Career Journey
I am what I am now, thanks to people who underestimated me
Turn the bad experience to motivate you to go above and beyond
Back when I was still a business analyst in 2014, I knew how it was being underestimated, patronised, and looked down upon. Surely it was because I did not have a great career. I was stuck in the same position when many of my colleagues got promoted, and my salary was considerably low for my position compared to similar level colleagues in other different departments.
It was 5 years of hell where my skills were not being developed; I had no passion for the job itself, and was belittled by my peers. I stayed in that company not because I was too dumb or even too lazy to find a better place to work, it was because I worked under a 5 year contract called management trainee or MT for short, and I would get penalised if I left before the contract ended. Also, sadly, the management was incapable of developing the MT career, so it was quite a miserable time. I know some people might think, that is such a nonsense contract, yep, but I was a fresh grad and needed a job so… stupid decisions took over my rationality.
I remember the time when my colleagues from the previous company often mentioned their new position in every conversation with me knowing that my position is far lower than theirs and others who like to patronise or even cut me whenever I talked about numbers because they saw me as “just a law school graduate who knows nothing about data”. I often felt depressed by being undervalued, unappreciated and discriminated against by some colleagues in that company. I even got verbally bullied for just being a part of the MT program by other employees (wow!).
In 2019 I finally decided to leave the company for good and pursue my dream career. I started small from a freelance gig to actually work in a medium-sized business, to finally land a role as a graphic designer for a freight forwarding startup (props to Andalin, thank you for trusting me to be a part of your team! You guys are fun!).
It was quite a challenge to start over with a new career when I was already passing the age of 25. At the very beginning of my graphic designer career, I found it hard to get a client as well as get a full-time job for a candidate like me. But there was no turning back if I really wanted to change my life and use my talent for the right career. I make the past experience as motivation to keep on going because I don’t want to go back to the day when I was being underestimated and belittled. After going through the ups and downs, I finally received the recognition I deserve and a more fulfilling career.
Fast forward to this day; I get more opportunities by getting hired for contractual design projects, side gigs in my spare time, and now, I can make a significant amount of income that is way higher than my expectations. The other perks? I work fully from home in my sweatpants and do design all day; no more spreadsheets that I hate or colleagues who unappreciated me like when I was a business analyst years ago.
I live my best life.
I believe everybody has different talents; they just need an opportunity to actually use or develop them. I was just 17 when I decided to enter law school; I just followed what people told me. I never really knew what I wanted to do when I graduated from law school at the age of 21, so I ended up working for the wrong company in the wrong position. I only realised that I had to change my career at the age of 25, thanks to the quarter-life crisis, and that led me to the decision to reshape my life. Here I am now fully utilising my talents and skills on the right path (with lots of appreciation and compliments from people who work with me).
Actually, I’m forever grateful for the mistreatment that I experienced back in the days because it has forced me to not settle for less, to actually find what I’m truly capable of, which led me to this dream career and better opportunities. If that never happened, maybe I would still be stuck, regretting my past decisions and never discovering my true potential.
If you are ever being underestimated by anyone, don’t sit still, make your way up and be the best version of yourself.
