Closing a chapter - Moving on to a new job soon

Hi guys! Hope everyone is doing well. It has been a couple months since I last blogged - even then, this is kind of diverting from blogging about investing and stock market.

Then again, I suppose career is also a form of investing. Sometime back, I've mused about this as well.

A lot of people change job as they progress in their career. For me, the time is now.

A few weeks ago, I submitted my 1 month notice. It will be my last day towards end of first week of June 2019. Reflecting back, it was a bittersweet experience - there were many high moments, as well as hectic moments. It also felt funny as it was the first time I am resigning from a permanent position. Most importantly, I made new friends, some of which are close enough to be family with, and I learnt a crapton of things, and last but not least, meeting my wife there.

Ultimately, a few things drove my intention to move on, key among which are:

(1) Wanting to explore opportunities outside of my current role and outside of the industry
To share, I currently work as a QA Engineer in a manufacturing company (dealing mainly with oil and gas companies) and have been so for the last 3 years. Adding my initial 1.5 years in the same company in an Engineering role, that sums up to 4.5 years.

After some reflections, I felt it is time for me to continue pursue my interest in engineering. At the same time, I wanted to deal with something new (in this case, composites such as carbon fibre) and also part of my interest also and this offers me an opportunity to at least give it a shot. It is a bit of my unknown territory as I have

(2) Wanting to experience a working environment in a larger company
It is expected that in larger companies, one will be more focused on core role and I feel that is essential to develop further as an engineer. Stability and more control of my personal time comes under this consideration also (I have done a lot of OT to help the company meet deadlines). I am also keen to experience for myself how a larger company operates.

It is known working in SMEs will likely involve you putting on a few hats as part of your work - having adaptability is key. Having worked in this current company for 4.5 years, I have developed good understanding of not only my role, but also in a cross-functional manner. This had also benefited me in educating myself as an investor and trying to work with the POV of a business owner.

(3) Wanting to widen my experience beyond my current company as well
It is said that staying in a single company throughout your career can possibly limit your exposure to other ways of doing things, and it would be good to experience firsthand how other companies operate. You will be able to compare the differences and value-add to your new organisation through application of these experiences also.

(4) As usual, renumeration is also one of the reasons.
Being the man of the house now, it is all the more important I push myself to bring my income up, and as of now, I foresee not be able to continue investing at an acceptable pace without doing so. Every additional dollar saved and earned contributes significantly to meet that cause.

The first three reasons above makes it that I will not consider a counteroffer, but perhaps in the future there is still a possibility I may return to the company in the future - hard to say.

In closing:
This is closing of a chapter, only to start a new one. I am excited to start my new role. Having more time and energy (hopefully!) should let me put more time to blog more about stocks and investing, and plan my wedding dinner as well. Haha.

How your career is like investing in the stock market

(Source: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/review-a-culture-of-growth-joel-mokyr-princeton-university-press)

Your career actually shares so much similarities to investing in the stock market.

It is after all, also an investment - one where you trade in your time, existing experience and skillset (capital) for your salary, networking and further growth and development of your experience and skills.

You go to school to develop your education (reading up on investing in the stock market from the basics) and mentality (what is your target for investing into the market). The next step then entails internships and/or interviews. Your internships are akin to your initial foray into the stock market. You get a taste of your first professional experience relevant to your studies (research and/or playing with demo account).

Applying for the right jobs and then preparing for your interview after being shortlisted is similarly akin to studying market returns, screening for the right stocks to shortlist and then doing further due diligence.

When you land that job? Congratulations! That's you putting your time and skillset (capital) into your new role (becoming a shareholder) with that employer (stock).

It also goes without saying that investing your time in the right company throughout your career is crucial, to ensure you are at least adequately renumerated and developed for your time and effort (making positive and decent returns from the market). Kudos to you if you are getting above average or amongst the best renumeration (outperforming the market)! As you get your monthly paycheck, your time and effort becomes your "realised gains". And as the company grows, so do you. You get your increments and promotions (growth).

For some of you, you may end up working overseas (investing in foreign stocks and/or markets).

Given the age of globalisation, staying mobile - new role or employer every few years - has become a norm and even a necessity in some instance. Moving to new employers in your career are also more likely to pay better rates than existing employers even if your career progress is keeping pace (there are exceptions). This is akin to rolling over capital from one stock to another when your research tells you that will generate you higher returns.

When the company does well, and gives you bonuses? That's your "special dividends/bonus shares" right there!

Things are not always rosy, however. Recessions, downturns or cycles do occur as well (Market crash, bear market / corrections), as do your company facing headwind (Underperformance of the stock from rightfully realised decline in fundamentals). Perhaps for some, they are not being rightfully renumerated (market manipulation causing the stock to be priced down). Worst still, you may be retrenched (the stock being suspended). From a personal side? You may face issues which causes a need to additional spending in health or otherwise. You hedge against that by developing alternate incomes (diversification) or insuring yourself  with accident plan, life insurance or hospitalisation plan (erms... shorting? 0.o).

And at the end, when you retire - that's when you draw down on your savings and investments (exactly the same in this perspective). Your professional experience as your capital is drawn down in the form of your accumulated wealth to live out your golden years.

Ok, enough rambling - time to go to bed. Haha. It's the 6th day of Chinese New Year, and I have yet to wish my readers, so happy belated Chinese New Year to you guys! Let's huat together!