I NEED CAREER GUIDANCE :(

[silver_crescent]

@MsIndependent - ok lang yan. I remember nung nagstart pa lang din ako maghanap ng work, more than 2 months bago ako nakahanap at sa isang small auditing firm pa ako natanggap. Halos mapudpod ang sapatos ko kakalakad sa makati area to think na CPA ako at graduate with honors sa isang state U sa Manila. Halos mawalan na ako ng pag-asa. But that didn't stop me. I used those experiences to improve my skills and to land a better paying job.

As to career, until now, hindi ko pa rin alam ang gusto ko. It's hard to find a job that you want if you're a breadwinner because you have a lot of things to consider. As what other sissies here said, look for a job that can pay for your passion. In my opinion only few people are lucky enough to land their dream job (plus dream pay). 

- Same here. Di ko rin alam kung ano talaga gusto ko. I started out din sa auditing firm but I ended up in a backoffice of a BPO company and feeling ko wala nang napupuntahan ang career ko.  Is it too late to change course? Feeling ko nga nakalimutan ko na yung ibang accounting knowledge eh. 

[pretty_B]

me too. same same, idk kung ano talaga gusto ko. midlife crisis na ba ito??? haha.

[leoanmsotelo]

Mga sis, pahelp naman. I need your advice. Ano mas pipiliin nyo, yung maliit na company (6 years pa lang), na may malaking chance ka na mapromote, or yung big time company na slim ang chance for promotion?

[j.adore]

It depends on your risk appetite. Definitely mas safe sa established company.
It's also preference on big fish small pond versus small fish big pond.

To help you gauge, check if you have responsibilities like being a breadwinner?
They are estimating another economic crisis kasi. Study which company can weather this type of storm.

Otherwise, feel free to choose the one with better career opportunity.

[RoadrunnerXCX]

i am doing the same thing now. working in a high paying job while pursuing my passion.  i realized i enjoy retailing kaya kapag nakaipon from my high paying job i plan to put up my own shoe business and become a supplier for malls. hays sana ma achieve.

[red_yesha]

Sobrang nakakarelate ako sa mga sissies dito.
Bukod sa breadwinner ako e hindi ko pa rin talaga alam kung ano ba talaga ang passion ko.
Challenge to sa atin kasi kailangan
natin isaalang alang yung kikitain natin.
Nawa'y malaman natin kung ano ang gusto nating marating na kung maaari SANA ay magcompensate din naman sa salary para mapunan parin ang ating mga responsibilidad.

[boteliscious]

I can relate with everyone in here. But what's funny is I am a practicing counselor! Kahit ako naeexperience ko din to, sometimes di lang passion ang problema, our values, beliefs also affect our career choice. Ako nga, nag aral pa ko ulit, Master's Degree for career growth purposes, kaya lang napaka family oriented ko, na gusto ko every minute of the day eh ako ang kasama ng mga anak ko, so kahit alam ko na mahihirapan kami magasawa sa finances, kahit nagtthesis pa ko, magreresign na ko. Online jobs na lang muna.

[simang]

I think normal lang naman na mafeel natin na hindi natin alam kung san tayo pupunta career wise. I remember one of my classmates sa graduate school, hindi nya tinuloy yung thesis nya, kasi at that time his girlfriend got pregnant and he has to work 2 jobs for his kid. So ending he wasn't able to graduate with me 2 yrs ago. Ngayon nag enroll ulit sya to finish his thesis and he said na he doesn't have any regrets, na wala man syang Masters degree, may baby girl naman sya. I guess his point was we all have our own blessings, and nasa atin yun kung ano talaga ang mas priority natin. Hindi man sya nagbloom sa career, ibang priceless blessing naman ang kapalit.

