If You Hate Your Job that MUCH, Then Just Quit

A few minutes back, I’ve just finished reading a blog shared in Linkedin titled “10 Signs You Need a New Job in 2015.” A nice article that reminds me to a few random people I know. The people who really hate their job, who constantly saying bad things about their own employers, and the ones who told me they would leave their job for like a hundred times before.

So many well-said words written in that blog until I spotted one line that really caught my attention. The writer simply said, “If your colleagues are excited by the work they do or simply excited to be a part of the organization, don’t kill it for them.”

I find it absolutely true. Hatred is contagious. Hence if you genuinely hate your job, never ever let your hatred kills your colleagues’ excitement to work for your company. Don’t make them feel stupid for enjoying and loving their job. If the company is not right for you, it doesn’t mean it’s not right for them either.

I know that at this point, some of you may think, “It’s your own fault if you let this kind of thing gets under your skin.” But the thing is… I’ve been there before. I know how hard it is to stay happy after hearing so many bad things about my own job. I needed to struggle a lot, and keep saying positive things about my job to myself, just to hang on and keep going.

Sharing how you feel about your job is normal. I’m even a strong believer that sharing with friends can reduce my burdens. It’s just that now I realize that I can’t do it to every people I meet in the office. And I think, all of us need to start doing the same.

Stop saying how stupid your company is. Or saying how your company is run by a bunch of stupid people.

Stop announcing that your company will go down and running out of money in the next few years.

Stop bragging that you already have so many job offers which are much better out there, and stop saying that only hopeless people who are willing to stay in such horrible place.

Stop laughing when your colleagues say they are happy with their jobs and then telling them how wrong they are.

Or maybe, stop being annoying to your colleagues just because your personal feeling to the company. Stop answering people’s short and simple question with rage. Stop yelling and putting innocent people’s life in hell just because your own life feels like one.

So guys, if you already come to a point where you hate your job that MUCH, then just quit. Find a new job and start fresh. Until then, there’s no point to exaggerate your desperation and irritate all people around you. Even if later you’ve found a new one and about to leave the company, there’s no need to convince your colleagues to do the same. It they do feel the same about the company, they will find their own way.

Top Three Reasons Why Good Employees Leave the Company

In the past few months, I’ve been observing the reasons why good employees decide to leave their companies. How do I define a good employee? The smart one, a fast learner, the problem solver, the major contributor, the game maker, the agent of changes, and of course, an excellent leader to their team. They may have so many flaws, mostly personality issues, yet most of them tend to have all of the good qualities I mention before. The good qualities in one package that makes them extremely hard to find.

Different with employees on average, I rarely find a top achiever leaves the company just because of stress, crazy workloads, fed up of bosses’ high demands, or just because of those nearly impossible projects. They have much more complex reasons to leave the company. Based on my personal observation, I’ve narrowed down those reasons into three top categories.

Lack of challenges

Most of the time, the good employees have more capability to deal with stress rather than dealing with boredom. They can’t stand repeating the exactly same task over and over again. They also set a very high standard for themselves. It’s not easy to make them feel satisfied with their own achievement. They’re very competitive even when there is no competition at stake. They hate the idea of being left behind their own families and friends.

That’s why when they find themselves stuck, not well developed, nothing new to learn, or when they get bored until 8 hours at work feels like forever, they will start to wonder whether it’s already time for them to bring themselves to a higher level. Until finally, finding a better opportunity out there has become a new challenge for them. For some of them, it’s like proving themselves that they still have the capability to achieve something better for their futures after going nowhere in their previous job for a while.

Lack of appreciations

The good employees have much lower tolerances of being unappreciated. They don’t do much positive thinking about the reason why their bosses made them feel that way. They know their values and they will never let anyone make them feel anything less. I know many great workers who are able to deal with their crazy workloads, who can survive the crazy deadlines, who can forgive their annoying bosses, but once they find themselves are not appreciated, they will start to ask themselves, “What the hell am I doing here?”

How do they define the lack of appreciations?

  1. When they find out ‘the average guys’, ‘the do nothing guys’, or ‘the do not understand anything guys’ are paid higher than them;
  2. When they hear their own bosses keep telling everyone about how great those ‘mediocre ones’ are but those bosses ‘forget’ to mention the same thing about them who have worked much harder than those bosses’ baby;
  3. When their bosses do not say anything about the great jobs they’ve done, but those bosses are over-reacted once they do just one mistake, especially if it’s only a very small one;
  4. When they are not well rewarded, especially if they do know that the company has a capability to give them rewards that they deserve.

