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All it takes to be a charismatic leader

2010-04-28T06:03:00.000-07:00

Most of the greatest leaders in history possessed a star quality that drew others to them. Churchill, Napoleon and Martin Luther King had a magnetism which is often easier to identify than to explain. The Greeks were the first to notice this. They named it ‘Kharisma’, which referred to a rare trait including extreme charm along with innate and powerfully-sophisticated communication and persuasive skills.

In our contemporary society, where people are buying brands and personalities, over products, charisma continues to be as important as it used to be during the early Greek era. Corporations, large and small, understand that success begins at an individual level.

They realise that charismatic leaders are the ones who are able to connect with subordinates and with customers at a deeper level, creating memorable experiences for them. They acknowledge that it is not just operational abilities, but charisma that would differentiate in the longer term.

So, what does it take to be a charismatic leader?

At a very peripheral level, charismatic leaders have three attributes, according to psychologist Richard Wiseman — they feel emotions themselves quite strongly, they induce them in others and they are impervious to the influences of other charismatic people. They are characterised by:

A Bold Viewpoint

Charismatic leaders almost always have a view of the future that will excite people and convert them to followers. They talk about bold and lofty visions and share a dream and direction that other people want to share and follow.

Persuasive Speaking

Charismatic leaders not only walk the talk, but they even talk the talk, meaning they embrace every opportunity to convince others towards their vision. They always make it a point to speak in such a way as to create trust and personal integrity.

Silent Message

Charismatic leaders, through every one of their actions, send out the right signals. They consciously act in ways that make others feel great in their presence. They let people know that they matter and that they enjoy being around them; through their upright posture, direct eye contact, genuine smile and firm handshake. They always make an effort to appear enthusiastic and passionate through their body language and articulate speech.

Strong Commitment

Charismatic leaders are always visible and will stand up to be counted rather than hide behind their troops. They make continued efforts to motivate and rally their followers, constantly doing the rounds, listening, soothing and enthusing. It is their unswerving commitment as much as anything else that keeps people going, particularly through the darker times when some may question whether the vision can ever be achieved.

(The author is a leadership expert from the LSE and the founder of LeadCap)

Article courtesy of Economic Times.

CEOs can be paid higher with govt nod

2010-04-20T03:31:00.000-07:00

The corporate affairs ministry on Monday told the Rajya Sabha that companies can pay higher salaries to the top brasses after getting approval from the government under the existing Act.

"The companies may pay more than the prescribed ceiling to their CEOs who are holding board-level positions with the approval of the Central government as per the provisions of the Companies Act of 1956," corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid said in a written reply to the Upper House.

He said the Act prescribes that the total managerial remuneration to be paid to a board-level CEO of a company having only one whole-time director or a manager is 5 per cent of the profit of the company. In case, a company has more than one whole-time directors or managers, then the salary is limited to 10 per cent of the profit.

A few years back, a heated debate was triggered off whether the government should impose restrictions on companies to pay salaries to CEOs. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later allayed these fears.

Article courtesy of Economic Times.

How to differentiate between a fake job offer and a real one

2010-04-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

Mahadevan had a diploma in Hotel Management from a renowned institute in Delhi. This 24-year-old native of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, had completed two years as a receptionist in the front office department of a mid-range Delhi hotel catering to overnight business travelers.

The young man was restless because he worked in a 14- hour shift and had no savings. He was unable to get into any of the Five Star establishments where the pay was better and the opportunities for promotion were far greater than where he was. On checking his email one fine day, he saw a job offer from a well-known three-star English hotel chain. The email contained a list of jobs including Front Office Assistants.

This was just up Mahadevan’s street! His own qualifications and job experience matched the requirements. Not just that, the salary was in British pounds. Calculating the exchange rate he found the amount to be far above anything he had ever imagined. Two meals and accommodation were also on offer. Excitedly, he completed the attached application form and sent it back, along with his resume.

The very next day he received another mail telling him that he had been selected for the position he had applied for. The mail contained a two year contract letter on the Hotel Group’s letterhead laying out the terms and conditions. The contract was to be printed out, signed and returned. The mail also asked him to make a Western Union wire transfer of Rs 66,000 to a UK account.

The money was required to pay for the processing fee, air ticket, work permit and visa fees. The mail also informed him that the vacancy had to be filled urgently, and therefore he had to make the transfer within the next six days or else the job would go to another candidate. Mahadevan then borrowed money from one of his hotel colleagues. Two lengthy phone calls to his father and an uncle ensured that the balance money was in his bank account.

Withdrawing the whole amount the young man hopeful visited the nearest Western Union branch where he transferred the money to the account number mentioned in the email. Along with the money went Mahadevan’s hopes and dreams of a bright future. Two months of frantic phone calls to the UK numbers given in the emails (which did not exist anyway); visits and calls to the British High Commission in New Delhi and unanswered emails finally brought to him the fact that he had been conned. He also had a debt to repay.

Keeping the present economic scenario in mind, companies in every sector are once again open to recruiting candidates.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, fraudsters have created a sudden burst in the number of fake job offers. Unemployed youngsters who are in dire need of work have become extremely vulnerable to such fraudulent mails.

Several organisations have fallen prey to daring attempts by swindlers who cheat the youth.

Perpetrators generally misrepresent themselves as acting on behalf of companies to offer fictitious employment opportunities.

Although the affected companies are trying to control the situation through various measures, it is very difficult to detect and intervene in every such case.

“Fake job offers are a worrying occurrence. With major changes in the current economic environment, there are primarily three reasons contributing to the rise of such offers.

First, the slowdown prevented many young graduates from bagging job offers.

Second, a lot of people also lost jobs during this period of economic volatility.

And third, companies in all sectors which were earlier extremely conservative in their recruitment, have now announced their hiring plans which are eagerly awaited and anticipated.

Against this backdrop, fraudsters have found an opportunity to exploit,” says Ravi Shankar B, senior VP & HR head, India operations, HCL Technologies.

Ajay Trehan, CEO, AuthBridge, a background screening company elucidates, “Now that businesses have begun to hire again, many organisations are scouting for talent and some of them are hiring in large numbers. These two factors have given fraudsters an ideal opportunity to make some quick bucks out of unsuspecting job seekers, particularly in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.”

“Today, candidates looking for white collar jobs come from varied backgrounds. Unlike graduates from Tier-1 colleges, they are unaware of the recruitment processes and easily fall prey to fake job offers. Such fake jobs are most common in overseas job offerings,” opines Anu Parthasarthy, founder & CEO, Global Executive Talent.

Verifying the authenticity of such mails can help in curbing such crimes. To top it all, often at times, the offer looks extremely promising and prompts an immediate response from the victim. In such cases, what role can HR play in curbing this menace? “HR managers who are in touch with students and teachers in academic institutions must actively spread the word. Students must also be alert and should check the authenticity of offers; and share information only if they are convinced about the veracity of the company,” adds Shankar.

“The mode of recruitment should be clearly mentioned on the company portal and HR managers should make sure that the company uses authentic mediums for recruitment. They can ask candidates to post their resumes on the company portal and should preferably conduct interviews at the company premises. In addition, for the recruitment process, they should hire only reputed HR consultants,” says Sunil Goel, director, GlobalHunt India.

Today, there are no stringent laws for cyber criminals in place in India yet. Hence, the general approach is to set up a special section on the company’s website warning about the recruitment fraud, how to detect it and report it.

Whatever the route, it is imperative for organisations to intervene in such cases and ensure their reputation is not maligned by such fraudulent practices.

Article courtesy of Economic Times.

IBM to help small tech cos

2010-04-07T01:26:00.001-07:00

Small technology entrepreneurs have more support coming their way. Global software maker International Business Machines (IBM) said it would provide access to research, sales, marketing and technical skills to very early-stage companies, who register on the Global Entrepreneurship Programme.

Entrepreneurs, who are building software in areas such as energy solutions, healthcare and efficient use of water, will have access to the IBM network of 40 innovation centres across the globe.

Article courtesy of Economic Times.

Ranbaxy to hire 1,500 on expansion to push sales

2010-04-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Ranbaxy Laboratories will hire nearly 1,500 marketing executives, expanding its sales team by at least 50%, to spur sales and regain its rank as India’s top drugmaker.

The recruitment push is among the biggest by an Indian drugmaker in recent years, and will be led by India chief executive officer Yugal Sikri, two persons familiar with the pharma company’s plans said.

“Ranbaxy is looking at new rural markets and deeper penetration in interior markets,” said one person who is involved in the hiring. The company plans to hire mostly medical representatives, regional managers and area managers by July to boost sales in the rural markets, he said.

Globally, Ranbaxy, owned by Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo, employs over 12,000 people spread across 46 countries, says the company’s website.

Pharma analysts said Ranbaxy’s aggressive hiring push is also a sign that the company is turning its gaze inwards after problems overseas, especially in the US. The company has run into a spate of patent battles over generic drugs there and its Indian manufacturing units have been under the US drug regulator’s scanner.

And in India, Ranbaxy has been trailing Mumbai-based Cipla since mid-2007. Cipla rode to the top of the Rs 40,000-crore Indian drug retail market with a bigger product portfolio.

Ranbaxy’s sales team of nearly 3,000, which appears slender compared with its rivals and focuses mainly on metros and bigger cities, is also said to be a key reason to keep pace with rivals.

In contrast, Cipla has 5,000 and GlaxoSmithKline 4,000 in their sales teams. Even a mid-sized firm like Mankind Pharma has 6,000 people to push sales. Mankind, among the country’s fastest growing companies, has benefited immensely from sales in rural market and small cities.

A drug company’s field force is crucial to sales because prescription drugs cannot be advertised. Products are typically promoted by local medical representatives through doctors, chemists and hospitals who urge them to prescribe or use their brands over rival drugs.

At Rs 10,000 crore, hospitals and healthcare institutions is a market drugmakers cannot ignore. Ranbaxy will up the ante on hospital and institutional sales, said the second person, an industry watcher familiar with the company’s plan.

“Ranbaxy may create a separate division for hospital and institutional sales, ” he said. Ranbaxy declined to comment. Global CEO and MD Atul Sobti said in February the Gurgaon-based drugmaker would soon roll out a project named Viraat for the domestic market.

“Increase in affordability and accessibility of healthcare have made rural India an attractive and key growth segment,” said Vijay Zutshi, associate director (healthcare) at research firm Synovate. The pricing, distribution and marketing strategy in rural areas is very different from metros, he said.

Emerging markets such as India, Russia, China and Brazil will be the main growth drivers for pharma companies, say analysts. These markets are estimated to grow by 15% annually over the next few years compared with stagnant or low single-digit growth in developed markets such as the US and some European countries.

Article courtesy of Economic Times.

Happy 1st Birthday, High Tea Sessions!

2010-03-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

Today our rocking feature: High Tea, has just turned one year old. It has had a smashing first year, and for that we’d like to say a big thank you to you all for making it happen.

In our first year of High Tea sessions, we’ve had 31 sessions of live chat on career growth. Top HR heads have chatted with candidates and answered their queries for one straight hour. The feedback received on these sessions has been overwhelming and appreciative.

Stay tuned for more sessions! Keep High Tea sessions alive and happening.

11th plan aims to create 58 mn new jobs: Govt

2010-03-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

The government said 58 million new job opportunities are likely to be created during the 11th Five year plan (2007-12), thanks to various steps including three stimulus packages since December 2008.

Replying to a supplementary during the Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said employment is projected to grow at an average rate of 2.73 per cent annually.

He informed the House that the government has released Rs 27,368.76 crore till April-January period of 2009-10 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Similarly, in other employment generation schemes like Swarnajayanti Swarozgar Yojna and Shahari Rozgar Yojna, the government has been making funds available to different states to create new job opportunities.

On whether the government would give unemployment allowance to youths, Kharge said, "As of now there is no such plan."

Article courtesy of Economic Times.

5 sectors that will see fast hiring this year

2010-03-03T04:04:00.000-08:00

The days of fear surrounding job markets are now almost over. It has been about two years since economic crunch started affecting both big corporations and small companies with the first casualty being hiring, followed by a squeeze in training budgets.

The Ivy League B-schools in the country, IIMs, XLRI, XIMB, all faced the heat and the famous starting salaries showed a big drop.

Other smaller institutes across the country struggled to place their students. But finally, as companies start freezing their plans for the coming season, hiring seems to be back on the agenda.

Based on the current market trends, here’re some sectors which are likely to see robust hiring this year:

1) Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)

Till 2007 almost 53% of the new hiring took place in this space and it was also the sector which was hit big time in the last season on account of lower credit off-take and the overall recessionary sentiment around it.

“The sector is now witnessing between 8 and 10 new players (health insurance, general insurance, NBFCs, and banking entities). This, coupled with a depressed hiring over the last year and announcement of over one lakh vacancies in the PSU banks, is likely to fuel hiring,” says Alok Bansal, CEO, Alethia Education Services.

Some of the private sector players such as Yes Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI, SCB are back in the market looking for young workforce. Most insurance companies are also in the fray and are changing the way they looked at hiring in the past.

Hiring talent from tier 2 and tier 3 cities is also on the rise. They believe that it will help them reach these towns easily and also help in managing attrition. New players, especially in the health insurance segment and with their aggressive targets, are likely to fuel hiring growth here.

2) BPOs/KPOs

A sector largely hit by the recessionary trends and the near collapse of the US economy had put a freeze on hiring.

