BLOGStreet, from JobStreet.com

Snippets: Interview appointments

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

Do not accept the interview appointment if you are not interested in the job. If you have accepted, please ensure you will make yourself available during that time to attend the interview even if you have found another dream job. 

Do check back on 30 May 2009 for more tips!

PitchYourTalent: Privacy and benefits

By now, I suppose you should have heard about our latest product called PitchYourTalent. If you haven't, maybe this is the time and place for you to find out more about how you can pitch your talent to the potential employers out there.

PitchYourTalent is actually one of the easiest ways for you to make yourself seen in today's crowded employment market. We believe that this will be the most productive way for talented people like you to get their next jobs.

All you need is to set up your profile and you'll benefit through:

1. Letting opportunities find you. Your profile gets seen by tens of thousands of employers all over the world.
2. Building your profile within five minutes. We designed our system so that you can build your profile intuitively and quickly with minimal fuss.
3. Getting cutting edge tools. Get powerful customization and advanced profiling tools you won't find anywhere else, ever.
4. Protection of your identity. Only you decide what information gets seen and what remains unseen: a 100% control at your finger tips.
5. Securing your spot on the Internet. We'll fine-tune your profile so that it comes up prominently when your name gets searched in Google, Yahoo and MSN.
6. Getting seen by potential employers in the region and beyond. As long as they have an Internet connection, they can come straight into PitchYourTalent.

So should you be worried about privacy? Naturally, privacy is everyone's concern. But I wouldn't be pitching this service to you if we at JobStreet.com haven't addressed this issue to protect the user.

Here's what happens. When you register with us, all we ask from you is your email address and telephone number. This will enable us to contact you in private. Your email address and telephone number is strictly confidential and hidden from everyone.

You will have total control of all information in your talent profile. For example, you may wish to include your name and contact number if you are comfortable, or you may choose not to. It's very much your say. Any potential employer that wants to contact you will have to go through our messaging system. He contacts us and we will forward his message to you It's that simple. The rest is then up to you.

It's a simple system but it's effective. Do give PitchYourTalent a try, won't you?

Snippets: The best time to look for a new job

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

Many career experts agree that the best time to look for a new job is while you are still comfortable in your old one. If you are starting to feel unchallenged in your present position, you may be ready for a promotion to the next level. If there aren’t many career advancement opportunities where you work, the best next job may be waiting for you elsewhere. Nowadays, it’s up to you to take control of your professional future and make sure that you are progressing wisely down the right career path.

Do check back on 20 May 2009 for more tips!

JECI Poll, Apr 2009

In April, the JobStreet.com Employee Confidence Index (ECI) brought relief to some countries in the region. Except for Singapore, the JobStreet ECI for Malaysia, the Philippines and India moved northwards in line with encouraging news that the global recession could be slowing down.

• In Malaysia, the JobStreet ECI put on its best show for 2009, improving by 3.1 points to end the month at 46.9 points.  
• In India, the confidence level rebounded to 56.5 points, going up by 1.4 points from the previous month. It's still below the level recorded in January, which was 58.6 points.
• In the Philippines, there was also some cheer with the JobStreet ECI going up by 0.8 points to 57.0 points.
• However in Singapore, the rise in the confidence level registered in March could not be sustained and the JobStreet ECI dropped by two points to 38.8 points.

We would also like to mention the formal introduction of the JobStreet ECI for Indonesia. The index had a soft launch 15 months ago in January 2008 and is now a permanent feature on the JobStreet.com Indonesian website. JobStreet.com members from Indonesia are encouraged to visit the JobStreet ECI webpage to cast their votes and make their opinions known. In April, the index settled at 51.5 points.

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The JobStreet.com Employment Confidence Index is a measure of job seeker confidence in finding a job in the countries where we hold our monthly polls.

Protect yourself from misleading job advertisements

Job offers are sometimes not what they seem. During this tight economic situation and job market, there may emerge unscrupulous companies who try to take advantage of job seekers. So sometimes, there may appear illegal advertisements on job sites.

At JobStreet.com, we try our best to ensure that all job advertisements on our site are legitimate job opportunities only. Advertisements that contravene our Advertisement Policy are removed when they are identified.

Some unscrupulous companies post illegal job advertisements just to collect nformation. There are also some that try to cheat job seekers by making them pay for non-existent job positions. Worse still, others exploit gullible job seekers with attractive pay and benefits by getting them to commit serious crimes unknowingly.

Thus, we’d like to advise you to be extra careful with your job applications.

Here are some examples of advertisements which you should be mindful of: 

1. Advertisements that require payment for applications.
2. Advertisements that promote pyramid selling or similar schemes.
3. Advertisements that are untrue or misleading (e.g. misleading job title, job description or company description).
4. Advertisements with dubious ethical credentials (e.g. social escorts, etc.).

If you are suspicious of the nature of the job advertisements you see on JobStreet.com, you can email the advertisement to policy@jobstreet.com, giving the Company Name and Position Title, and we shall investigate.

Lastly, do not provide your Password to anyone, even if it appears to come from an email with a JobStreet.com address. We do not ask passwords from our members.

Safeguarding ourselves against swine influenza

In the past week, we've been hearing a lot about swine influenza which has been sweeping the world. The latest reports at 8am yesterday says that Mexico has registered 159 suspected deaths of which seven were confirmed as due to swine flu. The United States announced one death with at least 91 confirmed cases, Canada has 13 confirmed cases of swine flu, the UK has five confirmed cases, Spain with 10 confirmed cases, Germany and New Zealand with three confirmed cases each, Israel with two confirmed cases and Austria with a single case.

