Its a crunch time at work with cost cuttings and restructuring bearing
down on everyone. Few people are safe and most are on the fence.
People are worried and anxious. It appears like a calm before the storm
and the axe about to fall, well, heads have started to roll already.
Things can look good today and take a nose dive tomorrow dawn,
such is the unpredictibility of the economincs of job situation in Sydney
these days. People need to adapt to this reality, failure to do so has potential
to result in unbearable stress. My strategy in times like that has always been,
focus on what you can control, which is yourself. Focus on what you can
improve about you - start to brush up on your skills, get a new online
course, prepare for a certification, network, look for ideas beyond your
office and home walls, basically expand your horizon, so to speak.
In course of uncertainty, its always better to be on the side of certainty,
no matter how miniscule they might appear, things you can get leash on.
This is what I tell to those at work who try ot squeeze some 'goss' out of
me. They get real positive feedback, most look a bit stunned. They would
most probably expect me to tow the line and feed the uncertainty, which
I always steadfastly refuse to do.
In keeping line with practicing what I preach, I try my best to apply my
philosophy into real world. This has resulted in meeting new people
at meetups, entrepreneurs, Businessmen from overseas, Startups, and
of course recruiters. After an initial rounds, I have been offered a position,
which does not sound too bad in terms of scope and dollars. However,
after going to meet the potential employer in flesh, listening to his
feedback on his own staffs, the general ambience of the physical
environment there and a bit of googling, I rejected the offer they made.
Needless, the recruiter was furious and would not budge, unable to take my
NO as a response and trying feverishly to push me back to accepting.
I strongly beleive in cues that your subconscious picks up when meeting people.
I do believe that meeting someone is either positive or negative, it is
never neutral. So, I chose to listen to my guts and rejected this well paid
offer at times of mild despair. I did get a bit of headache having to deal
with the agent, but for most part, feel relieved that I could stand
up to my own temptation and not jump in against my inner.
Confession, I still have a little patch of cloud as to did I kick out
a good opportunity? However, I did think about the whole situation
and was prepared to take the risk. I knew I would be feeling a bit
peeved after actually sending the decline letter off to the agent.
I anticipated the heated conversation with her that would follow.
But overall, I am glad to have listened to my guts, instinct, no matter
what the result might be, because it usually turns out to be right, based
on my previous similar experiences. And I can confidently advise anyone
to do so when in times of doubt.
