The Ongoing Journey as a Surge Graduate

 

The Ongoing Journey as a Surge Graduate 🌊

Introduction: 👩

After being an on-site and full-time company employee for three decades and three years, I want to transition to a new career with a flexible work schedule. Because I am not getting younger, it is exhausting when I am occasionally assigned to the night shift duty. I also have to wake up early in the mornings to avoid traffic due to the long commute to and from work. Aside from these reasons, standing for a long time at work might be a health risk for someone like me. 

What are my 3 options? Careers with flexible work hours:

1. Online English Tutor
2. Freelance Writer
3. Virtual Assistant

Can I still work at my age? Do companies hire older applicants? 

My first choice was to be an Online English Tutor. I applied as an ESL Tutor at an international online tutoring school, but failed the assessment exam; it was more difficult than I thought. Then I was interviewed by a local ESL tutoring school, but was rejected because they have an age limit. 

Online Learning: 📚

Last August 2023, I started attending free online webinars of Surge Marketplace to gain an overview of how to start a freelancing career. I have acquired many E-certificates from the online webinars.  

I purchased and finished 2 mini-quality VOD courses under the Surge Promo: 

1. Administrative and Office Management 
2. Basic Sales and Marketing Techniques

Coach Kathy Lim-Cabradilla is the trainer in these recorded videos. The courses require online learners to pass the necessary portfolios to earn the Certificate of Completion. 

Luckily, I also won a "free course of choice", the Freelancing VA course, during the raffle done by Coach Grace Locsin. She is the trainer of the course. Meanwhile, Coach Melle is the trainer for the live sessions. Truly grateful for the assistance from the Surge Team, I completed 3 mini-courses to learn more about becoming a Virtual Assistant. 

I enjoy learning with Surge Marketplace. I am an avid online learner, but I needed to start earning. I continuously applied to platforms like Upwork, Online Jobs, and LinkedIn, but was rejected. 😢

Apprenticeship Program: 💻

My sister enrolled me in the two-week Apprenticeship Program of Batch 3 to gain the necessary experience as an Executive Assistant under the guidance of Surge Marketplace. 

The 1st week was challenging; I had pending tasks that needed to be done. Lead Generation was difficult because I only used free tools, and could not get the email addresses of potential clients from their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. Social Media Content is another challenge for me; I have to be more creative in Canva graphic designs. Due to perseverance and the willingness to learn more, I have completed the tasks within the week. 

The 2nd week was focused on the final portfolio, video introduction, and the EOW report. I completed the Apprenticeship Program and earned my E-Certificate last April 2024. 

Final Thoughts: 🙏

There is still high competition between the newbies and seasoned Virtual Assistants, and Surge Marketplace only serves as a mentor. Freelancers must prepare and update their portfolios on their freelancing website, optimize profiles on Upwork, OLJ, and LinkedIn, and be active on Social Media sites to promote their services for clients to hire them. 

I still have a long way to go before I can achieve this dream of being a Freelancer. 

"A freelancer's resilient attitude to challenges and setbacks is the key to achieving a goal or dream." 🌼

Quote: 👵

"A person's advanced age doesn't lessen their ability to work and make a valuable contribution to an organization."

Note: I updated this 1-page Blog for the Freelancer Lei website. 

1-page blog post
Surge Graduate