Honeymoon no more

I thought it would last longer. After being unemployed and on-and-off searching for a job in the industry since 2001, I really hoped it would last longer, but after 2.5 months the initial excitement of having the new job, the honeymoon period, was abruptly halted.

What do you take as tell-tell signs that a honeymoon period is coming to an end?

To me, an end of the beginning at a new work-place starts with uncovering of 'dirty laundry', which subsequently leads to the gradual loss of the initial 'magic'. And in my case, the big smelly pile showed up within a short period of time:


1) Barking-back at COO (the founder)

It all started 10 days ago, Wednesday the 23rd September. The first encounter with the dirty panties was the little dose of bellowed Singaporean 'scolding' attitude. As mentioned before, the founder is – with justification - sceptical of my technical abilities thanks to the lack of my industry experience. And for whatever reason, he felt the urge to remind me, and others, of this point. To make things even funnier, he is all into leadership BS. Guess, COO wanted to demonstrate how NOT to lead:

In the two meetings across two subsequent days with different set of colleagues attending, the COO directly questioned my competency, and in particular the ability to confidently convey to the client that I can 'walk the talk'. In addition, he communicated the displeasure at the title awarded to me (Technical Lead - as I applied for System Analyst role, the title was a surprise to me as well!) without having the extensive experience and going through the thick and thin of the lower positions. As this was all playing out in front of other team-members, I patiently listed.

You will appreciate the effort required to keep my quick tongue from unleashing the counter-attack. Surprisingly I managed to do so, while keeping myself 'amused' with the responses firing between my ears yet falling short from being verbalised.

During the meeting on the third day, some of the responses got to see the light of a day. COO and I were in the meeting room on our own, and shortly into the meeting he started with the exactly same tune as from the two days before. Though on this occasion, with no need to 'save his face' in front of others, I did not let him gain much momentum. I barked back as true ang moh does. I questioned his actions of criticising my lack of experience for three days in a row... pointed that I wrote my own CV, hence I understand the overreaching gap in my career path. - So what am I to do now? (i.e. where is the constructive value of the feedback, apart of bit of extra motivation from the 1st day of 'shooting'?). Also, I mentioned attitude of the company-wide unity instead of isolating one individual in a corner. The last point I made was considering benefits of positive contribution and strengths each one of us brings to the table instead of focusing on inadequacies. Maybe the best value I can provide is not in my technical powers, but rather through those of the BS kind. - I left out the point that they gave me the title so they can charge the premium for my hour to clients, as I'm sure Boss does not need a reminder on that one, though likely CEO had to persuade him to agree.

Later in the evening after that meeting, we caught up once more, where it seemed that my counter-attack had a short term success. Boss took a step, two back and even seemed apologetic. Then again, you can never win an argument with a boss, nor (easily) change first impressions – as seen with my NUS experience – and thus, the real consequences of my 'barking back' are still to be seen.

2) Senior PM departs

Exactly a week later after the 'dirty laundry' started showing up first, on the 30th of September, I was greeted with a shocking surprise from a collage: his thank-you-farewell email to the company following the resignation. Though, he held to his own, as much as I could gather, he was a busy guy. Apparently he was very busy and unhappy guy.

Speculation has it that similar issues that led to his departure, caused 13 (out of 50) employees to depart in the span of two months before my arrival.

3) Operational Deficit

On the 1st October monthly all-staff meeting, CEO shared the ugly graph showing that the company has been running the loss in earnings for the most part of the year. The related news that surfaced a while back is that few months prior my arrival employees were asked to accept for the percentage of the monthly salary to be payed upon the return of the better days. This has not happened yet.

4) Pre-sales focus

Last week after the positive feedback on my performance from the CEO, the two major pending projects that were to occupy my time got bad hits. One took a big step backwards, and the other – to my big surprise – went to another tender. This means that for a while longer I’ll be fully in the BS area of the IT consulting.


Note to self:
- put more effort into entrepreneurship
- apply for PR or business visa
- don’t expect 22% monthly-pay bonus due this month to simply show up in your bank account

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UPDATED: 12th Oct 09

Tonight I had a 2nd chat with CEO. As expected, due the the fact that the major project I was working on has not materialised (as of yet), my bonuses will not happen at the first trimester. I played the understanding card, and suggested that instead of cash paid bonus we could possibly look into win-win training opportunities where they pay for the (part of) training that fills the company's need and yet satisfies my curiosity. Upon which I could give a seminar to share the knowledge acquired with the team-members. BI anyone?

