137 - New Portfolios

Assalamualaikum.

I always have the constant urge to update the blog but work and commitment has forbid me to do so. There will times that I will tell myself, "I need to blog about this" but I just could not find the time to write especially when I can only blog at the office. Though I am not sure whether I still have readers, but I don't care. I just need to write and express.

So, what's new?

I’ve been given a new portfolio at work so I am currently in the midst of adapting to the new job scopes and familiarizing with the procedure. It is totally different from I what used to. So it is going to be tough in the beginning. The paperwork is fine but I don’t like the idea of going in and out of the office.  Penat tau driving in KL.

At home, too, I have been given a new portfolio. A mother of three kids. Yes, THREE. Oklah four if you want to count my Husband as well. Hahaha. Can you believe it?

The third one is truly a surprise but we are so blessed, masya Allah.  Alhamdulillah, Allah has granted our prayer. Our third bundle of joy is a boy.

I will, insya Allah, tell more about our newest addition in another entry cause my baby boy deserves a post of his own.

But, enough for now. Need to go back to work. Break time is over.

Till then.

#127 - If You Happy

Assalamualaikum.

Has it been that long since my last entry? Wow!

For the last couple of weeks, my life has been upside down with a lot of things happening around me. And on top of that, I have a cheeky little toddler that demand attention every moment possible. Twinkle is now 1 year and 7 months. She is more active and talkative now. 

Currently, she is in "ee i ee i o" phase. Which means, she'll be asking for iPad and my phone every now and then to watch "Old McDonald Had A Farm". Initially, I don't want to expose her too much to gadget but I must say it does come in handy when I need to do house chores or while we are out for dinner. We've downloaded flash card app too so whenever we are out of WIFI coverage, at least she would have other things to do and learn. So far, she has picked up a few words on flash card like "apple", "bear" "pink" and "banana".

When we are at home with her, we try not let her totally depend on gadgets so we play with her and make up some activities. So far, I only managed to do "If you happy and you know it". We come up with different instruction every time like "if you happy, you kiss Baba" "if you happy, you hug Mama". You know along that line. Yes, I need more engaging activities and need to research more.

Anyway, work has been "fun". Haha. Don't worry, I am still enjoying whatever am doing right now.Things are little bit harder now so time to step up on my game.

Oklah, it's time. Till my next entry.

#126 - Of This and That

Assalamualaikum.

It's lunch time now and since I had a heavy breakfast, I decided to skip lunch and update my blog instead.

I am almost entering my second month here. Alhamdulillah, so far everything is still great. Of course, there are a few hiccups here and there especially dealing Expats and Academicians. Need a lot of mental strength and will power.

Dealing with them would require you to be tactful. You can be humble but with limits. They tend to push you around thinking that you are there only to serve them.

I wish to rant more about this tapi malaslah. 

Anyway, one of my social groups is planning for an event in August to commemorate our 10 years anniversary. I am actually excited to plan for the event as it has been a while since our last event. Been checking out a few places and hopefully we managed to shortlist one or two soon. There are a lot of other things that we need to consider for this event. Hopefully, the 4 months time that we have now would be sufficient.

 That'll be my updates for now.

Till then. Toodles.

#124 - 1 Month

Assalamualaikum.

A month of a long commute to work.

A month of familiarizing with new system and job scope.

A month of building new professional relationship with senior peers and colleagues.

On 24th March 2014, marked my first month working with the current organization. Alhamdulillah. Now, I can say that I am enjoying whatever I'm currently doing.

I am blessed and grateful to be given this opportunity to be exposed to new branch of Human Resource, acquire new skills and enhancing my current skills. These are among the things that I've been waiting for. 

I like the fact that everyday I am swarmed with work leaving me with a little bit of time to do things other than my job. I don't have time to scroll my Instagram feed, scrolling through 9Gags and blog hopping.

I hardly counting the hours anymore as time passes so fast that I wished it would slow down a bit so I can breathe.  

There's nothing much I am hoping right now except for endless motivation, energy and strong will to be with the current employer and gain as much as knowledge and experience.

