Ready to start.

By now, I would probably have 11 more days to cherish being a bum. The long wait (and agony) of searching for a suitable job has come to a conclusion, as I have finally found something to make me less bored (and for me to at least earn some money too). Yes, I got myself not one, but two jobs. One is a full-time job, the other a part-time job.

My full-time job would involve dealing with raw video footages at ABS-CBN, classifying and labeling them accordingly (or that's how the recruitment people described it to me). Despite the not-so-impressive salary, I decided to take the job for a variety of reasons: one is because I really need to start somewhere if I want to develop a career as a writer-cum-aspiring-journalist, even if the job is not that high-paying (as you would compare for, let's say, working in a BPO or IT industry). Second, since I've interned in ABS-CBN before, I have thought that maybe this is a good opportunity to start off my working life, since I sort of know how is it to be working in that company (and yes, that includes the occasional stressful situations, crazy people inside, and freezing cold office, among one of many), I guessed that the people there will treat me right (even if I'm working for the Technical Operations Division, and not within the News Room as what I originally wanted) and that labor issues would not be that of a problem (despite of my awareness that ABS-CBN is facing a lot of labor issues). Third, is that at least by the fact that I have a job, my parents would lessen their nagging on me on "doing nothing" (like what some of my friends are, sad to say).

And since this full-time job is not exactly high-paying (and that it is a contractual one, being 4 years or so, as what the recruitment people told me), and being the unusually crazy person I can possibly be, I decided to get myself a part-time job, which basically involves doing journalism-related stuff by doing lots of research and essentially being on the hunt for news stories, and probably writing about them, and later on delivering the story to the public. My part-time job is something I like to do, especially if I'm not doing anything else. But how about my supposed freelancing as a photographer? I really don't know; I don't see my future in doing photography for the meantime, that's why for now I'm gearing up for writing and pure, unadulterated, and responsible journalism.

So far, I'm done with all the needed pre-employment papers, and I'll relish the remaining few days that I have as an unemployed bum waiting to start work.

On the Job Fair.

NOTE: This note is simply states my opinions and sentiments on the Ateneo Job Fair, and I am not saying that we should be against or to boycott the Job Fair.

Sure sure sure.

The Ateneo Job Fair is coming next week. Graduating and undergrad students looking for a job after graduation or looking for internships and on-the-job trainings are looking forward to this event that is said to be full of opportunities.

And I tell this upfront: I have mixed feelings on the Ateneo Job Fair.

Not that I do not like the thrill of searching for job opportunities, given the fact that I am going to graduate real soon (and that I do have to find a job), but what the Ateneo Job Fair offers is not equal and fair entirely to everyone here in my school.

Just so you know, there are four schools in Ateneo, namely School of Humanities (SoH), School of Science and Engineering (SoSE), School of Social Sciences (SoSS), and School of Management (SoM). Population-wise, SoM has the highest population, while SoH has the lowest population. And this will make sense on why I hate the Job Fair, especially given the fact that I am studying under a course that is part of SoSS.

Yesterday, a good friend of mine was also ranting about the Job Fair as well. We had the same sentiments about it, with the Job fair being too SoM-oriented, and that it does not really give out any opportunities for the other three schools (well, maybe, I mean MAYBE, SoSE students and a select few SoSS students could grab the opportunity as well). As I glanced through the list of who are participating for the Job Fair, my disappointments on the Job Fair have just been further elaborated.

Most, if not all, of the companies participating in the Job fair are oriented towards business and corporate categories. There are none for media. None for education. None for NGOs. None for governance. Not even for advertising.

Now who benefits from this? SoM people would benefit from these opportunities (to my friends in SoM: take advantage of this opportunity in the Job Fair AND don’t waste it!). But how about those from SoSE, SoSS, and SoH? I am not sure in what manner they would benefit from it.

I do understand that there is a bias towards SoM majors when it comes to the opportunities for the upcoming Job Fair, but to be considerate of things (in behalf of people organizing the Ateneo Job Fair), there are factors that we have to consider as well (and this are based on what my friends said about it).

First is the fact that we live in a world where money makes the world go round. As my friend would put it, “the ones who can effectively attract, wield, and use cash will survive.” This is why most people would like to take up courses such as management, as there is a lot of opportunities in the world of corporate and business. Yet we can’t live on money alone mind you; hence, my friend adds that it is a misnomer that there are no job opportunities for SoSS, SoH, SoSE; there are job opportunities for them, but it just happens that it is these powerful and influential companies that have the capacity to shell out money and be part of these job fairs.

