Keeping Your Corporate Life Successful

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Admit it. Many of us were positivist during our Tertiary years, WE THOUGHT, everything / life is going to be all right after College. Those were the days when your head was busy thinking: wait, if to land a job, a pair of jeans and white shirt is cool. That means, doing an investigative journalism, full of life and courage to face bullets, i.e. Ampatuan media massacre. How about power dressing: getting a job in a company, wearing coat, nice shiny black stiletto, isn’t that chick and bad. You thought, an option could really be made. Exception to this, graduates of big (named) institutions, don’t really need to rehash who are they, and those whom finished with honors and top any of the licensure examinations.

To some, March-April-May months are gone. Time flies and felt so behind. There were unlimited calls for interviews, attended almost each of those, yet NO job-offer or NO descent one to make a basic living. Until such time, it gets so confusing, thinking why approximately 50% of the hiring section is Call Center. There were even moments, doubting yourself to pity why the college efforts aren’t paid-of. Unfortunately, dark side makes an individual blinded to compromise.

A piece of advice: Segregate the thoughts of who were while in College, if you believe yourself intelligent, active and popular. Set-aside ALL your personal biases. Every time applying for a particular position, think of it as a NEW experience, a ground-work to prove and challenge yourself anew. Never underestimate. Either you agree with me or not, subconsciously, we have a tendency to COMPARE. For example: Why the paint of this office is wearing-off and management seems not to care. My school, the lights very bright and its very clean everywhere. Those biases, it will destroy your concentration to get that ROLE.

The other side of wearing branded stilettos; working in a corporate means business. Business means a 100% compliance to meet quality performance (despite all odds), for some requires analysis, most part is mechanical. Wonder why during interviews if applying for junior positions, frequently the boss’s ask: How are you doing with mechanical job, doing almost the same thing, everyday? If the question fell in that particular tone, you knew the expectation. The answer will vary, depends on which you prefer your future is like.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) published an analysis: Should you quit / doing the job that you NEVER like? According to the magazine, YOU SHOULDN’T. ME, will rather qualify. To quit if comfort zone is babying me to not further accept the life’s challenge, remember, it’s hard to be complacent in the world when TAX and DEATH are the only constant factors. Continuously find yourself to improve, even if it sounds impossible at first. To not quit if only you feel like your comfort zone is shackled. The saying goes, “Life starts outside comfort zone.”

“Work-Life Balance”, some of the employees defines LIFE, enrolling to the gym, Zumba, and cooking lessons; others, quality time with family. On my perspective, the life in the work-life doesn’t mean DOING EXTRA THINGS to make weekends occupied. It means, doing something where YOURSELF is the BOSS. Corporate could change people’s VALUES, unwanted ANGST could eventually developed if things went beyond tolerable, i.e. working excessive hours, roles that have ZERO learning and development, no promotions and etc.

I commend a friend whom is employed in corporate: 8 hours a day (checking / doing emails at home), 5x a week (except holidays, sometimes), and SEVERAL provincial travels. Traveling for free plane tickets and hotels are GREAT, but can you really use company’s resources for luxury, that’s corruption. Amusingly, read a message from her saying, she’d enrolled herself in this art class and TENNIS. Doubt if she only wants to pretend to be busy, the focus is: she knows how to be responsible to keep her emotional / psychological self-fit. Hope that this inspires every one of us, to understand our subconscious self, and do what is right to be successful in the corporate.