Back When I was an Office Girl

I honestly never planned to work in "tech". I just stumbled into it. I worked for a Telco, then helped my Mom in her business which forced me to learn how to make a website, make marketing materials, and figuring out how to use the world wide web for business. 

It eventually led me to work for a company that made websites/directories. I ended up as a product manager of the Philippine version of an import/export directory. It eventually led me to the yellow pages - the electronic version. 

The skills I developed through my career led me to work at the biggest search engine in the world (it still is!). Looking back though, what led me to work for tech companies was not because I planned it. I was led to those companies because of my quest to learn new skills.

I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be in marketing but what fascinated me when I took my MBA was the different pathways you can take to become an expert marketer. At that time I didn't know what path to take, so I thought I'd do stuff to learn. My experience and skills led me to become a product manager (eventually program manager) and it allowed me to learn new things. 

If you're feeling lost in your career, perhaps learning new skills in your particular interest can be a way to grow :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

How I Purposely Defined My Career

I must admit, when I went off to college I really did not know what I wanted to become. I originally wanted to take anthropology. I've just always been fond of learning about the past and how it has shaped who we are today. And that curiosity has stayed with me until today. The first thing I did when the pandemic was announced was to do some research on how they survived and got back up from the Spanish flu. I super love watching documentaries and history feature films. 

My plan though got derailed and I ended up taking two degrees that were supposed to help me prepare to become a lawyer. I only realized what I really wanted to do when I was in my junior year in college. Too late to shift. I decided to finish my studies and started planning how to steer my career towards what I really wanted. I started taking my masters degree a year after I graduated. 

I firmed up how I wanted to steer my career when we had marketing classes. I super loved the idea of becoming a product manager. I slowly began to understand what skills I needed to develop to become one. Midway through my studies I joined my Mom's company and helped her to export her product. I learned a lot during that time since you need to learn everything when you're a business owner (I was the business owner's only staff outside of our workers). 

Unfortunately exporting our product became unfeasible and Mom decided to close her company. I was without a job and I started selling baked goods to sustain my studies (and Miggy's). I realized it was time to put into action my plan. Armed with experience I applied for two jobs. One was to become a marketing manager for a furniture company and the other was to be a product manager for an exporters directory. 

I failed miserably when I interviewed for the furniture company because I got super nervous when they immediately put me in front of the company president. I went home really sad, but was determined to nail my next interview. My Kuya counselled me to over-prepare so that's what I did. I got the job. 

And the skills list that I made I started to check it off. I never said no to a project, no matter how hard it would be I would just do it and treat it as a learning experience. And that's how I picked up the skills I needed to keep moving forward. I basically treated my career as a huge learning experience while doing something I enjoy. I went through ten jobs until I found one where I continue to learn everyday.

I realized now it was not so much about identifying a "title" you'd want to have on your business card. It's really more about gaining more skills as you go along. My director told me that if I wanted to move to my job I could be a GM already. It's not what I want though since I still enjoy what I do. I think as much as I didn't earn the original degree I wanted, I'm living it and more. And you'll be at the right place when you let God lead the way for you. 

I thought I'd post this tidbit since one of my anaks recently asked me advise about moving forward with his career. And he pointed out that I gave him a good idea to ponder on. I guess my perspective has been this way because my Ate and Kuya told me when I growing up that if you end up working on something you love doing, you'd never work a day in your life. 

#CB//240 #StuckAtHomeDay/270 #WFH160 #StayHome #BeKind   

My Dream Job When I was a Child

There's a meme going around asking people what you wanted to be when you were a child. This got me thinking and I was amazed at how my interests swung from one thing to another when I was growing up. 

I do remember when I was in elementary school I wanted to be an architect. I was four years old when I got my first Lego set. Back then Lego sets were just a collection of Lego pieces. They left it to your imagination to build things. I remember building different types of houses and I was always fascinated about home layouts. I guess that was why I wanted to become an architect. It didn't happen because I lacked the drawing skills (although my niece pointed out that it requires more technical drawing). I did live this dream a bit when I helped my Mom in her export business. 

Frowning even as a child, I was never into sports. 

Eventually my interest changed and I wanted to be an archeologist/anthropology. I got interested in it when we started learning about Asian civilizations in history class. I wanted to discover more about old civilizations, how they looked, how they lived, what their culture was about. It was a cross between archeology and anthropology. My parents though were quite concerned and had me talk to Tito Ed who explained to me more about the field. I got a lot of pressure not to pursue it. My passion for history remains at a personal level, my family and friends always go back to me when they need old photos and past information (lol). I also binge watch on shows related to this topic. 

My Dad was grooming me to become a lawyer and I ended up getting degrees in Political Science and Legal Management. Midway through my LM degree I realized that becoming a lawyer wasn't for me. Needless to say my professors were also disappointed I did not pursue it. It would have tied up nicely with my third dream job - to be the mayor of my city! I would have been on that path because I was being recruited to run for office when I was in university. Of course, Mom got in the way and that fizzled out. 

It's funny thought because all the things I wanted to do I'm in a way doing now at my current job. It's not what I envisioned I would be, but I think I'm where I should be right now. And that's what's important. Whatever degree or job you get, your childhood dream will always be there and it's up to you how you define your mission in life.

What about you? What was your childhood dream job?

CB//198 #StuckAtHomeDay/228 #WFH135 #StayHome #BeKind