In relation to the first argument, another factor that can be considered is the costing of actually participating in a job fair. Being a participant in job fairs is not cheap; you have to pay for booth rentals, for paraphernalia, for the people manning the booth, for electricity, for food, and the like. Ateneo just happens to charge a high price with their job fairs, which is why the big corporate companies are the ones who are able to participate in the Ateneo Job Fair.

Another factor (and something that I may or may not agree when a friend told me this), is that of surveys. According to surveys, there is a high rate of job preferences for the business and corporate industry, which is why it happens most of the time that companies like Nestle, Procter and Gamble, and Unilever are the ones who would participate in these Job fairs. Sure that may be the case, but I do think the voices of those coming from other schools are not heard that well, or not addressed properly.

But it does not mean the Job Fair is inclined more to SoM students that those from the other schools should lose hope; in fact, the Job Fair, said by a friend of mine, should be an opportunity for those from SoSS, SoSE, and SoH to creatively strut off their skills in applying for these companies. After all, nothing is really impossible as long as you are determined for it. It is challenging indeed, but of course you can’t get a job without starting somewhere.

I may hate the Ateneo Job Fair, but that does not mean I am going to sit down and wander, hoping for an opportunity to just come along. We all need to work hard if we want to get good jobs. The Job Fair is just one opportunity; there are a lot of opportunities out there. Kailangang lang maging matiyaga sa paghahanap ng trabaho.

Why not Law school?

I am going to graduate in a few months with a degree in Political Science (a course that is said to be the best pre-law course), and yet despite that four years ago, I told myself that I will go to law school after I graduate, I decided to postpone (or maybe not pursue at all) on going to Law School, while most of my blockmates in PolSci decided to take the Law entrance exams. And I am one of the few who decided not to pursue further studies in Law School particularly. How come?

A couple of years back, idealism was the in thing for me. I was dreaming then that I would grow up to be the best lawyer out there, that I would help people gain proper justice, among many things. There was this inner feeling that being a lawyer was a profession that was worth it. Anything was possible then.

Then four years later, all of those changed. I no longer see the sense of spending four more years, drowning myself in thousands of pages to read every week, losing the privilege to sleep, struggling through praying that you read the right material for class. Also, in Law school, you will be faced with fraternities and sororities. Conflicts and / or camaraderies are formed during your stay. You are not even sure if it is worth joining these social organizations or do things on your own. You are not sure if you would like to benefit from "additional help" these social organizations may offer you.

I no longer sense the six months preparation for the bar exams, where you do not even know if you will be able to pass it or not. You are not even sure that even if you pass law school, you can make it to the bar. And should you make it, where will your law degree bring you? Not much, unless you are in the cream of the crop from the bar exams. And should you make win a case, what would people tell you? I wished it was praise and victory, but you would not know that people are backstabbing you, telling behind your back that you have "manipulated" results, that you took the case for money, that you used your connections from certain government agencies to help you throughout. Worse, some of your critics call you a liar.

And the most painful thing? No matter how good a lawyer you can be, the justice system here in the Philippines is fucked up. Here, you have cases where after 20 years the real murderers and rapists are yet to be found. Here you have a government agency choosing a witness who manipulated the details to show bias against the other party. Here you have hundreds of unresolved killings. Here you have society releasing the real criminals out of jails, no matter how grave their crime is, while those who have minor crimes rot to death on these prison cells. Here you have the most wicked of criminals being able to get out of jail easily.

Reality defeats idealism. That's the sad story. My sentiments about Law School has changed in light of events that has happened in the Philippines for the past four years. I myself have doubts if that will change. Even my desire to go into media is placed in question, as media is likewise criticized for being biased and not telling the truth.

The debate of whether Law School is still worth it or not has a more or less final verdict for me: with the state of Philippine society and on how Lawyers are seen these days, it is not worth it. And so my life plan has changed: Instead of going straight to Law School, I have decided that I will work (most probably in a News agency, with photography on the sidelines, or maybe be a writer in some magazine or newspaper) for a couple of years, and reflect on whether going to Law School would be still worth it, whether my former idealistic self would see the light once again.

________________________________________

And even up to now, I am still thinking: Why did I choose Political Science after all, and not some course like Communication arts.

When shit hits the fan, and you still do your job . . .

. . . that shows your dedication to your work.

