Allow me to share with you a copy of the speech I made when I was invited to share my work experience to a group of graduating college students.
"I am a Mass Communication graduate. My original plan was to work in a media company but it didn’t happen. The closest I get was when I was hired as a secretary to the president of a radio company. Early on I am aware that I have good communication and interpersonal skills and that I am a servant at heart. Fate brought me to be where I am now, managing people and a dormitory full of Korean nationals.
After my college graduation in 1992, I was sent to Manila to look for a job. At first I didn’t understand the wisdom behind this event but after living on my own, making my own decisions, budgeting one’s salary, creating new friendships and getting strength and support from a handful of relatives became the foundation of what I am now. I develop a strength within me that cannot be broken by life adversities no matter how hard or worst that it can get.
My job hunting experience
I was lucky to be staying with my godmother for the first 3 months in Manila. She taught me to scan the Sunday newspapers specifically the Manila Bulletin for job openings. Since her workplace at that time is in Makati so I focused my job search in that area.
My first two weeks was spent submitting resumes to target companies. The third week was spent going to interviews and exams. After a month of job hunting, I was hired.
Job Experiences
I was hired as an Executive Secretary by a trading company. Funny thing is I have no idea about my job since I am a fresh graduate except that I know how to answer the phone and I can take down minutes of meetings since I used to be a student government secretary back in high school…..everything’s a first time for me.
So I work as a secretary – taking phone calls, receiving incoming mails and drafting outgoing correspondence. And for the first time, I was tasked to coordinate a company event in a big hotel and coordinate I did and passed the test with flying colors. At other times, my colleagues would tell me…oh, an executive secretary should make memos, so I make memos for my boss and mind you I became adept at making memos whether good or bad…. I didn’t know at that time that these new experiences would serve me well in my present job.
The company closed after 10 months of operation and I am out of job for the first time. But, I did not stop there…I applied the job hunting techniques I learned earlier and after a month I was employed again.
I worked as an office secretary to the president in a media company, a work that brought me nearer to my choice of college major which is Mass Communication….but that was the nearest I can get…I really did not have the opportunity to be in the production department of any media company much a television or radio reporter….
Three things I learned from my second job: (1) I learned how to operate an electric typewriter, a computer and a photocopier machine, (2) I learned how to do office files, and (3) I learned to be organize and systematic.
For personal reasons, I came back to Negros after spending four years in Manila. Prior to my third job, I was into a small business but soon realized its not for me….after being unemployed for six months …I was hired again this time as a Project Officer for the University of St. La Salle Alumni Association….a job of which I was also not groomed to do….but with my people skills, previous experiences and help from my co-employees I was able to deliver the job that was expected of me.
As Project Officer, I am in charge of income generating projects, coordinate events and help improve the alumni association’s services. It was a fulfilling job, seeing your effort come into fruition after each successful homecoming, reunions and special events. My network of acquaintances and friends became wider and my experiences became my guide and strength.
My current job came to me after I gave birth to my second child and was out of job for eight months in 2001. I was hired as a home-stay coordinator for Korean students. We have no office then. My Korean boss and I would just meet at Bob’s La Salle or inside the La Salle campus where the students studied for their English classes. I am in charge of the accommodations and I coordinate with host parents. At this time, I am already confident, mature and skillful at dealing with work problems.
The business grew and in 2005 we rented a 52 room dormitory near the university campus. The management of the place fell on me since I am the senior employee. Again, just like my first job….everything became first times again…. Hiring and training employees, managing people, purchasing, run the place like a mini hotel, etc. I have no housekeeping, maintenance and cafeteria skills. All were run based on what I have experience before, taking cues from others and just common sense. The dormitory now with 88 rooms still continue to challenge me because we have to serve an average of 150 clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week…
As the company grew and so I grow emotionally, spiritually and professionally, and I’m still here…still learning and coping…just like you.
