I do have a therapist who i visit regularly. But I decided to start looking for work again, so I will not see her anytime soon until I find work. Such therapy sessions are meant to make you see deep inside yourself and slowly realise or find what you truly are looking for. It is seldom used as a means to tell you what needs to be done.
I have also read up some online help. One website suggested I head to the bookstore and something may just interest me a lot. I did that and indeed found interest in chinese pastry (dim sum) making cookbook. On another day, a book on event planning also caught my eye.
I'm not sure how things will go. But a tentative plan is to look for jobs while I do some freelancing work - event planning. Once I have some income, I will work on the pastry making.
As for the job, I tried 2 programming interviews but both fell through. And it indeed made me wonder if that's truly what I want. Or, as my post mentioned, should I venture into something else?
I also went for a testing job interview. It was for a small company, and after reading my resume, I was shown the door. As I have been in development role for years and a sudden switch to testing may just not appeal.
Nevertheless, the interview for the "project management" role was successful. The recruiter told me I stand a good chance. However, as the hiring manager is not around in office until 29th May, I can only hope I am offered the position when she comes back. I usually only let out good news when it's confirmed. But in case you worry, I am writing it here. Hopefully, you can keep me in your prayers for getting the job. I also will go pray at the temple. The advantages I see in the job are,
1) I move around a lot and can mingle around with people. This can improve my people-skills
2) It does not focus on technical skills. It focus more on the business side. This is perhaps what I need to brush up.
I hope I can find such jobs that let me hone up my business / people skills, as I see it as a much more marketable skill.
As for staying in a job for more than a year, pls believe me when I say I am not sure if I can do that. When I stayed for a full year at my last job, I was surprised at myself that I hung on.
I know you meant very well for me. I'm very direct with my words at times. Hope you do not mind me writing my thoughts and feels.
I do have a therapist who i visit regularly. But I decided to start looking for work again, so I will not see her anytime soon until I find work. Such therapy sessions are meant to make you see deep inside yourself and slowly realise or find what you truly are looking for. It is seldom used as a means to tell you what needs to be done.
Therapy can help you discover what you are looking for (as you remark above). It could assist in keeping you from yet again going down a dead end.
As for staying in a job for more than a year, pls believe me when I say I am not sure if I can do that. When I stayed for a full year at my last job, I was surprised at myself that I hung on.
Believe me when I say that therapy might help you discover why you become bored with your various jobs and don't stick with them for any length of time. This is a very important item for you to consider. If you don't begin staying with jobs for any length of time, you may find that you can't find a good job anywhere.
I realise you're direct…I am not upset about it at all.
argh... i was typing halfway, and a wrong combination of keys erased it off!!
anyway, let me give u a hug for your concern on me :)
yes, therapy could help in that. i have called up my counseling centre to ask for career guidance. the receptionist then said it will be the usual finding out of interests and my likes. i had tried the online resources and they asked the same thing. the result came out to be pet / animal care, as I usually feel strongly about pet / animal welfare.
but i guess, the difference between the online resource and therapy session is, someone is there to think it out for me. It could be an option. I will try it out.
As for the discovery of why I get bored, we did not manage to find out about it. but when i did some analysis on myself (in order to explain during interviews why I job hop), i put it down to a few reasons. And also thought of some reasons that would keep me at a job. Unfortunately, the reasons for staying did not come in handy as i did not have the chance to bring them up in the interviews.
but yes, perhaps, it is time for me to return to counseling and seek advice on the career options that have been on my mind.
Sigh, the last interview where i was questioned about the passion for programming kept ringing in my mind, somehow.
PS: Ha! I kept wondering if advise and advice meant differently, as text editors would always say advice is more correct. Yesterday, I checked it out and found that there is a difference, in UK context. Which is the context Singapore education has been based on. So I am right :)
The difference between advice and advise is that advice is a noun (I am giving you advice.) and advise is a verb (I advise you to be careful.) This is true in both US and UK English. Of course, English is a strange language.
