve been afraid of facing because it is beyond my abilities to ‘tame’, so to speak. I become an Evil King that seek to bring destruction to Earth, when the Dragon is angry. And then return into a Righteous King that seeks to bring peace on Earth, when the Dragon is stable. What a fearsome character!

Lastly, the Self is still far beyond my reach. Having been unable to fully accept my Shadow, the Princess and unable to fully control my Animus, the Dragon/Emperor, I’m still very far away from realizing my Self. The one day when I can fully accept being an Emperor/Princess who can accept his/her emotions, I will not have the ability to see and accept my true Self.

Have you recognized your Shadow/Animus/Self? If no, any guesses?

Part 3: Site and Radio Updates!

Just uploaded a song I’m currently obsessed with. It’s a Japanese song called ‘This Night’ sung by CHEMISTRY; it is the ending song to an awesome anime called 地球へ… (Toward the Terra…) . It’s filed under ‘Anime’. Also updated my About page with a new picture.

Edit: Thank you Mixx users, who submitted this entry and voted it 40 times!

No related posts.