Early Christmas

This is a great day! I finally get a job offer that's worth considering. My official job title has the new word "Senior" at the front, and the financial compensation is even better than what I was expecting. Very enticing I must say.

Also heard from my boss in Singapore that our only competition in government project X has been disqualified and actually banned from doing any business with the prime contractor. This practically makes it a 1-horse race! He then said that as a show of commitment, he and some other colleagues will be flying to Manila to help out on the POC. Holy Crap... that is fucking good news! I've never doubted our solid technical team to back me up on critical issues, but knowing that they will now be flying in is a tremendous boost of confidence for me.

I've been in the business long enough to know not to count my chicks before they hatch... but the excitement is fucking killing me. Specially because of a big fat commission that's coming my way once this thing gets awarded.

I guess I just have to play it carefully so I still get the commission and then be able to leave nicely and go on with the new company that gave me the great offer. They want me to start as soon as Dec 15 which is really too soon by any standards. Good thing is I'm gonna be working night shift with them so I might be able to sneak in morning meetings with my current company concurrently. Of course I know I wont be able to do this for too long, maybe for 15 days to a month... and then I really need to let go. But that would be enough time to seal the deal on the 2 projects that I'm cooking up so its gonna be worth all the prospective juggling effort.

Crazy week

Havent been able to post anything in a while. Not because nothing blogworthy has happened... but because there was actually too much. I guess thats also because I really havent had much sleep this past week.

All in all, I am currently dealing with my dear daughter getting 3 stitches on her chin from an accident inside our home, my Aunt suffering 2 consecutive strokes that eventually led to cerebral hemorrhage and is now critical at ICU, my POC at government agency X which thankfully is recieving some attention from my colleagues in Singapore but is in danger of being abandoned because of the amount of involvement they are asking from us at such an early stage may simply be too risky, and another possible project with government agency Y which we are also supposed to submit a proposal by next week.

My mom is flying in because of the medical emergency and my brothers and I are worried about her stay here (seeing my tita), with her existing heart condition. She will make the 18-hour trip on her own since my brother and Dad wont be able to fly with her.

On the lighter side of things, I recieved a very positive update from a potential employer. They have asked me to complete an online personally test as the final step. I've been to 3 interviews with them and have always recieved good feedback. This maybe it! After all, how can I possibly fuck this up if all that's left is a stupid personality test?

More on all of this later....

Family Portrait

This is one of my daughter's first attempts at computer graphics. She used MS Paint.



I think I'm supposed to be jumping here...

All in a day's work

I guess I should let you know how that day went. Here goes.

I decided to go to my morning exam in QC. The building was only 100 or so meters from EDSA so I decided it wouldnt be a big deal to walk. However, it started to drizzle the moment I crossed EDSA. What can I say? It was one of those days. So the 100 or so meters became a dash to the finish line. I arrived at the gate a little soaked, both from the drizzle and my own sweat. I hated how that felt. We were finally led up to the HR testing room were we were briefed after about 5 minutes. Nothing too make you feel so icky like your shirt being soaked from rain and your own sweat, and now your sitting still in a fully air-conditioned room. Sheesh! It was 8:32 AM and we were told that we would wait for "everybody" until 9:00 AM before we began. Great. So much for my second itinerary in Manila. I was originally thinking I could ace this stupid test and still make it to my 11:30 AM meeting.

The tests started at 9:10 AM. They were divided into Vocabulary, Math, Reading Comprehension, and Abstract Reasoning. The catch was, everything was in tagalog. I pretty much aced everything except the vocabulary. How the hell do you distinguish between figuring out which to choose from the following anyway: ipahayag, iparamdam, ibahagi, and iparating?

Then I went through a personality test that is supposed to work for people who would really answer it honestly. The main directions were of course telling us to "Answer the questions spontaneously" and not give each of the items much thought. Yeah, Right!