InsyaAllah.

#123 - Babbling

Assalamualaikum.

It has been a crazy-roller-coaster month. Beginning of the month, the whole of Malaysia woke up to MH370 of MAS lost while flying to Beijing. While the incident happened about 12 days ago, there are no definite answers on where the plane is now. 

When I first found out about the news, I was actually numb and had butterflies in my stomach. You see, my family and I travel a lot. Either for work or leisure. Almost every other month, we will send someone at the airport. It could happen to anyone of us. Just weeks before that, my husband mentioned about going to Beijing as he has never been there. But, I brushed off the idea as I was not really keen to go there just yet. I could not bring myself to imagine what if we were on that plane?

However, when some people are considerate enough to think of the families' feelings and their sensitive state of mind, there are still a lot of people think it's funny and appropriate to speculate, make up some theories and passing judgments to the crew, passengers and airlines. 

It is already reaching beyond sickening. I don't have a word to describe these unfortunate shallow-minded citizens of Malaysia.

Enough babbling on MH370. May Allah protect us all and ease our journey of finding the plane and bring everyone back to the loved ones.

On the other hand, for the first time after so many years I am overwhelmed with work. There are a lot of things to do and catch up. Familiarize myself with system, SOP etc. Everyday, before I switch off my computer I would spend a few minutes to write down thing-to-do for the next day. That's a first, I might add. There are times when I have so many things to do that I do not know where and what to start. Even with that list in hand, I only managed to cross out one or two things from the list as there would be unexpected meetings and interviews to attend to.

But. I am not complaining. For once, I feel sense of belonging. I belong the company, to the department and people actually come to me for advice and opinions. 

Alhamdulillah.

May Allah always bless this opportunity that He has given me.

Break is over and back to work!

#121 - Adios!

Signed. Sealed. Delivered. (Well, technically)

I tendered my resignation today and am currently serving my 3 days notice. Am taking such a drastic move here, I know. Risky? Definitely. But, at this point I rather clean up after Inas rather than coming to work feeling all stressed up.

The stress started after my manager resigned, leaving me with all the pending assignments. Then, I found out that the babysitter is going back to Indonesia. After deliberately thinking of other options, the pros and cons, I decided to resign. But unlike the first time, this time around requires a lot of sacrifices.

But I must say that I am frustrated with my working life. If only I could put a stop to this. 

Anyway, at this point of time my main focus and priority would be my family. I don't want to burden En. Suami with my never ending work issues. 

I will get back to work if I find something interesting. I might or might not go back to corporate line. Only time would tell.

Till then.

Bye office. Hello huge pile of laundry!

#103 - Snippets of the Week Part 8

Assalamualaikum.

Has been a while, isn't it?

I'm not truly busy with work. It just that my writing mojo has totally disappeared. I wanted to write something but I could not figure out a subject to talk about. Since I have a lot on my mind right now, I think it's about time for another round of snippets of the week/month. 

Here goes;

1) Inas, my beautiful daughter will turn one next month. Wow, time flies so damn fast. Inas can stand on her own and already took a few steps. Such an active baby girl and eats a lot. She even know how to blow her nose and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. A kepochi baby I might add. I wonder where did she get that from. And I don't have any plans for her first birthday yet.

2) Work has been okay until earlier this week when my manager express his unsatisfactory towards his work performance which resulted to him resigning. Although I understand where he is coming from but it's a pity, really. I do learn a lot from him. On the other hand, I was given a new project to work on from my boss. Something I haven't done before.

3) En. Suami already started work at the new place earlier this month. He seems happier at the new place. Which is good for him. With this company and his line of work, he would need to travel almost every month. So far, he has travelled to Terengganu and will be going to Langkawi next week. First night without him, I cried like a baby. I wondered what's going to happen if he needs to travel for more than 1 night.

4) Had a discussion with my good friends about how I am trying to be better a Muslimah especially in terms of my dressing and hijab styling. I have a long way to go but I'm taking one small step at a time. May Allah ease this journey for me.

Till my next entry. 