Overloaded BUT underpaid

Based on my observation, most of top achievers are burdened with more workloads rather than the mediocre ones. Everytime there is a very difficult task, the boss will give it to them. Everytime there is a colleague fail to finish another difficult task, the boss will give it to them again. They’re actually okay with that; they love challenges, remember? BUT, it’s a completely different story if their increasing burdens are not in line with their income.

It’s funny how bosses always have many random reasons to not reward their best players properly. At the end of the day, the good employees will end up with a thought, “This company wants me to work super hard for free.”

Most of the time, being underpaid is not only about money for this type of employee, but also highly related to their self-satisfaction or maybe, it’s also about their own ego. They can’t live with the fact that their company ‘use’ them, ‘fool’ them, or any other bad thoughts which make them feel bad about themselves. Once again, they know their value and they know it for sure when they deserve better.

My Birthday Picts

This year, once again, I have another unforgettable birthday. A fancy dinner in Four Seasons with my families on my birthday night, a small reunion with my high school best friends, a nice surprise from my team at work (I thought they would only give me a cake with candles on it, turned out they gave me a customized birthday cupcakes, birthday cards, and shopping vouchers! 😀 ), and a Friday dinner with my team to celebrate my birthday (again!).

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After so many long days in November, my birthday was such a refreshment to me. I still have a little kid inside of me who gets excited with a nicely wrapped gift, I’m touched knowing that I have many friends willing to come up with a plan to surprise me, and I’m glad that wherever I work, I work with the people who end up as my friends.

Now my birthday is over, I simply think, “I can’t wait for my next birthday! Hehehehe.”

15 Habits to Make Your Life Easier at Work

Learning from my own experiences, I’ve noted down 15 things which have significantly helped me to get things done at work. If it works for me, who knows it will work for you too?

  1. Tell people exactly how you feel. Put on that grumpy face or saying “I’m pissed” will never work to make people understand what they did wrong;
  2. Use “we” instead of “I”;
  3. Ask one same question to more than one people to get complete pictures accurately. But of course, make sure you don’t get caught, hehehehe;
  4. Asking is always better than assuming;
  5. Teach your team, make them as knowledgeable as you. The smarter they are, the more they’re capable to help you out;
  6. Learn to delegate to your team. Doing stuffs alone will only make you get overwhelmed;
  7. If your team makes mistakes, teach them how to do it right instead of correcting the mistakes on your own. They will never learn and it will only put more burdens on your shoulders;
  8. Be brave enough to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’
  9. Reduce manual work. Spend some times to do research about how to apply technology into your works;
  10. Manage your files (both of softcopy and hardcopy) properly so that you won’t spend too much times searching for your old files;
  11. Take a note, write down every knowledge you’ve just earned at work;
  12. Reread your e-mails before you send it out as well as rethink your words before you speak it up;
  13. Read carefully and reply your e-mails as soon as possible;
  14. Put off the fire when it’s still small. It’s much easier to solve small problems rather than waiting until it gets bigger; and
  15. As long as it’s not an urgent matter, try to finish one task before you jump to another one.

In Singapore This Week

Ceritanya satu minggu ini, gue terpaksa stay di Singapura buat urusan SAP training. Kinda wrong timing secara kerjaan di kantor lagi banyak-banyaknya. No wonder kalo tiap malem selama gue di sini, gue masih harus buka laptop buat nerusin pekerjaan kantor yang jadi terlantar gara-gara training.

Meski begitu anehnya, selama di sini, gue justru ngerasa lebih relax. Gue malah bisa punya lebih banyak waktu buat spoiling myself selama stay di sini. Dan tiap malam sepanjang minggu ini, gue bisa nikmatin dinner sambil ngobrol haha-hihi bareng temen-temen setim gue. Lain banget sama suasana dinner gue di hari-hari biasanya; cuma sekedar dinner ala kadarnya sambil duduk di depan laptop untuk menyelesaikan pekerjaan yang enggak ada habisnya itu.

Hari Senin malam, selesai training, gue dan teman-teman pergi makan malam ke Bugis Junction. Nyobain makan chicken PERi-PERi di Nando’s yang langsung bikin gue jadi ketagihan!