I think the most important thing is to really find your passion, as in kung ano talaga yung gusto mong gawin, like imagine yourself 30, 40 years from now and you see yourself doing a particular thing, are you happy? Kasi for me that was how it worked. Even as a kid, I wanted to teach, kumbaga dream job ko yun. Of course it changed habang nag-aaral ako, but eventually, although I didn't take up education, I did land a teaching stint kasi yun ang hinabol and pinursue ko as a job. It brings the most satisfaction to me as a person. Ngayon, I have plans of changing career, one that will widen my clinical experience, and will give me better pay. I will be pursuing clinical practice kasi I want to be able to teach better. Kasi honestly, when I'm 60 or 70, I can still see myself teaching kids. Feeling ko vocation ko talaga ito. I do sales on the side, which also entails training associates so parang lahat ng ginagawa ko falls down to teaching.

For those who haven't found their passion yet, never stop trying and learning new things. Trial and error din kasi.

[sarsingkit]

sis TS, if you are to go overseas, yun na muna ang paghandaan mo. Marami pa kasi pwede mangyari. You never know, even your passion will still change. Parang hindi mo pa namention kung ano talaga ang gusto mo? What is it? Ako, the problem with me is that I don't have any passion at all. I have likes and hobbies but those are not something I want to earn a living with. I like cooking so much, but do I want to be a chef, no. I am into arts, crafts and photography, but do I want to be a photographer, no. When I moved overseas, naiinggit nga ako sa mga immigrant din na nakilala ko through employment workshops kasi sila, defined na yung path nila through their careers. Ako, parang errrm, wala kong masabi and for me not to appear as some directionless yuppie eh nag imbento na lang ako ng gusto. Years later, napunta din ako sa inimbento ko. Hehe. My work is quite boring, to be frank, but I am happy. It pays well, so I can pay for my hobbies.

[donya_dyosa]

Hugs to all the sisses on this thread!!

I just resigned from work, ADP Philippines.
feel ko nasa tuktok na ko ng career ko kasi nasa ADP nako
Very high paying job kaso it was so hard naman.
kakayanin ko sana however, my mom got sick. She became bed ridden for about 2 weeks
due to hypertension.. konting kibot highblood agad.
ADP was kind enough to give me LOAs pero ganun rin pagkaLOA ko.. at pagbalik ko sa work
wala rin aabsent rin ako palagi nun. at iba kasi pag nasa call center ka.. sobrang sakit ng absent mo sa stats mo.

My husband told me to choose mom over work.
so nasa training bond period pako; nagpasa ako ng immediate resignation
ako pa nagsabi na i'l pay nalang the bond.

me being here at the house, my mom got better.
pero sa ngayon. parang nakakadepress na.. san nako pupulutin
nito after ng lahat ng ito?

ayaw ko narin magcall center.. i am so done with the metrics, the acws, the adherance, the csats dsats.. ewwkk, nakakasuka na... ayaw ko na talaga..
nagenroll ako ng online bookkeeping with EAA.. para sa susunod na career ko.. office staff nalang kahit hindi nako umangat basta may work lang (in the future)... mabuti nalang si hubby malaki sweldo sa barko, my mom naman has millions pa..
 

[RoadrunnerXCX]

maaarte kasi HR dito.

This is so true. Imagine my  conversational assessment in a leading bank here  was conducted by a Brit  and I passed. Final interview was conducted by a Filipina from HR and she  failed me. Perfectionist much! Imbyerna ako

[angel..]

Hindi pala ako nagiisa pagdating dito. This can get depressing din. I feel like I've been floating for years. Right now, I'm trying to find out what my passion is/are and what my strengths are. For starters, I plan to buy Strenghtsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath.

[naddie99]

Sakin, you probably need to start working muna. Since you're not sure if you could start enrolling for school and yung pagkuha sayo ng kapatid mo. ou need to start somewhere. About sa paghahanap ng work, girl, pahirapan talaga kahit hindi online job pero what's good siguro when you start an online job is pwede mo sya dalin, I mean kahit kapag ka nagaaral ka or even kahit kapag nangibang bansa ka. diba?

