Are you girls prepared for a job interview?

I started sending my resume right after I completed my degree. I was so busy beautifying my resume just to impress the company for the job that I'm applying. Little that I know, the most important aspect for a job interview is not just on the attractive resume but also on the appearance during the job interview season.

I still remember being so stressful receiving job interview calls from either the job recruitment company or from the company itself. Stressed because I don't know how to prepare myself for the interview. I don't know what are their expectations towards me? Stressed on the right dress or pants that I should wear for the interview or which tops that will help to boost my professionalism look during the interview season. Picking the right scarf was also a problem for me. Which style should I apply? Will the simple selempang style will bring down my professionalism look or having to put a roll-over style will make me look presentable? Clueless much, I normally just go with my instinct - betul ke, salah ke, hentam je janji confident!

Yes, being confident is the most important thing during any job interviews. But then again, how do you know that you're confident enough to make your interview season an interesting one? Tambahan pula if you really really desperately want that job and that you're being over-confident for it. Being over-confident can pull you down, you know? So, know your confident level and it will definitely helps you to nail your interview season.

Lucky me, I have passed these phases of going in and out for job interviews. And for you lucky girls, Libresse is currently running a campaign just to help you girls to prepare yourselves for any interview seasons. Baik hati kan Libresse ni! Because they know that going for a job interview is very stressful especially for the first timer - fresh graduates that is. Being clueless and all, this campaign will definitely help you to give a clear picture on what to prepare, the dos and don'ts and everything that you need to know on job interviews.

So, if you somehow see this banner below:- 

Screenshot was taken from eatdrinkkl.blogspot.com

It's not a scam. Feel free to click on it and it will lands you to Libresse Hello, Confidence! page and you will get all the information that you needed or you can just go directly to Libresse website here.

It's totally free for you! So girls, what are you waiting for? Check em' out now!

Appraisal...what?

It's that time of the year again and I'm scratching my head reviewing my one year plan and working objectives.

At this point of time, I don't think I have any plans yet! My plan stands on ....... quitting and be a full time mum, boleh?!

Happy Wednesday lovelies and have a nice week ahead. Three more days to the weekend and I'm counting hours now.

Hello Confidence!

This is another unpaid post for my beloved ex-client (oh, so sad!).

Libresse is currently running a contest on their microsite dedicated especially for those who have no idea on how to prepare themselves for an interview.

Why having a campaign for an interview, you may ask?

Libresse is known for its brand that empowers women in every aspect of their lives and Libresse understands that their core users are among those who are within the age group that is either university leavers or the ones who are looking for a job. Hence, this campaign is the solution to their problems. Oh yes, preparing oneself for an interview is a BIG problem. Been there, done that!

And not only that, you can also stand a chance to win an interesting prizes. Cool right?

So, if you by chance bumped into that banner above, click on it and start gaining all the tips, the dos and don't on how to prep yourself for an interview. And if you're lucky, you'll win those prizes.

Or you can just visit their site here

Good luck!

The year of the horse

Firstly, I would like to wish all my Chinese friends and readers (Cheh, budget macam famous blogger yang ada ramai readers dari segala lompok dunia), Happy Chinese New Year. Hope you have a great celebration with family and friends. And to those who are not celebrating, happy holiday to us :)

Walaupun cerita selanjutnya tiada kaitan dengan CNY tapi tetap nak tulis juga.

Reminiscing my first day working with the company, I was told by my GM then (she is now the company's MD) that I was the only Malay working in the company. I still remember her one last question before showing me my cubicle; "are you sure you can fit in because we have some jingjang Chinese and some modern Chinese here in the company?". Mind you she is also a Chinese but married to a Muslim man hence she is a Muslim. I answered "yes, why not?"

Scared, no I don't think so. Why do I have to be scared? They don't eat human but nervous, yes! Nervous as my England isn't that powderful and I don't speak what more understand Chinese/Mandarin. How to communicate? I guess I am allowed to be nervous. 

Being the only Malay in the company filled with Chinese colleagues put my conscious senses to the highest level. I have to be aware on the plates/bowls and cutleries because obviously, they eat pork and drink whine/beer. But it is not a big of a problem - I bring my own plate, bowls and cutleries, settled!