Finally, the psychometric exam which they called "management exam". Aced it and finished everything at 10:50 AM. I probably couldve finished everything earlier had it not been for the synchronized way they conducted the exam. We all started each section at the same time of course, and so those of us who finished early had to wait. Sometimes, 5 minutes, sometimes 10. They gave us way too much time if you ask me.

Nothing much happened at my next meeting in Manila. I arrived there only to find that we didn't really need discuss anything that substantial. In fact, nothing that I couldn't have just answered through email. Fucking lamers. At least I got a chance to call my 4pm at Makati and move it earlier to 3PM knowing that I could really leave Manila after eating the cheap lunch at their cafe and relaxing at starbucks for a while.

And then my boss called me and the conversation that I have been wanting to have with him was finally afoot. We talked about it for a good hour or so and I was honest with my intentions of leaving. We did talk about all the other issues and he asked me if I would be ammenable to staying for 1 or 2 more months just to tie up some lose ends. After all, Client X was trying to re-negotiate extending the support, so I told him that's fine. At least, we could now talk openly about our strategy for the upcoming conference call with Client X for the following day. Heck, I might even be able to close this govt deal with that lead time and land myself a very thick and fat commission before I actually throw in the towel. Specially since before this conversation, Singapore has been hesitant about giving me the resources that I would need for the POC. Of course, it was because they kinda knew that I was gonna be leaving. Now that everything's been laid out, we are back on full force. And dammit... I am gonna fucking win this deal for them. Specially now that they've upped my commission rate just to make it more interesting for me.

By the time the conversation ended, the taxi cab was already pulling over at my drop in Makati. This time I was meeting with a partner. They wanted to bring us in on another govt project. And the solution? To implement product Z and compete with the other partner that I am working with for the first POC. Holy Shit! Nothing like being a partner to vendors of products X, Y, and Z, the global top 3 products in their category and being the best system integrator in the region at implementing them. I guess I'll be seeing them from 1 POC to another, from partners to competitors. I love this stuff! We're all just 1 big happy family.

I still had time before my 6:00 PM at Ortigas so I decided to head home and maybe catch some small Zs. I arrived at home and found myself unable to control the urge of checking my email. Big mistake! Before I realized it, I only had 30 or so minutes to spare. So off to Ortigas where I arrived 15 minutes early for my interview. As it turned out, I should have just slept at home and maybe called to reschedule. The motherfucker made me wait for more than an hour without any word of explanation or apology. Finally, I decided I wasn't gonna take anymore of that crap and walked out. I sent this email to my headhunting firm:

Sadly, I have to withdraw my application at Company M. I arrived very tired at their office at around 5:45PM from all the meetings I had the whole day. The receptionist told me Mr. X was downstairs and so I waited. He came up around 6:20. At about 6:35 someone finally told me to meet him at the conference room. Inside the conf room, he only came in and casually placed my resume at the table and left again while talking to somebody on his cellphone. Nobody ever bothered to speak to me or apologize for this, and so at around 7:05PM, I decided I had had enough, so I promptly walked out.

I myself am a Manager and have done my share of interviews for my team and staff. I have also been dealing with CIOs and other Execs for a long time, but have never been treated like this -- without any word of simple politeness and common courtesy. Maybe they have been all too used to treating applicants like this and no one gave a hoot.... if this is how they treat potential employees, then I don't think I would fit in their organization. I can sympathize with 10-15 minutes, but I think 1 hour (without any explanation) is really unnacceptable."

The firm apologized, and told me they would get to the bottom of it. They also told me that they had escalated the issue with the Company's CFO. I replied with this email:

Thanks for bringing this to their attention. The only thing I wish out of this is for them to be more sensitive about things like these in the future. The hiring process is usually only viewed as a 1-way evaluation. But more than just assessing the capabilities and qualities of applicants, it is a very good way of showing these people what you are as a company and an organization.

