Is the economy really picking up?

We have hear over the news that the worst part of the economic downturn is over and Singapore is into its recovery mode now.

Well, SGMale never expect the recovery news to turn into something so immediate. This month alone, two of my colleagues have found a better job and have hence tendered their resignation. So what am i waiting for? Hm...well...SGMale has been wanting to take a long long break after all these years of working but since SGFemale is still out of job, this break has to be postponed again.

By the way, SGMale may be forced to take his break soon as the company that he is assigned to and worked for the past 3 years have been bought over and there will be postitions made redundant after the transition periods are over.

So...SGMale is in fact adopting a 'wait and see' attitude now and is NOT looking for a job at all..;P

-SGMale

Working as a Temp (Part 2)

SGFemale received another call from the agency again this Monday (7th Sept), asking if she was able to work as a temp receptionist for 2 days (8th and 9th Sept).

SGFemale agreed after hearing the job's details cos again it was quite near to her house.

The company is to provide a safe, prompt and efficient response to oil spill incidents.

They claimed : The key to effective response lies in the expertise of people to solve problems and understanding the issues surrounding oil spills and the preparation of equipment. We pride ourselves on the quality of our people and the reliability of our equipment to meet response needs.

Now, SGFemale must say, working there is quite simple, just answering and transferring of calls, sorting and distributing of letters. So most of the time, SGFemale was quite bored, there's isn't many calls to answer (about 10 to 15). SGFemale was sitting there doing nothing and earning "easy money".

Haha......

- SGFemale

Working as a Temp (Part 1)

To kill time and to earn extra while waiting for a permanent job to come by, SGFemale started to work as a Temp last Thursday (3rd Sept).

SGFemale received a call from the job agency last Wednesday evening to ask if she is available the next morning to work in a lab. It was a last minute and urgent assignment. After hearing the details of the job, SGFemale agreed.

The work place was very near to our house, and SGFemale always imagine herself working there as a perm, she longed to have the chance. And yes, she had the chance now, even as a Temp, she's happy and contented.

The company being the biggest and best confectionery in the world, they make and sell three kinds of confectionery, chocolate, gum and candy. They operate in over 60 countries and have about 50,000 employees. They claimed that everyday millions of people in the world enjoy their brands.

Personally, SGFemale and SGMale are also the fans of this brand and their products.

Despite the tiring work load, SGFemale enjoyed working there, the nice and clean enviroment, and most of all, nice and friendly colleagues. One other fact that SGFemale must mention, the ladies there really have good team-work and having good relationship with one another unlike other places with lots of politics.

Sigh....

It was only an assignment of a day.

- SGFemale

* For some reasons, SGFemale can't disclose too much details regarding this assignment.

Half more day to go!

7.45am - just finished my cup of Cafe Mocha.
7.50am - sitting at my desk, going through my work.
8am to 12.50pm - rushing to complete my outstanding work!

Recalling back-
3 months ago
- can't wait to start work, felt that this job is so "special" and "unique"

3 months later
- can't wait to leave this work place

Why is the clock clicking so slowly today?
Is the clock running low of batteries?
What is happening to me? Why am I so eager to go?
I just don't want to stay here any longer than i should.

-SGFemale

Occupational Health Hazard

In my line of work, when outages happen, I always get activated anytime of the day and when I am out of luck, I get call in the mid of the night and I really find this very hazardous to one's health if this carries on in the long run. Take last night for example, I got awaken from 2am and I had to stay online and teleconf till 8am in the morning and worst of all, I could not really get back the sleep that I have lost...

Looking forward to the day when I can get out of this..

-SGMale

The day has come!

Busy! Busy! Busy! Stress! Stress! Stress! Work! Work! Work!

A week passed and the much awaited day finally arrived! Still remember which day is today?
Wednesday - 20.08.2008. What a nice date to remember!

Have you forgot that I mentioned in my last blog that I have found a job?
Bingo! Today is my resignation day! Yeah!
I make it! I tendered my resignation letter to my manager this morning at 8.30am sharp (my start work hour), gave them a week's notice. I have been worrying a lot since last Tuesday worried that they might give me my confirmation letter before I tender my resignation and if that happens, I will have to stay there for another painful month.

