What if you are confused in your job choices and not treated kindly in the workplace? Vanessa, Google's Taiwan HR Chief Officer Lv Yaqiao, shares her career experience around the age of 30 with you, teaching you to break through self-limitations.
Vanessa, senior executive of Google Taiwan, in the first decade of his career in the news and finance industry to explore, break through the self-limitation, the second decade into the field of human resources, has worked in Standard Chartered Bank, Microsoft, LINE, is currently the senior manager of Google Taiwan.
After a wealth of diverse experiences, she hopes that in the next ten years, she can support corporate workers to find a sense of achievement in the workplace, maintain lifelong growth momentum, and exert positive influence.
Before the age of thirty, I tried a variety of things, and finally believed in my intuition that human resources are suitable for my profession
In this day and age, it's no longer the time to choose a job after graduating from college and then retire. Career choices and personal career development are more diverse every year, but the more changes there are, the more confusion it will bring. We asked Vanessa, how did you decide the direction of your life?
In her thinking, Vanessa seems to fall into the memories of when she first entered the society, before the age of thirty, she actually had no specific goals, career choices are often arbitrary, so her work from the media industry to the financial industry, from news editing to foreign banking, project management. She likes to take on different tasks, and she gains a sense of accomplishment in every challenge.
"In the process of changing industries and positions, it is like using cross-border experiments to release signals one after another, induction exploration on the radar, and see if there are any new discoveries ahead that surprise me!" Fortunately, my hard work has been able to achieve a sense of accomplishment after the task is completed."
Vanessa summed up her twenty generations in this way, but she also stressed that there was always a vague feeling that these short-term fulfillments did not bring long-term "meaning".
Photo |by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash
There was a line in the popular movie "Etude Etudes" at that time: "Some things are not done now, I will not do in my life" affected Vanessa, so in the face of the level of life and the dream of studying abroad, she decided to press the pause button of her career and go to the United States to study MBA.
During the study abroad period, in addition to studying, it is more about self-exploration. During that time, she embarked on a journey to find a sense of belonging and meaning—who am I, what profession do I want to do, what career can I do, where is my home, who do I want to work for, who cares about me, what kind of person do I want to be?
These inquiries into life chased her again and again, and she also found a clue in a professional suitability test under the constant exploration: HR Business Partner, which surprised and amused Vanessa, "This choice can not only continue my practical experience and understanding of business operation models, but also use corporate strategies to strengthen talent strategies, which seems reasonable but challenging." 」
In front of the thirty-year-old level, Vanessa decided to trust her instincts and give it a try!
Image courtesy | Vanessa
Encounter multiple problems in the field of human resources
Vanessa said that the biggest struggle to change careers after the age of thirty is actually how she accompanies herself through the process of becoming an insider.
"Thirty is not twenty, I told myself to become an expert faster, the quality of becoming an expert can not be discounted or even have the level of MBA. Looking back at the most important concrete action to overcome the challenge at that time, it was to exercise discipline in self-awareness."
Vanessa's self-awareness is to set aside a fixed length of time for each cycle to confirm whether the current work is consistent with the long-term meaning of the pursuit of oneself, what the short-term goals are, what the current progress of execution is, how emotions feel, and whether workload adjustments or emotional adjustments are needed.
Vanessa tips Self-awareness each cycle
- Confirm that the current work is consistent with the long-term meaning of your pursuit
- What are the short-term goals
- What is the current progress of implementation
- How emotions feel
- Whether workload adjustments or mood adjustments are required
The new cross-border/cross-industry experiment, although the start is bumpy, the process of switching from the layman to the insider is extremely challenging, but unlike in the past, all the short-term sense of achievement after the change of career can be accumulated into the sense of meaning brought by the work, "which also allows me to step into HR and never leave, and even with the accumulation of experience, more innovation can burst out." 」
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When working in the United States, I experienced the lack of pluralistic inclusion
Now that you have decided on the direction of your life, you must pack your bags and go on the road. As an intern in an American company, she shared that every project grouping is a psychic shock and a dilemma that does not fit in.