I think that the questions about your passion for programming probably stemmed from the interviewer's experience with programmers turned testers. The general notion among managers is that programmers who turn testers are either very bad programmers who have been steered into testing to keep them away from programming, or are just trying out testing as a stopgap while they find a programming job elsewhere.
When I worked for Searchspace years ago, my boss was about to fire a programmer who wasn't any good at it. He called me into his office and offered him to me as a tester. I told him "So you want me to take a bad programmer and make him into a good tester?" I told him that I wasn't interested in that particular task
You should keep searching for the reasons why you job-hop and for positive reasons why you will continue in a job. I'll light a candle for you today at church.
argh.. i was replying via email just now when the wrong combination of keys erased it all off again.
in a way, yes, those who switched from programming to testing had their reasons for doing so. 1 elderly tester I knew switched 'cos she did not want long hours at work. Another middle-aged Indian national lady said she did programming for 1-2years and decided to do testing instead. I had a different reason too.
But those were not what prompted them to show me to the door. For both interviews, I did some revising and reading up. I thought I was prepared.
At the first interview, my technical knowledge was very much challenged, and I did not impress them much with what I did at work so far. They gave me a hands-on test to build a new system and went off. I had been very much used to handling the maintenance of a system, and little exposure to making a new system alive. I did not tell them this though, and ended up scouring the internet for samples. But alas, I never set up new systems in my computer before and had trouble with it, and I spent quite a while on it. And it resulted in a less than satisfactory system. Initially, I thought "new system vs maintenance" was probably the cause of my bad performance.
But at the 2nd interview, I had done reading up as well. But the questions on the paper turned out much more difficult than I expected. And I also had to check for answers online. Then 2 persons came in and asked some challenging technical questions. I fumbled on some questions too. They got undecided and the technical lead came in. He asked for my introduction since my graduation days. And what I did since quitting. When I was done, he summed up, saying that if programming was truly my passion, I would have breathed it, had it in my mind, and always interested in it every moment of the day.
I agreed with how he phrased it. Programming could have been my passion for a few years of my life. Unfortunately, I did not stay on long enough. Now, I am starting to lose my grip on it.
These being said, my options are still pretty open. But the 2 interviews did affect me a lot.
Anyway, a few months ago, when I was still working, I had an interview. The interviewer sounded alright with my skills, but held back as he was not sure if I could stay on the job. At that point, I had not managed to come up with reasons that could make me stay.
But now, I have managed to come up with those reasons / factors that could make me stay on. Although I never had the chance to bring them up.
I will perhaps mention these to my counselor. I will make an urgent appointment with her when the week starts tomorrow.
It sounds like you are thinking about the things you need to consider before applying for further jobs.
I know that the previous 2-3 interviews weren't particularly good for you. Learn the lessons they teach you and move on. I had an interview with a company in Slough (far NW of the London area, hard to get to) and after a minute or two I told them, "You are looking for someone with skills I don't have. The recruiter must have sent me here on the off chance that I could do this job." We then had a pleasant chat and I left.
Good luck with the counselor. I'm sure you'll get through this.
Yup, I indeed had thought of what will make me stay in my next job.
Sigh. Yes, those interviews were not too good for me. They kind of crushed the confidence I had before entering the interview room. One of the interviews was with a company I had worked in before, and I had met 1 of the 2 interviewers while I was in that job too. After the interview, I remarked to that person this time was much harder than the last one. He commented that both have different project requirements.
Both interviews presented challenges to me, in terms of the technical side. I can of course take it in the good way, and try to improve my knowledge further. But I seriously don't know how well it can work out. I had a bad career history. Chances to get interviews are far and few.
The one that sounded hopeful had some testing, little coding, and more of coordination work between various parties and understanding of the govt agency's business processes. I thought I may have luck with these, but openings for such positions seem so few. Perhaps I'll discuss this with my counselor too, to see if I need to focus on anything.
I am really surprised that you were so frank at the interview! I thought, generally, everyone will try to impress at the interview and leave the impression that, they are willing to learn new skills.
Thank you so much for the luck. It's an ordeal that I will get over. I just need to find out and learn how to. I will come out stronger.