I have to admit, I am very fortunate to have such a wonderful colleagues. Although, I am the only Malay  Muslim in the company, they are very much sensitive towards my needs. They don't have any issue or being so racist towards me. My boss always reminds me "eh, pergi semayang lah". They will always inform before hand that the food that they ordered were not Halal. We understand each others' interests. 

I have no problem having lunch with them. Obviously, they have to go to the halal place but if they decided to eat the non-halal food, then, I don't join them. Not a issue! We are very much civilized!

After 3 years of working with the company, I am still the only Malay in my department but my population is growing bit by bit. They are hiring more Malays now. And I can understand Chinese a bit. See, it's not always bad! I survived though! Civilization is they main key!

I have no problem if they want to drink beer/whine or eat pork. I have no issue with it. Not that I'm interested but I don't see it as a problem. Hence why I am so sad with what is happening to Malaysia now. Why must we create the racist tension. Why can't we live harmoniously? Why? 

Kesian to our future generations. We build hatred in them and they will always see a Chinese as a Chinese and a Malay as a Malay. And I don't want my children to have this hatred. 

Happy Chinese New Year friends (tetiba je!)

December 2, 2013

Hello ladies and gents (though I'm sure there are no gents reading this blog except for my husband which I forced him to). How was your weekend? Mine, was great with attending Masters classes and busy watching Iman growing up. And ..... we are already on the last month of 2013. Wow, time really flies. I don't even remember what I did for the past 11 months. Rasa macam telah membazirkan masa dengan begitu sahaja. 

Having said that, I am actually looking forward to 2014. I have a strong feeling that 2014 will be a good year for me, InsyaAllah! And it will be a good year for everyone too, amin.

Anyways, I need a small favor from everyone who reads this blog. If ever you people stumbled upon this ads below, please be nice and click on the ads. I can ensure you that this is not a scam ads. This is something that I am working on; helping my beloved client's campaign (and to ensure that we meet the KPIs or else, we are doomed!!).

And, if you ever crossed the ads somewhere on the net, please click on it ya!! Or you can just click on their website here to check on it!. 

There are a lot of interesting things happening on the website. Go and check it yourself. And to all of my BBGS friends (if there's any), Juwita Jalil is in there too promoting her Great Indoors business. Cool kan?!

So yea, what are you waiting for. Go, check on it now! 

Thanks a bunch and have a nice day lovers. Counting days to 2014

Happy 3rd Anniversary

No! No! Not my wedding anniversary (not until January 2014 though) but rather 3rd year anniversary for being the employee of the media agency that I'm currently attached with.

I was actually drafting a post on one of the Chinese Muslim restaurant that I visited couple of months back when I realized that today is actually 1st of November which marks the 3rd year of me working with the media agency. 

Wow, time flies very fast. I still remember my 1st day working with the company. Nervous much when I realized that I was the only Malay girl (then, but the Malay population has grown now) working in the company. I thought that I'll be facing difficulties mingling around but it turned our perfectly fine. They respect me as a Muslim - allowing me to perform my prayers when the time comes (my ex-boss even reminded me to go and pray). They treated me like a family. They alarmed me that some of the food that they bought were non-halal hence they can't share it with me. No discrimination among us. They are more than just a colleague. They are like a family to me.

And that is the reason why I stay.

To be honest, there were thousand times where I feel like quitting, joining other media agency. There were thousand times where I complaint about how much I have given up hope with my work - how much I really want to quit. But in the end, I never quit!

Not that I haven't explore my options. In fact, I have been receiving numerous of calls from other agencies for new opportunities. But, I don't feel the need of moving on looking for a new opportunity just yet. There are still a lot of things that I need to learn. I started of with zero knowledge on media planning but because of the interest I have and a good teacher who taught me well, I am who I am today.

Of course, there were the good and bad times especially when you did not deliver and affected your client's reputation but that is how you learn. You learn with your mistakes so that you don't do the same mistakes again. You improve yourself and you develop your skill through it.

Never have I thought that I will stay with a company this long (3 years is lama ok!). But I guess, I will stay for another 1 or 2 years till I completed my Masters at least (I still need the source right, LOL). Who knows I probably stay longer or kerja situ sampai pencen, who knows right?