"I didn't feel like I belonged to this office, and even sitting in my seat, I was worried about what my colleagues around me would think and interact with me." 」 Fortunately, these embarrassments were gradually resolved under the friendly and patient guidance of a senior.
Seniors spend time interacting with everyone in the group, understanding background, building relationships, and regularly following progress after assigning work and explaining what structural problems the work can ultimately solve.
This made Vanessa feel much more at ease, and began to use practical actions to dispel self-doubt and uneasiness, reduce her vigilance and discomfort with unfamiliar environments. She gradually took the initiative to communicate with other colleagues, not only to greet them every day, but also to show confidence and courage to put forward her own views during project discussions.
After personal experience, I understand the importance of "diversified and inclusive DEI" and the benefits it brings to the company and individuals.
Image courtesy | Vanessa
Vanessa recommends that each of us pay more attention to the few partners in the workplace environment, and be more proactive in thinking about them and mentioning them in the big and small aspects of the work.
"With just one small action, we can all add warmth to the workplace and enhance our sense of belonging." Just like the predecessor I met at the beginning, I built the first safe environment for me at that time." She said with a smile.
Vanessa understands that the formation of corporate culture takes time and motivation, and she has also brought these years of learning and experience to Google.
Google is committed to creating a corporate environment that "allows every work partner to be themselves and have a sense of belonging", beyond the traditional categories of men and women, race, skin color, etc., to create a safe workplace, encourage people to actively express their needs, be themselves freely, and confidently pursue a sense of accomplishment.
Google also continues to ask work partners in the annual employee survey whether they agree that the company is a "place where all types of employees can make the most of their strengths and succeed", so that the company can openly and transparently track data trends and continuously improve - so that "belonging" is not just a slogan, but implemented into the daily life of employees.
(Extended reading: Woman fan x Google Gender Hackathon Awards Ceremony: Responsibility and lifelong learning, become a person who is not afraid of getting lost)
Sadistic workplace healing remedy, heartache and tiredness recharge 3 methods
In the "Workplace Abuse Survey" conducted by women fans in May this year, 1,894 answers, of which 73.5% felt that workplace sadism was mainly due to low achievement in work content, work-life imbalance, and lack of communication channels and culture in the company. We also ask Vanessa what is her view of Taiwan's workplace culture?
She described this question with concern: "In the past, our education and social atmosphere encouraged the pursuit of stability, emphasis on practice and execution, which is indeed an important ability, but at the same time let us have more hesitation to challenge the status quo, stronger insecurity," If the lack of flexible company policies, it is easy for employees to face a lack of achievement, or dare not solve the problem of work and produce a state of idling.
Photo |by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
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If we really fall into the above work environment, we will also wonder what we can do if we are really abusive in the workplace.
Vanessa generously shares 3 healing steps to give women fans a good recharge when they are tired:
1. Suspension
If a person is in a state today to the point of heartache and exhaustion, Vanessa says "pause" is the first thing she will do. The pause is not to escape, avoid, or procrastinate, but to let the strong emotions precipitate, and then return to the problem after precipitation.
2. Reflect
After the mood is stable, we can reflect on it with simple questions and wonder whether this mental tiredness or mental exhaustion is caused by a temporary event, is it temporary, or is it caused by a long-term structure? If the workplace atmosphere can significantly affect work, is there a need to act as soon as possible?
3. Step out of the frame
Think of yourself as an aerial camera overlooking the ground in the air, pulling yourself away, from reading books, watching movies, participating in discussions and other ways, objectively referring to other practices, magnifying perception and vision.
"After such a period of accumulation, go back and get along with that heart-wrenching problem, and you may have very different ideas and practices!" 」 Vanessa laughs and answers that it is the confidence that has been built up from years of experience, because she has practiced it herself and knows that these methods really work.
From the confusion of entering the workplace for the first time to the new career choices after the age of 30, Vanessa has interpreted more diversified learning and workplace coexistence for us, turning diversity and communion into life practice, making it a lifelong helper.