Kemudian Selasa malam, nemuin restoran sushi yang enak banget di Chinatown (walau kemudian kita tau bahwa restoran sushi yang sama juga ada di Plaza Senayan, hehehe).

Rabu malam belanja-belanja (dan borong banyak camilan!) di Mustafa Center. Puas juga nyobain banyak sample wewangian yang ada di sana dan bawa pulang 3 botol parfum sekaligus.

Kamis siang gue asyik windows shopping di Plaza Singapura dan bawa pulang body lotion dan manicure set sebagai efek termakan bujukan SPG, hehehehe. Kamis malem makan sushi all you can eat, masih disambung acara belanja ke Orchard Road.

Lalu terakhir hari Jum’at, kita mampir makan malam di Esplanade. Makannya sebentar, justru acara ngobrolnya yang lebih lama, and I enjoyed this one last dinner the most. Gue jadi banyak ketawa, dan jadi sempet ‘lupa’ sama satu masalah pribadi yang sebenernya bikin gue lagi bikin gue sedih.

Gue lalu jadi mikir… Padahal selama di sini pun, gue tetep tidur larut malam. Kerjaan tetep banyak banget. Pernah satu kali sampe skip lunch gara-gara ngejar deadline. Tapi kenapa di tengah padatnya jadwal training dan pekerjaan rutin, gue masih sempet santai-santai dan melakukan hal-hal yang udah cukup lama gue tunda selama di Jakarta itu?

Beberapa bulan belakangan ini, sekedar pergi belanja bulanan pun gue enggak sempet. Kalopun ada waktu luang, gue udah kecapekan setengah mati sampe lebih prefer stay at home all day. Terakhir sebelum ke Singapur, adek gue berbaik hati nawarin diri pergi ke Giant buat beliin keperluan-keperluan harian gue. Parfum udah abis tapi malah beli online dan nggak satisfied sama wanginya. Dan udah lama banget kepengen beli mango macchiato-nya KOI tapi enggak pernah punya waktu buat mampir ke mall terdekat. Dan semua itu, dengan mudahnya gue dapetin selama training di Singapura, hanya dalam waktu 5 hari saja.

Balik lagi pertanyaannya… kenapa? Kenapa di sini, gue masih bisa santai-santai, masih sempet beli ini-itu, meskipun sebenernya jadwal kerja nggak kalah padatnya? Setelah gue pikir-pikir lagi, berikut ini jawabannya:

  1. Nggak ada meeting harian. Biasanya di Jakarta, dalam sehari pastilah ada satu sampai lima meeting yang harus gue hadiri. Gara-gara sibuk meeting, paperwork gue suka jadi terlantar sehingga ujung-ujungnya, di saat semua orang udah pulang ke rumah, gue lembur sendirian;
  2. Nggak banyak e-mails masuk. Sebelum pergi ke Singapur, gue udah sibuk ngumumin ke semua orang yang gue kenal di kantor bahwa minggu ini gue SAP training full day. Hasilnya, e-mail yang masuk cuma setengah dari biasanya. Ini juga sama, sekedar bales e-mails aja bisa consume banyak banget waktu gue setiap harinya; dan
  3. MRT di Singapur bikin gue bisa pergi ke sana-sini dengan mudah, cepat (nggak pake macet), dan nyaman. Beda banget sama di Jakarta. Mau mampir sana-sini, bisa jadi udah habis satu sampai dua jam di jalan hanya untuk perjalanan jarak dekat. Ngebayangin harus bermacet ria pun, udah bikin gue jadi males buat mampir-mampir sepulang kerja.

Jujur awalnya, gue males banget ikutan training ini. Kerjaan di kantor bener-bener lagi banyak-banyaknya. Tapi setelah dipikir-pikir lagi, it’s not that bad. There’s also that one personal thing which made me thing that I was in SG this week for a reason. Now I’m back to Jakarta but will be back to SG next week, the whole week! Dan gue pun mulai asyik listing down minggu depan di SG mau ke mana aja, hehehehe.

