Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by Murasaki322

Jump Ship Reasons

Murasaki322 — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 00:39:15 +0800

You are comfortable into a job and steadily rising in the career ladder, but one fine day a headhunter called to inform about a new opportunity..

Your boss can't get any more annoying, while your colleagues are stabbing each other's back to politic their way into "high performer" ranking..

You glance across the table and see your old classmate's new Rolex, wondering how he tripled his salary through 5 job hops within 3 years, and you start scrolling jobstreet..

What's your story?
What make or break your decision to jump ship?
What was sacrificed?
What was regretted?
What made the jump worth it?

Interview, but test market

Murasaki322 — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:37:26 +0800

Writing to seek guidance and opinion from esteemed lowyat career gurus.

I was not actively looking for a new job, and is quite happy with present job, except slight dissatisfaction on salary. One day, a recruiter called about a similar role but with the typical long laundry list of high expectations that is beyond my capabilities. I thought why not just take this chance to polish my resume and test the waters, and sent in my application. Few weeks later, out of expectation I passed two interviews, without actually putting much effort, because my mind was fixated on "this is just a test for myself".

A third interview is coming in a few days and this time HR person is attending together with a Technical Director from abroad (US-based co.). I'm expecting less of a technical challenge this time, but more of a behavioral interview or chit-chat and then discuss about salary and compensation stuff. Now this troubles me, as I wasn't seriously considering to jump ship earlier, reaching this far has me standing on the line. How should I answer questions like
- why are you looking to join us / leaving your current role?
- what's your expected salary?
- what's your career goal in the next 2-5 years?

Should I be honest and tell I honestly didn't expect to come this far, and would consider if the offer is attractive enough?
or should I give the regular answer like I am actively pursuing a new job for professional growth?

I still enjoy my current job and company very much, if I manage to receive an offer, how do I go from here? Is it ethical to use the offer to negotiate a better salary? My gut tells me I didn't want to leave my current job, I guess it is getting comfortable. But I need the salary bump. Any advice is much appreciated.

Is the traditional career and business path dying?

Murasaki322 — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 00:30:38 +0800

Are youtubers and influencers rich and successful? Because all of them looks so. They say "I want to create value for people", "I want to do something impactful". "I want to help others to become like me" etc. but isn't the true goal is to make money? Whether through ads or sponsors or merchandise or subscription. It takes shit ton of effort to curate and create content, of course the time and effort better be worth it. Online, it looks like all of them are raking big income and living better lives than those who have a traditional job or runs a real business. Is it all just for show? Survivorship bias and all, people only see them as successful because they show it, those on other endeavors don't show it around, and furthermore failed influencers just disappear and never get revealed.

Becoming a youtuber or influencer isn't too difficult with a low entry barrier that anybody can do it. Compared to toiling in building a career or starting a business that requires deep specialized array of abilities, it only needs a number of skillset to make it big. Many of them say "I've worked hard to made it here", "It's about how desperately you want to succeed", "It was never easy along the way", can the effort of the employed career person or self-employed businessman be discounted? Can the element of luck be omitted from the formula? Only a select few humble youtuber will say "I was lucky to be noticed and got into the right trend". The effort and difficulty is so much greater on the path to be a certified financial professional, innovative engineer, revered lawyer, top specialist doctor, illustrious architect, ingenious consultant, all which can be derived into an insightful management person or businessman.

Will you become a youtuber/influencer, build a strong career or grow an affluent business?
Some may say "why not both, why not all?" But our time in a day is only so limited. Sacrifices will need to be made. Those who have it all are usually backed by luck. Then comes the paradoxical hustle culture and toxic positivity, a discussion for another topic in the future.

What is the price to pay of a good life

Murasaki322 — Sun, 30 May 2021 00:49:23 +0800

What does it take to upgrade quality of life?