Chit-chat with CEO

Feedback on the 1st 2.5 months:

• General

Doing very well across all accounts:
-presence with clients
-relationship with colleagues
-positively taking in the feedback and daily developments
-maturity

• Room for improvement

1. Understanding clients better
Relationship - develop understanding, rapport, trust
Reliability - anticipate client's needs
Response - monitor client's response, adjust the relationship management accordingly

2. Proactively seek for more exposure/interaction with a client

3. When presenting give tangible examples related to the client's context (less theoretical)

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The prep, before the chat:

• All is great.
• It’s exciting
• Appreciating the opportunity
• I want to tackle the pending project like a bull by the horns
• I enjoy the early stages of the development process
• The best value in the analysis and the design
• Appreciate the confidence, but at the same time well aware of the fact that I am fresh in the real world, thus need someone to bounce the ideas of, to do the ‘sanity/reality check’ with.

Side notes:

• Whatever he (CEO) says, request more elaboration...
• Expect that they expect more, and might explicitly communicate dissatisfaction.
• Listen, listen, listen.... and then listen some more.
• No complaints, winging, negativity... nothing, zero, zilch...!

Technical Lead - Solutions Architect

Here's the scoop after the 1st 2.5 months:

THE GOOD

Actually doing what I've been training to do for the past 10 years - pure joy!

Variety:
I have changed number of roles, and have been exposed to different industries:

• System Analyst is the role I was initially interviewed for.
• Presales Consultant was the title under which I gave the first presentation presentation to my first client - it happened on my fifth day at work.
• Senior Consultant was a fancy title I held only during the 6-day mini-project for the major telco.
• Technical Solution Architect is the latest role for the big government project we are bidding for in consortium with the creative agency.

Potential:
The company is SME that is looking to grow. I am given the position, responsibility and trust not on my experience but on my potential (and (different) looks?). I am immensely grateful (not forgetting the current economy), and appreciate the exciting opportunity it represents. If we successfully help each other grow, the rewards should will be sweet for all.

Fun:
The average age in the company is 27. The management (seniors) is on the level 8, which lovers the average of the production space on the 4th floor to something more like 23 y.o. This separation across the floors, roles and generations makes the atmosphere on the level 4 not unlike a uni lab. Needless to say, much more to my liking.


THE NOT SO GOOD

Small Company:
Is the other point of view on the 'Potential' mentioned above. Being an SME, there are only few people with extensive industry experience I could potentially learn a lot from. Though, they are constantly busy with their daily chores, making it hard for me to catch them for chit-chats, let alone some regular type of mentoring. This leaves me to focus on learning from the grandmaster of all teachers, experience. I am putting in the effort to back up the experience with relevant readings.

Culture:
Yes, it's mainly fun, but also the few bumps on the road I have encountered to date relate to attitude of me vs them. There is bit too much power-tripping and finger-pointing instead of looking at it as we - as in one company - and trying to move on by focusing on solutions and helping each other cover inadequacies every individual brings to the table. Today during the meeting, COO, the founder who expressed his scepticism regarding my lack of the industry experience during the interview last year, could not help himself but allow it to resurface. (Seems that) COO has old school mentality that to get to a role you have to go through the thin and thick of lower ranks. Ideally, yes I agree that would be the case, but it also seems the he doesn't take into consideration that being good at one role doesn't imply success at the next. The appreciation of the notion that 'every rule has an exception (which in turn proves the rule)' might be too much to expect in this environment. Luckily, thanks to my Asian-(business)-Culture-101 (e.g.) during the teaching days in Singapore, I held my usually quick tongue between the teeth, and let the boss be a boss.

On the bright side they are saying that they are trying to improve across the board, and there sure is plenty of scope to do so, though I doubt anyone expects a reward for the employer of choice any time in the near future.


THE EXPECTATION:

Two years...!

Employer of Choice

The best university to study at, the best employer to work for... there are numerous rankings out there, but what difference does it really make for people working/studying at an organisation?

For some reason I have always been attracted to this (BS) discourse, and it was no different this morning when I've seen Duncan Smith's post at LinkedIn on Employer of Choice:

Employee feedback sessions I've run have been much more effective when we start with "what's good about working here?", then go to "what are the challenges?" and finish with "what could you do to improve things?". Needless to say, people have more to say about the problems, and sometimes struggle to take ownership of solutions -- it's easier to blame "management", or someone else, than to figure out how to take responsibility. To me, part of being a real EOC would be fostering an environment in which employees were encouraged to contribute improvements as a matter of course. What's the trade-off between real engagement and management control?

MY RESPONSE:
Unfortunately seems it's quite common that rhetoric which echoes in the media and/or upper echelons of a management is hardly reflected in opinions of majority who work in an organisation (what they say, and what they do are rarely the same). In my experience, even true for SME - which is truly a shame.

Duncan, I love your definition of a 'real' EOC: "fostering an environment in which employees were encouraged to contribute improvements as a matter of course". And to answer your question directly: I don't see it as a trade of (at all?).

