TECH. My CV wouldn’t have landed on my manager’s desk at this tech company if it weren’t for me getting referred in by Alfred. Alfred forwarded my CV to the hiring team at this tech company and he sent me a “jobvite” or a referral.

PINK. I never knew about Alfred until we met each other at an LGBTQ networking event a few years back. We were seated next to each other during a Pink Dot orientation session for organisations that are sponsoring the annual gathering. I was at this event by myself (I didn’t know anyone). Alfred was there too, by himself. Both of us were representing our companies at the time. We became friends at that event and had remained in contact since.

INTRANET PAGE. No one in my previous company (a large broadcasting MNC) had utilised the intranet system to create a “employee resource page” for LGBTQs in our Singapore office. I guess people were too busy. I had extra time on my hands to create a page called ‘Out@COMPANY NAME’ and somehow it got picked up by LGBTQ counterparts in the States. Suddenly, I was starting the Singapore chapter of our LGBTQ employee resource group. Since I started the page, I was de facto the founder for the Singapore chapter. We were now doing film screenings, inviting LGBTQ speakers to the office, and our proudest achievement? We got to sign up and be a sponsor at Pink Dot.

LINKEDIN EXERCISE. I wouldn’t have had an opportunity to work for the large broadcast MNC if it weren’t for my strategy to “add five people on LinkedIn” every day. It was in 2013, while rendering videos on Final Cut Pro from a tiny edit suite on Caldecott Hill, where I practised this “add 5 people” on LinkedIn exercise. For each confirmed contact, I would add 5 more. It became this little game. My sleepy LinkedIn network expanded quickly. Then, one afternoon, I got a call from an Irish-sounding HR person on the other side. “Would you like to try out for a producer role for large broadcast MNC?” – it seems expanding my network on LinkedIn had put me on that HR person’s radar.

FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD. I was so anxious in the months leading to my big move to Singapore in 2012. I remember I couldn’t sleep. I was worried what would go wrong or what would happen if I’d fail. I remember how anxious I was. I was leaving behind a wonderful broadcast job in Manila to fly to Singapore… and literally live out of my luggage. But I still took that Cebu Pacific flight on March 1, 2012. Arriving in Singapore’s budget terminal (since demolished and replaced with Terminal 4). Life was simple: chicken rice, Old Chang Kee meat skewers, and Tori-Q. I loved Tori-Q… affordable yakitori. And while I squeezed every peso into living that experience, waiting night after night for a phone call or email reply to a job application… I landed one. It was for a producer job at a reputable local company which was headquartered at Caldecott Hill at the time. I went in for a job interview, did my copy tests, and I got the call that I was “in”. I remember how happy I was. I remember how I had visualised wearing that company’s lanyard. And fuck it, I was wearing that lanyard a few weeks later.

Everything happens for a reason.

I have to trust that my path is MINE to walk. And that my journey is unique. It may not be as flashy as the other people in the room. But it is my own. ❤

*Alfred is not the person’s real name.