Anonymous career talk from Malaysian job seekers — salary, interviews, company culture, WFH and more.
Posting anonymously because some colleagues still follow me on LinkedIn. It started as one bad week. Then one bad month. Then somehow I'd spent 6 months dreading every morning, crying in the bathroom during lunch, and p…
I was terrified to do this. Here's how it went. Context: I'd been visibly less productive for 3 weeks. My manager had noticed and started asking more frequent check-ins which were adding pressure, not reducing it. I as…
The fear of your current employer finding out you're looking is real. Here's how to manage it. On LinkedIn: - Turn off "Notify my network" before making profile updates - Use the "OpenToWork" setting with the "Recruiter…
The etiquette around follow-ups is unclear. Here's what I've found works. After submitting an application (no response): One follow-up email, 5—7 business days after applying, is appropriate if you applied through an em…
I'm introverted and find most "networking" advice exhausting and performative. Here's what's worked for me to be visible without being extroverted. Content over conversation: Writing publicly about things I know well cr…
The short answer: harder than it was in 2019—2021, still possible in certain niches, not the get-rich-quick opportunity it's marketed as. Why it's harder now: - Shopee and Lazada algorithm changes have reduced organic r…
Grew up speaking primarily Bahasa Malaysia and Hokkien. My written English was functional but not confident. Here's what moved the needle. What didn't help: Generic English grammar books. They address language mechanics…
I've successfully gotten employer funding for 4 courses over 3 years. Here's the pattern. The framing that works: Connect the course to a business outcome your manager cares about. "I want to do this course" is a reques…
Did this last year when my freelance income became consistent enough to formalise. Here's the actual process. Sole proprietor (enterprise) registration via SSM: 1. Go to ezBiz.ssm.com.my (can do it fully online) 2. Choo…
Malaysia has some of the most public holidays of any country in the region. Using them strategically is an art. Core strategy: Identify public holidays that fall on Tuesday or Thursday, one day of annual leave creates a…
Starting this thread because every newcomer to the KLCC area asks this and the answers are always scattered. Adding what I know, please contribute. My picks: - Nasi campur at the basement of Suria KLCC food court, best…
I'm not a developer but I've automated 4 hours of my weekly work with Python. Here's what I built and how I learned. What I automated: 1. A report that pulled data from 3 Excel files, combined them, and generated a form…
Office gossip is real, it contains useful information, and completely avoiding it makes you a less informed participant in your own workplace. But being known as a gossip creates reputation risks that aren't worth it. M…
Been watching teams adopt and abandon tools for 4 years. Here's my pattern recognition. Notion: Teams adopt it enthusiastically, build elaborate systems, then slowly abandon individual sections until it becomes a docume…
Audited my subscriptions last year and made some cuts. Here's what I replaced and with what. Replaced Notion (RM40/month) → Obsidian (free) + Logseq (free) For personal knowledge management, open source is genuinely bet…
We're a team of 6 engineers at a Malaysian fintech. Here's what our CI/CD setup looks like after two years of iteration. What we use: - GitHub Actions for CI (free tier covers most of our needs) - Docker for containeris…
Applied to both, accepted Capital Markets. Here's my experience and what I heard from a friend in Retail. Capital Markets (my experience): - Exposure to deals, pitchbooks, financial modelling - Fast-paced and sometimes…
Got promoted to Head of Product at 31. Spent the first 4 months convinced someone was about to discover I had no idea what I was doing. What made it worse: Comparing my internal experience (doubt, uncertainty) to other…
She gave no feedback, took credit for my work in team meetings, and responded to questions with visible impatience. What I did: Documented everything. Every task I was given, every piece of work I submitted. Not out of…
Not everyone gets converted. Here's what I did differently from the interns who didn't. Treated it like a 3-month audition. Every day I was asking: what would a full-time hire do here? I proactively asked for more work…