“The same sector in the hay days hired from every possible place and background fuelling a mushrooming of the placement and training business and also ensured that the overall entry level salaries showed an unexpected and irrational jump. This is the sector which also is back in action in terms of recruitments. Some of the bigger BPOs like Genpact, IBM etc have once again announced a carefully-drawn plan to hire,” informs Mr Bansal.

The list of KPOs operating in India has also shown an expected jump. Companies in their bid to retain their share of the outsourcing market have upgraded their setups and are now gradually moving up the value chain. More and more companies are looking at young engineering and other technical graduates to beef their teams to provide high end knowledge services to their clients, be it the stock analysis, GPRS, high-end business analytics, financial modeling or forex trading. This sector is back at the campuses.

3) Telecom

Despite 3G spectrum auction playing hide and seek, this segment has grown at an unexpected pace over the past five years.

It is believed that some turmoil caused by consolidation in the industry is now settled and companies in this space, be it the Bharti group, Vodafone, Reliance.

Tata, Idea or others, are now back in the hiring mode. The expansion of the enterprise solutions, fixed line and others telecom products is seeing an upswing.

It is believed that these companies are expected to move to the tier 2 and tier cities to keep up with their hiring targets.

4) Manufacturing, Engineering & Construction

Depressed sentiment notwithstanding, the auto sector continued to shake the old way of thinking. A never-seen-before scenario in terms of insatiable demand has been witnessed. An increasing number of players entered the market and have announced plans to set up manufacturing base in India.

“This is likely to set off a chain reaction. Besides, popular names like Maruti, Tata and Hyundai hiring their ancillary units are likely to step up the demand and higher recruitment is forecasted. Engineering and construction have also been showing very positive signs in terms of consumption and the customer sentiment. A consolidation in the cement sector, a huge order book by companies like L&T, an increasing interest in mining, large scale construction and pressure of completion of the pending projects is likely to see a substantial jump in this segment,” says Mr Bansal.

5) ITeS

The blue eyed boys of the bourses, the software companies continued to manage contracts from other countries. The commendable handling of the Satyam saga and the increasing respect for the talent pool in India saw a substantial number of projects being handled in India.

Besides the general software development, a large chunk of the specialized software development work in telecom, mobile applications and space technology is now being handled out of India.

Some bigwigs like TCS and Infosys have already announced hiring in large numbers. This coupled by other companies is likely to bring back hiring to the golden era of 2006-7.

Overall, despite the ups and downs the economy is facing, India has managed to emerge as a stable, high-growth economy and has been able to gain faith from the world in terms of the story it offers. This, coupled by the young population, is likely to fuel growth in recruitments.

Article courtesy of Economic Times.

3 best-paying jobs

2010-02-24T02:04:00.000-08:00

This is a competitive job market, and unless you’re actively looking for ways to maximize your potential, you will not have that extra edge over other candidates or stand out as a must-keep employee. To begin a good career, one must first choose the right industry. It is always an added plus to be hardworking and reliable, but you also want to roll in the dough.

Here is a list of the three best-paying jobs in the fastest growing industries:

1. Network system jobs/ Data Communication Analysts jobs – This category would also include jobs such as web designing, analyzing, testing and assessing systems for maximum performance. As computers and the internet have only become a more integral part of our lives, it has brought with it an increase of over 50% more jobs.

To get into this industry, a bachelor’s degree is generally a must-have. Some courses are only two years in total. If you’re pressed for time, you may want to look into such courses as a two-year degree in computer science, IT or other such related fields.

2. Dentist jobs/ Dental hygiene jobs – The job of a dentist, and those in this industry can be quite diverse and can range from the upkeep of patients’ teeth and gums to more modern aspects such as cosmetic dentistry, etc.

This industry grown by 30.1% since 2006. To get into this industry, you may want to look into an associate’s degree or a certificate in dental care/ hygiene.

3. Computer/ software engineer jobs – Tying in with point one, thanks to computers and the internet become a critical and integral part of our lives, this industry has picked up exponentially. This industry alone has seen a 44.6% increase in their job availability. This has been predicted to last until 2016.

To get into this industry, you may want to look into a bachelor’s degree in software engineering, computer science, etc. Having work experience on your side, helps too.

"One pay hike comin up!"

2010-02-18T23:10:00.000-08:00

On the 22nd of October, Economic Times posted an article on pay hikes in the coming year. Apparently a survey showed that “companies in Asia are set to offer bigger pay rises next year as the region continues to rebound from the global recession’ and that too, ‘notably in India where base salary levels are poised to jump nearly 10%.”

According to a survey by Hewitt Associates, “salaries in Indonesia and China will also surge by 8.7% and 6.7%, respectively, whereas workers in Japan can expect a paltry 2.1% pay rise”.

This survey covered over 2,000 local as well as joint venture companies in the Asia-Pacific area. Hewitt said that “salaries — or annual guaranteed pay — this year in Asia’s fast-growing economic powerhouses, China and India, at 4.5% and 6.3%, respectively, were the lowest since 2005.”

“Salaries barely grew at all in Hong Kong and Japan, this year as companies cut staff. More than 60% of companies surveyed in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore froze wage levels, compared with only 26.1% in India and 30.8% in China.”

“Next year, only 6% of companies in India and 8.3% in China expect to freeze pay compared with 12-14% of companies in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.”

So, it looks like it’s just about party time for us in the Indian market! The recession is on its way out and pay hikes will be all the rage in just a few short months. Hold on to your seats! Here comes your salary hike.

Has 2010 brought a hiring boom in India?

2010-02-10T01:38:00.000-08:00

Mr Elston Pimenta, HR Head, Cybage Software Pvt. Ltd. hosted a Live Chat session on the possible hiring boom in India in 2010. It was organized by TimesJobs on Jan 20th, 2010.

Some highlights/ excerpts of the chat are as follows:

“Recruiters need to be innovative all the time by looking for cost – effective ways of hiring. Some suggestions:

1.Check ROI carefully.

2. Use referral systems.

3. Network.

4. Have strong internal databases.

5. Keep in touch with all the past applicants/ employees.

6. Use sites to attract attention of prospective candidates, etc.”

Other highlights of advice that Mr. Pimenta gave to candidates include:

“Branding is vital for any firm. Work on this aspect and grow through networking.”

“Look at how “employable” you are at the moment. It has always been a challenge and it will always remain so. That is the “spice” of work-life. If you have kept abreast with technology advancements, you will not face a problem.”

“Unfortunately a boom is never forever. It will iron out in due course of time as…the “demand” and “supply” stabilize.”

“Do not compromise on quality and at all times maintain internal equity first, before being influenced by the industry.”

To read the complete chat transcripts, click here.

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Salary hikes predicted for 2010!

2010-02-04T03:07:00.000-08:00

Good news is back as it looks like salary hikes will be used by HR managers as a technique to retain their work-force, and reward their employees for sticking with the organization during the financial market-slump.

Recently, livemint.com published an article in which they estimated that in 2010, industry-wise salary hikes could likely be as:

“Auto/ auto components, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals – 12%
Information technology/ telecom – 11%
Financial services, manufacturing – 10%
Others – 9%”

They quoted their source for these findings, as: Mercer India Monitor – October to December 2009.

There are reports that some companies are planning to up the pay hike till as much as a 20% increase. “Brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, for instance, plans to give an average raise of 20% to its 1,250 employees in April. Sudhir Dhar, head of human resources (HR), said most brokerages would offer 15-20% increments as the business was doing well on the back of robust stock markets.” livemint.com said.

While employers and HR managers get busy with assessing current salary packages and industry pay-norms, employees are silently rejoicing. This upcoming pay-hike will make up for the lack of increments they have been facing over the last year and some change, as well as tide them over in the rising inflation.

However, it may be as a preemptive measure, that companies are promising such generous salary-hikes. With the market boom rearing its promising face, organizations are steeling themselves for the expected oncoming attack of attrition. Employers realize that for the want of a small salary hike, their talented employees may just switch jobs. Hence, they are willing to provide their employees with this awaited increment.

How far will you go to 'eat' that problem?

2010-01-29T01:12:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a friend of mine just yesterday. In the course of our discussion came up the topic of Customer Service Jobs and how taxing they must be when one is faced with an irate customer.

Luckily, when working at a BPO job, I had never been faced with an angry client, but the reality is there, and one always has the chance of seeing it first hand, as happened when I was visiting a restaurant yesterday.

The restaurant was swarmed with people, and the atmosphere was noisy. A table in the absolute corner had ordered – and paid for – a plate of vegetarian paneer tikka. Instead, they’d been served chicken tikka. Oddly enough, they ate halfway through the plate of it before realizing it was most definitely not paneer tikka. With irritation that could’ve won an audition for some of Shakespeare’s plays, they annouced to the employees that they would not rest till the General Manager had heard all about it. I for one, had better things to do on a weekend, than wait around to see the end of that.

As I was relating this experience to my friend however, he mentioned how he’d spoken to someone working in a pizza joint who had an interesting story along these line. The guy with the pizza job told my friend the following story:

A customer had ordered a vegetarian pizza. As there was only a single pizza knife for both the veg and non-veg pizzas, a sliver of chicken had accidentally landed up on the new customer’s veg paneer pizza.

Holding up the piece of chicken, the irate customer stormed up to the counter and told the employees what they’d done. He demanded that they explain to him why he’d found chicken in his paneer pizza. He also informed them that he’d called the press, and that they were on their way. One employee asked to see the chicken piece.

As the customer handed it over to him, he promptly put it in his mouth and promptly declared that it wasn’t chicken, but in fact a piece of paneer.

By the time the press arrived, I’m told the conversation went something like this:

“There was NON-veg chicken in my VEG paneer pizza!”

“Very well. Can you show the evidence to us?”

“No! He ate it!”

That quick-thinking employee certainly saved the day for his company and I’m sure he was aptly rewarded.

How many situations can be solved with not only quick-thinking employees, but from employees who are quick to take action to resolve negative situations. Are you a quick-thinking employee who is willing to ‘eat’ that piece of problem before it turns nasty? If you are, you’re a resource your company is depending on and you have a skill that will keep you recession-proof.

We know that not every situation can be resolved by eating it. What are some situations you have found yourself in and what means did you use to get yourself out of it? Write about it here and let others learn from your experiences.

Job-hunt on TechGig!

2010-01-20T03:21:00.000-08:00

Imagine if you could have a site that had amazing features on one site that was created just for you. If you can, you’re pretty quick. The TimesJobs team created TechGig to suit your specific needs. Check out their brand new site. With TechGigyou can:

1. Get Premium Tech Jobs. You can get exclusive IT jobs available to only you. With jobs from top employers all in one place, the goal to find a better paying job is attainable.

2. Personalize your space. You have the liberty to customize your personal tech space as per your key skills and experience. Additionally, you can receive regular blog/ news updates with ease by adding feeds of your favorite IT blogs to your personal space.

3. Advance your career. As a job seeker, you can advance your career in unique ways. You can see which top skills are currently in demand, get to know how much your batchmates are earning and in which industry, post your resume for employers and more.

Be an active job seeker, gain success!

2010-01-13T01:45:00.000-08:00

Do you procrastinate when it comes to searching for a new job? Are you discontent with your job, and yet you’re just sitting idly watching those chances go by? If you are comfortable enough with seeing other around you jump for new opportunities, while you make no effort to grab your own, chances are, you’re a job-search procrastinator.

You may be wondering what exactly it means to be a job-search procrastinator. Dictionary.com says that the word ‘procrastinate’ means “to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost” or “to put off till another day or time; defer; delay”.

So to be a job-search procrastinator, all you have to do is to keep telling yourself that you will job hunt, but you’ll do it tomorrow. There’s an old saying which says: “Mañana (tomorrow) never comes”. Therefore, you know you are a job-search procrastinator if you deliberately dodge better possibilities, or try to make yourself believe that you’ll do it ‘tomorrow’.

A procrastinator may display characteristics such as being an introvert, shy and/ or expect nothing from their career as they are content to just stay wherever they are at. They are not risk-takers, and as such, will not move ahead like those around them.

If you find yourself in this category of people, it’s time you wake up and kick-start your move ahead in your professional life. You can be transformed into an active job seeker with just a few simple steps.

One of the best ways to reverse this vicious cycle is to make a task-list and endeavor to achieve it. It will serve as a map for where you want to go and where you are headed.

There’s no place in the halls of success for those who procrastinate. If you’ve been laid back and still expecting the miracles to happen, you’ll find that you’re wrong. Get up, get moving and grab success by the horns.

What are Self Managed Teams?

2009-12-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

According to Swati Jena and Nidhi Chandna,” the origin of the word ‘team’ can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘family’ which referred to harnessed animals to pull a load thereby implying common goals and cooperation. With time, the concept of team-work gained importance with organizations taking measures to ensure that a team is equipped and empowered enough to function on its own. This situation today is perhaps best described by the term ’self-managed teams’.”

“Self managed teams are closely associated with the concept of employee empowerment which entails the employee to have the requisite authority and resources required by him to carry out his responsibilities. A self managed team differs from a normal work team or group in one essential way that the processes or the means to achieve the team goal are designed and decided by the team itself. Given the stiff competition at the global level, all organizations have been forced to focus on developing their human capital.”

They describe self managed teams as “groups of employees who have the responsibility and authority to manage the work they do. The typical responsibilities of a self managed team are planning, scheduling, assigning responsibilities among members, ensuring product quality, ordering material, taking decisions and problem solving. The teams are also responsible for handling their interpersonal issues within themselves and work without any direct supervision. Self managed teams are responsible for an end product or a specific deliverable. Knowledge sharing and extensive communication between members is central to the working of any self managed team. Also, multi-skilling is a typical characteristic of self managed teams.”

