Life Update: I am back to Office Work!

Hey! I hope you are doing well as I am doing great as well.

It has been months since I wrote my journal here. I was super hectic due to my current work. Yes, I finally got an opportunity to work at a tech venture capital firm in Jakarta, Indonesia.

I thought that I would be spending my time during my study leave without having stable income. Before I got the job opportunity, I applied to many job vacancies of many companies, from part-time job, internship, startups to giant corporate. I also tried many possible ways to get a job, from career platforms/website to my friends' referral. I passed CV screening and HR interview, but when it came to user interview, I was rejected. It is because of my "student" status in which I have to return to Australia at any time once the state border was opened. I was hopeless.

Then, in early November 2020, my college senior reached out to me asking whether I was interested in applying a public relations job at a tech venture capital firm. Of course, I gave a try yet I hoped nothing. Beside assuming that I would be rejected again, I was not really confident with the industry. I searched the company online and had no idea about what the company is doing and unfamiliar terms since I never dig business, investment and tech startups before.

I sent my CV to the Head of Marketing, who was my senior's colleague. After that, I was interviewed by him through the WhatsApp call a day after. I quickly gave disclaimer about my status. And surprisingly, he is okay! When he told me about the job description, I believed that I can perform well as long as I am able to learn the industry quickly. He said that a partner and HR team would interview me too. My interview with a partner ran smoothly. She asked me about event and project management which I am proficient at. Thanks God!

After passing the two interviews, I was contacted by the HR team (We call it People team in this company). There were 2 interviewers, the VP and the Head of People. I was nervous, but I tried to keep calm when answering their questions. I was asked about my career plan and expectation. I explained (again) my status and told them that I am flexible about the employment status. Surprisingly, the company is willing to hire me with flexible period. I am hired as a 3-month contract employee for the first period, and we would see whether I can continue working at the company afterwards or not. If I still had to stay in Indonesia, my contract will be extended, of course, it is based on performance during the three-month working. And what I am very grateful for is they treat me the same as a permanent employee, meaning I get the same benefits as the permanent employees. Thanks God, I'm so touched😭

The hiring process took only 2 weeks. The fastest recruitment process I had experienced hahaha After I agree to the offering and signed the agreement, I started working right the next week after. It's 16 November 2020.

There were ups and downs during performing my task at the company, for sure. My pain point was when I had to do brand audit through desktop research. I mapped key message and SOV (share of voice) of the company in the past 10 years. Then, I developed brand communication plan. I was a little bit struggling since I need to understand all terms related to the industry so that I could bring about good output. It was also difficult to gain trust from my bosses, but it was totally understood since I was just a newborn of the company 🥺

Nevertheless, I successfully got through the pain point. Thanks to my hard work in three months, I was given bigger responsibilities. While I'm holding Public Relations Associate title, I'm also part of the CEO Office team. I am responsible for external relations and partnership, strategic communication planning, project management, as well as providing strategic advice to partners.

I have involved in some projects of the company. The latest one was the biggest project, which gave me a lot of new experiences and knowledge.

Never stop exploring!

I didn’t really care about business, tech startups, venture capital, and digital economy until I got an opportunity to work at this company. In the past 5 months, I have learned considerable knowledge of the industries thanks to the opportunities given by God through the company. This new experience awake me that there are still many things I have to learn. I must not limit myself in confined spaces. And so do you.