BLOGStreet, from JobStreet.com

Snippets: Acquire new knowledge

This is part of a series of articles to make your job hunting experience more meaningful with JobStreet.com.

A proven way to advance in your career is to continually acquire new knowledge. Stay on top of trends or developments in your field and make sure that your current resume reflects those needed skills.

Do check back on 20 Nov 2009 for more tips!

Snippets: Reach out and network

This is part of a series of articles to make your job hunting experience more meaningful with JobStreet.com.

Networking can be key to successfully advance or change your career. Your network already includes friends, family members, business contacts and colleagues, but you can always broaden it further by joining professional organizations within your field, contacting alumni from your university, joining groups on social websites that speak to your profession, attending industry conferences and seminars. Even through volunteering. An event that is specifically about networking is also a great place to connect with others. The more people who know you, your strengths and abilities, the better your chances at receiving job leads, key advice or information about a particular company or industry.

Do check back on 10 Nov 2009 for more tips!

Snippets: Strengthen your inter-personal skills

This is part of a series of articles to make your job hunting experience more meaningful with JobStreet.com.

Strong interpersonal skills play a crucial role in gaining the respect of your boss and colleagues. They also attract the notice of outside influencers who might open new doors of opportunity to you. Be friendly, outgoing and personable. Listen carefully to people and practice being a clear and effective communicator.

Do check back on 20 Sep 2009 for more tips!

Wanted: well-rounded candidates with leadership skills

As the labour market tightens, organisations worldwide are strengthening their employer value propositions to appeal to young talents, writes SUZIEANA UDA NAGU in The New Straits Times this week.

She quoted British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad (BAT) human resources director Cheryl Wong as saying: "In the spirit of diversity, BAT prefers hiring a mix of foreign and locally trained Malaysians. We believe that diversity brings better solutions, which translate into better business sense. People with different experience will bring something unique to the table."

She comes across impressive local graduates among the shortlisted candidates. However, she admitted that they were getting harder to find. "We want well-rounded candidates who possess the leadership skills we look for, as well as good academic qualifications and effective communication skills. Being a multinational company, we do need people who communicate well in English," says Wong.

She feels it is a shame when some local candidates show "impressive track record in academic and extra-curricular activties but cannot express themselves well."

Wong is not the only employer faced with the challenge of finding suitable candidates. Despite the global recession and the weakest employment outlook in decades, employers worldwide are still finding it difficult to hire young people to fill positions which require critical skills such as leadership, teamwork and problem-solving.

The newspaper article quoted the United Nations as stating that "one of the top three socio-economic issues facing the planet is the lack of talent despite population increases,"  underlining the worry that talent shortage is indeed a global concern.

In the United States, human resource experts predict a critical skills gap in organisations in the next five years. Possibly by 2014, there would be a 30 per cent decline in young workers entering the workforce and a 50 per cent growth in retirement of skilled knowledge workers. Their concern was that as the situation grew more serious, it could threaten "the engines of world economic growth and prosperity." Governments globally are taking measures to mitigate the impending shortage such as improving educational and vocational training provisions, adopting strategic migration policies and encouraging experienced older workers to remain in employment.

Snippets: Stepping stone

This is part of a series of articles to make your job hunting experience more meaningful with JobStreet.com.

That first job you do may not be your dream job but it is a stepping stone to a successful career. And it is the satisfaction that you get from working and the quest for knowledge that will make you work hard.

Journalist Quentin Lim said the first job was not a time for fresh graduates to demand for high salaries and benefits. He adds: "At this point, they have no experience and so salary should not be the most important factor. What is most valuable is the experience you can gain. Fresh graduates also cannot afford to be lazy. We have to work even harder to stand out from the rest, as there are so many graduates these days. During my parent's time, being a graduate was enough to guarantee a job but today, that’s not enough. You need to pick up skills which are good enough for the employers."

Do check back on 10 Sep 2009 for more tips!

Preparation and research

Through a local recruiting firm, Cindy (not her real name) had landed a meeting with the chief financial officer of a retail company that she hoped to work for. After exchanging small talk, the CFO asked her: "So, what do you think of our stores?"

The candidate replied honestly that she'd never been in one.

Oops. Needless to say, she didn't get the position.

Preparation and research are always important when trying to land a job, and this is even truer in today's competitive market.

Employers have long commented that today's interviewees simply do not do their homework before they turn up for interviews. "We like people who knows a little of what we do, even though their knowledge may be very basic," one employer said. "Anything you can learn about the company is going to give you a leg up in the interview process. It helps you understand the business, know if it's a good fit and shows that you've taken the extra time and effort that every employer wants to see."

So where do you start? The Internet is a great tool, and a simple Google search and visit to the employer's website is a logical place to start.

At the very least, go to the company's website. If it's a consumer products company, find out what they make. If they're a financial services company, learn about types of services they offer. If it's a retailer, see what products they sell and where their stores are, and and make sure you go to one.