But how are self managed teams really different from that of quality circles? “Self managed teams differ from other employee participation methods like quality circles in the respect that unlike quality circles where the employees voluntary come together to suggest or develop quality improvements, in self managed teams, the entire work process is structured around team work, with the team taking critical decisions. Also a quality circle may or may not be empowered by the upper management but the empowerment is built into the very concept of self managed teams. Self managed teams unlike quality circles are not managed by an external supervisor, personnel manager, administrator or a quality manager but rather facilitated by a team leader from within the team. He is either chosen by the team members or appointed based on experience or skills.”

They also covered the topic of ‘Why self-managed teams?’ Apparently, “when employees are completely in-charge of their job it is likely to create a greater interest and attachment to job. This also means that the managers can devote their time in innovation and process improvement rather than monitoring the employees. Also, since the employees are the front-liners, their tacit knowledge of even the most miniscule aspect of the job is utilized when they are given the responsibility of the quality and end result. As self managed teams require constant exchange of information, it leads to breaking of communication barriers between groups of employees. Other reported benefits of self-managed teams include: reduced absenteeism, increased productivity and increased employee satisfaction.”

Swati Jena and Nidhi Chandna’s article appeared in an issue of Human Capital’s newsletter.

Get hired in the new year!

2009-12-14T03:43:00.000-08:00

An article in The Mint ‘Stimulating a jobs recovery’ stated that not only 20 million people across 51 countries have lost their jobs, but that another five million are in the risk zone for losing them as well.

A survey that Manpower Inc. released, covering 71,000 interviewees across 35 nations, and 5,109 companies in India, showed that “Indian companies are the most optimistic in the world” about hiring this January to March quarter.

Another article in the newspaper said that “India’s job market is yet to recapture the highs seen in 2008, but it seems set to outdo 2009—a year when the economy slowed down—if the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the first quarter of 2010 is any indication.”

““Most companies are coming out of their shell,” said Cherian Kuruvila, director operations at Manpower Services India Pvt. Ltd, the Indian arm of the Milwaukee-based firm. “2009 has been a year of restructuring.” He added that 2010 will see a mix of replacement hiring, to fill up vacant positions and hiring for new positions, signifying expansion.”

So job-seekers and those laid off during the time of the recession, these findings brings you hopeful news! Expect to be counted among those getting hired in 2010, for with TimesJobs.com – you can!

Turn your Fat List into a Freshers Job!

2009-12-02T00:36:00.001-08:00

Fresher jobs aren’t difficult to find or get. It’s all about the way in which you pitch yourself. You are the product, and unless you effectively market yourself, no one will come to know about who you are professionally, the talent that you have, and what you can do.
To begin searching for freshers jobs, start by making what is called a ‘Fat List’. A Fat List is nothing other than writing down all the professional and academic happenings in your life. If you can, outline them in a year-by-year format.
For example:
My Fat List
1991 – 2003
Kindergarten – Grade 12
Participated in School Volley ball team
Took singing classes
Learned beginner guitar
Took art classes
2003 – 2006
Did BBA
Completed a course in etiquette, manners, public appearance and public speaking
Completed a course in Debating and Public Speaking
Worked part time in event management
Started a kids e-magazine called Pop
Took a course on sales and marketing
Worked in Dad’s business as a writer and business developer
Read books on online marketing
Did charity events for underprivileged situations
Took teaching classes
Taught kids to get my 240 hours of teaching experience needed for the certificate
Learned to use a sewing machine to make my own clothes
Learned cooking and household inventory/ replenishing
Learned smart buying
2006 – 2008
Did MBA
Completed a course from NIIT in basic computer applications
Helped Dad manage the finances for the family and kept accounts
Pursued singing projects
Sang on radio
Made a record
Got a job in BPO
Got a job with a media company
2009
Joined singing school to learn to read music
Started a band
Wrote songs
Did interior design
Events to fundraise for poor kids
Once you have made your own Fat List, proceed to make it into a resume. A Resume will work slightly different than a Fat List. You will need to segregate your academic achievements and your professional ones. Everything should be listed from the most recently done achievement, following on to the one previously done, and so on, till you reach to the first achievement you had done.
For example:
2006 – 2008
MBA
2003 – 2006
BBA
1991 – 2003
Kindergarten to Grade 12
You need to outline your professional achievements in the same way. The only difference is that from your Fat List, you must convert your write-up into a more professional and official language.
Next, create a profile in an online job portal and post your completed resume there. Posting your resume online will give you the quickest route to finding jobs for freshers. As the internet has become the most common mode of hiring, recruitment and job-hunting, you will find the jobs you are looking for there.
Once you get your fresher job, don’t forget to keep adding on to your Fat List and your newly made resume. You never know who might be reading it and what kind of job offer they will have for you, or when you yourself might need it to apply for a new job. Save yourself the time and effort, and apply as you go.

Pay hikes are here! The recession recedes.

2009-11-11T04:23:00.001-08:00

Job market doors are beginning to open once again. Thanks to the buoyancy across countries and locations, “enterprises are hiring, internal and third-party HR professionals are back in action and employees who maintained a stay-put status have started looking out.”

The IT/ ITES sector seem to be faring the best as they are said to be up for hiring “at least 150,000 people over the next year, against 100,000 this year and 350,000 to 400,000 [people later on].”

Economic Times said that “many companies have started reworking their hiring mandate. Infosys Technologies, which previously planned to hire 18,000 persons this year, has said it will hire an additional 2,000 during the third and fourth quarters of the current fiscal. A large number of product firms, R&D companies and mid-tier MNCs have also started hiring.”

“‘‘There is a sense of stability in the market. The next two quarters are expected to bring more clarity,” says T V Mohandas Pai, head of HR, Infosys. Pradeep Bahirwani, vice president for talent acquisition, Wipro Technologies, says, ‘‘There is a clear uptake in hiring, though it is too early to conclude if it is a temporary spurt or full-blown recovery.””

Third party recruiters – and otherwise – say that “hiring is currently more evident in non-IT sectors and it will take another couple of quarters before IT/BPO hiring picks up momentum.”

According to them, “recruitment is more evident in non-IT sectors. Industries like banking, retail, realty, healthcare, education and housing have been the early beneficiaries of the stimulus package. The thrust on infrastructure roads, ports, airports, highways, bridges will mean additional hiring in these spaces. Domains like telecom, oil & gas, energy, education, government (e-governance) and utility are also expected to be more active than the tech space.”

It certainly looks like those hiring “will be busy for the next two quarters with non-tech sectors, though the tech sector too has also started showing signs of recovery, says B S Murthy, chief executive officer, HumanCapital.”

Employees are beginning to step out of their recession-hit careers with hope for better salaries and regained positions. “There was virtually nothing in the market for almost a year. Many of us had no option but to stay put. Now, the situation has definitely changed, maybe it is time to start exploring again, says Kiran Kumar, an employee in a large telecom company.”

So candidates and recruiters alike, look lively! The market is slowly turning around and making changes in our favor.

Indians, get set to get a pay hike.

2009-11-04T03:07:00.000-08:00

According to a survey by Hewitt Associates, “salaries in Indonesia and China will also surge by 8.7% and 6.7%, respectively, whereas workers in Japan can expect a paltry 2.1% pay rise”.

“Next year, only 6% of companies in India and 8.3% in China expect to freeze pay compared with 12-14% of companies in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.”

TimesJobs launches a new generation resume - Global Connect!

2009-10-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

It’s brand new, it’s practical and it’s never been on a job portal before. Global Connect was recently launched on TimesJobs as a tool with which a candidate can connect their online social media to their existing TimesJobs profile.

With candidates incorporating social media to their profile, recruiters will now be able to get a more well-rounded view of the candidate before they do so much as call them.

Candidates can now upload and attach to their TimesJobs profile, such things as:

Messenger ID’s for live chat interviews
Slideshare, Youtube, Google docs, etc.
Linkedin, PeerPower, blogs, websites of companies worked for, etc.
Work samples, voice clips, courses done, etc.

By viewing samples of their work, professionally chatting with them online and more, you will gain a better perspective on them, thereby cutting your future interview with them in half.

Speaking on the TimesJobs Global Connect feature, Mr. R. Sundar, CEO, Times Business Solutions Ltd. said: “We are in an age where everyone has a presence on many places on the internet. We continuously examine & analyse modern & practical online innovations and leverage them into new services which anyone in any industry can use. With TimesJobs Global Connect, our users can now experience a whole new ease & speed of online hiring with the power of Social Media.”

“With TimesJobs Global Connect, candidates can project to potential employers a comprehensive profile which, apart from their resume, will also intelligently highlight his work & achievements from sites like PeerPower.com, LinkedIn, Blogs, Slideshare, YouTube, Google docs etc, on the same platform…Connecting with potential employers is also enhanced with the addresses of various messengers like Gtalk and Yahoo, apart from connecting via phone and email.” added Mr. Nilanjan Roy, Product Head, TimesJobs.com.

With Global Connect on TimesJobs, candidates can now project to potential employers a comprehensive resume. Apart from his TimesJobs resume, he will also intelligently put his profile and work from other sites on the same platform.

What kind of employee are you?

2009-10-14T06:30:00.001-07:00

There are two kinds of employees. Some believe they can make things happen, and the others believe that things happen to them. The first group believes that the outcome of their life and career is more or less in their own hands, and they wouldn’t have it any other way. The other group takes more of a Forrest Gump approach: They sit around and wait for a bus to take them somewhere.

This distinguishing feature is captured by something called a “core self-evaluation.” After more than a decade of research, psychologist Tim Judge has discovered that virtually all superstar employees—from rainmakers in the field to line workers on the floor all the way to big guns in the boardroom—have one thing in common: a high core self-evaluation. Judge describes core self-evaulation as “a person’s fundamental bottom line evaluation of their abilities.”

Judge and his colleagues have shown overwhelmingly that employees who feel like they control the events in their lives more than events control them and generally believe that they can make things turn out in their favor end up doing better on nearly every important measure of work performance. They sell more than other employees do. They give better customer service. They adjust better to foreign assignments. They are more motivated. They bring in an average of 50% to 150% more annual income than people who feel less control over the fate of their careers. Not surprisingly, these employees also like their jobs a lot more than the Gumps do.

BETTER PERFORMERS IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD

In one study, Judge and his team tracked the progress of more than 12,000 people from their teenage years to middle age. He found that core self-evaluations predicted who did and didn’t capitalize on the advantages life dealt them. With only a bleak view of their capacity to handle life’s challenges and opportunities, even the brightest kids born to executives and engineers failed to reach as high an annual income as their less fortunate classmates.

By contrast, the supremely confident sons and daughters of roofers and plumbers who had only mediocre SAT scores and below average grades earned a 30%-60% higher income than the smart kids with dreary views of their abilities. And those kids with all the advantages of intelligence and pedigree plus a firm belief in their competence earned three times as much money as their otherwise equally blessed peers.

It seems that the difference between the successful and the unsuccessful employees has as much to do with an employee’s beliefs about her ability as the reality of that ability. Considering that this difference is based as much on illusion as on reality, you might think the employee’s performance would take a serious nosedive under challenging circumstances.

After all, if you think you’re special, what happens when your superior or your board tells you about the areas in which you’re falling short? Worse yet, what happens when the self-described superstar finds himself laid off or responsible for a division with tanking revenues? In other words, what happens when people who believe they are capable of controlling the world find themselves in an economy that is out of control?

It turns out that this is when the true stars shine. Tough times weed out both those with low self-evaluations and those poseurs who only pretend to have a high self-evaluation—the narcissists. Judge finds that only about one in five people with a high core self-evaluation also scores high on measures of narcissism. That’s probably why researchers continually find that those with a high self-evaluation do so much better in turbulent times compared with those with a dimmer view of their abilities, and compared with those narcissists with fragile egos.

In a series of studies by different researchers, employees with high self-evaluations have been found to respond better to corrective feedback.

They also experience less stress and burnout than other employees, struggle less with work-life balance, and persevere more when searching for a job. Rather than shattering their beliefs in their abilities, it seems that a high self-evaluation creates a mental toughness that makes these people stronger and more resilient even when the chips are down.

THE CORE OF YOUR RECOVERY STRATEGY

To identify these stars who can take charge of your organization’s rebound, you can use Judge’s simple 12-question “Core Self-Evaluations Scale.” (You can learn more about the scale and download it for free on Tim Judge’s Web site.) It would also be a good idea to start keeping an eye out for these positive go-getters already working for you and consider giving them more responsibility and visibility in your recovery efforts. Here is how to spot them:

“I Think I Can” Attitude: Kindergarten never taught a lesson more supported by empirical evidence than this: People who believe they can overcome challenges are more successful in virtually every sphere of life, including work.
In Control: Does this employee take control of his work, or does he always point to outside circumstances when his projects go astray?
Confident, Not Narcissistic: There is an important difference between having a high self-evaluation and being a narcissist. Does the employee pitch in when teammates need help, or bad-mouth co-workers they view as threats? Are they receptive or defensive when you give them feedback?
Emotionally Stable: Employees who aren’t easily discouraged are less likely to succumb to stress and burnout. They solve problems instead of saying, “See, I knew it wouldn’t work!”

You could argue that getting these winners and their can-do attitudes on board still can’t do much about a dismal economy. After more than a year of watching the economy go the way of the Titanic, nobody would blame you for trying to wait out the hard times. But do you really want to spend the coming months soothing your anxieties with a box of chocolates, and hoping that your bus arrives before the wind picks up?