A scenario for a 'real' EOC:

Management asks the type of questions Duncan suggested (i.e. "what's good about working here?", then go to "what are the challenges?" and finish with "what could you/WE do to improve things?") – Furthermore, management requests for ANONYMOUS answers in order to improve the richness of information provided, and to help eliminate biases during the feedback evaluation.

1. The exercise is conducted periodicity; Say once a year to collect the feedback (if big organisation, it might be more useful at department/region level)
2. The feedback is communicated back to employees
3. Management acts upon the feedback

Through this exercise, the management would actually have the chance to improve the control while simultaneously enhancing employee engagement.

-Out of so many people providing (independent) feedback a common themes will surface (experienced employees), and even some unique gems might be highlighted (likely from newbies).

-Management will know exactly what to do in order to improve employees’ satisfaction; where, satisfaction => commitment => productivity => revenue.

(On this note: don't you find it funny when few lock themselves behind the closed door and brainstorm for days on what many on the other side of the door want. Here's an idea: how bout just ask for a change? - Alas, seems Voltaire was not kidding when he said that "Common sense is not so common.")

-Employees will feel engaged, and will be much more likely to commit to the subsequent decisions made, as they will feel the ownership of the decisions (i.e. ( not all) decisions were simply 'forced' top-down).

- Management can even use the method to (deceivingly) piggy-back their own directive that they wanted to push through, and say (lie) that it came from the feedback.

This exact approach worked fabulously in a teacher-students relationship. Please tell me why similar couldn't work in a commercial setting?

As the bottom line in this discussion (where salary and many other aspects are ignored), what really matters is the involvement: everybody likes to be asked, to have the opportunity to express themselves (their opinion). And in today's society of on-line social networks that's true more than ever. More and more of today's employees not just have the habit of expressing their opinion, but they need/demand the opportunity to do so.

And if that wasn't enough: two heads - in big majority of circumstances - are better than one. As nicely elaborated in 'The Wisdom of Crowds' by James Surowiecki.

Hope to see more 'real' EOC candidates out there.

Cheers...!

Ps: Duncan, two follow up questions for you, and anyone else willing to share their opinion:

a) In your definition of a real EOC you say: "To me, PART of being a real EOC..." What other ‘parts’ would you like to see in a real EOC?

b) What's your answer to your own question: "What's the trade-off between real engagement and management control?"

Much Appreciated.

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UPDATED, 5th October 09.

According to this article (based on a Corporate Executive Board study of employee engagement survey results) employees at the best companies rated each of the following characteristics at least 20% higher than any other category, compared to employees at other organizations:

1. Belief in Leadership
2. Personal Connection to Company Strategy
3. Innovative Culture
4. Accountability
5. Emphasis on Achievement

By: Dianne Jacobs

On Career

Think about it: out of the 24 hours at your disposal each day, most of your waking hours are spend at doing what?

For someone who (feels like he) just started his carrier at the first (real) job after the graduation, I sure am not a person to be giving carrier advice. Nevertheless, considering I went through quite a few eventful situations during the interesting – to say the least – path that led to this particular departure point, inevitably, I learned few things on the topic. Most of these lessons, could not be better summarised nor presented than by Garr Reynolds cute presentation on Daniel Pink’s The Adventures of Johnny Bunko:

1. There is no plan
2. Think strengths, not weaknesses
3. It’s not about you
4. Persistence trumps talent
5. Make excellent mistakes
6. Leave an imprint

Career Advice '08

View more documents from garr.

Few more points to add on to it:

• Flexible Strategy

Whereas, goals/plans do not work for me - at all (for now); I tried, and I tried harder - still, somewhere along prolonged, and at times painful lessons, I "...found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable" (Dwight D. Eisenhower).

More important than planning are values that like a lighthouse provide guidance pointing towards your target (overall objective) when decisions are to be made. And to be moving in your desired direction in the most efficient manner, it's good to have a strategy. Ideally, the strategy employed would be evaluated and modified as necessary after each step.

It was one of the conversation on job-search with Raoul when he shared with me importance of being strategic yet flexible about it. At the time I wanted to go straight through the wall; head first, naturally.

• When to jump the ship

Equally important is to recognise the signs indicating that it is a time to make a next career move; in this case, it's more like a leap than a mare step. If the fire inside is not burning as brightly as it should, if there is no more hunger, curiosity, contribution, progress, recognition, satisfaction... it’s time to move on. And when the time comes ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’. This article, elaborates eight alarming signs to lookout for:

1. Your role has become marginalised
2. You've stopped growing
3. You're missing from the big picture
4. You're being excluded
5. Your level of influence is waning
6. You no longer enjoy the work
7. Continuous improvement isn't part of the mantra
8. Greener pastures truly are greener

It was the tostmaters's session where I learned about the psychology study which found that happiness at work requires one to be satisfied with at least two out of the three aspects:

1. what you do
2. who you work with
3. your pay

Well, I had 2/3 when I left teaching at NP. The first one outweighed the sum of last two.


