Next week will be my last week at work after my short stint of 7 months. Did not work out, hence time to move on. They gave me 3 months of gardening leave though…
It really forces me to think about what I want to do next. I had been exploring about branching off to a non-bank role last year and this job came along. Money was not bad and I thought that I could give it my best shot. Back to the drawing board then.
I have been reading about the government’s push to help PMETs via the skillsfuture initiative. They finally acknowledged that there is a group of people with a lot of work experience but have been displaced from their old jobs due to various factors like technology and age. Hopefully, this initiative can help tap our experience for a win-win situation.
I discovered that they are many existing courses which I can engage and participate in, to learn new things and reinvent myself. Talk is cheap and I need action. I completed a number of online courses last year – on various topics like social media and new programming languages. Now there are part-time subsidized courses which I can sign up for. These are from a few weeks to months. They also do give out certifications at the end of the courses.
I have been speaking to a few of my close buddies on these courses for a while. Finally, I have decided to sign up for 2 for a start. The first one, the science and business of wine, will start next month. It will be a good intro to the F&B sector and to network with like-minded people. The next one is for 6 months and starts in Oct – Business Analytics. I have always had an interest in big data and maybe I could translate this into a new passion for a career change which I can also leverage on my past marketing work experience.
Will also be re-exploring possible business opportunities, looking to go to some Indochina countries to check them out. My previous job opened me to this part of the world where I had to go to Cambodia and Myanmar regularly for work.
I have also managed to save up a bit from my current job and this could last me for at least 6 to 9 months before I need to tap into my savings. Given that this is the 3rd time I am taking a break from work, it does not seem to be too scary now. I am excited to explore what is out there for me. In the worst case, I can still go back to the Private Banking sector as I had renewed my professional bank certification. Sounds like a workable plan for now. Time to execute it.
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