July 2nd, 2008 §
I opted out of a fulfilling career in the United States in exchange for a fulfilling relationship with my wife in marriage. My long term goal is that we are able to enjoy each other in the company of things we enjoy doing together.
The sacrifice I made was not a complete exchange, but a re-prioritization of my goals. Of course I wanted a fulfilling career. Of course I wanted to work in Chicago. Of course I wanted to earn 3.8 times more than what folks were being paid back home.
But I know that some relationships are worth keeping more than other life goals, and being Asian, our careers tend to take a backseat.
I have to admit I was naive about the work conditions in Malaysia, and how poorly paid software workers are, and how my overall experience was not beneficial to me in the long run. But this was sustainable because of my relationship with my wife.
Now, 6 years and 3 jobs later, I’m reassessing my life goals, and finding that Malaysia’s software industry moves at a pace that’s too slow for my liking. They work hard, but move slow. I don’t particularly like that very much.
My wife is going through a similar process right now. In fact, she sacrificed a lot more to find a job she really enjoys, and that was only possible because I’ve been supporting her through this process.
She’s gone from a high-paying low-interest bank job to a challenging insurance sales job and now to a low-paying but enjoyable children’s art business development job. She says she now enjoys the work apart from the pay, but the pay is becoming an increasingly important factor.
Looking at what we enjoy doing together for the future, and comparing it to what we have on hand – it’s becoming more unlikely that we’ll be able to achieve that in the short-term.
We’re both clear on what we want:
- A sustainable and enjoyable marriage
- To enjoy doing certain things together – traveling alone together, for one
- A healthy cash-flow
- The freedom and safety to manage and enjoy a family
- A satisfying career
I’m having problems with the cash-flow thing and the family thing and the career thing. She’s having problems with the cash-flow thing and the family thing.
This makes the whole picture look incomplete and that’s not good. But it’s sustainable – and that’s how the marriage has helped us both. When things are sustainable, we’re able to make choices about our lives. It’s like steering a boat together. It takes time and a lot of sharing.
Marriage has helped us through both of our careers because we’ve looked out for one another. We care a lot for each other because we share the same goals. To me, this is one ideal environment for someone who wants this kind of work-life balance. And it’s not just for the both of us.
Either that, or I’m too chicken to lose out on a great relationship.
Resources:
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June 21st, 2008 §
Some people really have a hard time finding out what they really should be doing as an adult. I think that anyone having this problem are looking at other adults too much. They should be looking at their past instead.
Children aren’t shy about having fun. And I know that what we enjoy doing as adults are simply extensions of things we used to do as children.
My job as a software engineer cum web developer cum innovator stems from my childhood hobbies playing Lego and drawing portraits and doing all sorts of other ‘building’ stuff. I also spent my teens collecting comics, which I used to build my figure sketching skills. I was never into sports, but I feel that sports is a great way to learn about strategy, which is useful for stuff like finance, management, and innovation.
Playing with dolls may mean you enjoy storytelling, or being part of a hospitality service, or traveling. Reading may mean you enjoy research and learning, and being able to function as a team player.
One question a career counselor asked my wife when she went in for a session was ‘what did you enjoy when you were a child?’. Most likely, the things you did when you were a child were already preparing you for something you would be doing as an adult.
I posed this question to my youth session yesterday as well. Not all of them responded to the various interests. Some enjoyed traveling while some didn’t. Almost all of them played computers, but I’m guessing what they play may differ as well. Some enjoy sports. Some don’t like cartoons but enjoy watching animal planet. These were children aged 9 onward. They were specific and vocal – they could express what their interests were at a very young age.
I told them that when they become an adult, the toys don’t go away – they get bigger. So the trick is in deciding which toys to play, because there’s never enough time to play all of them (or enough money).
The reason why I love web development is because I like building things. I like art as well, and graphic design, although my background is in engineering. I like ideas – and good sites build on good ideas. I also love writing, and the web really needs a lot of that. In fact, writing was one of the things I used to do growing up.
