In-between

I'm sort of in this in-between place right now. The last time I had full-time work was 5.5 months back. I quit to move to Australia to marry my Australian citizen boyfriend. The first 1.5 months here was spent on wedding preparations (we had a short engagement). Once we were officially wed and had a marriage certificate, we applied for my spouse visa. 

With a temporary residency (yay), I now have full permission to work in Australia. The thing is, what should I do? I've been looking at job descriptions and it's really interesting because reading it, I get to see what resonates with me and what doesn't. At the same time, I try to keep myself open to new things.

Part of the dilemma is that I'm planning to be back in Singapore for the whole of December, so starting a job now could pose problems for that. But that's not really the issue because anyway, I'll have to look to start a real full-time job when I get back to Australia in January 2014. 

Aptly, this advice in the latest issue of Harvard Business Review caught my eye:

It was affirming to read that it is not necessary to have a solid long term plan, as some people would advise (what do you want to be in 5 year's time? You must have a 10 year plan!). Instead, Diana Farrell says to "think about it in terms of the set of skills, capabilities, values, experiences, and impact that you want right off the bat".

It's true, I think. Some older people I've spoken to never quite imagined themselves to be in the professional position they now are in. But somehow, they got there. That doesn't mean you don't have goals, but it means that you work hard and well where you are, and well, it will take you somewhere good (usually!).

Starting at Focus on the Family Singapore and Halogen Foundation Singapore was good for me. The experiences and skills I gained were in marketing and corporate communications, editorial, project management, youth training, and some volunteer management. Community involvement built my capabilities in event planning, youth mentoring, and leadership. It was fun discovering myself and other people, and learning all that. 

I've been enjoying the past few months, relaxing, freelancing (marketing through design and social media, and a handful of piano lessons), and taking courses on Coursera. But I'm also itching to get back to full time work; to learning in the real work environment, facing new challenges, working with a team, and doing "real things". 

So the question is, what's next?