Maria Luzon – Administrative Assistant

Hello! I am Maria Joselle V. Luzon, you can call me Joselle. I live in the Philippines and I am 24 years old. I officially graduated with a degree in Computer Science from the University of the Philippines Mindanao last July 2021. Back in college, I have always thought that life will be easy after graduation since I already suffered at the university, and I lived in an imagination that I will be working in a certain corporate job, get promoted, and live a comfortable life. But reality will always find its way to hit you. I never thought that working away from my family will give me a package of stress, financial issues, and a destroyed lifestyle. Because of that, it has always been my desire to work from home.

During the pandemic, I started out working as a Legal Secretary for my sister, who is a lawyer. I write and file documents, schedule all appointments, call clients, and organise the notary documents, financial statements, etc. After graduation, an opportunity to work as a research assistant came along. It was a big decision for me because it will push me back and live in the city. But I took the risk and grabbed the opportunity. At first, I was so happy working because I started the job working remotely. I was traveling back and forth if there is an important meeting. Then stress came along from working too hard and all the traveling. I was then diagnosed with Endometriosis. Because of my illness, I was not sleeping well and had undergone medication. I decided to end my contract.

Then an opportunity to join a training for people who wants to work from home came along. It was a 2-week training where participants can choose a certain skill. I chose the Accounting and Bookkeeping training. At first, I was not able to adapt because the training was adjusted to the prospective client’s time zone. I was able to adjust and learned that being in a work-from-home setup needs a lot of discipline and patience. Discipline is always needed when we are learning and patience is for the waiting game for clients.

After months of job hunting, I also discovered that I have other skills also. Since I am a computer science graduate, I can do a lot of things. Information technology is one of my greatest skills. I have the ability to manage a website, make a website and even manage a database. With my experience during my legal secretary stint, my skills in email management, phone management, data entry, formatting documents and etc., were honed. As I was a research assistant, the more I was engaged with a bigger group of people, clients, and partners, the more my administrative skills were honed. I also knew how to make personal reminders, reservations, planning, etc.

I know that working at home is very different from being at an office, but I know that working on my own is the best for me, for my condition, and mental health. My goal is to expand my career, get more skills, and get better at it. Not just to earn money but also to help other people.

For a copy of Maria’s resume please click here.