Working in the Facilities Management Industry

Working in the Facilities Industry

Ladies out there, take note!!! Working in the facilities management is not easy, there’re a few things that you really can’t do, or things that you wish you could do without any help from others, but you can’t. So ladies, you still can change your mind before you’re stuck with the industry. Here are some of my thoughts about working in this industry:

1)      You are not strong enough

Being in the facilities department requires you to do lots of manual labour. Oh this person here needs a chair, or a table, and you have to carry it over. Sure, you have people helping you, you have guys helping you, but I know you wouldn't want to call them every few seconds asking for their help just to carry 1 table or push a chair over. Because you will feel useless when you can’t even handle such simple stuffs?

2)      You can’t work alone

You will always need a team to help you, because you have to do lots of stuffs that you can’t handle alone as a girl. Except for attending meetings, that’s when you’ll feel most powerful. Lol! Other than that, you need people to help you set up things almost every day… You can’t repair doors, you can’t change light bulbs, you can’t set up tables and chairs, you can't carry ladders. That is when you need guys.

3)      You become boyish

When you work with guys, like foreigners, you will become more like “ah bangs” to them? They don’t treat you like a lady, they’ll ask for your help to carry things and stuffs. You’ll wear polo tees and jeans to work, EVERYDAY. Besides, you can't really wear dresses or skirts to work in a all-guys department right? Especially when 24/7 of your working hours are with them.

4)      You forgot how to dress up

You can’t dress up when you’re in tees and jeans. Unless you want to look like a clown with huge pearl necklaces and Chanel earrings while in jeans. Make up will be gone by mid-day because of the sunlight you are exposed to, that comes along with the massive perspiration almost every day. You'll also be too lazy to make up during weekends. And you will start to feel uncomfortable wearing dresses.

5)      You have no time

If you’re working in big organizations that have events almost every day and every other weekend, good luck to you. The only life you have is a working life. Facilities team have to be here to set up before the event starts, have to be around to standby just in case anything happens, and have to be here to tear down the venue after it ends. Basically the facilities team work the longest hours among all the other teams.

6)      You will be smelly

Because of the perspiration every day, you can’t possibly smell good. Not to mention the sudden kitchen or drain pipe burst that you have to deal with.

Of course, there are benefits of working in the industry too. Here are some of the benefits I managed to squeeze out think of:

1)      You’re really comfortable with people from everywhere

You meet people from different nationalities and you work mostly with Malaysians, China men and Bangladeshis. You get really comfortable working with them because they are always helping you and you trust them to get the work done because they are so-knowledgeable and can handle everything. Even electricians can fix door handles and they can mostly do everything.

2)      You become cleverer

You learn all the life hacks. You gain lots of knowledge from working with the men. You know how to change bulbs and reset the DBs if any trips (even though you don’t actually do it, but you've seen the guys do it). You know how to clear a choked sink, you know how to repair torn carpets (with the right tools of course).

3)      You become more independent

You start to become more vocal after meeting all sorts of people, you start to learn to do some easy labour work (bringing tables / chairs around, hanging up posters) alone just so you wouldn't become too “useless” and to minimize the phone calls to the guys for every tiny little thing. Chairs are not too heavy after all.

So.. These are my takes for ladies planning to work in the facilities management industry. But it's really not for most of the girls out there. To me, I think it's not advisable for ladies in the long term. You can't be holding screwdrivers and hand drills around, carrying chairs and pushing trolleys when you are having your period pain or planning for pregnancy after marriage right?