Looking for a job?

I took up the offer with the insurance company, and I've just handed in my 1-month resignation notice last week. I've asked my current boss, and he said that since I'm leaving, they'll need to recruit someone else to replace me. So to my fellow ex-housemans out there, here's your chance.

If you:
-are still struggling to find a job after quitting housemanship
-love doing sales (most important)
-love to meet new people (doctors, specialists, and clinic managers)
-love challenges
-are greedy
-are able to work as a team, as well as independently
-have a car and are willing to travel
-have the confidence to promote your product and convince doctors to buy them
-are good at doing demos and presentation
-have persuasive powers
-have experience working with a clinical software to manage patients in your hospital
-are good with basic computer skills (Word, Excel and PowerPoint at the very least)
-having a laptop would be an advantage

Then you might be the right person to replace me.
A few things though,
-your salary is lower than a houseman's salary (not including commissions).
-this product is hard to sell. Your competitors are like Toyota; cheap and easy to sell. You are like BMW; premium but expensive, and hard to sell.
-you're expected to go to 30 clinics per week, and close 6-8 deals per month.
-what you're selling is basically a software to manage GPs and Medical Centres, and the software covers both patient management, as well as the administrative tasks such as billing, invoicing, appointments, etc.

If you think you're up for the job, then bookmark this page first.
Don't start e-mailing me yet though. I'll need to confirm with my new sales director if it's okay for me to give you guys his e-mail so that you can send in your resumes to him.
If he gives the green light, then I'll update this post sometime next week.

**Update: The sales director has given me the permission to give you guys his e-mail so that you can send in your resumes to him. Those interested, kindly e-mail me at danny.sp87@gmail.com, and I will pass his e-mail to you. If any of you have gotten the job, then please update me through e-mail or through the comments form below. Good luck guys!

***I heard they already hired a new product specialist to replace me. So I guess the position is closed.

FAQ

Recently, I've gotten quite a number of phone calls, SMS, and replies in this blog (chewah, dah macam artis popular la pulak..) asking me questions such as "How to quit?", "What if I'm bonded by JPA?", "To whom should I send my resignation letter?", and other similar questions.

I've actually written a blog post on how to quit here: How to Quit?
And questions regarding the JPA bond have already been answered by some of the kind visitors of this blog (many thanks to those who contributed).

But since people keep asking, I'll write a short FAQ here to answer some of the common questions from my dear fellow housemans. I don't know much to be honest, but I'll try to share as much as I can. Please take my words with a pinch of salt, as some of the things I mentioned are just what I heard from my colleagues.

Question 1: How do I quit?

I'll just take a few extracts from my previous blog post. Here are some of the ways that you can use to quit your job:

1. Submit a 24-hour resignation notice (Notis peletakan jawatan) - the most bad-ass way to quit your job. But then you'll have to pay them one month's worth of your salary, which is around RM4000. And if you do quit, the next time you want to apply to become a houseman again for whatever reason I simply cannot imagine, they will hire you based on a contract basis. Meaning they can send you to wherever they want you to go (anywhere within Malaysia that is, duh), and they can terminate you any time if they're not satisfied with your performance. Don't ask me where to get the resignation form. If your hospital is using a computerized system, then the form might be somewhere in the shared network folders. If not, try asking the admin person who is in charge of the housemans. The form needs to be counter-signed by the Pengarah or Timbalan Pengarah. All you have to do is fill up the form and submit it to the admin. Don't worry about KKM, because the admin will handle that.
2. Submit a 1-month resignation notice - with this option, you don't have to pay them a month's worth of salary, but then you have to work with them for another 1 month. If you can bear the daily scoldings and humiliations for another month, then this is the suitable choice. The contract basis applies just like option No.1 as well.
3. Missing in action (Tidak hadir bertugas) - this is my current plan. According to the admin people of my hospital, if you don't show up for work, then they're just gonna stop paying you your salary. When you feel like working again, you can just show up for work, and then they'll start paying you again. You don't have to be rehired on a contract basis. But of course it won't look nice on your work record. And if you do show up for work again, they will have to take some "disciplinary actions" a.k.a tindakan tatatertib. I'm not sure what they exactly meant by "disciplinary actions", but unless your hospital has a medieval-style torture chamber in the basement, it's unlikely to be anything that you should be worried about.

Question 2: What if I'm bonded by JPA?

