Another Month

I just got to know that I am not going to start my job until 1st of August.

Normally, I am always occupied with things. My mind was always worried about something. Like for instance, studying before graduation for my degree, applying for jobs in the US from January to March, studying for my CFA level one from April to June, applying for jobs for the first 2 weeks in June and got the job offer after that. I always had things to worry about, but it no longer the same. The emptiness filled in my heart. No friends of mine who are not working during the day, no car to go out anywhere I want. I am always at home, stay bored with limited internet connectivity is not great at all.

I am waiting for my car to arrive, hopefully by the end of this month if I am lucky (buying a car in Malaysia, like those of high demand cars, always have to wait for a long time!). The process of waiting for my car is torturing, I am still trying to get used to it. I am copping pretty well. I am also waiting for the Unifi fiber optics internet to be available in my area. I cant go on youtube with my limited capacity of my iPhone 3G connection plus it breaks every once in awhile. It would be also great if I don't have to wait for my CFA results so that I can register for the next level (if I passed) and start studying right away! I would not know the result until August.

I also cant wait to make new friends at my work place. Having new colleagues to experience a whole new set of life as a worker can be great. I just want to expand my knowledge and fun to a new level.

Just have to wait.

Seriously, there aren't many times in my life in my 20's where I feel absolutely empty due to lack of things to achieve at the moment. I have purchased a book which will help me in my future career, titled "An Introduction to Fund Management" from Amazon. It is going to take some time to reach my place as I need my friend to help ship it from the US. By the time it reaches Malaysia, I guess I am ready to start my job in August 1st.

I don't even feel like playing computer games, now.

What can I do at the moment? Reading story books of a successful people to see where else can I further improve myself would be the best choice. I have a few books given by some friends but I have yet to touch them yet.

I am going on a trip to Morib this coming weekend with my gang of friends. I am watching Transformers this coming Thursday night. Seriously, I need to think of more activities to keep myself busy. Activities that are fruitful to my life.

I Have My Career On the GO!

I have just received a job offer from RBC Dexia - Malaysia 2 days ago as a Fund Accountant. I am super happy for that. It is a global investment company (primarily in Canada, Europe and Australia) which provides a wide variety of financial products for institutional clients. The office in the Kuala Lumpur (located in Cyber Jaya) serves as a back-end support unit for the investments in UK and Australia. For more info, check http://www.rbcdexia.com.

What it does:

It is more finance than accounting so its position title may be misleading. My main core function is to determine net asset value through daily market data like Bloomberg, FOREX, Reuters etc.

How I got it:

I started apply for it through jobstreet (or Monster in the US) after about a week of my CFA exam in June 5. Without jobstreet, no one is able to find out about this company. I was then chosen by a pool of more than 600 applicants, narrowed to 50 and picked 15 from it. Yes they are hiring a lot of fund accountants and fund reporting analysts because this back-end office is growing rapidly in Malaysia. It was my first official interview for the position that I wanted (I have always wanted to work in an investment company as a "financial-related position"). I went through 2-staged interview. The day after my final interview, the company has decided offer me the position which I was extremely excited about.

Where I am going to work:

Cyber Jaya, which is very convenient for me to travel around as it is only 20 minutes away from my house! How great is that! Best thing is that I dont need to go through any toll and there is ABSOLUTELY NO TRAFFIC AT ALL! I have been thinking about traffic jams ever since I wanted to look for a job in Malaysia because no one can ever skip the traffic if they choose to drive and work in central of Kuala Lumpur (which most big companies are located in this area). The fear of traffic jam derived from the period when I was interning with Ernst & Young back in 2009. I had to go through a very jammed high way (LDP) both through and flow. Very often, I feel very tired right after work but I will have to face the traffic. There was a time when I felt a sleep in the jam and nearly knock the car in front. What a tragic. I have a history of accident free when driving (except for a time when I was driving my friend's car where I was very careless), so I must not break it! Now, really thankful that I dont need to face it anymore.

I am excited for this position and I cant wait to get into the work-force. I know that the reality may make my job and life ugly but I am more than optimistic to face them. I will turn things around and make things look good. I am determined that it is something that I would like to do and I will climb corporate ladder in this company!

Room - Before & After

After:

Before:

All of the items above, except for mattress and the bed frame, were bought in IKEA. The wardrobe was built-in and given by my uncle. Total approximate expenditures on the furniture is RM 2380 or USD 794. Not too much isn't it? (I am not being sarcastic).

The most expensive item among them is my mattress which cost about RM 1000 or USD 333. Mattress is normally very expensive especially for the good ones. Well, I think I got a pretty good price on it. I could have bought a nicer and more expensive bed frame than my current one which cost about RM 250 (USD 84) but I did not because I dont think it is crucial to spend so much on decoration. As for the table, I wanted a L-shaped. So I bought one which is consider very cheap (RM 500, USD 167). As for the chair, it is important for your spine so I get the good one (RM 300, USD 100). I bought a cheapest bookshelves you can get in IKEA. Again, because it is just for decoration, I dont mind getting a cheap one. RM 370, USD 123.33.

To sum up, I only spend more on those which I think is important to my daily life activity items like mattress and chair. Not so much on those decorations. =)