dilemmas...

i need a bridge over troubled waters... haha.. sorry that song happens to be playing right now.. kinda timely considering the topic of this post.. i dunno how lah.. i dunno wat industry i should apply for jobs for and which country... conflicting stories and advice from various parties.. but at the end of the day, it's really my decision and in a way, i don't dare to call the shots.. i think i'm worried that my choice may not be the best choice.. and sigh...

i've been saying i want to get a job here and gain experience as well as PR here.. however, to find a job here without the PR is quite difficult apparently.. and along with that, comes the problem of not being sure what industry i should enter into.. i thought i settled on consulting but then recently, i've been thinking of an old favourite.. hospitality.. i know hospitality industry back home, there's a stigma about it... but here, it's different.. better welfare and all..

but apparently.. there's a labour shortage in australia.. and if i was hardworking enough, i can work my way thru and up within 5-7 yrs.. but at the end of the day, do i really wanna do hospitality? or should i search for something else? sigh... i like hospitality and i'll have loads of fun in it.. but should i go down that path?

Business Icon..

last weekend saw me taking part in a competition called business icon (http://wa.australianbusinessidol.com). it's modelled after Donald Trump's the apprentice.. lorraine saw the posters around uni and wanted to join, so she got me to join together with her.. i applied for fun, scored an interview and made it in... i went in apprehensive but i came out loving it.. haha.. the entire thing lasted 5 days, where i was waking up at an (almost) unprecedented 6am in the morning and arriving home almost 12midnight.. i had 2 meals a day (breakfast n supper) if i was lucky.. by the 3rd day, i was having gastric probs.. hahaa..

it started with wed evening, a pre-launch talk where we were randomly placed into our first teams, and told our first tasks.. it was to organise a charity fundraising event within 48 hours, to be held on Friday at 5.30pm. venue and catering were sponsored by Duxton Hotel but everything else, we had to organise it ourselves.. it was a challenge, and it started me on sleepless nights.. haha. i literally spent the first night worryin about the event rather than about winning it.. lolz... it was a hectic mess, a lot of rushing around, following up and worrying, etc.. the 4 teams raised a total of $27,000 for Cystic Fibrosis WA and Advantage Foundation. WAY COOL! i made it into the next round.. those of us who made it into the 2nd tasks were randomly placed into 4 teams of 6 each.. this time our task, we only had less than 24 hours to come up with an innovative product for the lucrative pet industry.. we had sat to work on it and present it to a panel of venture capitalists at 5pm.. i made it into the next round again.. hee.. for the 3rd task, we were randomly placed into 4 teams of 3 each and to design a PR and marketing campaign for the karijini eco-retreat.. once again, we do this on sunday and present at 5pm.. this time we weren't told the results till next morning at a networking breakfast at hilton.. the final 4 didn't include me, sadly.. the final task was to be presented at the formal dinner that very night, contestant plays the role of the CEO of a shipping company who's ship had just crashed and caused an oil spill at a very ecologically sensitive coastline, and has to face the media with press statement.. that would have been way so fun!!!!

some photos of me at the final dinner.. we each get a cert certifying our participation in the competition.. and the group photo is my initial team 3 for the first task! odd thing is no matter how we changed teammates thru the competition, i always got stuck with being in team number 3.. lolz..




oh well.. but it was an experience.. and it was absolutely exhilarating.. so fun!!! hahaa.. i love the whole challenge thing plus meeting new people and stuff... hee...

oh i later found out that one of the judges, whom won this very competition in 2005, currently runs his own company.. and *drumroll* he's only 21!!!! he hasn't completed his double degree at UWA too.. wah piang... i'm quite far behind him lah.. and i'm older... sianz.... damn jokes.. ok, i got to work harder!!! hahaaha...