Joni Ang » Work-related

I Am Grateful

Joni — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:17:40 +0000

Today, I was jokingly accused by a friend of being bitter. According to her, I’m bitter because I didn’t have a mom or dad who could support me now if I decide to stop working or if I become sick and tired of the corporate world and would just want to stay at home — which, fortunately, is the case for her. She can quit her job anytime she wants, be a bum for as long as she wants, give up work to prioritize other activities and still survive because she has a mom who still sends her monthly allowance even at the age of twenty-seven. I know I frequently rant about my job – and the stress and worry that come with it – and I realized this is wrong because apparently I’ve given off the impression that I despise the particular state I’m in, but this assumption is far from the truth.

The truth is, I am grateful. I’m grateful for the turns my life has taken so far.

Growing up, my dad provided us a good life. I was even teased for being a spoiled brat Papa’s girl when I was young. We were not rich, yet we had enough. But all of that changed just before I entered college, which was probably the second most trying time in our lives (the first being my father’s death). Thankfully, I was given a 100% scholarship in college and by God’s grace I was able to graduate on time. After I graduated, I swore to work my way up even though I saw that it’s not going to be an easy journey.

True to His promises, God has been faithful to me. I believe He directed my paths all my life and I absolutely have nothing to complain about. I am grateful for the challenges I have taken, the hardships I have to endure, and the rejections I have to push myself to move forward from, which brought me to this place I’m in – right here, right now. I don’t resent my parents for what happened to the status of our family (though I may have at one point in my life or another for I was also an angsty teenager once) because whatever happened to us only pushed me to become a better version of myself. I didn’t ask either of my parents to step up, but resolved to work harder to provide for them. I didn’t feel bad that, all of a sudden, the youngest child in the family became the breadwinner.

I am proud of the things I have done for my family and for myself. It brings me so much joy that I have been able to give back to them for the past five years. I got really close to tears when my mom told me that my dad once mentioned that he was happy because he thinks I inherited my being gutsy from him (I hope I make you proud, pop!). All the sacrifices I have made has paid off, especially now that we have a home that we can really call our own. The last time we had a property was probably when I was in sophomore year in high school.

I’ve come a long way to be where I am, and I wouldn’t trade my experiences (and the sense of fulfillment I have gained) for a life still dependent on my parents, who by now would be close to retirement had circumstances allowed them to go back to work. I have a lot of feelings toward the journey I’m taking, but bitterness is not one of them. So more than the tension and boredom I often feel about my job, I am actually grateful for all the blessings and for the ability God has given me to earn a living to provide for both my mom and me. I can’t ask for more, but I am excited for the things He is yet to unfold. After all, I’m only twenty-six.

On a slightly related note, I think I’m developing asthma this late in life. I can only guess why I’m having a hard time breathing these days — literally. The imaginary “asthma” is probably caused by my wrestling session with God (think Jacob). I am close to being defeated, now I must learn to accept my defeat with grace.

© Joni for Joni Ang, 2010. | Permalink | 13 comments | Leave a comment
Word count: 729 | Filed under: Personal, Work-related

Weekend Snapshots #7: My Family

Joni — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:24:30 +0000

half-press first, thus the blur." width="300" height="199" />

I forgot to tell the waiter, who took this shot, to half-press first, thus the blur. ^_^

I spent the whole day today with my family. In the photo above are my parents, my brothers Jec and Jem, Sharon, Che-che, Deej, and me. This kind of gathering doesn’t happen everyday so I thought of preserving it using my camera and posting the photos here (plus, I really really want to update this blog because it’s a Saturday night and I got nothing else to do). We had lunch today at Pier One, Global City.

If you’re wondering where you can find those big stone dinosaurs, they’re standing right outside Pier One in Global City, Taguig. They remind me of The Land Before Time!

© Joni for Joni Ang, 2008. | Permalink | 9 comments | Leave a comment
Word count: 155 | Filed under: Books, Personal, Rants, Work-related

Wanted: Blog and Website Designer

Joni — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:56:31 +0000

FYI, E.Webscapes Design Studio is looking to hire again! Read details below (which I copied from Freelance Switch).

