Crappy picture of probably the best people I’ve ever worked with all 5 years of my career (plus 3 ojts hehe and minus a couple of people who’ve gone before me – moved on to other work not died). Spot the girl in the nerdy glasses (that would be me!).

I’ve had my share of bad days, complaints about work and bosses and seatmates, but my 3 years stay with IG has been filled to brim with fun, laughs, alcohol, how to deal with difficult people, how NOT to deal with difficult people and a whole lotta learning (and loving going on – a cookie to the person who can get the musical reference)!

But the people I’ve worked with – they’ve taught me to always try to be the best at what I do. Go for the gold or die trying. And my boss (all 3 SPMs and 1 Director and 1 MD) have taught me that nothing is ever good enough if you want to be the best and seriously for a slacker like me – that was a hard lesson to learn. But it made me love what I do and made me strive to be better everyday.

Aww mush mush.

Goodbyes are never easy. And since I’m just a few blocks away – I could always drop by for lunch.

So now… on to a new adventure. :)

Today – the Internet tomorrow… THE WORLD!

I’ve been working for a little more than 5 years already. While most of my peers are still with the companies they’ve joined right after graduation (some are with their second), I am already at my 3rd – and in less than 2 weeks, I will be moving on to my 4th.

My first job was a total disaster. I hated going to work to everyday. I didn’t have any friends there at all! I had to wear a uniform to work everyday – and look like an overweight teacher on crack. I got reprimanded once by the CEO’s secretary for wearing slippers on my lunch break. I didn’t have much to do so I pretty much just stared at the computer screen all day. But I did manage to learn PHP and MySQL from scratch during my 6 months stay there (Thanks to G and Eumir) well enough to build a CMS for their site and an online enrollment system for their clients. Of course it was crude, and I’m pretty sure it was very buggy but the love for anything web-related was borne from there. As well as the realization that a spark of interest can go a very long way. On my 6th month I resigned. I couldn’t stand being there anymore. I was lonely. I felt like people didn’t want to talk to me because I was different (my music, my books, my casual Fridays clothes, even the way I react to things, etc). The only person I got along with was my boss but that wasn’t enough to make me stay. Plus the pay sucked.

So I moved on to a Swiss-owned non-profit company. The pay was great (especially the non taxable allowances), and I could pretty much forgive the uniforms we had to wear too since they weren’t that bad and casual Fridays were allowed (although I got into trouble a couple of times for being too casual on casual Fridays). And the friends I made there were pretty much awesome. The work was web-related and there was a lot of interaction with people from multi-cultural backgrounds so it was pretty interesting… at least at first. After getting used to doing the same thing over and over again, editing copies, deciding which keywords will work, I decided that internet marketing, though pretty challenging, was just not for me. It was too much of the same thing over and over again. I realized that I needed to be constantly learning, doing different things at the same time (not just editing different sites at the same time), and pretty much allowed to make decisions for myself and for the work I am doing to be able to feel some semblance of a career fullfillment. So a few months after I turned a year old in the company, I left. I appreciate how my bosses tried to find a way to address my concerns when I told them why I was leaving but I was already looking forward to moving on to my 3rd company and the prospect the job they offered me promised, to consider staying (what a long sentence).

So come August 2007 I joined Information Gateway as a Jr. Project Manager. The title itself made my chest swell and my head filled to the brim with possibilities. My job title had the word Manager in it! Of course it had the word Jr. too but that’s irrelevant. And for 3 years I worked more than 8 hours daily, did more work than what my job description required, got frustrated a lot, wanted to kill workmates, celebrated project success, enjoyed perks brought about by reaching revenue targets (got more bonuses than I ever expected, an iPod touch, and a trip to El Nido and Hongkong both paid for by the company), got drunk at Christmas parties, been glued to the computer and to my office phone even during weekends because of a project, had to spend the night at the office before a project launch, did more Math than I ever dreamed of doing after swearing I’ll never touch numbers again all 4 years of my college calculus life – and more. I’ve also gottten drunk during weekdays after office with my friends, read awesome books, listened to new music, and watch movies and series (that I’d never find out if not for them) they’d recommend and generally made friends with the coolest people I could ever hope to work with. I’ve learned a lot from my bosses – passion, eye for details, thinking out of the box in an industry where you feel like you’ve done everything there is to be done, which battles to fight and which to avoid, persuasion, standing your ground, flexibility, and more! And from my peers? I’ve learned that a team works better when you are all working towards the same goal, with equal passion and with equal desire to be number one.

I only realized I’ve been with IG for 3 years a couple of months ago. It always feels like I just started last year. Even if I’ve already had 3 direct supervisors (am already on my 4th one), I’ve seen team mates leave, I’ve seen teammates get married, had babies, and some – even pass away. IG is not perfect. It’s just like all the other companies out there. There’s politics (way too obvious sometimes), there are difficult bosses and co-workers who complain more than they work. Sometimes the pay sucks. But like I said – you can find these problems wherever you go. It’s all just a matter of priorities. And I think one of the reasons why I’ve managed to stay longer here compared to the other 2 companies I’ve been with – is because everday, I keep learning something new be it work-related or not.

Here at IG I’ve finally found something I was good at, something that I could potentially be great at. And I wanted to keep doing it despite the stress, the work hours that sometimes included weekends, the frustration with targets, bosses and even workmates. And I say, finding that feeling in a company you’re in trumps whatever negative aspects you might find in your workplace (be it your boss, your seatmate, your pay). Because you’ll always find something to complain about wherever you go but you’ll never find that satisfaction you get from doing something you like that easily.

Besides, only IG has ever made me feel that a “WHAT DO YOU THINK?” from one of the big bosses in the company, means I’m more than just a peon but an actual stakeholder in the project I’m handling. haha.

(So I feel bad for all the complaints I’ve had against my work, my bosses, the company since they were all petty and  immature but more on that in a different post. )

So why am I leaving if it seems like I’m in a good place right now? I got asked that same question during an interview by my would-be boss. Believe me it wasn’t an easy decision to make but I’m going because I feel like now is a good time. A company I look up to has hired me for a position that will allow me to take all the “technical” skills  I’ve acquired  from all 3 companies I’ve been in and roll it into one position in an industry that has always had me inspired. And my gut says I should go for it. And honestly, most of the skills that I’m taking with me to this new job, are skills I’ve learned with IG. So I actually have IG to thank for getting me this job hehe.

…all my dreams will come true.

(at qc circle after eating at coconut house – where the waiter forgot to wash his hands after peeing. too bad the food was pretty good but i don’t think i’ll ever come back there again. meanwhile, i didn’t know being at qc circle can be so much fun!)

part 2 of a major backlog…

(if goldilocks and red ribbon had a kid…)

Part 1 of many photo dumps.