Jangan Gampang Bilang Resign

Jadi ceritanya, hari Jum’at jam sebelas malam ini, gue masih di kantor. Gara-gara auditor, minta sesuatu yang mengharuskan gue melakukan v-lookup sebanyak 6 kali. Dan masalahnya, untuk satu kali v-look-up, bisa makan waktu sampai lebih dari setengah jam! Jadilah gue pinjam komputer teman sekantor buat nge-blog sementara laptop tercinta gue itu sibuk v-lookup selama berjam-jam lamanya…

Sambil nunggu v-lookup, gue jelas bosan setengah mati. Ngantuk. Udah tiga bulan gue sering lembur. Kurang tidur. Capek. Bawaannya pengen marah-marah melulu. Jadi kurang punya waktu buat bersenang-senang…

Gue lalu jadi ingat… Beberapa bulan yang lalu, kondisi seperti ini, persis seperti ini, pernah jadi salah satu pemicu gue untuk resign dari perusahaan sebelumnya. Lalu… apa itu berarti gue juga akan resign dari kantor gue yang sekarang?

Baru kemarin malam, gue sibuk menasehati salah satu teman bule gue soal mau kerja di manapun, situasinya akan sama saja. Contoh:

  1. Di manapun kita kerja, pasti akan selalu ada orang yang nyebelin setengah mati;
  2. Selalu aja banyak tekanannya. Malah kenyataannya, semakin bagus performance kita, semakin tinggi pula tekanan yang harus kita terima;
  3. Stres dan bikin capek;
  4. Kadang-kadang pasti ada aja rasa bosannya, dsb dsb…

Ada banyak kejadian akhir-akhir ini, yang bikin gue jadi berpikiran, orang yang gampang banget bilang pengen resign itu sama saja dengan anak manja. Padahal, sampai beberapa bulan yang lalu, gue sendiri masih jadi orang yang seperti itu. Kesal dikit sama si bos, sampe rumah langsung sibuk buka Jobstreet, hehehehe.

Kemarin malam, gue bilang begini sama si temen sekantor itu, “I have worked for four different companies. Now after the fourth company, I give up trying to find a perfect one.”

Ya, gue mulai bisa menerima kenyataan bahwa di manapun gue kerja, pasti ada saja rasa tidak enaknya. Akan selalu ada those very bad days. Akan selalu mengalami hal-hal yang bikin gue mempertanyakan, “What the hell am I doing here?”

Tapi anehnya, bukan berarti gue menjalani pekerjaan gue dengan setengah hati. Bukan karena terpaksa. Bukan pula karena udah pasrah. Kenyataannya malah sederhana saja: gue mulai bisa ngerasa ikhlas. Tiap kali ada hari yang menyebalkan, gue mulai bisa mengendalikan perasaan dengan bilang sama diri gue sendiri, “This is only a bad day, not a bad life. Not either a bad job. It’s just one bad day.”

Ya, gue masih suka ngomel-ngomel. Suka curhat soal bla bla bla. Masih sering bangun pagi dan mengeluh betapa capeknya gue dan rasanya kok ya kayak belum tidur sama sekali. Dan tentunya, masih sering juga pasang muka cemberut di kantor. Tapi anehnya, pikiran untuk resign, seperti sudah perlahan menghilang dari benak gue.

Suatu saat, gue pasti resign dari perusahaan ini. Gue enggak mungkin kerja di sini selamanya. Tapi gue pengen, saat gue resign nanti, gue resign dengan alasan yang tepat. Bukan semata-mata karena kesal sama atasan. Bukan karena capek lembur melulu. Bukan karena stres dengan tuntutan kerja. Bukan karena apapun yang pasti akan tetap terjadi di manapun gue pergi bekerja.

Gimanapun, gue tetap tipikal orang yang percaya bahwa segala sesuatu itu terjadi karena satu alasan. Gue nulis begini bukan karena gue mendadak nyesel udah keburu resign dari kantor gue yang dulu-dulu. Malah sebaliknya, berkat pengalaman di 3 perusahaan sebelumnya itulah yang bikin gue jadi menemukan ‘kunci’ untuk stay happy di dunia kerja: ikhlas, ikhlas, dan ikhlas.

Ikhlas menerima kenyataan bahwa atasan juga cuma manusia yang bisa bikin salah.

Ikhlas menerima kenyataan bahwa perusahaan kita bukan Raja Midas yang bisa mengubah segala sesuatu menjadi emas sehingga bisa menggaji kita sampai ratusan juta.

Ikhlas menerima kenyataan dunia kerja memang tidak selalu ramah dan menyenangkan.

Dan tentunya, ikhlas untuk menerima segala kewajiban dan tanggung jawab kita.

