“Natawagan naka? (Did they call you yet?)” this, along with “Mantayg nakapasar ko uy (I hope I passed)”, are two of the most common lines you get to hear among my blockmates these days. yes, it is that time of the year once more when graduating compsci students of the university are recruited to work in various IT companies all over the philippines.
for some, it has always been an issue of passing the company exams and interviews for the sake of the compensation package. for others, it has been an insecure crusade of self-assurance, that i am just as competent as anyone and just as 'hire-able'. but for all, it has been that endless battle of landing in a perfect job -- whatever definition of perfection one subscribes to.
who doesn't want a great job? after slaving for personhours trying to perfect all the software projects in college, after sweating blood struggling through the dreaded calculus series, after sitting through annoyingly boring STS reports, any blockmate would undoubtedly want to be properly compensated with a great job (or any job, for that matter). as if that is not enough, there are the proud parental units whose expectations are just all too high, you can hardly see where they end from the ground. yes ma, i know i am from UP, but please stop telling people i have a job waiting for me after i graduate because, frankly, i didn't do well in the last technical interview!
a great office, a five-digit salary, perhaps a company car (why not?) -- we want them all.
why?
a story was retold by the jesuit corporate leader chris lowney in his forum "heroic leadership." he talked about a jesuit novice whose assigned job was to be a doorman. the job description for the young fellow was to open the closed door whenever someone knocks from outside, and then close it behind the person who just entered. as you may know, it is not the perfect job in the world -- the compensation package is most likely not that competitive (a favorite term of HR people worldwide), and the task is simply too monotonously numbing. imagine yourself sitting quietly beside the door, and then hearing a knock. you would then have to get up your chair, unbolt the door, make out some form of interaction with the people in a hurry to get passed you, and then bolt the door back again.
the doorman was simply unhappy with his job. that was until he started assessing why he was doing it. after thinking and praying about his intentions, he begins to start a little ritual whenever he starts to hear a knock on the door: he quietly whispers, "Here I come, Lord Jesus."
think about it. the doorman has the worst job in the world, but he has the best intentions. no doubt, he was the best darn doorman in the world!
happy job hunting guys! and remember, wherever life may take us, our worth is not measured by our paychecks. that would be too preposterously cheap.
ding dong!
1 comment:
there comes a time in one's life when one ceases to be the beneficiary and become the benefactor. a time when you begin to concern yourself with grown up stuff like electric consumption, tax, cable subscription, and your older sister's allowance. a time when you must leave happy memories of finding your baon in your jean pocket (right where your mother said it would be) to cross over to adulthood and the steady stream of paycheck that comes along with it.
my friends, the time of crossing over has come upon us.
GOOD JOB HUNTINGto avoid the disgrace of adding to the statistic, my classmates and i went out to look for jobs. we strapped on our shiny leather shoes, pasted smiles on our faces, and braved that vast, unexplored space ms. wade fondly calls "the big, bad real world." the real world? it turns out to be this four cornered room with austere lighting and one huge wooden table in the center. this wooden table would contain sheaves of important-looking documents. pretending to read these important-looking documents would be three important, average-looking people. one would be the hr officer, a woman with seemingly poreless skin and excellent manicure. seated next to her would be the company president, a man whose greatness of wisdom is surpassed only be the awfulness of his haircut. next to him would be the guy everybody i talked to described as "the scary japanese guy with the thick accent and one soft eng question in the end." nobody ever disclosed what this soft eng question was. because, in the real world?, it's
every woman for herself.
some came out emotionally scarred. others needed psychiatric help.
in the real world, everybody has her own horror story to tell.
*TEN THINGS THAT SHOULD NEVR HAPPEN IN A JOB INTERVIEW (in no particular order)
1. you should never try to differentiate a router from a switch and pretend like you know what you're talking about. you'll only get that amused/quizzical look that could only portend of bad things. really bad things.
2. when you have nothing more to say, never finish your sentence with "i love to dance". ever.
3. never say "aw sus kana!!!!" when they finally reveal what pre-increment and post-increment mean. don't say it with enthusiasm. dont say it in spite of your relief. just dont say it.
4. stop yourself from audibly muttering "oh my! oh my!" when asked with a technical question that you dont know the answer to
5. never try to pass off SML as a major java project and think you can get away with it
6. never describe a heap when you're asked to describe a hash...then think you can get away with it.
7. when asked why you chose their company, dont smile and answer "no"
8. dont tell a datacomm company that you found your datacomm course "a little boring". di mu-work.9. dont fall off your chair when you lean in to try to understand what the japanese guy is saying
10. dont describe tcp/ip as "that thing you click and configure when you dial up". ka-worst.
*these are true to life soundbites from true to life interviewees who underwent a true to life interview and then lived to die another day
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we usually say "good job" to express approval. now when i say "good job" i say it both in admiration and in prayer. good job you guys! see you sa sss.
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