A:
600sqft 2-room flat
kapchai motorcycle

B:
900sqft 3-room condo
Axia/Saga

C:
1400sqft 3-room condo
City/Vios

D: 2-storey terrace
Passat/3-series

E: multi-storey semi-detached
E-class/6-series

F..... and so on, stuff beyond that baffles my imagination, how greatly opulent in the life of having a driver to chauffeur you in a Rolls-Royce serving champagne after alighting from your private jet, back to your villa at the top of a hill guarded with private security

Of course they are oversimplified examples. How do people make it up the ladder of life quality? Is running a business the only way? Seems like many boasting images are from self-made entrepreneur or some business owner. Besides inheritance and sheer luck, or maybe even some illegal stuff, how are ways for one to reach up to the next level of life quality? Right people? Right skills? Right time?

Stagnant Salary, Dwindling Value

Murasaki322 — Wed, 05 May 2021 22:55:05 +0800

Back then, a family can live comfortably with one breadwinner alone.
Soon it requires both parents to be working to support a family.
Now, not only dual income stream is needed, but side hustles, active risk-taking investments, and even withdrawal of retirement funds are needed to barely survive expenses and inflation.

Pretty sure there are enough news and articles published on how Malaysian salaries are stagnant, if not reduced over the years, and with even more lost value when MYR weakens. How can we escape from this deteriorating state of economy? At this rate Malaysians are just going to be engulfed by inflation and descend into the ranks of nations in poverty.

Even personal finance these days are skewed towards cutting expenses and saving more. Then there is the trend of doing side hustles after work hours to generate more income with more hours. Why the focus is not on generating more value for the time put in i.e. more $ per hour of work?

Malaysian Vaccine ada?

Murasaki322 — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 21:22:12 +0800

If take china vaccine can boost mandarin speaking skills, why not Malaysia produce our own vaccine to innoculate rakyat jelata? Can strengthen our proficiency on speaking national language at the same time. Dua burung dengan satu batu.

Is inhumane working hours a norm?

Murasaki322 — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 23:14:17 +0800

Through a learning program for young professionals 24-30 years old, I realized many peers in the community work insane hours. They are at the office until almost 11pm, even on a Friday. And it is quite a frequent occasion for them to work such long hours, almost everyday. Personally, I do have late days when there is urgent work, I tend to work until 8-9pm or extreme situations staying over night. But it happens very rarely so I end my work day around 5-7pm regularly.

Is it normal to have such consistent super long work hours? I know for one that auditors have mad schedules that are seasonal. Or do I have a more humane job altogether? For context, the community I'm in consist of workforce from various functions and industries, from accounting, law, pharmaceuticals, consulting, engineering etc. so it is not exactly an industry or function specific matter. How many hours do you work in a week as a full time employee (non-business owner)?

Hackers pls dox all corrupt politicians!

Murasaki322 — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 12:10:14 +0800

https://www.lowyat.net/2021/231126/anonymou...z3I1Gw582GRUAaw

Almost six years since the group declared its intention to launch a massive cyberattack on the government, Anonymous Malaysia is back once again. That is if this new video on Facebook is to be believed, which is apparently intended to be a “wake-up call” to the Malaysian government.

[fb]https://www.facebook.com/316901925002319/posts/5719857074706750/[/fb]

Dat ingirsh though.
Why not just dox all the failure politicians, make them suffer for the damages they've done to the country. Instead leaking pipit data....

Personal Savings

Murasaki322 — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 23:21:17 +0800

What do you think about saving money without a goal? It is starting to feel like hoarding, always saving as much as possible after servicing some minimal commitments. Seldom splurge to buy random things or experience for enjoyment, at the end of the month still have extra cash on top of initial savings and end up continue saving it up. Did some investments here and there, but still continue saving up like there is a crisis coming and allocating modest amount into investments. No goals like buying property or car or wedding were set, just plain saving money. No one can bring money into their grave and to the next life anyway, so saving like this feels like hoarding. Is this a healthy behaviour? Should money be spent to enjoy life more while still being alive?

Opportunity for switching roles

Murasaki322 — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 23:13:23 +0800

Wanna get opinions and perspectives from the many veterans with successful careers here.

Is it more difficult for people in jobs that emphasize technical hard skills to switch jobs? Those working as pharmacist, engineer, chemist, botanist, digital media editor, animator, illustrator etc. would probably have to stick to their career paths or only make transitions to jobs that are closely related?