And if your 'lighthouse' demands serious corporate ladder climbing, then consider that it's easier to climb in a zig-zag pattern than straight up.

• Not/Every/thing matters

Regardless of which steps end up being chosen, it really doesn't matter how one feels of an outcome afterwards. As in reality - when a little bit wider (link to dir po svemiru) scope of things is considered than seen from a current vantage point - the level of control one has is insignificant. And moreover, one is completely clueless to what kind of circumstances and accompanying feelings a step taken will lead to next. Though, WHEN shit happens, laugh it off and keep rolling with - hopefully - a new lesson learned.

On this note: one of the criteria that has mostly been there for me when making a next step was to put my self in a position with more choices, the logic was that more choices one has the more free one is; and freedom is very important in my kingdom as without it there's no happiness. Loved Daniel Gilbert's presentation which completly thows this thinking upside down.

• Embrace Insanity

Last, but definitely not the least, make sure that the journey is crazily enjoyable. Fitting bottom line is Murray’s advice for the ages: “Keep your sense of humour”.

hvFun...!

Credit for reference:
Patrice for PresentationZen,
Alvin for ComputerWorld,
Chao for TED
Lighthouse analogy: The Monk who sold his Ferrari, Robin Sharma

Credit for the title inspiration: Prophet, by Khail Gibran

The comedy of errors: software development

I have first seen the cartoon some time early in my Singapore teaching days. Back then, I only thought of it as a funny cartoon, nothing more. In my 2nd month in the industry, I can already tell that (unfortunately) the joke is much more than just the funny cartoon. As Murray said during the introduction to my Spora teaching stint, equally applies here as well: keep your sense of humour!

Negotiation Dreaming

Here is some preparation in advance for the anticipated future events to take place, probably on multiple occasions, during what is shaping to be the very successful professional career.

Two of them, Boss and Z were sitting in the meeting room on Level 8 behind the closed doors. Z is not a big fan of the office space on Level 8, much more preferring his comfy corner cubical on the 4th floor. There are quite a few reasons why he finds Level 4 much more comfortable, but considering Z’s strong dislike of air-conditioners, the least of them is definitely not the room temperature that is kept at rather low levels on the 8th floor. And with just two people sitting in a modestly sized meeting room, yet the one with the two outlets vigorously pumping in the air-conditioned air, and having closed door, for Z, it gets cold really quickly in there.

As the conversation already took quite a few minutes, and Z, in addition to feeling the air-conditioned breeze slowly crawling trough his nicely ironed shit and chilling out his body almost as though from the inside, felt that the negotiation process is getting him nowhere. So next, he decisively said: ‘Yes, it is a team effort, it always is. Though, the main, 0iginal idea on top of which everything else is build upon is usually generated by one person only. And, in the regards to BlubberyPie revamp – our biggest project to date, EVER – the person who came up with the most of those ideas has been me. Most of the time I was responsible not just for the ideas but for all of the content provided as well, starting back with the business case proposal, all the way through the analysis and design work until today. Yes, the team did try to help, but I have to say, I’m only grateful for their trying effort, but not for the resulting contribution provided. Most of the time, pardon the programming, whatever they did was not even close up to the standards, leaving me to rework their portion by myself. I am sorry that you haven’t seen this – it is my responsibility and my fault that you haven’t seen it yet – and hence, that you don’t appreciate the difference that my contribution has been consistently making. Also, I don’t think there is much point at this time to get into conversation about the positive effect my ‘happy go lucky’ attitude has on the overall staff morale. If you don’t mind sir, I will move back to my cubicle now to continue the work. At any point in time, should you wish to resume this negotiation process you know where you’ll find me. Thanks for your time.’

a)
Z, then slowly gets up and walks out from what will turn out to be the last meeting of that particular type, in that particular meeting room. Two more weeks that he still had left on the current contract will pass by quickly, very quickly. For the next two weeks, Z will work even harder then ever, exercising his professional range on the pursuit of the perfection at everything he did.

Or, the most preferable but definitely less likely scenario:

b)
The Boss smiles, and says: ‘I am well familiar with your contribution, both tangible and intangible, but I must admit that I definitely didn’t know about your negotiation skills. That’s something we can definitely utilise a lot better from now on. Sure, you can have the 50% increase on your base salary.’ At this point Z fleshes his big bright smile and enthusiastically gets up - more like jumps up - from his chair to shake Boss’s hand, and Boss reciprocates ... And just then, right in the moment of Z’s utter feelings of satisfaction, Boss throws him a surprise. While shaking hands, he says: ‘and to really show you just how much your contribution is appreciated around here, we’ll double your bonuses. I’ll get HR-Flirt to prepare the new contract.’

c)
Something between the two extremes would be just fine – also can, lah...!