A Google search can turn up news coverage about the company, along with information that might be useful to know. If the company is publicly listed on the local stock exchange, there's usually a wealth of information available.

Snippets: What’s your reputation worth?

This is part of a series of articles to make your job hunting experience more meaningful with JobStreet.com.

A lot. In fact, your reputation is the most valuable thing you own. If you have a bad reputation, nobody will want to take a second look at you. Therefore, be known for being dependable, professional, and cooperative. Act and look the part by dressing professionally. Make a name for yourself by attending conferences, delivering speeches or writing articles.

Do check back on 30 Aug 2009 for more tips!

Online scams that target job seekers

This is not a new incident but we've been reading - and hence, here we are to remind you - that there are always online predators who target unsuspecting job seekers with emails that look like genuine employment opportunities.

An email from an unknown or unreliable source that offers a good job or business opportunity could be a scam that takes over your computer and leads to a stolen identity. Email and data security firms are now warning job seekers of these emails that have started to flood inboxes.

Just be careful if an email asks you for confirmation or for personal information, or carry enticing attachments that actually contain destructive computer viruses. The viruses look for your bank account numbers and passwords, or log-ins for social networking sites. Enough personal information can then be collected to steal someone's identity.

Job seekers can protect themselves by not giving out personal or financial information over the Internet. It's also important to research a potential employer and not making any upfront payments to job placement firms.

Oh, by the way, there's also this advice I once picked up quite a while ago:

"How do you tell the bogus job ads from the real ones? Sometimes it’s easy. Ads from Nigerian businessmen wanting you to collect money for them are obviously bogus–but they’re not all that transparent. It may look real, but if the hiring company isn’t listed, then that’s the first red flag. The second red flag is vague job descriptions that don’t give details, or promise high wages for jobs that require no education or experience. And once they get on on the hook, watch out for what type of information they request. Naturally, if you get a job offer, you’ll have to give your new employer your social security number, and even your bank account number if you want direct deposit of your paycheck. But if they’re asking for that information before you’ve even come into the office for an interview, then it’s a pretty good bet that it’s a scam."

JobStreet.com’s collaboration with BFM thus far…

In collaboration with BFM 89.9, we have featured some of today’s biggest companies on Klang Valley's most exciting radio dial – from strategies for effective employer branding with McDonalds to discussing about the challenges and issues surrounding hiring fresh graduates.

More than just a glimpse into human resource management for practitioners, our work with the radio station provides insights into the workings of each institution and their hiring practices.

For one, job seekers get a picture of the hiring practices by each individual company, crucial for those keen on knowing some of the interview processes employed. A few of the topics also cover the hiring trends under the current economic climate where some are hiring and some are freezing. From F&B to finance and land development, get yourself a better understanding of the needs and requirements of each individual industry from the big players themselves. Spend some time and listen to some of the past few interviews here!

We now have our very own Podcasts!

Here at JobStreet.com we have launched our very own podcast series to make it more convenient for you to listen to them while you are on the go! Just click on either one of them to listen or download:

• Job Fairs - How to Prepare for Them
• First Employment by Jobseekers
• How to Job Hunt with Least Effort
• Six Job Search No-Nos
• Social Networking Sites - A Boon or Bane to Jobseekers?
• Interview Series: Online Recruitment

Getting hungry on the job

There's a debate going on that says local graduates are not hungry enough to look for work and their attitude could be a reason for the high unemployment among this group of people.

According to a report in The Star in Nov 2005, there is truth in the observation that local graduates are less competitive when it comes to looking for jobs. Even those who have found employment are often not serious enough in their work and they expect quick promotions because they are graduates. Thus, many employers are put off by some job seekers who expect good pay and perks when they should be trying to convince the management of the advantages of recruiting them.

Employers are choosy as they must be sure that their prospective employees meet the company’s requirements and can make positive contributions once hired. But some fresh graduates are choosier than the employers because, coming from a middle-income background, they can afford to be out-of-work longer as their families have the financial means to look after them.

On the other hand, there are many graduates in desperate need of jobs. They need to look after themselves and their families or to repay loans they borrowed to finance their education. But due to their shortcomings, they are unable to convince companies to hire them or to give them a chance to prove themselves.

Lack of communication skills and a weakness with languages, especially English, are among the handicaps faced by many applicants. Even though the government pours in millions to retrain them over a few short months, these handicaps cannot be overcome easily.

The newspaper suggests that instead of worrying about their global rankings, local universities should be more concerned with providing the right courses to make their undergraduates more marketable and competitive. There is still no light at the end of the tunnel, the newspaper commented, and the public universities must start serious work in dealing with it. It added that a sure sign of success would be that local graduates could fit into both the local and foreign job markets and those involved in such a project must make this happen as quickly as possible.