Nick Tasler is a writer, researcher, and organizational psychologist. Tasler began his career at Andersen Consulting, was director of global research and development for think tank TalentSmart, and has consulted for Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller public and private enterprises. His book The Impulse Factor was named Best Career Book of 2008.

Article courtesy of Economic Times

Careers or Jobs?

2009-10-07T04:28:00.000-07:00

It is a cliché that building careers not finding jobs that helps in being successful. But is there a real difference between the two? Let us first take a look at what is the typical approach practised by many young people. As soon as education is completed, most of the youth look for a ‘job’ and the jobs are evaluated on the basis of the earning potential, promotion possibilities, the opinions of friends in the industry and the perceived value of the ‘job’ in the known circles. Once someone is on the ‘job’, the next most important aspiration is to get promotion or more money with the same company or with another. Very often he/she could hop from one ‘job’ to another with ease for better ‘prospects’ as experienced talent at entry levels has always been in short supply and the employers have been willing to pay a premium to attract such talent.

But then, the scenario is changing now. Firstly, jobs are not easy to find, not only because they may not be in as many numbers as were in the past, but also because the employers have become choosy and their expectations are changing. If, in the past, employers were willing to recruit freshers and provide them training anywhere from 3 weeks to 9 months, today they expect the ideal recruits to come equipped with skill sets they would have to otherwise train them in. Once the candidate joins the organization, promotions and entitlements do not come easy anymore, he/she is expected to demonstrate competence and also willingness to stretch beyond the ‘defined expectations’ of the role to capture the attention of the bosses and the peers. In order to manage this shift taking place in the workplace, it is imperative to appreciate how to plan the work phase after education.

The starting point for planning one’s work phase is to distinguish a career from a job. A job should be seen as a step towards a career and not as an end in itself. In order to plan a career, therefore, it is important to understand and identify one’s own potential and strengths and embark upon a path that is built around them. The gaps identified to meet the industry expectations can be filled by relevant training programmes in order to be equipped with relevant skill sets to launch into the career of your choice. Just having several strings of qualifications in one’s resume are not enough, training and qualification with reference to the career are accorded more value by the employer.

Career orientation would require one to be focused on developing one’s skill sets in the specific domain as well as develop the all round capabilities beyond the narrow definition of the job. While it may not be easy for all to have a very clear vision at the start of the career, being focused on doing the best at every stage of the career and have willingness to learn and adapt continuously would bring in sharper focus on career goals and build the resilience to navigate towards these goals.

RAI + TimesJobs = a retail-specific job portal

2009-09-30T23:58:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with TimesJobs.com, Retailers Association of India (RAI) launched RAI.TimesJobs.com. Focused solely on the retail industry, this online job portal will be promoted actively among the 400+ members it has. This portal is expected to aid those in this industry – both employers and jobseekers – to efficiently recruit/ get recruited in a time-saving, low-cost way.

R Sundar, CEO, Times Business Solutions, has said, “This partnership is the beginning of a long and flourishing relationship between the country’s leading retailers’ body – RAI and TimesJobs.com.” Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI, has added, “We are proud to be associated with TimesJobs.com and are sure that RAI’s alliance with India’s premier recruitment portal will provide tremendous value to our member companies.”

The Importance of Jobs and Careers

2009-09-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

The gaps identified to meet the industry expectations can be filled by relevant training programmes in order to be equipped with relevant skill sets to launch into the career of your choice. Just having several strings of qualifications in one’s resume are not enough, training and qualification with reference to the career are accorded more value by the employer.

Career orientation would require one to be focused on developing one’s skill sets in the specific domain as well as develop the all round capabilities beyond the narrow definition of the job.

While it may not be easy for all to have a very clear vision at the start of the career, being focused on doing the best at every stage of the career and have willingness to learn and adapt continuously would bring in sharper focus on career goals and build the resilience to navigate towards these goals.

Premium Career Services - Make your career come true!

2009-09-16T03:01:00.000-07:00

TimesJobs.com has achieved the distinction of becoming India’s No.1 Recruitment Portal in India with the largest number of active job-seekers and a database of over 8.5 million candidates.

In addition, the massive database of over 200,000 better paying jobs are available from more than 25,000 TimesJobs.com clients, including blue-chip companies from India and abroad. This ensures that no matter the job search, it always yields results.

Recently TimesJobs.com has come up with a brand new addition to the job portal which has been released for the first time ever in India. The new feature is a Premium Membership on all the TimesJobs Career Services. It includes such things as having an external public profile viewable on any search engine, being the first to know about new jobs being released and other premium benefits.

PREMIUM BENEFITS – With the InExTa Advantage, you can double your chances of getting an interview call. The Preferential Job Messenger helps you to beat the queue and see matching jobs before anyone else. Stand out from the crowd in employer search with Resume Highlighting. Applyvantage helps you in applying to jobs of employers who view and are interested in your profile. And Public Profile helps you to broadcast your profile on the internet.

With Premium Packages, you can get:

Professionally written resume for target job market in India, Gulf and Abroad.
Send resume to the top recruiters in India and Gulf.
Take advantage of the combo and Get 20% discount

To know more about our Career Services, visit: http://www.timesjobs.com/candidate/candidateServices.html

We are now on Facebook - please become a fan of our Facebook page. And, stay updated about job related events, economy related news, latest job openings, recruitment discussions, exciting fun filled quizes/content and much more.

Ace your interview

2009-09-09T04:54:00.001-07:00

Many say that the ‘tell me about yourself’ question is something that an interviewer asks when they are out of things to ask you about or say. Many times an interviewer may simply be asking you this just because they have not yet had a chance to look through your resume yet.

Assuming your interviewer is in this position, you can make the most of it by relating how your specific skills and talents coincides with the needs of the organization. Having read up on what kind of candidate they’re looking for helps when using this approach to get the job.

Other reasons that interviewers ask this type of question are because they want to:

Hear your thought pattern
See what’s important to you, by assessing what topics you talk about
Assess your language and grammatical skills
Buy time while they look over your CV
Confirming what you have already written in your CV
Look for loopholes in your resume
Gauge your personality, etc.

Remember that this question can make or break your interview. Answer it by summarizing your accomplishments and academic achievements in a chronological way.

Be yourself and stick to the truth. You can’t go wrong if you follow these guidelines.

How to discover your job strengths

2009-09-02T05:31:00.001-07:00

What do you enjoy doing? What makes you feel energetic? What do you do well? These are no ordinary questions.

Answers to the above questions can lead you to the most precious asset you have for building a successful career: Your strengths.

Why bother about strengths? When you use our strengths, you will enjoy your work and give your best performance. Opposite is also true. Failing to use your own strengths is a recipe for boredom and mediocre performance at work.

You may wonder if you have any strength in the first place. Indeed, when people see a great musician, painter, orator or sportsman perform, they recognize readily his/her strength. But they fail to ask themselves what their own strengths are and quietly assume they have none.

There are three main reasons why people fail to leverage on their own strengths. First, what you are good at comes easily to you. Therefore, you may take it for granted. For example, if your strength lies in, say, leading people, you may find this activity so easy that it may not appear as anything special to you.

Second, your strengths may be such that you may not be able to publicly express them, unlike in the case of a painter or musician. Therefore, no one, including you, recognizes them.

Third, since many people do not recognize their strengths, they fail to develop them. As a result, the strengths remain dormant, like an unpolished diamond.

Here’s how you can spot your own strengths if you don’t already know them:

Feelings
Pay attention to the activities that give you a feeling of joy or enjoyment. That’s a clue to your strengths.

Energy
Do you suddenly feel energized while doing certain activities? If yes, that’s another clue to your strengths.

Achievements
Look at all your past achievements and see if you can detect a pattern of specific activities. If you can, these particular activities are nothing but expressions of your strengths.

Excellence
Find out what you excel at consistently. That’s a definite clue to your strengths.

Compliments
Interestingly, people can identify others’ strengths (and weaknesses) quite easily. If you can notice others’ strengths, they too can notice yours. So, if someone compliments you for good work, pay attention. He may be pointing at your strengths unconsciously.

Compulsiveness
A person’s strengths are like a blown-up balloon under the water–they keep surfacing. Sub-consciously, you may feel a compulsion to express your strengths. For example, if your strength is writing, you may grab any opportunity to write.

Ask yourself: “What do I feel compelled to do?

Yearnings
Like a magnet, your yearnings pull you towards your strengths. So, if you catch yourself longing repeatedly to do something, say, teaching others, therein may lie your strength.

Rapid learning
If you are able to learn a particular skill rapidly, that again is a clue to your strength.

Losing track of time
Not being conscious of the time while you are doing something is one of the most reliable clues to your strengths.

Ask yourself: “What do I enjoy doing so much that it makes me lose track of time?”

Feedback analysis
This method was suggest by management guru Peter Drucker. It works as follows:

1. Whenever you take a key decision or action, write down what you expect to happen.
2. Later, perhaps after a few days, weeks or months, compare the actual results with your own expectations.

According to Drucker, if practiced consistently, the feedback analysis will reveal to you both your strengths and weaknesses.

With so many ways to uncover your strengths, it is time you unleashed them to enjoy your work, give superior performance and savor success in your career.

Atul Mathur is the author of three ebooks: 5 Quick Steps to a New Job, The Best Career Move: Know Yourself and The Secret of Finding the Right Career Direction.

The perfect resume gets the perfect job!

2009-08-26T00:42:00.000-07:00

Even if you’ve spent hours writing up your resume, days perhaps, if you haven’t proofread it at least once, you may be in danger of facing an interview rejection.

Rohit Kapoor just got out of college. Thinking he’d get into employment right away he sat down to make his resume. A week and some change after he’d begun, Rohit figured his resume was good to go, and he mailed it out to over 50 potential employers. Unluckily for Rohit, he had put in the time, but forgot to proofread his resume. It was full of typos and genuine errors.

His school dates, instead of reading 1985-2008, it read 1895-2008. Instead of reading that he studied public relations, it read that he had studied ‘public rations’. Funny, isn’t it? His potential employers didn’t think so. As a result, Rohit got not even one positive job-response to the resume he’d worked so hard for.

An important point to remember is that there is plenty of competition in the market today. If you do not portray yourself as top-notch, someone else will come along and bag the job that could have been yours to begin with.

One employer wrote back to Rohit explaining that if he could not display thoroughness in his resume – which was meant to be his initial introduction – they weren’t sure if he would be able to give the job the due it required.

Some important points to learn from Rohit:

Always proofread your resume, no matter how long you’ve worked on it.
Get a friend to look over it too. Their perspective will help to point out things you hadn’t noticed.
Come back to it at a later time when you are fresh and can read through it properly.
Reading your resume aloud to yourself will help you to check for grammatical errors and run-on sentences that can happen to even the best of us.
Leaving errors on your resume will allow employers to think that you are careless and inefficient. Don’t give them room for that.

Well, Rohit learned his lesson that day, but it’s an important point for all of us. He proofread his resume, got a friend to look over it too, and he’s now got himself the job he imagined he could have.

Major metros on a hiring spree again

2009-08-19T03:34:00.000-07:00

TJ InSite finds that recruitment in the major metros of the country is once again on the upswing

TJ InSite, the Research Wing of TimesJobs.com, India’s leading job portal, promoted by the Times Group, conducted a survey that captured the hiring sentiment amongst companies in India recently. The recruitment outlook amongst employers in the nerve centers of Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore is once again on the upswing as employers plan to increase hiring in the next quarter, as reported by 42% of the employers in Delhi, 44% in Mumbai and 24% in Bangalore.

Commenting on this result, Mr. Vivek Madhukar, VP, TimesJobs.com said, “The positive hiring outlook of Employers in India is not unfounded, the Q-on-Q growth that India Inc. has witnessed both in terms of revenues & profits, and the continuation of government stability, policies & commitments, have brought a more optimistic business forecast for organisations.”

ITeS industry veteran Ms. Shailaja Puranik, Country Director & COO, Hays Business Solutions, remarked, “ Hiring has started across all levels in the last three months, across the ITeS & BPO industry, though at half the pre-September 2008 levels. However, the major change now is that the hiring is happening for the core groups of business and not for support functions. Hiring is taking place in new areas or where outliers have been weeded out. Salaries have remained at earlier levels.”

“Just in Time (JIT) hiring has begun in a small way,” said Mr. Ravishankar B, Senior Vice-President, Human Resources, HCL Technologies, as the company is scouting for niche skills in the experience range of three plus years. “Today there are definite signs of hiring. While specialized or JIT hiring is happening and people with niche skills and some experience are being sought, we are also entertaining walk-ins and have been calling for interviews. It is still too premature to comment whether this is a spike or a regular trend. I think we have to wait for two to three months to make such a comment.”

TimesJobs.com Research collated feedback from a wide range of corporate employers in Delhi Mumbai & Bangalore spanning sectors as diverse as IT, BPO & ITeS, Engineering, Logistics, Healthcare, Architecture, Hospitality, Travel & Tourism, Finance & Accounting and Sales & Marketing.

According to the study Delhi appears to be the most bullish with 81% of employers surveyed recruiting to Ramp Up for Growth over the next year. A majority of Mumbai corporates (57%) are also hiring to grow their businesses.

India’s Silicon Valley – Bangalore, seems to be returning to reality, after a knee-jerk mass-retrenchment execution undertaken in Q4 2009, 52% of the corporates surveyed are undertaking Replacement Hiring of HR reduced earlier, while the balance prepare to Ramp up for Growth over the next year.