Whereas other roles that emphasize soft skills and business-ish abilities such as marketing, sales, administration, management, analyst, consultant, human resources, investment, accounting, finance etc. could switch around and fit in easier.

A simple example: a medical practitioner would find it pretty difficult to switch to engineering or finance, but an actuary could slide around easily as consultant, analyst, finance or management. Moreover, positions like marketing, human resources are common in every organization, but an electrical engineer could only fit easily into another engineering related company.

The exception on hard skill job fluidity would be the likes of IT systems and software developers, data analyst which are picking up trend in organizations, and applied quite similarly across different organizations. They have both technical hard skill and business acumen to meet the needs of both worlds.

Would it be easier for those in jobs with more commonly applied skills to switch jobs and/or job hop around to accelerate salary growth? Seems like STEM isn't that greatly appreciated, although many would say "it is easier for an engineer to learn business, than a businessman to learn engineering".

What are your thoughts? Please correct me if I got the statements wrong, as it is only based on my perception with limited information available to me, and not actual facts with broad enough data samples. Would love to learn from your experiences.

Management trainee

Murasaki322 — Sun, 11 Oct 2020 00:25:52 +0800

There are more and more organizations offering positions of "management trainee" these days. Not just the usual banking sector. Just wondering what exactly are they. Do they get the edge of moving up the corporate ladder faster? Or is it just a fancy title to recruit top graduates to hold on to talent? Most management trainee programs require 6 months of working experience or so, basically encouraging those who just started a job not too long ago to hop into the role. Other similar roles offered are like graduate program, graduate trainee, protege, young manager and the likes of it. What exactly does a management trainee do? Some has rotations across departments and a final placement is decided after the program completes. Is the final placement so enticing that joining as a management trainee is something worth pursuing?

High base pay or high allowances

Murasaki322 — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 18:05:29 +0800

You are given 2 hypothetical job offers, let's rule out other factors of consideration and assume they are equal, such as company reputation, culture, environment, benefits etc.

A. High base salary + low allowances

B. Low base salary + many different allowances

In overall, the two offers are of equal amount when combined. Which compensation package would you prefer and why?

Choose your career or let the career choose you?

Murasaki322 — Thu, 14 May 2020 01:06:10 +0800

Many times jobseekers are told not to be picky with jobs and take what is offered.
As job market declines further with unemployment rates at all time high, jobseekers are advised to not be selective on jobs if they are in need of income. The same applies to fresh graduates who has no experience entering the working world. Unproven fresh graduates are risks and investments that employers take up by hiring them. Training, guidance and coaching are required to bring them up to speed. Therefore fresh graduates are advised to take on whatever comes their way and stay put for about two to three years to gain experience and skills before looking for another job. Mismatch between career goals and job prospects were not taken into account.
Does that mean jobseekers should spray and pray on their job applications? Aim for large quantities of applications with the hope to just land any opportunity anywhere? Most will say the spray and pray method will rarely work as job applications that are too general seldom get taken into consideration. Yet, the chances to land a job can be increased by the sheer quantity of applications.
If a jobseeker takes on whatever is offered, their future career development may be narrowed down to certain paths, as relevant experience are almost always compulsory to move up the career value chain. The individual may be stuck with a niche career path, or be required to sacrifice growth by taking a paycut to change industries without relevant experience.
In short, not being selective on jobs actually means letting the career choose you, with no regards to your interest.

On the contrary, jobseekers are also told to seek their passion and interest, which when they land the right job they will do what they love.
"Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life", "do what you love and money will follow" or similar sayings are also advised to jobseekers to pick what truly aligns with their inner calling. Nevertheless, at difficult times of job market slump, it is extremely difficult to come upon roles that matches one's preferences. Will it be worth the long search for a position of true interest?
If jobseekers focuses the search on a particular role, they have a precise direction to move towards as they already know what they really want. Job applications that shine with burning passion expressed on cover letters gets more attention, interviews and offers could be landed at a higher chance. With a focused application, employers would also benefit, as the new hires would be highly motivated intrinsically and will put in more effort to adapt themselves into the role.
By following the path of passion, career development is usually specialized. Growth could also be accelerated by compounded experience in the same field or industry, with interest being the main driving force.
To sum up, you pick a career path for the long term by being selective on jobs that matches your calling.

