I Nearly Lost My Way, And I Am Walking Out Of This

 

It has been a while since I last blogged. I have been an emotional roller coaster ride in the last few months, ever since I was placed on no pay leave by my ex-boss just before Chinese New Year.  Although I left with the security of securing a job first before moving on, the 2 jobs that I had did not work out as envisaged and I made the decision to move on as the onboarding for newbies had been poor, and I was not able to build a good rapport with my new colleagues. The fact that we had to work from home results in breakdown in communication sometimes, so I believe face to face interaction is still required in such circumstances. Even then, a suitable time frame should be given to the new hire to adapt to the new surroundings and new work processes.

I agreed with my friend, who is a recruitment consultant, who shared that starting a new job in this pandemic is indeed a challenge. An employer has to ensure that there is a proper onboarding process as different companies in the same industry have a different way to accomplish the tasks. This can be difficult as we may need to work from home every now and then. Therefore, I was not surprised to see an article published in the mainstream media that a substantial number of workers are looking to leave their jobs as they are facing burnout.

Source: The Straits Times

https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/tech-news/rising-digital-workloads-contributing-to-worker-burnout?utm_campaign=stfb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0GAf59FIdBnib5Dd3cSujVEG2ujNDFyROSB6gE2wa7oRlGkNXeo9azeHQ

I have been fortunate to have met by 2 managers in my professional career, who guided me as I went about doing the tasks assigned to me. The guidance put me in good steed as I learnt the importance of giving proper guidance, without the fear that your job will be taken over when the person is as well equipped as you are. In the last 3 years in my previous company, I was able to cover for my manager’s tasks with relative ease as I am being kept aware of what is going on with our shared assigned portfolio. When she was back from her long breaks due to illness, I was able to let her know what had been going on in her absence. To this, I am very thankful to this manager for her guidance. When I left the company, she told me that she hopes that whatever knowledge that I have gained here, I would have found it useful and bring it along with me to my next job.

Nowadays, it is sad to say that people have a “don’t care” attitude and do not hand over their tasks on hand properly when they are serving their notice period. This is indeed very sad to see.

Even though I have failed in my 2 jobs after leaving the comfort zone of 13 years, I have learnt MYOB accounting software, Singtax Tax Preparation Software and PDF Editor software by exploring myself. I have also learnt that it is good to be alone when we do things sometimes. Although given my disability, it may be good to have someone to help me when I need their help. I can buy my lunch at the foodcourt stall and asked the stallholder to assist me to carry the food after I made the payment. You have to be thick skin to get things done.

I think all of you had been wondering how did I manage to keep my positive mindset after going through so much in these few months, including the loss of a poly mate to breast cancer in April.  I am fortunate to keep myself active through singing with the KTV interest group that I have been managing. Although in person singing has been suspended since last year, it is good that we are able to find an avenue to sing on the ktv singing app. I would like to thank my fellow ktv khakis for being so spontaneous as always, putting a smile to my face when I need it. A big thank you to my co-organiser, Annie, for helming the group with me and putting forward the ideas to make the group better.

I also continued my vocal training class. It has been 17 months since I started the class. I must say that music has been a good therapy to forget your troubles. For me, this is especially true when I listen and learn fast songs. I would like to thank my teacher, Leonard for his patient teaching. This was one of the fast songs I have learnt recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtBYtrPqRb0

I also continued my volunteer activities such as the Silver Generation Programme and the community tax e-filing programme. It is good to have the opportunity to share with people the importance of getting yourself vaccinated against COVID-19. I have done my jabs in April already. The community tax e-filing programme had gone well despite the pandemic. Although the number of people that we helped had not been encouraging, as these people do not have the access to social media, I am glad that the volunteers who I recruited this year shared that they have learnt a lot in helping out in this programme this year.

Going through this episode makes me realise that it is good to have a backup plan, in case my job goes awry again. Plans are in place, but I do not feel that now is the right time to execute it. It is good that I have supportive parents, although sometimes there is always one who worries due to my physical disability.

I am asked by my mum to share this on Facebook as we hope to inspire others who are facing difficulties in their life now. Hope this wordy story does not bore you. =)