Maintaining a sustainable work-life balance is key.
Bernice Quek didn’t really escape the 9 to 5. I would say she has avoided it all together. We are at a transitional point in how we work as a society. Bernice is typical of many people entering the workforce.
After completing a degree in Sport Science and Management, Bernice did a 6-months marketing internship in 2017. It was with an established company that organized the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals Singapore event. This job required her to work from 9am to 6pm, and that was enough for her.
After the internship ended, Bernice decided to join Traffic Bees to hone her skills in search engine optimization (SEO) writing. This was something that she grew to be passionate about after taking a module in school. Since she was still in school she was able to complete most of her writing tasks from home.
After a positive working experience with the team, they offered her a full-time Content Marketing Specialist position. She was also still able to work from home. The only conditions was to have a weekly 1-hour roundup meeting and to complete her projects punctually like she had been doing. “I took up the job not only because of the flexible working arrangements, but also because of the freedom to be able to take on additional money-making opportunities and side hustles”.
More Gigs
Aside from writing for Traffic Bees’s clients, Bernice also writes for Bumble Scoop and as a Legend Age official distributor. It is not uncommon for new graduates to work more than one non-traditional job rather than one 9 to 5 job. “The work-life balance and income I am getting while working here is fantastic, which is why I love my job”.
Bernice continues to sharpen her skills and her company encourages her to take online courses. Some of the courses include Ahrefs’s Blogging for Business, Backlinko’s SEO That Works and HubSpot’s Content Marketing certification. Bernice constantly keeps herself updated on the latest SEO techniques by reading the best SEO blogs, i.e. Ahrefs, Backlinko, Moz.
Working from Home
One of the big advantages of working from home for a new college graduate, is that she is saving money and able to put more towards student loans. “This way, I am able to save money on both transportation and food. I also do not have to spend money on purchasing corporate wear as well”.
Bernice believes no one is built to be able to sit in front of a computer for long hours to work. That is why she counts myself to be very lucky to be able to work remotely. She has the freedom to take breaks whenever she needs to. She can also make up for lost time (if required) during the weekends. She is also able to have a side hustle to earn extra cash and/or passive income.
This doesn’t mean she can do what she wants when she wants. She still has responsibilities and teammates that she needs to communicate with regularly. She might not have fixed working hours, but keeping a consistent schedule keeps her on track with her coworkers. Sometimes the price working remote means she has to spend more time clarifying texts rather than speaking face to face. But in the long run – it’s worth it!
