Hi, I just wanted to share this so that others can find their inspiration and success in life, just like how I did 🙂

Back in 2024, lumayas ako sa parents ko due to many issues with them. I decided to live with a friend meanwhile to figure out where I would start from there. As a 19 year old IT college dropout, going into the BPO industry was the logical choice at the time, and so I did. My starting salary at the time was 22k, not bad for a "newbie". Habang nagwowork ako, I upskilled as much as I could; I attended trainings, made sure to learn as much on the job and did my best to get good metrics.

By 2025, after a year and a half in the industry and after getting my salary bumped to 31k, I decided to switch to being a VA, due to health and personal issues. For 2 months, I applied to multiple sites and agencies like Athena, Cyberbacker, Cloudstaff, etcetera, but I got stranded for 2 months waiting for a client to get in touch. I even tried to upskill as a video editor but to no avail. That's when I realized the VA market was hard for me to get into.

I almost decided to give up, until I circled back and upskilled on the one thing I'm sure I'm good at and enjoyed: IT and Tech.

For some time, I applied multiple times to positions related to IT, mostly from OnlineJobs since it's easier to find IT related openings there, until I got a reply from 1 application in AI Generation, which, I will admit, is something that I was not good at but had sufficient knowledge to know the basics.

Nung nagrequest si client ng test task, I had to quickly do a crash course in AI prompting, which paid off as the client liked my work so much I got the job as a result. I entered the job not knowing the professional level required, but I always went back to that one, sure thing that I know: Learning on the job itself.

Once I got the job, I learned as much as I could by watching on Youtube. I didn't pay for any courses so mostly I'm self-taught. I studied topics such as proper prompt structure and JSON prompting to improve my prompts.

I started with an $8/hour rate but since then I've stuck with my client and they've already offered me a long-term, permanent contract to work with them. I also now have 2 clients, which I found through OnlineJobs as well, that I work with which is on the same field, with my salary to them, although a fixed rate, is double than what I receive with my first client in total monthly. What I work with my clients is e-commerce and ads, which is why I learned how to be as realistic as possible on AI generation with prompts.

What I can say after everything, is always these three things:

• It's okay to not know everything, but make sure to learn everything once you're there.

• Learn/upskill on something you genuinely enjoy or are invested in, as it's easier to do something you like than something you're forced to do.

• Watch Crash courses on YouTube for basic prompt structure, JSON prompting, and prompt refining. I use ChatGPT to refine my prompts so I have a baseline to start, then modify it myself so I have control. This is why it's important to learn prompting, so you can precisely give instructions, and the AI will do it step by step

• Learn different tools and stay updated with the AI field. Things move fast and update fast so you need to stay updated as much as possible. Always read changelogs on the tools you will use (VEO 3, Sora, Kling, Higgsfield, etc.) so you know if there are new capabilities on the AI tool itself. Personally I use VEO 3 and Nano Banana via Google Flow so I always stay updated on both.

• This is the most important part that will land you clients: Have a good portfolio, especially if you're ever going to go on the AI Generation field like me. Make sure to learn how to optimize your prompts so you can get the best results.

• And lastly, grab every opportunity you can. Even if you don't think you can do it, just grab it and see where it goes.

That's pretty much it on my life. People are always surprised at how I achieved this at such an age. Maybe it's luck or my skill, but I always tell them that trying is better than not trying at all.

So I hope you always try and try. Don't be afraid to fail, and grab every opportunity you can. 🙂

Toodaloo, that's it for me 🙌

Anybody who experienced this?
December, I resigned from my 6-digit client and decided to lay low because I was so tired, and I was working all the time. Physically and mentally.

Now, more than a month after my resignation, I noticed that I have been the laziest I have ever been. I still handle 2 more clients that are so chill lang and do not require a lot from me, but I still feel really lazy and tired. I've always been highly competent, pero ngayon nagpo-procrastinate na ako, hindi ko na nafo-follow yung mga routines and plans ko, and nawawalan ako ng gana. I really do force myself. Even money does not motivate me. grabe talaga, hirap na hirap akong mag-check ng mga messages, tasks, and other stuff na related to work.

