7 Things I Realized When I Became an Employee 

A lot of us badly wanted to have a job. Who wouldn’t? Of course you’ll have a chance to earn your own money and at the same time spend it on the things you like. Unlike when you’re still student where you usually ask for allowance from your parents, having your own money feels like more different.

If before we are still skeptical to buy something since we still need to wait for our next week allowance, having our own money in our pocket can give us freedom to do whatever we wanted whether its saving or spending purposes.

I’d been there and as soon as I graduated I feel like I’m one step closer to the goals that I’d been aiming for. I badly wanted to start as an employee and even without having a job yet, I’d been planning my budget already! It was funny but it’s true and I think everyone experienced it.

In my first job, I waited for almost three months before I got a job offer and took me another three months to officially start. By that time, I really feel so happy and excited even it will be my first time to be away from my family.

The main reason is I’m too excited to live alone. I dream to have an ideal life which was influenced by watching a lot of korean dramas back when I was college. At first I was expecting that it will be the same, but that’s really different from what I’d expected.

Reality is really far from what we see in TV. It will not always be flowers and butterflies and I think that we need to accept that as earlier as possible. As I start to be an employee there’s a lot of things I’d realized. I came to accept the present and work better for my future. I know the plans literally changed when I start to have a job since I wasn’t able to expect that reality is far more different on what I had expected.

“We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality. “

Iris Murdoch

One thing that change my views in life as I start my first job is the responsibility that comes along with it. As we grow older, we slowly discover the things that we need to prioritize first and see the challenges on our chosen path. It feels like a mind blowing moment since you’ll gradually see your self change for the better.

You may not feel it but if you’ll review all your decisions in life back then compare to your present self, you’ll surely see the differences.

Now, let’s see the seven things I’d realized as I became an employee and the experiences I had in my almost five-year career.

1. Salary Is Nothing

One thing that I realized is not to expect a high salary offer and benefits if you’re still starting. Like literally you’ll start in zero. One thing that everyone needs to know is to prepare their selves to start low. There’s no such thing as instant in this life, if you want to have more, you need to work on it. The more you said NO to the opportunities that are worth the risk, the less opportunity you’ll have in the future since you’re used to turn down opportunities.

If you’re in the start of your career, you need to look for the experience and not the offer. Your main target that you should think of is the benefit you’ll gain by joining that company. Ask yourself,

Will it help me in the future?

Is there any chance for me to grow here?

Will I get a competitive advantage once I join this company?

If you want to maximize your option in looking for a better job opportunity, you can consider doing the following:

1. Don’t settle for local jobs only. The more you have an option the more you’ll get better opportunity. Don’t limit yourself in applying just because you believe that you still can’t do it.
   Like what I always state in this blog which I also apply in my life, “if it’s fears you, then that’s the right choice”. Don’t choose to be in your comfort zone because it’s very hard for you to get out from that once you started it.
2. Don’t be scared to apply just because you’re not fit to one of the requirements. This is pretty common to everyone nowadays since employer always requires a years of experience in any vacancy that they have. All you need to do is to take a risk and apply. You will never know if you’ll never try.
3. Choose a well known company. One of the strategy for you to boost your profile is to join a well known company in the field that you are working. By having this, it will be easy for your next employer to acknowledge your background since the company is already well-established in the field.

The most important thing to remember is starting low won’t give you any negative impact if you are really determine to change your future. Don’t be scared in taking the first step because once you surpass it, it will become your foundation on your future endeavors.

“Accomplish your tasks by one step at each time. Don’t cut your coat according to your elder brother’s size. Dream big, but start small; do what you can do at a time.”

 Israelmore Ayivor

2. Experience is important.

Another important thing that I also realized is not to settle for less and aim for more. Once you’re in the company, probably you’ll be there let’s say a maximum two years in the same position. Once you know that you’re already familiar with your work, you can do these things for you acquire more skills and knowledge.

Cross-trainings in other departments.

Attend seminars or training offered by the company.

Join employee welfare committee.

