My name is Yin Teing from Malaysia. I am not a career coach, I am not trying to sell you any coaching packages. No bullshit or fluffy ‘up the clouds’ stuff where fairies and unicorns are made off.
The aim for me to set up this site is to share my personal experience as well as observations of over 20 years of working. I have done minimal wage jobs, part time jobs, internship, holiday jobs, corporate jobs and a paycut job. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a job hopper.
Here’s an outline of my career:
- started my first job at the age of 17 years old, after Form 5 or high school
- second job at the age of 19 years old after pre university course (STPM exams) while waiting for results
- subsequent holiday jobs and internships at almost every single semester break available. I worked as data entry, clerks, personal assistants and internship
- by my second year of university of studying Applied Chemistry, my job experiences told me that my vocation is to interact with humans and not chemicals. I like to help people but did not like to sell.
- while my friends are applying for chemist and engineer jobs after graduation, I targeted customer service sector.
- worked for 1.5 month at a company with shady practice and left as soon as I can
- Due to the work experiences I’ve had, with a little help from a friend to just help me get the phone interview, I got the job at one of the leaders in the service industry
- worked in the company for 9.5 years. When people found out I worked there for so long, their first question is, “how come you lasted so long?”. First 5 years was in frontline, then moved on to manage the internal information portal, communication, training and work with other departments on product launches, promotions and processes.
- In 2008, resigned to take a break and try blogging. The corporate job was too mentally demanding for me to have energy left to come out with blog post. But within 2 weeks, I found myself in Thailand and living there for almost a year. Learned a lot. Healed a lot
- Came back, took a paycut job to have enough mental energy to work on my blog. That time blogging business was not competitive and making big money. But my earnings were not even a quarter of my paycut job! And I was barely surviving on that paycut job
- My old boss called me to work in another company where she headed the department. I went back to the corporate world a second time. Stayed there for 6.5 years
- Resigned in 2017 to be a full time caregiver for my mom.
When I was still in school, while my friends are relaxing and enjoying themselves during school holidays, I take up part time job. Because I was ambitious and had a plan on how to one day to be a successful entrepreneur. I do not come from a well to do family and felt people looked down on us. I had wanted to proof them wrong.
By the time I was in my early 20s, I was on my way to a path of success. Good career prospects and I was training to be a religious public speaker. Everything was going on well according to plan.
Then tragedy struck- my mom got diagnosed with tonsil cancer and had to undergo surgery quickly. After the surgery her condition got quite bad. I was so scared. Few days after my mom’s operation, my dad suffered a massive stroke. He slipped into a coma and passed away soon after. I had to manage the funeral, young, confused and never saw it coming. Then the months following that I had to care for my mom for her radiotherapy seasons. 36 doses. While still holding my job with no time to grief. Sometimes when I am alone like driving or in the shower, tears would roll down my face. Because my mom looked so bad that I was worried she would not live.
The full realization hit me like a tonne of bricks on the day of my dad’s funeral. I was going after the wrong direction in life. Because, because, I know that all the money and power in the world would not bring him back. And it would not guarantee that my mom would live.
The experience was so traumatising that I would not even wish it on my worst energy. Ever. But in a way it was a wake up call. But in a way, terrible as it was, it was better for me to realize that my priorities in life were wrong than to find out when I am much older.
Over the years, I have learned a lot. And I also take interest and care into the lives of those around me….and learn from them. In this blog, I would speak about these experiences. Do consider them with an open mind.
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