Saturday was my dad's birthday. After so many years of denying his age, and forbidding us from getting anything "senior citizen" related (no massage chairs, no walking sticks, no hair dyes, no anti-wrinkle creams, no "uncle" shirts), he did the tragic step of shaving his hair. Now whatever spikes he has on his head are totally white! I must say, he looks a lot like my late grandpa, although I think my grandpa was better looking! :-p
Yesterday was mooncake festival (again!). People are getting more creative lately, with the kinds of mooncake flavours around. There is now green tea flavoured mooncakes, mooncakes with chocolate fillings and even tiramisu flavoured mooncakes! We had a usual family gathering and ate to our heart's content!
My cousin and I were talking about the similarities and differences between lawyers and accountants. She recently acquired her Chartered Professional Accountant qualifications, something I can never achieve, so she was telling me the accountant track before one becomes a professional. So she asked me why did I not go ahead and get my professional qualifications?
Hmmm.. easier said than done. It is relatively easier to change a job to become an accountant, but it is harder to switch to become a lawyer, at least in the local context. And by lawyer, I mean a practicising one. Law schools are reluctant to accept "mature students", so the only other alternative is the distance learning program, which will give recognised qualifications but not recognised enough to cross the Bar. And companies still prefer someone who can be called to the Bar, even though many in-house departments are relaxing on this requirement.
Which brought to mind something my mum told me when I told her I was giving up law. After numerous arguments of her trying to change my mind and I vehemently refusing to budge, in the end, she said, "Don't ever regret your decision." Well.. shall I say there is a tinge of regret? Alright, I am sick of people telling me I should go switch course right now because whatever I am doing is not helping my career nor my life. I always maintain going to school and taking up a course is more for self-enrichment than anything else.
What I am regretful about is that perhaps in those days, I should have just completed the professional qualifications before venturing out into something I like to do. Just a couple or so more years and I can have two degrees, with an honours even, instead of starting over again neither here nor there. Then I would have better prospects and luck where jobs are concerned. But I guess everyone has their idealistic moments when young, some more so than others.
The thing is, whatever one studied is not exactly useful in the "real world". Imagine all the quadratic equations, organic chemistry, differentiation and integration and whatnot that we studied back in school. How many of us can honestly say those have come into use? Unless we happen to venture into the academic field, otherwise how many things we studied in school have been applied?
School is too theoretical based. So what if one can answer all the law essays to perfection? These are redundant in the preparation of a trial, and definitely redundant when resolving in-house matters. What we learn while working in the corporate world is ten times more than what we actually learnt in school.
Which makes me wonder, why educational qualifications still mean so much to employers? Someone with a very high education may not necessarily be streetsmart enough to get the job done; whereas someone who may not have as high qualifications may end up getting the job done because he may have the necessarily experience and smarts.
But things are getting better. Companies are now more willing to give chances. I cannot say for all, but in general, companies are retaining those who are more capable and experienced over those who have higher educational qualifications yet are not able to get the job(s) done properly and efficiently.
So those who do not have the appropriate qualifications need not fret too much anymore, because there will always be opportunities if only one is willing to be receptive and the attitude to learn and upgrade. Or perhaps I have been lucky, that despite my lack of qualifications and experience, the places I have worked in were still willing to give me a chance to prove my worth.
There is no perfect job anywhere. This I know even before I started working, so I never expected things would be perfect when I actually started working. I just did not realise the extent of the problems and frustrations faced. There are people I know who are still job-hopping, trying to find the "perfect" job for themselves, or else keep complaining about their jobs and yet not willing to venture out.
Some cannot stand it if the boss screams and shouts, but face it, because he is the boss, that is why he is entitled to scream and shout. There have been people asking me how did I put up with my former boss (not the one that just left, the previous one) as he flared up all the time. But one just have to live and let live. If one is so capable and "untouchable" then be your own boss and you can start screaming and shouting at everyone! In working for people, one just have to eat the humble pie and deliver.
There are some who complained about lack of opportunities because of lack of qualifications. Perhaps at times there is lack of opportunity, but I do not think lack of qualifications is a good excuse. Come on, there are so many courses out there, so many upgrading courses, degree and post-graduate. If these are not enough, then save up and further the studies overseas.
If one is not willing to go for upgrading courses or further their studies, preferring to remain stuck where they are and keep complaining of lack of opportunities because of lack of the appropriate qualifications, then it is their own fault. They only have themselves to blame as they are not willing to do something to get the qualifications and the opportunity. These do not simply drop from the sky!
If one is not willing to achieve or fight for anything, then do not complain if one is not given the opportunity. This is just like those people who work and go home and not willing to go out and socialise, then they complain they have no friends and cannot find partners. Of course, if you stay home and not socialise, how are you going to find anyone? The right person will not suddenly drop from the sky if one does not put in the effort to seek. Like the saying goes, "Seek and you shall find."