Intinya kalo menurut gue, sebelum dikit-dikit bilang resign, cobalah untuk terlebih dulu belajar ikhlas. Try to see things from the bright sides first and do those things sincerely. Jangan sampai kita resign lalu nanti menyesali keputusan kita itu. Jangan resign karena common things yang pasti bisa terjadi di manapun kita bekerja, resign yang seperti itu hanya akan jadi resign yang sia-sia. Harus adaptasi lagi, mulai dari awal lagi, harus ninggalin sesuatu yang sudah kita bangun dengan penuh perjuangan pula… Our current job maybe extremely tough, but think again… what makes you think the next one will be easy? 

Emang sih, pastilah benar ada pekerjaan lain yang sifatnya lebih mudah. Kalo gue mau, gue bisa aja cari pekerjaan lain yang jauh lebih santai. Tapi kalo dilihat dari sisi positifnya, segala kesulitan itu udah bikin gue jadi a better one. Then again… pemikiran bahwa I keep making improvement instead of the tough situations itu bikin gue jadi kepengen nulis begini, sekali lagi, di blog gue ini: “It’s not easy to be me, but it’s fun!” Hehehehe.

It’s almost 12 AM now, let’s go home!

17 Things I’ve Learned from Niro

Here are the things I’ve learned during three years working in Niro. They are the things I’ve learned from my bosses and other colleagues, from my own experiences, or simply the things which I’m still working to achieve.

  1. We can’t please everyone at work;
  2. We have to be dare to do the right things. Being a coward won’t do us any good;
  3. Be careful with the one who looks nice all the time. They can be the one who stabs our back before we know it;
  4. The most effective approach in people management… Start nicely, if it doesn’t work, give reminder, if it doesn’t work again, be assertive, and if it still fails, it’s okay to be angry;
  5. Don’t guess, ask instead. Too much guessing what’s on other people’s mind will lead us to a terrible miscommunication;
  6. Have a problem with the boss? Talk to the boss. Have a problem with our staff? Talk to the staff. Bad mouth to our friends won’t solve anything at all;
  7. Don’t talk too much, don’t write e-mails, and don’t make any important decision when we’re angry. Give ourselves a break for a while;
  8. There should be a balance between reward and punishment;
  9. Avoiding the implementation of reward, punishment, and competition is not a good idea. Equality is NOT always a good thing, and equality could lead into an unfairness at work;
  10. Don’t preach anyone else while we still have the flaw in the same topic. It won’t give you any respect from others;
  11. Everything is not always as bad as we think it is… Try to be more positive;
  12. There is no such a thing like too difficult task to accomplish, everything is doable. It’s just the matter of whether the result is worthy to fight for;
  13. Most of the time, success is about our attitude. We’ve got to have that ‘success-attitude’, otherwise, no matter how smart we are, we will always be a nobody at work;
  14. 3 keys of successful career which works for me: exceed other people’s expectation, always do the right things to do (even if it doesn’t always look pretty), and a brilliant mind;
  15. Do not ask or demand more than the amount we have given to the Company. Compensate our flaws with our outstanding performance. We can’t be perfect, but at least, we have to be awesome;
  16. Don’t try too hard to be an angel at work, being a good human is already enough. An angel-wannabe won’t survive the rough bumpy road; and
  17. It’s never easy to determine our real friends at work, but at the end of the road, we will eventually see which one is real or fake. Do make friends in the office, but be careful.

Well It Feels Like a Broken Heart

Hari Kamis kemarin jadi hari terakhir gue kerja di Niro Group. Setelah 3 tahun kerja di perusahaan ini, akhirnya tiba waktunya buat gue memulai karier yang baru. Di hari terakhir gue itu, ada beberapa rekan kerja yang nanya sama gue, “Gimana rasanya kerja di hari terakhir?”

Pertanyaan itu selalu gue jawab dengan, “Yah, karena udah 1 month notice, sedihnya udah gue cicil, hehehe.”