In terms of Experience Levels, for the Senior Managerial Grade, which forms the top of the corporate pyramid 9% of Corporates in Delhi, and 6% of Corporates in Mumbai, are looking for qualified people. The demand from Bangalore for this grade, however, is negligible.

The demand for Managers, with 3 to 8 years of Experience in Delhi is at 22%, Mumbai at 36% and Bangalore recruiting 21% of their total recruitment demand from this grade.

The demand for Executives with 1 to 3 years of experience have requirements from Delhi arriving at 52%; Mumbai at 39%; and 55% in Bangalore of total demand. This is closely followed by Freshers with 0 to 1 years of experience, constituting 17% of the demand in Delhi, 19% in Mumbai and 24% in Bangalore.

Of the Corporate Respondents from the IT Industry, 7% in Delhi, 16% in Mumbai and 12% in Bangalore, were planning to increase hiring and headcount over the year.

What is hearting to note, is this trend on employment. The TJ InSite Survey has shown that the major drivers of recent growth and employment in India, namely, the Sales and Marketing, IT, ITeS & BPO, BFSI, Engineering sectors have not just initiated replacement hiring, but have started recruitments to Ramp up for Growth.

Vande Mataram - Happy Independence Day!

2009-08-12T04:52:00.000-07:00

“Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands

When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands

And seventy million voices roar

Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?

With many strengths who art mighty and stored,

To thee I call Mother and Lord!”

“Mother, mother mine!

Mother sweet, I bow to thee,

Mother great and free!”

The seventy million has become many more, and India has only risen to be a stronger, greater, and more independent nation. Mother India - land of tradition, values, ethics, respect, rich vibrant colors, song, dance, culture, diversity, and experience. She has grown through the ages and changed with time, like an ocean flowing over the rocks, pebbles and sand on the sea shore.

From a time when women would scarcely be seen as equals, to a modern age where they are CEO’s, managers, trainers, corporate executives and more, we can see that India continues to change and grow, continues to be free and independent. Freedom.

We are free to choose our careers and paths. We are free. Free to worship as we please, free to go abroad, or to remain on our Motherland shores if we please. We are free.

On this day, we celebrate our 62nd year of freedom. We raise a toast to the great nation India is, has been, and will yet continue to be. We live in freedom! We celebrate that we walk in the land of the free.

Cheers to our Independence! Cheers to our celebrations for this happy day too!

Vande Mataram translation, courtesy of www.indianchild.com/

Swine flu affects work output

2009-08-12T04:48:00.000-07:00

No puns intended, but swine flu has literally hogged the spotlight internationally. On the 2nd of May, 2009, Times of India reported 3 suspected cases. By the 7th of August, 2009, Economic Times reported a dramatic hike of 712 total victims having been infected with the deadly virus. Just days ago, BBC reported 6 deaths among the swine flu victims in India.

Newshopper.sulekha.com, reported “Since May 16, when the first case was reported in Hyderabad, more than 4,000 people have been tested for influenza A (H1N1) virus. Of these, 840 people have tested positive.”

They also had written of how a swine flu test kit will cost Rupees 5,000 for a regular test, and Rupees 10,000 once the victim is confirmed positive with the flu. Apparently it takes a minimum of six hours for the test to return with positive results.

But this no longer affects only personal lives. It affects companies and work output too. Some offices in heavily affected areas such as Pune, allowed their employees to work from home for as long as 10 working days so as to protect the employees, and in essence, their work output as well.

On these flu symptoms, Times of India wrote:

In children, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

* Fast breathing or difficulty in breathing

* Bluish or gray skin colour

* Not drinking enough fluids

* Severe or persistent vomiting

* Not waking up or not interacting

* Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held

* Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

* Difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath

* Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen

* Sudden dizziness

* Confusion

* Severe or persistent vomiting

* Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

What can I do to protect myself from getting sick?

There is no vaccine available right now to protect against H1N1 (swine) flu. There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza. Take these everyday steps to protect your health:

* Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

* Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

* Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

* Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

* If you get sick with influenza, you should stay at home and not go for work or school and limit contact with others to prevent them from getting infecting by you.

* Reduce the time spent in the crowded settings.

* Improve airflow in the living space by opening the windows and proper ventilation.

* Practice good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.

This is advice to be heeded. What are you as a company doing to safeguard your employees against swine flu? What measures are you taking to ensure that in the long run, your work does not suffer? Write in and tell us and all our readers about it!

Gift something new this season

2009-08-04T05:17:00.000-07:00

Hey guys and girls! What are you planning on gifting your brother or sister this holiday?

Why not gift them a successful start to a long, fulfilling career?

Many job sites are offering good discounts on their resume services and other career preparation tools in leiu of the seasonal festivities.

Grab your offer now, and invest in your loved ones future.

Exercise in office

2009-07-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

Ever felt sleepy at work and like you just can’t concentrate no matter how hard you try? Come on, admit it. It won’t be politically incorrect to say yes.

The fact of the matter is that, fat or slim, short or tall, black or white (or brown), long-haired or messy-haired, your brain cells need some good ‘ol fresh air.

Studies show that those who exercised daily were nearly 100% more alert and effective in their workplace. How’s that for good statistics!

So, if you’ve been wondering how to get that due appraisal to work in your favor, my advice to you would be to try at least a half hour of cardiac workouts a day! Not only will you feel different, your work will be so much more productive and those around you will notice the new you.

Truth be known, even a 15 minute workout in office, can give your heart a serious pump up, infuse your body with oxygen and freshen your brain cells. In some organisations, HR even put up a gym in the office so as to promote the exercise = productive work formula. It doesn’t have to be something that takes up tons of your busy schedule. Take the first 15 minutes of your lunch break to sneak in a quick workout, another 15 for a quick freshening up and a half hour for your food, or however it suits you best.

You can look on youtube.com for practical ideas for a sneaking in a quick workout in office. Here it is:

Before I sign out, I’d like to emphasize to you that you really don’t want to wait another day. If nothing else, shake the sheets full of dust on your treadmill at home, or hit the gym at your office for some ‘I-want-to-be-more-productive-at-work-time’ and see the change it’ll bring to your life.

Well, that’s all for now on that topic, I got some serious gymming to do!

Job hunt with little to no effort!

2009-07-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

What would you do in the following situations?

You’ve to reach the 10th floor in an office tower. You can go by two ways:
a. Climb up the stairs
b. Use an elevator

You want to write a message to your friend. You can write in two ways:
a. Send a handwritten letter by post
b. Send an e-mail

You want to withdraw money. You can do so in two ways:
a. Visit a bank
b. Use an ATM

There is nothing tricky about these questions, and the answers are so obvious. Can you, however, see the not-so-obvious phenomenon underlying our everyday choices? We like to spend least possible effort to accomplish our objectives.

Our tendency to spend as little effort as possible is so strong that most of the technologies, products and services are aimed at helping us achieve just that: least effort! Behind the auto-redial function on phones, Internet banking and ready-made food stuff is our basic need to minimise the effort.

The hiring process is not immune to our nature to spend the least effort. The only catch is that when job seekers take the path of least effort, they invariably create a path of more effort for the employers and that doesn’t work. On the other hand, when job seekers consciously enable the employers to follow the path of least effort, they stand to gain. Here is how it works:

Resume
As a job seeker, the natural inclination is to prepare a resume as fast as possible and shoot it out to as many employers as possible. When you do that you create two problems:

First, a resume prepared in a hurry is likely to be long, complicated, unfocused, and may contain mistakes. Second, a generic resume fails to connect with the unique needs of different employers. When recruiters look at such resumes, they are unable to figure out candidates’ suitability as quickly and clearly as they would like to do. As a result, hurriedly prepared, generic resumes go to the rejection pile.

The smartness lies in spending more effort in preparing your resume so that employers spend least effort while dealing with it. Specifically, that means:

· tailoring your resume according to each employer’s unique needs

· keeping it short—2 pages or 3 pages (max.)

· ensuring it contains only the relevant information

· keeping it simple, credible and without any mistakes

Interview
Job seekers appear at interviews expecting employers to question them and assess their suitability. But when you follow this common approach, you demand more effort from employers. They have to first dig out all the relevant information from you, and then make an assessment whether you fit into their needs.

On the contrary, if you take the initiative during an interview to show your understanding of employer’s needs and then demonstrate how you can fulfil them, you take them along the path of least effort. And employers would prefer such candidates.

Job hunting
Typically, job seekers focus on job openings advertised in the newspapers or on the Internet. For employers, however, the route of advertising vacancies, then getting flooded with applications and interviewing scores of candidates is a route of “more effort.”

A quick way to find a job would be to get in touch with potential employers either through contacts or directly. That way, you’ll save them the extra effort. That’s the reason why many smart job seekers get jobs by networking or showing the guts to approach employers directly.

The bottom line: To enjoy success in the job market, consciously help potential employers to take the path of least effort. Invariably, this would mean making more effort on your side at every stage of the hiring process. But isn’t that extra effort worth it if it helps to shorten your job search?

Interview Success - the way Zagorski did it

2009-07-15T05:28:00.001-07:00

In the April 2000 issue of the Reader’s Digest magazine, Nick Corcodilos, a famous headhunter, recounts how Zagorski, a professional seeking a new job, wowed an interviewer at a big corporation and got the job.

Zagorski went for an interview at AT&T. At the outset, even before Zagorski could settle in his seat, the interviewer told him that he had only 20 minutes to spare. Instead of feeling belittled or nervous, Zagorski got up and walked up to the marker board. He then started writing down the challenges faced by the company.

Fifteen minutes later, he wrote down his estimate of what he would add to the bottom line. When he paused to take a look at the interviewer, he found him completely dazed. The next thing he heard was interviewer telling him that there was no need for any further interview. The interviewer called in his team, introduced Zagorski to everybody and they began a working meeting, which lasted for two hours.

Most people go to interviews hoping to be questioned and assessed by an interviewer. They go anxious and worried, wondering whether they would get the job. People like Zagorski approach an interview with a completely different mind-set. They go well-prepared to demonstrate how they would fit into employer’s needs and bring value to their business. They go as a value provider, not as a job seeker.

Would you also like to impress your would be employer just like Zagorski? If yes, the next time when you get an interviewcall, don’t lose any time and get down to preparing a powerful presentation. Here is a road map:

1. Know the employer
Go to the company’s Web site and learn about its products and services. What initiatives this company is taking? Who are its competitors, and what challenges this company is facing? Read the “news” section to pick up the latest happenings there.

2. Review the job
Next, zero in on the job that you are pursuing. What are the employer’s expectations in terms of responsibilities, actions and goals? Also note the job requirements–qualifications, experience and skills–employer is expecting the right candidate to satisfy.

3. Review yourself
Look at your resume and review the assets you have: your experience, education, achievements, skills, knowledge and strengths.

4. Prepare a presentation
Having done the homework, now it’s time to prepare a short PowerPoint presentation. The presentation should essentially comprise the following parts:

Part 1: About yourself
Prepare a short introduction of yours in terms of education, experience and achievements.

Part 2: Employer’s business
This part is about showing your understanding of company’s business: products, services, markets, competition, etc.

Part 3: Employer’s needs
In this part, list all of employer’s expectations–responsibilities, actions and goals—you will be expected to meet. Also talk about the challenges you will be facing in the job.

Part 4: How would you deliver?
This is the heart of your presentation where you would demonstrate how you would tackle the challenges and go on not just to meet employer’s expectations, but exceed them. To make it credible, share actual examples from your past experience and use quantitative information.

On the whole, keep your presentation limited to 10 slides and 15 minutes long.

5. Practise: The last and final step is to practise delivering the presentation. More you practise, more relaxed, confident and convincing you will be during the interview.

Zagorski wouldn’t have been able to make that job-winning presentation if he had not done thorough preparation. Now, it’s your turn to follow his way and enjoy success at interview.

Atul Mathur is the author of three ebooks: 5 Quick Steps to a New Job, The Best Career Move: Know Yourself and The Secret of Finding the Right Career Direction.

Arti Sharma speaks to TimesJobs on new India Budget

2009-07-08T05:11:00.000-07:00

Arti Sharma, Head HR, India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd.

Budget 2009 was not able to give much to salaried professionals. The increase of slab by Rs.10000/- will give little impact to few professionals.
- FBT abolition is good for corporates but required more clarity. Incase this will be passed on to employee on normal slab rate this will be a big hit for employees and that too at this time of recession, when no change or reduced salary .FBT abolition at employer end should not be passed to employees
as tax burden.
- There is one good step in last so many years that surcharge is removed for more then 10lacs salaried professional.
- Commodity rates are increasing, salaries in this tough market situation either no increase or cut , the budget was not able to give any relief.
- All salaried professionals were expecting increasing under Home loan exemption but no change made all unhappy.
- This is good step that Govt.is taking care of farmers and want to focus more on their development ,but Govt need to understand
that most of their tax collection is coming from salaried professionals.
There is nothing for salaried professional.
Overall the budget -2009 was not able to give any relief to salaried professionals ,and a big disappointment for all.

Article excerpt from TimesJobs blog.

How to’s and benefits of Job Fairs in time of recession

2009-07-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

Job Fairs are especially effective in today’s current global scenario because they provide a cost-effective, and very convenient way to contact many recruiters in a surprisingly short amount of time. Another benefit is that they are all under one roof. Job fairs can be extremely beneficial provided you know how to make them work to your advantage.

When choosing to attend a job fair, it’s very important that now – more than ever with the job crunch – that you make yourself stand out as a candidate. Researching on various companies that are attending will show your interest and ‘tell’ them that you are proactive and right for the job.

