CELEBRATING LIFE

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Hello,

I'm DELILAH

As an ISTJ-A with a strong penchant for cakes, beaches and cats, I play Debussy to keep me zen.

Balancing between personal and business, I presently work as an Executive Assistant to the Group CEO of a multinational consortium right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Backed with years of experience working with the startup industry, multinational corporations and government agencies, I developed strong Corporate Administration skills whilst practising agile and being data-driven.

Coming from a humble background, I found solace in giving back to the community as a way of paying it forward by dividing my spare time with volunteer work.

Glamiva is the place for me to express my passion and knowledge sharing and I’m happy to spread message of positivity to as many people as possible.

Cheers.

Start Work With Me

WHAT CAN I DO

Finance

Assist with Audit, manage your claims and receipts, record sales transactions on accounting softwares i.e Quickbooks, Xero

Calendar Management

Manage your calendar, schedule appointments, email liaisons, make reservations and travel planning

Social Media

Setup social media accounts, attend to enquiries, content creation, content planning and posting

Grant Applications

Malaysian grants such as MDEC’s SME Digitalisation and Cradle Fund’s CIP grants. Have secured over RM1.5mil worth of grants as of year 2020.

Your Paperwork

Meeting minutes, letter drafting, agreements, presentation slides, RFP, proposals, etc.

Others

Anything else such as staff payroll and statutory contributions, or matters with the bank, tax office, insurance, immigration, customs, etc.

Recent Posts

How to Join a Startup

Hey guys! Hope you are ready for some tips and tricks on how to enter the startup world and have an amazing time with your cool, passionate team.

But First

Let's get my credentials out first before we dive deep, I mean you wouldn't want to take advice from a noobie right?
Code Army and cohort @Khazanah Nasional Entrepreneurship Outreach (KNEO) Demo Day, Kuala Lumpur 2018
Code Army and cohort @Khazanah Nasional Entrepreneurship Outreach (KNEO) Demo Day, Kuala Lumpur 2018

Yours truly has been in the startup world since year 2012 and just FYI - even though I am now much more experienced and slowly easing my way towards building a career in Corporate,  I believe one can never learn as much as in a startup while another can at a huge, multinational enterprise. This topic will need a separate post, let me know if you'd like me to cover this!

The first month in my first startup and I already knew that I wanted to be in it for the long run - I was in love guys. 
The first month in my first startup and I already knew that I wanted to be in it for the long run - I was in love guys. Since then, I have been serving a total of x6 startups, all based in Malaysia (ahem, Klang Valley) in the IT-Software, Incubator - Accelerator, Social Media - Content Marketing industries and most of them are of less than 10-man to just a shy 30 employees. My success rate with my job applications with startups are quite high i.e more callbacks, interview invites and offers as I got more experienced - also probably due to my thoughtfully designed CV and list of my achievements as the Special Officer /  Executive Assistant to CEO, Founder or Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

How to Join a Startup

I am assuming most of you reading this post are fresh grads or a seasoned executive from the blue collar world who are thinking about making a career jump, drop your stuff at your swanky office at Hartamas and dive into the startup world.

Let's get down to it! You ready?

Skills That Startups Love

Startups are highly result-driven, filed with opportunities to learn and widen your skillsets. They cannot afford to be slacking off or feel comfortable, because there is always a possibility that there is someone else out there crunching their hardest and become a major competitor one day. 

Glamiva.com do you have what it takes

So they need a team with the following set of skills, generally:
  • Google Suite: Familiar with Gmail, Google Drive and the other most-used applications such as Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets.

  • Comfortable with Technology: Also known as IT-literate, you are comfortable with learning a new software or use a different hardware or operating system for work

  • Great at Teamwork: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together". This phrase applies heavily in the startup world and so they need members who are great team players and cooperative when the need arises.

  • Great Communicator: Startups needs their members to be able to relay their thoughts articulately and properly. It should be a given that most of us went to school and would have the desired flair of communicating with another human being, but unfortunately that is not the case with some of the candidates I have encountered. 

  • People Skills: Other than you hard skills, achievements and all the Dean's List that you show in your resume, startups actually want to work with people that they like AKA would like to work with. This is because startups are generally small in size and the whole team will probably be like a second family where you eat, work, laugh and grind together. So bring your personality to the interview, set yourself apart from the rest! 

  • Critical Thinking: Without this you won't be able to survive. Really. Startups will need you to be able to think on your feet and most of the time under pressure, in a fast-pace environment. Sometimes it can be as stressful as Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen show. If you need to have manuals or check with your boss on every single little thing, startups are probably not for you.

  • Self-Starter and Proactive attitude: These are bonus traits that will make your career in the startup thrive and prosper. Your Founder or future boss may even check for these traits right before they call you in for interview i.e whether you ask for an information that could easily be found via Google Search during a quick call with HR or provide your portfolio along in your application.
Now let's move on to your CV.