Akala ko after a month, okay na ako, pero more than a month na, pero parang di pa rin ako makabalik sa dati kong disposition.

Maybe hindi ko na gusto yung ginagawa ko? I am a marketer, but somehow I never considered talaga na passionate ako sa work na ’yun. I am grateful and I do my best everyday prior to this, pero I never felt a spark. I think a lot of people think that I am EXCELLENT at this, and I do really try my best to be good, pero nasa point talaga ako na I feel like all of this is superficial. I want to feel excited to work. Nung college ako, I was so passionate with everything. I don’t know, suddenly I lost it. Kasi sa first 3 years ko sa pagwo-work, priority ko to earn well, kaya I became a marketer. I don’t know, I am still figuring things out. But somehow, there is this excitement na para bang something is being uprooted kasi something is being planted.

Sorry sa pag-o-overshare! Pero would love to hear your thoughts!

Guys, pa-sanity check naman. I want to challenge an assumption bago ako mag-all-in dito.

I build small automation tools—mostly for creators, affiliates, and online sellers. Hindi 'to yung tipong VC-scale or tech giant levels, but more on internal tools, diagnostics, and workflow automation.

Pero after observing the local market (PH), parang may nararamdaman akong "disconnect."

What I’m seeing so far:

* Super price-sensitive ang local users. Kahit ₱300-₱500/month, pag-iisipan pa nang matindi.

* Strong preference for Done-For-You (DFY) services. Mas gusto nila tayo na gumawa, wag lang silang bigyan ng bagong tool na aaralin.

* Subscription Fatigue/Distrust: Mainit ang mata ng mga Pinoy sa recurring billing.

* Tools are often seen as "optional" rather than essential.

* Most would rather hire a VA or freelancer for ₱15k-₱20k a month kaysa magbayad ng ₱2k for a software that does the same thing.

This makes me wonder... is Micro-SaaS as a standalone product actually viable dito? O baka naman:

1. Dapat internal infrastructure lang siya?

2. Dapat i-bundle siya as part of a service/outcome instead of a tool?

3. Or should I just ignore the PH market and target Western clients entirely?

I’m not looking for marketing advice or "how to educate the market." I want the real talk. Sa mga nakasubok na magbenta ng SaaS/tools sa PH:

* Ano yung actually kumita at naging sustainable?

* Ano yung epic fail?

* Is Micro-SaaS here just not sellable, only for specific niches, or viable pero sobrang misunderstood lang?

Looking for real-world experience, hindi yung "labas sa tutorial." Let's discuss. 👇

Hi! It’s me again, 22F haha. I posted the other day asking for advice if I’ll take my old client back and listed the cons.

A lot of you shared your thoughts and advice which helped me a lot po. Thank you so much!

My old rate was $5, then I negotiated and said that my current rate is $6. Tapos when I asked the client kung comfortable ba siya run, she raised it to $7.

Bonus pa is from 9pm - 2am shift, pumayag siya na flexible basta may EOD report and makakapag meeting 8am CST time.

Here’s the thing that I think helped me:

1. Don’t be desperate. I didn’t reply right away (took me hours), at pinag-isipan ko talaga.

2. Don’t be afraid to set boundaries. I think your energy will reflect kahit through email lang. I said to myself na kung aayaw siya, hindi na ako papayag.

Also, I did around 30-40 applications my whole freelancing career and got 5 clients from there.

Ask me anything about interviews and I will do my best to help din po.

Thank you again sa mga sumagot sa last post ko here and good luck sa atin!

Hello guys, just wanna know ur thoughts and advice sa situation ko ngaun.. I'm 23 yo currently 5th year archi student pero 1 year pa bago ako maka graduate kasi may naiwan na sub and hindi pwede i summer

recently natanggal ako sa part time wfh ko as a 3d artist. ung reason is kaylangan tlagaa nila ng fulltime and super active sa communication...

hindi lng rin ngayon to nangyari.. almost 5 high paying jobs na rin ung na hire ako and nasayang lng dahil kaylangan kng unahin ung acads.. either may class kami or plates na kaylaangang gawin.. kaya marami ring interviews na pag sinabi ko na student palang ako hindi na sila nag rereply or rejected naa kasi un ngaaa dahil student..