One thing that we would eventually learn through the years is that there is no such thing as an ideal workplace where everything is simply perfect, from the ambiance and environment of your work area to who your boss is. Face it: we do not live in a perfect world, hence we should be willing to face these flaws, no matter how grave they can be.

Being a campus journalist, a photographer, a photojournalist, a production assistant, a video editor, a writer, a show monitor, a political scientist, a researcher, and many more, experience is indeed very important especially in terms of mistakes.

Yes, mistakes are not as bad as it seems (well, depends on how big that mistake is though). They teach you a lot in the work place. From first year college until this senior year (where I juggle academics with my equally-awesome internship in Storyline under a great and gorgeous person), I did make A LOT of mistakes. Some minor, some grave, but all of them taught me an important lesson.

From saying wrong remarks to my editor, to spreading false rumors, to neglecting my work, to ethical issues, I sure have had a good dose of these work fiasco situations, and yet these has not stop me from my work. Instead of quitting, I would always come back for more (sounds masochistic, eh?). Simply face it: there will, and will always be, an instance that you will face a situation where shit hits the fan. My advice? Don't panic. Assess the situation. Find possible remedies whenever possible. If there are none, well you have no choice but to face the consequence (and its corresponding punishments). Some may feel devastated by these scenarios (I should know, because it did happen to me . . . that's why I decided to leave campus journalism last year), but remember: as long as you love your work, don't quit. Believe me, it is better to have lots of shit happening in the kind of work you love doing than having a good time woth the kind of work you are not enjoying.

I do know it is hard to love something that induces you to scream out, think of suicidal thoughts, go paranoid, and other crazy thoughts caused by stress. However, if you like your job, you would not worry about going insane and all, as long as you get the job done.

_______________

*Just a thought: For some reason, I get to generate better blog entries if I type them first on my phone (a white E71) than on my laptop (a white unibody MacBook). So much for being on the go =)

It's time to get back to business

Just a few days away and I'll be seeing the same Edsa walk, the same SEC Walk, and the same Ateneo for the whole year.

Yep, it's time to be back to school, and also to back to work. I'm somehow excited for my sophomore (or should I say, "SUFFER-MORE" :)) ) year as I will be starting to take those Polsci majors already (first sem alone, I'll be taking 9 units worth of PolSci subjects). aside from the majors, I'm also excited for subjects new to me, namely Socio-Anthro and Western history . . . (technically my first to take such a history class as I took Asian history in HS before so I said to myself why not try out Western History and make the most of my European trip four years ago), and for HS-like subjects (Filipino . . .well this would be my last Fil class ever . . . and my wish is that I could get at B at least on this subject I have hated since grade school days;) ).

Aside from the usual academic-related subjects, I'm also looking forward to other non-academic subjects (Tai-Chi since I've wanted to try this and give myself some energy boost before academic-releated classes start). I find my schedule cool despite having NSTP on Saturday . . . well it doesn't matter for me since I feel that my Saturdays would be exciting. Well sure i may be teaching kids for the nth time (I've been doing such since third year HS, and for some reason I like the idea of teaching), I never ever find teaching boring, whether it may be Cathechism, Math, Science, or even basic newswriting. And with friends who are my NSTP-mates too, who would not be excited after all? ;)

Back to business also because the start of classes will mean the start of receiving allowance, which translates to hunger strike mode. Yes I'm serious about it, since I want to save money for my incoming Camera upgrade / tune-up sometime August (with my objective of 16k by the end of the sem, this would seem feasible as i have almost half of it already, thanks to birthday money and other gigs). And yes, I am going to push through with the 430ex + 28-105 3.4-4.5 USM II with filter and hood setup (and that also means I'll be selling my two lenses for it ;) ).

Aside from depending on allowance, I also have gigs that I could potenially earn money from. As for gigs, the good old men of PhilAm Homes (who gave me my first-ever paycheck, which I've deposited it to the bank because my lolo wants me to update my bank savings hahaha) are going to order for the pictures. And that's beside from the paycheck. The head, Mr. Jeturian, told me that he wants to order some of the photos from my shoot as they will make an album out of it (and that makes me feel good considering my efforts ;) ). Aside from him, other people would like to place orders too. Now that's good news to me considering I'm trying to reach my 16k objective soon (well if I reach beyond 16k, that's better! haha). At the rate I'm going so far, reaching 16k is possible.

Motto for the semester: "If you want it, you must earn for it." Time to work hard.

Last note: I hope I could find my vintage 50's Jotter again since it has been missing for a week already. Please God help me find it. :D