WHAT WAS your first job? Mine was as junior auditor at an accounting firm in Makati and I was paid P700+ a month. Yeah, I am no spring chicken now since that was back in 1987 when I was fresh out of business school and raring to make a mark in the working world.
I’ve been through many other jobs since then, finally settling on a career I love: journalism. I have learned many things on the job that I didn’t learn in school, from doing what it takes to meet your goal to handling office politics and difficult bosses, among others.
New graduates are more fortunate now to have a plethora of information available to them as these can help them hurdle the challenges of their working life better. One of these is the little book Your First Job: A Practical Guide to Success by Nelson T. Dy published last year by OMF Literature Inc.
In eight easy-to-read short chapters, Dy tackles principles for success in the workplace. He starts out by encouraging readers to ask themselves why they work, where they want to go in their career, and what their plans are to get there. Dy recounts that he studied chemical engineering at De La Salle University but wanted to get into marketing. So he took his MBA at the Asian Institute of Management then joined the marketing department of a big chemical firm upon his graduation. Clueless as to what career to take? Thelma Meneses, HR director of Unilever Philippines and one of those interviewed by Dy in the book, advises young people to assess their strengths and weaknesses, and seek a job that would fit them, rather that their skills.
Using the story of Joseph in the Bible, Dy also tackles the importance of earning your boss’s trust through integrity, helping people on your way up, sharpening your skills, and letting go of emotional baggage. To illustrate the principles, the author features interviews with successful people such as Raffy dela Rosa, former president and CEO of Chowking Food Corporation; Alex Castillo, former president of Del Monte Philippines; Tony Meloto, former executive director of Gawad Kalinga; and Ardy Roberto, CEO of Salt and Light Ventures.
Although the book is targeted toward fresh graduates starting out in their careers, it can also be enjoyed by those already working for a long time, even entrepreneurs like you. For instance, in the book, Roberto advises entrepreneurs to get out of the “one man show” trap common among new entrepreneurs—when they do everything from sales to administration to accounting to collection, etcetera, leaving them pooped at the end of a 12-hour workday. How to get out of this rut? “Think that one day your business can be a franchise,” Roberto says. Make an operations manual. Train people well so your business can run on a system even when you’re not there.
This little book is full of helpful advice. Get it at your favorite bookstore or buy it at the OMF Lit e-store.
4 Feedbacks on "How to succeed at your first job (with tips for those already working)"
Allan
Based on the comments of the many youngsters, applying for a job in the philippines is like looking for a needle in the haystack, you know why? because of the interviewer in the hr company their applying. it caught to my attention in your column that you should look and assess your strength and weaknesses, that is the common question in job interview, but questioning someone who is a newly grad cannot answer that correctly, all im saying is that all hr as in ALL HR in the philippines is so much exagerrated when it comes to interview. thats why many newly grad gets dissapointed early and they tend to be scared of having another job interview. I have read so many books regarding first job interviews, first work, first business all of them are full of crap. the book you are endorsing is one of them. Just try to schedule an interview abroad for example in UK with the hr director or executive and you will know the difference of conducting an interview in the philippines and UK. There is no question about strength and weaknesses in UK. this is the one reason why many newly grad go to abroad because of that silly question. and also that is the reason why so many unemployment in our country. All i want is all the hr in the company in our country should be more educated and stop that non sense and silly question of strength and weaknesses and also stop the PALAKASAN SYSTEM in HR
Allan
Dubai & UK
Dhoy
I totally agree with the comment left by Allan. The problem with find a job is not so much the applicant himself, its the HR department of the company he is applying for. HR departments have a very strict superficial criteria when they are looking to fill a position: the applicant must come from a big name school (particularly true in call centers); the applicant must have a pleasing personality (read relatively good looking); must be a particular gender (females for secretarial work and males for labor); and must be within a particular age group (preferably below 35 years of age). In developed countries, the criteria and the personal information that is requested for you in a resume (such as your religion) are patently illegal. But here in the Philippines, its normal.
The writer Karen Galarpe totally misses the fact that in the Philippines, hiring practices are not like the hiring practices of developed countries. It is much more arbitrary and not based upon “who is the most qualified” but rather superficial things like “Okay this person is Iglesia ni Cristo, so she won’t complain when we do not renew her contract in 6 months and won’t join a union”.
businessman
Well although I agree with Allan on a level, we have no choice but to follow the trend here in the Philippines no matter how ridiculous it may seem if we want to land a job here.
Nissi
There are a lot of “Nepotism” in this country - from the workplace, to the government to leadership decisions. Nepotism is a form din ng palakasan- mga inside jobs
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