We are seeking to hire a part time web designer.

We are a very busy blog and website design company and are looking to hire a part time designer who has experience and knowledge with Graphic Design and CSS. Must have experience designing/developing themes popular blogging platforms. Strong preference given to candidates with both WordPress and Movable Type experience. Experience with TypePad and/or Expression Engine a big plus.

Compensation is generous. Deadlines are not insane. Team environment is virtual – – open and very friendly.

We have a very steady stream of new business, as well as a large client base and portfolio.

The hours are part time and flexible, and the location is virtual – you will work remotely (from home).

Please contact Lindsey Hardegree (our Assistant Project Manager) for details – – we’re very busy at E.Webscapes and are looking to fill this position as soon as we find the right candidate for the job. Is it you?

Interested? Ask me how you can contact Lindsey.

© Joni for Joni Ang, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Leave a comment
Word count: 186 | Filed under: Custom WordPress Theme, Work-related

ActionJetz

Joni — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:00:56 +0000

To be honest, I was deliberately avoiding this blog o’ mine the past two weeks for a reason. I’m not gonna talk about it here (coz it’s just too sad and I don’t wanna cry anymore!), but I’d be happy to tell you about it in person if you’ve got the time! Heh.

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to update this blog but got no particular topic in mind, so the boyfriend suggested that I blog about his baby project, ActionJetz.

I think I’ve only mentioned my full-time job on this blog once before, but to those who don’t know, I’m working for a US-based company that sells handmade model airplanes, ships, helicopters, space shuttles, military plaques, and more. In a nutshell, my job is to make sure our websites are converting and that we’re meeting our sales quota every month. Check out our main website: Warplanes.com

Some time last year after I introduced them to one another, my Aussie boss hired Deej to create a Flash website that offers free airplane games and more. He wanted it to be something that can be enjoyed by his customers (who are pilots and/or aviation-enthusiasts) and their kids — but not exclusively. A few weeks and sleepless nights later, ActionJetz was born. Aside from the aid his friend gave him a couple of times, Deej the Flash Master worked on ActionJetz alone from the ground up. It’s one thing to create a “Flash website”, it’s another to code the Flash action scripts all by yourself to run the games, activities, account activation, dashboard, e-commerce, and the multiplayer engine. It’s something I can never imagine I’d learn to do, lol. Hats off to the boyfriend! ;)

ActionJetz is a world filled with cute little jets that you can own and take care of, enlist in a competition, buy items for, and play tons of minigames with!

Joining ActionJetz is absolutely FREE! Although some features are only accessible if you have an ActionJet.

The pre-release of ActionJetz is now available for testing. This is an alpha release, which means that it will have bugs and usability issues. Also, there are some features which are not available at the moment. We need you to try out ActionJetz so that we can iron out the kinks before rolling out the final product.

So if you’re into online Flash games or jet airplanes, please do try out ActionJetz. Admittedly, it still has a few bugs here and there, but the good thing is it is being developed daily and comments and suggestions are welcome! Please please please show your support by registering. Hehe!

A Chaotic One Hour

Joni — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:02:58 +0000

From the time I wake up in the morning at 7:00 am until I leave the house at 8:00 am, I always have this intense reflective moment in between wherein I think about how different things would be if I’m just working at home. Think of the money I’ll be saving on gas, food, laundry and the things I buy or do on the side on my way home in the afternoons (e.g.: stop by the mall). Think of the additional time I can spend bonding with my parents and my hamsters (hah), and the time I can use to work on my freelance projects. Think of the full control I’m gonna have over my schedule. Best of all, think of the quality of sleep I’m gonna get everyday!

I’ve only been working for roughly four years but I’m already sort of feeling burned out from exerting too much effort in waking up every morning. If you’re a sleepyhead like me, you’d understand how I look at early mornings as a challenge. How I admire those employees who have been working in the same company and doing just about the same job for 20 years or more! I highly doubt I’m gonna last that long.

