A big fish in a small pond / A small fish in a big pond

Ke Qin, Ang
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

She’s always hungry for wild adventures, broad horizons, big and bigger ponds.

She remember how she wanted to join her current company so badly. It’s like every vein was shouting for it. It’s preparation way before the gates were even open. Internships after internships to land smoothly right where she should be. It was a great honour. Her hunger & passion enabled her to escalate her learning that a usual fresh graduate might not. Got her to write briefs, lead teams/pitches, tell stories for clients & creatives, be a mentor, everything she hoped for.

Like a fish cruising for sometime, yearning for new fresh tasty water to continue this journey.

“ Where’s next?” she wonders.

It’s been so long since she was this hungry. She’s been so comfortable cruising she forgot what it’s like to fight for new food. She definitely doesn’t want to be like the mouse who spent a lifetime wondering who moved her cheese, she knows she has to keep going forward.

And there, as sadistic as she might sound, she gets adrenaline from taking up challenges while reaching for the skies. “Never settle” she tells herself. A tough journey would in future set as a constant reminder for her to cherish and optimise the realised dream, she tells herself.

Yet the going is tough, tougher than she had expected.

Yes, one needs patience. And God constantly tests her. Giving her tiny carrots, making her hungrier and hungrier. And then removing it completely from her sight. Like a vanished dream. Leaving her empty and helpless.

Beaten down by disappointment, it was hard to swallow. To a point it’s almost like a joke just saying her dream to anyone.

For a dream that was once so clear and vivid in her mind.

What would become of her? What is she made of? What can she still do to prove to others what she can?

She was so certain, so certain that she would excel but she’s now knocked down by the toughest gate – “The Interview”.

Fighting for that one chance.

Yet words are cheap. Three weeks of waiting & mental agony for “The Interview”, where the verdict happens within the first 10 mins, and the last 20 mins was almost there just to appease the candidate.

Companies talk about the importance of values and personality. Yet they expect to see that from a piece of document (aka portfolio), from a few mins of “you better impress or lose the chance” chat. It’s like a show. Three years of hard work boiled down to 10 pages of portfolio and 30 minutes of chat.

It’s packaging. It’s always packaging.

Or a better term ‘story-telling’. Telling your own brand as a story. Know your audience and tailor your story towards them.

She wished that her interviewers could see beyond that and see how she could have performed in the real world. Just one day or a week is probably all she needs. Before they pass the verdict.

Through work that she creates from her hands, not words from her mouth.

What can she do now?

Ke Qin, Ang

Written by

+65 // 27. Digital Strategist. Loves design, architecture, flora and nature. Her motto: “Live fully, bravely & mindfully”

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