Getting Hired.

Faith. Hope. Love. And the greatest of these is LOVE.

Commitment. Competence. Character. And the greatest of these is CHARACTER.

Being a fresh graduate hired by Fortune 500's #9 of the 2010 Top Companies was such an achievement for me, then. Getting an interview call from Fortune 500's #3 of the 2012 Top Companies was another achievement unlocked. Being Business Planning Associate, at 23, for the country's most diversified conglomerate was surreal for me. Handling VisMin operations for the country's top real estate company was way too much my expectations.

Was I competent? Maybe. Was I committed? Very much. Do I have good character? Maybe.

In all my job interviews, I noticed what Human Resources Team and Top Executives are looking for: great character. Nearing college graduation, the most important line that stuck into my head: sell yourself. In any interview, I practiced how selling myself would be like. And in every interview, I didn't get much that chance because the questions of the interviewer were not the same as the ones I rehearsed in my head. I had to go with the flow.

Swimming where the waters will take me during the interview allowed me to show the interviewers my character. No, I'm not a very good person but I believe, I'm not one of the worst, either. Going with the flow allowed me to be more at ease with myself during the interview. I remembered one interview with the AVP and I was so eager to sell myself I couldn't get any chance. The AVP was talking about his son. He was asking me about my love life, etc. The interview ended without me selling myself. I panicked. I went to the room of the VP after, and he looked at my paper with all the comments from HR, the manager and the AVP, read my write-up (my answer to the essay question) and smiled. "Ininterview ka na pala ni Mayo. Ok na.", then smiled again.

I was like: What just happened? Am I hired? Can you please ask me questions? I so wanna sell myself. Fortunately, I got hired. And up until this day, I am wondering what part of the interview made them like me.

So character. Anyone can be as competent as you. Anyone can take masters and graduate just like you. Anyone can work their asses off day and night just like you. But one can never be you.

Just be you - that best version of you.

Finding a Career

written by yours truly, a job hopper.

Regardless of the turnaround of events, one should never become a job hopper. Job hopping is like shifting courses in college. One does not graduate on time and earn a degree early when changing courses. So to get a good retirement package, one needs to earn tenure at a certain company.

So I have but two tips so you won't become a job hopper:

1 Never sign for a job half-hearted.

You must find a job where you see yourself staying for a minimum of five years. Job hopping means higher pay but then it also means ceaseless adjustments: new route, new officemates, new bosses, new policies, and new culture.

Find a job that suits your interests. Find a job that you are passionate with - that job you'll be happy to wake up for every single day or get sleepy with for deadline projects and reports.

2 When you find 'that job', never let go of it.

My second job was my greatest love. I gave that up because I wanna be with my true love - my family and my lifetime partner to-be. Had my second job been in CDO, I wouldn't have left it.

It was my dream job - my everything I want for a career. It was perfect for me.

So find a job you will love and that will optimize your capabilities and discover your hidden talents. Choose to stay in love with that job because with that, you'll find a career, not just a job and a life, not just a career.

Pick carefully. Don't get too giddy but not too picky also. Focus your efforts on applying to companies you really wanna work with in the long run.

Trust me. Been there. Done that. I've job hopped three times in six years. Any regrets? None? It made me who I am now. It even led me to writing this. So I hope you won't end up job hopping like me.

You'll gain more friends with job hopping, but you won't really be working towards saving for your future. :)

The Best Manager

For me, the best manager must be good mentors, thus great leaders.

A manager must know how to lead roaring lions, crouching tigers, wolf packs, tweety birds and hello kitties. He must be assertive enough to make his subordinates follow and meet deadlines. He must be able to motivate people and not drive them like slaves. He must be an eagle, not a developing cocoon, a catalyst for change, not an epitome of mediocrity; the king of the jungle, not a kitten in a forest, and a leader, not a mere employee.

A manager must lead by example. Company policies are general in scope and exempt noone just like the Philippine Laws that excuse noone. He must walk the talk. It's hard to follow immediate superiors who impose and incessantly remind about the policies while personally violating them (unless a provision in the by-laws clearly stipulates exemption to Management and Executive Committee).

