realizations

we tend to realize the value of what we have when they are taken away. and we start to really know what we are missing if there is an element of comparison involved.

i realized that just yesterday.

well, i have been whining quite a lot about the monotony in my job. and as they say, you would never know how lucky you are if you keep on looking out instead of looking in. and indeed, i came upon a great realization yesterday.

i was wishing hard to land another writing job that comes with the same compensation as my salary at the moment. if you feel you have been staying in one company for too long, all you do is look out for another one.

i thought i was right. but i was wrong.

all along, i have not realized how lucky i am getting paid for doing something not quite hard as other workloads in the corporate world.

to give you a better understanding on this, let me just breeze through what happened yesterday.

i applied for a writing position in a startup company located at the Global City in Taguig. The compensation offered for a blogger or content writer is almost the same as my compensation in my present job.

Well, in my excitement, i missed the part where it was written there that the setting would be like a call center, in which writers, the unlucky ones, would be having a graveyard shift while the lucky ones would be writing during the day, like a 9-6 work schedule.

so there. i applied for the position. and a day after submitting my resume, i got a call for an interview right away. it was good news, right? Wrong!

so i went there, too hopeful to even realize the disadvantage of working in a place a bit far from where you live. i slipped into my best suit, hailed a cab and cheerily greeted the people at the reception area upon arriving.

i answered some questions, filled in a bio-data form and waited for about 15 minutes. then i was given 2 writing exams later. well, it was like writing a press release for the netizens. the article must be concise and it should be written in a way that grabs and retains the attention of readers. and it must be informative and must take a conversational form to create more connection between the author and the reader.

there were at least 8 of us who aspired for the position. and they were as impatient as me as we waited for about 25 more minutes after finishing the writing test. after 5 minutes, i was called for the initial interview. the girl who was not even in an office suit did the interview. she must have been the HR head, or someone like that. so since when did people in the HR department start wearing platform sandals, an ordinary blouse and pants in a formal interview?

but what made me raise my brow is the fact that the initial interview was conducted in a room that looked like a storeroom, complete with chairs in disarray and a broom and a dustpan. gosh. what have i done, i asked myself quietly.

and as soon as the interview started, i also started thinking of at least 20 reasons why i should not have been there talking in the first place. well, for one, i hate a graveyard shift. Second, who wants to write at least 10 articles a day? And third, it is a startup company, which means there is no guarantee if it is going to succeed. i have worked with a startup company before. but that was when i was still a newly grad. so, whether it stays or it closes, i wouldn't mind looking for another job.

and when the girl asked me a question that concerns my MBA, like she was trying to see if i'd give up my MBA for a call center job (in case i would need to, or if the job asks for it), i knew right there and then that i was still a lot luckier than the people who have started working for that company.

and you know what? i usually complain about wasted time doing nothing after work, but in there, breaks are even recorded. duh! what an uptight environment. too strict for a very laidback person like me.

so there. i went to class which happened to get dissolved after. i did not feel down, though. 'Cause i've gotten into a great realization yesterday.

now, i know where i belong. perhaps i just need a lot more time to somehow appreciate what i have in the present, and just look forward for the better things to come, like a promotion, right?

so when you feel like changing careers or shifting jobs, make sure it is what you really want. 'Cause regrets in the end don't give you back what you have already lost. Just stay where you are at the moment and look out for chances of career advancement in the same company.

Well, still depends on you, though. just think first before letting go of something you might wanna have back in the end. :)