Happy Diwali!!!

Wishing bloggers the world over a Happy & Prosperous Diwali!

Best Regards,

Pankaj

Candidate Qualities: What Are Organizations Looking For?

When you walk into an organization, what do you bring to the table?

That's the million dollar question for an organization that's considering getting you on board. While the answer to the question might be fairly clear for a middle management to senior level position, it is quite the opposite when it comes to the junior level for obvious reasons. Most big organizations have become as big as they have because of their insistence on quality talent. This quality is overall two fold: technical qualities and behavioural qualities.

Now, the technical qualities correspond to your actual job skills; the technical know-how of how to do your job based on your educational qualifications or experience or both. This obviously is the primary prerequisite to you being even normally considered for the job.

But increasingly, more and more organizations are placing a healthy premium on the 'behavioural fit' of a potential candidate as well. Google Inc is a case in point. At Google, the interview process is quite intensive and the cultural or behavioural fit component plays a role as important as the technical job skills and knowledge in the final 'yes' or no'. Globally, organizations are finding ways to better utilize the multiple rounds of interviews that potential candidates are subjected to, to access their cultural fit. This cultural fit has nothing to do with sex, caste, religion etc. It is about the candidates' ability to adopt him/herself to the organization's work culture and ethos and to seamlessly integrate him/herself into the team that he/she is part of.

I have seen and heard about numerous cases of talented individuals being fired or shunted out of organizations because they could never align themselves to the work culture. In some cases theirs was a very disruptive influence/presence and was seen to result in lowered productivity.

Any aspiring professional would be well advised to watch the 'The Apprentice' series which features the flamboyant Donald Trump, one of America's finest business minds. The series, though perhaps subtly dramatized for prime time television audiences, offers a dynamic example of how seemingly talented individuals with immense potential, can instead of being stalwarts of their teams or units, be huge liabilities for their colleagues.

It is thus imperative to put your best foot forward not just while showcasing your technical acumen, but also your ability to be a 'total fit' into the organization.

Watch out for part 2 of this article to learn more....

Some Tips for Job Seekers

Looking out for a Job? Below are a few pointers to keep in mind and work on. The pointers will hopefully help you be more systematic and less haphazard when you go looking out for that 'just-the-right-job"

Network: Let the world know you are looking out for a job!

A high percentage of people find jobs through word-of-mouth. Talk to the people you know, including relatives, friends, professors, and former co-workers. Let them know that you are looking for work; ask their advice; seek out introductions to people in the field that interests you.

Customize: Do you think you qualify/have the expertise or experience for different kinds of jobs? Have different, job specific versions of your resume!

Create a custom version of your resume for each job or industry that interests you. Your resume is your first impression! It should highlight/stress upon specific job skills and expertise that the prospective employer is looking out for.

Know yourself !: Know your professional strengths and weaknesses. Know your level of expertise in different skill areas (For example: People Management, Stock Market Analysis, Public Speaking etc...)

Make a sincere list of your primary skills ( your true expertise) and secondary skills. Practice speaking about and articulating your skills in the best possible manner. You need to be able to lay out your skills, and explain how they relate to the job you're seeking.

Organize and Prioritize: Shortlist companies/organizations that you think you can apply to based on your experience, skills, knowledge and overall aptitude. Have a systematic approach to your job applications, it betters your chances considerably!

Make a list to help keep track of your job search efforts. Preparing a list also helps you to organize your priorities and keeps you focused on your goal -- finding your perfect job.

Do your homework !: Ask your self: Do you know about all the job options avaliable to you for the qualification/s you have? Do you know what are the best companies to work for in your line of work? Do you know what sub-skills are in demand in the market right now?

Read the newspaper and trade journals to remain current on developments in your field of interest. Knowing the latest trends and mergers will help set you apart from other candidates in an interview.

Follow up & Say Thank You! : Don't imagine that your interview process ends when you walk out the company door, a well timed followup will help the prospective employer/recruiter keep you in mind. This is especially important when there are multiple candidates being considered for the position.

Follow up on all leads as soon as possible, and be confident when you do so, do not come across as desperate.

And, following an interview, always send a thank-you note the same day.

Ask Me!

Any questions related to recruitments or a job interview?

Feel free to ask me and I will do my best to give you a practical and implementable answer!

To ask me your question e-mail me at:
wordsmithpankaj@gmail.com

Cheers!

Pankaj

The Top 25 Jobs for 2005-2009: FastCompany.com

Here's an interesting and well researched article from fastcompany.com, written by Matt Quinn. It is essentially more pertinent for the U.S Job market, but a good read nevertheless.

