P&G or IBM?

Finally! After weeks of long wait, my prayers were answered.  I made a follow-up on both my target companies and before the week ends, I received a positive result.

Wednesday afternoon, I received a call from P&G telling me about an interview on Monday, 9am. They are trying to finalize and arrange an offer for me under Information Decisions Support function. 

Thursday night, I received a call from IBM Business Services and they congratulated me for being selected in their first fast-track ExtremeBlue Management Training Program. I am expected to be in their office on Monday as well at 3pm. 

So now, I have to choose. I have to consider different factors like my interest, career trajectory, company culture, work benefits and compensation. Actually, I also received an offer in Sales from Monde Nissin last Wednesday when I was in their Step Up program. The offer gave me second thoughts about my options since the work will be based in Davao. However, I guess I would turn it down since the line of work is totally not related to what I practiced in college and compared to the two other big companies, career growth is incomparable.  People are also asking what happened to Globe since I had my internship there.  Well, they haven't started recruiting yet for their BMAP and it would be risky to wait while good companies are already considering you.

Nevertheless, for everything that has been, I wanted to thank God for giving me this opportunity. Having assured of a work is a blessing for me and for my family. Patience is indeed a virtue and prayers are really answered if He wills it for you.

If you have any tips or advice that can help me decide, please don't hesitate to leave me a note.  Thanks!

Really Unemployed

My planner has been empty for the longest time ever!  Life has been just about waking up in the morning, eating meals and skyflakes, watching movies and tv series, going to the room of your fellow squatter dormers for trivial and most often non-sense talks, and doing the same thing all over and over again. I already decided to stop job-hunting for a while when I became tired of taking long exams and going to job interviews.  Looking for jobs given my course and credentials isn't really hard, it's just that my target companies have high demands and very stringent recruitment process. I have gone through the last process but waiting for their final call just increases the feeling of being unemployed and mind you, it eats you by the day.

For now, I am being patient because patience as they say is a virtue. Hope it really is.

I wish to go home.  But how can I if I still haven't transferred into a new place? And how would I know where to live if I do not know where to work? Of course, I wanted my workplace to be accessible from my homeplace.  So there you go, decisions affecting another decision. Put in the dilemma of unemployment and what do you get?  Literally nothing. So help me God.

Baguio Blues and Bloopers

Where:  Baguio City - Teachers Camp, Burnham Park, Session Road, Mirador Jesuit Villa, Minesview Park

When:  April 11th - 15th 

Why:  AtSCA Evaluation Seminar 2007

 
Okay, that is not what EvSem really looks like.  But that's how fun and colorful EvSem can be in AtSCA.  I just realized that I've been present to all four AtSCA EvSems -  the beach outing in Batangas (freshman year), the beach "adventures" in Nasugbu (sophomore year), the road trips in Tagaytay (junior year) - and finally on my last and senior year, we landed to the place where air-conditioners are out and sweaters and jackets are in, the summer capital of the Philippines, where else? yes, in Baguio!

The first batch went up the highlands last Wednesday morning while Doryll, Hannah and I had to follow yet that night because of company interviews.  We were about twenty people living in two cottages in the Teachers Camp. Well, inside the cottages, you can see manila papers hung everywhere as visuals for evaluation.  But there's more to that than what it just seemed.  Yes, EvSem is one of the most important and serious activities for the organization, but for the record, I listed down the fun and unforgettable blues and bloopers we guys had during that one cool summer treat! Enjoy reading them and feel free to comment or add any more bloopers we had.

- If you hear strange idioms like "long in the tooth" and "spring chicken" and you don't have any clues about what they mean, ask Gerald about it!  He could probably even teach you more.

- Remember the story we made about the hungry dog that we saw one night who we named as Evy (from "EvSem"), the strange but sexy dog who we named Angela (from Hannah's beautiful mind), and the envy pregnant cat we named Threena (because she's the mistress involved).  Yes, we had different versions of the story but no, we forgot to give it a title!

- Good thing that the member delibs ended before I lost in poker with JR and Elmer. Otherwise, I have to ask the EB "Pwede ba akong sumama jan?" after disturbing them beforehand, "Anong oras na?"  What a shame if that really happened!

