Accomplishments

While reading a couple of essays from Harvard Business School Applications Essays, I am inspired to write on my accomplishments as well.

I started to travel for my work 20 years ago. My first trip out of the country was Kuala Lumpur by car. Before going to KL, I have never left Singapore. Not for school trip or family vacation. My family owns and run a provision shop. Although we are not poor, we are not well off. The shop is open 361 days a year. So we have only 4 days rest during Chinese New Year. There is no opportunity to travel as CNY is reserved for visiting relatives.

I was proud of my extensive travel experience in the first few years. My bunk mates during reservist training love to listen to my stories about different countries. My colleagues were envious of the fact I travel for "free". I was a desirable bachelor. After a few years of work and travel, I decided to experience life in a different country rather than be a visitor. Canada has open door policy for skilled workers. I applied and got a landed immigrant status. Landed immigrant status allows you to work in the country.

So I pack my bags to seek a different lifestyle. I was in for a shock... a culture shock. Brought up in the Singapore system to be an employee, I look for jobs. It is difficult to get interviews. The few interviews I managed to secure, I am told bluntly I have "no Canadian experience". So with no Canadian experience I cannot get a job. With no job, I cannot have Canadian experience. I am in a "deadly embrace" in Operating System terminology or my system has "hangs". I start my new life in Canada in Feb. In a deep freeze, I starts to wonder what am I doing in a foreign land that I cannot get a job. I went through a dark period of my life, literally and figuratively. (Sunrises at 9am in the morning and sets at 4:30pm).

Through the grace of God, I have a lucky break. A contract co-ordinator has a heart attack due to work stress, I have to fill in for him temporarily. Well, I did well in the work and was converted to permanent. Once I am in, I applied to marketing positions that are open in the company. After 4 attempts, I managed to become an Associate Product Manager. The product line I was responsible has a problem. The factory manufacturing my products were in financial difficulties. I have to move the product sourcing from one factory in Brantford, Ontario to many different factories in US. This was a huge undertaking. The whole company spend lot of energy to shift products from Brantford to other sources in US. Beside, my products call trays, there were tubes and cotton products. After one year working at a crazy pace, I managed to save 85% of portfolio. The other two product managers were not as lucky as they were below 50% of prior year.

During the Annual Sales Meeting, there was a recognition awards for everyone involved in the "Brantford Project". When my name was called, everyone clapped hard and stood up. I was embarrassed and exhilarated at the same time. I keep asking everyone to stop. It probably lasted two or three minutes, it seems like forever when I was up on the stage. To have a standing ovation from top management, sales leadership and sales reps was an accomplishment that will stay with me forever....