What a difference a day makes...

The job interview, arranged by the Director of the school where I used to work, has received the new lifeline. Apparently, they want to see me again. The email correspondence is included below. Also this morning, I received the resolution that I can stay in my apartment till the end of the year. The stars have been nicely aligned today. Some seemingly good news, amidst all the BS that I've put myself in lately, come as the breath of fresh air.

cheers...! 

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Sent: Friday, 5 December, 2008 9:13 AM

To: ZB

Subject: RE: My passion to join HC

Hi Z,

Good to hear that you have now completed your program.  Time flies, our meeting seemed like they had just happened yesterday.

Then again, so much has taken place in the past few months.  Would you like to come over for an updated discussion so that both parties can come up to speed.  S will contact you to make arrangements.

Best regards,

OT

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Sent: Thursday, 4 December, 2008 3:05 PM

To: OT

Subject: My passion to join HC

Dear O,

I hope this email finds you in good spirits. 

I am happy to say that as of now, all my university tasks are completed, and I am ready, and genuinely keen to contribute to HC as soon as possible. I can start tomorrow.

Having had the opportunity for extensive conversations with K [the founder] and yourself, I am impressed with the leadership of the company and its potential for the future. I have the firm belief that HC will continue its growth amidst the tough competition in the industry, and currently slow economic times.   

While initially I was looking to join HC in a role of System Analyst as advertised on the website, it was flattering to find out that you see my potential and skills being aligned with numerous roles at HC. This being said, I am very keen to prove my hard work and intellect at any of these exciting opportunities as required by the immediate business needs.

I am motivated to join the team, 'role up my sleeves' and work hard, learn and grow with HC while contributing my passion for the people, IT and knowledge as a valuable asset to the company.

Enthusiastically looking forward to hear from you. 

Sincerely,

Z

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Big credit goes to Babber, a.k.a ZhiqiTao, without whom 'the passion email' would not have happened.  

My Resume

It´s here. 

If you know somebody who´s looking for a passionate, creative, analytical, hardworking team player, and all in all an awesome guy, to join them at tackling challenging IT projects, don´t hesitate to pass them the resume, they´ll owe you one, if not two (if they are smart).

Thanks exDirector, Jess, Sue, Monkey, Ilija, Milan and Coleman for already doing so.  

I´ve done some aesthetic, readability improvements on the latest version following some of the tips as suggested here. 

Please leave your comments on how the resume could be improved further. 

Appreciated...! 

Ps: Disclaimer: comments will be taken into serious consideration, but not necessarily Incorporated, unless securing of the job depended on it.  

Pps: If by a chance you are willing to take on the role of Cupid, kindly share this resume link (http://www.box.net/shared/okcrglsugj) with the other party, and not the blog address itself. Thanks!

Passion of my Profession

Another baby step... (?)

Dear K,

Thank you for the very pleasant and interesting conversation, and the time taken.

I am happy to find out that you recognize my potential and different ways it can add business value for HC. I look forward to an opportunity to prove this in the practice.

Best regards,

Z

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I've just send out this 'thank you' mail. So it turns out that my scepticism was right after all, even though Huge got me to believe otherwise. K is the founder of the company. The interview went OK, though I would not grade my performance as highly as the 1st one.

fingersCrossed...!

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UPDATED: later in the afternoon, I received the (positive) reply to above email:

Dear Z,

Thank you for your email. I will be discussing with the team and I am sure you will be contacted soon.

Thank you very much and have a nice day!

Warm regards,

K

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UPDATED, 20th Oct: Another full week has passed by with no word from Mr K nor anyone in the company. My initial 'OK' assessment of the interview now seems like a large overestimation. The questions running between my ears:

• Should I email them?
• Should I try to elaborate on the interview points that I know I should have, could have done better?
  
• Should I just forget about it, and call it next?

If you have an opinion on what to do in this situation, please leave a comment - thanks...!

Baby Step closer to MrProfessional

Since this morning, it looks even more promising that Huge was right to say that the next interview should be just about negotiation of the terms and conditions for the contract. I received the reply to my 'thank you' latter from the CEO. I am happy with the way I wrote that BS latter last night (apart from the few typos that my tired, running on adrenaline brain did not direct). In particular, I like how I manged to summarise some of the things discussed during the interview, so I'll share it here:

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8 October, 2008. 08:35

Hi Z,

I am happy to have met you too.  MrP [the 1st guy who interviewed me] will be in touch with you shortly.  There may be an opportunity for further discussion.  Hopefully we can arrive at a win-win situation.

