Being Proactive and Flexible
Making critical choices can be a painful experience. But it doesn't define you. It's a life changing event to be faced, dealt with and learned from. Three years ago, I landed my second job as an Accountant in United Arab Emirates. Lootah Group of Companies is a conglomerate engaged in construction, trading, real estates, ticketing, hotels as well as tours. I have worked there for three years and the first six months I must say, was crucial. Working in a Muslim country is not that easy. I need to adjust from everything, the environment, and climate as well as to my new colleagues of different races and the most difficult that I need to overcome--homesickness. In addition, I have to learn as well as respect values (Islamic values), about their culture, general rules such as dress codes such as, women should wear clothes completely covered when in public.
I found the work very challenging. It was a lot more difficult for me that I have thought it would be but it was what I want to do, so that makes me more determined. When they tell me I can't, it really gets me going. Challenge and interest went hand in hand. Despite these challenges, I managed to overcome and learned some things that brought me closer to discovering my purpose in life, being fulfilled and getting out of my own way, and opening to new considerations.
Commitment and Communication Skills
For almost four years of working abroad, I've learned to look objectively at my own skills. Being aware of my capabilities helped me to deliver things that my boss expected me to. Well, it's going to be really hard if you suddenly realize you can't do your own job when you're already in another country. Moreover, I've realized that in order for me to survive, there should be a talent factor which is the ability to work hard, stay committed and focused on my daily challenges in my field of work. Narrowing my field of work allows me to become much better in what I do. In addition, I have noticed that people in some countries tend to lean more in one direction like for an instance, in U.A.E., it really matters what you can actually do, and the number of years you have worked in their country, and in my experience it really matters whether you have a degree or not and the last but not the least—the language barrier. If you don't speak the local language, it might be a problem. On one hand you can claim, that if you find a place where everyone speaks English (presuming, that you speak it yourself) then you should be fine. While it's true in a sense, it does not solve the whole problem. If you do not speak the local language, you will have lots of trouble in your daily work (an example of this is a contract written in Arabic language). If you do not know what the words mean, then you can't effectively design a poster or anything else using text for that matter. How to tackle the issue then? The easiest way of course would be to learn the language, but often that will not be possible, especially if you're checking out multiple countries. In those cases, what I did is that I have just assured my employer about my willingness to learn the local language.
The relation of these new learnings to what I already know is that, every region has different approaches to the same issues (as mentioned above). We have many stereotypes about different nationalities. To really know all the issues, cultural references in a country you have to spend some time in it. That may be a factor more often than you think and definitely more often than people will actually admit it. What I'm referring to is the personal opinion of the employer regarding the country and its people. I must be aware that those may be a factor, so I would try to come through, as a self-sufficient person capable of handling my own issues, and suspend my beliefs and open to new possibilities.
Confidence, Open to Change and being Open-Minded
What have I done, am doing, will be doing for this topic? It was one of the most critical choices I have made in my life. After I finished my 3-year contract, I had the option of joining a good company. I passed their qualifying exams as well as the interview. I have signed the offer letter and was so excited to to do my job with my new boss who has a strong resemblance with "Christian Grey" of Fifty Shades of Grey but then had a change of heart at the last minute. I received a call from my parents asking me to come home and settle down. It took me several days to decide and had weighed all the pros and cons of rejecting the job offer. I know I need to make a decision and that when I decide, it should be with conviction. So I chose to be with my family and joined FedEx Express Philippines and currently working under Controller's team. This is the breakthrough in my career. I accepted the new role, and embraced changes. I'm glad I did because I was able to gain in depth knowledge of the business as well as pursue a postgraduate course at Ateneo. It may have caused me an opportunity cost like gave up my love life as well my promising career but just what I said earlier, I always love challenges and new learnings. Right now, I am still striving to be more successful in my career leveraging from my past experiences and present as well. Because of this experience, I have carried on this character and attitude towards my work in my next companies.
One of the ways to be successful is to get out of your comfort zone and be more open to changes and new experiences/challenges because through this you will gain more knowledge and skills not only about your career but also in the different aspects of your life. Be at your best today so you will be at the best situation tomorrow because every decision you make today will certainly affect your tomorrow.
I believe that God has a bigger plan than I have for myself. He wants us to be happy and we just have to believe that in his own time we will understand and thank Him for giving us a chance to find love even it meant losing it forever.
Jackelyn H. Aspiras 3
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