Thus despite the ups and downs in my career progression, I am grateful for the opportunities to learn and experience. These knowledge and experience will follow me throughout my life, something I can never learn just reading up or attending lessons. These will create even better opportunities when the time comes.
Yesterday was mooncake festival (again!). People are getting more creative lately, with the kinds of mooncake flavours around. There is now green tea flavoured mooncakes, mooncakes with chocolate fillings and even tiramisu flavoured mooncakes! We had a usual family gathering and ate to our heart's content!
My cousin and I were talking about the similarities and differences between lawyers and accountants. She recently acquired her Chartered Professional Accountant qualifications, something I can never achieve, so she was telling me the accountant track before one becomes a professional. So she asked me why did I not go ahead and get my professional qualifications?
Hmmm.. easier said than done. It is relatively easier to change a job to become an accountant, but it is harder to switch to become a lawyer, at least in the local context. And by lawyer, I mean a practicising one. Law schools are reluctant to accept "mature students", so the only other alternative is the distance learning program, which will give recognised qualifications but not recognised enough to cross the Bar. And companies still prefer someone who can be called to the Bar, even though many in-house departments are relaxing on this requirement.
Which brought to mind something my mum told me when I told her I was giving up law. After numerous arguments of her trying to change my mind and I vehemently refusing to budge, in the end, she said, "Don't ever regret your decision." Well.. shall I say there is a tinge of regret? Alright, I am sick of people telling me I should go switch course right now because whatever I am doing is not helping my career nor my life. I always maintain going to school and taking up a course is more for self-enrichment than anything else.
What I am regretful about is that perhaps in those days, I should have just completed the professional qualifications before venturing out into something I like to do. Just a couple or so more years and I can have two degrees, with an honours even, instead of starting over again neither here nor there. Then I would have better prospects and luck where jobs are concerned. But I guess everyone has their idealistic moments when young, some more so than others.
The thing is, whatever one studied is not exactly useful in the "real world". Imagine all the quadratic equations, organic chemistry, differentiation and integration and whatnot that we studied back in school. How many of us can honestly say those have come into use? Unless we happen to venture into the academic field, otherwise how many things we studied in school have been applied?
School is too theoretical based. So what if one can answer all the law essays to perfection? These are redundant in the preparation of a trial, and definitely redundant when resolving in-house matters. What we learn while working in the corporate world is ten times more than what we actually learnt in school.
Which makes me wonder, why educational qualifications still mean so much to employers? Someone with a very high education may not necessarily be streetsmart enough to get the job done; whereas someone who may not have as high qualifications may end up getting the job done because he may have the necessarily experience and smarts.
But things are getting better. Companies are now more willing to give chances. I cannot say for all, but in general, companies are retaining those who are more capable and experienced over those who have higher educational qualifications yet are not able to get the job(s) done properly and efficiently.
So those who do not have the appropriate qualifications need not fret too much anymore, because there will always be opportunities if only one is willing to be receptive and the attitude to learn and upgrade. Or perhaps I have been lucky, that despite my lack of qualifications and experience, the places I have worked in were still willing to give me a chance to prove my worth.
There is no perfect job anywhere. This I know even before I started working, so I never expected things would be perfect when I actually started working. I just did not realise the extent of the problems and frustrations faced. There are people I know who are still job-hopping, trying to find the "perfect" job for themselves, or else keep complaining about their jobs and yet not willing to venture out.
Some cannot stand it if the boss screams and shouts, but face it, because he is the boss, that is why he is entitled to scream and shout. There have been people asking me how did I put up with my former boss (not the one that just left, the previous one) as he flared up all the time. But one just have to live and let live. If one is so capable and "untouchable" then be your own boss and you can start screaming and shouting at everyone! In working for people, one just have to eat the humble pie and deliver.
There are some who complained about lack of opportunities because of lack of qualifications. Perhaps at times there is lack of opportunity, but I do not think lack of qualifications is a good excuse. Come on, there are so many courses out there, so many upgrading courses, degree and post-graduate. If these are not enough, then save up and further the studies overseas.
If one is not willing to go for upgrading courses or further their studies, preferring to remain stuck where they are and keep complaining of lack of opportunities because of lack of the appropriate qualifications, then it is their own fault. They only have themselves to blame as they are not willing to do something to get the qualifications and the opportunity. These do not simply drop from the sky!
If one is not willing to achieve or fight for anything, then do not complain if one is not given the opportunity. This is just like those people who work and go home and not willing to go out and socialise, then they complain they have no friends and cannot find partners. Of course, if you stay home and not socialise, how are you going to find anyone? The right person will not suddenly drop from the sky if one does not put in the effort to seek. Like the saying goes, "Seek and you shall find."
Thus despite the ups and downs in my career progression, I am grateful for the opportunities to learn and experience. These knowledge and experience will follow me throughout my life, something I can never learn just reading up or attending lessons. These will create even better opportunities when the time comes.
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