Changing My Job in the Midst of COVID-19 (& Impending Recession?)

Here we are, already in the middle of 2020.

Time is sure flying by in the scariest speed possible.

Here’s one thing about Aging - nobody tells you how your perception of time changes.

I truly understand why they say that time waits for no man lol. Once you’re in your 20s, you just gotta blink once and the next thing you know - you’re someone in your mid-30s, being all astonished because you’ve survived unknowingly in the workforce for more than 10 years.

BAAAM. #adulting

Now, now. I almost forgot how Dec 2019 was like. I guess I was a different person back then. I was still comfortably in the govt sector, and happily collected my AWS.

Who knew how much the world would’ve changed in a span of.... 5 months?

Worldwide pandemic. Markets hitting a new low. Us being forced to accept lifestyle changes as new norms.

It felt so surreal. It was as if the world were suddenly moving at twice the speed.

In the midst of all these, I was struggling with my own personal choices. What a time to be making life-changing decisions, huh? My brain can be such a joker sometimes.

Remember my post on my career?

So, I took a leap of faith..... and left my first job.

What a scary time, really.

And as of today, I've been at my new workplace for a month.

(Happy monthsary to me!)

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Onboarding at my new workplace was a whole new experience.

I had a kind delivery from the company's HR, where I received my work laptop and company tees.

I stared at the tees, still slowly trying to absorb the fact that I was going to join this company that I have been a fan of.

The first week went by in a blur.

I slowly got used to the new laptop, while trying to be up to speed with the new jargon and applications I had to use.

Besides a complete shift in industries, I was now facing a completely new job role, while juggling this new change with the COVID-19 work-from-home situation.

It was definitely overwhelming.

I struggled to keep afloat, regularly checking my Google calendar to make sure that I wasn't missing out on any Zoom calls or Google Hangouts.

I was pushing myself to an edge, forcing myself to adapt as quickly as I could, in order to be a more efficient worker, and in some way, I wanted to prove that I wasn't a waste of company's resources - especially in a time like this, where companies were trying their best to save costs.

I would be lying if I were to say that this whole job transition was a breeze.

But I'm incredibly thankful for patient colleagues, who have been trying their best to teach me everything they could, in this very new and strange work environment.

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Onboarding in the time of COVID-19 also robbed me the ability to create regular first impressions with my new colleagues.

Goodbye to regular hellos and handshakes, and Hello faces on computer screens and communication channels.

We are now in a slightly awkward phase of 'knowing, yet no knowing' each other. Building rapport is definitely more challenging without seeing one another physically, but yet again, very thankful for them for being encouraging and patient despite having a mountainous load of work on their backs.

I can't wait to meet them in person and get to know them proper. :-)

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I know that I'll be looking back at this in a couple of years down the road, and laugh at how memorable and special this situation is.

But I just want to note it down here to remind myself of my progress and my efforts, and that leap of faith I took to make that career switch at this extremely scary period of time, and that I am proud to have made this jump, because I know that this decision will provide me with new challenges, and help me grow in ways I wouldn't have if I were to choose to remain comfortable.

Ah, another experience for the memories.