My First Year Anniversary working in Makati

Today, February 26, 2015, I am celebrating my first year at work. I still find it amusing that I am now living the employee world as I still feel just like yesterday when I graduated.  I can still remember how nervous I felt when I was interviewed by the HR Manager as well as the day when I stood in front to present myself to everyone in the office. We have this talent portion and I sang Nicky Minaj’s Superbass including the rap portion.

For 365days I was able to meet a new people that turned out to be family for me. I treat the company as a second home as I do genuinely feel at home.
Today as part of my virtual celebration I will be sharing the lessons, highlights and some pieces of advice that was shared to me and/or I discovered now that I am n the four corners of the office.



Before that you may want to check some of my realizations from the past that I have already shared in this blog.

Things I Realized Since My First Investment
Things I Realized After Graduation

Lessons, Highlights and Pieces of Advice

• Duon ka sa trabaho na kailangan ka hindi sa kailangan mo. I know this may sound a little confusing but all that I am saying is that I fully realized the difference between need and want in terms of  the job that you are with. In the current setup I am the only document specialist so I feel like “the job” needs me a lot. As per my last conversation with the boss, I felt his sincere affirmations and great feedback and he said that he appreciates my value in the office. This in return made me value my job more as an employee. There is something about feeling “needed and wanted” that makes your work spirit uplift.I am not staying because I need the job in order to feed my lifestyle… I am staying more because the job needs me and I don’t want to let go. 

• Socialize and network with your workmates. You have to be friendly and you really need to have friends in the company if you want to stay longer. This is because far more than your performance at work you are there to build your network or the people that will be your very resources in life. 

• Achieve productivity at work. Manage your time well… go to work early and if not needed do not stay late. You need to know what your priorities are and see to it that you are being part of the company’s assets. 

• Start Saving. I feel very happy that I had known the value of saving from an early age and this I honestly swear by based on experience… SAVE as early as possible. Value every paycheck that you receive and avoid to over spend just because you now have the money. The easiest way to save is to make sure that you leave a portion of your income in your payroll account or a separate account. You can also try the 50-20-30 Rule of Budgeting wherein your saving 20% of the money and what’s left for your expenses will be 50% while 30% is reserved for your lifestyle.

• Always be present at work and on time. Your attendance at work is very important as it can be a basis for your regularization. If your boss sees that you file leave almost every other week or late almost every other day then why would he/she will invest to you?! Based on experience being present and on time helped me a lot to get to know my workmates better and be known to them and to the boss too. 

• Learning to say “No” is important. On my first few months in the company I keep on saying “yes” to everything and just getting stressed for the big workload since I am the only document specialist. Thankfully after some posts about productivity that I have seen I learned the value of saving no and just admitting that I am not superwoman. There are tasks that I can’t do and better to be delegated to the right people. If I know that the job is something that I am capable of I give my best but for tasks that requires better knowledge and experience I’ll be honest. 

• Set goals for your career. This particular item is something that you shouldn’t skip once you have your work already. Set Goals. Have a clear vision about whom you will be in the next 3, 5 or 10 years. Your career goals can also affect your decisions in life so it is important to choose a specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound objectives. Part of my career goals is to become one of the youngest manager at work. I want to experience handling people for I love sharing information and lessons to key people around me.

Highlights of My Career so far

1. First Paycheck. I still keep my very first paycheck in the company for it I was very happy back then. Though the amount maybe small since I started my work in the mid of the work month still.. it is one of the paychecks that I will never forget.
2. First Company Outing. This is super fun for me because I was bond with my workmates and I get to enjoy that one whole day of adventure. We actually went to Ocean Adventure and watched different shows there. 
   
3. First Company Anniversary Celebration. My company celebrated its 20th anniversary and I am very fortunate to be the emcee of the said event. The highlight of that day for me is when our boss gave his speech. He mentioned that the company has been his life for the longest time, that we should not be like other employees that just go to work to time in and time out. There should be passion in everything that we do that will turn us from someone to somebody.  
4. First Christmas Party. This is another event that I hosted for the company and I had a lot of fun with this one. We played games with prizes of course and guess what, I won 2000pesos!!! We celebrated at El Ponticello at the back of PBCom.
5. First Salary Increase. When I started working I knew that it will take me years to be at the salary that I am enjoying today. I was a fresh graduate and brought to an IT Company as a field and technical writing as the main task that is really out of my reach. But behold, I had an increase thrice and I haven’t even celebrated my first anniversary.

As I come to a new year in this job that I have I am looking forward for better experience and better camaraderie at work. I mainly realized that everything happens for a reason. Why I am at the work I have today and why I met these amazing people around me.

If not for the work that I have today I knew my life will be very different. Enjoy your life as employees and see to it that you are honing your potential and skills for the better. Find happiness in what you do for a living as it is not as always about the destination but the journey you will embark on.

Be better in your finances. Save Now, Invest Now and walk your way to success.