3 years and a promotion. Not bad huh?!

Life in the advertising world

My sister forwarded this article to me yesterday and it reminds me so much of my early days working with one of the well-known local Advertising Firm.

Being a fresh grad, I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to work in one of the well-known local Advertising Firm right after I completed my final semester. I remember having only 1 month break before starting my career with the agency. I started very small, with zero knowledge on Media Planning & Buying. My basic salary was very little, very very little. Well, the pay wasn't what I was looking for. All I wanted was to gain knowledge and experience hence I don't mind taking the public bus to work.

With zero knowledge and background on Media Planning, I've gained interest on the field and decided to expand my career and go for a bigger challenge. I was searching high and low to get the opportunity to work with a bigger media agency. I submitted my resume to all the media agencies in Malaysia and Alhamdulillah, after few months of searching, I received a call from my current agency and the rest is history.

I owe it to the GM of the local Advertising Firm. I shall not put his name down but seriously, I owe him big time. If it wasn't because of him, I don't think I'll be where I am today.

I got to be honest, I got more exposure in the bigger Media Agency compared to the local one. This, I believe is because of the account that I am handling - some or regional clients while some are locals and the amount of money they put into advertising are way bigger compared to the ones under the local agency.

Having said that, I actually agree with the article written below. But, in order to be big, one needs to start small. 

Whether it's from the local/small agency or coming from the well-established International Media Agency, both give you a different kind of experience. It's totally depending on how you take it.

Security, of course the bigger ones are more established but then again, it totally depends on individual.

I got to agree with what's written on the article. But what I always believe and said earlier, in order to be big, one needs to start small.

Old vs New

When I first started my career with my current agency, I was assigned to handle one of the main brand together with two other small brands of a big company (Advertiser). They were one of the big client of ours (their yearly total brand spending were huge). After about 1 and half years handling the account, I was re-assigned to another two major brands of that company as my agency went into some restructuring process. All in all, I've worked for all of the 5 brands under that company. 

I learned a lot. From having no knowledge on how to do an effective TV plan to mastering the whole process. I gotta say that after 2 years handling the account, doing TV schedule seems very kacang tutup mata pon boleh siap, I'm no kidding! But of course, I have a good guru teaching me to become the TV master. I'm forever thankful to her.

This client of mine is very traditional. They believe in TV advertising more than anything is this world. It's measurable and they can capture immediate results based on it hence why we had so much hard time introducing them into doing digital planning. They are so traditional that they only believe in doing traditional advertising. Meaning to say that TV is their main medium supported by either radio or print media. I remember having to arrange some digital training to this client in order to convince them that digital is also working for their consumers. Finally, after 2 years of hard-work, they finally indulged with digital world. Sadly to say, we lost the account after 6 years. Sad! Sad!

Due to this, I was re-assigned (again!) to another client. I kind of don't like the new arrangement but I have no choice. They are very much different from the old one. They are very open, acceptance in terms of idea, willing to explore and very particular in terms of reporting. They just want to make sure that every penny is worth spending.

They are very much different (the old client and the new one) especially when it comes to media strategy. The old client is very systematic in planning their yearly brand plan. There would be some minor changing in between while the new one is not so systematic, change of plan every time. Hence planning for each campaign is very challenging. But the good thing about the new client is that they are not so traditional. They are very much into digital that I, from having zero knowledge on how to do digital planning to not-so-master-yet-but-still-learning.

On my evaluation form, I stated that I need to get more expose to the digital planning. Ha! hambik kau. Dapat sebijik.

I was having hard time coping with this. My new Manager is not so "mengajar" type. She reminds me so much of someone I know back in my old agency. There was a time where I feel like quitting because:-

1. I can't cope with having to plan a heavy digital planning
2. To cope with my Manager which was the main contribution to my quitting.

Rungut banyak kali pon tak jalan, so I decided to just deal with it. 

