Carole A. Malonda – Admin, Tutor and Sales

Rewinding to year 2000 I had my dreams of becoming a medical professional so I took up my Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and graduated in 2004 as a preparatory course for medicine. However shortly after graduation due to to the cost of medical education and financial constraints, I decided not to pursue medicine at this time. Instead I took Bachelor of Science in Nursing thinking it would be my ticket to my other dream of going abroad. It was still a financial burden so I was working part time as a tutor to young kids at a tutorial center teaching English and Science Related subjects. It was fun and rewarding. It helped me with my school expenses but it wasn’t enough. So after a year I dropped out of school.

I was lost because I always wanted to be in the medical field. But I thought to myself that this wasn’t probably meant for me. I had to try other things. I applied for a medical representative position but I was not amenable to be relocated in a place where I knew no one so that didn’t work out for me. I also worked as a front desk officer at a hotel where it requires you to stand for long hours in high heels on and still be underpaid. I felt like I had nowhere to go and didn’t know what I wanted in terms of career.

In 2006 I decided to move from my province to Manila and try a different path. Not long after I made it into a BPO company where I worked as an inbound sales advisor, but after less than a year I resigned from work and moved on to another BPO company, then another… and then it becomes a cycle. I liked the job, compensation and the setup – but I just couldn’t pinpoint what the problem was. Then I got hired by this company working a day job, that was non-voice and where I received fair compensation. I think I liked the job because I stayed there for 4 years until they moved their operations to India and they had to let us go.

I had just given birth to my second child when I lost the job and it was not easy. Finding a nanny for 2 young kids is very hard. There were already available work from home jobs during those times (about 5 years ago) but I did not have the proper tools yet and they wasn’t as many opportunities as there are today. When I finally had the tools, the hard part was that employers/clients would be more likely to hire people with experience. In those five years, I was only hired twice as a content writer and surveyor which was project based. I am so thankful for those clients for believing and trusting in me. That is why I am thankful that the Virtual Assistant Team AU is willing to train and accept those who are new to this industry.

My story may seem to be a series of ups and downs. But through these experiences I gained learnings and acquired values and skills. I also learned to be resourceful and discovered that I am willing to learn, easy to train and flexible. I may have not achieved what I want as a doctor but it should not end there. Because life really surprises us all the time. There’s a lot of countless opportunities out there and I am thankful for this. I may not have it yet – but right now I know this is what I want: to build a career working at home. If given the chance I promise to myself to be hardworking and responsible.

For a copy of Carole’s resume please click here.