Career Exploration Part 1

Recently, I've been invited to attend a "Career Orientation Program".  No, I am not thinking of saying good-bye to my beloved Condis.  I am just exploring the possibility of greener pastures in addition to my spring field.  

Anyway, the person who invited me to go is an acquaintance whom I met thru Condis and whom I shall call here as Ms. Robbie.  I've known Ms. Robbie for more than a year and she is a "financial adviser" for Manulife.  Let me tell you a bit about her. 

If you're thinking of an aged woman who looks like she had a fashion accident, then you're wrong.  She looks classy and sophisticated with complete set of pearly whites that beams a radiant smile everytime we meet.  She is persistent though like any other sales agent but not in a pesky kind of way.  She will not call you day after day, irritating you to death, telling you to get a policy before it's too late (i.e. should you perish anytime soon).  No, she is not like that.  You know she's out there somewhere, just a text message away should you finally realize on. your. own.

Anyway. last month, we met again, in my office's conference room where she gave a proposal for our Company's group life insurance.  While we are quite happy and contented with our existing insurance provider, you can't not explore new options come renewal time.  So we met, talked business, then as we were wrapping up, she mentioned some personal insurance products that caught both my colleague's and my attention and interest.  I've always wanted to buy one for myself since I was in college, but the fear of losing my source of income has always hindered my desire to pursue. 

My colleague mentioned that she just finished an insurance policy so she's kind of interested for a new one.  She also encouraged me to get one and maybe, I could get into the selling thing too.  I thought, hey, that's not a bad idea since I can barely keep my mouth shut most of time, and I think I am an amiable and easy-to-talk-to person.  I actually had potential clients swirling in my head as she was talking ;)

So we come to the part where I went to the orientation I mentioned above.  Every Saturday, Manulife would give talks and last March 3, I finally attended after being delayed by a week by a bogus buyer, which story I will mention in my later blogs.

The "Career Orientation Program" was held at the 16th floor of the Chatham Building in Valero Street, Makati City.  It's actually only a few blocks from my office but I didn't know that then, so I got lost, end up walking blocks away before I realized that I could call Ms. Robbie or Ms. Judy (Ms. Robbie's manager) to inquire where the building is...my goodness.

 When I finally got there (panting and totally sweaty, extra thanks to the 8 am sun and heat), I was shown into a room full of people (imagine that), with lots of cold artificial air, and a snack spot where Fita and Bingo, and water and make your own coffee are the available refreshments. 

Some of my Seminar Mates :)

 But, I had to register first where I was given a brochure and a name tag where I asked "Siu" to be written on it(I thought Rose is too common to stand out).



My Brochures and Name Tag

Minutes after settling down at the back of the room, Ms. Judy arrived (in a red flowery dress and a red shawl because of her Hawaii-themed rotary meeting at 10 am that day) whom I met for the first time but had talked to on the phone days before about my intention to become a sub-agent of Manulife.  Though she is not as young as Ms. Robbie, she is as sophisticated.

After the initial "Hi, it's nice to meet you", she walked me through the contents of the brochure and told me which forms to fill-up.  She was also looking forward for me to sign-up for the 5-days intense product training then and there but I said we'll just see after the orientation.

And so, the program began. 

First, an introduction of what it takes to be a Manulife financial adviser, which was delivered by a curly-haired woman whose name I forgot, in a light-hearted, non-boring and humorous way that had the listeners hanging on to every word.  I lasted for half an hour.

Next was about Manulife.  How long it has been on the market, its capitalization, its policy acquisitions and mergers, and things to make you want to trust Manulife that it's going to stay in business for a long, long time.  The speaker also talked about career and financial paths that an interested applicant can pursue, as well as the incentives (i.e. flying to and staying at "sosyal" hotels in different spots in Asia, America and Europe to attend seminars) should they excel during their pursuit to success as a financial adviser.

And lastly, a testimonal from a living and successful insurace agent who, by the way, is the sister of Agot Isidro.  Her name is Olive Isidro-Cruz, who makes a living as a voice coach to various known singers/artists, acting as an "extra" in ABS-CBN soap operas such as Walang Hanggan, sometimes, baking to sell, and taking care of her four kids if I heard right.

Let it be known that this last speaker helped me made up my mind, not because she is the sister of an actress, or the fact that she went places thru Manulife, or also the huge amount of money she's earning aside from her usual gigs (okay, so maybe that last part is a huge factor).  I was totally motivated to join because she is a success even when she's already extremely busy.  It made me think that if she can do it, I can do it too.  And even if I'm not as successful, at least I could bring up my spending power notches up.

 
 And so, the program ended with free lunch of plain rice, chosuey and chicken pastel.  I have to say, even when the food is simple, I find it delicious, really!  I would still say that even when I'm not hungry or even when I had breakfast, which I didn't have that day.

My Lunch...and traces of my breakfast, Bingo

Usually, after lunch, the person who invited you, in this case, Ms. Judy, and I should talk about the just concluded seminar, and also she should convince me more about the next step, which is the 5-days training.  But since she's not available, we'd just meet later at my most convenient time.

I have to say, after the seminar, I felt so positive, so motivated and excited.  It felt so much optimism that I will succeed that I texted Ms. Robbie just to thank her for introducing me to the opportunity.  I can't wait to start the training and I can't wait to make my first sale.

So, good luck to my new venture and stay tuned to my 5-day quest.

Have a good one, guys!