Begin with getting a list of attending companies from the job fair organizers. Then, just choose out the companies that you are personally interested in working for and get to work on researching them.

Once you have completed your list, make sure you take note of the smaller details as well. Write it down. A short pencil is better then a long memory!

After your lister is done, make sure that your resume is up to par. If you want your job fair experience to be productive now that the market crash is here, you need to ensure that not only your research but that your resume shows you can stand out of the average. If it doesn’t, get it fixed.

Companies will not even bother to read through lengthy, badly worded resumes in the short amount of time they have with hundreds of potential employees. Your time is short, make it count.

How to do an online job search

2009-06-25T01:16:00.000-07:00

Just because you’re using the internet does not mean it’s going to be easy. The internet has everything readily available, but the catch is that it’s always there if you know where to look.

Google is fantastic when it comes to top of the line searches conducted, and I myself am an absolute fan of the Google search engine and their other internet services (like Gmail, Gtalk, Google Chrome, etc). But no matter how fantastic Google may be, if you don’t know how to do an internet job search for your job employment options, you will get little further then seeing an excellent search-engine at work to the best of its abilities.

When it comes to doing a career job search, there are job websites galore and many, articles on how to do a job search, and still there are a few simple steps one must follow in order to ensure their job hunting success.

The first step is to decide on what type of job employment you are looking for. Are you a fan of books? Maybe you would suit a job as a librarian. Do you just love learning new programs and designing software? Maybe you would suit being Software Engineer. Choices in the market are limitless; it is just the job logistics you need to finalize.

The second step is to understand what makes the job search complete and workable. Unfortunately, there are many who believe that by solely reading the classifieds they would be able to get quick results and are often disappointed with the slow progress they seem to be making. In all of that, they end up spending all their effort on very few results.

You and I both know that we live in a very modern world, and much of our daily interaction with others, our jobs, lifestyle, etc relies on none other then the internet. There are many job sites as I’ve said before, and you can log on to just about any one of them in order to receive job availabilities, but my advice would be to look for the ones which have resume services as they normally have some combo packages for both making your resume and opening your account. Some even have job

Remember that there is no use in putting all your eggs in one basket so to speak, and you will get the most results if you apply to more then one website that caters to the local area in which you live, or as per your job location needs.

An important thing about searching for jobs on the internet is that it never takes a holiday and is ALWAYS available to you…unless of course – true to Hollywood style - America (God save her) is going down and the rest of the world with her.

But internet or no, we’ve already established the need to not ‘put all your eggs’ in the same basket, and that includes not giving up on those oh so faithful classifieds.

All the best with your search for jobs, good luck!

Recruitment methods for times of financial crisis

2009-06-17T22:14:00.001-07:00

As is widely known, the recruitment industry has taken a nose dive in these past months. Thanks to the recession and the falling global market, recruitment agencies have had to deal with not only a greater amount of stress, but a shrinking market as well. Many are battling just to survive.

Here are some steps you can take to help your recruitment succeed:

1. You don’t need to sit out the storm. Take measures into your own hands and get proactive! Success will not come to you, you have to go out, grab it by the hand and do so proactively.

2. Expect no less than the best. Expect accountability from yourself and those on your team. Focus on changing your environment to one that is positive and moving forward.

3. Focus on closing monitoring the ever changing industries.

4. Note how other recruitment agencies are effectively getting the job done. Study their successful trends and incorporate the same as much as you can.

5. And finally, build a good relationship with your clients. They are key to keeping you in business and making you a success.

Using these tips should help improve your recruitment strategies. Improve your techniques and gain greater business in times of recession! Good Luck!

Do let us know your take on the same and share your ideas with the users.

Quality of work Life

2009-06-10T03:05:00.000-07:00

The QWL or Quality of Work Life in an organization is essential to the smooth running and the success of its employees. The Work – Life balance must be maintained effectively to ensure that all employees are running at their peak potential and free from stress and strain.

The Quality of Work Life can affect such things as: an employees timings, his or her work output, his or her available leaves, etc.

An organization’s HR department assumes responsibility for the effective running of the Quality of Work Life for their employees.

Quality of Work Life helps employees to feel secure and like they’re being thought of and cared for by the organization in which they work. Is QWL important? Yes, it certainly is! What do you feel about it?? Do share with us.

Interview Success

2009-06-03T03:26:00.000-07:00

Most people go to interviews hoping to be questioned and assessed by an interviewer(s). They go anxious and worried, wondering whether they would get the job. People who get successful are different. They go well-prepared to demonstrate how they would fit into employer’s needs and bring value to their business. They go as a value provider, not as a job seeker..

Would you also like to impress your would be employer? If yes, the next time when you get an interview call, don’t lose any time and get prepared. Here is a road map…

1. Know the employer
Go to the company’s Web site and learn about its products and services. What initiatives this company is taking? Who are its competitors, and what challenges this company is facing? Read the “news” section to pick up the latest happenings there.

2. Review the job
Next, zero down to the job that you are pursuing. What are employer’s expectations in terms of responsibilities, actions and goals? Also note the job requirements–qualifications, experience and skills–employer is expecting the right candidate to satisfy.

3. Review yourself
Look at your resume and review the assets you have: your experience, education, achievements, skills, knowledge and strengths.

4. Prepare a presentation
Having done the homework, now it’s time to prepare a short PowerPoint presentation. The presentation should essentially comprise the following parts:

Part 1: About yourself
Prepare a short introduction of yours in terms of education, experience and achievements.

Part 2: Employer’s business
This part is about showing your understanding of company’s business: products, services, markets, competition, etc.

Part 3: Employer’s needs
In this part, list all of employer’s expectations-responsibilities, actions and goals—you will be expected to meet. Also talk about the challenges you will be facing in the job.

Part 4: How would you deliver?
This is the heart of your presentation where you would demonstrate how you would tackle the challenges and go on not just to meet employer’s expectations, but exceed them. To make it credible, share actual examples from your past experience and use quantitative information.

On the whole, keep your presentation limited to 10 slides and 15 minutes long.

5. Practice & Go in Prepared
The last and final step is to practice delivering the presentation. More you practice, more relaxed, confident and convincing you will be during the interview. Go in prepared; it’s your turn to enjoy success at interview!

The how to's of a Powerful Presentation

2009-05-28T03:42:00.000-07:00

Presentations have become an integral part of the corporate culture. In fact for every new initiative, bosses ask for a detailed presentation. A few tips on how to make a good and impressive presentation…

Presentations have become a part of our daily work schedule. Each one of us has to prepare a presentation either for internal assignments or for clients or to demonstrate a new initiative. Here are a few points that you can remember before starting to make a presentation,

Know your topic:
The worst mistake to do is to make a presentation on a topic which you do not know. You need to know your subject thoroughly and you must be enthusiastic about it.

Research:
Start thinking of your own professional and personal experiences to tie to the topic. It’s easier to speak from the personal perspective. It also helps increase rapport and credibility with your audience.

With today’s technological advancements, visuals are being integrated into presentations of all types. Here are a few guidelines to help you develop successful visuals in your presentations:

While developing content, think about how you want to present your material graphically
You will devise a crisper presentation when you do content and visuals as a one-step process. Also, you will not risk putting off the visuals until the last minute and ending up with less than you need.

Create visuals that signal quality.
This puts the best face on your presentation, your company, your business, and you. If your company provides master slides, use them. If not, use PowerPoint templates.

Make readability a top priority.
Select clean, simple fonts. Arial, Tahoma and New Times Roman are the best choices. Select point sizes that people can easily read. In person presentations call for 44-point heads and 32-point type for body copy. Reduce the font size if you are doing a web-conference and your visuals are available on a desktop monitor.

Limit the amount of text on a slide.
Do not use more than six words on one line, and no more than six lines of text on one slide.

Go for diversity in your slides.
Consider charts, diagrams, tables, clip art, and sound galleries. But practice restraint. With so many bells and whistles available, the temptation to keep adding multimedia is great.

Use animation to uphold interest.
If you’re presenting bulleted information, for instance, use the dim function. This helps sustain audience attention.

It must be said that sound topic knowledge even aided with visuals is not enough for making a persuasive presentation. Here are some more tips on bringing your presentation alive for your audience:

You should put your main points on cards and build your talk from these outlines.
Otherwise, you will fall into the trap of reading to your audience, weakening the all-important human connection. There are occasions when writing a speech makes sense, particularly if there is policy or legal issues involved. Still, you want to write like you talk.

When rehearsing, remember to actually “speak the speech.”
Just running through it mentally is not enough. Rehearse your speech alone, with others, or by using an audio or video tape. Better yet, do all three.

Wrap it up with a productive Question and Answer session.
Have a few questions ready in case the audience does not respond. Start with, “A question I often hear is. . .” This primes the audience to jump in with their own questions.

Most important, know your audience.
Who are they? What are their values? What’s important to them? Why did they invite you to speak?

What views do you have on the same. Share with your peers.

What is leadership, but common sense!

2009-05-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, leadership is nothing but common sense. It is nothing mysterious or something that one must study for years to attain to. In fact, the best leaders are those who have had practical, hands-on experience in being one.

Leadership is a combination of common sense, practical skills and certain behavior that can be discovered and learned.

Roger Fulton wrote a book on Common Sense Leadership which gives solid advice combined with the wise sayings and findings of experts throughout history in aid of those looking to take up, or continue on in a leadership position.

Here are some excerpts from his book and quote selections he used:
Leaders know and understand their people. They treat them with dignity and respect.
Leaders recognize good work as quickly as they recognize poor work.
The best leaders become cooler when the heat is turned up. Crisis is the true test of a person’s leadership ability.
The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.—Sir Walter Gibley
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.—Martin Luther King, Jr.
The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated.—William James

Leadership is common sense, yes, but it also take practical thinking to positively apply the common sense one has got. Throw the light of your common sense on this topic and let the light spread

Have some office dressing sense

2009-05-13T03:14:00.001-07:00

Rightly said, ‘Our attire, appearance and conduct is reflective of the corporate image’. If you are concerned about your career, you will be more concerned with looking professional than looking fashionable or decked out.

In today’s world of cut-throat competition and spirited professionals, office wear doesn’t mean just the formal wear. One has to carefully pick the right attire for all office related events, be it product launches, office parties, business lunches or office picnic.

Getting dressed for the office doesn’t mean leaving your personal style behind; yet it is important not to be a fashion victim at work. Make sure your attire is pleasing and in accordance with your functional imperatives.

Your everyday work wear speaks volumes about your attitude and commitment to work. Your goal to getting dressed for work is to project a professional, competent image, regardless of your employment level or career path. While formal attire helps present a sharp, smart and service oriented executive; needless to say, casual wear reflects a nonchalant laidback attitude.

Some organisations encourage employees to dress as well or better than their customers, especially for employees who meet clients. It doesn’t come as a surprise that more and more companies are joining the bandwagon of ‘uniform for employees’.

Best bet: Formal trousers/pants, button-down shirts with tie, belt and shoes that are in good condition, neatly groomed hair. Sarees, salwar suits, churidar kurta, trouser with striped shirts, scarf, manicured nails, conservative hair, jewellery and makeup for her.

Career killer: Not wearing a belt, mismatched pair of socks, wornout shoes, shirts showing gap between buttonholes, body odour, etc.

What is a perfect ‘meet the client’ outfit? The answer lies in taking extra care to dress up when you are heading for a business meet. Select clean, pressed and wrinkle-free clothes for formal business attire.

Your outfit should communicate professionalism. Make sure you pick good quality clothes that boost your confidence and determination. It helps to know which look gives you a polished, professional look.

Best bet: Formal attire, pantsuits, blazers or jackets, tie, belt, business shoes, etc. Indian wear or western formals which include formal pants or skirts (formal, knee length or longer) with smart shirts/tops for her.

Career killer: Shabby appearance, stained or wrinkled clothes, florescent colours, wild prints, athletic shoes, sleeves foldedup, loud make-up, messy hair-dos, etc.

While professionals and organisation are still grappling to give a definition to Friday Dressing, the first and foremost concern is professionalism.

Casual Friday is a welcome change, with employees getting a chance to put aside their formal trousers and tie to slip into corduroys or Khaki pants. Though denim, T-shirts and flip-flops are acceptable only in the most casual of work environments, more and more offices are accepting trendy wear.

But before you dress casual, check to make sure you don’t have any meetings that require formal business attire. Shweta S, a media professional says, “For Friday dressing I ask myself if I can meet the CEO today without being embarrassed about what I’m wearing?”

Best bet: Smart casuals which include trousers/corduroys/skirts. Company logo polo and jeans. Dressy pants and a blouse, sleek jersey knits, skirts and tops, matching accessories.

Career killer: Capri/threefourths, Bermudas, silver sneakers, revealing clothes, slogan T-shirts, miniskirts, spaghetti straps

A party is a party but an official party has a professional and a formal look attached with it. Office party is time to go bling but keep in mind that you don’t overdo it.

“Official parties are a great way to interact with your co-workers and to know them more closely; one must take care of things that can make you the topic of discussion,” says Kunal Shroff, a sales manager.

Office parties are a time to relax and rejuvenate. What you wear for an office party should be carefully selected to accentuate your personality. The key is to look graceful yet professional.

Best bet: Safest bet is to wear black; jeans and stylish t-shirt/top, matching accessories.

Career killer: Sexy outfits, revealing clothes, loud streaked hair, clothes you can’t carry, your nightclub-avatar.

