Well well well... Today I have met up with the recruitment consultant who called me yesterday and also attended the interview at MediaCorp in the afternoon.
During my appointment with the consultant, she actually brought to my attention that she realized I have took up a lot of temporary assignments previously, so she was curious to find out why is this so. I would think that maybe she asked the question in doubt of me being a job hopper (maybe lah... just a thought though... or maybe she is just really curious loh). So I told her that during times when it is hard to find a full-time job, the solution would be to take up temp jobs first. Although she agreed to me but she alerted me that taking up too many temp jobs would also not reflect too well in my resume as the employers may think that I am not serious in searching for a permanent position. In other words (like I say), meaning being a job hopper!! Anyway, I understand that she meant no offence and just wanna bring to my awareness on what some employers might think.
She also told me that she have talked to the company in regards to offer me CPF contributions, still the salary will remain as based on a per hour rate without CPF contributions bcoz they have a very tight budget. She then suggested some questions for me to ask during my interview. Hee... That's quite thoughtful of her!! She told me to ask the interviewer about the exact job scope so that I can roughly know what I need to do for the job. She also suggested to ask them whether there will be any chances of converting to a permanent position when there is any permanent post available.
After that, I asked her this question "You mentioned that this position is a 3 to 6 months contract job, so is it a 3 months or 6 months contract? What if I have a permanent job offer that comes along while I am temping during this contract period? Am I able to leave the job serving certain notice?"
She replied "For this job, it is said to have a 3 to 6 months contract but upon accepting the job, you will not be able to leave during the first 3 months. However, after the 3 months, you can leave but the company may also offer you a renewal of contract or if possible, you may even have the chance to convert yourself into a permanent employee... Of coz that is without any promise, as I am just stating a possibility. That is why I would suggest that you ask them if such opportunities are possible during the interview later. Now, all you have to do is to act your best during your interview. As I always tell my job applicants that they only have one chance to act, so act their best during that one chance! Regarding whether you are able to leave during the contract period for a perm job offer, I will check that out for you with the company after your interview. Bcoz what is important now before these would be to show your best to impress them so that they will want to hire you."
With that, the session ended. Then I went to meet Dear at International Plaza. We had BK for lunch and after lunch, we immediately took a cab to MediaCorp for my interview. While walking out to the taxi stand, I saw Dear holding a Nike plastic bag... so I asked him whether he has bought something for himself. And he said, it's something for me. So I asked what is it? And... I saw the dress!!! Yesh... It is the tennis dress I wanted!! ZHEN GAN DONG!!! (AI SI NI LE, DEARDEAR!!!) Hehee... I have been receiving his presents on each day I met him... First, the rose on Valentine's Day... Second was the magnetic bears and today, the dress!! Seems like everyday is Valentine's Day to me! Kekeke... But I feel bad... coz I have not bought anything for him since Christmas... Sorry Dear... Please give me some time for the money to multiply!! Hahaa! =P
Ok, we arrived at MediaCorp within about 15 to 20 mins, so I rushed to the reception immediately after alighting from the cab. Thinking that the reception area would be the same as before... We stepped into the place and almost got lost... as the reception is currently under renovation. Luckily we still managed to find our way through (not that hard though! hahaa!!). So the reception counter is still at the same place, just that it was blocked by all the constuction partitions. So I went to exchange for a visitor's pass immediately, while Dear waited for me at the sofa.
With my visitor's pass, up I went to the HR department for my interview... And I waited for about 40mins at the waiting area of the department. Luckily the place is air-conditioned and has TV Mobile to watch. Poor Dear had to wait for me at the stuffy reception area downstairs without air-con and any entertainment... Good thing that he has got the ipod shuffle with him. But he told me that he almost fell asleep. Oops!! =P
Anyway, the interview was conducted by 2 interviewers. Both of them were very friendly throughout the interview session. And so it began with my self introduction to them, which led on to why I have applied for this temp position and then into the descriptions and experiences of my past working experiences, focusing on MediaCorp TV12, M1 and MediaCorp Publishing. Along the way, they asked me questions like "Have you encountered any bad experiences during your job as a customer service officer in M1?", "What do you like about HR that makes you want to take up a HR job?", "Where do you see yourself in the next 3 years?", "What has the recruitment consultant told you about the job scope of this position?", etc.
After that, they went on to explain the job scope in detail to me. Then as usual, the interview ended off with them asking if I have any questions. So I was thinking of when they could let me know if I am shortlisted (hoping that they would take some time to decide so that I could still wait for permanent job interviews to be arranged). And they actually said that they have a few more candidates to see, which I thought they will let me know the result by next week or so... but they said they will let me know latest by tomorrow. Sianz... here goes my head popping many many questions again!!!!
Actually, I've long been aware about the earlier issue which the recruitment consultant has brought up (about me taking up a lot of temporary assignments previously which may affect the structure of my resume)... All along, I have also been considering whether I should still continue to take up contract/temp jobs or not. In actual fact, I have told myself not to apply for any more temporary positions. However, whenever I feel very stress about not being able to find a permanent HR position, I would start to convince myself that I could take up any temp jobs that are related to what I wanna do, so as to gain the relevant experience. Furthermore, based on my conversations with majority of recruitment consultants, this is what they would always advise. Adding on to my stress, my mother will also tell me this same thing whenever she thinks I am having difficulties in my job search.
But then again, whenever I have the chance to go for a temp/contract job interview or when I am being offered a temp/contract job... My mind will start to contradict again... Questionmarks will then appear everywhere in my head. Below is a list of the questions which I will think very hard about every now and then, yet always not getting any answer to them...
1. After having a whole long list of temp job records stated in my resume, do I really still want to take up another contract/temporary job again? What will the employers think about me after reading my resume?
2. What if a better or permanent job offer comes along during the contracted period and I cannot leave the temporary job due to my commitment to the contract? If this is the case, will I regret taking up the contract/temp offer? (Most probably I will!! Bcoz permanent job definitely pays better than a temp job mah!!)3. Should I forgo this temp opportunity that allows me to gain experience in order to wait for a permanent job opportunity to come by?
4. Or should I just go ahead to accept the temp job offer and then reject all permanent job offers during the contracted period without any regrets in future?
5. What if I still do not receive any permanent job offer after I have given up the earlier temp opportunity?? Will I regret that I rejected the temp offer in the first place?...
Then my brain will start asking the same questions over and over again in a vicious cycle. Sometimes I wonder is it only me or does everyone else experience such a dilemma during their job search?? Hope someone can tell me whether to accept or not to accept the contract/temp job... Now my brain is so confused!!!!!! There's an angel flying on my left encouraging me to take up the job and also a devil floating on my right to discourage me... ARRRGH... SAVE ME!!!
But I must admit that I am not a person who can be easily satisfied... and I hate to see myself getting a job that cannot pay me the market rate for a fresh grad... Maybe I am greedy, or just wanna be competitive but I think the main reason is still bcoz I have money face!!! Hahaa!! (I'm just being honest ok!! Don't tell me that you don't like to earn more money meh??!) =D
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