Hi, and hope your week is off to a great start :)

Apologies that this email comes 24 hours later than usual; it has been a very busy weekend on our end.

Last week and this week, we were involved with the K-Youth Development Programme through Excelerate Asia, where we've been co-teaching the Career Success Toolkit courses to the learners. This includes topics like resume writing, communication, interviews, and persistence.

The learners are a mixed group. Some of them are graduates seeking opportunities to upskill and help them land their first jobs. Others are experienced people seeking for opportunities to reskill themselves to make a career change.

Looking at these career switchers, we feel nothing but amazed at their tenacity and initiative to take their careers in a new direction.

We had the pleasure of delivering a resume & LinkedIn workshop in collaboration with Oil & Gas Meta last Sunday.

Trying out something new can be daunting.

When you're older in life (think mid-30s), deciding to make a career switch can be hard. After all, you probably have spent a decade in a career that you initially thought was the one for you. You started out in your first job (and probably even your second or third job), and suddenly, a few years down the road, you had a feeling.

I don't think this is working out for me, I need something different.

Now, when that happens, there are a few routes that people tend to take.

Option A: Push that feeling aside by telling yourself that you're delusional for even thinking that. "Suck it up; you chose this route, so just stick with it," you said to yourself as you begrudgingly go through your job.

Option B: You decide to explore that thought further. You start talking to a few people, you weigh your options, and you try to see whether a switch can be done or not. "No harm in seeing what's out there; who knows if there's something else for me," you thought as you read up on some free training courses.

Option C: You drop everything in the blink of an eye and decide to just start fresh on the spot. "Go home or go big, right? YOLO," you thought as you jumped straight into the unknown with no actual plans.

Photo credit

Remember to focus on what is right for you at this moment in time.

Now, there is no wrong or right answer, of course. Everyone goes through life differently, and everyone has different commitments and priorities. Some people are more risk-averse, while others may be more open to taking on more risks.

Whatever your personal decision would be, our one piece of advice would be this:

Do whatever you feel would be the best fit for you at this moment in time.

Being in your career comfort zone would not provide you with a lot of room for growth and development. But we also recognize that not everyone will have the privilege or opportunity to make a completely radical change, nor will everyone want to make a radical career change.

Career growth does not necessarily mean taking a leap of faith into an unknown territory. It can also mean small little changes that can still provide you with opportunities to develop new skills. This can be anything from taking on a voluntary role within your current workplace to run internal staff events to being more proactive and taking on bigger responsibilities at work.

Whatever you choose to do in the situation, just be sure to at least push yourself out of your career comfort zone, even if it is just by 1%.

[New post] How to write in your transferable skills in your resume.

A lot of people face a challenge when they want to change jobs or industries. Here are five examples of transferable skills that most people will have, regardless of jobs or industries, and how to highlight them on your resume.

Read more

[Future events] Save the date(s)!

We are in the midst of planning for a few more events later this year. We will send out more details in the coming weeks, but you can save the date on your calendar for our upcoming events.

Saturday, 28th October 2023, 5pm to 6:30pm (Malaysia time)

Online panel session on "Working abroad as a young professional."

Join us as we hear from our panelists about their experiences in applying for jobs overseas and how they navigate life in other countries.

This event will be conducted via Google Meet to accommodate our panelists who are currently in the UK, Australia, and Japan. Seats will be limited, so keep an eye out for when we open the registration.

Saturday, 11th November 2023 (Time to be confirmed)

Panel session on the topic of "Working with regional teams."

For those of you in roles that involve working with colleagues in other regional countries (Asia Pacific, European, or even worldwide), this is for you. Learn how to navigate the cultural differences and what you can do to improve the working relationships.

We are still contemplating whether to run this as an online or an in-person session, so let us know your preference! (if it's in-person, it will most likely be in Kuala Lumpur).

Don't forget to let us know what you think!

As we said last week, we are always open to ideas, feedback, and suggestions regarding the events that we plan to run. After all, we want to make sure that you are reaping the benefits of being a part of our Kejar Kerjaya community.

Our main priority is ensuring that our work and content can bring value to your personal and professional development. Therefore, if you have any feedback or ideas, we would love to hear them. Drop them on this Padlet anonymously if you're shy, or click that Reply button and let us know your thoughts!

Before we bid you farewell, here is one question for you as you go about the rest of your week.

What is one fear that is holding you back from achieving greater successes in your professional life? And what can you do to overcome that fear?

Until next week - stay safe, take care, & stay awesome!

Best,

Kejar Kerjaya