In my team, I am the planner while my Manager is...  a Manager. Since we are heavy on digital, there is a Digital Manager that work together with us but her role is just to advise on whether the plan that I propose to client is working or not. I will still need to do the ground work. The Digital Manager will roughly brief me how to do the planning and lepas tangan sahaja. Lepas tangan in a way that she allows me to explore in order to do the planning. Lepastu tercungap-cungaplah saya membuat kerja. But I don't blame her though, because at the end of the day, I got all the ilmu and experience.

So, after nearly 5 months of doing digital, I can proudly say that ilmu hampir penuh di dada and I actually glad that I'm doing it and for my Digital Manager to really lepas tangan because her lepas tangan really teaches me a lot. 

If it wasn't because of my annoying Manager and lepas tangan Digital Manager, I would still be the same old planner who doesn't even know how to differentiate a CPC & CPM buys, what conversion really means?, how re-targeting does and how can I serve well a digital campaign. At least now, I can explain how digital works if someone asks. Seriously, I was so dumb and stupid for being angry of the changes.

Changes is not always bad and it does gives good effect especially to your career growth (in my case). And it depends on how you going to take it. I didn't agree at first. Rasa sungguh down, de-motivated, and feel like quitting all the time. But I take it as a challenge. I need to do new things else I will still be stuck being the old planner. I believe that from time to time, we really need changes for our own good. Life is all about learning isn't it?

So, learn while can!

SHINE

C'mon girls, Lets SHINE and be inspired

News of The Year

Yes, We made it!!

Where Do People Check Their Phones?

Couldn't agree more.

Jumaat yang bermakna

Generally, Friday is a day where you go to work late, sit at your workplace and while waiting for your desktop/laptop to start you go to your colleague's workplace and start chit-chatting till god knows when and for all you know it's already time for lunch break. By the end of the day, you leave your office half an hour earlier than your normal office hour simply because it's Friday.

Unfortunate for me, this never happens. Friday means never-ending in-coming workloads and a day for me the get everything cleared before Friday ends else I'll have a very bad Monday.

But last Friday was different. We were greeted by ........ yummylicious looking men giving us free breakfast.

Yumm Yumm

It was one Media Owner's presentation day and they brought these good-looking-buffy-gorgeous men to serve us breakfast. And after the presentation finishes, there were more hot-looking men filling the room.

*pengsan*

Jason Godfrey and Henry Golding from DIVA's Hot Men Who Can Cook came to our office to promote the latest reality show (which will be aired soon) and I must say that they are really HOT. Honestly, I have no idea who the hell these men are *malu tutup muka dengan selimut* until one of my colleague whispered to another colleague on Henry's profile. Hah! buat malu jer.

These two hot looking men are really friendly.

Extra friendly that they made Nicole's face turned red all the time. But isn't she lucky? They even sat on her lap.

And finally to wrap the presentation, everyone gets the chance to take picture with these two hot men

wuhooooo

Ohh jangan jealous!

Out of boredom

Currently at the office killing my braincells. Found this at some random blogs I stalk to ease the stress.

Spotted:

1. beautiful
2. broken
3. funny

Anuar Zain is on loop kasi muntah amoi-amoi ni semua dengar. His voice is so........soothing!

Ok, now back to killing braincells

Life's for sharing

This is what advertising do. They bring you life.

A brilliant commercial by T-Mobile, UK.

Hundreds of people dancing in the middle of an airport to fit into one commercial. Those hundreds of people represent millions of other people around the world.

The power of advertising.

Blackberry vs Apple

The power of advertising.

Blackberry makes its' first move.

Then comes Apple!

This is what filled the bank account

click to enlarge

The thing that I do for living.

Well said!

This is life

Listen to the sound of this music. There's nothing great about it but it somehow creates peacefulness in me. It's calm, peaceful and happy I shall say especially on the first 55 sec of the commercial. This is the sound that you'll be listening to when you call ASTRO's general line. But of course, without the extra sound from the motion movements.

Tell me what you think. Tell me what you feel.

Me, Us & Them

My company hosted a two days workshop at Avillion Admiral Cove, Port Dickson on 9 & 10 December 2010. All planners, buyers, General Managers and Finance department must make their presence. No one is exceptional and that is why the training was held during the weekdays as weekdays are working days (everyone has to come to work right?!). Kalau buat during weekends mesti akan ada yang bagi a long list of excuses on why they can't make it to the training. Good thinking!