I guess the difference between me and those people is, I can stay at home and just fish out my monthly income from the Internet. So why won’t I just go ahead and do it? If I were in a different situation, if I didn’t have the rent and the bills, and if my parents weren’t totally dependent on me, I would have grabbed this opportunity in a heartbeat. It’s easier to go for it if I didn’t have to be a sigurista over everything. Or if the company I work for didn’t offer much room for growth. Or if the online stints I do actually provide financial stability just as much as my full-time job.

There’s also the matter of choosing between doing something that I actually have the enthusiasm to do or doing something that I just happened to have been trained to do but don’t really enjoy. And the comparison between working inside my comfortable bedroom (or some coffee place if I feel like going out) or spending 8 hours in a small office where there’s scarcity of social interactions anyway that I might as well be working alone at home. Ok, that last one’s actually my fault. Sigh. I miss the ePac gurls and how fun office work used to be..

After all this ranting, in the end, it all boils down to the choice that’s obviously the wiser one. I do think I’m making the right move, simply because I don’t want to reach the point where I would be at my wit’s end worrying about the rent or the unpaid bills. I’ll settle for this, for now. But it’s always good to have a backup plan. :)

That’s too much contemplating in a span of just one hour, don’t you think? Heh.

If you were me, what would you do?

Relieve Stress by Eating a Lot of Fish

Joni — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:08:53 +0000

For the past week and a half, I’ve been so busy with work (full-time and part-time) that I hardly leave my place in front of the computer. I’m in the office from 8:30am to 5:00pm, I reach home at around 6:00pm, I take a quick shuteye for 30 to 45 minutes, then I open my laptop and get back to work. It gets too much sometimes, but I’m really not complaining. Truth is, I’d rather have something productive to do (that I love to do, of course) than throw away precious time doing nothing. Plus, I’m really a homebuddy. I mean, look at me! It’s a Friday night and other people my age are still out having a good time with their friends and releasing all the stress they’ve been under for the whole week, but here I am. At home. Taking comfort in the solace of my bedroom. My very own quiet place. (*ahem* Loser.)

In the middle of a very busy time, it’s always healthy to find something you can do to free yourself of the tension, even if it’s just for a few minutes. And in my case, I play the kids game “Feeding Frenzy“. lol.

It’s really just a simple game. Your profile is a fish and your job is to snack on all the smaller fishes by moving your mouse around so you can earn points, grow bigger, and advance up to the very last level (which is the top of the deep sea food chain). There are also bigger fishes loitering around ready to gobble you up, so you must stay away from them.. or bite the tail in the case of the big barracuda. Heh.

Feeding Frenzy is a no-brainer, which is probably why I like it so much. I’m using my brain cells all day long that an enjoyable game with cute, colorful graphics and a very simple objective is perfect to make me loosen up a little.

It’s actually because of my 3-year old cousin that I came to know this kids game. They have tons of games in their computer back in Pampanga, most of which I’m unfamiliar with, and Feeding Frenzy was my little cousin RJ’s favorite. When I played it the first time, with him beside me, I kept losing “fish” lives whenever I get myself eaten by the bigger fishes! That should be understandable as it was my first time, but I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed when RJ suddenly turned to look at me with a straight face and said,

“Ate Joni, di ka naman marunong eh! Ako na lang maglalaro, panoorin mo na lang ako.”

Surprisingly, he was very good at it. I never once thought it possible that I’d lose face in front of a small 3-year old boy.

So hey, maybe you can get this game for your kids, little brothers, little sisters, little cousins, or what have you. They’re gonna love it. And I’m pretty sure no animals were harmed in the making of this game. :P

OK. Back to work.

