A week ago I was having a private chit-chat with my cuzin Ayie who just graduated from college (Congratulations Ayie!!! Welcome to the Big Real World) this year and I casually mentioned that this month (referring to the month of May) I’m celebrating my 10th year being an HR Professional. I recall telling her that I’m glad that in the 10 years of working in Human Resources, I was able to do everything I wanted to do.
In the 10 years that I’ve been a careerwoman, I was able to:
- learn the ins and outs of Human Resources with the help of my mentors and colleagues and acquaintances in the Industry.
- be sooo inlove with my career (I always tell family and friends that “Training is what I eat, sleep, dream about and have nightmares about.”)
- travel to several provincial areas of the Phils (Baguio, Bicol, Cebu, Davao, Bohol, Dagupan, Laoag, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Lucena)
- fall in love 🙂 — it was at work that I met my husband 🙂
- find true friends 🙂
- get recognized in my field of expertise
- work til 9pm only to come to work at 7am the following day
- work non-stop, 7 days a week for one whole month
- bring home work just because I’ve been conducting training inside the classroom during the day
- witness employees fail in their training and hence I had to tell them that they are being terminated from work (one of the saddest part of my work in the bank before and I had to hide my tears everytime something like this happens)
- find my Life Guru who helped me “fight all my demons”, counseled me in personal issues and made me realized my strengths and weaknesses and adviced me how to better utilize them and saw Chris’ aura and told me that “he is the one”. I will also never forget him telling me that I will be a more beautiful woman when I become a wife and mother–the more responsibilities I have, the more that I will bloom.
- have a very hectic life: eating inside the FX coz I don’t have time to sit down and eat a decent meal; meet Chris at the airport (I came from a training stint in Cebu while he came from a Branch Inauguratin in Bicol), meetings from morning til night, walang katapusang pagtuturo sa loob ng training room—7 hours standing infront of the class, every week out-of-town training (I always have my weekend luggage ready all the time), staying in a provincial area for days…at kung anu-ano.
- say goodbye to my career in the Phils—one of the most painful experiences I’ve had to deal with
- LIE-LOW, START ANEW and find a more relaxing HR work in a new country
- sucessfully achieve a permanent position in an Australian government office
Some other photos I found while looking thru my photo archives:
Class photo with the girls
Class photo with the boys
Class photo with my Cebu trainees
With my ERC Team Building participants in Pagsanjan, Laguna
EWBC Sponsored-party at the NBC Tent. One of the many benefits of having a boyfriend who works at the Advertising Department of the company :). Other than parties and inaugurations, we always get free tickets to movies sponsored by EWBC.
with the HR Group at my surprise despedida party before I left the Phils in 2005. I cried heaps when I entered the restaurant and they were all there.
one last photo with the Training Department
In the 10 years of being a careerwoman, I believed I was able to do it all: from giving my life to the work I love so much and to finding one that doesn’t take too much of my time. With this, I will always always be grateful knowing that I’m blessed with 10 wonderful years of being an HR Professional.
Personal Note:
I sometimes miss the hectic-ness of being a Trainer (and I enjoy reminscing about the good ol’ hectic days whenever I’m in ‘senti’ mode) but for now I’m very happy staying in the sidelines (read: operation side of Training) and having more time for my family and spending more time at home. And I guess my idea of a career right now is being a Wife first rather than being an HR Professional. Maybe one day soon, I will go back to being a hardcore Trainer again, but for now, even if I continue on with my HR career, I choose to be a Wife first :).
Photos were from my stint in EWBC where I stayed for more than 6 years. The first part of my career was in a food manufacturing company but at that time, photos were film-based and I left most old photos back in the Phils, so these are all I have for now.
2 Comments
reyna elena
Hoy babae!
HR was one of my favorite subjects in business school and since then, I have learned to appreciate the strategic role of HR in any business organization, after all people management has always been the most challenging and if you don’t do a good job in hiring, selection and employee training and development, then you ran into a lot of pitfalls along the way which could be very expensive for an organization. These are the things that are normally overlooked amongst HR professionals. But really, you guys are on the frontlines of any successful organization. I know Sales people will not be happy with what I have just said because they will always contend that it’s the numbers that matters. Which is true but it still boils down to some tactical and strategic hiring and selection process. Without HR’s support to an organizations business plans and objectives, it’s difficult how one organization can fulfill it’s mission really. You guys bore the brunt of them all. Career planning, succession planning and the worst of them all? Employee training and discipline.
Congratulations for some job well done in all those 10 years! You know what I learned over the years as far as leadership and management is concerned, 5 years is the span of leadership and since you have 2 of those consecutively, I would not be surprised to see some major title changes for you in the next month or so. When that happens, hire me! Hahaha! And if we get lucky this year? Our destination will be Sydney to visit relatives in Ryde just outside Sydney!
Painum ka naman o kaya gibsung mo me nang guapo aussie boys noh!
Ibyang Sanchez
hi reyna,
i’m glad to know that you appreciate the role of HR in a company.
HR is all about service and it is important that professionals like us are very committed with what we do.
I couldn’t agree more with what you said us being the frontlines in a successful organization, kahit mag-amok pa ang mga sales people na yan….aba sa bank na pinanggalingan ko, takbuhan kami ng mga marketing people namin kapag bumababa na ang sales nila, i-train daw namin sila para dumami ang clients nila.
thanks for the greeting reyna, it was alot of hard work and i don’t regret any time spent with serving the employees of the company i have worked for. HR is my passion and it is something that won’t change about me.
let me know if you’re on your way to Sydney okay? i would love to take you around and nang makapag-kodakan ng walang sawa!!!
mwah!