In the book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell described a phenomenon about how Sesame Street became such a huge success. In that research, scientists realized that children watched TV very differently than adults do – in that they watch for learning’s sake (in terms of context), instead of pure entertainment. Their attention span only maintains when there are things on TV that they are attempting to gain knowledge from. This may be why one of the boys said he didn’t enjoy cartoons, when quizzed yesterday.
Don’t abandon your childhood for your adulthood. Bridge it together in one seamless story. Penelope Trunk’s advice is to do what you are – and I feel everyone ought to already know that growing up.
June 19th, 2008 §
I got my increment letter today, and at the rate I’m going, I’ll only be hitting RM100k annual salary in 6 years’ time. That’s not too bad. I’ll be able to afford a Toyota Vios by then, feed 2 children, and own my own house. Live the Malaysian dream.
Knowing what others earn is about having control over your life
I was talking to a friend of mine about salaries. We all rate salaries very differently, because we all have different friends. Our friends are sometimes our only lens into the corporate world, that’s layered with bureaucracy, hierarchy, and politics and a whole lot of other stuff we can’t quite make out.
The problem with that is that all of us are in the trees. Which is why I felt it was good to post up that interview with a recruitment agent. At least everyone can take a look at a snapshot of what people are earning nowadays.
So, everyone should just go to http://www.glassdoor.com right now, sign up, post your salaries, and give your employers a piece of your mind, because it’s all anonymous anyway. No one will ever know it was you. I told my friend that I signed up for glassdoor and put in my salary and company feedback, and even though I was the only person in my company in the whole world to do that, he couldn’t find out anything about me there.
So, trust me, it’s good for the whole world that everyone knows what everyone is earning. It’s mitigated anarchy. It’s good because you’ll know where you stand, the faster the better, because you’ll be able to make a decision about where you stand, and about what to do with your life. Yes, it’s good that you have control over your life.
The corporate ladder isn’t linear all the time
Contrary to popular belief, learning what the other guy earns isn’t about getting better up the ladder. The reason is because at the end of the day, everyone is accountable to themselves whether this is right for them or not. Not everyone wants to become a CEO. Not everyone wants to suck up to the boss and earn big bucks. Not everyone wants to be a stunt driver.
But what everyone wants is FAIRNESS. And fairness is a very hard thing to measure. But as a start, for things to be fair, it has to be open. So, at least, knowing what the other guy earns solves a bit of that. Because it’s not the salary amount that really matters, it’s knowing that really matters. Because knowing helps you make a decision about your life.
Companies don’t want you to know how much everyone is earning
Now, I was actually lying that it’s good for everyone knows what everyone earns.
Companies actually can lose out in situations like these, because a lot of companies can leverage on a lot of things if it does – FUD, the law (yes sometimes it can protect businesses as much as it can protect employees), politics, corporate hierarchy… anything it can leverage on, it will.
Why? Because it’s easy. Because it’s doable. Because companies get away with it all the time.
It’s harder for one person to gain so much knowledge about careers in a short period of time, than it is for a company to hire a CEO, a HR senior, or someone to draw up policies or establish a culture that will help the company to grow and protect itself against employees that might hurt it.
It’s ultimately the employees’ responsibility to find out how much people are earning, how much the industry is paying, and make a decision about what to do with their lives. It’s not a company’s responsibility to live that life for you.
Please watch out for yourself
I feel that the people who will get hit the hardest are good young people who want to change the world, and are so sick of capitalism that they expend themselves to the point that they suffer a burnout. Please watch out, because it’s your responsibility to. A company isn’t a way to shelter yourself away from the problems of the world.
If you’re stuck, don’t worry. The world is bigger than you think. There are ways to salvage a broken life, and there are people who are willing to help. You can talk to your boss, even though you’re scared or if your boss doesn’t want to listen, there are other people you can talk to. If you’re down and you’re just starting to get up, realize that life will look different from this point on… and get going. It’ll work out okay in the end.