To end allow me to quote Eleanor Roosevelt – First Lady of the United States of America in 1933 to 1945 --
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
"I am a Mass Communication graduate. My original plan was to work in a media company but it didn’t happen. The closest I get was when I was hired as a secretary to the president of a radio company. Early on I am aware that I have good communication and interpersonal skills and that I am a servant at heart. Fate brought me to be where I am now, managing people and a dormitory full of Korean nationals.
After my college graduation in 1992, I was sent to Manila to look for a job. At first I didn’t understand the wisdom behind this event but after living on my own, making my own decisions, budgeting one’s salary, creating new friendships and getting strength and support from a handful of relatives became the foundation of what I am now. I develop a strength within me that cannot be broken by life adversities no matter how hard or worst that it can get.
My job hunting experience
I was lucky to be staying with my godmother for the first 3 months in Manila. She taught me to scan the Sunday newspapers specifically the Manila Bulletin for job openings. Since her workplace at that time is in Makati so I focused my job search in that area.
My first two weeks was spent submitting resumes to target companies. The third week was spent going to interviews and exams. After a month of job hunting, I was hired.
Job Experiences
I was hired as an Executive Secretary by a trading company. Funny thing is I have no idea about my job since I am a fresh graduate except that I know how to answer the phone and I can take down minutes of meetings since I used to be a student government secretary back in high school…..everything’s a first time for me.
So I work as a secretary – taking phone calls, receiving incoming mails and drafting outgoing correspondence. And for the first time, I was tasked to coordinate a company event in a big hotel and coordinate I did and passed the test with flying colors. At other times, my colleagues would tell me…oh, an executive secretary should make memos, so I make memos for my boss and mind you I became adept at making memos whether good or bad…. I didn’t know at that time that these new experiences would serve me well in my present job.
The company closed after 10 months of operation and I am out of job for the first time. But, I did not stop there…I applied the job hunting techniques I learned earlier and after a month I was employed again.
I worked as an office secretary to the president in a media company, a work that brought me nearer to my choice of college major which is Mass Communication….but that was the nearest I can get…I really did not have the opportunity to be in the production department of any media company much a television or radio reporter….
Three things I learned from my second job: (1) I learned how to operate an electric typewriter, a computer and a photocopier machine, (2) I learned how to do office files, and (3) I learned to be organize and systematic.
For personal reasons, I came back to Negros after spending four years in Manila. Prior to my third job, I was into a small business but soon realized its not for me….after being unemployed for six months …I was hired again this time as a Project Officer for the University of St. La Salle Alumni Association….a job of which I was also not groomed to do….but with my people skills, previous experiences and help from my co-employees I was able to deliver the job that was expected of me.
As Project Officer, I am in charge of income generating projects, coordinate events and help improve the alumni association’s services. It was a fulfilling job, seeing your effort come into fruition after each successful homecoming, reunions and special events. My network of acquaintances and friends became wider and my experiences became my guide and strength.
My current job came to me after I gave birth to my second child and was out of job for eight months in 2001. I was hired as a home-stay coordinator for Korean students. We have no office then. My Korean boss and I would just meet at Bob’s La Salle or inside the La Salle campus where the students studied for their English classes. I am in charge of the accommodations and I coordinate with host parents. At this time, I am already confident, mature and skillful at dealing with work problems.
The business grew and in 2005 we rented a 52 room dormitory near the university campus. The management of the place fell on me since I am the senior employee. Again, just like my first job….everything became first times again…. Hiring and training employees, managing people, purchasing, run the place like a mini hotel, etc. I have no housekeeping, maintenance and cafeteria skills. All were run based on what I have experience before, taking cues from others and just common sense. The dormitory now with 88 rooms still continue to challenge me because we have to serve an average of 150 clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week…
As the company grew and so I grow emotionally, spiritually and professionally, and I’m still here…still learning and coping…just like you.
To end allow me to quote Eleanor Roosevelt – First Lady of the United States of America in 1933 to 1945 --
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