Best regards,

CEO

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7 October, 2008. 20:18

Dear MrCEO,

I would like to express my appreciation for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet me earlier today. It was a pleasure having a conversation with you about the SA position at HC, the potential career paths, and the vision that you have for the future of the company. 

In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to say that after our conversation, I feel even more confident that the job represents a win-win situation. I believe that with my international exposure, teamwork and communication skills, along with analytical and creative abilities, as well as eagerness to learn and work hard, I can provide tangible business value to HC's customers, and in turn to HC itself. At the same time, the SA position represents a junction where I can further hone my skills, and develop myself both professionally and personally, while learning by working on diverse type of challenges.

Again, thank you, and I hope that HC and myself can move into the next phase of our respective maturation process together.

Sincerely,

Z        

Not so professional question

• Who is higher on a corporate ladder than a CEO of a company to interview an applicant for a common job?  
  
• After you have been interviewed by the CEO, what would be the reason to come back for another interview...? 

Just now talking to Huge, he brought out this very good point. A point that once brought up seems like a common sense; a point that escaped my mind... 

As Voltaire would say: "Common sense is not so common!" 

...! 

Me, The Professional F...ellow - The beginning

I had the interview, the one mentioned few days ago, earlier today. I felt it went quite good overall. On my way back home, thinking about it, I was pleased with my performance, happily leaving 'the ball on their side of the court'. Once I got home, I learned that the feeling, regarding how well the interview went, was mutual. The interview went for two hours and 15min, and it can be broken down into two distinct stages:

WRITTEN  

First, I had to fill in the form with my personal info (why, it's already all on my CV!?), and  how much I have been earning, how much do I expect to earn once I start, and when would I like to start. Following this, a surprise came along: I was given a written test. It included exercises on Java and SQL, and a general question on the understanding of the Web 2.0. I grade my self - once a teacher... - on that part as B+. I messed up on some Java and SQL. I haven't been 'getting my hands dirty' with those sort of things all that much - pardon the teaching - for a long time now; well, to be exact, since I finished my CS degree from The Uni of Auckland back in 2000.

ORAL

Second part of the interview was conversational. Initially, after the test, I had quite a nice chat, the usual interview things, with one guy. One of the questions that I didn't get to ask him, before the CEO joined the chat, was what exactly is it that he does... I'll find that out next time. Lastly, as mentioned, the CEO joined the interview. And inevitably, the focus of the conversatio

n shifted towards him - to his credit, he did apologise to his subordinate. Again, this was a continuation of the good chat that I started off with the initial interviewee. Looking back at it, I feel I interviewed the CEO as much as he interview me - apparently a good thing (ref). On this note, Thanks YoonHin for giving me the advise during the brunch before the interview. The list of questions to ask came in very handy. As part of his answers, the CEO shared his view on the company's maturation process and the vision for the future. As I side note, he also said that my expected salary fits in nicely within the range of what they give to System Analysts, as well as that just last week he was at The Poly to meet up with his uni buddy, my ex Director. Apparently she told him 'to make sure to check me out'. Regardless of what happens at the end, I will definitely thank Director in person with some nice prezo (e.g. a basket full of juicy Apples).  

Once I got home, I called the HR to get the email address of the two people

 whose email addresses I didn't have: the guy who greeted me and got me comfortable to do the test, and the guy that started off the interview. By the time I opened up the mail to send out the four 'thank you for the interview' mails,  I already had a response from the HR Executive in my inbox, with the request to come for the 2nd interview this coming Friday the 10th. She sent out the invitation for the next interview just 40min after I left their office.  

That favorite line that echoes through the school's corridors comes to mind...

soFarSoGd...!   

Ps: events of the day leading to the interview worth mentioning:

• slept for 4 hours.
  
• talked to the Spanish neighbour, on my way home after the lunch with YoonHin, for far more than I did during all the conversations put together we had in the last two years since I've been here. I felt like I would have preferred to snooze for half an hour or so before getting ready for the interview, but chatting with him got me even more into a conversational stage, which turned out to be quite good. 
  
• this left me with little time to iron my shirt - a 1st time ever for me - shave, shower and dress up. 
  
• was tucking in the shirt, buckling the belt (not of the safety kind), and tying the shoes, all while the taxi driver was tying up my tie around his neck. Once he tied it up, he passed it to me - of course lah.
• There was a heavy rain at the time, and the Mercedes taxi came to pick me up. I love the tropical rain (as some of you would know). And the Mercedes taxi gave me the confidence that the driver will know how to tie the tie. Also, the fancy taxi can be seen as kind of symbolic to professionalism and all (yes, I think so :). 
• we left the apartment building at 2:35pm; 20min later then I planned for. Interview was scheduled for 3pm, we arrived in front of the office building 5min ahead; about 10min later then what I planed. Just-in-time; just the usual.
• the taxi driver actually drives only part time, he is also a real estate agent. MrDon, you can expect my call, as discussed, in the early November, to show me what kind of apartments you have available for me.
  