[hidinginseoul]

I agree with what simang said na trial and error ang paghanap ng passion. When I graduated from college, I was supposed to go to med school, but I feel like I needed to try something else. Buong family ko kasi inclined sa medicine. They were expecting the same thing from me pero di ko talaga ma-feel. I felt like I wanted and needed to explore my options some more. They supported me naman, even if they did not really like the first job na pinasok ko. For the experience na lang din talaga.

While I was trying to figure things out and since excited na rin ako to earn my own money, I took the online English teaching job for Koreans. People said I was good in teaching and English so that motivated me even more. Tapos super into K-Pop pa ako at the time kaya na-push talaga. However, after a few months, I realized na dead-end job siya. Hindi na ako nagiging productive then the salary was not even that high. The job felt too safe. I decided to explore some more.

After that I tried out in HR, which to be honest, na-enjoy ko talaga kahit stressful. I was a contractual for 5 months and for probationary na dapat pero I didn't continue cos masyadong malayo and feel ko nakakaapekto na siya sa work performance ko, which made me think kung kaya ko ba talaga.

Anyway, after my stint in HR, I took a pre-school teaching job na akala ko talaga is passion ko cos a lot of people were saying how good I was with kids. I knew I was good with kids pero when it came to teaching na, parang iba siya eh. Hindi enough na you're just good with kids. Tapos I realized na the pre-school job felt too safe for me. I'm not saying na madali magturo (cos it's not HAHA pero fun din pero as compared with my previous experience, I felt like I could do more in the corporate setting.

And kaya right now, I am back to applying for HR work. It's taking awhile sa results pero I'd like to think na it will be worth the wait.

Kaya ayun, don't give up on your passion. Feel free to explore and learn from things lang.

[naddie99]

Siguro what's helpful in this kind of situation is the goal setting. Kapag alam mo kasi ang goal mo all you do are things to achieve that. right? For me din kasi I'm having doubts na sa career na patutunguhan ko kaya medyo lost ako and know I'm considering shifting careers na nga.

[julietm]

^Tama. You need to set your goals muna. Goals na hindi lang for the present. Yung goals na tatanungin mo sarili mo where do you want to see yourself in 5 years or 10 years or so. I think everyone in their 20s experiences quarter life crisis. Ako nga 10 callcenters na pinaggalingan ko. Tapos 2 na hospitals tapos ESL teaching schools both online and offline. Wala naman ako problem sa performance, sa people. Masawain lang talaga ako. Naisip ko hindi pwede yung ganto. Tengga ako ng almost a year sa bahay. Bumili ako ng books about quarter life crisis, millenials, what to do with your life. Mga ganun. Halos naubos na savings ko at malaking pasalamat ko sa boyfriend ko na hindi ko naringgan ng kahit anong masamang comment about sa quarter life crisis chuva ko. Napakasupportive sa lahat ng desisyon ko. Nagtake rin ako ng mga free online courses like css etc pero hindi ako masyadong inclined sa mga bagay na pangcomputer eh. Tapos inisip ko kung ano ba talagang gusto ko at kung saan ako magaling. Naisip ko na ayoko nung work na malalayo ako sa pamilya ko lalo kapag nagkaanak na ako. Gusto ko makita ko bawat kilos at galaw nya. Ayoko nung work na andito nga ko sa bansa natin pero lagi rin akong wala sa bahay. So naisip ko home based dapat. So ngayon ESL teacher ako on the side. Tapos I enjoy being a mystery shopper rin. Pero naisip ko gusto ko pa rin magamit yung mga pinagaralan ko sa nursing. So naging interested ako sa medical coding. Kase eventually, pwede syang home based eh. Then I stumbled upon a posting about a certain coding school na nagpapapaaral ng free. I tried it and now I'm going to take my exam on Sunday. Tapos pagpasa ko dun magiging mentor ako sa school and hindi masama yung offer nila. May bond nga lang na 2 years pero swak pa rin sa goal ko. Kahit tempting na magsettle nalang sa mga available jobs, naisip ko magiging cycle na naman. Papangit lang lalo yung resume ko. So ayun share lang.