Resources:
June 16th, 2008 §
The Malaysian IT workforce is facing a lot of problems now than it used to. No doubt, there are tons of jobs available, but for low-scale jobs like software development and tech support. The types of jobs available now hasn’t changed much over the last few years, and I doubt it will look any different over the next 5.
The reason is because IT in Malaysia is still fairly new, and hasn’t gained widespread adoption. At the same time, India and China are really big markets now, because of innovation and a vibrant mix of local and foreign players.
Our IT graduates are focussed mainly on development, not research. We’re way behind in terms of software – mainly because there’s too much emphasis on theory, instead of customers. My base observation is that companies typically use sales and project management staff to deal with customers, so a lot of programmers have zero to little idea of how to develop customer-centric software.
Anyway, I digress. If you’re in Malaysia and you’re doing software development, it is unlikely that your salary will hit RM7k for 6 years’ worth of slavery. This is true whether or not you’re a good programmer. (If you’re the exception, you can thank your lucky stars)
If you’re a project manager, 6 years’ worth of slavery might earn you RM6k and above. But then, I assume the work to be firefighting, especially when your software developers are paid peanuts.
Software developers are like the bottom of the food chain. There’s no glamour, no glory – and it’s crowded.
Just so you don’t think I’m crazy, I’m posting my interview with a recruitment agent from an established Malaysian recruitment company (ok, they *used* to advertise on the rear end of taxis/cabs). Her job involves hiring local IT grads for Malaysian companies, and she’s been doing that for the past 3 years.
————————————–
LW: What’s the average starting pay for a IT fresh grad now?
Agent: Average start is around RM1700-1800. But you do have candidates who are good, getting upto Rm2-3K for a Fresh Grad role as well… but that’s the highest and rare statistic
LW: rare as in …. 5%?
Agent: yup maybe around there… maybe even less
LW: what about [people with] 2 years experience?
Agent: Average IT person would be [earning] around RM2500? Rm2500-Rm3000 depending.
LW: what are the exceptions? RM4k?
Agent: possibly yes, but usually with 2 years, it shld be around Rm3500. [It] can go up to Rm2.5 – RM3.5k.
LW: okay, [what about] 4 years?
Agent: depends what area they are in. What area of IT. 4 years in the SAME Line without switching (e.g. programming for 4 yrs) would be around RM4K-6K, usually 6K on the high side… that’s for people who’ve moved into project management. So around Rm4-5k. Yeah, around Rm4-5K+ odd
LW: 6 years?
Agent: 6 years – you must ask me in what line. 6 years programming? 6 yrs in system support? A bit too general of a question. 6 years… in all technical? Or 6 years with some managerial experience?
LW: 6 yrs software development
Agent: all software development – about… Rm5-6++ as a programmer…. I’d say around Rm5k++, Rm6K onwards would be for a Project Manager etc.
LW: how much does a software developer earn in India, typically?
Agent: Don’t know about that. Don’t know Indian rates.
LW: If you had children, would you encourage them to do IT? [ed: Sorry, I had to do this. :P ]
Agent: Yes if that’s their passion.. but they’d really have to be different from the rest of the people out there… because there are too many people with IT degrees… the ones are gonna make it are the ones who can stand out in terms of skills, competence, and their ability to think differently, and that includes championing good ideas and having the initiative.
LW: Has the IT job outlook improved over the years, or declined?
Agent: Outlook for employers or employees?
LW: Both.
Agent: hmm, for employers, it’s declined a little… It’s getting harder to find the right people nowadays with a good fit in terms of the technical skills and the soft skills desired. Not enough good people in the market, and attracting them to the organization is also another challenge as employees are getting smarter and more demanding.
LW: So, it’s looking better for employees now, than in the past?
