I officially left my first company!

I'm treating this post as a little walk down the memory lane of each passing year I experienced while working in KPMG. Read on for a bittersweet journey.

March 2021 was when my internship started. I had great seniors. For someone who isn't always confident in coding, I found love and confidence through this experience. I was converted as a permanent staff in September after completing my 6-months internship.

I finished my 3-months probation on December. It was an easy transition as I was doing similar thing from internship. Saddest thing was the senior who recommended me, left. Few other seniors also left following the completion of the project. Mainly due to burn out.

In January 2022, my team transferred to a new department! My boss changed. It's nice to have such supportive boss. Since the department is new, they did massive hiring. So when my earlier seniors left, I started working with new people.

I call this the "honeymoon year" of our department. Everyone was still trying to adjust working together and venturing into new project deals, so it was kinda exciting for all of us.

2023 is the first anniversary of my department. Things turned sour rather quickly. The upper management made some tough decisions and by mid-year, most managers left - including our HOD. The direction of the department went a little haywire. 

I was going through some phase in my personal life during this time too. I was surviving on quiet quitting. When my boss also left, I started to job hunt.

The job hunt didn't do so well and I had my worst technical interview ever. I paused job hunting in November.

After my performance review, I felt a huge pressure to quit. I delivered my projects the best that I could so when I didn't get promoted, it disappointed me - a lot. At the same time, my confidence was hurt so bad that I still couldn't bring myself to continue with my job hunt. 

In February 2024, a light at the end of the tunnel appeared. I got a call from the last job application I  submitted 2 months ago.

Within a month, I received an offer. I tendered my resignation effective 1st April and served my notice for a month. I did handover and had the best Raya celebration knowing I finally resigned!

Few days before my last day, I had some really nice farewell lunch treated by my team. I also received some farewell gifts. Thanks to them, I felt super loved. In return, I gave them a small gift and wrote a letter to show my appreciation of working together. 

Coincidentally, a day before my last day, we had department Raya celebration which I considered as my last lunch with everyone. I gave my personal last goodbyes to some colleagues who were on leave on my last day. Then I dropped a farewell message in the department's WhatsApp group for one last time.

One thing I learnt is when you properly announce your departure from the team, it leaves a better impression on you than when you're suddenly gone. I lowkey feel betrayed every time I hear news of  colleagues who left without saying a word. So I was determined to make sure everyone hears the news directly from me.

The past 3 years went by really fast. I leave as soon as I hit my 3rd year mark in the company. The timing for everything was just too perfect. I am leaving just as I felt like I was on a dead end. When someone ask how am I feeling on my last day, I just said that I'm very happy and it felt liberating. I hadn't felt this kind of happiness in a while.

Although I'm scared for what's to come, I'm mostly excited for a fresh start. It's been awhile since I had a change of environment so this felt good.

Dropping by,