Just Another Day of My Life as An OFW #PersonalStory

Just Another Day of My Life as An OFW In Dubai City


I complained to the personnel manager about the irregularities of the job procedures and the discrimination that loomed within the operations department that I was managing, but ironically, it was me, was branded as troublemaker. They couldn’t sack me officially because I hadn’t done anything wrong, but they made life as awful as they possibly could.

I couldn’t live with it all so I just left. I’d already been asked by another establishment if I wanted to transfer to act as an Operation Manager of a newly constructed food establishment. I’d decided I couldn’t go because of some personal reasons and government restrictions. But then I thought why not? I’ve nothing to lose. I went for another place which was just the break I needed, and I forgot all about my old job. The whole thing opened the door to other opportunities and I was able to think about what I really wanted. It changed my life for the better and I got out of the rut I was in.

My attitude is that if you have talent and you’re willing to have a go at different things, something like that doesn’t really matter. It’s only a few people’s subjective opinion of you, and others will think you’re great. You shouldn’t let it defeat you as long as you know you’ve done nothing wrong. And, if you’ve done something wrong and has been sacked, however, this is the time to admit it to yourself and do something about it in the future, whether it’s improving your job or life. But whether you deserved to be given the boot or not, you’ll still have the problem of explaining why looking for a job.

Unless you’re asked, don’t volunteer that you’ve been sacked. Gloss over it if you can. Say there were no prospects in the job – that’s true after all. Or, you can say you had to leave to find a job because there was no way of getting out for interviews. Avoid mentioning the bad things that will go against you. Some people feel duty-bound to confess all, but they shouldn’t. Concentrate on the positive things about yourself. It’s a blow to your self-esteem but you’ve got to look at the future and be positive.

It’s probably less of a blow to the ego when your department is made redundant and you’re not the only one who’s been picked out to go. It was easier because the whole line of business went, so whether I was good or bad never arose. But when you see your friends going to work in their suits, you still can’t believe that you’re not doing that job.

It really brings it home how fragile things are. Individuals are expendable. My motto now is “Be prepared.” I keep my management skills up and my living expenses down so if I was fired tomorrow I know I could live on what I could earn from my abilities. In today’s climate, you’ve got to be flexible. OFW job’s not permanent when you want the right thing for you to do. But if you’re a “yes-to-all –kind-of-person,” foreign employer will stick you at the bulletin board until retirement with further grave discrimination as a bonus.