Two thousand three has gone, being a tremendous year in my history.
A lot has happened, mostly unexpected.
To write about every event is so overwhelming, letting them go would be better.
But if, if there is one thing I gotta highlight, it would be this.
This one thing that I’m going to blog,
for the wisdom it brought together,
for the lessons I’d learnt, so that I remember.
So last year, I returned to workforce after two years of being unemployed. Alhamdulillah, after 3 months of job hunting since I returned to my hometown, I received a job offer that I deemed as a miracle! Truly was it eventful, something I thought I would not get.
CRITERIA
As much as the ocean of job vacancies out there, it is not easy to actually find a job that suits my conditions and situations. Now that my kids’ daily whereabouts are all under my responsibility alone, traffic in JB is no less crazy than KL, guys.
I am also so used to a flexible working environment. None of the companies I researched do practice agile working like my previous company, which is a vital requirement for me personally. These two conditions – location and flexibility – are two very important criteria to consider but it looks impossible to find in Johor Bahru, just impossible in my scope of work. That was so demotivating.
I was stressed, but I kept going on sending resumes and answering calls and going for interviews with a thought that even if I get a job, I won’t be satisfied without my conditions above being fulfilled. I’d just have to grab whatever that is, just work, and life is going to be so hard having to juggle the new fulltime commitment as an employee without the flexibility I need. I prayed hard that Allah gives me a job that would ease my life so I can give my best.
ENCOUNTER
I went from one interview to another, online and face-to-face, to end up being unsuccessful. Context – one of the reasons being is due to overqualification because many nowadays are looking for less experienced candidates so they can pay less. Also, some feedback is because of my status as a single mother of five, they doubt my ability to really commit at work. One potential even asked me; ‘So you’re divorced? Why are you divorced?’ Wow. People really do judge you by your marital status. That was frustrating and tiring, so I gave up. I decided to do something else.
The moment I stopped searching and accepting interviews, I received an email from this one company calling for an interview session. A company I did not apply, it was my friend who applied it for me. I was already reluctant to do this anymore, so I ignored the email. Then they followed up another time, so I just asked them first about the location and working hours, with a thought of getting the common unfavorable answer and I was ready to decline them.
To my surprise, they say they are flexible and, they do practice WFH mode! I was like…Seriously?? We set for an online interview right away, and it all went well.
After two days, they offered the position to me and that’s it. I’m employed! Alhamdulillah.
MIRACULAOUS
Well, it looks like a normal job-hunting mission right, but you know what is it so miraculous about all this?
The position that was offered to me is a new position. I work for an Australia company, while they based me at the Malaysia office. I am the only one in the office working for the AU business, reporting to the Manager and a team in AU and so I follow AU working arrangements. Meaning, everyone else in the office belongs to MY business so they are not entitled to the flexibility as I get. It’s only a privilege for me! MasyaAllah.
I mean, can you believe it? Like I said, to have a company in JB that has this kind of agile culture is rare. It is not even a thing for the existing people in the office, but me. It’s just happened to be that the company in AU was urgently looking for a new officer and they decided to hire from Malaysia, and locate this person in Johor Bahru through a friendly business deal. Something which they never did before. It is a new arrangement, and it is meant to be for me!
AMAZEMENT
Wallahi, I don’t mean to brag about the specialty I gained. I am just so amazed at how Allah did all this. He is indeed Al-Khaliq, The One Who Creates, He could create anything and everything from nothing, and nothing is impossible for Him. Subhanallah.
Another miracle is that, the office location is only 5 minutes’ drive from my house. Five minutes! It’s so near I don’t even have to swim through the highway to reach my office. I should actually jog to work every morning haha. Now that my home, office and the kids’ schools and transit place are all located within corners, what an ease a working mother could wish for! This one is beyond thought. I’d gone to interviews over miles away in the areas up until Senai, when my rizq was silently written just a few doorsteps away.
“So, which favors of your Lord would you deny?”
HOPE
Although there’s no perfect job and perfect company in any state nor country, and I know; things can change from good to bad just anytime. Work stress is real, and I have experienced things in my 12 years of employment before. I also don’t know how long my stay in this company would be like. I’m not the kind who likes to jump from one job to another, I am loyal to one and would devote myself to it. So, what do I expect?
Goodness, only goodness in this and from this, and protection from the bad in this and from this. I don’t know what lies ahead in the future but for now, to be able to genuinely say ‘Alhamdulillah I love my job’, is pure blessings.
REFLECTION
If you’re also on a job-hunting mission, I truly understand it is such an unsettling process, full of uncertainties. We would always be anxious about the results to come. In my restlessness, I remember talking to myself that…
Hey, my rizq is already written, right?
That job, that company, those colleagues, my workstation, my laptop, all are set!
“The pen has lifted, and the pages have dried”.
This life is a story that has been written in a book.
If only I peeped through the next pages, I would see things had already been written for me in detail.
It is impossible that if I were meant to still live on this earth tomorrow, and the pages are blank.
Impossible, no way…
There must be something Allah has prepared for me, meant to be mine.
Yes right.
Faith, it’s all about faith!
This journey is not just another milestone to check, it’s a divine course packed with lessons taught directly and indirectly from The Almighty. I crawled out of the tunnel carrying a bag full of wisdom that would become a sanctuary for me in facing the next obstacles in life. It is a gift of today, and a prize for tomorrow. Forgive me Ya Allah, for every false expectation I had upon You when I was so down, Astaghfirullah.
I’m writing this here today just so that myself will remember.
So that I remember.. that He is the Most-Listening. He listens and responds to every single prayer even when it is made in poor conviction, only full of hopes.
So that I remember.. that nothing is impossible for Allah s.w.t. He can do, He can change things.
So that I remember.. that The Help is near. Indeed, it is very close.
So that I remember.. that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.
So that I remember.. that sabr is rewarding, it is surely most rewarding.
So that I remember.. that in the end, everything will fall into place.
So that I remember.. that the more we trust Allah, the more He amazes us.
Without a doubt, You amazed me again this time Ya, Allah.
Haza Min Fadhli Rabbi, Alhamdulillah.
As ever,
SALZY
Salzy Mommyhood 