Monday, July 7, 2008

Is the waiting worth?

I got this job offer on mid of May 2008... I meant the job @ Uganda, Africa. Until today i was still not able to get started due to the delay over the other side. In the case of the delay, i had ran into some financial instability right now. I was unemployed and my reserved is getting less day by day... *sob sob* I would not be able to sustain my usual lifestyle soon... No Starbucks for me, No Fitness First etc ... *sigh*

1.5 months ago
i was getting this job... the person that discuss with me for this job was in such a hurry to get an experienced project manager to handle their project in Uganda, Africa. Single i'm single, adventurous and experienced in Project Management... I was highly recommended by another friends of mine to join this team... Guess what? I got this job within 3 days including the negotiation...  as a person like me whom like challenging job, different environment and culture, working with new faces... i quickly read through the proposal that they provided to me within a day i feedback to them that i would be able to take up the project... It's was the 2nd fastest decision making in my life after the purchase of my condo with nice KL view (which i made the decision within 2 hrs before i bought my condo) Later, the persons that offered me this job also requested me to fly off to Uganda in three weeks i.e. early June 2008. I was so excited and blasted the news to all my families members and friends... they were congratulated me and some of them actually can't believe i accepted this job and going to Uganda.

June 2008
I was studying my Certified Supply Chain Professional exam @ the time i accepted my job. Due to the needs of me leaving Malaysia for Uganda at mid of June... I have no choice but postponed my exam to December 2008. At that moment, i was a little upset as i wanted to finish the CSCP as soon as possible. Early June 2008, I got the news that the project was going to push for two to three weeks...  this is the 1st push... I was patiently waited for a new date. As the professional project manager, delay on the project is very common in the real life... so i did not make any compliant/comment but patiently waiting for next date of departure... at the same time continue to enjoy my vacation. By end of June which is the newer date to leave Malaysia... again the news was to push to July... I started to be uncomfortable. I still told myself since i waited for quite sometime... must as while wait for another 2 more weeks.  At this time, my friends and families members started to ask me whether this project of what i got was a true project... I ensured myself and my friends/family members that project did push out and this is a true project ... so i moved on with early July with less confident as before... I was so happy on June 25th 2008 (Wednesday)... the team told me they need to start the project on July 7th 2008... They need me to get ready to fly off to Uganda on July 5th 2008. My motivation got boost up again and excited to take up the challenging project. As i started to get myself prepared to leave on July 5th 2008... on June 28th 2008 (Friday) early morning, i received a call from the person in charge and the project got pushed again... I thought finally i could get started and get paid... but the project let me down again... *sigh*, i was stunted at that moment when i got the news and did not know what should i response... i was demotivated and asking myself whether should i proceed with my contingency plan i.e. get another job... But another side of me telling myself to proceed with this as i have been waiting for so long... So what should i do?

Today (July 7th 2008)
According the 1st revised timeline, I should have started my job by now... happily understanding my project, meeting my customers... living in a new environment, new culture with new faces, of course blogging about my stay in Uganda... But now, I'm sitting in the Old Town Cafe drinking Malaysian's White Coffee *sigh*... Why i could not get the job i wanna to start fast? Somebody please help me to smoothing this roadblock and let me have my challenging job kicked start and get what i suppose to get ... Anyway, i felt down now and need some time off to think about what is my next step, should i look for a new job or proceed to close the gap that i have with this job... I need a break now. If you are my future team member whom happen to see this, please don't let my feeling impacted your enthusiasm on starting the project... I just wanna to say it out so that i will feel better. ;-)

I have drafted some items that i need to close...

Problem statement
1. The contract is not as what we agreed upon <-- a disappointment and signing the contract is pending...
2. There is no fix or tentative timeline to kick start the project <-- push could go beyond August etc.
3. I was not pay for waiting to kick start <-- No income for TZ :-(
4. My enthusiasm of working in this project is going down <-- Need some afford to bring this up
5. My financial status is unstable <-- need to serve my loan and expenses on food, petrol etc...