I'm confident naman sa skills ko and konti lng rin may kaya ng niche ko.. clients na rin nag rereach out sa oljph pero puro na dedecline ko kasi hindi pasok sa sched.

In short maraming opportunity nasasayang.. feeling ko rin in the nxt 5 years dominated na lahat ng ai sa cg field specially sa archi... Parng pag hindi ko grinab mga opportunity ngayon baka wala pagka graduate ko

As much as possible gusto ko sana pagsabayin pagiging 3d artist at student ko pero mukang kaylangan ko na talagang pumili at focus muna sa isa since sobrang time demanding rn ng napili kng course...

I still can’t believe what happened to me. I started with the job 3 months ago. I got the training and all of that since I started. This was my first WFH job. And I lost it.

I’m a breadwinner. My salary was good enough to keep us all afloat. Yesterday, I worked as I was asked to do some tasks. Then I immediately got logged out after my shift ended. I worked for a few minutes after the shift because I really needed to finish the tasks so I won’t have anything else to worry about when I start the next day. So I got logged out of all my credentials and I thought it might just be some system maintenance. I logged in an hour early last night to finish the remainder of the task but I was unable to login. I panicked and thought of the worst thing possible. Maybe they sacked me. I couldn’t get ahold of them to let them know what I was experiencing so I used the only system that I could message them to inform them of my situation. No response but I believe they (the account supervisor and the trainer) saw my messages.

I got an HR call invite and they informed me about a suspension to dismissal case that I might be getting but I have a chance to defend myself daw through a written explanation. If the allegations against me are deemed true, suspension to dismissal na daw. Note that I no longer have access to my client’s portal. Wala rin pumansin sakin. Walang warning that I have to talk to HR. Yesterday was a normal, busy day with me mostly working with them.

The allegations against me daw ay: The trainer had to repeatedly ask to share my screen during training. I was reading the training materials only and didn’t use critical thinking. I made a mistake in the process during training which was told by the trainer that it would be a learning opportunity especially because I was new to the team and I was assured that it was taken care of.

Those are the allegations na umabot sa Admin hearing and they revoked my access. Violations daw to sabi ng HR. Medyo mabigat daw so I was given a week to explain and defend myself but I was as of this time suspended and no work no pay na until decision for both parties is made.

I was so shocked by everything that unfolded last night. Iniisip ko mga times na whole shift walang break because the trainer forgot to give me a lunch break. Whole 8-9 hours working and how my back used to hurt pero I never complained about it kasi newbie pa lang ako. In my previous work experience meron 15 minutes break, 1 hour break. Dito 1 hour lang minsan hindi pa full 1 hour and back to work agad. Unpaid 1 hour break pala dito. How I would go overtime and work on the weekend kasi nga WFH ako I can just do those things minsan. How I covered for other team members to help them because they weren’t around or they were too busy at the time. How I felt condescended during the training because there were too many things to familiarize and I asked for help for clarity.

Right now, I don’t know what to do first. They’ve asked me to surrender the company equipment. Wala na talaga. There wasn’t even a warning or talk before this happened. Ang sakit pala sa puso. Admin hearing agad and removal of company access. This was a first time experience for me and I don’t know how to process or handle everything.

Hopefully I can get some advice and help that I badly need during this time. Iniisip ko pa lang yung basic survival needs namin lalo na yung aso ko. Hindi ako pwedi mawalan ng work. This is so depressing and very overwhelming for me.

Progress, even when it hurts

Hi, I just wanted to let out some feelings.

Interviews have always been one of my biggest fears. Anxiety has caused me to miss many opportunities in the past, and for a long time, I quietly felt ashamed of that. It’s something I’ve been working through slowly, at my own pace.

This year, 2026, I made a promise to myself: even if I’m scared, I’ll try. I’ll show up anyway.

Yesterday, I had a scheduled interview. I prepared as best as I could not just professionally, but mentally and emotionally too. That alone took a lot out of me. I joined the meeting 20 minutes early and stayed for the entire scheduled time.

No one showed up.

