Hi everyone,
I’m Caesar, and today I love to share my experiences from my first year on the job and what I’ve learned throughout the months. To be honest, I lost control for a while during the first six months due to distractions and uncertainty about what to do. Luckily, my colleagues guided me through those tough times and encouraged me.
Working in an international environment has been challenging, but it has also helped me expand my knowledge, gain valuable experience, and connect with people from various countries.
Although my actual experience is just about half a year 🙂 I still want to share it from the perspective of a junior, a beginner, and someone in their 20s. Hopefully, this gives you another point of view on starting a career.
1. Family comes first
My performance managers kept repeating, ‘Family comes first!’ This was my first lesson in Finnish culture, and it really surprised me because I had never heard that before.
As I mentioned earlier, being exposed to different work cultures broadens our mindset and perspective. This lesson was followed by many other smaller, yet valuable, lessons which help me a lot. I just feel incredibly lucky.
On top of that, I realised that ‘Family comes first’ can be summed up in one word: ‘Love,’ which is the most important part of life. We’ve heard this word since childhood, but often forget its significance as we grow older. A Vietnamese teacher of mine, a CEO, once taught me: ‘Only love can heal suffering and pain.’ This is also reflected in the book Many Lives – Many Years. If younger people ask me for 1 advice only, this would be my answer: ‘Family comes first‘.
2. "Take the ownership, take deep..." A great manager once said.
Are you curious about how to become an expert in any field, anywhere? The answer is to work hard, deeply immerse yourself in your area of expertise, and take ownership of your work.
I can speak from experience on this, actually, I has been doing in this way. Thanks to my teacher – my performance manager, he taught me these principles just a few days ago, so I’ve only recently learned their true meaning.
Take responsibility for our work; never shift the blame or pass it onto others. To become a specialist, please take a deep…
3. "It not about technology, it's about people"
I was struck by ‘Eureka’ moments when I heard this statement twice.
Many startups boast about the latest technologies, and people often get caught up in the hype of AI and deepfakes, which can create misinformation and confusion about important issues. The truth is, ‘It’s not about technology; it’s about people.‘
Moreover, before I joined KPMG and while I was still job hunting, I used to think that phrases like ‘We are looking for a suitable candidate’ were just empty rhetoric, bull sh*t. I used to think, ‘Hey, I can do this and that, I master this programming language, and I’m an expert in that technology. Why don’t they accept me?’ Looking back, I realize how naive I was (stupid, childish Caesar). I’ve learned that being a suitable person is more important than merely being talented, ‘It’s not about technology; it’s about people.‘
4. Skills does matter
- Level 1: Knowledge
- Level 2: Skills
- Level 3: Experience
- Level 4: Network
Although I recognized the importance of skills years ago, I haven’t truly understood it until now. And I have to admit they are much harder to obtain compared to knowledge.
After one year, I’ve added some skills to my repertoire and am still working on improving them daily:
- Happiness
- Investigation skills (as a Software Engineer)
- Critical thinking
- Presentation skills
5. Have found a roadmap for achieving long-term goals
Since I was a trainee, my supervisor encouraged us to think big and even bigger. We set ambitious goals for both our work and personal lives.
However, I missed one crucial question: How? It’s like knowing the address but not the way to get there.
Having our own pathway makes life easier and clearer than just a destination only.
In conclusion, I’ve tried to write this as concisely and meaningfully as possible. I apologize for any limitations in my English writing and hope you find value and a new perspective in my experiences. I am truly grateful to all my colleagues, performance managers, and KPMG for the tremendous learning opportunities they’ve provided. Thank you for reading my blog.
Stay positive,