#94 - One Month

Tomorrow marks the first month I started working. How do I find it so far?

In terms of career progression, it has improved a lot. I can now do a lot of things. My opinion mattered. I get to go out and meet new people. This is what I've been wanting to do. Alhamdulillah.

Though it would be still too early to say anything about the work place, colleague and boss but for the past one month, it has been wonderful and I pray it's going to last.

Now, all I have to do is close all the assignments and get my commission.

Muahahaha.

#93 - New Work

It has a been a week since I started on my new job. How do I find it so far? 

To tell you the truth, it was a bit slow as compared to my previous jobs. But, it's understandable since they are quite new in the department. Colleagues are okay. 

Probably the main issue with the new place is the building's common toilet. Apparently, those who are confused with their identity also use that toilet. And they looked at me as I was the one who entered the wrong toilet. Urgh! I don't feel comfortable at all. And the toilet's door is open for everyone to see. No privacy at all.

On another note, I've been sending Inas to En. Suami's aunt. But, I guess it's a temporary arrangement until we find a place for her. Place i.e nursery. Kesian but there's nothing we can do about it. I'm looking for a place that is baby friendly and near to home. For some reason, I found it almost impossible.

Oklah, need to go back to work.

Till then.

#92 - A New Beginning

Hello.

How's everyone? Have you recovered from yesterday's election? And no, not going to comment on the election as I am no expert. Congratulations to the winning party and hope you will stay true to your promises to provide better nation for us.

This year's election is a bit different from the last one for me as this year I'm voting for the first time, as a wife. Why is it significant? Well, I'm voting in Ampang while En. Suami in Kuantan. So, as soon as I casted my vote, we had to shoot off to Kuantan. Dedication right there.

Anyways, just to update a few things on my side. Well, only one major thing. I got a job! I'm starting this May 15th. Excited? Yes. Nervous? Yes. Sad? Yes. Sad because I have to leave Little Star behind.

The Company called for 2nd interview with the MD. I was dead nervous. The session lasted for 15 minutes when the MD left me with the Manager. We had a chat about a few things when the Manager informed me that I got the job. The first thing on my mind was I need to do some serious shopping and I did! (Talk about priority)

Went to KL Festival City last Wednesday. It was rather a bad choice because it was Labour Day and obviously the carpark was full. I was disheartened when En. Suami said "I'm going one last round looking for a parking spot. if no spot, we are out"

I quickly recited some prayer "Ya Allah, kau temukanlah kami parking. Aku nak shopping baju kerja nie"

Lo and behold, parking spot!

Power of a du'a.

Now, I shall wait for my second salary (because the first one won't be enough for me to spend on other things except for paying bills) to buy more shoes.

Yes. That will be my motivation.

Till then.

#85 - Reality Check

I'm entering the second half of the confinement. Which means, I have to make a decision fast on what I want to do next.

As much as I wanted to be a SAHM, I have to realize it's just not time yet. 

I know it's going to be a little bit difficult to leave the house now that I have Inas but considering I want the best for her, I have to work.

There'll be a lot expenses in the future and I can't totally depend on En. Suami to manage everything alone. He needs my support. 

I have a few options in hand should I want to go back to recruitment. In fact, I just received a call from a headhunter with regards to a job opportunity. But, for some reason, I just don't have the heart to go back to recruitment.

Why this is so difficult?

I don't want to work long hours because I don't want work to interfere with my family time. It just not fair to my little girl.

Ya Allah, please make it easy for me.

#70 - Fist Pump

Today is my last day at work. Am I excited? Hell yeah!

After 3 months of contractual torture, I can finally bid goodbye to this place. And when I said contractual torture, I meant the on and off love-hate relationship towards my job, assignments as well as my colleagues. I feel not doing anything today but I know it's impossible.

So, what's next on my plate? Housewife FTW!

Hopefully I get to learn to cook more dishes, bake more cookies (probably unlikely), fold/iron more clothes and etc. And on top of that, I hope I could recite Quran as much as I could. 

Let me enjoy the time before I go back to working life again some time in the future.