A manager must know how to share best practices. Some people are auditory, visual and/or kinetic. He cannot expect everyone to grasp knowledge the same way one expert does. He must also be comfortable with imparting his learning in order to create the best protégés and protégées.

A manager must be a combination of both a leader and a mentor. He cannot be just a leader without knowing how to relate with his people. He cannot also be just a mentor without the ability to influence towards meeting company goals.

He is way beyond outstanding if he's a great leader, an inspiring mentor, and a good follower, all at the same time.

So, are you working with the best manager? Or are you one of the best managers?

To Love Again

There's no right schedule on when to love again. Nor is there a right formula on not committing the same mistakes. Because life as we know it, is full of surprises.

We may end up crying one moment, then loving again that same person the next time around. We may bitterly swear we forever won't love again, then comes a seemingly perfect person swooning us off our feet. We may post millions of anti-love Facebook status, then be the one to write love letters and love songs when that fateful day comes. Again, life is full of surprises.

Only we can answer our questions on the complex beauty of love. And no, we must not base our decisions on turnaround of relationships of people close to us: breakups, broken families, third parties and irreconcilable differences. Because each man is unique. Each man has a different story.

http://www.chobirdokan.com/wp-content/uploads/love-heart-wallpaper.jpg

So it's up to us to take that leap in a bungee jump - or sit across coffee shops pretending not to care, to take that domestic or international flight to see that person - or stay at home, watch movies, eat fries and ice cream and repeat the same routine, to give that first call or SMS to try to reconnect and give the relationship one last try - or forever be in unserious relationships because of the fear of commitment or the feel of sweet revenge (even when that's a different person and we just generalized).

It's up to us to lower down our walls and welcome love with surprises, to reconsider the situation and eat down our pride, to set aside that scar or remember that scar as contributory to our present self, to not wait for the so-called 3-month-rule that we only learned from Popoy and Basha, to love again, get hurt, and yet still love again.

And when we love again, we must bear in mind that we will not be sailing calm waves, watching amazing sunsets, pretty butterflies and beautiful rainbows, nor will it be strawberry gelatos, red velvet macaroons, white chocolates, red roses and pink balloons. It will be another roller coaster ride, so we'll have to stand with our choice.
Because love, is a choice.

"Fall in Love. Stay in Love. And it will decide everything." - Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ #Love #StartingOverAgain

f.r.i.e.n.d.s.

this ain't about the series.

it's about the word itself, the beautiful meaning that lies with it.

Before we learned what that 'partner' love is, we only knew 'family' love and 'friend' love.

It's amazing how years and years of existence in this world, we have those people whom we never thought we'd be sharing the rest of our life with, like my highschool friends. ;)

I graduated from an Atenean school (by the way, our school doesn't ring much of a bell with the other Ateneo schools, basta, un na un :p), and for 4 years I spent the craziest and happiest memories of my teens with them.

9 yrs, more or less (ugh, that long..tsk2) since hs graduation and we're still together, like forever I guess. Forever doesn't only mean forever with future partner, children-to-be, etc. Forever means that lifetime you spend with people you love, and for me, that includes friends. ;)

Some people forget about friends when they have boyfriends/girlfriends or even sometimes when they finally get married. I suggest, you don't. You keep those ties. It will help keep you whole.

For me, the more you narrow your circle, the more it gets I-can't-think-of-a-word haha! Broaden your circle, revive old friendships, sustaining existing, make new ones. Because friends, like, real-life friends, they will always be there for you.

i'm a big fan of himym (How I Met Your Mother - ted mosby, lily, marshmallow, the robin, legen-wait for it, dary..) and so is my boyfriend. We both believe in the value of friendship. We make time for 'us' and family, and we also make time for friends.

Friends, are life's greatest treasures.

They're life's most precious gems.

Treasure them. Spend time with them. Cherish forever with them, because real friends? They last a lifetime. <3

- kharlanike