Which is the right way? Do desperate jobseekers not deserve a chance to pursue their interest? Is following your passion a privilege, rather than a choice?

So need permit or not

Murasaki322 — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 18:39:11 +0800

Better stay at home and not to travel during this contradictory times.

How to know if a job is dead-end?

Murasaki322 — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 01:29:39 +0800

How do you know if you are in a dead-end job? How do you identify and classify it as without career development?

Seeking the opinions of experienced guys here. I'm in no position to deem my job as dead-end, as I have less than 2 years experience. But I am starting to feel demotivated and wondering about how can I progress, after not getting any increment for the first year. To add on, I didn't learn much hard skills on the job, mostly only on knowledge and experience. Hard skills are highly sought after, especially in the field of engineering. I tried learning online but found that exposure is very limited if it isn't applied in real world situations.

So how do you judge whether your current job has a path for career development? Is it based on monetary compensation? Transferrable skills learnt? Ranks gained in the company?

How to upskill and up salary?

Murasaki322 — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 12:26:49 +0800

After working a year in engineering field for an end user company, I find that I did not gain much hard skills like usage of computer software or designing skills, mainly because my job does not require them. The only thing I felt that I have improved is my interpersonal skills and certain technical + commercial knowledge.

Whenever I look at job postings, most of them require very specific software knowledge and experience in using them. I am afraid that I would be locked down into this line without experience in learning and applying hard skills. Of course I could learn anything on the internet, but there is no way to gain experience in using learned skills without actually using them.

Because of this I felt a bit stagnant in my position. Some may say I have a long way to go, but I would love to know how should I go at it. Any advice on how to upskill myself and increase my personal value in the market would be highly appreciated.

Should you accept interview without interest

Murasaki322 — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 00:00:35 +0800

Would you attend an interview which you are not exactly interested in the position, but rather curious to know more about the company and business?

If some HR manager tries to recruit you into a vacant position in their company without you applying, would you attend just for the interview experience or for understanding the company more?

For the sake of lifestyle

Murasaki322 — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 17:51:04 +0800

In the shoes of a junior member of the workforce, unmarried with no family commitments, will you choose to leave a stable, familiar workplace in search for a lifestyle that you yearn for, or will you remain for stability and linear growth? Basically it is a choice between a fulfilling option or a "play safe" option. However there is much more risk to the fulfilling option such as pay cut, difficulty in new environment or even restarting career from scratch. Appreciate it if anyone could share what are the factors to consider and whether it is worth it to take the leap.

I'm sure there will be answers as "follow your heart/passion/instinct" but I prefer to make a clear justified choice. There might also be some who will say "the young should tough it out and work hard, better lifestyle will come next time" but I wanted to explore and understand so that when the opportunity comes, I will be ready to take it.

When you search for jobs

Murasaki322 — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 00:01:56 +0800

What are the common ways to search for jobs?

Usual way is through JobStreet, LinkedIn, Monster, Indeed
Another way is to register in the company's talent search website
Some just contact through a connection inside the target company...

When you search for a job, do you look for vacancies and apply? Or do you just ask your connection in the company to pass your resume in and hope for the best?

Job & Working Hours

Murasaki322 — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 12:21:32 +0800

Wondering what is your working hours like in different profession and different industries...
Let's share to find out

Occupation:
Working days:
Working hours per day:
Overtime / Extra Allowances:
Off in lieu (replacement rest day):

Occupation: Engineer
Working days: 5 days but very often need to work weekends so 6.5 days average
Working hours per day: 9-12 hours weekday, 4-9 hours weekend
Overtime / Extra Allowances: weekday none, weekend RM50 per day
Off in lieu (replacement rest day): yes ( >6 hours on weekends or public holiday)