Till then.

#68 - Executive Search 101

I started my career (or lack thereof) in executive search about 5 years ago. When I joined the first company, I have been educated that executive search is meant for top management recruitment due to certain confidentiality of the position. 

Executive Search is rarely done for junior level position although there are a few firms specialized in junior level assignments. Ok, here's the thing. My current organization supposedly specialized in senior/top level management positions. We have a different unit that is specialized in junior positions. But now, as we speak, I'm working on a junior level positions. I must say it's a tough assignment and not to mention ridiculous.

Why is it tough and ridiculous?

Being a recruiter, our main method of getting candidates is through cold calling . It could be tricky because you can't expose yourself until you speak to the right person and the art of manipulating is very much needed at this point. For example, when you asked for the junior accountant they will transfer you to the Finance Manager or sometimes to the CFO's secretary. 

Do you see the pattern now? It's very easy to get the name of the Manager or CFO but not the accountant. Imagine if I have to find an engineer in a manufacturing company.

This is why working on a junior position is a much more trickier than a senior position. 

Based on my discussion with my colleague who shared the same sentiment as mine, we concluded a few more points why assignments on junior position is a bit tough.

1) Let say we managed to get the name and speak to the potential candidate. They sent their updated resume and it's time to meet face to face for further discussion. To arrange for the appointment could be very   challenging as most of them would prefer to meet after work because they can't take leave. Or if need to take leave, we have to tell them a few days in advance because of the company policy. This based on our own experience.

2) They don't understand what executive search is. Well, can you blame them when they never been exposed to this practice before? You have to explain to them how does it work and they need a little bit of assurance on our side. My colleague was laughing when one of the candidates asked a rather naive question. I told him off. I said, "they are not sure about how does this work and of course if they are not sure they need to ask. You can't expect them to know everything"

"But the clause is very straightforward"

"Yeah, but could be confusing too"

3) They thought we are selling them products or maybe promoting MLM. Most of the immediate feedback that we get is "I am not interested". 

As much as I enjoy being in this line, working on a this kind of assignment can be frustrating. 

Till then.

#65 - Done!

I've tendered my resignation officially today. My last day of working will be at the end of this month. I had enough dealing with ridiculous assignments and difficult Clients. It's not healthy to be mad and stress every single day. Not good for me and the baby.

No point dwelling on it. People don't want to listen me rambling about my work every single hour of the day. Orang pun bosan and menyampah.

I just want to relax and enjoy my Ramadhan.

Till then.

#64 - Now or Never

This is what I feel like doing at my office right now. Scream at the top of my lung and shout, "Can you stop being so kancheong?!"

The thing about my this particular colleague of mine, he is not really helpful in terms of helping me in getting candidates. Yes, he would give me an idea but it's not that strategic enough if you are looking for candidates with specific technical skills. 

When I first entered the recruitment industry, from what I understood from my previous employer, executive search is all about top management recruitment. But now, I'm doing a junior position which is more difficult than a senior position.

I talked to my colleague (which is now based at a Client's office) about ending my contract by end of this month, 2 weeks earlier than initial agreement. She said, "just do whatever you have to do and as long as you are happy." 

Although I keep on having doubts about my decision, but I think it is time to do something. It is not fun to go to work anymore and it has become unnecessary stress for me handling difficult client and ridiculous assignment.

Everything at this workplace began to annoy me. Seriously, I have to go.

Right now, I'm just waiting for En. Suami to give me his blessing so I can see my Superior regarding this matter.

Hopefully everything will goes well for me because I don't want to end up being like this.

#60 - Tick Tock

Lately, I've been thinking a lot with regards to my career path. Well, not so much on career but you get what I mean. 

My working experience started off in recruitment and I've been in the industry for almost 5 years. Last year, I took a break from recruitment and decided to do administration work. I actually quite like the admin work but definitely not with PR firm. Why not PR firm although I used to have this ambition to become a PR practitioner? One thing for sure, I don't like the idea working after 6 and people actually expected me to reply message/email at 9 -10pm!

