Interviewing Fresh Graduates

Hi!

My name is SH, a recruitment consultant with one of the local firm in Penang. I was invited to My1stPath to share about my experience on interviewing of fresh graduates. I have never written blogs before and this is my 1st time, so, if my blog is boring, please pardon me. I was reluctant at first to write but somehow I felt strongly and wanted to help more fresh graduates on starting right with their 1st job.

I am not going to paint a picture in my sharing as I felt you need to know the truth about the real world not the “ideal world” of employment.

Hmm… Where should I start? There is a long list to share… most of my experience of interviewing fresh graduates honestly is very disappointing. When we called them up for screening, we noted that majority of these candidates do not know what jobs they are applying. When they are called by a recruiter, they will pause and then said I did not apply to the job but then the recruiter actually shortlisted them through the advertisement they have posted. This will indeed give a very negative 1st impression. My advice is if you’re applying for a job, write it down in a note i.e. which company you have applied to in order not to loose the 1st chance for interview. Recruitment agencies will give you a chance but for employers, they will reject your application instantly. Worst still, I have come across some candidates who actually wrote in to my email through advertisements which I put up in Jobstreet. They wrote directly to me and after 5 days I called them up and the relpies I received shocked me as they said they did not apply for the said job. So, I had to refresh them on the date/time they sent the applications to me. For me, I will reject these candidates’ applications, as it seemed that these candidates are not really serious in getting into a real job. They just hit the “send” button with their resumes and hope that someone will call them up for interview appointments.

From my past experience, most of the candidates that I interviewed, I realized that most of these jobseekers are quite ignorant about the importance of resume. The job market is very competitive and recruiters from companies have many  resumes to screen and shortlist and who do you think they will shortlist?

Do you know that a good resume/write-up will provide you with an opportunity to employment? At least, you will be shortlisted for the 1st interview with the employer. How do I define a good resume? Jobstreet has a standard format and I am sure most of you have already registered with them. My advice is, spend some time planning and drafting your resume as this is the first crucial step.

Bear in mind that when you write your resume, keep it short and precise. Use effective and powerful words and if you are a fresh graduate, always remember to emphasize on the university/college and school activities that you have participated. Also, state the projects that you have participated and also your role in these projects. If you have internship, do state it down and also if you have done any part-time/casual job or volunteer work. Always remember to state clearly your responsibilities, roles and your achievements/what you have learned during your varsity/college days.

Getting testimony from your supervisor during your internship will be very helpful as it will immediately increase your chance for hiring consideration.

What you must not do. Do not copy your friends resume and send it to an  employer. I have interviewed candidates before with almost the same content in their resume. Yes, the world is that small. Always remember, lies will be spotted easily but truth will touch people’s hearts.

We have bridged candidates who are not excellent in their academic but have good attitude. Bottom-line is, it doesn’t matter how good or bad your grade is, as long as you have good attitude and willingness to learn, you will be HIRED for the job. This is what employers are looking for NOW.

Be prepared that when you applied for a job, note down which company and position you applied for and always do your research before attending the interview. If you do this, you will at least be sure to be called for 1st interview.

Well, hope this sharing helps… all the best to you.

Cheers

 

Article contributed by SH

Picture source: Internet

Face of the Clock

 

 

If Life is made up of hours and days on the clock, then here’s something to deliberate on..

NOT TOO LONG AGO our forebears knew life in ways quite unlike how we relate to it now.

For them to work was to bring home bread for the table, there was simplicity in the way the hours are allocated and the associated modes of behavior.

 

The Face of the Clock

Neither have we lost touch with the face of the clock, our hours are appropriated too by the stacks and portions. In fact we are better at it by virtue of the social system we live in. This is largely true for urban folks.

Who knows TIME better than we do? With the hours neatly packed and trimmed for unused fats, these days the exercise drills right down to the precious minutes and seconds. We are more adept than ever in watching out for the jot and title that make up the 24hour cycle in a day.

I am convinced this myself, being once an employee at a company that operated on a 5day week, work began daily without fail on the dot at 8am. The bulk of the 8~9hours spent were regimented activities all blurred into oblivion now, and most employees would be glad to be out of scrutiny by 545pm at the scan-out clock.

For me, the morning rush hour was actually a mere 45minutes on motorbike spanning a distance of 30km from urban North to the outskirt. Simple routine and numbers to live by, but they had to be exact or ‘the System will punish you’.