Prepare a Startup-Worthy Resume

I'm going to be honest here. There is a high chance that the person who reads your CV is actually the Project Manager cum Team Lead, Admin cum Accounts, some Manager from Finance or Sales and Marketing. A startup member will sometimes need to wear multiple hats, especially if your role is the assistant to the Founder like I was *wink*.

Human Resource busy at work - Glamiva

So do you know what this means?

This means your resume has just 3-5 seconds before the hiring person moves on to the next one - especially if the company is on growth mode and they offer higher-than-average salary. Startups generally don't have those fancy Ai or softwares that scan resumes and CV's for the desired keywords. So your resume needs to give the hiring person what they need, where they need it and is easy to read.

So your resume needs to give the hiring person what they need, where they need it and is easy to read. 
Here is how you can give your resume the best shot with startups, with the order that I think would be best:
  • Nice Headshot photo
    Show a nice headshot photo with your best smile! We'd love to place a face with your name, it is human nature to be more drawn to faces than words.

  • Your Education
    We obviously want to know where have you gone to study. State the university name in full and the major that you took, and whether it was a Certificate, Diploma, Degree or Masters.
    Tip: Show off your CGPA 3.9 grade, sports / co-curricular activities or even the Secretary title you got in Kadet Remaja Sekolah (KRS) here

    Show off your Achievements - The Simpsons

  • Show Off Your Achievements
    Show what you achieved in university or high school, or even with your own personal passion projects. Tell me that you run a part time Graphic Design service, or had a successful project on sustainable livestock feeding using big data and Ai, or your team at school won a 3-day Hackathon in Beijing for the Most Innovative Idea. Your part time work at Starbucks can come after or just ditch it if not necessary.

  • Your Work History
    Remember I talked about Critical Thinking earlier? If you're applying to a startup that offers brand activations and event solutions and you have experience doing part time events for the last 2 years in uni, you would want to put your work history first before your education. Experience usually weighs more to a startup because sometimes in life, being a book smart doesn't make you a street smart.
    Experience usually weighs more to a startup because sometimes in life, being a book smart doesn't make you a street smart. 
  • Your Skills
    Sometimes the hiring person is an Admin and wouldn't know what Javascript is. So it's important that you list out the skills that you know of, starting from the ones that you are very confident with down to the least. You may also list out your soft skills here (psst..remember the Skills that Startups Love I told you earlier?).

    Tip: Yes, you may put in your languages here as well and do state whether you can read, write and speak in each - it'll make my life easier. TQVM.

  • Miscellaneous Stuff
    Add some flair and set yourself apart from your competitors with other related information about yourself i.e hobbies, volunteering work or sports, but don't get too far with it. We just need to know that besides your Type A achievements at school and work, you are also passionate, personable, inspiring or at least fun to be around with.

  • 2-3 Fonts and 1-Page Only
    Have you heard of Typography? Having 2-3 fonts max for your resume with coordinated, matching colour theme will make it stand out from the rest and most importantly, a joy to read. And unless you are an experienced candidate, I expect your resume to be just a one-pager. So make your content easy to read and succinct. Also play with the formatting styles i.e Bold, Italic and Underline to make it easier to find information on your resume.

Submit Your Application

Now that you have the skills and a resume that startups (hopefully) would want to interview for, it's time to submit! Generally there are more opportunities with startups at Hiredly (previously known as Wobb) compared to LinkedIn and JobStreet

Submit application Jim Carrey Glamiva

I highly recommend Hiredly because they are a startup as well, and they know how we think. =)
I highly recommend Hiredly because they are a startup as well, and they know how we think. =) Their app is like Tinder, swipe Right to submit your resume to the Poster Company or swipe Left to reject and show the next opportunity on your mobile screen. Your resume will be put under review once you upload it to their system, so give them 24 hours to approve your resume - usually the wait time is within 4-12 hours.

And that's it! Feel free to follow up with the startup directly for the position that you applied for - sometimes you'll even be given the HR's direct mobile number and email address. Hope this helps you in one way or another.

Good luck and happy job hunting! 

The Not-So-Tiny-Fine-Print:
You may find that this post is targeted for fresh grads and you are right! Note that this post is merely based on my experience with several startups as their Special Officer, Executive Assistant and Office Manager - feel free to check them out on my LinkedIn profile here. Cheers!





It's Been A While

Glamiva it's been awhile 2021
Hey you. It's been a while and I hope you're doing okay.


The Situation in Malaysia

Malaysia new cabinet August 2021


Whoever you are, wherever you are, life is going to get more challenging with Covid-19, what with our latest change of cabinet and current regulations here in Malaysia - that seems to be improving slowly.

Just as how our Ministry of Health DG Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah is taking it day-by-day rallying up our frontliners improving mortality rates and and risking his and his staff's lives, I think the rest of us the rakyat should also start to slowly accept Covid-19 as an endemic. International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali recently informed the CNBC that Malaysia will start treating the virus Covid-19 as an endemic around end of October 2021, and estimated more than 75% of the population will be fully vaccinated by then.