Sebulan yang lalu, perasaan gue sedihnya luar biasa. Sedih karena tahu semua ini akan berlalu, sedih waktu mulai beres-beres ruangan gue di kantor, dan jadi tambah sedih karena ada beberapa teman, bahkan atasan, yang bilang sedih dengan resign-nya gue. Tapi memang benar juga… lama kelamaan, rasa sedih itu memudar dengan sendirinya. Gue udah lebih siap dengan perpisahan yang sudah stand by di depan mata. Ditambah lagi, gue udah ‘merayakan’ farewell party gue sampai empat kali sejak satu minggu sebelumnya. Empat farewell parties yang punya kesan tersendiri buat gue. Makanya saat gue sudah tiba di hari terakhir, gue benar-benar ngerasa tenang dan juga siap untuk saying goodbye.

Awalnya, everything was fine. Dari pagi sampe sore gue dan si bos bikin report bareng di ruang meeting. Sempet ambil foto yang posenya si bos bener-bener bikin ketawa banget deh. Sempet juga bercanda-canda dan memperdebatkan hal-hal yang nggak gitu penting. Pas jam makan siang, gue juga sempet foto-foto heboh bareng temen-temen cewek di kantor. Everything was just so normal, until my boss called me to his room to say goodbye…

Jadi ceritanya, sore itu si bos harus pulang lebih awal demi nganterin big boss dari Malaysia ke pameran Niro di JCC. Sebelum pulang, dia manggil gue ke ruangan dia buat saying goodbye. Sebetulnya, gue juga pengen ngomong beberapa hal sama dia, tapi yang ada gue cuma bisa diem aja! There was something I wanted to tell but I held it back. Entah karena nervous, entah karena gue lihat si bos sedang terburu-buru… atau emang dasar gue aja yang emang selalu canggung buat urusan beginian. Yang jelas sejak itu, mood gue langsung berantakan.

Suasana hati gue langsung muram, langsung berasa sedihnya, bahkan saat mobil gue mulai beranjak ninggalin kantor, mata gue mulai terasa panas dan nyaris aja meneteskan air mata. Trus yang paling gue nggak suka, hati gue beneran terasa agak sakit seolah ada sesuatu yang nusuk dari dalam… Gue juga jadi murung dan nggak nafsu makan sepanjang sisa hari itu, gue bahkan enggak nafsu makan Marugame udon kesukaan gue itu! Well… singkatnya, resign kali ini rasa sedihnya mirip-mirip kayak patah hati.

Gue masih ingat pertama kalinya gue bersedih sampe ngerasa ada yang sakit di dalam hati gue. Gue lupa kapan waktu persisnya, lupa pula apa yang jadi pemicunya, tapi satu yang pasti, gue pertama ngerasain itu waktu patah hati sama cinta monyet gue di SMA dulu. Saat itulah untuk pertama kalinya gue ngerti kenapa perasaan itu dikenal dengan istilah ‘patah hati’. Kenyataannya, emang terasa ada yang ‘patah’ di dalam hati gue ini.

Syukurlah kemarin pagi, keadaan jauh membaik dengan sendirinya. Sama seperti saat patah hati, rasa sedih gue selalu berkurang setiap paginya. Rasa sakit itu sudah hilang, dan gue mulai cukup menikmati liburan gue kemarin itu. Ada farewell ‘lanjutan’ mulai dari lunch, nonton, sampe dinner. I simply forgot all of the sorrow and enjoyed the day. Gue juga excited banget nemuin sling-back shoes Nine West yang diskon 10% pake CC BCA, hehehehe. Kemudian hari ini, gue juga kembali enjoy ngurusin bisnis kecil-kecilannya gue dan nyokap (kapan-kapan gue ceritain soal bisnis gue ini yaa).

Akhirnya pada saat gue nulis blog ini, gue tahu dengan sendirinya bahwa I will be fine, everything will be just fine. Of course I will miss Niro, I will miss my friends back there, I even will miss my ex-boss and all of his jokes, but I will be fine. Kalo mau dibandingin lagi sama patah hati jaman SMA itu, saat itu gue juga baik-baik aja kok. Gue langsung lupa sama si mantan gebetan saking sibuknya dengan kuliah gue. Sekarang ini gue bahkan udah enggak inget kapan terakhir kali gue ketemu sama si cowok itu… It was never as difficult as I thought it would be.

However… gue tidak mengharapkan hal yang sama antara gue dengan Niro. Gue enggak ingin putus kontak dengan teman-teman baik gue di sana (termasuk si mantan bos yang sudah gue anggap sebagai teman baik), gue enggak mau lantas lupa begitu saja dengan mereka semua hanya karena kesibukan di kantor baru, dan gue harap, mereka juga enggak akan begitu saja melupakan gue 🙂

Ya, resign dari Niro memang terasa seperti sedang patah hati, tapi gue enggak mau punya ending yang sama seperti saat gue beneran patah hati. Seperti yang gue tulis di farewell note; it’s not a goodbye, it’s until we meet again.