• what a great day. Guess the stars must have been nicely aligned... thanks Universe...!    
  

ass ... @

The caricature is by Jimmy, a colleague at work who was bored during one of the early staff meetings that I attended back in September 2006, when I first joined the school.  

Jimmy's work reminds me of the smirk on this photo that my Mum snapped during her visit to Spora last year. 

...! 

Ambivalence

As of today, I am officially unemployed. Though luckily, I am a student again, doing 3 subjects this semester at NUS, to differentiate me from the average bum.

I had two wonderful farewell lunches. One last Friday with my basketball buddies at the lovely Japanese restaurant - thanks Prince; and the other on Monday, with coworkers I've developed friendly relationship at a fancy Hokkien place (pic) - thanks YoonHin. Following the Monday lunch, I caught up with my Reporting Officer (RO) for a little farewell chat. Yesterday, after Roza left to the airport, I was back in the office cleaning out the last few things. Also, I had to return the school's laptop I had been using, though my good colleagues and friends - thanks Steven and Willy - organised a way for me to keep the laptop for a little longer.

The last thing left for me to do was to send a nice 'Thanks ICT' email to all colleagues at the school. Though, Director surprised me during one of the recent staff meetings by getting me to stand up and give a farewell speech, I felt like I left it too general, without thanking anyone in particular, so this time I took the opportunity to do that via the email.

As a response to the farewell email, RO send me a contact at SIM should I wish - err - need to go back to teaching - thanks Pam. And Director forwarded my resume to the company where she has a contact. I'll have the interview with the local IT consulting company next Tuesday - thanks Director. I am especially grateful to Director showing me her helping side - this was the 2nd company that she referred me to - as her and I had few misunderstandings during my time here; as the saying goes: water under the bridge.

Though, my last official day was only yesterday, practically my last semester at the school finished back on the 3rd September when we had the end of the semester staff meeting. So even though I had no work to do for a whole month, the official deadline invoked this funny feeling in me. On one hand I am very happy to be moving on as I know this is the right thing to do. Yet on the other hand, after two years here, the place has wormed up to me, and I have developed good relationships with many people. Thus, the part of me was said to clean up the office and walk out for the last time.

lookingFwd...!

Irony - an example

Received from the teacher on Aug 15th:

Hi Z,

I am sorry to hear about your plight. I have checked with the appropriate person in charge of approving ISMs and unfortunately it is not possible to approve 2 ISMs in the same semester. As you realise, there are administrative rules that the department has to follow. As mentioned earlier, the option you have if you need to do two ISMs, is to do it over two semesters.

Best wishes,

M

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sent to the student on Aug 28th:

Hi NJ,

I am sorry to see you plight just now, this late in the semester. Though I sincerely wish that I could help you, unfortunately the semester is officially completed, and the administrative regulations at the school have to be obeyed.

Best wishes,

Z

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS: It was my 1st day as a teacher at the school here in Spora two years ago today. And yesterday was the anniversary of the arrival. Time sure does fly, at the ever increasing speeds...

The Last semester

In all likelihood, this was the first week of what, as it looks now, will be my last semester at the school. The plan is, come Oct/Nov to leave this 'paid holiday' behind, and get a job in IT industry.

After 2 years, it's time for me to move on - and they agree (especially the HR :).

Or so I thought... funny story of assumptions is that first I thought I'm out at the end this contract. Then I was sure that I am out. And now, apparently, there is a possibility of extending.

Here's what happened. Last week, after the 1st module meeting for the new semester, my RO (Reporting Officer) got me surprised; she asked me what's my plan. This, after her public announcement that this will be my last semester. She made the announcement during the 'Software Development Cluster's end of the semester lunch' the day after I got back from my Hong Kong trip back in February. I was happy during the lunch, still buzzing w/ a 'travel rush' (or was it just the lack of sleep), and then her surprising delivery of the expected news got me stunned. Excuse me for expecting her to tell me in private, before announcing it to some 20 people. As for the news itself, after all the 'scolding' by the Director, I used to say that: 'there's a higher chance of snowing in Spora, then me getting an offer to extend the contract'. So to clear-out our, yet another episode of misunderstanding, RO and I had a meeting last Friday. I assumed she said what she said, during that February lunch, because she was told that by the 'higher powers' that this is it for me. Well it turns out that (apparently) she assumed that International Fellows stay for a maximum of 2yrs.

