Job Vacancies And Jobs Search In Malaysia : Allyhunt

What a relief! Finally, my final paper has been completed and guess what? I have already been selected for a job interview the next day. Well, you can call me “kiasu” but I just wanted to make sure I got a job right after my studies.

The day came for me to attend the interview. It’s for the position of a Tax Assistant with a medium-sized auditing firm located in the town centre. Just the right place to start - accessible by public transport and surrounded by all the bustling hang-out places. I just can’t wait to start. The interview went well and I almost couldn’t believe my ears when the Interviewer made me an offer straight away. Without hesitation, I accepted. I wanted to tell all my friends that I was offered a job on the spot. Hey, I must be quite good for them to consider taking me on board right away. I was exhilarated!

I was asked to start work the next Monday. So, I took the opportunity to shop for some decent work clothes during the weekend. I was just beaming from ear to ear the whole time. My good friends were obviously envious of me. Wait till I get my first pay check and buy them a fancy dinner.

The BIG day finally came. I started out early and arrived at the office ten minutes before 9am. I was asked to wait in a room. A lady came in and introduced herself as Patty. She told me the boss was not in yet and asked me to wait until he came. Well, that was cool. I could handle that. One hour passed and nobody attended to me. I began to feel restless by then but before I could decide what to do next, Patty came in and told me that the boss was in already. A sigh of relief!

I followed her and was brought to the boss’ room. He was not around. He could be in the wash room or elsewhere. He walked in later. He mumbled some kind of apology and quickly told me what he expected me to do that day. He gave me a pile of files to go through and asked me to read them to get a better understanding of each profile. He mumbled something like ‘backlogs’ that needed to be done by the end of the week. Before I could ask him anything else, he packed up his things and left the room. I was literally in a daze. Oh wait, what did he say about using my common sense when talking to Mr Tan? And what about giving the computation by the next morning - what was that actually? I mean I have tons of questions to ask him but he is gone now. Who else can I ask?

Patty came in and showed me to a table. She gently mentioned that the table was in fact occupied by a colleague who was on MC that day. My work station apparently has not been set up because they have not yet figured out where I should sit. My head was already spinning by now and I was sure I had cold sweat. You mean I don’t have a proper work station? Where shall I put all these files and documents? Is this a norm? Is this what you call WORKING LIFE? Oh God, help me! No wonder my mom told me to enjoy my school life while I could! Man… at least I had my own study table! It was 12 noon by then and I wasn’t sure I had any appetite for lunch later. And talking about lunch, nobody even bothered to ask me to join them. I felt so alienated.

Yes, my first day at work was something like my first kiss because I would always remember it but unlike my first kiss, it gave me the chills instead. You can say I am a coward or whatever you like but I called the office the next day and told them I was not going back.

Ex fresh graduates, do you have a horrible tale to relate that is worse than mine? Or do you have a pleasant experience that you believe other companies can emulate?

Recruiters/Employers, is there any way of making the first day of a fresh graduate a really pleasant one, or at least close to one?