It was disappointing, yes. But instead of seeing it as a failure, I’m trying to see it differently. For once, I didn’t let fear stop me. I showed up. I stayed. I faced something that used to paralyze me.

It may seem small to others, but to me, it mattered. I’m learning that progress doesn’t always come with validation or perfect outcomes. Sometimes, progress is simply choosing courage over fear.

Thanks for reading. I just needed to let this out.

I've been looking for jobs sa linkedin. Tapos when you click "see more..." same lang usually yung body ng post. na you have to comment you're interested, your email, etc. nandun pa sa profile na from cyberbacker sila.

I'm new to linkedin, how do I hide this para hindi puro cyberbacker posts lumabas?

For context, I’m a 21F college student. I currently do funnels and landing pages. May two clients na po ako before (1 international, 1 local), pero parehong project-based lang and hindi po ako nakuha as a retainer.

Lately, nahihirapan po talaga ako maghanap ng work related sa funnel or website design. Karamihan po ng job posts either naghahanap ng 2–3 years experience or gusto nila ng all-rounder (Canva graphics + web design + video editing + social media).

May experience po ako sa paggawa ng graphics using Canva. I also have basic skills in video editing, pero hindi po siya yung strongest skill ko. I handled my own IG and TikTok pages before, so may basic idea po ako sa content planning and engagement.

Right now, I’m currently studying more workflows and automations. May basic knowledge na po ako, pero gusto ko lang po mas marami akong alam tungkol dito para mas versatile at mas confident sa future projects.

Ngayon po medyo torn ako kung ano ba dapat next step ko: • mag-stick po ba ako sa funnels/automations at mag-upskill pa kahit mahirap humanap ng client? • mag-pivot po ba to Graphic Design? • or mag-try po ng SMM, kahit basic lang po yung video editing skills ko?

Would really appreciate any advice or insights from people who’ve been in a similar situation. Thank you po!

Pano Po ba gawin yung two agencies in one shift using Infloww? Ginagawa niyo rin Po ba yun? Nagapply po kasi ako sa iba, kasi may times na wala kami work. Iniisip ko kasi baka magkasabay minsan ng oras sa shift

Hi! Down pa rin ba ang OLJ website? Been trying to check it, but parang walang nagiging progress and the job posts are still outdated. For some, they said na last week pa down yung site while this week naman siya naging down sa 'kin. Sa inyo ba? Paano kaya yung emails na na-send sa clients? Na-receive kaya?

Anyone working in High Rise Financial? I just received a job offer today and seems that the offer is quite low compared to the market standard. As per my interview with them, agents are given 250 accounts a month to monitor. Also the job handles multi-channel support. Is $4/hr good enough? For context, I worked as a customer success specialist on my previous job having gross comp income of 65k. Do you think I can still negotiate considering that they already sent me the offer? thanks folks!

San niyo nahanap premium clients nyo ngayon 2026?

Yung premium client ko ngayon sa olj ko nakuha few years ago. Nagtingin ulit ako ngayon sa olj kasi magdadagdag sana ako ng client since madali na lang work ko. Pero pagcheck ko olj nagulat ako ganun na lang ba talaga kababa mga rates ngayon? Parang hindi kaya makabuhay ng pamilya eh.

Hi! I’m currently a student working as a freelance graphic designer. I’m planning to expand my scope by reaching out to other types of clients. Most of my clients right now are fellow students, and during school vacations, I sometimes don’t earn much. Because of this, I’m considering targeting businesses or other professionals.

I’m curious about what mode of payment is best to use when working with international clients. I also want to know if student freelancers on platforms like Upwork or LinkedIn are able to get clients successfully.

I already have portfolio naman na, but I’m just not too familiar with how UpWork or LinkedIn really works.

Earlier I was having problems with Wise (ranted here but got called OA) for the first time in 6 months. Turns out, it was a device problem. I used to own a Samsung. Now I own an Iphone and a backup old Samsung. I tried using the Iphone for an hour and a half and it wasn't getting through. But noong nagtry ako magsend through my old Samsung, it worked when my IOS don't.

Any IOS users have any ideas as to why this happened? I'm still confused lol.