I wanted another contract offer as, like most of us, I like choices. Thought it would be nice to have that contract offer as a safety net - just in case nothing else works out. RO told me that she is happy to support the contract renewal for me, even to help me find a teaching position at the neighbouring school. Thanks, but no thanks... being honest with her, there is no point to ask her to arrange for another teaching position at this stage when I'm all gearing up to jump the ship. This being said, if I needed, I will contact her - though fingers crossed, that scenario will not play out.

Reminding myself that this is my last semester on the way to the class, made me enjoy the class just a tad more. Seems this student batch is more 'switched on' - sentiment seconded by few colleagues.

In addition to the 'bread n butter' - Object Oriented Analysis and Design (UML) - I'm also teaching two classes for the 2nd year elective Java programming module, WAD -Windows Applications Development (if you thought a title like this would come with .Net, ASP, VB or something else form the house of Microsoft, you'd be forgiven. I was pleasantly surprised to find Java). I was happy to teach this module. Thinking was: many of students at the school ended up there because none of their 1st 49 choices got through, and thus majority really 'hates' programming, especially Java (the 1st year language), and thus most of them would chose anything else but WAD. So far it looks like I'm manly right, kids in WAD class are the 'better' kids (there is a number of them in each class who dislike the networking more then they dislike Java).

All together, as in previous semester, I have four classes. This time, this adds up to 20 hours of teaching, with Fridays off.

Also I have four Final Year Project Students. Last semester I had two, one got an A, the other one is repeating this semester.

It's the last, here's the hope it's not the least...!

run Zo run

Distance: 10km
Time: 47 min and 51 sec
Position: 52/232

At first, I did it only for fun, not caring about placement. But once I figured that I actually run as a representative of the school, I decided to run as quickly as I can.

The 1st proper run was just few weeks back, after I got back from the brief Cro visit. Though I swim basically every day, I haven't run at all in the few months before the run. And so it was rather crazy to set a goal of keeping up with marathon running colleague, even though he said that the run was only a recovery run for him as he just ran a half-marathon few days earlier.

First 5kms was nice and easy; the last couple was a real struggle accompanied with a, now funny, in-between-ear conversations about stop-cannot stop... I give credit to the ego for not letting me stop, and finish 25sec behind my marathon colleague. As far as I can remember, this was the most exhausting physical thing I ever did... - nothing left in the tank - nice...!

From NP running

Paid holiday - ctd

It still feels like a paid holiday, I (still) like it...

My new contact kicked in from the start of this month. When I got back from Thailand holiday, it was nice to see the bank account balance after the 4 pay-checks have been payed in at once (including 3 months of gratuity at the end of the first contract).


CONTRACT NEGOTIATION

For all that negotiation fuss, I got the new mattress, and a choice to fly to Croatia instead of to Australia. Also, few hours of 'scolding' by the school Director and 'black listed' myself, so that, IMO, there is higher possibility of snowing in Spora, then me receiving an anther contract extension come next February/March.


LIVING ARRANGEMENT

I got news that I would be getting two flat-mates. One would have been ok, two - not acceptable. Having been accustom to the freedom and comfort of living in the huge 3-bedroom apartment by myself, and having an opportunity to host visitors, I didn't like the idea of having to share it with two fresh Princeton graduates. Though we might become the best of friends, I still prefer if they live the next door. So I'll probably end up moving out into an apartment in which an air-conditioning does not work, and a possibility of having to share it with students - it's about possibility vs certainty: a student/s might come for a semester, roommates are confirmed for one year.


NEW LAPTOP

Couple of months back, as though Santa heard me, I got one of those two-core, w/ 1G of ram (most ppl got the newer model with 2G of ram - so much for Director's favorite slogan during 'scolding' of 'we are all equal'). Though, I was pissed at times with the slowness of this current machine (which I am still using in the office, as I haven't registered the new one which I am now using at home) ...all of a sudden, since I got the new one, I got much more patient with the old one - guess convenience/choice of having two machines must of had something to do with it.


CURRENT TASK

Currently, I have some tasks in preparation of the teaching materials for the next semester.

Though most time (should be) is spend on the RFID project for the coming 'Open House'. Projects objectives are: tracking the movement of potential students around the facilities, and correlating students' showing at the Open House with the eventual student enrollments. Also, to enhance students' experience and help with the management of the event.

In addition to this, I am exploring the possibility of using Second Life to teach OO concepts.


NEXT SEMESTER

-Teaching
It starts on 15th October. I'll be again teaching OOAD2 (Object Oriented Analysis and Design 2) and a new subject for me, Project Management - both of them have over lapping content, also they share the dryness of Sahara.

-Competition
Together with Patrice, a colleague, leading a team of three students to a Java programming/strategy competition at NTU - virtualXgame; and problem solving by writing an algorithm at NUS - algoMania. Team name is Machinegun; with a motto, coined by JackKee: 'for truth and love, justice and hope; for the future' ...!