categories: Uncategorized
Month: August 2023
The Practice Interview
categories: Career, Welcome to The Real World
One of my favourite interviews was for a job I didn’t even want.
I knew Company A from my childhood- they were a BPO that my mother worked at when I was a kid. I used to visit their offices every Saturday and my aunt- who also worked there- would leave snacks for me. My mother warned me against interviewing- being a former employee she was very aware of what their workloads were like- but I was curious about the role since it combined two Marketing roles (Red flag).
From the second I walked in, I knew I had no intention of taking the job but it made me so happy to be back in a BPO discussing the industry. I FELT SEEN!
About half an hour into the interview, we realised that the job wasn’t a fit but we still spent another half an hour chatting. I had forgotten how familiar and comfortable the BPO environment was to me. I may not have had snacks or a desk to myself (though they did offer me tea, coffee or something stronger) but it made me happy.
Ironically, I had left a BPO about 6 months prior because I wanted to experience another industry but being back in that environment was strangely comforting.
Leaving that interview, I couldn’t help but smile. While the job wasn’t a fit, the experience reminded me of how much I value environments where I feel seen and connected. Sometimes, revisiting old chapters of our lives can offer clarity about what truly matters to us.
Though I left the BPO world for a reason, this encounter reignited my appreciation for the industry and the sense of belonging it once gave me. It’s funny how life works—sometimes, the moments that don’t lead to a “yes” are the ones that remind us of who we are and where we’ve been.
Here’s to staying curious and open to the unexpected paths that shape our journeys.
I Accidentally Went into A Toxic Workplace
categories: Welcome to The Real World
I had worked in Customer Care for a little over 3 years. It was not the best of environments but- I was going to quickly learn this- it wasn’t the worst either.
I was burnt out in my first Marketing role so when I was contacted by another company for a possible role, I took the interview.
But in my haste for change it appeared that I ignored several red flags.
- I was warned that there wasn’t any real processes in place in the environment. I had no idea to what extent they meant it. Any attempt to put in a process was ignored and so we always went back to scratch- no process. Fast forward a year later and it was still the same.
- The hiring manager was not an HR manager- it was the person hiring for the role. I thought he was picky and looking for someone who could do his role. Turns out the company never had an HR department. I had heard that they outsourced their HR function but whenever I needed HR there was never anyone there. When my role was made redundant I was provided with little to no support- and even my last salary seemed suspiciously low. I also didn’t get severance pay- something I had to follow up about for weeks before they finally paid me. Apparently they weren’t sure if severance pay applied to me- an issue that could have been easily resolved if they had an HR department to begin with.
- The hiring manager disappeared for days on end. This was something that followed me into the job. The manager would disappear and then come up with a list of instructions or a list of reasons why the work I did was incorrect (even though there were never any proper instructions or marketing briefs to begin with).
- I asked for a sample payslip but they were unable to provide one. Turns out that the company didn’t give regular payslips. I only learnt this two months in because everytime I asked for one, I got the run-around instead.
- The contract said that staff weren’t allowed to refuse overtime work on weekends on public holidays. I raised this and they said they didn’t work on public holidays or weekends but that was just their standard contract. Holding them in good faith, I signed anyway…only to later learn that other things on the contract was incorrect such as the date we get paid and the tasks I was responsible for.
Unfortunately all of this happened during a horrible job market. So no matter how hard I tried (and I started trying six months into the job), it was difficult for me to get a new job. Eventually I was made redundant and I cannot explain to you how happy it made me. Yeah, I may not have had a source of income but I had my mental health. And that is infinitely more valuable.