Sunday, February 27, 2011

A letter to my brother


Dearest brother,

Congratulations to completing your degree (finally).

Good luck for your job interviews. Here are a couple of notes:

1. Be humble and willing to learn. Remember people don't owe you a job. They give you an opportunity to learn and make a living.

2. Be polite. Interviewers like good manners.

3. Read up about the organization. Briefly read the background from the org website About Us or from wiki. Interviewers like to see fresh grads being interested in the job.

4. Give politically correct answers. Interviewers don't want to know you don't know what you want. They care only whether you have the right attitude, the ability to do the job and whether you will fit into the culture of the organization.

Anyway, be excited about getting a decent job and start earning money at fresh graduate pay. While you build your career and learn survival skills at your work place, your salary will allow you to save for future needs and remember to apportion your spending for self-development expenses such as traveling.

Remember to save because having a job and regular salary may give you a false sense of security and you may think you can spend freely which may cause you to end up in trouble. Just remember the basic rule: Spend less than you earn.

You are now fully responsible for yourself. Use common sense and think. Be accountable for your actions.

One of life challenges is to understand yourself and what you want. Underlying this journey of self-discovery is to understand the relationship of man and money. The second concept to be aware is the relationship of man and material things. You are not what you own although many marketeers will make you think otherwise. Be aware of the messages people are constantly trying to influence you.

As you find your place in this world, you will be confused and may feel lost in midst of living. Take that opportunity to try new things. New skills or experiences which will allow self-expression and engage your five senses and intellectual. Also remember to exercise regularly and eat mindfully. This will help you keep your balance.

Thus I shall leave you with some quotes for your pondering as you begin your lifelong adventure:

"The universal regard for money is the one hopeful fact in our civilization. Money is the most important thing in the world. It represents health, strength, honour, generosity and beauty as conspicuously as the want of it represents illness, weakness, disgrace, meanness and ugliness. Not the least of its virtues is that it destroys base people as certainly as it fortifies and dignifies noble people." - George Bernard Shaw

"Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind." - Henry David Thoreu

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

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