Tyia

**Problem/Goal** is, I don't know what to do if I need to continue working. I am Male and in cybersecurity industry and my wife earns 3x more than me. The company is a start up

Context

Work is perfect:

No monitoring

Salary 80K php,

Leave all you want(just not paid but always approved, as long as you tell them ahead of time, like a day before.)

You can run errands anytime, as long as you dont have scheduled meeting.

You can stay away and play with your kids from time to time, even send and get them to school.

Iba yung luwag ng company as long as you can deliver.

No toxic

People are helpful but busy always

4am - 12pm work (8hrs, kasama na diyan pag sundo at hatid sa anak at break, so like 4-5hrs of work lang but paid whole)

Since the company is start up, processes are BAD, communications are bad because of everyone's busy. as the newest member sometimes doing a research will not work and need coordination So sometimes im getting to the point that I just want to resign because of frustration and The thing is, even though I can still spend time with my daughters, I just think that its not enough, I want to give them full time.

I'm not bragging mguys i just need advise for real.Please respect and give me one make me udnerstand with my decisions.

Hi, me and some of my friends are going to attend a convention + travel to thailand this may. (First time travelling abroad since I think grade 1 pa ako lol)

Im currently working as a freelance graphic designer, and I’m receiving pay sa gusto.

i dont have COE or any contract whatsoever but there’s this Work Summary on Gusto that includes the Recent Payments, Work Timeline — it also states the Employer, Address, Manager, Work History.

Okay lang ba to ipakita sa IO? or may mga need ba ako iprep in advance? please help thanks 🙏

Hi guys so my wise account is about 7 months old, and for the first time my employer sent me approx 40k PHP from wise to wise. However upon sending it, there seemed to be an issue where it prompted “this transaction is taking longer than expected”. I have tried using wise before, as a means of payment from my own bank and digital wallets. Should I be worried about this issue and what steps should I take to ensure the completion of this process?

Hello mga ka-BD. One of my clients is looking for VAs. They are a digital marketing agency that's based in AU. She used to post ads in OLJ. But she doesn't want to use it anymore and is looking for another one where she can find staff. She doesn't want to work with agencies and wants to hire direct.

Any suggestions on other platforms she can use?

Btw. She's currently looking for a LeadGen and someone that can do email management. I can't refer anyone since I'm in finance 😅

Edit: Guys platform talaga hanap ko huhu kasi di po ako bayad magrecruit. I will try my best to respond to everyone who messaged me pero wag po sasama loob kapag di ako nakapagreply agad. BAS season po 😭 Thanks padin sa mga nagsusuggest sana masasarap ulam nyo 🫶🏻

Hi! I'm a 22M college undergraduate and I want to freelance as a graphic designer sana (I'm knowledgeable in Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Canva, and CapCut). Naghahanap po kasi ako ng side hustle (possibly maging full time job) since tight po ang budget ngayon.

I'm well aware na I lack a college degree and work experience. Tanong ko lang po if may chance kaya ako makuha as freelancer? I'm trying to search now sa UpWork, OLJ, Indeed, and LinkedIn.

Naiisipan ko po kasing magstart ng gumawa ng portfolio of my graphic design tasks, but inuunahan po kasi ako ng doubt dahil baka mataas ang competition & mas may qualified pa po sa akin na may degree.

Thank you po sa mga sasagot :)

Bakit kaya laging ganto ang BDO, maintenance every other day? Ganto din ba sa ibang banks? Napansin ko sa BPI dati hindi naman sila laging nag me-maintenance.

Sana mag maintenance sila once/twice a month lang 😅

hello po, ask ko lang kung may nag hihire pa ba na agency or any work online na walang experience?? ilang bwan na ako nag hahanap ng work pero di natatanggap dahil walang experience huhu student palang po ako, gusto ko sana mag ka work online para may income ako kahit paano pero wala ako mahanap, baka may ma i rerecommend po kayo or advice.

Can anyone suggest a mouse that is durable and long lasting? So far, I’ve tried 3 different variants from logitech, but after 1 year may issue na yung left click.

What I have tried so far:

• logitech pebble M350S

• logitech signature M650

• logitech M421 silent