Oh yeah, what did "light a candle for me" mean? You mentioned it earlier, but I forgot to ask about it.
Thanks, lighting up of the candle is very much appreciated :)
I also headed down to the temple and prayed fervently for my career, hoping that I can get good news this thursday. As I prayed, tears (of regret?) rolled down.
Thanks for still reading the blog.
I do have a therapist who i visit regularly. But I decided to start looking for work again, so I will not see her anytime soon until I find work. Such therapy sessions are meant to make you see deep inside yourself and slowly realise or find what you truly are looking for. It is seldom used as a means to tell you what needs to be done.
I have also read up some online help. One website suggested I head to the bookstore and something may just interest me a lot. I did that and indeed found interest in chinese pastry (dim sum) making cookbook. On another day, a book on event planning also caught my eye.
I'm not sure how things will go. But a tentative plan is to look for jobs while I do some freelancing work - event planning. Once I have some income, I will work on the pastry making.
As for the job, I tried 2 programming interviews but both fell through. And it indeed made me wonder if that's truly what I want. Or, as my post mentioned, should I venture into something else?
I also went for a testing job interview. It was for a small company, and after reading my resume, I was shown the door. As I have been in development role for years and a sudden switch to testing may just not appeal.
Nevertheless, the interview for the "project management" role was successful. The recruiter told me I stand a good chance. However, as the hiring manager is not around in office until 29th May, I can only hope I am offered the position when she comes back. I usually only let out good news when it's confirmed. But in case you worry, I am writing it here. Hopefully, you can keep me in your prayers for getting the job. I also will go pray at the temple. The advantages I see in the job are,
1) I move around a lot and can mingle around with people. This can improve my people-skills
2) It does not focus on technical skills. It focus more on the business side. This is perhaps what I need to brush up.
I hope I can find such jobs that let me hone up my business / people skills, as I see it as a much more marketable skill.
As for staying in a job for more than a year, pls believe me when I say I am not sure if I can do that. When I stayed for a full year at my last job, I was surprised at myself that I hung on.
I know you meant very well for me. I'm very direct with my words at times. Hope you do not mind me writing my thoughts and feels.
Reply
Therapy can help you discover what you are looking for (as you remark above). It could assist in keeping you from yet again going down a dead end.
As for staying in a job for more than a year, pls believe me when I say I am not sure if I can do that. When I stayed for a full year at my last job, I was surprised at myself that I hung on.
Believe me when I say that therapy might help you discover why you become bored with your various jobs and don't stick with them for any length of time. This is a very important item for you to consider. If you don't begin staying with jobs for any length of time, you may find that you can't find a good job anywhere.
I realise you're direct…I am not upset about it at all.
Reply
anyway, let me give u a hug for your concern on me :)
yes, therapy could help in that. i have called up my counseling centre to ask for career guidance. the receptionist then said it will be the usual finding out of interests and my likes. i had tried the online resources and they asked the same thing. the result came out to be pet / animal care, as I usually feel strongly about pet / animal welfare.
but i guess, the difference between the online resource and therapy session is, someone is there to think it out for me. It could be an option. I will try it out.
As for the discovery of why I get bored, we did not manage to find out about it. but when i did some analysis on myself (in order to explain during interviews why I job hop), i put it down to a few reasons. And also thought of some reasons that would keep me at a job. Unfortunately, the reasons for staying did not come in handy as i did not have the chance to bring them up in the interviews.
but yes, perhaps, it is time for me to return to counseling and seek advice on the career options that have been on my mind.
Sigh, the last interview where i was questioned about the passion for programming kept ringing in my mind, somehow.
PS: Ha! I kept wondering if advise and advice meant differently, as text editors would always say advice is more correct. Yesterday, I checked it out and found that there is a difference, in UK context. Which is the context Singapore education has been based on. So I am right :)
Reply
I think that the questions about your passion for programming probably stemmed from the interviewer's experience with programmers turned testers. The general notion among managers is that programmers who turn testers are either very bad programmers who have been steered into testing to keep them away from programming, or are just trying out testing as a stopgap while they find a programming job elsewhere.