Filipino: The Master Craftsman

Joni — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:23:08 +0000

I’ve always admired my fellow Filipinos for the world-class skills they possess. Just from browsing the web, I can already come across some Filipinos who are internationally renowned web developers, web designers, web copywriters, software engineers, etc — and that’s just in the IT field. Steer your wheel in another direction and you’ll discover some more interesting facts about the capabilities of Filipinos here and abroad.

Last Monday, I had the chance to meet a bunch of Pinoys who belong to a not-so-well-known industry here in the Philippines: manufacturing hand-carved military, civilian and airline display models. I could tell you about some of the handmade display models and wooden model airplanes our company sells over the Internet (since my boss says he doesn’t mind us disclosing that fact), but I won’t really get into that. More than the actual finished products themselves, I am amazed at the talented Filipino artisans who are behind them.

I was told by the owner of one of our manufacturers when he came to visit us here in Makati last month that we have to go to Angeles City so we can witness first-hand the process of creating wooden model airplanes from scratch. I distinctly remember him saying that visiting their place “..will make a world of difference”. He’s right, it really did make a world of difference!

We were in Angeles, Pampanga from 9:00am to 2:30pm last August 6th (I like to call it our very own “field trip”, haha). I usually just go up to San Fernando where my relatives (from my mother’s side of the family) reside, so it was nice to be able to visit Clark, Pampanga again. They showed us (Donna, Tin, and I) around the two manufacturing sites, one for the warplane models, the other for the warship models. The three of us listened as each of the owners explained the processes. It was “raining men” (haha) at the warehouse because everywhere you look there’s a row of guys who are either carving, sanding, painting, coating, wrapping, or packing the display models. They have an organized assembly line with 10 or more QCs who make sure everything is done correctly. I wanted to take a picture of all of them while they’re working but I didn’t want to be the rude, paparazzo-like guest from Manila (lol!). I was able to capture this guy’s picture though:

Go, Kuya! Kaya mo yan! :D

The job they do requires intricacy and patience. I know I wouldn’t be able to master what they’re doing in a million years even if I try (though I do find the painting process enticing). All of the models we saw are made of wood, except for some of the small parts which are made of resin (or prepaid cards! How’s that for improvisation?). No machines are used in the crafting process, everything is done by hand. From the main body of the plane or ship, to the smallest details — It’s art I’ve never known before! It takes a lot of endurance, talent, and guts to be able to put together the exact replicas (scale models) of the actual airplanes, helicopters and ships. You gotta hand it to them. That’s 100% Pinoy, baybeh.

These display models are being sold worldwide. You would think that these little planes and ships (that seem like toys, but are really not!) shouldn’t cost that much but once you’ve seen how they are being delicately done, you’d have to admit that they should be worth way more than they are. I know I did when I left that place!

Like I said, more than just promoting the products we sell at work, I’m acknowledging the talented, hardworking Filipinos in Angeles City, Pampanga. *Kabiasnan nyo! Pagmaragul da kayu!

*I hope that one’s accurate (I am not a native Kapampangan speaker. lol.) It’s supposed to mean “Ang galing nyo! Pinagmamalaki ko kayo!”

Job Application Bloopers

Joni — Wed, 23 May 2007 07:24:37 +0000

Reading Mae‘s post made me want to share my recent experience in looking for people to hire too. But this is just slightly similar to her experience because mine’s a little bit on the funny side. :D

I posted a job ad a few days ago since we’re looking to add more people at work. I’m pretty sure the ad is clear that what we’re looking for are copywriters but after going through some of the job applications I can’t help but chuckle as I read some of the answers I got.

What do you like best about this position?

Jane Doe:

I believe i have meet all the qualification that you indicated in your job posting. Im a team player,hardworking,resoursefull and very flexilbe. I can do deadlines, presure to work and can work in to fields.

HOPE I ACN HEAR FROM YOUR COMPANY

John Doe #1:

just want to try u luck in any position offers by the company, im a person who love challenges….. and by this position it would enhance my communication and writing skills.

John Doe #2:

Anything related with my field of expertise is something i really liked. I wanted to explore things that is relevant with my specialization and with my work that will give impact to my career as a web developer and SEO Specialists.