Okay, first things first, I am not bonded by JPA because I took PTPTN loan. In case of PTPTN, it's really easy, because you're not bonded or tied to any contract. All you have to do is make sure that you pay the monthly installments. And they're not that strict anyway, I've missed a few payments and no one sent me a letter or anything.
But what about JPA? Well, if you took up the JPA scholarship, then it's going to be one of the major factor that's stopping you from quitting your housemanship. Why? Because you're bonded to the government for 10 years if you're a JPA holder. I couldn't be bothered to call up JPA since I never took their scholarship, so I'll just share with you guys some of the things I've heard from colleagues/bloggers/forummers/rumors about the JPA bond:

1. The fine that you have to pay is not RM250,000 like you might have heard a few years ago. One of my friend quit her housemanship and the fine is only RM160,000. Still a large sum, but much less than RM250,000. A Toyota Camry rather than a BMW 3-Series. But my friend studied locally, so I'm not sure if those who studied abroad have to pay the same amount, since the cost of our local degree is much cheaper than the ones from UK, etc.
2. I've heard stories that you can pay in installments. I don't think it's true, because so far no one can confirm this, not even my friend who quit her housemanship.
3. A blogger recently told me in her comment that the 10 year bond doesn't mean that you have to become a doctor for 10 years. It just means that you have to work with the government for 10 years, regardless of your profession. Good news if you don't mind the low salary. Try looking up the SPA website and see what sort of jobs are available for degree holders.

Question 3: What kind of jobs are there for people who quit housemanship like me?

Refer to this blogpost:

http://chroniclesofaloner.com/2012/01/22/life-after-medicine/

There. I've answered some of the common questions to the best of my knowledge. If there is anything that I didn't mention in the post above, then it means that I don't know the answer. As much as I'd like to help my fellow HOs, sometimes I'm just as clueless as you are on certain matters.

New Dilemma

Recently, I got an e-mail from an insurance company, wanting to arrange an interview for the position of a medical underwriter. In the e-mail, they mentioned that the salary would be lower than a houseman's salary, so I think it should be around RM2500-3000. They still haven't called me for the interview, but in the e-mail, it sounds like they're very much interested to hire me. Haha, I'm not boasting or being overconfident here, but that's just what I honestly felt.

Anyway, assuming they are going to call me for the interview, and assuming I'm gonna get the job, I will be faced with two choices. Option A - Stay with my current company. Option B - Take up the new job offer and leave my current company.

As much as I'd like to do an administrative job, the insurance company is offering me a lower salary than my current salary. With my current company, I'm getting RM3500 per month, and that's not including the commissions. But with the insurance company, I'm probably gonna get something between RM2500-3000, and there are no commissions.

And I would feel kinda guilty to leave my current company, after they have trained me and started paying my salary even though I haven't even started selling anything yet. My colleagues are awesome, and my boss is just really really nice. Came in an hour late without any valid reason? He doesn't mind. Want to go back early? He'd say "Yeah, sure. No problem." without even asking why. Went for lunch at 12 noon and came back to office at 2.30pm? No one bothers. Colleague asks you whether picture A or picture B looks nicer for the brochure, pick any without even explaining why, and they'll say "Cool! Thanks for the help bro!"

Either everyone in this company is being ridiculously nice, or perhaps I'm just not used to not being scold every single day since I quit my housemanship.

But honestly, if the insurance company calls me up for an interview, and if I get the job, I'm gonna go with Option B.

**Update: The insurance company just called me up for an interview next week. Woohoo!!

***Another update: Insurance company is offering me RM2700 for the underwriting job. Hmm.. Do you guys think I should take up the offer?

Some info on underwriting: http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/296213/all

New daily routine.

So now that I've gotten a new job, I'll give you guys a rough description of my daily routine:

7.30am: Wake up, get ready for work. Things to bring: pendrive, iPad, a pen, and some blank papers.

8.15am: Get into the car, drive to work. Journey takes roughly 45mins, not due to the distance, but mainly because of the morning traffic.

9.00am: Reach office complex, look for parking space.

9.15am: I'm the first person to arrive at the office despite being 15mins late. Okay, I'm actually the second person to arrive. The first is the cleaner lady. She makes good Caffe Latte by the way.

9.15-10am: Boss still not around, check out facebook and surf the net on my iPad.

