it pays to do your research.

before attending any interview, it's routine for me to look up companies and do a little background search on them on their official website.

what is not so routine is checking up companies before applying for them, simply because i usually apply to "big-name" companies.

from that incident onwards, i'm going to do so... here's a recount.

i was browsing through several job websites e.g. jobstreet, jobscentral etc when i came across this company several times. the name is called "dreamworks advertising pte ltd" and is in no way related to dreamworks animation. it was a catchy name though and, after seeing it several times, it kind of prompted me to click on the job ad.

job scope, responsibilities and qualifications seemed ok - nothing out of the ordinary. checked up the address too - mosque street, a short walk away from chinatown mrt, to which i have a straight bus (~20 minutes, half hour max with waiting time). apart from the fact that it was near my house, it was also proximate to many other places of leisure. that meant that i could chill off really, really nearby.

after typing in the name of the company in google, i found a website with that company's name. so far so good - nothing to be alarmed about. i decided to read through the stuff they do and gradually clicked on "contact us." that was when the surprise came.

the address was somewhere in europe! WTF... ok, so maybe this company didn't have a website. pretty rare these days, but i do know of certain companies without one... so i browsed through a few more pages.

the only results that contained this company's name were job postings... ok, not really an issue... then, i stumbled upon a couple of forums talking about this company. apparently, this company shared an office with a few others. well, nothing to be alarmed about - yet. the issue came when some of the posts in these forums gave some information about this company - and the many others sharing the same office - and that was when i felt so damn cheated.

apparently this company was engaged in direct / door-to-door sales. that wasn't a problem, but their hiring tactics were somewhat unethical. examples as follows:

1) everybody goes through round 1, so that means you will get to round 2 anyway. it's supposed to make you feel exclusive when you make it pass the first round (since that means you outshone some candidates) but it's not when everybody goes to round 2.

2) relevant questions, such as company profile, core business, career advancement etc would not be answered. if they are, the answers are likely to be smokescreens and vague.

3) anyone can apply. that includes GCE holders to university graduates. i'm not against those with lower qualifications, but it would just signal to me that the job is for "any mother's son."

4) and several other pieces of information that portray a negative light on this fishy company.

of course, there are certain posts that suggest going down anyway to see if you are really keeping your options open. mentions of a few training programs that enhance your salesmanship skills, interpersonal skills etc and one of the forum's guests actually talked about going down there for a week to attend the training programs, which he / she found to be quite useful. of course, he / she left after a week because the programs had ended.

and another post talked about joining this company to "embark on a track to success, the unconventional way." well, it is possible that an employee of that company posted this (which was my gut feel) or it could very well be someone who's really suited for this kind of job. well, not me, definitely.

i decided to pull out of the interview. i did not even bother to notify them - i don't want to talk to a bunch of cheats.

as expected, they called me twice when it was time for my interview. i did not pick it up. what the two calls did, however, was to wake me up. damn.

random again.

it's not my usual style to write random stuff... but it was another thought-filling bus ride home.

i am seriously questioning myself. is it really what i want?

i think it must be due to the length of time - it simply means that it is better this way.

i recall the stuff i told my friend the other day. it definitely is time to evaluate how willing i am to risk things, and right now, the answer is very clear.

i am not going to risk it... so gotta move on.

most likely, i am the only one who understands what this post is for... if you are smart enough, you could probably guess too...

random.

ever since i started my training regime back in early august, i have been somewhat hesitant to shove large amounts of food down my throat.

ok, maybe "training regime" is a bit overrated... it isn't a regime because it isn't really that tough as one might think it is, but a "training schedule" would paint a more consistent picture.

the schedule started out with weekly runs - the once-per-week, 6-round non-stop type. adds up to 2.4 km nicely.

then it progressed (obviously) to either progressively longer distances (for endurance) or the same distance in progressively lesser timings (for speed). so far, so good.

i started my first run because i felt that i just had to. with the prospect of remedial training if i don't clear my annual ippt, i was motivated to at least fight for a pass.

the first run sucked. sure, i passed - on a girl's timing. i reckoned it to be around 15+ and that is way way too long for the time needed to score a pass on a guy's timing.

fyi, the timing is 12:20 and it is not that hard with a bit of training.

i remembered that my legs gave up on me the entire week after that first run. either i didn't do my warm-up / cool-down properly, or just simply because my leg muscles were totally screwed. the last time i passed my 2.4km was in 2003. yeah, 5 long years.

and add the usual - slacking, feasting - you know the result.

it wasn't mandatory to pass my ippt whilst i was studying full-time, and that meant chucking the training out of the window.

now, i have no choice but to get down to it. luckily, after a few runs, my legs got used to it and i don't get tired that fast. so, it meant i could run a little faster, a little longer.

now that i have a schedule which i more or less stuck to (i run on alternate days since beginning of october) i am pretty guilt-stricken when i go back to late night suppers and heavy meals. right now, i only have brunch and as far as possible, an early dinner with limited carbo intake. an early dinner gives two benefits - it takes away the hunger pang from having only eaten one meal so far, and lets me sleep a little easier without the burping.

if i have to take dinner beyond a certain time (usually 8+) i eat even lesser, simply because my stomach seems to contract and can allow no further food.

so you ask, have i lost weight? yup, a little - and a healthy loss at that. i can feel the schedule working not only just for my runs, but also for my chin-ups. so far, i can do 5 - one short. you have no idea how encouraging that is - being able to do 5 after so many years.

ippt due in less than 2 weeks. i hope i can make it through - the remedial training hours are far too long for a citizen who has too much to do on his hands.

talk about balancing career and personal life. balls. you know where the personal life goes if you are a Singaporean male and you don't clear your ippt.

yup - remedial training.