One of the things I find enjoyable/beneficial about studying abroad is the events you get to attend. A lot of them are networking events and while I have to say I haven't been to each and every one of them, the ones I've been to are usually pretty interesting.. and of course still a challenge for someone like me (many a time I think I've learnt to speak up more I'm still quite shy unless approached by someone else :/ I suppose it's something I'll always be working on..)
Anyways.. the other day someone posted about this Trading Game by Citibank and I didn't exactly read through the details at first so I was expecting computers set up at a hall and we would be playing a trading simulation... only AFTER signing up did I notice it was in the format of a card game (the first word that came to mind was interaction...) I did regret the decision a tiny bit but thought to myself, what do I have to lose? All I really wanted to get out of the experience was a taste of trading...
At a previous networking event I was too early and just felt so awkward and out of place.. so I thought, this time I don't have to go so early! well..this time I was wrong.. when I got there people were already seated looking at instruction sheets... thankfully they went through the rules again and we had 2 practise rounds to familiarise ourselves with the game..
I was pretty nervous at first because I didn't really know what to do..but as we played I started to get the hang of it.. unfortunately the best round I did was the first practise round..after that I just made huge losses and was short/long by too much.. which I guess in part had to do with how I don't know how to make people not accept an offer..hmm..
But what I learnt from the experience was, and this is if the trading floor can be likened to what we were experiencing, the trading floor is intense! buying, selling, asking for a price, keeping track of what you've bought/sold..
there were more guys than girls in each group so i suppose it wasn't surprising that all the finalists were guys.. i do wonder if there are many ladies actually working on the trading floor and doing well or if it's still mostly a man's world...
I guess another thing I learnt was..by observing the people there you kinda get a feel of how corporate life is gonna be like.. if someone doesn't see your worth they won't be wasting their time talking to you.. it's a lot about putting yourself out there, starting conversations and I guess sometimes, being artificial..
Ok, I guess the artificial thing could just apply to me because I've always believed in honesty and staying true to yourself, being genuine
that's not to say I'm not willing to adapt to situations and change certain things about me but I certainly won't want to
appear helpful just to score brownie points..I'll be helpful because I genuinely want to help someone.. but I suppose these things aren't really valued in corporate life coz it's all in the appearances and your performance..
At this point it's a little too early to say if the corporate world is for me..but I really hope that if I manage to get into such an environment that I can find some way to do well but still stick to my guns at the same time.. but all in all I think it was a great experience after all :)
-llen-
