A couple of weeks back, on 4th June 2018, at about 6.30 pm, I walked across Operations, IT, HR, (a bridge), Finance and big bosses’ offices, and then, down two flights of stairs to thumb out for the last time in an MNC that I had worked for the past year and half. Okay laa, I’m just this ‘extra’ as a person that I had to describe it as I did. So, it was my last day at work, at my first ‘real’ job. I was nothing but all smiles! I was just glad to drive out of the premise.

No, I hadn’t had that much of a terrible experience in this MNC. In fact, I made so many good friends and had learned a lot there (including expanding my Mandarin vocabulary). I was just all happy about this first ‘adult’ decision I made, in contrary of what others had suggested (I did not have another job on the day I tendered my resignation – not that I recommend it, anyways). This wasn’t something I did in a spur of the moment, or in haste. I had thought and discussed about it long enough that all my friends were probably just impatient if I would just-resign-already-laa! *moment of silence for those who had to endure my whining* 😛 So, here are three reasons why I left my job at the said MNC.

1. I disliked my job scope. 

You see, this was my first job. I had applied for a different position during the application process. I was then notified that there was another vacancy, and if I was interested. I jumped at it. Even during the interview, I did not ask enough of the job scope. On my first couple of days, I was tasked to separate and process a bundle of pending invoices (I honestly thought that was going to be sole job). Then, I abruptly was trusted upon other tasks, which included purchasing waste bins, arranging waste bins and printing out labels for the waste bins. I hated it! Sure, I learned other valuable things like Management System, and environmental legal stuffs, amongst others. But the waste bins drove me crazy. Imagine when people started calling you ‘Waste Specialist’, and it felt like a knife driven through your heart. Oh, I hated reviewing procedures too.

Moral of the Story : Ask about your job scope in detail during interview. 

2. I dreaded the workload. And I dreaded how helpless I felt about it. 

You see (idk why you’ll have to see all the time, but you see la huh), turnover is quite noticeably high at the MNC I had worked for. Specifically, in the particular section I was in, it was probably even more serious. In 1.5 years, I had seen resignation of 3 Executives and 1 Non-Executive. That meant over 6 months of doing almost everything on my own. I had not known enough to voice out my helplessness. I wanted to try completing it all, until I started drowning in the pile. I wasn’t asking for help, because that’ll make me look incompetent. I whined all day, but I never said anything to the person who was giving me the tasks. I went to work on Sundays during my semester break, I stayed back late, I missed dinners, I wept in the parking, and the only time I said anything about it was the day I tendered my resignation.

Moral of the Story : If you have genuine feedbacks about work, give them to your superior. 

3. I disliked the leadership. 

You see (hahaaaa, this was on purpose, sorry I’ve been weirdly funny ever since I became jobless), I liked my superior as a person, as a colleague. But their leadership made me dread every morning’s alarm. In my early days of working, I went to work as early as 6.30 a.m. I had stopped going in early since an incident in September last year that got me weeping like a cry baby (like one, because I’m not one, mind you!) as early as 7.30 a.m. I despised getting WhatsApp messages on non-working hours (Dear boss, please don’t misuse the app laaa.. I don’t want to be asked anything on a hot Sunday afternoon, while I’m trying to focus in a terribly difficult class). I despised longgggggggg (does this justify how its length?) discussions that took place in the morning. I despised the nagging. I despised that despite knowing that I was right, but being told I was wrong because they were confused about the matter. I despised the book slamming, hard clicking on the keyboard, the grunts, growls and changing decisions. But. I never gave the feedback to the this person. Because, I didn’t want to be added in to their (her) list of Pampered Gen Y who wanted to be treated like royalty at work.

All the above said, I’m more than glad and grateful for all the experiences gained, and friendships forged there. I had the best group of colleagues, both in my department, and in other departments who made my survival last as long as it did. Thank you for lending your ears, mostly! ❤ 🙂