Time to flaunt your colourful tees and sporty footwear! You can easily be yourself during office picnics but don’t go over-the-top.

“Many employees tend to get too casual in their attitude when they are away from the formal office environ and face flak for their activities,” says S Ram, an HR professional.

Best bet: Comfortable clothes, jeans and tees, jacket, caps, sneakers, etc.

Career killer: See-through tops, crop tops, miniskirts, etc.

How to cope with being laid off

2009-05-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

If you’ve been laid off and you’re looking for a new job, then this posting is for you. Looking for a new job after you have been laid off can be very stressful. Grief is not a state of mind that will make you a strong candidate for an opportunity - yet it’s very normal to grieve when you lose your job. After all, there’s been a lot of management buzz in the past 5 years about “employee engagement” and “talent retention” - companies have been working hard to motivate employees and encourage their commitment. Suddenly the language shifted in the last nine months. Now instead of talking about the human aspects of “commitment” and “retention”, management has been talking about the sterile concepts of “reducing headcount” and “cutting costs.” To the individual employee the shift in language can feel harsh and isolating - no wonder people experience grief when they are let go!

I know how it feels, because I have been laid off twice in my career and had to pull myself together and go out into the marketplace to find a new job opportunity. I can honestly say that each time I have landed in a better place - but only after I sorted through my feelings about the layoff and was able to set aside the negative emotions and approach the marketplace with interest and optimism. It’s so hard to meet a potential new boss and convince him/her that you are really excited about a new opportunity if you are still frustrated about losing your old job. Yet we all know that a hiring manager is going to be more attracted to candidates that are upbeat and positive. This quote by Jim Rohn sums up this imperative neatly:

“Don’t bring your need to the marketplace, bring your skill. If you don’t feel well, tell your doctor, but not the marketplace. If you need money, go to the bank, but not the marketplace.”

It’s hard to hide it from a new employer if you have been laid off from your prior role. However, it’s up to you whether or not you come across as negative about the layoff, or as someone who has realistically absorbed the event and is moving forward. I’ve have interviewed candidates who are holding onto some frustration over having been laid off. They usually make it plain that they are only looking for a job because they were laid off from their prior position. Their frustration over the layoff typically sucks the positive energy out of the interview session and often prevents them from moving forward. On the other hand I have interviewed candidates who were laid off and are able to explain that they understand the circumstances that necessitated the layoffs, what they learned from the situation, and where they are hoping to go in the future.

If you can demonstrate that you learned something useful and you’re looking toward the future, it is very attractive to employers. In fact, given the choice of two great, smart candidates - one who has been through a layoff, and one who never has - I will take the individual who has experienced the layoff because I respect that they have been able to bounce back from a tough situation.

So if you’ve been laid off, and you’re looking for a new job don’t despair. Talk to good friends and mentors who can help you cope, and then take your best most positive self out to the marketplace. Is this an unfair thing to ask of you? Possibly - but believe me, it’s good advice! Look for a future posting with specific tips to help you recover.

Recession-safe Jobs

2009-04-29T02:33:00.000-07:00

As we all know, the recession has made many industries go for a toss. Just about every industry is reeling under the strain and stress of the quick falls and difficult rises that make the average working day rock with stress and toil.

However, not every industry is doing poorly. All have been hit, yes, but not all are evenly affected. There are some industries which continue to do well despite all that the global market has seen.

IT and dotcom companies have been a hot item among companies that have been less recession hit than others. With the internet age, it seems the natural course of events that businesses under this category would do well.

Another happening business right now is the career in finance profession. Senior professionals in finance have said that it continues to be a leading industry despite the economic downturn.

Coping with being jobless during recession

2009-04-21T22:45:00.001-07:00

Being jobless can be really gloomy. As time passes by without having any luck with a job search, your sense of self-worth slips and you begin to question your capabilities. Your accolades in the past will just wipe off from your memory and continue to sulk.

If you have been fired, or have been asked to leave, it doesn’t mean failure in the eyes of everyone else, even though you may feel depressed. If you lose a job, there are some steps you should take.

The most dangerous things one can feel being unemployed is the feeling of worthlessness. This can trigger deep depression. A person can get crazy and/or suicidal because of this. But this can be fought with doses of positive thinking and optimism.

It is normal to feel sad if you suddenly find yourself unemployed. Set a grieving period but as soon as it ends, think of only the now and the future. There’s much to be done and never let the past bog you down.

Don’t be a bum..A typical coping mechanism is just loafing on the couch, drinking brews and watching games and reruns of whatever program there is to watch. While you are missing out on possible job opportunities, you are also letting your health deteriorate.
Start a job search, now.

Just like when you’re starting out, job search do have some downtime in between interviews so try to do things that would lift up your spirits. Take on a hobby or some volunteer work. Exercise. Physical activity helps pump happy chemicals in your body that would help you boost your morale.

If there is an issue with money, list down your financial assets - your cash, deposits, and investments - and make a budget for the tough month/s up ahead. If you will be short on paying the utility and other bills, ask your creditors for some help during this tough time.

If you aren’t having any luck securing a stable long-term work, try exploring other options like consultancy and freelancing. There’s a lot of freelance work available. While it doesn’t present that long-term security, at least you’ll have something to tide you over for the time being.

Consider a career shift. The economy may have an effect on the viability of your field so why not try out other career paths. Who knows? Your current skill sets can be. Try consulting a career counselor for some precious advice.

Formula for Success: Timely + helpful = getting paid

2009-04-15T03:59:00.001-07:00

I had to book some tickets for a trip I was making. Researching the net, I finally came to Sulekha.com and added my number for travel agents in the area.

Sure enough, true to form, not more than 10 second later, I get a call from an agent who though not perfect in English, made the attempt for my lack of knowing the local language. In his broken English, we got along and I was soon nearing the end of my booking time.

I had gotten three missed calls from another number that had tried to buzz not even a few seconds after my first call began. Naturally, since I was on call, I ignored the tiny beep on the background of my phone. The agent I spoke to was helpful, and within minutes I had my booked tickets in my email.

Why had he gotten the business and the lady who later called didn’t? It was because he was prompt in responding to my query for help. And even after I hung up the call with the travel agent, the woman who had tried calling earlier was hardly helpful. When I asked her to speak in English, she simply hung up.

In my opinion, a formula for success is: timely + being helpful = getting paid and getting the job done! Kudos to that agent, may we all be as efficient and helpful as he.

Salaries being hiked by 12%, says Finance Minister?

2009-03-31T23:36:00.001-07:00

On the 26th of March the Indian Government Legislation Party passed a bill that all Indian employees working for private companies will receive an automatic 10% raise against any and all jobs.

The 2009 Conversion of Recession Bill, said that government employees would receive a 12% salary hike in an attempt to retain the top talent that were crucial to facilitating a smooth-running country.

When reached for confirmation, the Finance Minister of India, declined to comment.

Whether or not this is the case, any hike in salary upgradation and promotions finance-wise is much appreciated by the general public thanks to the steady decline in job market trends and otherwise.

Globally jobs are diminishing, in thousands of companies employees are being let go and internationally, salaries are getting slashed by percentages. We at TimesJobs would like to reassure you that yes, there is no place like home, and no place then that which is tried and proven.

Hearing this new news may make many of you lose interest in TimesJobs. We would like to encourage you that with thousands of satisfied candidates, we promise to continue to bring you the best. Oh yeah, and Happy April Fools ;)! Get your salary hike by finding a new better paying job at TimesJobs.com

Save your job in recession

2009-03-25T01:48:00.000-07:00

Here are four ways to save your job in times of recession:

Update your skills

Keep building skills that add value to you as an employee. If your current job is not salvageable, no matter how many extra skills you have tallied up, then at least hunting for a new gig will become a whole lot easier with your bulked-up resume.

Network
Make a list of at least 10 business contacts and start locking in times to catch up. They might find you a brilliant new job sooner than expected, be able to help you out if things go bust at your current employer or, at the very least, be fun to have a drink with.

Keep an eye out
It pays to always be one step ahead of the game and, if you are going to have to start a job search, it’s good to be aware of what’s out there. That said; don’t jump too soon. If you know a new job could be waiting in the wings, it’s definitely worth picking up a solid redundancy payout on the way out the door.

Get a job where there is a skills shortage
Despite a slowdown in residential construction, builders, plumbers and other trades are still in high demand on commercial projects. Health and education are resilient regardless of economic growth or decline. Find your niche and stick to it!

Happy Holiday from TimesJobs

2009-03-06T00:30:00.000-08:00

We at TimesJobs want to wish you all a happy festival season. As you revel in the beauty of color, the freedom of laughter and the wonder of a woman, we wish you a Happy Holi and a memorable Women's Day.

Do check out our festival offer of upto 30% off on Career Service Products!

Happy Holiday!

Learn from experience itself!

2009-03-02T00:56:00.000-08:00

Live Chat session with Karthik Sarma, Chief People Office, WNS Global Services between 3 pm and 4 pm on 4th March, 2009

We at TimesJobs are back with a new initiative that is bound to get you loving us (and TimesJobs :D) even more!

TimesJobs brings to you candidates a never-available-before luxury that you can be a part of! Its a new initiative in which jobseekers can ask well known HR Heads job-related questions that they've always wanted to know the answers to, gain tips, benefit from their rich knowledge and more!

How does Live Chat works?
You can ask your questions in the Chat window on the Live Chat Session page, by clicking on 'Ask questions now' as the event is in progress. Our moderators screening the questions, will pick the best and relevant ones and pass them on to the guests to answer live. Your questions and its responses by the speaker will then appear real-time in the chat room.

We are proud to announce that on Wednesday, 4th March 2009 between 3 pm to 4 pm, Karthik Sarma, Chief People Officer of WNS Global Services will be available online to answer questions relating to the subject as TimesJobs guest! The topic of the session will be Career Stability in IT/ITeS industry because of Economic Slowdown.

If you would like to join the event, all you have to do is click here! We will keep you updated on future events as well! See you there!

Job Hunt Effectively

2009-02-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

Being a diverse country we have scope for many a career opportunity in India. With careers varying from advertising jobs, animation jobs, architecture jobs, astronomy jobs, biotechnology jobs, computer jobs, doctor jobs, design jobs, fashion jobs, food jobs, history jobs, journalism jobs, law job and many other career options. The list is endless.

There are new job opportunities which are rare and yet popular like Vastu specialist jobs, homeopathy jobs, acupressure jobs, etc. To do these jobs, one needs passion, knowledge and interest to succeed. Indian science jobs are rare but popular across the globe. If one chooses to be in such fields, success might be slow, but is still sure.

An IT job is the most popular and common career of choice these days. Due to technical demands from foreign countries, India's outsourcing industry (e.g. business process jobs and IT outsourcing jobs, etc) has grown steadily.

Up until now, thanks to India’s large number of English-speaking and technically-proficient people it has done well in the global market. Not long ago, endless vacancies in India were available - until recent times. Due to recession in the global market, jobs in India have been affected.

There are some freshly emerging careers in India that have been noticed recently. Careers like equity analysis jobs, tax-return processing jobs, career counselor jobs, radiological analysis jobs, medical transcription jobs, and many more seem to be the way of the future.

Searching jobs is not at all difficult. There are many ways in which you can search jobs that are available in India. Apart from traditional methods like online job websites there are some new methods. They are:

- Networking-One should be active in using web 2.0 communities like web portals, social networking sites, professional forums etc. Networking widens your social circle. There are networking sites dedicated to careers and jobs as well.

- Blogs-Job blogs encourage various views and discuss upcoming trends. They give you a fair idea about job markets both domestic and internationally.

Listed are a few job tips one should keep in mind while searching for their perfect job:

- Widen and keep brushing your career skills (technical and soft skills, etc)

- Avoid having very specific job profiles, as employers appreciate those with multi-skills.

- Prepare yourself to take responsibility and ask for bigger responsibilities at your workplace.

- There are job fairs held after every few months. Try and visit job fairs, for better opportunities.

- Get yourself signed up for as many job sites, professional networks, and blogs as possible. The internet is the largest source of information. In this aspect, it’s okay to be an internet freak.

- Pay special attention to your resume. Your resume is the image that you portray to potential employers. Avoid any kind of redundancy and ambiguity in your resume. Companies look for two main headings in a resume: experience and achievements. Highlight them.

- Lastly, don’t panic. If you are trying hard to get a job, and not getting good responses, don’t be disheartened. Utilize your time in brushing up your career skills and preparing yourself for a successful career. Personally follow up with the companies you applied in. Always prepare before you go in for an interview.

All the best for a bright future!

An Age of Entrepreneurs

2009-01-28T03:32:00.001-08:00

Despite the recession, quickly changing trends and extreme competition, it is interesting to note that there has been a surge in the number of entrepreneurs in recent times. In fact, many of my friends are entrepreneurs and have many a tale to tell about the life that is lived on the forefront of a life that is extremely trying and yet adventurous to an extent.

Here are some people who continue to inspire us with their success stories:

o Simon Cowell – a successful music producer/ millionaire
o Michael Dell - Chairman and CEO of the Dell company
o Coco Channel – pioneer of 20th century fashion
o Walt Disney – well, we all know what he did ;)
o Henry Ford – first mass producer of vehicles
o Bill Gates – Microsoft co-founder
o Donald Trump – Real Estate Tycoon/ billionaire

No matter the rank on those topper charts, each entrepreneur - both famous and those recently entered into the profession of entrepreneurship – are an inspiration to those of us who want to believe that anything is possible if you put your all into it.