Yesterday too, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to raise the alert to Level 5 which is one level short of declaring a full-blown global epidemic or pandemic. The WHO defines a Phase 5 alert as meaning that there is also human-to-human transmission in at least two countries.

For us in Asia who have lived through avian flu and SARS in recent years, we are looking at swine flu as nothing new. Yet, we should remain vigilant against this new strain of influenza because as yet, there is no vaccine that works. Asian countries have also stepped up surveillance of all air passengers and at their borders.

It would thus be timely for us to take a brief look at swine flu and understand a little more about it:

• A respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A strains of the flu virus. It regularly causes high flu outbreaks in pigs but with low death rates.
• Swine flu viruses do not typically infect humans though they do occur through close proximity or contact with infected pigs or contaminated areas.
• Cases of human-to-human spread have been documented.
• Symptoms are similar to those of regular flu: fever, lethargy, runny nose, cough, sore throat, lack of appetite, vomiting and diarrhoea.
• Present strain of swine flu appears to contain genetic elements from human and avian flu.
• Resistant to two common drugs, Amantadine and Rimantadine. No vaccine available right now.
• Swine flu virus is not transmitted by food. Nevertheless, food must be handled properly.
• Cooked pork and pork products is safe as internal temperature of 70ºC and above will kill off the swine flu virus.
• Contagion period is up to seven days following the onset of the illness.

What can be done to protect ourselves from swine flu?

• Cover your nose and mouth with disposable tissue or handkerchief when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the waste basket after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze.
• Avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you get sick with influenza, stay at home and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
• Consult your nearest health-care facility if you think you have symptoms.

Snippets: Catching attention

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

The resume is not the place for you to write an essay. Leave that behind you. In the resume, your personal description should be brief and concise. Your achievements should be highlighted as bullet points. This little open secret will allow interviewers to read faster and understand you better. Remember, your resume is likened to a stepping stone. It’s the first critical piece to lure interviewers to consider you. So don’t let them fish for information in an essay. Help them to catch their attention with brief, precise bullet points.

Do check back on 10 May 2009 for more tips!

Time out: junk mail wisdom

Do you find that Junk mail has permeated deep into our society and has become an unavoidable way of life? It's not only the physical junk mail and junk brochures that we find stuffed into our letter boxes at home. At the office, I find that I have to delete about 20 to 30 percent of the messages in my inbox. Electronic junk mail. No amount of filtering can ever eliminate them.

But once in a while, there are some hidden gems. I almost routinely delete one recently but somehow, the message caught my attention first. From the perspective of the job hunter and careerist, the message would be worth sharing, I thought, before I consigned the junk email to the (where else) junk bin:

• Winning isn't everything. But wanting to win is.
• You would achieve more if you don't mind who gets the credit.
• When everything else is lost, the future still remains.
• Don't fight too much or the enemy would know your art of war.
• The only job you start at the top is when you dig a grave.
• If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for everything.
• If you do little things well, you'll do big ones better.
• Only thing that comes to you without effort is old age.
• You won't get a second chance to make the first impression.
• Only those who do nothing do not make mistakes.
• Never take a problem to your boss unless you have a solution.
• If you are not failing you're not taking enough risks.
• Don't try to get rid of bad temper by losing it.
• If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
• Those who don't make mistakes usually don't make anything.
• There are two kinds of failures: those who think and never do, and those who do and never think.
• Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.
• All progress has resulted from unpopular decisions.
• Change your thoughts and you change your world.
• Understanding proves intelligence, not the speed of the learning.
• There are two kinds of fools in this world: those who give advise and those who don't take it.
• The best way to kill an idea is to take it to a meeting.
• Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things.
• Friendship founded on business is always better than business founded on friendship.

Snippets: First impression

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

Job interviewers can usually tell whether or not you are an ideal candidate for the job within the first minute. It’s called the first impression. Your personal appearance, outfit, facial expressions and body language can make or break you. To make a great first impression, walk in with confidence but not cockiness, give a firm handshake and not a limp one, introduce yourself in a pleasurable tone of voice, make eye contact, sit up straight, show your enthusiasm and take a deep breath! Always dress for success with a nice pant or skirt suit, even if the position or job is casual. Lay low on heavy cologne, perfume and makeup. And whatever you do, don't be late!

Do check back on 30 Apr 2009 for more tips!

Breakfast with JobStreet.com's Mark Chang

I was having breakfast with Mark Chang the other day and our conversation turned to PitchYourTalent, the latest product on offer from JobStreet.com. How would he explain PitchYourTalent to job seekers? Here is his take on it:

"Well, obviously it's a new service for both our clients and members. As you know, JobStreet.com is well known in this region as one of the prime movers in the online recruitment business. We've successfully run our business since 1996 and we have grown to six million members and 50,000 clients in eight countries.

"Traditionally, our business model has always been to have clients advertise their positions online and then we would get job seekers to apply to these jobs from the JobStreet.com website. We are very satisfied with this time-tested model but of course, we are never one to sit still. We are always looking at alternatives to improve our services and one day, we were struck with this novel idea.

"What if we turn the process upside down? What if we have job seekers advertising themselves? That's what we are trying to create with PitchYourTalent. It's a new excitement where job seekers now have an opportunity to pitch their talent to the world. Let them tell the world about their experience, achievements, skills, qualifications .... and then let companies who are in search of good talent come to get them."

To know more about PitchYourTalent, click here.