Assignment 1

It’s Day 30 on my new job and I absolutely LOVE it! Exciting job scope aside, the people here have been nothing short of amazing. Firstly, the culture is fantastic. People are warm. And I mean, genuinely warm. Everyone greets everyone with a ready smile from the receptionist to the tea lady. It was exactly the same warmth I felt when I first came here for interview two months back. Despite the size of the reception area which was designed to impress (and I suspect, intimidate), I felt right at home. By the end of the hour-long conversation with my then-to-be boss and another colleague, I knew in my gut that I'd fit into the organisation. A place where people are damn good at what they do, proud of what they do, yet bring value to the table without being overbearing or rude.

I dare say this is the most brilliant and exciting company I've worked for in my career thus far. I look forward to the sparring of minds that keeps me on my toes every day. And people here do that. In fact, the intensity of ideas exchanged fueled by passion for the work we do collectively ain't for faint hearts. But I dove right in and relished every second because that's how we learn and grow.

Another thing that I really, REALLY love about this place is how respect is a huge thing. Respect matters a lot to me. I've met too many brilliant people who disappoint when it comes to treating service staff or when they're challenged during meetings. In the latter scenario, they get defensive, or worse, offensive and personal. Relationships are strained and other attendees are unwillingly caught in the bloodbath... which usually are egos talking when stripped to its core.

So imagine my surprise and relief when I started attending meetings here. Doesn't matter what the subject is or who the attendees are, meetings are held with a healthy dose of respect. People are slightly early or on time. The chairperson starts and ends sharply. Agendas are disseminated to all attendees a day before the meeting and action plans, the day after. The best part would be hearing the questions raised at these meetings, which have clearly shown to me that everyone is aligned and wants the best for the business. What's more, there's an unspoken understanding of "agreeing to disagree" which kept discussions robust and constructive. Strictly no time-wasters here!

So far so good, it seems. The items are checking off one by one on my Ideal Workplace list. Very thankful to be part of this amazing team and am definitely looking forward to adding more value in the months ahead!

The interview of my life

Dedicating this post to the smartest and sharpest woman I've met so far. Her name I shall not divulge in case someone Googles it and accesses to this site. But suffice to say that most people would've heard of her since she was an ex-broadcast journalist. The interview took an hour and I was kept on the edge of my seat from start to finish. She was icy cool initially, and there were a few difficult questions from her. I maintained my cool and she gradually warmed up when what I started to talk about made sense. The best part was that HR said they liked me a lot. A LOT.

Met her last Tue on 8 March to interview for an Internal Comms VP position. Halfway through the interview, she sprung a surprise on me and the other VP by saying that she'd like to give me two assignments. One would be how I'd leverage on the Intranet to engage employees, to which I protested because it's impossible to expect an Intranet to be a cure-all. To my relief she said, it's ok and just put in other faucets which I think are necessary to make it work. The other assignment was to write a simple blog post on my first day at my job. The goal of the blog post is to get people excited about what I'm doing. Hence I know I've to write from my heart.

Both assignments are relatively easy but I wouldn't be complacent about it. I genuinely like both of them and I know in my gut that I would fit in with the team. This is so different from the last interview I had with the CAG people where we couldn't gel at all and I left the interview feeling not-so-good about myself. These ladies however, are different. They came across as people who're proud of what they're doing, they know they're good at it and yet not overbearing and disrespectful towards others. That is the ideal team I would love to work for. Future boss is a woman with fire and I love that she asked me things that spoke to my heart. Things that I'm passionate about. So it's all good.

Shall go work on the assignments now. Wish me luck!