If You don't Plan, You Plan to Fail

It's bugging me so much and I was already regretting it enourmously that I did not plan an event carefully.

Well, planning is one of the most important key to successfully completed a project. Any projects. Financial project, travelling, a simple meeting, and surely, an experiment.

I did an experiment or more while I was a student. It is a requirement to finish an experiment planning before doing the actual experiment, before buying anything or just to gather the apparatus. Even when we (my partner and I) did a research and a planning, there were unexpected changes that did not go well with the plan. That's what happened in experiment or research.

All you have to do is research more on paper and previous experiments to prevent an unpredictable results and prepare more options if one failed.

Although I have experienced these stressful things, for instance, delay on my schedule because of unsuitable analysis method, improper sampling, delay on reports due to lecturer's absence, etc., I did not learn.

And the worst thing is, I messed up in an industrial scale.

It just happened that I didn't really understand about this particular project but the condition did not let me to learn more about it. I just went with the flow and agreed on an experiment plan. And while we were running it, I noticed some disconnected strings and encountered unpredictable factors. The data were insufficient, inconsistent, and there was too many factors that I neglected.

Well, there was also this factor where we could not observe the site and took enough measurement so eventually we could not made proper plan. And there was also the other party mistakes, such as disordered communication, busy environment, and not very caring with the project.

But it hits so much that we could not change what we planned half way. I just fixed it a little bit with my little knowledge and not so good judgement. Not so good, because I could not derive useful enough conclusions from the data.

It's just that, they spent so much money on the experiment. And I really don't like the idea that we could actually ease the spending. Let's say, maybe for more than 40%.

Well, I just have to work it out. Indeed, eventually.

And if I have to give advises to myself in the near future, it's have to be:

1. Plan it. Research everything you can. From the experiment, possible results, even to the other party.
2. Extract information from the other party, the site, the data, and so on.
3. Prepare yourself for unexpected factors.
4. Have a good to-do-list.
5. It's not a waste to make detailed or thorough plan.

Oh, and of course. To my dearest NP personality,

1. Don't procrastinate!!
2. Why?
3. Because you're gonna forget some important information or idea.
4. And it's a big hassle to always remember and arrange everything back in order whenever you open your PC.

Well, to my dear friends out there,

1. Find a good job properly (where you have a fix schedule, LOL)
2. I mean, I chose this job.
3. But it seems that I have not enough self control to always do everything in time.
4. I mean, I am always a deadliner you know. 
5. And surprisingly, it worked well.
6. 😐😑😒
7. In the past. Back when I am still a student and only have responsibility of myself.
8. If you have good self control, do this kind of job. 
9. If you have the same problem with me, then train your brain so that it won't lagging so much when you actually need it. In short, you just have to be brilliant.

And in the end, everything depends on your detailed plan board, the execution of the plan (you should follow your plan of course 😏), and lucks.

Then, see you next time.


Drop me a comment about anything, but I will be glad if you share your POV too.

Between Wages and Experience

I am currently working with my professor as a project assistant.

I chose this job because I want to learn from him and learn how to do a simple and small project. And yes, I did learn many things. In fact, I experienced various stuffs. For instance, travelling, site visiting, meeting with manager and team leaders, chatting with workers, administrations, and more. I also experience fun things such as culinary, real travelling, hotels, and I also have good accommodations.

And if you are asking about the wage, it's not much. I could not afford my current lifestyle without the help of my father. But then, my wage is actually higher than the other project assistants (from another professor). It might be because there are only 2-3 assistants work with my prof. However, the experiences and the lessons are more valuable than the wage.

And I applied to my prof without questioning about the wage. I was fine with any amount. Liar. I was fine if it was at least 2 mil/month. And I actually got more than that. I was so happy when I received my first wage (because it was worth one and a half  month). Then, I also should mentioned that I got per diem for travelling and it was paid daily.


I just really love this occupation. Not to mention the privileges that I got, I learnt many things and feel needed.




Then, 

I joined the Womeng Unilever Leadership Program on last November. It is an amazing and inspiring program about woman engineer. You, my fellow woman engineer (limited to students tho), should join this program. Let me talk about this program in another post.

But here is a pic of mine.

Well, it doesn't look good enough, let me show you another one.

Anyway, I got an opportunities to apply to Unilever Leadership Internships Programme (ULIP).

In fact, I got contacted on earlier this December to work in the planning division. The program will start on next early January and will last for 6 months. I really want this. I want to experience new things and explore what kind of work really suits me. When I did the interview, I asked them about the jobdesk and it intrigues me so much.

If you are asking about the wage, it's not much higher than what I got from my current occupation. And if I do proper calculation, I will earn more money if I stay in Bandung. I've got more sidejobs such as teaching here in Bandung. And the sacrifice I have to make if I were to move from Bandung to BSD is considerable either.

This will be a good article if I ended it with saying "But I still choose ULIP because I want to get out of my comfort zone and learn more things in an extensive company such Unilever".

However, life is not as easy and predictable as we want.

I failed to calculated the working hours that I need to fulfilled to applied to Swedish Institute Scholarship (SISS). I failed to consider the trust that I should have build if I want to ask a reference or recommendation letter from my current prof. I actually failed to tell him that I applied to another job.

So, I have lingering feelings and feel too pressured to move out soon. So, I just emailed the HR team that I could not join the program from early January but February. Well, I am ready to withdraw my application because the mistake was on me.

What do you think?

My Life After Graduation

It's been awhile since the last time I post something here.

Looking back to the statistic, there will be longer span of time before my next post.

I am officially a chemical engineer bachelor on July 2017.

Perhaps, some people would think that an ITB graduate like myself would easily get into a company, a reputable one for sure. However, it's not true for every case. Sometimes, one is not lucky enough when he applied to a job. In other time, it might be an incompatible job/company. In other place, he might encounter a "worse-option-masked-with-promising-lines" and end up with worse result. In any means, it's not a simple process, getting an employment.

In my case, I applied to several "massive" companies who offer management trainee or "skipping-unnecessary-steps programs. It is indeed more competitive, and in some case the recruitment process is quite complicated. I was interested in consultant world too, so I applied to PwC. The results? Either I fail right before interview or after interview.

The first case happened more often.

I told myself that I am not the person the employer look for. It means I am not compatible with the job or with the company. I should move forward and find a more suitable one.

This cycle repeated many times.

I would lying to myself if I said I didn't give up. Because I did, the least, at that time.

I got into a project team from my previous laboratory. And I am glad that the Professor accepted me, because he was actually want to hire a male. Why? Because he needs his assistant to visit the sites, and truthfully I think I am strong enough and I like travelling. The projects are more or less about environmental or water and waste water treatment issues. I liked these topics since before, perhaps since high school. And I grew to like it more and more as I learned more and more about them.

The idea to pursuing master degree came back to my mind. I attended the same guest lecture from Sweden that I attended in previous year and embraced myself to study in that University or the least in Sweden.

So here I am.

A proud project assistant of one of the most wonderful and busiest professor. You can google him, the head of the "Pusat Studi Lingkungan Hidup ITB". A proud chemistry tutor. A proud learner.