Agent: I think there’s a disparity between what people want out of their careers in IT and what companies here can give them. And as a result of this, people become mercenaries for the higher paying job. The roles of companies for IT in general, aren’t exactly very mind-blowing, even for managerial positions…
So while companies are trying to ’sell’ the organization and the job, trying to attract job seekers… it’s not really working so well because the average job seeker actually wants more than just a support role… or more than just an implementor role
LW: So what do employees really want out of the job these days? If it’s more than support and implementation?
Agent: aside from more money for rising living costs… i’m not really sure, but i think it’s got to do with a whole new level of a job per se… more interesting projects, not the run-of-the-mill support roles, or an outsourcing center…. maybe new projects involving innovation from scratch.. that’s designed/planned for here… something that people feel a sense of belonging.
The roles/projects we have here are implementation… people don’t identify with that.They never created the work…. they have no sense of belonging… and when that happens, you take less pride in what you do.
Hence you move around jobs quicker, if that makes sense.
LW: It makes a lot of sense. Do you forsee this scenario to change over the next few years? Malaysia is right in the middle of cheap-software-dev talent pool.
Agent: No, not in the next few years. Maybe in 10 years?
LW: That’s a long time, considering that software moves so fast.
Agent: Haha, there isn’t much sign of change happening for the big companies. No sign of creation of projects by Malaysians, written by Malaysians… Don’t know if it’s because Malaysians have yet to initiate such efforts in the first place, or is it a result of a lack of opportunities to display their abilities. Chicken or egg situation.
LW: Thanks for your time. If you had one advice for local IT grads out there, what would it be?
Agent: My advice would be to strive to be different – in terms of ideas, work approach….and to ensure they get solid technical experience to back them up.
LW: Sounds good. Thanks again!
[Interview date: Monday, June 16, 2008, 1pm]
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June 11th, 2008 §
It’s hard to tell apart things that matter versus things that don’t while sitting in our comfort zones. Anything can seem unreal, almost too manageable. Corporate pressures may be shrugged off after project endings, while some jobs don’t require much continuity or responsibility. At the end of the day, a job is a job – you’ll get the same paycheck you got last month. Move to another job if you don’t like the one you’re at now…
Unless, of course, you’re a freelancer.
I recently found Freelanceswitch.com, a blog about freelancing, that reminded me how much I hated the bad parts about freelancing, and how people still do it because it really puts you in control. I don’t often subscribe to RSS feeds on the first impression, but this one was a keeper. You don’t even have to be freelancing to realize how valuable the articles are. And the reason is simple – freelancing takes so much out of you that it forces you to be good in pretty much everything.
There are tons of freelancing roles out there – copywriters, designers, artists, software developers – all vying for a piece of the pie. I’ve done at least one or two types of these jobs, and I’ve had good and bad experiences about them.
The good part is that you get paid, sometimes, for things that takes you an hour to do, and a few minutes to talk. The bad part is that you’re never really in control of what you’ll get. And so, in order to get a grip on life, most freelancers have to stick to their guns and keep going at it again and again, upon the waves of uncertainty.
This basically creates a sort of accelerated view of potentially your entire career, which forces you to pick up skills you would otherwise avoid in a typical job. These skills can be extremely valuable, like managing projects, budgeting, selling, public relations, and so on. At the same time, you have absolute freedom in investing in any skill you want, and fine tune it for your own purposes.
I believe some freelancers see corporate jobs like a cop out – the idea of constantly working with people excel at a few things and talk about it like they own the world. Freelancing is humbling, and for a good reason – it takes a lot out of you. But the benefits can be extremely rewarding in the long run, if you can weather the storm.
Anyway, just to show you what I mean, here’s a snippet from Freelanceswitch:
Launching a freelance business is no easy feat—regardless of whether you’re looking to go full-time or part-time. And if you’re trying to build the business while holding down a regular job or taking care of the kids, you have it harder than most.
There are only so many hours in a day! You can’t expect to do it all. And if you try, you’ll burn out sooner or later.