10am-12pm: Playing around with the medical software, since I'm still in my induction/training period.

12pm-1pm: Lunch hour. But you can go back to the office at 1.30pm and no one's going to mind.

1pm-6pm: Continue playing around with the medical software. Do a bit of preparation for product presentation next week. Occasionally surf the net on iPad. Regular visit to the loo out of boredom. Keep a serious face and pretend to be busy at my desk.

6pm: Time to go back.

6.30-8pm: Take girlfriend out for dinner.

8-12pm: Watch movies on computer, surf net, play video games, continue being unproductive.

12pm-7.30am:  Sleep like a baby.

Basically that's pretty much what I do everyday, since I haven't started selling anything yet. It's not fun, but it's not as busy as my previous routine as a houseman. Oh, and I don't work on weekends.

New job.

Today is my 3rd day of working with the new company.
The job's not really stressful so far. Mainly because the person in-charge of coordinating new staffs is on leave. He'll be here tomorrow though, so things will get up to speed soon.
During these 3 days I did nothing much. Just looking at brochures of the company, familiarize myself with the software, browsing through the company profile, helping out with presentations and stuff.
It's a 9 to 6 job, with 5 working days per week. So working hours is considerably less compared to that of a houseman.
Everyone in the company is very supportive, they appreciate your ideas and inputs.
And the coffee's good too!
The thing is, I don't know if I have what it takes to do the sales. Partly because I have no experience, and partly because I was never interested in sales anyway. I just needed a job so that I can have the money to survive. Seems like my act during the interview was pretty convincing that they actually decided to hire me. Either that, or they're really short on staffs.
Anyway, I've applied to a few more insurance companies for the position of Medical Underwriter as well as Claims Investigator. A few companies have replied saying that they have received my application, but none has called me up for an interview so far.
Feeling kinda guilty to leave the current company if I got another job offer though. Hopefully they would understand.
I'll keep you guys updated on my progress. Till then!

Good Day for the Blues

Good morning guys! Just a few updates on my progress so far.
So it's already been 16 days since I quit my housemanship.
Only got one confirmed job so far, as a product specialist (which is a nicer name for a salesman) and I need to start working on the 18th of June.
No replies yet from any pharmaceutical companies, despite having sent my applications to every pharmaceutical group I cant think of (Merck, Roche, Novartis, GSK, Pfizer, etc).
But I wasn't really hoping to a land a job as a drug rep anyway.
What would be nice is to get a job as a medical underwriter or claims assessor/investigator with a health/life insurance company, as suggested by cardiprin. I've applied to ING, AXA, Prudential, MISC Zurich, Etiqa, and a few more.
Oh, and my Flexi claim allowance has finally been credited to my bank account. That should help me to survive for a while.
I've got a nice song for the kind of situation I'm in right now. You guys listen to blues?

Ruth Brown - Good Day for the Blues

I got up early this morning

so I can walk the floor

I've got to hit the streets

cause there's a wolf outside my door

the bill collector's calling

and my kids need better shoes

gonna go to church on Sunday

cause I got nothing left to lose

and it's a good day

it's a real good day for the blues

It's raining cats and dogs outside

and I'm looking for a job

the man I worked for laid me off

Lord did I work for him real hard

but I won't let my kids go hungry

no matter what I have to do

and it's a good day

it's a real good day for the blues

Things are getting better

the check is in the mail

I just threw my last dime
in the wishing well

and it's a good day

a real good day for the blues

I got up early this morning

so I can walk the floor

I've got to hit the streets

cause there's a wolf outside my door

gonna go to church on Sunday

Lord I got nothing to lose

and it's a good day

it's a real good day for the blues

Day 14

Day 14 of quitting. Went to Klinik Kesihatan Bangi for a dental check-up, since I finally have the time to do so. Anyway, things are looking up a bit. Got a call from the company this morning, informing me that I've managed to secure the job. They will e-mail me the letter of employment later. Not a dream job, but not as stressful as doing housemanship. The pay's not bad as well, RM3000 basic + RM500 allowances, and 5% commission from sales (roughly RM500 commission for every successful sale). Sounds pretty good doesn't it?
But I'm waiting for other job offers as well, preferably ones not involving sales. I've applied to a few insurance companies last night, stating my interest to become a medical underwriter or claims investigators. Hoping to hear some good news before I start working with the company on the 18th of June. Keeping my fingers crossed.