To me after 6 is family time. If En. Suami can put everything away after 6, why can't I? After all, he is supposed to be my top priority.

Coming to the end of my temporary employment next month, I started to think what I want to do next. Part of me, I wanted to work in admin side in a relatively small company so less headache. But the ambitious (not so much) side of me wanted to work in another aspect of HR to enhance my knowledge and experience. You know, like talent management etc.

I had a discussion with my colleague the other day and she encouraged me to either continue with recruitment or explore another branch of HR. She believes I am better off in HR rather than admin.

This is where I contemplated a lot. 

Sometimes I wish I had taken a more specific course so I can be definite on what I want to be and to do. 

Well after end of August, I have exactly 4 months to decide what I want to do. But I must act fast as time waits no one.

Till then.

#57 - Is It Done, Already?

I was down with fever, flu and cough last week. I was on half day leave on Thursday and medical leave on Friday. God knows how much I wanted to be in bed, do nothing but rest.

Yesterday (Monday), I practically did nothing at the office because my body ache so much and I feel so tired. I'm supposed to get something for dinner since En. Suami won't be around as he had a farewell dinner to attend to but I ended up lying on the couch, catching up with Masterchef Selebriti. I only had sausage for dinner.

Today, I was motivated to do my job but the new assignment is killing me. I hate complaining every single day but I just don't have the motivation to work at this place anymore. 

#56 - Shut It!

Initially I wanted to blog about something else but since I am so pissed of with my colleagues I decided not to blog on anything. Because if I continue, it would be about work and work is not that special to have it's own slot every single time.

Right now, I want to go back and cuddle with En. Suami. Urgh! 

I just hate these people already. Can I work until July only?!

Nanti buat penat je puasa tapi dah menyumpah seranah.

#53 - Hang On A Little While

Lately, I've been on writer's mode so the urge to write is there but with no topic to share. Maybe I was not enjoying my work (but when did I ever enjoy my work, like really?) so I always have the tendency to rant and babble.

My friend who is also my colleague advised me not to tweet too much because of my last tweet incident. The thing is I just have to express my feelings. Therefore, I'm using every other outlets possible. So far, I've been harassing my above friend, my best friend who is also detest her work place so much and this particular space. Yeay blog!

Looking for other job opportunity especially on temporary basis or even on flexi hours can be a very challenging task. If it's up to my lazy ass, I would take any front office assistant a.k.a receptionist job anytime but there's always the rational voice in me that keep saying, "It won't look good on your resume"

I'm not saying working as a receptionist is a bad thing or even degrading but if I were to compare with the rest of my experience, it would look weird. But seriously, I think I can be a good receptionist. Ok I might not have a nice, melodious voice but I think my speaking/communication skill esp in English is good.

*angkat bakul sendiri"

Ok, enough ranting about work. I have something to announce, I now can cook! Yeay! Now, I'm back in the kitchen. The first thing I cooked for En. Suami was omelette and his favourite dish, fried rice. Look forward to cook so many different dishes and polish my cooking skills.

Maybe I should learn how to make En. Suami favourite dessert; pavlova. Herm.

Something to consider. 

I have to go off now. It's going to be a busy weekend; car servicing, maternity clothes shopping and some bonding time with En. Suami's cousins. 

Till then.

#52 - Can I Make It Stop?

I tweeted this:

Ya Allah tak sabarnya tunggu bulan 8. Get this over and done with. Kalau ikut hati nak berhenti je by end of this month.

And I think I made En. Suami worried. Here's the thing. I complaint a lot about my work. Not only on twitter but also to En. Suami, my best friends and some of my trusted friends. But lately, my resentment towards my job is getting bad to worst. 

Yes, kalau ikut hati memang nak berhenti. Duduk kat rumah jadi surirumah sementara nak tunggu bersalin. Tapi, mampu ke nak buat macam tu sekarang?

Sungguh, memang dah tak larat nak duduk office lama-lama sampai sakit pinggang. Emosi pun terganggu, kesihatan apatah lagi.

Nak buat macam mana nie?