The secret lies in outsourcing tasks you’re not fond of, especially if someone else can do them for less.
source: link
Here’s another great post referenced from the same site: link – great advice for anyone, freelancer or otherwise.
May 21st, 2008 §
Most people don’t think much about giving to charity. And because of that, most people don’t give to charity, and if they do, it’s not going to be any large sum. The way you give to charity shows a lot about you – about how you view the world, about your value systems, about your background.
Most people don’t take advantage of giving, because they see it as part of their finances. Sure, there’s cost involved, but most people don’t think twice about buying a meal or treating a friend for dinner.
1. Giving can make you famous (or infamous)
I’m not trying to take anyone on a guilt trip here, but having a right mind about giving will give you an edge over a lot of people. A lot of people take notice because so many people aren’t in the mode of giving. Even your bosses can get a bit embarrassed if their donations can’t match yours.
2. Giving implies dedication
Most people who give willingly, and not sparingly, are people who have already gone through the thinking process of what that giving means. They don’t have to give it a second thought. In fact, good givers give on a regular basis, because they’ve already planned out their finances in such a way to be able to give. I practice that 10% of my salary goes to the church, but on top of that, RM20 goes to a cancer fund every month. By that I make an active stand about my giving priorities, no matter what the circumstance. You don’t have to take my word for it – Bill Gates has a stand too.
3. Good companies give
Good companies tend to be the ones who give back, and tend to provide better working environments. Though it may not be a crucial part of the interview process, having healthy giving practices does help to mold your character to be more employable. And you’ll want a good working environment that nurtures you and helps you grow.
4. Giving forces you to think
No doubt there are a lot of scams out there, which is why thinking is a necessity for purposeful, regular giving. It means that you’re willing to address an issue that’s real, and dig deeper to find out about the problems. This sort of thing happens at work every day. Having a bigger perspective improves your ability to perform at work.
5. Giving provides new perspectives at very low cost
AOL Finance and Money published six surprising reasons to give to charity, which includes meeting celebrities, doing interesting things, getting cool stuff, and other things. Giving is such a radical thing that only radical people do it. It’s a great way to get out and embrace change.
May 20th, 2008 §
We’re all human beings – most of us probably have high and low points in a job. Like me, I get to work in a projectized environment a lot, which means that things get really crazy as deadlines approach. Then things start to cool off, and suddenly it feels like I’m in limbo again.
I think that every job has its own work cycles, and it’s good to observe how these cycles come and go. At the same time, anyone who tells you that it’s the same all year round is bogus. Even worse advice is to take it as it comes – you can get seriously burned out.
As human beings, we’re experts at creating comfort zones for ourselves. We start to gravitate toward comfort zones when we don’t feel a real purpose in our work. This creates an artificial rift against what we say we’re doing.
One example is employees surfing Facebook during work. Given the right working environment, people wouldn’t be glued to their Facebook accounts so much. We tell ourselves that we ought to be doing something more productive, but even that is artificial when we don’t feel that what we’re doing is purposeful.
One solution is to carefully and mindfully plan out what you want to achieve from the job, say – within a year, a quarter, or whatever. Observe the busy-free cycles and take note of those who gravitate toward comfort zone areas. Make a decision how you want to carry yourself in the workplace, and avoid conforming to the status quo just because everyone is.
This makes it easier for you to perform when it matters, and relax when things cool down. It’s also a good way to show that you can perform under pressure, and are mature enough to take advantage of the breaks.
They teach these kinds of things in the project management industry, but it does make a lot of sense no matter what type of job.
May 14th, 2008 §
I don’t think popularity can be manufactured. There’s always some amount of human randomness that dares to defy the ‘obvious’, and in Murphy’s terms whatever can go wrong will go wrong.
So why bother being popular? It doesn’t get you anywhere. It only gets you along with other people very well. And unless that’s what you want, you really should ask yourself if it’s really worth the sacrifice.
Focus on knowing who you are instead. It’s much much healthier, has longer lasting benefits, and leaves a trail of positive influence.
