Anonymous career talk from Malaysian job seekers — salary, interviews, company culture, WFH and more.
Short answer: only in very specific circumstances, and even then, think carefully. When it might be acceptable: - The company is significant enough that the CV value is demonstrably high - You need the specific portfoli…
It happens. You were promised meaningful work and ended up scheduling meetings and reformatting PowerPoints. Here's how to present it honestly. Don't list tasks, list what you learned. Even admin work teaches something.…
Paid RM350/hour for 4 sessions with a certified career coach after feeling stuck mid-career. What it gave me: - A structured space to articulate things I'd been circling for months - Frameworks for evaluating my options…
Salary and title are different negotiations and most people only do one. The promotion conversation is a business case, not a request. You're arguing that the company benefits from recognising your contribution at the n…
Left a RM7,000/month salaried role to freelance as a UX consultant. Here are the actual numbers. Income: - Month 1—3: RM2,500—4,000 (terrifying) - Month 4—6: RM5,500—7,000 (stabilising) - Month 7—12: RM8,000—14,000 (bet…
Most people are waiting to be mentored. The initiative has to come from you. Finding a mentor: - LinkedIn outreach to people 5—10 years ahead, with a specific and brief reason why - Alumni networks from your university…
Just wrapped up 6 months in the upstream division. Here's what actually happens. You are given a real project. Not a training exercise, an actual deliverable that someone will use. That was the best part. My project inv…
Collected from conversations with friends across different companies and sectors. The deference rule: Most Malaysian corporate environments expect interns to speak when spoken to in group settings. Proactively sharing o…
I'm the remote person in a mostly in-office team. After months of feeling like I was watching a conversation through a window, I pushed for some changes. What made the biggest difference: - Meeting facilitator explicitl…
After saying "I'm a perfectionist" as a weakness approximately seven times across my career, I finally stopped. Here's why it's a bad answer: interviewers have heard it thousands of times and it reads as either dishones…
Context: I've been here 2 years, consistently exceeding targets, took on a team lead role informally for 6 months, and the market rate for my role has moved up. The 5% is their standard across-the-board increment. I've…
Spent 4 years at two different local banks. Here's what I wish someone told me going in. Politics is a feature, not a bug. Hierarchy is real and skipping it, even once, can define how people see you for years. Always lo…
Final round interview, senior manager across the table. Everything going well. Then: "If I called your current manager right now, what would they say about you?" I froze. My relationship with my current manager was comp…
Most people ask surface-level questions in interviews. Here are the ones that reveal whether you actually want this job. On the role: - "What does success look like for someone in this role after 6 months?" - "What are…
After two years of hybrid, here are the call behaviours that consistently frustrate colleagues (sourced from an anonymous team survey I ran). Most cited pet peeves: 1. Not muting when not speaking (fan noise, keyboard,…
Genuinely curious. My parents talk about the 4pm tea break as a non-negotiable part of office life in the 80s and 90s. Whole floors would take a break together. At my current company (mid-size private firm in PJ), it's…
My apartment is 650 square feet. No study room. I share it with my partner who also works from home. Here's what made the biggest difference after two years of figuring it out. Space: A dedicated physical spot, even if…
When WFH became common, a lot of companies quietly benefited from employees subsidising their own office setup. Desks, chairs, monitors, internet, all employee cost. Companies that do it well: typically MNCs that have f…
Current job: RM7,200/month, 14 days annual leave. New offer: RM7,800/month, 12 days annual leave. On paper the new offer looks better by RM600/month = RM7,200/year. But 2 days of annual leave at RM7,200/month = approxi…
Learned this the hard way after banking on a bonus that never came. Contractual bonus: Written into your contract as a guaranteed amount or formula (e.g., "2 months salary paid in March annually"). Company must pay this…
Share your experience working at Malaysian companies
Salary transparency, negotiation tips, and benefits talk
Interview questions, experiences, and advice
Work from home, hybrid setups, and remote culture
Internship stories, tips, and company reviews
Career growth, industry switches, and general advice
Anything else work-life related
Tool reviews, productivity tips, and tech stack chat
Burnout, boundaries, and looking after yourself at work
Courses, certifications, and learning paths that pay off
Applications, job search strategy, and offer decisions
Freelancing, side income, and going independent