I’m not much of a grammar whore (since I myself am not perfect) and I’m not one to pick on other people’s choice of words (okay, okay, I do that sometimes!) but really now, the job ad says COPYWRITER. Shouldn’t good English grammar be on top of the list of requirements? But hey, I am not a copywriter, so I shouldn’t be judging people this way. But the fact that their disqualification is so obvious even to me who’s not an expert should count for something, right?

Unlike Mae who got pissed off by some guy’s sarcastic answers (which was really rude, btw), I, on the other hand, just want to laugh this off. I do appreciate their efforts and I know I should cut them some slack because I myself used to apply for different positions that are so not in tune with the course I took in college and/or my skills, haha.

But I’ve got 3 or 4 shortlisted candidates so at least that, huh? :)

Lesson #1: Don’t take online resumes for granted.

Tip #1: (for copywriter applicants) The Copyblogger offers great copywriting tips! :)

This post reminds me of the last time I picked on somebody else’s grammar.

First Day Anxiety and Ironies

Joni — Wed, 16 May 2007 12:04:25 +0000

First days are the worst! It’s my first day at my new job, and I’m feeling all anxious again. This is my fourth job and I know hearing about it is not a pleasant thing. In fact, when my dad heard the news, he bombarded me with questions about why I keep moving from one company to another. Most of the time, I don’t know how to answer this kind of question, but people strangely get satisfied whenever I answer it this way: “I will not decide to move if I didn’t sincerely think that I was being offered a better opportunity than what I currently have.” So yeah, I hope that answer is good enough. And I hope people would trust my judgment. But just in case it turns out to be a mistake, then that’s the risk I am willing to take. In other words, you can blame me for my poor judgment later. :D

Two years ago, I wrote a post about the ironies I was facing when I moved to my second job. And now, on my first day at my fourth job, I’ve already come up with two new ironies!

Irony #1: Remember how we weren’t allowed to install stuff (including instant messengers) in our PCs in my previous workplace? And remember how I said I was waiting for the new Yahoo! Messenger embedded in Yahoo! Mail that I could use to get in touch with my friends online? Well, one of the things I was looking forward to before I moved to the new job was having an actual Yahoo! Messenger application installed in my PC at work, and not just some cheap web-based messenger or the portable one (which is actually good enough — Thanks Jaypee! The tip you gave was really helpful! :) ). What’s ironic is, today on my first day at my new job, Yahoo! decides to surprise me with the news that my Yahoo! Mail now has the embedded Yahoo! Messenger feature! Today of all days when I’m not anticipating its arrival anymore.

Goofin’ around with Romzkee :D

Obviously, I won’t really use that feature. :up: But what’s cool with it is, when the person you’re chatting with is typing a message, it doesn’t just use the words “[Your online friend] is typing…” but also shows witty sentences like “[Your online friend] should really learn how to type with more than two fingers…” and “Are you sitting down? Because [your online friend] is typing a message…” Haha, it’s cute. You can also try out the new web messenger.

Irony #2: When I transferred from my second job to my third, I was very sad mainly because I was missing some dear office mates. And now on my first day at my new job, Bheng, Ryan and Jeff (my old colleagues) are also on their first day at my old office. We all had lunch together today, and afterwards, I swear a part of me wants to join them walk back to my old office. I wanted to be with all of them! But I know that’s just the emotional part of me that’s reacting to the situation. I’m known as someone who reacts poorly to major changes in my life. I just need to think maturely.

Bheng managed to convince me again that what I did was a good move. She also wrote her version of first day jitters. :)

I hope in time I’ll get past this anxiety. I hate this kind of transition. :(

© Joni for Joni Ang, 2007. | Permalink | 17 comments | Leave a comment
Word count: 586 | Filed under: Internet, Work-related

Strange Relationship

Joni — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:39:25 +0000

For more than a year now, I’ve been having this strange love-hate relationship with my job. (Yes, job. Thought it was something else, didn’t you?) Committed, but strange. It’s not actually with the work I have now or the company I work for, but the nature of my job. There are times that I love SEM and I can’t get enough of it; other times, I hate it and I don’t want to hear, speak, or even think a single thing about it! I can think of 3 things that usually causes my temporary strong feeling of dislike: 1) Pressure at work, 2) Information Overload, and 3) Weariness.