Hindi ka nagiisa sis. I know the feeling. Maraming times pa nga na umiiyak ako sa gabi to figure out things tsaka may mga time kase na nakakadepress kase you want to help din sana your parents pero dahil sa hindi mo nga alam kung anung gusto mong gawin, you're left with nothing. You can't help others if you can't help yourself. Hindi mo kailangan magmadali. Dadating rin ang tamang panahon na bigla mo nalang marerealize yung talagang gusto mong gawin. You have to clear your thoughts. You have to listen to yourself. Nakakatulong rin yung may mga tao na nakakaintindi sayo at hindi ka ijajudge. Basta. Be patient. (sorry for the long post)

[alice_alice]

Nainspire naman ako sa post above. Up until now I am still undecided, wala pa akong mapagdesisyunan.

Should I go back to my prev company? Magtiis hanggang sa mabaliw na naman ako o maguumpisa sa panibagong company back to zero na naman ang lahat? Sukang suka na ako sa call centers but it seems that's the only option for now.

As much as I want to manage our family business. Alam kong mas maganda pa rin sa corporate world wherein fixed ang monthly income ko unlike sa small food business namen na see saw ang kinikita. Malakas nga kame kumita pero napupunta lang lahat sa renta ng pwesto, kuryente at tubig. Sapat lang.

Ang dilemma ko talaga ngayon eh, di ko alam saan papunta ang career ko. Wala naman na talaga akong choice di na ako pwede maging choosy. 28 na ako. Sa BPO lang naman yung pwede tumanggap ng kahit anong edad. Gustuhin ko man sa opisina eh may age preference sila.

Worried na worried na talaga ako.

[wavesplashes]

Mga sis, pahelp naman. I need your advice. Ano mas pipiliin nyo, yung maliit na company (6 years pa lang), na may malaking chance ka na mapromote, or yung big time company na slim ang chance for promotion?

Minsan, it's not about the promotion. Mas mag focus ka na maghanap ng isang kompanya na magkaka extensive training ka. Minsan swertihan pero mararamdaman mo naman yun pag madami ka na din nalipatan na company. mas mag invest tayo sa experience, kasi pag solid na yung background mo sa isang technology (speaking from my background) or subject matter, right around the corner na ang promotion. 

[wavesplashes]

Nainspire naman ako sa post above. Up until now I am still undecided, wala pa akong mapagdesisyunan.

Should I go back to my prev company? Magtiis hanggang sa mabaliw na naman ako o maguumpisa sa panibagong company back to zero na naman ang lahat? Sukang suka na ako sa call centers but it seems that's the only option for now.

As much as I want to manage our family business. Alam kong mas maganda pa rin sa corporate world wherein fixed ang monthly income ko unlike sa small food business namen na see saw ang kinikita. Malakas nga kame kumita pero napupunta lang lahat sa renta ng pwesto, kuryente at tubig. Sapat lang.

Ang dilemma ko talaga ngayon eh, di ko alam saan papunta ang career ko. Wala naman na talaga akong choice di na ako pwede maging choosy. 28 na ako. Sa BPO lang naman yung pwede tumanggap ng kahit anong edad. Gustuhin ko man sa opisina eh may age preference sila.

Worried na worried na talaga ako.

Hi there! I used to work at HP, and I had colleagues who came from BPO. Give it a try lang. madaming divisions sa IT na service oriented, so your experience at BPO is a plus factor. Of course, dapat interested ka din to learn technical skills. From there, you can switch to IT career path - which I must say is one of the best jobs in the country, mapunta ka lang talaga sa tamang kompanya at technology.