Here's an excerpt:

"Clearly, you want to pick a career that's in high demand. Because job growth is so important, we weighted our index 35% toward the Bureau of Labor Statistic's projected job growth data through 2012.
Money also matters. We based our salary range -- an indication of the opportunity for salary growth -- on the difference between the 10th percentile earnings and the 90th percentile earnings for a given job, also based on BLS data. This gives a picture of where you might end up in relation to where you started. The greater the divide, the better the score. Salary range was also given a 35% share of the total index score.
A great job, in our opinion, also requires a good deal of investment in education. Our education score is based on what percentage of those working in the field hold a college degree according to BLS data. We weighted this 20%.
Finally, a great job needs to give you room to run. How innovative and creative can you be? How open to new ideas are people in your profession? We turned to Dr. Kevin Stolarick to help determine how creative workers can be in a given field. We weighted this 10%."

Here's the full article:

The Top 25 Jobs for 2005-2009

Happy Reading!

Guest Relations Associate (Females)

An HR industry colleague of mine is looking for Female Guest Relations Executives for a major Real Estate firm she works for in Hyderabad, India.
The Details are below:

Position : Guest Relations Associate (2)

Reporting To: Marketing Manager

Educational Qualification: Any Graduate

Essential Competencies / Skills:

Good command over her communication skills required

Job Responsibilities for the Position :

1. Responsible for Inbound and outbound call
2. Customer counseling
3. Project briefing to the customers
4. Responsible for the data entry from to be filled by the customer
5. Maintaining the database of the telephonic enquire
6. Walk in with the customers
7. Real estate hospitality to the customers
8. Providing the project kit to the customers•
9. Generating & Handing over the daily report to the Marketing Manager

Interested?
Send your application with your full and updated resume to wordsmithpankaj@gmail.com

Marketing Co-ordinators in Hyderabad

For any one interested in Marketing Jobs in Hyderabad, here's one to consider:

Position: Sr.Coordinator Marketing

Reporting To: Marketing Manager

Educational Qualification: Any Graduate & MBA will be an advantage

Essential Competencies / Skills:

Experience in marketing activities in the real estate would be preferable.

Job Responsibilities for the Position :
1. Brand Building
2. Brand Existence
3. Competitor Analysis

4. Land Visibility
5. Promotional activities
6. Advertisements aspects
7. key role for the launch of the property
8. Hoarding activities

Anyone interested can e-mail me at: wordsmithpankaj@gmail.com, I will forward your application to a colleague of mine whom I am helping out.

Is Your Job Choice Influenced by Your Role In School?

I came across this interesting article by Reuters on the Yahoo News site. Here's an excerpt:

"Thirty-nine percent of 6,000 full-time workers questioned in a survey said their experiences in high school had an impact on their career.

Geeks gravitated toward engineering and retail jobs. Athletes tended to work in the transportation industry, while former cheerleaders, who were more likely to reach vice president level, were drawn to careers in travel and insurance.
Cheerleaders also had the second highest level of job satisfaction, after teacher's pets, at 76 percent.

"These are enthusiastic individuals, they're strong motivators. They know how to get others excited about projects. You can see how that enthusiasm and motivation can translate into a role where you're in charge of managing a large department or whatever it may be," said Jennifer Grasx, of CareerBuilder.com which conducted the survey.

Former members of student government earned the most money and tended to work as directors or managers. Twelve percent reported making $100,000 or more, and nearly half had a salary of $50,000 or more. But they were also the most dissatisfied with their career progress."

This study, albeit a relatively small one, does bring to light the role that childhood choices and exposures possibly play later in one's professional life (the role of the same in one's personal life is ofcourse well studied and documented). I think it is thus paramount that a child be allowed to discover for him/herself where his/her natural interest and competence lies, so that there is a greater possibility of a successful and more importantly, a greatly satisfying professional life later.

The article:

Teacher's pet or jock? School roles influence job choice

Happy Reading!

Head of IT for Tata Projects Limited

An industry colleague of mine requested my help to help him find a suitable candidate for the position of Head (IT) for Tata Projects Limited.

The Job Details are as follows:

Company: Tata Projects Limited Job

Title: Head - IT Infrastructure

Description: IT experience in ERP, Analysis, Design and Maintenance of various applications, implementation of e-mail, VPN, VSAT and Security solutions.

Should have worked as Head (IS / IT) position for a minimum period of 7 years with strong leadership and communication skills . Able to handle multiple complex projects across the globe. A team builder who motivates staff to proactive management way, good interpersonal and communication skills.

Taking care of Employee Performance Appraisal, Recruitment / Hiring, Induction & Training.Managing financial resources / budgetary responsibilities, assessing current technology strategy, working with multiple vendors.

Location - Corporate Head Office , Hyderabad (INDIA)

Salary - Best in the Industry

Incase the above opening interests you, please send in your reply, or feel free to recommend someone for the position.

Welcome to The Job Blog

Welcome!

I have created this blog to help those in search of jobs around the globe, maximize their chancews of getting that right job. This blog will feature articles of job search techniques, inteview techniques, recruitment trends, salary trends and surveys and anything and everything that can help a job seeker get it just right!

Regards,

Pankaj