- Good thing also our eyelids never had cramps as we were playing Killers until 2 in the morning: "I'm dead!" "I'm alive!" "I'm dead again!" "I'm alive again!"

- Good thing too Jekki finally learned how to wink during Killers.  Initially, he made a *blink* *blink* instead of a *wink* *wink*.  Maybe he just got too much of Hannah's report, right Hannah? *blink* *blink* 

- I had my first sleep in Baguio without any blankets on me.  The reason? JR took the remaining blankets the night before I arrived because he was sleeping half-naked.  Imagine my confusion upon knowing there weren't any blankets in Bagiuo.

- Wish you could be in two different times at the same place? Well, we just had that experience inside 456 Restaurant where you can see the starry night from the window and a bright sunlit street outside the entrance!  Ask Bianca, maybe she hasn't stopped laughing about it yet.

- Startruck by Mel and Joey in Minesview Park? Nah, I don't think so. Their chosen background for their show looked like edited when you view it from the monitor.  They went all the way here just to have that effects, huh?

- The shower inside the bathroom of the other cottage had warm water for just 5 seconds!  What an incredible way to take a bath in Baguio, right?

- Elmer had the best way to greet the morning after having a sleepless night with Jude and JR as roommates, "Usap lang sila nang usap ng pokemon ng pocha!"

- PJ left early the night we went to Burnham Park. Christa accompanied him until the bus station. Jekki went with them too. In less than an hour, we now saw Christa and Jekki rowing the boat together on Burnham Lake with us!  Nuff said.  By the way, Jekki lost his wallet after.

- And many more!  There are I guess too much laugh trips during the EvSem that I couldn't enumerate them all.  Even if we were relatively few, the company with AtSCAns truly made me enjoy the days in Baguio.  I just realized now that it was the last official AtSCA event that the seniors and the undergards were together.  Things will definitely change after.

We can never change the way things will be after every year.  But every year, like the EvSem of AtSCA, there's a new story to be told.  And every story is definitely worth having! 

Congrats to Bianca and the EB!  Good luck to the future generations of AtSCA.  Patuloy lang sa pagtataya! 

Manila and My Mother

The night before our baccalaureate mass, I went to the airport to fetch Mommy and Auntie Nes from Davao.  Finally, after many years of longing and waiting, the day has come when they have to arrive here in Manila not only to visit me but to witness my much anticipated graduation.

Well, of course, their trip here is not only about going to Ateneo. They will be staying here in Manila for a week and the time therefore must be made sulit for them. I can still remember the sms I received from my mom before, "Punta tayo sa Asia Mall na sinasabi sa TV."  My mom was referring to the Mall of Asia of SM, she is quite intrigued about its record-holding size.

But prior to that, even before my graduation, we already went mall-hopping, train-riding and shopping around the metro! With me as their official tour guide, my mom and my aunt…

1. Rode a small tricycle from Ateneo to Mini-stop for the first time. They were very much worried about how tricycle drivers navigate their way in the highways. They actually discouraged me to do so, well, too late Ma.

2. Rode the LRT for the first time going to SM Sta. Mesa to meet with a long-time no-see working cousin.

3. Went to Gateway afterwards and headed to the MRT Cubao Station just for the experience.  Bought a pair of comfy sandals in Farmers Plaza on the way to the train station.

4. Went to SM Makati, then to Glorietta, then to Landmark to shop.

5. Walked towards Greenbelt and dined in Merk's for the awarding of the Unionbank-Mozcom E3 Competition (We won 1st runner-up by the way).  Also witnessed Orange and Lemons perform on stage.

6. Finally stayed at my Aunt Raquel's place in Manila for the next 4 days.  There, I met some of my cousins for the first time.

I hope Mommy had a good time. I hope I was able to make her happy while she was here in Manila. For me, it was but only a simple way of giving back the sacrifices she painstakingly endured for my Ateneo education.  I shall soon pay her back by paying it forward to my brother's education.  My family will be my mission for the next few years.

Early this morning, Mommy and Auntie Nes flew back in Davao. She cried again because for another time, we would be parting ways. But I hope this time, the tears that flowed from her eyes are now tears of joy, a genuine happiness coming from what she accomplished in me and what I offered her in return.

Thank you very much Me!