You may think that this is an added job, but you need to think of it as an opportunity to grow. You need to show yourself in the company and let your presence be known by everyone. Having this options is an effective strategy to do that.

BEING PROACTIVE IS THE KEY!

Don’t be like others where they choose to work for the company and not for their own selves. Make every moment counts and let your years of stay in that company be filled by experiences and knowledge.

3. Creating professional connection is a must.

I had mentioned in my previous blogs the importance of having professional connections. It may be your colleagues, supervisor, manager etc. that may help you for future purposes. Having connections doesn’t mean having allies, it is more of the acknowledgement of those individuals from your work ethics.

You don’t need to do something extra because for sure the more you work properly and be proactive, the more people will acknowledge you.

Just always choose to do your best in everything that you do. Always think that someone is observing you so make sure that you’re doing the following:

• Do extra miles that can exceed their expectations.
• Responding to work in a proactive manner.
• Manage your work and time efficiently by making a priority list.
• Having overtime every now and then doesn’t really shows your work ethics, it may only means that you can’t manage your time doing all the task.
• Always choose to be organized from your workplace, planning your day, meal time etc.. Let them wonder how you were able to manage everything at the same time.
• Wear your smile all the time. No matter how hard the work is, absorbed positivity and reflect it back to someone else.
• Be the source of smile every time you start your day. You always need to feel excited to go to work.

“Networking is marketing. Marketing yourself, your uniqueness, what you stand for.”

Christine Comaford-Lynch

4. Choose to love your job.

This is what the pandemic made me realized. We all know that a lot of people lost their jobs during the pandemic. Even those employees who are working in the company for so long is not an exemption once a company doesn’t have any options left.

So for me, It’s better for everyone to love their job more than the place that they work. Although it’s natural to have these challenges of losing a job, you still need to be strong enough to face the fact that it’s easy for them to let go since there will always be a replacement.

Invest on skills than can help you in the future, but don’t be in the same place for a long run. Set a timeline and make sure that you’ll follow it. The more opportunities you experience with a right period of service can help you to have a competitive edge in your next step.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Steve Jobs

5. Working 12 hours a day is considered normal.

Once you’re employed, you need to expect having overtime. As long as the work demands, you’re left with no choice but to do it. You’ll are lucky if you’re getting paid out of it, but sometimes a simple “thank you” will do and the hours you worked will be forgotten.

That’s the harsh reality that you need to accept as well. It will not be always what you expected but expecting the worst can be a good choice.

Now if you’re in that same company that treats you poorly, then it’s your choice to be with them or take the risk on applying somewhere. But like what I always mentioned, there’s no such thing as perfect so wherever you go, you will still find flaws within that company.

Now it’s a matter of risking what you think is worth it for your career.

6. Time pass by so fast.

This is one of the things I realized that until now I feel awe every time I see my years of service. I always have a timeline for myself so in that way I can plan my next move. Once we work, we tend to focus on the task in front of us without knowing the time we spend doing it. That’s why some people miss their meal time during work hours since we focus on our work deadlines.

We choose to work ourselves all out without minding the time and the moments we missed. Hours will turn days and days will turn months, then you’ll just receive your salary without even expecting it.

For me, I think people just need to be mindful on their plans since you’ll never know how work consumes most out of your years. If you made a timeline, you need to work on it so that you can make sure that you can achieve the set period that you planned.

Since time pass by so fast, people tend to be in their comfort zone since the opportunities are brushing off them fast as well. They’re tend to be blinded by their work and that’s result to miss opportunities that are present in that moment.

“Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.”

― H.Jackson Brown, Jr.

7. Not everyone will like you.

Last tip but one of the important facts that you need to accept is this. People are full of judgements and you’ll experience that wherever you go. So if ever you are starting your career, expect that it will happen to you.

Comparison will always be present. You may not feel it but that’s the root of all judgements. One thing that you just need to do is to follow this famous quote which is “Work in silence and let your success be your noise.”

LET THEM BE.

Show them what you’ve got, not verbally but through your work. Divert all the flaws that you saw into motivation to push yourself to do better.

Thank you for reading! See you on my next blog!