Thanks Niro for having me in these past three years… I will always remember you.

New Job, New Gamble

Kemarin siang, salah satu ex-colleagues ada yang bertanya sama gue, “Ibu yakin mau pindah kerja ke Lazada? Prospek bisnis seperti itu apa akan bertahan lama?”

 
Saat interview di Lazada beberapa minggu yang lalu, gue pun pernah mengajukan pertanyaan yang sama ke HRD di sana, jadi sudah tentu, gue bisa dengan mudah menjawab pertanyaan itu dengan baik. Besides menurut pengamatan pribadi gue pun, gue optimis bahwa e-commerce ini sifatnya long-lasting. But the problem is; when someone strongly doubts about something uncertain like this, no matter what I answer, they will always have another argumentation to reply over and over again. Itulah sebabnya, gue lebih memilih untuk menjawab, “Gue optimis prospeknya bagus, tapi di manapun gue kerja, pasti tetap ada resikonya. Bisa jadi lebih baik gue stay di Niro, tapi bisa jadi memang lebih baik gue pindah ke Lazada. Kalo nggak dicoba dulu, gue nggak bakal tahu kan?”

 
Sejujurnya di dalam hati, gue pun mempunyai keraguan tersendiri. Saat resign dari EY tiga tahun yang lalu pun, gue juga punya keraguan tersendiri. Padahal gue yakin banget bahwa gue udah enggak pengen lagi kerja jadi auditor, tapi tetep aja, saat itu gue masih ragu apakah resign dari EY akan mendatangkan a better life buat gue. Dan sekarang, saat gue mutusin buat resign dari Niro, gue kembali merasakan kekhawatiran yang sama.

 
Gimana kalo ternyata, gue enggak cocok dengan lingkungan di kantor baru?

 
Gimana kalo ternyata, penghasilan gue di kantor baru ke depannya malah bakalan stuck di situ-situ aja?

 

Gimana kalo ternyata… pekerjaan baru itu enggak bikin gue jadi lebih bahagia?

 
Pada akhirnya gue pun mengakui… sebetulnya, ada unsur gambling pada saat gue memutuskan untuk pindah kerja ke perusahaan lain. Bisa jadi lebih baik, tapi bisa jadi malah lebih buruk dari sebelumnya. Lalu kenapa gue harus repot-repot mengambil resiko jika di tempat yang sekarang pun, gue sudah mempunyai lingkungan yang nyaman dan penghasilan yang memadai?

 

My answer for that question is very simple: I risk my comfort zone in order to search for hopes.

 

I hope, this new job would bring me back into working on fire, working with passion and joy…

I hope to learn more, improve more, much smarter and better.

I also hope, this new job would bring me a step closer to my bigger dreams.

Until finally, of course I hope, this new job would make me happier than before.

 

Dulu, kekhawatiran terbesar gue resign dari EY adalah gue takut, resign dari sana akan bikin karier gue jadi jalan di tempat. Di EY itu jenjang karier-nya sudah sangat jelas. Gue sudah bisa membayangkan akan jadi apa gue dalam 5, 10, sampai 20 tahun lagi jika gue tetap bekerja untuk EY. Tapi syukur alhamdulilah, kenyataannya, bukan itu yang terjadi pada gue. Hanya 8 bulan sejak hari pertama gue kerja di Niro, gue mendapatkan promotion ke managerial level. And you know what… I know that I would not be a manager today if I were still working for EY.

 
So I think… if I was wrong once, then perhaps, I will be wrong again one more time. Then here I am… I gamble my future one more time: I’m leaving the good job I already have for something which I hope, will be a better one for my own life.

Because I’m Still Not Good at Saying Goodbye

Akhirnya, setelah gue pertimbangkan selama beberapa bulan lamanya, gue memutuskan untuk resign dari Niro; perusahaan tempat gue bekerja selama tiga tahun belakangan ini. I’ll be leaving this Company in the next 24 days from now.