I have doubts that this can still work, specially if Mr. X is supposed to be my immediate supervisor in case I am hired. Besides, I already made my decision the moment I stood up and walked out of that door.

Please let me know if you have other opportunities I can pursue."

And so another job opportunity has slipped passed me. To be honest about it, I think the projects for the company would've been ok, them being a MNC as well. But I just couldn't let that slide. I don't really expect them to do something about it, I mean it's not as if the guy would get a memo or so from the CFO, or COO. But at least it came up... and it'll at least get mentioned in their meetings. At least I would hope so. Of course, I don't look forward to run into him again in the near future. If we do, I hope they're the ones trying to partner with whoever I'm working for and not the other way around.

And then I went home and was finally able to relax. I still felt a bit heavy with what had just happened, but at least I had a couple of hours before my next appointment. Dinner was good and I was able to nap for an hour or so. Woke up at 9:00 PM. Off I went back to Makati for my 10:00 PM interview. I arrived 15 minutes early and was surprised to be told that because of a schedule mix-up, the interviewers are actually attending an internal business training and won't be available till 12:00 AM. They actually asked me if I could wait till midnight. I was like "You have got to be fucking kidding me..."

Fortunately, they admitted it was their fault, and when they saw that I wasn't gonna wait... they inserted me into their schedule. The guy came out and we did the interview for 30 minutes or so. It went very well. After about 5 minutes, I was totally in control of the conversation. I sounded very confident, and I was clearly impressing him. Yada.. yada.. yada.. we ended it, shook hands, and they wished me luck in my next interview with the President.

So this day finally comes to an end. I call my cousin who is in town for the night from cebu, and my brother and I go to his hotel and catch up on shit and drink a couple of lights. At least this long day ended right... with alcohol!

Long Day

How appropriate... a long day after a long weekend.

This has got to be a personal record for me. Tomorrow I am really swamped with meetings. I've been in very tough situations before that necessitated me to work 18-20 hours a day, but that was mainly because we were either trying to run after delays and project overruns, or simply trying to avoid more of them.

Tomorrow I have an exam in QC at 8:30 in the morning that will apparently take 3 or so hours to complete. It's bad enough that it's so early in the morning, and then I have go through 3 hours of gruelling aptitude tests!? They did say the the ones that will take long are the management tests. What the heck are they anyway? I think these are probably the ones where they have a group of tasks or action items and you try to rearrange them in a more streamlined process. I guess it really does give you an idea of what kind of problem solving/organizing skills a person does... I just hate doing these goddamn exams, specially the long ones.

The last one I took was for an IT company in Makati some 3 years ago. They told me to come to the office for an exam. It turns out there was a 3-hour aptitue test, and then a 2-hour technical test in the afternoon. Motherfuckers! If I werent really interested in the position, I would've walked away. The least they could've done was warn me right? I was cursing my way through each page. And then the interview came at the end of the day and they told me they were looking for someone who had more experience in 1 technical aspect that they were particular about. I swear, if she wasn't cute... I probably would've reached from across the conference table and strangled her to death right then and there. The fucking assholes made me go through a full day of exams for something that was bloody obvious in my resume.... Christ!

Anyway, my day tomorrow looks like this:

08:30 - Exam in QC
11:00 - Meeting with clients in Manila about Maintenance Agreement
14:00 - Visit POC Server installation in Ortigas
16:00 - Meeting with a partner in Makati about an upcoming bid for a govt project
18:00 - Interview appointment in Ortigas
22:00 - Interview appointment in Makati

I've been in meetings that lasted 12 hours, but tomorrow is gonna be different I guess. The last appointment at 10PM is for a BPO company that operates under US timezone and is probably one of the most promising prospects. I've already been interviewed by the VP-HR, and VP-IT. I scored prominently in the qualifying exam and now the interview is with the PMO Head in Manila (my prospective immediate supervisor).

