Perkenalkan, Saya Dian.

Soooo… Gw officially “lulus” dari status unemployed.

Alhamdulillah. Puji Tuhan.

Gw bersyukur banget. Setelah hampir tiga bulan jadi butiran debu di Jakarta, akhirnya gw dipercaya kembali untuk memberikan kontribusi kepada masyarakat. Akhirnya gw menemukan kembali fungsi gw di komunitas. :)

Selama tiga bulan ini gw belajar banyak soal mencari pekerjaan. Berikut gw share pelajaran yang gw dapatkan, supaya elo bisa belajar dari gw. Disclaimer: elo ga wajib mengikutinya/mempercayainya, karena pengalaman setiap orang berbeda-beda. 

1. Ambil kesempatan pertama yang datang, because another chance comes once in a blue moon.

Ini gw masih nyesel sampai sekarang. Gw seharusnya udah mulai bekerja as soon as gw sampai di Jakarta, literally ada company bagus yang menawarkan pekerjaan. Namun gw tolak karena: gajinya terlalu kecil (walau ada tunjangan tapi tidak pasti), hanya satu tahun kontrak, divisi tempat gw ditempatkan ga nyambung sama jurusan kuliah. Jika gw mau bertahan di perusahaan tersebut, gw harus ikut tes CPNS yang mana tidak gw bayangkan bisa gw ikuti jika gw bekerja full-time di sana. Tes CPNS sistemnya seperti tes IELTS. Gw ga bisa ujuk2 tes, harus persiapan intensif sebulan minimal.

It was way too early. Mindset gw masih didominasi semangat cari kerja. Bahwa kalau gw ambil pekerjaan itu, gw akan terlihat sangat desperate dan terkesan ga mau usaha. Bahwa dalam waktu dekat, company2 yang gw lamar akan merespon lamaran gw.

Well, they didn't~

If I was able to foresee what’s gonna happen to me for the next three months, I would’ve taken that opportunity.

I am so sorry for letting everyone down…

2. The longer you are unemployed; the more downgraded your value will be.

Kenapa? Karena lo ga punya pekerjaan yang bisa memberi keterangan berapa gaji bulanan lo, so technically you don’t have a power to negotiate. My last salary was in May 2016, almost two years ago. Alasan gw tidak bekerja selama hampir dua tahun adalah sekolah, TIDAK BISA dijadikan dasar untuk meminta gaji lebih tinggi~

Itu terjadi di calon kantor gw yang akan datang. Terjadi juga di kantor yang menolak gw sampai gw depresi. Ketika si HRD bertanya "lo masih di Melbourne atau di Jakarta?", gw sadar gw belum mengganti status employment gw di Majalah Ozip – Melbourne di Linkedin. Ketika si HRD minta gw kirim CV, tertera bahwa gw sudah resign sejak November—which is 5 bulan yang lalu. Dia langsung meng-cancel proses rekrutmen. So I learned that the chance of you getting hired when you’re unemployed is less than 10%.

3. Connection is the most important.

I have been living my life in the shadow of my mom. I got my first job through her connection and that job settled me the longest. After working for almost four years in XXXXX, I decided to resign and this time looked for a job on my own. No more connection, because I believe my skill and previous work experience will speak louder.

Well, it did! I got WKWKWK on my own. Nobody knew about the company. It was quite a small agency. But turned out, I loved it. If it wasn’t because of WKWKWK, I wouldn’t have got the scholarship.

With the same confidence, I applied for various jobs after I graduated. But none of them called me back until I got really desperate and depressed. I soon realized this scenario isn't working anymore. Connection is the real deal here. 

Mom came to the rescue. Using a connection and all trying to get me a job. It was hard as well, but at least it's more effective.

4. Don’t be picky.

My pickiness got me in hell for 3 months~ I don’t wanna be picky anymore. I just want to work and be productive. People like me, in the late 20s, without a job in hand, if we don’t feel productive, we don’t feel good about ourselves~

I got depressed every now and then. I consumed alcohol in the middle of a fucking day. I got anxiety all over. I couldn’t sleep well. In fact, I was terrified to sleep coz it will only lead me to another miserable day, another sorrow. I refused to take care of myself coz I thought why should I? I had no one to impress~

I was a mess.

My new job—maybe isn’t exactly what I wanted—career-wise. The moment I received the offer letter, my pickiness struck~ I was ready to say no because I am simply too vain. I feel like I can do better, I can gain better, I can achieve greater, I deserve better.

But then I recalled last three months. I remembered all the all-night anxiety and sleep deprivation. I remember reaching out to anyone and nobody responded. I remembered logging in and out LinkedIn desperately. I remembered all those formal letters to HR that never got responded. I remembered the failure and rejection. I remembered avoiding my loved ones just because I didn’t want to answer that bloody question. I remembered how awful it felt when I had no answer. I remembered nothing but a real rough life.

I finally came to sense. I fucking need this job, or else I am going crazy.

Who cares if it pays less~ Who cares if I don’t be the manager~ Who cares whom I’m gonna be working with~

I don’t do it for money, I do it for my mental health.

I do it for my inner peace.

My dear friend Nimas—who experience the same thing I do, said something very very wise.

“Why did I take the job? Well, it’s better than staying home doing nothing. I’d rather take it while waiting for a better opportunity. But if it turns out to be the best, well just enjoy it. I learn new things here anyway.”

I believe God has a plan for my future. All I have to do is to have faith.

5. If possible, don’t switch industry.

Or don’t switch role.

It’s totally okay if you feel challenged and still wanna do it. Just be mindful that it’s really rough.

Tentang Dian

Si kantor baru gw namakan Dian. Kenapa Dian? Ya karena gw pengen aja. Seperti halnya gw menamai XXXXX atau WKWKWK, karena gw pengen aja.

Dian berlokasi di Kuningan (woohoooo ciye balik lagi ke Kuningan tersayang)~ Tapi ga sepelosok XXXXX, Kuningannya masih agak depan2. Gw akan berkantor di Kuningan only for a short while, karena bulan depannya, kantornya pindah ke Gatot Subroto.

Hidup lo, Ta… Kalo ga Kuningan, Gatot Subroto. Wkwkwk~

Dian adalah sebuah e-commerce. So yeah I do switch industry and switch role as well. I really have no idea how my days in Dian will look like. I am nervous. But it’s gonna be okay. I am gonna keep myself as open-minded as I can. I’ll blog about it later. Be nice to Dian and wish me luck! :)