When I worked for Searchspace years ago, my boss was about to fire a programmer who wasn't any good at it. He called me into his office and offered him to me as a tester. I told him "So you want me to take a bad programmer and make him into a good tester?" I told him that I wasn't interested in that particular task
You should keep searching for the reasons why you job-hop and for positive reasons why you will continue in a job. I'll light a candle for you today at church.
Hugs.
Reply
in a way, yes, those who switched from programming to testing had their reasons for doing so. 1 elderly tester I knew switched 'cos she did not want long hours at work. Another middle-aged Indian national lady said she did programming for 1-2years and decided to do testing instead. I had a different reason too.
But those were not what prompted them to show me to the door. For both interviews, I did some revising and reading up. I thought I was prepared.
At the first interview, my technical knowledge was very much challenged, and I did not impress them much with what I did at work so far. They gave me a hands-on test to build a new system and went off. I had been very much used to handling the maintenance of a system, and little exposure to making a new system alive. I did not tell them this though, and ended up scouring the internet for samples. But alas, I never set up new systems in my computer before and had trouble with it, and I spent quite a while on it. And it resulted in a less than satisfactory system. Initially, I thought "new system vs maintenance" was probably the cause of my bad performance.
But at the 2nd interview, I had done reading up as well. But the questions on the paper turned out much more difficult than I expected. And I also had to check for answers online. Then 2 persons came in and asked some challenging technical questions. I fumbled on some questions too. They got undecided and the technical lead came in. He asked for my introduction since my graduation days. And what I did since quitting. When I was done, he summed up, saying that if programming was truly my passion, I would have breathed it, had it in my mind, and always interested in it every moment of the day.
I agreed with how he phrased it. Programming could have been my passion for a few years of my life. Unfortunately, I did not stay on long enough. Now, I am starting to lose my grip on it.
These being said, my options are still pretty open. But the 2 interviews did affect me a lot.
Anyway, a few months ago, when I was still working, I had an interview. The interviewer sounded alright with my skills, but held back as he was not sure if I could stay on the job. At that point, I had not managed to come up with reasons that could make me stay.
But now, I have managed to come up with those reasons / factors that could make me stay on. Although I never had the chance to bring them up.
I will perhaps mention these to my counselor. I will make an urgent appointment with her when the week starts tomorrow.
Reply
I know that the previous 2-3 interviews weren't particularly good for you. Learn the lessons they teach you and move on. I had an interview with a company in Slough (far NW of the London area, hard to get to) and after a minute or two I told them, "You are looking for someone with skills I don't have. The recruiter must have sent me here on the off chance that I could do this job." We then had a pleasant chat and I left.
Good luck with the counselor. I'm sure you'll get through this.
Reply
Sigh. Yes, those interviews were not too good for me. They kind of crushed the confidence I had before entering the interview room. One of the interviews was with a company I had worked in before, and I had met 1 of the 2 interviewers while I was in that job too. After the interview, I remarked to that person this time was much harder than the last one. He commented that both have different project requirements.
Both interviews presented challenges to me, in terms of the technical side. I can of course take it in the good way, and try to improve my knowledge further. But I seriously don't know how well it can work out. I had a bad career history. Chances to get interviews are far and few.
The one that sounded hopeful had some testing, little coding, and more of coordination work between various parties and understanding of the govt agency's business processes. I thought I may have luck with these, but openings for such positions seem so few. Perhaps I'll discuss this with my counselor too, to see if I need to focus on anything.
I am really surprised that you were so frank at the interview! I thought, generally, everyone will try to impress at the interview and leave the impression that, they are willing to learn new skills.
Thank you so much for the luck. It's an ordeal that I will get over. I just need to find out and learn how to. I will come out stronger.
Oh yeah, what did "light a candle for me" mean? You mentioned it earlier, but I forgot to ask about it.
Reply
Reply
I also headed down to the temple and prayed fervently for my career, hoping that I can get good news this thursday. As I prayed, tears (of regret?) rolled down.
Reply
Leave a comment