The jury is still out on wether I'll actually go to the 3 hour exam in QC early tomorrow morning. I hear that their remuneration package for IT people isn't at par with the market standards, let alone competitive enough to entice me. The wife is telling me to give it a chance. But I guess it'll only depend on my demeanor when I wake up tomorrow at 6:30 AM. Odds are though... it won't be good.

Long Holiday

The long weekend was spent mostly burying my lazy ass deep in my couch and watching whatever cable TV has to offer. Since my schedule freed up from all those projects, I've had the luxury of being able to work from home. When I say work, I mean answer emails and SMS. Occasionally, there are phone calls but since I have to mute the TV so they won't figure that I'm at home... I try to keep this to a minimum.

I basically divide my time in fulfilling 2 functions. First, visiting past and present clients to check on them while trying my best to talk about anything at all just to sustain a 15-20 minute meeting, and second, doing pre-sales work for prospective ones (which is essentially the same except that you get to lie a lot here). The truth is, there is actually a 3rd function that does consume a bit of my time also, and this is scheduling and going to employment interviews... but lets not mention too much of that here. So practically, if I don’t really have any scheduled meetings, you can probably find me unwillingly being tugged along by my wife as she takes the usual 3 hours to pick a new blouse at the mall (more on this later), or just snoring at my couch at 3pm in the afternoon.

I've always been one of those guys who actually keep track of whatever is on several different channels at a time. I don’t really know, but I feel like I have to get the most out of my time watching TV, so I try my best to click back and forth between the channels that I've earmarked... usually about 3-4 of them. And then an hour or so later, I slowly drowse myself to sleep. I know that this is most probably an after effect of experiencing a lot of business process re-engineering meetings with users and analysts, but I digress.

My wife has decided to start the Christmas shopping early. So she happily interrupted my dedicated snooze hours by dragging my ass out and making me drive her to the mall. To make it worse, the weekend coincided with a mall-wide sale so naturally; she had to cover more ground. Ever since we got married, I've been trying (unsuccessfully so far) to make it a normative practice to just split up whenever we're inside the mall. Not because I don’t want to be with her of course, but because I don’t want to be with her.... while she does her ritualistic shopping routine. I think I speak for a lot of men when I say that shopping is the bane of my existence. I can play basketball for 2 hours and run back and forth while sweating myself like a pig, but I cannot stand the standing and walking from 1 boutique to the next. Really. This is the only thing that you get to do. Every second feels like watching leaves fall down from a tree. Your wife decides to enter a boutique; you go in with her and wait your ass somewhere inside. Some boutiques understand this and actually place some very comfortable couches inside and they really are lifesavers. I have begun to know these stores by heart like Celine, Kamiseta, etc. because I know that I can sit there, throw my head back, and wait for my name to be called when it's time to leave. The one thing I can’t understand is why some women actually sit there seemingly oblivious to the fact that these seats are supposed to be for men only. Because if we are in there... we sure as hell ain’t shopping are we? Isn’t it too obvious that we got dragged inside?

The only thing good that comes out of me tagging along is, I get to constantly bark my objections about stuff that she fancies enough to buy. Sometimes its some new decoration for the coffee table, or something she wants to hang on the wall, or plants to put beside the door, or some fragile Chinese vase that will effectively prevent me from moving freely in my own living room. At least when I'm actually there during the "buying process", her decision gets challenged. I admit, I usually lose in these arguments and therefore our house gets to welcome some new dust-accumulating clutter, but I do win occassionally. Sometimes she loses the appetite to "look" at the other stuff because of the impending discussion so that's got to account for something positive.

**********

For the first time since she died, I failed to visit Lola for the annual semi-reunion at the cemetery. Was really a bad timing this year, I had a meeting early in the morning of Nov 2 and had to prepare some docs for that on the 1st. I hope she understands. I hope at least she understands more than my Tita's who are probably speaking ill of me right now for not being able to make the trip. But I don't really care if they do, I probably deserve it anyway.