For many Filipinos, working as an OFW seems like a way out to life’s hardships and difficulties. But this shouldn’t be the case. Becoming an OFW should be an informed choice, and part of it requires understanding why it’s a good or a bad choice for you.
ALSO READ: 6 Things to Do to Deal with Homesickness
Unfortunately, many Filipinos only look at the good side of working overseas which is fairly obvious because of the higher pay, new environment, and exposure to new people and cultures. But what they fail to see is equally important because this would better prepare a person for what’s actually to come once they start working as one.
6 Reasons Why You Should Not Become an OFW
In this post, we will list down six important reasons for you not to become an OFW, or at least the qualities you need to work on should you wish to pursue a career as one:
Don’t be an OFW if:
#1 You simply do not know your options at the moment.
The worst decisions (or at least most of the bad ones) happen when we do not fully understand our situation and the options that are available to us given our circumstances. It’s important to understand that becoming an OFW is just an important decision as getting married or choosing which career path to take. That said, making this decision should be given more thought with due consideration of other related points that we will discuss as follows.
#2 You cannot give your 100% commitment to it.
If we are to liken becoming an OFW to entering a relationship or pursuing a career, then we can say that all these things will require our 100% commitment. It’s setting our minds and hearts to it that you will stand by and push through with this decision no matter the cost.
#3 You’re not willing to put in the effort and hard work required.
Once you’ve ascertained your commitment, your effort and quality of work will simply follow. Unfortunately, for those who do not understand these things and only look at the perks of being an OFW, they might be disappointed to find out that there’s no easy way to earn money as an OFW because the amount of work and effort are just commensurate to the amount they earn.
#4 You’re not used to getting things done all by yourself.
Some people get culture-shocked once they start working as an OFW because they’re not used to doing things all by themselves. If you’re not independent enough to cook, clean, and pay your bills all by yourself then you will need to seriously think about your decision and start learning these things anyway.
#5 You do not have the mental and emotional tenacity it requires.
Apart from living independently, most of the time, you will find yourself alone, and thinking back about your life back home. When this happens, you will need to stay mentally and emotionally strong. Learning how to cope and adapt to unfamiliar situations and feelings are some of the important things you will need to learn as an OFW.
#6 You can’t step out of your comfort zone.
As an OFW, there will be difficult days ahead and if you’re prepared to face these days head-on, you will find yourself moving out of your comfort zone most of the time. But if you’re not sure if you can do that then you will need to re-evaluate yourself as to whether or not this is the path that you would like to take in the long run.
To summarize, working as an OFW is no easy thing. Just like parenthood, you can’t prepare for everything ahead of time and know exactly what to do in certain situations, but your willingness to learn and commitment to adapt will spell the difference between failure and success as an OFW and as a person, in general.
ALSO READ: 5 Tips to Boost Your Chances of Getting Hired Abroad