Many things have already been said about the secret to success. But for Gilbert Brian Baysic, an overseas Filipino worker for 14 years, success is the result of one’s preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
Gilbert reached the pinnacle of success after delivering consistency and dedication to his profession in the oil and gas business for many years.
Early days
Hailing from Urbiztondo in Pangasinan, the strong-willed and dedicated Filipino graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 2001. When he took the board examination during the same year, he did not pass.
This forced him to work as a draftsman, his first paying job, in Las Pinas, Metro Manila, for about a year.
Later on, he resigned and worked in their town in Pangasinan. There, he invested in a business and started Baysic Motor Parts, which operated from 2003 to 2008. Due to the nature of the business, many motorcycle riders invite him to join them on rides. On one of their rides, Gilbert was involved in a motorcycle accident, sustaining broken fingers and multiple bruises. His accident led him into bankruptcy.
“It was an intricate part of my family’s lives,” he said, adding that it came to a point when they couldn’t even buy milk formula for their kids.
“It brought me to tears,” he added.
However, the situation did not stop Gilbert from continuing in battle in life. Since he is an electrical engineer graduate, he decided and discussed with his wife if he could work overseas.
Excelling in career
He thought it was straightforward for him to apply overseas back then. He found himself creating a CV online until he received a call from an agency in Manila informing him that he was shortlisted for an electrical QC engineer job bound for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In September 2008, he was off on a new journey in Saudi Arabia, where he worked for almost three years before receiving a job offer from an international agency to be supplied as an electrical QC inspector in one of the biggest oil and gas projects in Kazakhstan in 2001.
After working on the project for 10 months, Gilbert moved to New Caledonia in 2012 to work on a mining project as an electrical QC inspector. There, he worked for six months only due to the ahead schedule of project completion.
In 2012, he was contacted by the Bureau of Veritas in Abu Dhabi to fill their vacancy as electrical QC inspector for Gasco and Takreer Gas Plants. The in-demand engineer resigned after getting another job opportunity in Turkmenistan for the same work.
After his five-month stint in Turkmenistan, Gilbert took specialty training as an explosives area inspector of oil and gas, mining, and petrochemicals in Singapore. Luckily, he passed the competency training, which brought him further to vast opportunities as an OFW.
Because of his dedication to work, Gilbert received job offers from leading oil and gas companies worldwide.
Presently, he got a permanent job in Madagascar as a plant electrical compliance inspector for the operation and maintenance of cobalt and nickel production.
Facing ups and downs and how to overcome them
Despite having a solid career as OFW, he, too, faced many ups and downs in life.
“I have a lot of memories of inevitable Pinoy crab mentalities and inggitan. The word like hindi naman lisensyadong engineer bakit may mataas na sweldo, hindi marunong those kinds of stuff, which brings me to tears. I said to myself, ganito pala ang abroad, akala ko masarap,” he said.
“But I am a fighter! I used all that negative comments as a challenge to become a good worker and a better person in the field I have chosen overseas,” he added.
When asked about his secret to saving up money while working overseas, Gilbert shared five tips: 1) Always think of the future; 2) Set goals for yourself and your family; 3) Pamper yourself, but don’t overspend more than what you earn; 4) Learn how to say no; and 5) Invest on assets, not on liabilities.
Aside from being an OFW, he is also a part-owner of G&A Auto Parts Trading and the newly established Gibert’s Auto Car Center. Gilbert, who has a passion for motorcycles and cars, is also a hobbyist and a vlogger.
He is also the founder of a car group called United Chevrolet Trailblazer Owners Group of the Philippines and the group in Facebook Quality Control Inspectors.