Time to leave

I know,

my blog has been dead.

And today you're gonna see a few posts coming from me. All with loads of stuffs which has been happening.

Firstly, the bomb of all news. I am officially leaving Dell. Not coz I chose to, but coz Dell thinks I'm not good enough for it. Can't blame tho, with my lack of experience in Global support, the reason that they hire me was coz they thought I could made it... and plus the support is really critical.

Not much calls actually in my current helpdesk, but once a call comes in for SaaS (Software as a Service), it will blow your mind off, well, if you are unlucky enough to get some really rare/explosive stuff.

And I admit, I am not good enough. I did bring it up... and I did say that given more time I definitely could prove myself. But that was not accepted, I was pressured, and thus, I had to make way for something new in my life. A change of job. I would like to reveal more, but Dell's policy of not allowing anything (posts, facebook etc) that is to undermined its name and brand is something to think of. They could bring you to court.

So.. I will state this. That I've learnt a lot from it. That I've not wasted all of my time. I did grew from it. Yet all i wish was not for me to leave in this way. What to do, sometimes things are just way out of our control. I will learn not to do the same mistakes that I did there (which I didn't realized they were mistakes till it came back at me like a boomerang).

A few key things I've learnt:
1. Never ever trust anyone at work, no matter how close you are (unless you know the person personally outside of work, preferably before you joined the company).

2. Dealing with Western Cultures (a training that I went, was taught by Andrew, a Canadian currently residing in Malaysia for 8 years already)... which shed light on the difference of Malaysia culture and cultures in the US and Europe. What we could do about it and how we could improved.

3. Effective Communication Skills (a course that I thought i knew darn well, due to previously working in Maxis and HP going through the same lesson before... but no.. this is way more deep and detailed and emphasizes on how you talk, your tone, facial expression, to the point of detecting lies and body language.) One important quote I learnt from the trainer: "You do not need to speak loud, but, do speak out, and speak UP... that is when people will listen to what you've said." (Tone, the way you speak, the way you emphasize on the words, is important.)

4. Passion Driven Mindset - this is where we were taught on how to ignite passion in everything that we do. So that we would not grow bored, and know how to manage things in order to succeed. One important story I've learn: "If you were force to eat a live toad, when will you eat it? You have to do it everyday, lest you will be killed by the village chef if you do not do so." Answer: "As early in the morning, once you woke up, you have to do it." Coz it's the best time to do something, that is this hard. When you finish the hardest part of the day, the other chores will seem easier, and it will not bug u down as much as not doing it and have that thought floating in your head. Always start with the toughest chores/tasks, and finishing it with easier things to do near the end of the day.

5. Say good things, and good things only, whenever you are in your company. Never whine, never complain. Coz those things can be used by your colleagues as a weapon to your manager/boss. No matter how you feel, when ppl ask you "How are you feeling working here?" say... "It's good, it's great, i'm proud to be here, this is THE BEST JOB EVAH" Yea, that is the best answer. Really...

6. Double check everything with your boss/manager if you are not sure. If you feel uneasy with a decision, escalate to get confirmation. Before you end up burning your own ass in the oven with your boss the next day.

7. Get the job started fast, swift, and perfect even in the beginning of the job. Never procrastinate, as this could become a reason for them not wanting to confirm you later on. "So far I am not convince with your performance" After the 3rd month is the last thing you wanna hear when you are "begging" for that confirmation.

8. Do not, EVER, sign for a job unless you really UNDERSTAND what the job REQUIRES of you. ASK, ASK plenty about how the job is gonna be, what are they expecting of you, what they want out of you, how's the environment like, how's your own team gonna be like and how they treat newbies, how the US team reacts to working with us Asians. (those salary, bonus, benefits questions are secondary if you can't even survive in it once you start???)

That's all for this post. Guess I've shared a lot of valuable experience here. Use it, coz it's usable anywhere you work. That is what I plan to do, all the lessons I've learnt here, will never be wasted.

Lastly, a short comic to ask yourself before you agree to that job offer:

TO WORK YOUR ASS OFF......

ARE YOU READY FOR THE JOB??