So off we went on a Thursday morning. Everything went as planned. This is in fact the first time I'm actually in a program that is not on a janji melayu basis. We were scheduled to take off at 8am and arrived tentatively at 11am. We departed as planned and arrived about an hour early. Got our room key, freshen up a bit and off we went to our first session.

The objective was to enlighten on what we have been lacking; team work. We go to work everyday. We do our job as what has been instructed. We fight for things that we thought was right. Though we work on a team but we never really work as a team. We take credit on our own. We start blaming others when things go wrong so on and so forth.

But we never really question ourselves; am I a good employee/boss? Have I benefited others? How good my relationship with my colleagues/boss/team-mates?

So yea, it's good that we are reminded from time to time that we're actually working together as a team, not individually. We have to fix ourselves first before fixing others. And most importantly, we have to start communicating in order to work well with each other.

I didn't get the chance to take lots of photos. Here are just a few of what I have.

The CEO was trying his luck flying his version of an aeroplane.

Top: Building tower with straws.
Bottom: Our hand-made cupboard stylist hat.

Top: OM team with our GM.
Bottom: The whole of OMG (OMD + PHD)

Apart from the fun time I had, there was a slight mis-communication between the committee and the bus service company. The had forgotten to remind the bus drivers to pick us up at 3.30pm as scheduled but instead they've agreed to the time arrangement of picking us up at 7.30pm. Gila mengamuk semua orang. But the drivers managed to arrive at 5.30pm and we arrived KL safe and sound about 2 hours later. Knowing the traffic on a Friday night memang ma-fan.

Posto! Posto!

Media Planner

Responsibilities:

Able to plan and execute media as well as work independently with at least 2 years of working experience in the advertising industry.

Requirements:

• Candidate must possess at least a Diploma, Advanced/Higher/Graduate Diploma, Advertising/Media, Mass Communication 0r equivalent.
• Required skill(s): Able to work independently, strategic minded and self motivated.
• Required language(s): Bahasa Malaysia, English
• At least 2 year(s) of working experience in the related field is required for this position.
• Preferably Junior Executives specializing in Advertising/Media Planning or equivalent.
• Fresh grads are encourage to apply.

If you are interested or if you know anyone who meets the criteria, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at ajlaa0907@gmail.com

Thank you.

A brand new day

Bukan! Bukan sebab saya sudah pandai buat kek. Kek ini lain cceritanya.

I started my day at a new place yesterday. I tendered my resignation letter a month ago. Bosses all berlakon-lakon-merajuk-tak-mahu-cakap-bagai and finally three days before my last day, the CEO called and we had some serious talk. I was surprised. Flattered actually. I can't believe that someone like him would probably care for someone like me to leave his company. Decision was made and here I am standing on it. I hope I made the right decision. Amin.

And so, here I am, heading to a new direction, going to a new building, sitting on a new chair, working with a new computer, messing my own cubicle, meeting new people, adapting to a new environment, HAVING A NEW BOSS who I have yet to work with (she's out for a week training), learning new things; slightly different from the previous work scope but still struggling in the same industry. I can't run from the fact that I actually love advertising although the ramblings I made are as high (or even higher) as the Mount Kinabalu.

So on Sunday, I can't sit still thinking how my Monday is going to be. I decided to take LRT instead of driving to Uptown which I have no idea about. Gamble. I thought of having a test ride going there since I clearly don't know where to go, which station to stop and how to go there after reaching the station. But the thought was left as a thought.

Jadi dengan kadar resah dan gelisah itulah hence the cake. I baked butter cake last Sunday to get rid of my nervous breakdown. As kodi as it sounds, the cake gives me an inspiration on which station to stop and how to go about it. Kan saya dah bilang, ia Kodi! I safely reached Uptown, my new office 20 minutes early. Gamble turun train, gamble naik shuttle bus and I survived Petaling Jaya on my own! *Clap hands*

But I have another problem coming. McDonald is just a level below from my office. And if I reach office 20-15 minutes early each day, I would probably have McDonald's Breakfast Value every morning. And if I have them every morning, kasi gaji RM3,000 sebulan pun belom tentu cukup kan?! Sigh.

Good night peeps!