By December companies and businesses, hopefully be allowed to open and run pre-Covid. Travel sectors, for domestic at least, be allowed and I can (finally) balik kampung to Sabah. 

Glamiva it's been awhile 2021


What I've Been Doing (Recently)

I have just revamped Glamiva.com with a new dress (do you like it?), look forward to get her up on her article count, SEO game and see where she'll fly next. 

Since pandemic started there were some negativity and loss with the people around me and their close contacts, it was disheartening to watch and hear their stories of depression, anxiety, retrenchment, and even some - their well being. 

With the extra time that I have during this pandemic what with working from home (WFH) and having lunch, dinner, workout, New Year, Raya, birthdays - basically a self-lockdown happening at home, I felt it's time to bring Glamiva back up and give her a new face. I'll talk more about it in my future post, but rest assured I plan to keep up my word this time as I believe she will bring me zen, soothe my soul and spread positivity to those who read her.

I have also been trying to lose weight. Believe me when I say those in 30's lose weight MUCH slower than when they were in 20. Been missing my fam too, I'll get teary whenever I see KK places or Raya pics with the fam on IG. #lifeishard

Okay that is all. Till next post, it feel great to reconnect and have a fresh start, even though it's September and we're 9 months past January. Hahaha

Better late than never, right?

Take care.



Review: I Love Yoo, Paradigm Mall Malaysia



During my KLIA2-Paradigm Mall (Petaling Jaya) trip, it was like, 6pm and I had Texas Chicken at about 4pm when I landed at the airport. I knew though, that I would be hungry at 10pm later and there will be no healthy food options around but chips - an idea of which I'm not too keen of.

Review: Aerobus KLIA2 Airport - Paradigm Mall, Petaling Jaya

Aerobus review KLIA2 airport Paradigm Mall Petaling Jaya

It was the first time ever I took bus to/from airport. I took Aerobus from KLIA2 airport last week for my return flight to Kuala Lumpur. I figured it will cost me more by RM2-3 max + more time spent (by minimum 60 minutes) if I were to take bus from KLIA2 - KL Sentral (RM12) - LRT (RM3) - Grab (RM6) to my house. So it was a no brainer - KLIA2 - Paradigm Mall it is!

Booked the ticket via redBus, an online bus ticket booking platform the week prior. Paid via credit card and I was ready to go!

On the day of my return flight, I made my way to Level 1 where the taxi and bus are at. Make your way to level 1 past the taxi counters - you will then see the bus counters shortly.

Procrastination is My Enemy

hello procrastination enemy blog comeback
Hey guys, it's November 15th and it's 2 more days to a year since my comeback post last 17 Nov 2017. To be honest I have not been fully committed to blogging for the past year, and I am ashamed of it. I am ashamed of using the excuses of work, leisure and relationships get in the way of blogging. Get in the way of expressing myself and taking care and nurture my personal thoughts, and opinions.

I Kena Ragut - Snatch Thief Incident near Tropicana Avenue, Petaling Jaya

Beard Brothers Behemoth 3.0 Tropicana Avenue 2018














So it was a lovely Friday, we all have hustled for the past 2 weeks for this huge project and our boss wanted to treat us to a nice dinner at Beard Brothers that evening.

KFIt Promotion Code Malaysia for January 2018 / New Year 2018

Aaaand KFit Malaysia is back with another promotion code guys!! It's only 4 days since I last posted about their December 2017 - Christmas 2017 promotion code, lol.


What is KFit?
KFit gives you access to the best studios, gyms, spas and salons in your city. Download and book instantly via the mobile app to experience a huge variety of activities near you while saving up to 70%. Whether it's daily workouts at your neighbourhood gym or a massage at the hottest spa in town, find your favourite activity today. - KFit.com

KFIt Promotion Code Malaysia for January 2018 New Year 2018

Movie Review: Jumanji - Welcome to the Jungle 2017

Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle 2017 cover poster review
Four teenagers discover an old video game console and are literally drawn into the game's jungle setting, becoming the adult avatars they choose.

Has anyone not watched the Jumanji movie? I bet most of you movie-goers must have, given the fact that it was released on 21 December 2017 in Malaysia.

KFit Promotion Code Malaysia for Christmas 2017 / New Year 2018

KFit has their Christmas 2017 - New Year 2018 promotion (Dec 2017 month) up now guys!! It is one of the cheapest promotions that they've come up with for this year 2017.

What is KFit?
KFit gives you access to gyms, studios, salons and spas in your city. You can opt to download the app and book via your smartphone while enjoying savings of up to 70% (web browser is good too!). Whether it's for your daily workouts at your neighbourhood gym or a massage at the best spa in town, KFit gets you covered on all things health and wellness.

Day at Kuala Lumpur International Youth Discourse 2017

Kuala Lumpur International Youth Discourse 2017 registration
So last Dec 3rd, 2017, I went to the KL International Youth Discourse (KLIYD) 2017 at the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur. All I had to do to attend was register online and show up at their registration counter on the event day, and receive their goodie bag.
Let's Talk
Delilah MK
Selangor, Malaysia