Yet Another Chapter In My Book Of Life

Work has started and oh my goodness its just been so exciting so far.

The office is fantastic, I've got a huge table to call my own(although its by the pantry - not a good location) and I've got so many new friends!

The office has got a great view at the 30th storey. The open concept is amazing, there're no cubicles, everyone from top down is working in the same hall. Don't you just love the European style of working?

The training schedule looks very exciting. Alot of things are new to me, alot of things to learn and I've gotta maintain a very steep learning curve throughout this whole month. But the things that I'll learn I already know are gonna put me in good stead towards where I aim to move on in future.

Already, I've got to get more accreditations from MAS via the CMFAS exams even though I've cleared alot in my days in StanChart and UOB. I've gotta clear:

Module 1B Rules and Regulations for Dealing in Securities (Non-SGX-ST Members)
Module 2 Rules and Regulations for Trading in Futures Contracts
Module 6 Securities Products and Analysis
Module 7 Futures Products and Analysis

Well I've got 1B already so thats 3 papers I'll still have to take. The good thing is that learning doesn't stop even after our training program. It will be an ongoing thing in different phases tailored towards our own preference(career-wise) and by the end of 18months, we'll actually have attained a diploma credited by the bank! Wow, thats like getting paid to study lor! So thats really a very good thing.

Staff welfare is still in bits and pieces here and there, but from the looks of things its gonna be quite good. Already the European style of working is more relaxed than what I've previously been exposed to, working hours are obviously less(maybe things may change) and morale in the office is fantastic. Seems like everyone is really excited and happy everywhere I go(maybe its the novelty of starting out anew). And I'm sure I've mentioned this before, Fridays are happy hour days! Where the office goes wild and party!!!! In fact the pantry fridge is stocked to the brim with BEER on a daily basis! Spectacular!

Colleagues are a great bunch. I think because we're all new to things around here, we've bonded very quickly(thanks to the teambuilding session no less) and in just 2 days we're pretty comfortable with one another liaoz. Which is a good thing considering the unfamiliar environment we're all in. Thankfully there're not alot of smokers here too. Hehe.

There's just so much more to gush and praise but I guess I'll only be able to make a better judgement of the situation only when things settle down. But one thing that we all agreed on, is that this job surely opens a huge window of opportunities even if we were to leave this place after a year or so. But based on the career paths and options that're available to us here, I could be in here for the long haul.

The main priority now is to do my job well, and not get sacked. Haha.