Another sort of boring week for me! My parents landed in Singapore and it’s been a week of spending time with them.

Other than that, I’m back to my usual routine of looking for a new job. I’ve sent some applications, but none have bitten so far. I really hope that I am more successful this time around and don’t have to wait so long to get another position.

I  am also prepping for the biggest festival in the Hindu calendar – Deepavali or Diwali as it is called in the northern parts of India! We’ve started cleaning the house and my mum and I have started deciding on what to make (sweets and savouries) for the festival. The children still have exams going on and once it ends (by the end of this week), I’ll take them shopping to buy new clothes.

Have a wonderful week folks! Hope that next week I have more to share….

What happened this week was a reminder to me to keep listening to my intuition or gut! I am going to put it here, maybe someone reading it can advise me?

This week, almost exactly three months and a couple of weeks to the date I joined the organisation, I was let go! It was quite uncanny that almost immediately after I finished doing the signature event and helped them move office. I was asking HR about my confirmation which was due to happen in three months when my reporting manager called me for a meeting with HR and said they will not be confirming me. I was shell-shocked! It took me around four days to come out of that shock and then think back to all the red flags and that’s when I realised what my gut was telling me all along!

The red flags in order of appearance were: having only one interview before an offer more an a month later (which almost never happens, and knowing the CEO as I do now, it seemed very strange since this person was personally arranging the stationary cupboard when we moved, this after someone else did the job first). The next came the week I joined – I had to chase manager for a week before they would sit down with me for a chat to discuss the role, which was extremely vague. Then after that, at the end of month one and during all of month two, I kept chasing for a one-on-one, which would either be ignored or if scheduled, would be cancelled at the last minute (after I have prepped for it). I kind of gave up during the third month, when I knew it would never happen. Other red flags included pinpointing at every small mistake I did (others could do bigger mistakes and it was inadvertent, but not me) and making sure I was always under stress. I was never given the time to learn the new environment I was in and the processes they followed, I used to joke to myself that the role needed psychic abilities in addition to the ones advertised. In fact, the biggest red flag was that I had no real experience in the role; I had done similar roles, but nothing like what was expected of me. I actually wanted to ask the manager during the exit process why I was hired but kept quiet because I didn’t want to burn bridges.

I was super unhappy there and from the first month itself, I was looking to leave. I have actually psyched myself that I should stay a year for it to look good on my CV but looks like the forces above me had a different opinion. I now believe that this was a God-sent opportunity to get out while I still retained my sanity.

So what now? I restart my job search again, this time with a hope that something good comes up and soon! An organisation where I can stay for a long time and be proud to be a part of.

My parents are here for a few months and I am looking forward to spending time with them. Thanks for reading my rant and have a blessed week everyone!

Gosh, what a week! It started off quite badly for me (with a ticking off from my manager) and ended well (I think). But it took a very hard toll on me physically, I needed more than the next few days to physically recover from the three intense days – two of the signature event and one of packing the office!

For the event which was in the planning stage for the good part of a year, it was really surprising to me that speakers were finalised only a week before and a lot of arrangements left to the night before. We slept past 1 pm most days and this, coupled with the amount of time I was on my feet made my feet swell up, which made walking a real pain and torture!

I am now seriously reconsidering if this position and organisation is a right fit for me. I don’t think I can take many such days and especially since I am getting older and this is something, someone who is much younger can do a better job than me!

This time though, I want to make sure the next organisation is the right fit, so I will take my time and also am thinking of getting professional help for this. More details later as I firm them up.

I am really hoping this week is much milder than the previous week and I have some time to myself. I am also excited for the weekend which will come as it means my parents will be here to spend a couple of months with us! It also means I need to start planning our year-end holidays!

Have a good weekend folks!

This week has been a very intense week for me, especially at work. We have our signature event two days from now and the last week has been busy at work, so much so that I’ve had a chance to even think!

The place that I am now working in, is pretty notorious for doing things at the very last minute! If you are efficient and do things ahead of time, you are penalised for it because things change between the time you do it and the time it has to be ready. For someone who always (and I mean always) is ready ahead of time, this is serious anathema to me! Every time this happens, I wonder what I am doing here!

I’ve been here for slightly over three months now, but I still have not gotten the confirmation letter from them. I am going to wait until the end of this month and then check with HR to see what they say about this issue. Maybe also speak to my manager (who still hasn’t done the one-on-one with me, even after three months!) to see what is the process here.

This week is also going to be a super intense week, what with the event and then the after the event, we have to pack up the office because we are moving the very next day! No rest for the wicked here!

Have a wonderful week folks!