Specifically, in order to build a successful career, you must focus on building and improving your strengths, NOT your weaknesses. Studies has shown that people fare better being average performers on their weaknesses, while excelling at their strengths.
There are ways to resolve weakness through collaboration, delegation, outsourcing, or creatively arriving at a solution. It’s what some people call adapting. But you can call it whatever you want.
The reason why following popular vote is detrimental to your career is because there are way too many signals and it can be too confusing. It’s more economical to focus on yourself and knowing who you are, and just living your life according to your needs and wants.
I would even encourage you to challenge the status quo and stand up for something you truly believe in, and are willing to take a stand for. It is enormously rewarding and seriously impacts your ability to navigate life for the longer term. It may not be so rewarding short term, but you don’t want to end up regretting something you wish you should have done over and over again.
References:
May 2nd, 2008 §
This might come as a hard hit – the three options for anyone who really wants to do what they love, assuming you can’t find it anywhere around where you are:
- go abroad (increased chances)
- start your own company
- do it alone anyway, but care less about getting paid
Sometimes you’re never going to find the perfect job, the perfect company, that one customer, who will pay you what you want to do best. You don’t have to conform to the expectations of a 9-5 job. It’s not illegal, it’s not evil, and nobody will kill you if you decide to do something else really bad.
You just need to give yourself time to plan things out properly. As for timing, there never is a “best” time to get anything done. You just sort of have to get started by yourself.
I have a friend who’s working as a software researcher whose dream is to start a childcare company. I told her she shouldn’t wait until she gets older. There are opportunities to do it now, and there’s no reason why it is of any loss should she quit.
In fact, I see it the other way around – she could potentially be robbing herself of an opportunity of a lifetime, if she decides to delay longer.
Thanks to Google and our ability to operate a QWERTY keyboard, it’s a lot easier for folks like us to do stuff. That includes getting the information we need, talking to experts in the field, sourcing for businesses, sourcing for customers, getting new ideas…
I would encourage anyone who’s stuck in the rat race, and have a desire to do something different – to start looking at alternatives now. Don’t wait. Find your street smarts and use all the advantages you can afford to leverage on.
April 29th, 2008 §
Culture is the glue that helps people understand a lot of things about each other – in a very short period of time. We are able to make all sorts of quick observations by the way somebody talks, walks, smiles, pays the bills, etc.
That’s all fine – we all need to reduce clutter in how we deal with things. Culture is good to get everyone on the same page, and it’s fun when foreigners come so we can tell them nice stories.
The thing is – culture gets a lot more complicated in business. I think there’s a lot of battle going on about which culture fits best for work. There’s West vs. East, Top vs. Bottom, Boy vs. Girl, Rich vs. Poor, Profit vs. Purpose – all kinds of stuff.
I think the best way to deal with this is to fit in, or leave – and if you’re serving as an employer, you should watch out for these things the minute you start work at the company. The reason is because no one’s looking out for you, and the best person to know if you fit in is yourself.
There’s no point trying to change organizational behavior, UNLESS YOU’RE BEING PAID TO DO IT. The same reasons why people continue to operate under culture even though it doesn’t do good business is because it keeps things manageable. So, don’t bother changing the corporate culture. Change yourself instead, or move out.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with leaving a company, especially if you know darn well what you’re doing. If you don’t know what you’re doing, well … that’s a different story.
In this day and age, no one will ask you why you’ve been jumping companies like breeding rabbits – because everyone knows it’s a tough world out there and companies operate so differently these days with so many factors involved.
The average job seeker has more complex demands than 10 years ago, which is why we jump companies on an average of 2.5 years.
If you’ve been doing just that, THAT’S OK. You don’t have to feel bad. You know what you want in life – you know what skills you can bring onto the table – go for it. Live your life.
My only premise is that you have a powerful story to tell. One that provides meaning and purpose to explain the kind of person you are and the kind of job that matches your very being.