Sebetulnya, pengunduran diri ini sudah yang ketiga kalinya dalam perjalanan karier gue, tapi entah kenapa, resign yang satu ini terasa lebih berat. Beberapa hari yang lalu, satu hari sebelum gue submit surat resign ke atasan, hati gue rasanya enggak tenang. Nggak nafsu makan, nggak bisa tidur, sering ngerasa gugup dan deg-degan…

Secara singkat, resign dari Niro sedihnya mirip-mirip kayak patah hati. Meski begitu anehnya, di mata teman-teman bahkan di mata atasan gue, gue terlihat hepi dengan pengunduran diri ini. Kalo kata salah satu temen gue, “Yang lain lagi pada sedih, elo malah nyengir melulu…”

Seriously… gue sendiri bener-bener enggak sadar bahwa sepanjang minggu ini muka gue jadi lebih bersinar dan jadi lebih sering nyengir daripada biasanya. Padahal mereka nggak tahu saja isi hati gue yang sebenarnya… Misalnya, waktu gue mulai pilih-pilih berkas mana aja yang akan gue buang serta mana saja yang akan gue ‘wariskan’, dalam diam gue berpikir…

“Ini bekas coret-coretan bos gue waktu jelasin jual-beli saham… Emang ya, si bos ini tulisan tangannya jelek banget! Lebih jelek daripada gue! Trus ya ampun… ini koreksian audit report tahun lalu masih aja gue simpen! Hmmm… berarti ini tahun terakhir gue bikin full report-nya Niro yah…”

See? Hanya memandangi tumpukan kertas bekas saja udah bikin gue jadi sedih! Jadi kata siapa gue completely happy dengan pengunduran gue ini? Masalahnya hanyalah… gue bukan tipe orang yang tahu bagaimana caranya menghadapi perpisahan. Gue susah banget mengekspresikan rasa sedih yang sebetulnya tersimpan dalam hati. Jadi mungkin, tanpa gue sadari, untuk menghindari rasa canggung, gue lebih memilih untuk sering nyengir sehingga terlihat lebih happy daripada sebelumnya.

Gue akui, di satu sisi gue memang beneran happy dengan new opportunity yang gue harap, akan lebih baik dari sebelumnya. Gue juga excited ingin memulai hidup baru di kantor baru. Tapi… itu bukan berarti gue jadi bisa dengan mudahnya saying goodbye dengan kantor ini! Yes I do leave the Company, but how could I ever leave all of those memories behind?

Kemarin lusa, ada lagi satu kejadian yang bikin gue jadi ngerasa tambah sedih. Padahal cuma kejadian sepele aja sih… Cuma soal waiter Leiker di Emporium yang bukan cuma hapal menu favorit gue aja, tapi juga sudah hapal bahwa gue ini nggak bisa makan pake sumpit sehingga dia langsung menyediakan garpu tanpa perlu gue minta. Kemudian sesudahnya, saat gue sedang lihat-lihat keranjang diskon di depan Sogo, SPG Clinique datang menghampiri. “Mbak… nggak mampir lagi? Kita lagi ada potongan lho.”

Dua kejadian di Emporium malam itu bikin gue jadi sadar… gue bukan cuma udah attached dengan Niro, tapi juga udah attached ke mall yang terletak persis di seberang kantor itu. And I just don’t think I will ever visit that shopping mall after my resignation… Masalahnya, Pluit itu jauh banget dari tempat tinggal gue. Sekedar mikirin bahwa gue akan ‘kehilangan’ mall itu aja udah bikin gue jadi berberat hati.

Jadi sekali lagi… salah banget kalo dibilang gue enggak sedih resign dari Niro. Malah sebetulnya menurut gue, harusnya justru gue yang ngerasa lebih sedih akan segera resign dari Niro… Semua temen sekantor gue cuma kehilangan satu-orang-gue saja, sedangkan gue bakal kehilangan teman, sahabat, dan rekan kerja, semuanya dalam satu waktu yang bersamaan. Tapi sudahlah… gue resign bukan berarti nggak akan pernah ketemu lagi kan?

I don’t know whether this time, I could do this (read: saying goodbye) in a proper way. I still find it awkward and confusing. Whatever it is, one thing that I know for sure is that I don’t want to spend my last days in Niro with sorrow. Let’s laugh and have more fun! Don’t make it like the end of the road. Simply walk with me until I reach the line where I will start my new career life 🙂

Every job on earth is temporary, but I hope, our friendship is an eternity.