Happy Republic Day!

2009-01-24T02:53:00.000-08:00

This is just a post to wish you a happy Republic Day!! Have a great holiday ahead :).

Do Delhi Jobs = Internet Jobs?

2009-01-22T04:09:00.000-08:00

Delhi is a hotspot for internet jobs. But it wasn’t always this way. It used to be that having a call center in Delhi & NCR was the norm for many global companies today. In order to meet the growing international demand for cost-effective, customer-oriented call centers, many organizations worldwide were outsourcing these services by setting up call centers here.

Nowadays, in a modern age of internet and computers, it is dot.com companies that seem to be the most successful, as BPO jobs and call centers jobs are now less in demand then they were before.

But what made customer care jobs in Delhi such an attractive option for fresh job seekers? It certainly is not outdated and is largely viewed as an option to earn an extra buck. At call centers the opportunity to make money can be very lucrative as the salary offered with just a graduation degree is way ahead expectation. More to this list is free pick and drop cab, a free meal, attractive offices and a lot of entertainment at times with amenities such as gym facilities (some even have a swimming pool), a nap room, a in-company-hospital, etc. The fact is customer care executive jobs offer great opportunities for both fresh and experienced university graduates.

But for those who are looking to build a long-term career, jobs in BPO’s are not the way to go. Get yourself a job at a regular company with regular benefits, a regular pay package and day-shift timings if you can manage that.

And certainly, jobs in internet companies have been predicted to be – and are catching on like crazy now – the way of the success future. If you want to build a career and last on it for awhile to come, try getting an internet job in Delhi.

How to handle Monday-Blues

2009-01-11T22:27:00.000-08:00

Monday, Monday, what a drag!
And there’s only 6 days left,
Till those Monday Blues come around,
To remind us not to forget:

That Monday, Monday will come around,
And our happiness will be gone,
All because it’s a Monday Blue,
Without reason, rhyme or song!

If this is your mental thought pattern today, then read on for some jazzy tips and tidbits to break your Monday Blues in a flash!

Try a little laughter:
A young businessman had just started his own firm. He rented a beautiful office and had it furnished with antiques. Sitting there, he saw a man come into the outer office. Wishing to appear the hot shot, the businessman picked up the phone and started to pretend he had a big deal working.
He threw huge figures around and made giant commitments. Finally he hung up and asked the visitor, "Can I help you?"
The man said, "Yeah, I've come to activate your phone lines."

Try a little nap perhaps??
Don’t worry about getting caught. You can use one of these lines just to ensure if you do get caught, you’re not sacked as well..

o "They told me at the blood bank this might happen."
o "I wasn't sleeping, I was trying to pick up contact lens without hands."
o "I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm!"
o "Amen"
o "This is just a 15 minute power-nap like they raved about in the last time management course you sent me to."
o "Whew! Guess I left the top off the liquid paper"
o "I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work related stress."
o "This is one of the seven habits of highly effective people!"
o "Boy, that cold medicine I took last night just won't wear off!"
o "Darn! Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem."

Try to liven up your meetings the intelligent way
Tips to liven up your meetings, while you prove that your Master’s certificate is certainly worth it’s while:

o Stand up and act indignant. Demand that the boss tell you the 'real' reason this meeting has been called.
o Spill coffee on the conference table. Produce a little paper boat and sail it down the table.
o Stay behind as everyone else, including the boss, leaves. Thank them for coming.
o Give a broad smirk to someone else at the table. In time, smirk at everyone. Sometimes shake your head just a little, as if to indicate that the speaker is slightly crazy and everybody knows it.
o Arrange to have a poorly-dressed young woman with an infant quietly enter the meeting, stare directly at the (male) speaker for a while, burst into tears, then leave the room.
o Bring a hand puppet, preferably an animal. Ask it to clarify difficult points.
o When there is a call for questions, lean back in your chair, prop your feet up on the table, smile contentedly, and say, "Well, here's the way I see it, J.B..." (or any other impressive-sounding initials that are not actually your boss's.)
o Bring a small mountain of computer printouts to the meeting. If possible, include some old-fashioned fanfold paper for dramatic effect. Every time the speaker makes a point, pretend to check it in one of the printouts. Pretend to find substantiating evidence there. Nod vigorously, and say "uh-huh, uh-huh!"

Do something nice for your boss
A sure-fire way of improving your Monday is to step up and do something nice for someone else. Here’s an example of how to do something nice for your boss:

A young executive was leaving the office late one evening when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. Can you make this thing work?"

"Certainly," said the young executive. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.

"Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine. "I just need one copy."

In closing
And finally, keep telling yourself that it’s gonna be JUST 4-5 days till your day/ days off and a WHOLE ‘nother 6 till the Monday come back around again! – Now that’s something to cherish ;).

Cheers and Happy Monday-ing!

About Résumé’s and Resume Services

2009-01-07T02:32:00.000-08:00

What are Resume Services?
Resume Services are a feature on most job sites (and some others) that aid an individual in the writing and developing of a professional resume (as well as other services pertaining to the creation of a well-rounded, expert resume). On occasion this also includes sending it to targeted consultants in specified areas or regions.

Why are Resume Services helpful?
Resume Services are especially helpful when you are trying to construct a winning resume that will get you the kind of job you need and want.

But you may be thinking why you need a resume first of all? People use résumé’s as a marketing tool, or as a way of highlighting their talent, strengths and skills that they intend (and can) bring to the job.

What does a resume need?
A resume should have such things as your biodata (your personal information like your date of birth, your full legal name, etc.), your academic qualifications and your work experience (if any, else just clarify in your resume that you wish to begin work as a fresher). You also add in your resume any other qualification or extra curricular activities you may have participated in (such as competitions you may have won). And last but not least, write a short paragraph (not more than a few lines) on what your future goals and aspirations are.

So why did I need help again?
And now you might ask, well, if making a resume was so simple, and entailed so little, then why can’t I just put one together myself? What’s all this hype about professional resume services?

You may find that you’ll need some help when it comes to creating and boiling down your ‘Fat List’ which is the basis of every resume.

Now what’s a Fat List?
A Fat List is the beginning step to creating a resume. It is a giant list of everything you’ve done and/ or accomplished throughout each year of your life – or as far back as is relevant to your job hunt. Fat Lists can be several pages long, hence its name – Fat List.

A Fat List will look something like this:

1998:
Completed 12th Grade
Was school captain
Won art competition
Did 240 hours of social work
Worked part-time teaching guitar classes

1999:
Enrolled for BA
Took up a Diploma Course in Music
Worked part-time at Dad’s factory

And on your list would go year by year as far back as is related to your job hunting.

But making this list is fairly easy. The hard part will come in when you end up with a giant list spanning several pages, and then need to trim it down to fit on just one page in a clear, concise, marketing-language way!

As a resume is THE tool you will be using to ‘sell yourself’ so to speak, it needs to be perfect. A consultant or potential employer will not spend more than a few seconds on your CV unless something there catches his eye or interests him.

Having your resume done by a professional ensures that you will get the maximum results out of your efforts with a job that is well-rewarding.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T04:07:00.000-08:00

Goodbye 2008, Welcome 2009!! Yes, the old is nearly out and tonight after the stroke of midnight, the new will be ushered in with billions of ‘Happy New Year’ wishes.

We wish you a wonderful, thrilling, successful new year and look forward to your continued readership :). Cheers and Happy New Year!

Search for Jobs Online

2008-12-16T23:56:00.001-08:00

Just because you’re using the internet does not mean it’s going to be easy. The internet has everything readily available, but the catch is that it’s always there if you know where to look.

Google is fantastic when it comes to top of the line searches conducted, and I myself am an absolute fan of the Google search engine and their other internet services (like Gmail, Gtalk, Google Chrome, etc). But no matter how fantastic Google may be, if you don’t know how to do an internet job search for your job employment options, you will get little further then seeing an excellent search-engine at work to the best of its abilities.

When it comes to doing a career job search, there are job websites galore and many, articles on how to do a job search, and still there are a few simple steps one must follow in order to ensure their job hunting success.

The first step is to decide on what type of job employment you are looking for. Are you a fan of books? Maybe you would suit a job as a librarian. Do you just love learning new programs and designing software? Maybe you would suit being Software Engineer. Choices in the market are limitless; it is just the job logistics you need to finalize.

The second step is to understand what makes the job search complete and workable. Unfortunately, there are many who believe that by solely reading the classifieds they would be able to get quick results and are often disappointed with the slow progress they seem to be making. In all of that, they end up spending all their effort on very few results.

You and I both know that we live in a very modern world, and much of our daily interaction with others, our jobs, lifestyle, etc relies on none other then the internet. There are many job sites as I’ve said before, and you can log on to just about any one of them in order to receive job availabilities, but my advice would be to look for the ones which have resume services as they normally have some combo packages for both making your resume and opening your account. Some even have job

Remember that there is no use in putting all your eggs in one basket so to speak, and you will get the most results if you apply to more then one website that caters to the local area in which you live, or as per your job location needs.

An important thing about searching for jobs on the internet is that it never takes a holiday and is ALWAYS available to you…unless of course – true to Hollywood style - America (God save her) is going down and the rest of the world with her.

But internet or no, we’ve already established the need to not ‘put all your eggs’ in the same basket, and that includes not giving up on those oh so faithful classifieds.

All the best with your search for jobs, good luck!

What’s new with India’s Employment?

2008-12-10T03:17:00.000-08:00

Employment in India is at an all-time high despite the dullness of the global market as a whole and the employment opportunities are expect to only grow from here with companies in the south creating a number of jobs.

The IT and ITES boom has not gone out of style, and are still growing steadily. They in fact, are the primary hires right now. Other hot hires are those with telecommunication jobs, health care jobs, etc. Those in the retail industry are relatively safe as well thanks to the many middle class folks who give them power as a result of their purchases.

Another quickly growing field is that of medical tourism. Many come from abroad to get their medical treatment done here as cost for medicines and treatment in other countries is easily several times the cost here.

I have even heard from some friends that booking the round trip ticket, plus booking a hotel and paying for all hospital treatment and bills still works out to be cheaper than driving down to your local doctor in places like the States, Europe, etc. Another reason this happens is possibly due to the fact that Indian doctors are held in high regard. It is perhaps because this is a quickly growing trend that the tourism industry is promoting is along with their other endeavors.

Employment services tell us that the entertaining jobs, publishing jobs, media jobs, etc have a very fast growth in salaries and rumor has it that the Indian textile industry will be creating nearly 5 million jobs by 2010!

The goal to attain to in all of this is to register yourself with a good employment site. Why, you may ask? Because even as the market is currently going down, what goes down must sooner or later come up! And you want to be in on the action when it happens. It’s not only India that is doing well. Employment overseas is also on the rise.

If you are one of those that are looking to get into a good job and are not exactly sure of what you want to do, you may want to explore various possibilities such as legal employment, part time employment, etc.

But most importantly, do NOT forget to read up on the employment laws of the country in which you live. Many layoffs are happening now and that too to people who are largely unaware of what their rights are as employed laborers. Every country has a law of the land, and you would do well to read it. Did you know they cannot fire you on the spot, unless there is a breach of policy, misconduct or unless your contract specifically states otherwise?

And, did you know that under the Payment of Gratuity Act which was created in 1972, all workers are entitled to 350,000 gratuity after 5 years of continuous service? Ipto.co.uk further added to this: The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 requires employers to pay a gratuity to workers earning less than a certain limit upon termination of service. Well! If more people would have know about even just these laws, it may have made their work easier.

Recession Resilient IT Jobs

2008-12-01T22:25:00.000-08:00

In October 1929, the world rocked with a financial crash that led to severe depression and the naming of Black Friday. They say history repeats itself and never has it proved to be truer then when The Great Wall Street Crash was reenacted nearly 80 years later.

But, the good news is that, despite the rough market situation, and the rumors that things haven’t been this bad since 1929, ITians need not career swap, for there are still IT recruiters who are bold enough to hire those of you looking for an IT job.

Who says that just because there are depressing surveys and predictions on budgets and IT careers, there is no room for IT employment? It is a farce – nothing more.

If those hiring are upbeat about the IT job vacancy, then so can we be. The reason they are giving for the positive outlook is that technology is something that every company needs, in every sector. They say that IT is the winning career for the day.

The jobs that experts find at risk however are the networking jobs. In a recently published list of jobs that are supposedly recession-proof, the IT jobs were toppers on the list. Other job streams that were seemingly safe were: networking and system administration jobs, software jobs, design jobs, QA jobs, testing jobs and more.

Apparently, the demand for people who can work with AJAX, Ruby on Rails, etc is high up there.

If you are a consultant, consider getting a full-time employee status. While you can be an outsourced aid if you work on the lower-level IT projects, you cannot move to higher levels unless you are a full-time employee.

If you are looking for a full-time IT job, you should consider if there is also scope provided for any hands-on training or new experiences and new projects. If there is such possibilities, you would do well to take the job while it is still available as training and experience is the best way you can get into higher-paying jobs. Earn while you learn should be your mantra. It is priceless!

Although companies are falling and the economy is sliding, companies still have to function. It is because of this that those with good training and experience will keep their jobs, especially so if you are an IT person. Companies need their core activities to stand strong and as we are in an IT world, this is one battalion that cannot fall unless of course the company is shutting down either temporarily or for good.

But in all this talk, we will not underestimate the skills that are not technical. All have something to contribute to the overall success of the company. If you have soft-skills such as being a people person, if you’re soft spoken, or can handle stress well, you will be the last to go even if the company is sinking.