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Leena Haider

Kindergarten Teacher

What are your challenges at work?

Most industries at the moment are plagued by pretty similar challenges, such as extreme competition, lack of positions, poor compensation or a combination of all three. When I was first looking for a job, and I must have applied to hundreds, it was during the height of the covid pandemic, and opportunities were far few. I got back quite a few responses, but most places were offering such awful employment packages that I was ready to give up. Luckily, it’s gotten much better now that the pandemic is nearing its end, and the future of job-hunting doesn’t look as bleak.

What attracted you to the company?

Actually, I’d already received a job offer at an international school and was supposed to begin soon when a friend of mine reached out to me regarding a vacancy at the school she was employed at. I preferred the working hours and salary package at my friend’s school, so I decided to go for that instead.

What is the key to making you successful in the internship and getting to your current job?

Ironically, my internship was completely unrelated to my current job. During my internship, I worked as a scriptwriter for another Stamford alumni’s highly successful YouTube channel; meanwhile, now I’m a kindergarten teacher, so they’re in two entirely different industries with not much overlap in between.

Does your degree equip you with the skills required by your job?

Working in Thailand, it’s good to have some understanding of the country’s mannerisms and how to interact with the locals. While it wasn’t specifically related to my degree, my time at Stamford did help me with learning the intricacies of different cultures and classes like Cross-Cultural Communication and activities organized by the student clubs provided further insight. 

What are the challenges you face in your job? How do you overcome them?

Honestly, most challenges, for me, tend to come from management structures and the general bureaucracies that come from working within any organization. There is no real incentive or motivation for you to push yourself in the role, everything is very stagnant, and while the older employees have gotten used to the endless monotony of doing the same thing over and over again, as a fairly young graduate, it does get a bit discouraging. 

To overcome the challenges, we had to view the issues from all facets, explain the issues to all parties in detail, and then brainstorm the possible solutions, including both pros and cons. Next, we select the most logical solutions, and if it works, then we’re good to go; if not, we continue to use the solutions from the brainstorming. 

Is there any advice you would give current students about academics or life at STIU in general?

Life as a university student and a working, tax-paying member of society are different experiences that you can’t even compare the two. So enjoy your time in uni because it’s all an uphill battle once you leave.