Right now I think I’m experiencing #3. I’m tired of thinking of other ways to make this particular website rank on the generic keywords selected by the client — which are really competitive ones by the way. Apparently, we have to try to do what the client wants us to do however absurd it is. Never mind that it’s a competitive keyword phrase, as long as we do it. So I did what I was told to do (since that’s what I’m supposed to do: follow orders. hehe!), but I made it clear from the start that they must not expect positive results. They can hope profusely though.

The customer is always right…. Until he is not.

While I am still in the middle of working on that task.. another request from a clueless client arrives:

…in searching specific keywords, i would like our site to come out with certain search words such as: angeles, manila, diving, golf, etc.

Keep in mind that our client is a hotel. And their owner or manager wishes to rank on those one-word keywords. Fun, huh?

I could’ve just shut up and did my job anyway even though I know for a fact that it’s not gonna work, but the new request is gonna put my ass on the line if I had just simply said yes. I won’t even attempt or imagine that I’ll do it, because I’m 100% positive that it’s just gonna be useless. (No good can come out of this, do you hear me!!) So, I politely, carefully, and calmly composed an e-mail..

We can try to target these keywords (angeles, manila, diving, golf) but 3 things come to mind as to why I believe this won’t be a good move:

1. Most of the keywords given by the hotel are one-word keywords. Considering our recent leap-of-faith optimization task alone, I think we can pretty much say now that targeting 2-word keywords is mind-boggingly difficult; let alone, targeting several 1-word keywords. Also, the hotel wants the website to rank on the keywords “diving” and “golf”. I see this as (almost) impossible because these are very generic keywords. We can create optimized copies and pages for them, build more links, but I believe the effort will just be in vain. This definitely requires more than just a leap of faith. hehe!

2. People searching for keywords such as diving, angeles, etc. may not necessarily be seeking hotel reservations. If it’s okay to say this, I’m almost sure that a person who entered “angeles”, “diving”, or “golf” in the search engine query is NOT looking for a hotel in *****. Because if he/she was looking for a hotel, then naturally, a more relevant keyword search would have been more useful. Also, the results for the keyword “golf” will not only generate a list of websites that are related to “golf courses”, but also “golf tournaments”, “golf stores”, “golf equipments”, “golf trivia”, “golf clubs”, “golf players”, and so on.

3. What can only happen from the hotel’s request is added traffic. But since our company recently set a target conversation ratio, attracting more visitors who are unlikely to book anyway will just add to the hotel’s bounce/exit rate. The impression bounce rates create might also contribute to the decrease of hotel name’s reputability; and making our goal of reaching a 2.5% conversion rate an even harder job.

Overall, we will not neglect the hotel’s request. The keywords are perfect to showcase the hotel’s vicinity and activities that can be done during one’s stay. In the long run, they might prove useful not for SEO purposes, but for the simple usability reason that they were itemized

(Note: E-mail edited for confidentiality’s sake)

In other words, “No, it’s not a good idea!” LOL. :P I have spoken my piece and I meant every word. Fortunately, our team leader is just the kindest! She said it’s fine and that she’ll just relay the message.

That’s just one slice of the pie to give you an idea of what I do. There are 7 other slices that cause me stress everyday. LOL. :D Nevertheless, even though this is mostly the case for me, I still do love SEM. I still believe I couldn’t have landed in a better, more promising line of work. It’s just that, sometimes I can also get sick and tired…

LOL. Anuba talagaaaah? :P

© Joni for Joni Ang, 2007. | Permalink | 22 comments | Leave a comment
Word count: 839 | Filed under: Rants, SEO / SEM, Work-related