My confirmation day turns out to be my resignation day, how ironic!! I felt so relieved after tendering my resignation and so happy when my one week's notice is confirmed. I just can't wait to get out of there!

Hahaha! Why am I so keen in resigning?? Well, I was taken for granted by my partner there, she was shocked when I told her about my resignation. She was worried cos she had given me a lot of work. And she got to finish them all before they got a replacement! Serve her RIGHT!!!!! All the complicated and difficult works with lot of troublesome issues will soon "roll" back to her table! She had even got me into trouble with the regulatory affairs personnels before! She always like to order me to do something that may offend the people from the other departments. Luckily, they finally knew that it was her who asked me to do so, they even complained to our manager that she is so Kiasu and Kia-si. She nearly fainted when our manager told her that!

Today she still got the cheek to ask me why I decided to leave? She asked "Is there anybody here that treat you badly? Someone from regulatory affairs? Or someone from Marketing?" I told her "NO" straight in her face! And she replied "Are you sure? Tell me! Who?" She kept asking and asking! Aiya!!! I should have told her that it's because of "you" that I left. Working together with her makes me think that I am getting more and more mentally retarded!

Ok, let's stop talking about her, don't let her spoilt my mood. I will be starting my new job on 3rd Sept after taking a week's break first.

SGMale was kind enough to treat me to dinner at Hilltop Japanese Restaurant to celebrate my resignation. We enjoyed our teppanyaki dinner there together with our son.

Cheers to my new job!

-SGFemale

First day at work!

Didn't sleep well last night cos I was having diarrhea just before I went to bed. Mainly because I am nervous about starting work today. Whenever I am nervous and stressed out, I will have butterflies roam wildly inside the stomach & uncontrollable diarrhea bothering me. But then, It could also be the dinner that I had, cod fish and grilled prawns. Maybe they are not well-cooked, or maybe it's because of food-poisoning, seafood mixing with Choya.

Conclusion: Diarrhea - I have a very weak stomach. hehehe..

However, this kind of weird feeling [a.k.a fear] goes away or "escape" once I am in the office. Haha... Why is it so? I don't know the reason myself. Maybe if I do someday, I can be a doctor, hee...;p

Ok, back to my first day at work. First, I am very impressed by the newly renovated office with its interior design, their cosy and state-of-the Art work-stations, their "hotel-standard" toilets and their well-equiped pantry with Nescafe instant coffee maker etc.

Hm... I was thinking and day-dreaming about my dream desk when the HR executive briefed me on the company policy etc. Afterwhich, he brought me around to the 2nd storey office for orientation and introduction. I was then getting more and more impressed as we past by more office areas. Lastly, he told me we are done and he will bring me to the warehouse area to see my office area. We pass through another bigger pantry before arriving at the warehouse. The warehouse consists of 2 levels, with cartons stacked neatly.

Then he brings me through a side door at the warehouse, he commented 'There's your work-station'. I stepped in, and I had the shock of my life. I was utterly stunt and stood there staring blankly at the 'dream desk' and at the same time feeling very disappointed and sorry for myself. Why? Why? Why??? There isn't any computer on the desk at all and a messy desk greeted me.

OMG! I sms-ed SGMale, he said "hahaha", nevermind lah, so long they can pay you well, so be it. Ok lor, I thought to myself, at least I got an aircon blowing at me, and that I won't be complaining about the hot weather like I did so everyday at home. What's more? It's free aircon and at the same time, hair-dryer cos it's blowing at my hair all the time, scattering my "dandruff" to all others.

Muhahahaha.....;p

-SGFemale

Job Interview

One of my guys is leaving and I have asked one of the local job agency to send in some resumes. Saw one resume that looks good and hence the interview today. The interviewee is a Indian national and he turned out to be the candidate that got rejected by us last year. He is currently working for one of the major automobile company and after he described his daily duties and current working experience, my manager and myself decided that we have to reject him once more.

It is realy getting harder and harder to get good people nowadays especially when it is a contract position. All the good folks are probably looking out for good paying permanent positions and will hardly appear for contract job interviews.

So once again, the position remains open and many many more interviews awaits me in the days and weeks to come.

SGMale