Lessons Learnt from Internal Job Application
I am grateful that I was offered a new position within my current department, so that I can do work that better suit my skills and strengths. But this process of internal job application was not easy. There were major ups and downs within the short period of 2 months.
1. Seek help from your manager
If you think you work very well with your manager, make sure you communicate with your manager. But you need to know your organisation well to start with. In my home town (Hong Kong), if I want to move jobs and if I were to say that to my manager, I would probably be fired. But in my current workplace in Australia, my manager wanted to see me flourish and succeed in other roles, so she helped me from pre-application all the way to post-application.
2. Seek help from your colleagues
Similar to the above situation, you need to know your colleagues well. Know your friends, also know your enemies. When I thought being genuine is the best way to manage my relationships with my colleagues, it hit me hard. You never know how others would interpret you. You can be as friendly as you can, but you cannot change others’ perceptions. Don’t reveal all your cards to your colleagues. Better be quiet than be loud.
3. Keep quiet
This is probably my biggest lesson learnt this time. Within this process of internal job application, I mentioned to some of my dear colleagues who supported me throughout the entire journey within this department. So I thought there would be no harm in sharing some information to them. However, I should know better that “walls have ears.” It’s often not your intention to share anything sensitive to colleagues you don’t know, but people could have overheard your conversation and make stories up. This is where it hurt me the most. Some sensitive information were feedback to Human Resources and I was in trouble. Even though I was offered the job in the end, the process was painful.
4. Have faith
As tough as the journey can be, have faith! How do we have faith in ourselves usually? It begins with knowing yourself. Knowing your strength and skills, and how this could be applied in your work environment. If you are not confident in yourself, how would others be convinced that you can do your job?
Good luck with your job applications!
