March 2010
Baang Coffee, Tomas Morato
Two years ago, my goal was just to finish the selection process. I had no fantasy of bagging the position, although the sound of being the first home-grown employee to successfully get one of the most critical titles was tempting and enthralling. I was firm to take the application without sitting down, not because I was dying to bring home the bacon but because I was afraid to go home beaten black and blue, even though I was clueless of its consequences.
So I clacked the keyboard mercilessly, wringing my brains for an hour and a half test of creating templates and case study and unleashing presentation and analytical skills during the almost two-hour interview. That was my bloodiest Thursday - speaking eloquently and putting the best foot forward without falter were a deadly combination they almost made me expire from nose bleeding.
Three hours after saying goodbye to the interviewer came the announcement – I emerged victorious. Only then did I realise I just put myself in the prying eyes of everyone, with all my moves being watched, and all my decisions being sized up. At that time, I have known that my life would never be the same again.
My first few months were a series of rising and falling, of learning and unlearning things, of trying to live up to the expectation. When I got the chance to gain knowledge of making things work, I started picking up the pieces together and completing the puzzle. I regained my composure and gave a free rein to brilliant ideas and unwavering commitment, all of these just to meet the expectation.
But expectation is a mountain too high to climb; any missteps would lead you nowhere but to the pits of the earth. From time to time I did slide, but this paved the way for making me become familiar with the word teamwork, dedication, and respect.
Good thing all of the team members have been loyal. In times of disagreement and argument, we try to understand each other, working as one as soon as we find solutions we deem to be fit. In our day to day operations, it has become clearer that there’s a unity in diversity.
Of course it has not always been an easy ride, for ours is a road too difficult and strenuous to travel. But we find ways to manage the exhaustion, sometimes injecting fun to stick to the reality. Haggardness and happiness are what we have to breathe, to feel we are still human in the midst of graphs, analysis and audit compliance. Haggardness and happiness encapsulate my two years of being in the quality team.
Two years after clacking the keyboard to produce templates and case study and making an impression to the interviewer, my goal is now beyond processes.