Next Step
1. Reopen the discussion on the contract items which i see it's a gap
2. Giving the management team a fix dateline and move on if they could not fulfill
3. Need to raise the unfairness on i did not get pay for waiting to get the project started.
4. To fix the enthusiasm... this is up to how the others items.
5. I think i better execute my backup... as the Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs motivational model... I think i need to solve the lowest level immediately...

I don't wanna to write so long but this is one way that i could express my thought and feeling which i will feel better after doing this... Anyhow, the 5 main problem statement still pending for me to solve thought. *Sigh* 

What do you think?

10 comments:

Ray said...

Same old stuff that i have mentioned to you. Keep looking. You can still wait and see if the Uganda job is going to start but you need to keep looking. What bug me the most is you guys don't have a contract in place yet and that is very risky. If they said the project is cancelled, you will be left with nothing. You need to keep looking. Here are my recommendations:

1) Keep looking.
2) Keep on negotiating the terms on your contract. You can tell whether the company is still eager to get you on board just by observing their attitute about the contract. You should be able to get a feel and decide what you need to do next.
3) Keep looking.
4) I know you may not like this, but... have you considered working for/with your dad?

Coffee Lover Kid said...

Hi TZ, hmm.. I think you should get a backup ready. who knows how long they will push that project.. Maslow's Hierarchy.. yeah that's one of the reason i wanna change career too.. =)

iml said...

Stay positive. Start looking around while waiting. Stipulate how long you are willing to wait. Take which ever comes first.

Anonymous said...

I am seriously considering leaving the words "Dumbass" as my only comment!

You are actually hinging all of you proverbial eggs in the 1 single basket a.k.a the Uganda job. A job mind you that has not even been realized nor has the contract been signed.

And yet you're complaining of how your lifestyle has to change to accommodate your jobless situation. You should be searching for any job and not just sit idle whilst you wait for the Uganda job!

Anonymous said...

Hi Tze Eee,

Long time no see. Being following you blog for a while. I understand what you are facing right now because I've been a freelance contractor for the past 5-6 years and understand that it is not easy sometimes, the fear of not knowing where is my next job, pay etc. Welcome to the world of uncertainty, my friend.
FYI, I have been cheated and disappointed as well, in a few of my previous projects - not getting pay, not getting the project as promised, etc. I learn my lesson, and I just move on.
Suggest that you just complete your cert. as soon as possible and get another job, somewhere.
Since you have some free time, suggest to do some charity and networking with more people, join business, self-development clubs, society like Rotary, Lions, BNI, Toastmasters, etc. This is to build up your contacts, with all level of people, rich and poor, old and young, etc. This is all for your own good. To get connect to more people. Who knows, you may find better opportunities. :D

Best Regards,
Leung Wan Choong

Jian said...

Do agree that u could complete up ur supply chain cert 1st. And while u are in this and the uganda ppl come to u to start, it's then ur turn to negotiate and ask them to wait for u! I'm sure they will understand as they have been delaying u for a while now. And in this meantime, u could get ur cert completed (though i'm noobie in knowing how long it would take).. anyhow my fren, take it easy it's obstacles like this tat make u appreciate life more after this. :)

Anonymous said...

aiyoh, its really a little too long wait and i would get very impatient too..bills keeping coming in but the pay is not..
talk to them.. set ur limit!
good luck!

TZ said...

All: Thanks for all of your advice and support... I'm off for some quiet time to get myself back on track... will be back on next week :-> Will update all of you eh!

Anonymous said...

i'm waiting for it too....
i knew about it earlier than u..
busy with all the preparation..
until now its not even started..
uhuhuhu... ~T_T~

TZ said...

Mr Dino: dude, thanks for dropping by eh! the difference is you wait with they paying you... me! I'm not getting any pay if the project do not start :-p Anyway, let's hope we could leave for our new assignment this round :->