Eugenie Santos – General Virtual Assistant, Architecture

Hi, my name is Eugenie Santos, you can call me Genie. I graduated BS Architecture from the University of Santo Tomas in 2015 and obtained my architecture license in 2017.

I’ve worked with a few architectural firms locally, including one of the Top 10 Architectural firms in the Philippines. Working with them taught me how to work under pressure, meet tight deadlines, and coordinate with other professionals like engineers to produce the best design for our clients. It was a great time for me to learn all these things as an apprentice who aspires to be an architect someday.

However, in 2016-2017, it was a difficult time for my family. Both my parents were diagnosed with cancer, and my grandmother passed away. At that time, I was so busy working at the office that I rarely saw them at home. I felt guilty for not being there for them and realised that life is too short to spend my 12-16+ hours commuting and working at the office every day. Although it was not an easy decision, I chose to work from home to look after my family after I passed the board exams.

Fortunately, I got accepted remotely in an American-based company in 2017. The work was very different from my previous experiences because it’s a telecom design company. It was my first time drafting a lot plan with survey points, so I was trained from scratch, but in just a month, I got used to it and was able to work independently. My drafting skills got even better as I learned new commands. Then, after 2 years, I got accepted into another company in the US with the same line of work, but my scope of work is a little different. I was trained again and was able to learn the standards very fast. My experience in working remotely with these two American companies taught me how to adapt to different project requirements and collaborate with professionals across time zones and cultures.

Additionally, I am willing to learn any new skills to improve myself and bring more value to my clients. Aside from drafting using AutoCAD, I also have basic knowledge in Adobe Photoshop and SketchUp. I am also proficient in using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other office tools.

Overall, I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to earn money from home and spend time with my family at the same time. This is the work-life balance that I want for myself, and I aim to grow my career even more with the right clients.

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