Time to move on...

I've finally done it. After months of bugging from my parents. After a year of offically being a Mad Scientist. I'm now ready to move on and I have applied for another job. And the place I've applied to is a far cry from what I'm doing now. I applied to Accenture, which is a superbly big and established consulting firm. They mainly do research for their clients on how to improve their businesses, work practices, etc so that their clients improve productivity and increase profits. Their office is based right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, at KLCC. And it is very, VERY corporate-like. Totally different from my job now, where I can wear t-shirts and jeans practically everyday. Over there, it would be stiffy officewear and heels everyday. And instead of a small (not to mention, usually messy) office of only 5 people, I'd be joining a company with dunno how many hundreds or staff. And instead of getting headaches from screaming, fighting or bratty kids, I'd be getting headaches from difficult or demanding clients or possibly bosses breathing down my neck to get a project done. Aiyaiyai!

I guess anyone who knows me would be wondering why on earth Carol would want to apply for such a completely different job. Especially since I do enjoy what I am doing, for the most part. Well, as mentioned before, my parents have been bugging me forever to get a new job coz' I won't be young forever and I need to get a job with more prospects...blablabla. Which in layman speak means I need to get a job where I can earn lots more moolah as I go along. Which, in my current company, I can't, coz' sadly, the business isn't all that great. Half the time, we are constantly reminded to not waste, save rescources, don't purchase unnecessary things for our classes, etcetera etcetera... Which is not too bad. But what really gets me is when we are so superbly busy having to prepare for classes, but when we want to employ part-timers to help out so we can have more time to do things, we're told that "it's not encouraged" coz' of not enough money. And so we are forced to overwork, and the benefits are.... pretty pathetic if I do say so myself. Not that I enjoy picking on my company, but it is the sad truth. I can get much more doing the same amount of work elsewhere.... so as much as I do enjoy working with kids and getting to wear casual every day.... I've finally reached the point where I know it's time to move along now. Career wise, I can't really move very high up the ladder in a company of 5 people. And I've gained some useful business and marketing skills here, after having to meet customers and all. So it's time for bigger challenges, me thinks.

So why Accenture? Well, my cousin brother suggested I applied to it a few months back. Back then, I wasn't quite ready to change jobs yet, but the job sounded quite interesting. And more importantly, the starting salary...ooohhh....the salary! I don't quite wanna mention the amount here, but let's just say that it was enough to make my jaw drop. And the salary they can achieve later on is even more jay dropping. It was enough to make me think... working at Accenture would be tough... I'd have to work long hours most days and I'd have to travel all the way to KL everyday in the monstrosity that is the morning traffic jam... but that salary would make it all worthwhile. My dreams of buying a new Sony Ericsson phone would easily become a reality! Heck, I could even afford one of those nifty PDA phones which has MMS, 3G, bluetooth, and God knows what other nonsense I'd pay a ridiculous amount of money for but never use! Bye bye, my 7 year old dinosaur-ish Nokia 3310 (it has served me well though. Survived many drops on the floor and even a fall into a toilet bowl!). Plus, of course, I'd get to travel, meet more people from around the world, and really broaden my opportunities...which all sounds pretty cool. And if one day I were to decided to emigrate somewhere, it would make it a lot easier to get a good job with such working experience. Haha, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Must refrain from seeing dollar signs....

So back to reality, I actually only applied over the weekend. I sent my resume to my cousin, who emailed it over to Accenture. And lo and behold, the very day they got it (Monday), I received a call from them asking me to go for an interview on Wednesday. Apparently the first hurdle is that applicants must have superbly good exam results... which meant I got through without a hitch (don't mean to be boastful or anything. :P). The second hurdle was the first interview. Apparently I was supposed to be interviewed by one of the managers, but when I got there, they told me the manager was suddenyl unavailable, so a lady from HR interviewed me instead. Fortunately, she was very friendly and nice, and the interview went so beautifully well, she said I had a lot of pluses and she will definitely get someone to contact me for a second interview. When I told her I had to give 2 months notice to my boss if they gave me the job, she even asked if I could start any sooner. That's a good sign!

So I was pretty elated that I got pass round one of interviews with flying colours. But my cousin kind of burst my bubble when he told me that the next round would be much tougher. Especially since this time I will definitely be meeting a manager. And they're gonna do some personality test thing on me. Fortunately, thanks to my cousin, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect coz' he conducted interviews before too (I know, I know, I feel like I'm cheating before an exam or something. :P). So hopefully the next round goes just as well or better. After which I get thrown into round 3...possibly on the same day. After which they let me know if I've got the job or not. Probably will all happen sometime next week.

The thing now is how to tell my current boss and colleagues that I will be leaving if I get this job. At the moment, they all have no idea, and they sure wouldn't want me to go. Already it's tough getting good people for the job, and there are so many things to do which takes time to train new people to do. I can imagine the senior instructor wanting to hang me upside down after I tell him I'm gonna leave, especially since we've been quite close since I came into the company. Sigh... oh well, at least I can tell them in the job I'm going into, I'll meet a lot of rich clients, and should they have kids, I can recommened Mad Science to them. Hahaha! Small consolation for them though. :P And I don't even know if I can survive the dog-eat-dog big corporate world. But that's if I get the job, which I haven't yet. So stay tuned for updates!