I knew the motorbike ahead of me on the same stretch at the particular moment during the 110km/hr ride along the North-South highway. But we would never have met each other long enough to exchange a familiar glance. I was always overtaking him on the side lane, and he probably knew me only by the L-license plate on the rear.

If I am this disciplined about the exactness of the hours and minutes, it isn’t my choice but the result of company rules and policies on punctuality and work hours. Work has altered my lifestyle behavior; I had to give up my nocturnal habits and turned myself into a (reluctant) morning person.

Why, the official dictates at work place has simply decided my bed time to be 10.30pm, the duration of travel and the hour to reach home before school closed and the kids would be crying in the dark.

Everything else I call private to my life has to be back tracked accordingly to suit the official tagline, such is the impact/influence we live in and have to live with. Ruled and reigned in, re-alignment is inevitable.

This was my weekly routine rehearsed to perfection. It was not just rat race up the corporate ladder; it was encroachment of Work into my Life.

I did not feel robbed, I just adapted like many do unwittingly. Why, my protest is feeble and would be in vain. Besides, who is not time-conscious and subservient to it? I would be crying out to nobody and appear foolish.

In contrast, my retired mother knows no difference between Monday and Sunday. While I can feel the glitch between the highlights of an eventful weekend and the monotony by Monday morning, she does not share the same excitement we get from anticipating a planned event. Her life has never been structured, organized nor planned as a housewife and a businesswoman. In fact, she never grew up having her life that much bounded with the time piece like we do. In comparison, she’s free.

For her time blends without demarcation of zones or differentiation of behaviors. She knows nothing about Monday Blue, Weekend Hangovers, Happy Hour by the weekend, etc. It surprises me whenever she asks me what day of the week it is.

For an office workers that would have been gross sin not knowing the work from his right hand to his left. Knowing and living by the hands of the clock is fundamental to life as we know it. So much about ‘Doing the Right thing at the Right time’.

The obsession and entanglement we’re in is a generality unique to our era.

 

The point of it

I am not decrying the hard facts of life; I am only highlighting something so overlooked for its simplicity & apparent ordinariness.

While we are collectively riding this massive wheel of change called Civilization, let’s not forget there was once a separation between Work and Live.

‘Living for Work and Working to Live’ are two paths heading different directions.

I would defend the sanctity of humanity, even if we have to languish in the sea of rules & regulations by the face of the Clock; we ought to stay clear against blurring the borders where Life and Work rule, respectively.

Birds don’t stop chirping just because the haze is on. It does justice to humanity once a while to highlight the obvious, to sing in the right tune.

 

Article Contributed by PK Tan
Picture from Internet

 

Ask not what the company can give you, but what you can give the company

 

(John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what America can give you, but what you can give America.”)

Having worked for over 15 years in various organizations, I have come across many types of characters of people, be it colleagues, business associates or clients in the corporate world. In the organizations that I have worked with, I have supervised several team members and have been put in charged to expand and grow a division/branch. As such, I was involved in staff matter which include interviewing and recruitment process for many years.

Many people (especially those in the 20s and 30s) join an organization with the attitude of “getting the most out of it”. I have come across many young adults whom I interviewed which will not fail to ask the question “What can the company offer or give me in monetary terms?” during the interview sessions. Monetary returns seem to be one of the motivating factors amongst these interviewees who are mostly in the 20s and early 30s. However, I agree that it is important to know what an organization can offer you in terms of monetary returns but it is more important that after knowing what the company can offer you, can one live up to the expectations and do beyond the ordinary? This is what employers are looking for. A fair and professional company will ultimately reward and give the benefits to such an employee who have “given their best” and have proven themselves that they are worthy of such monetary returns. If however if you have given your best and yet the organization does not reward you, then you are clearly being exploited. That is a “thin line” to draw. How long should one endure such an “exploitation” before moving on to a better organization?

The bottom line, if you have a giving attitude towards an organization you will be blessed as with the amount you sow, you will reap likewise.

So, hang on there if you have been “giving” but felt that you are being exploited as success is just round the corner. If your current boss/management fails to reward you, others will notice you and as long as you have a giving attitude, you will be “head-hunted” by potential employers.

 

Contributed by Teresa Sia

Your Body Speaks

This is a very interesting book that one should read. The No. 1 International Bestseller, THE DEFINITIVE BOOK of BODY LANGUAGE by Allan and Barbara Pease. Both writers are renowned experts in human relations and body language. The book revealed the very basic body language skills on how to make a positive impression, how to interview and negotiate successfully and so forth. Some people might think that they have the skill or they know it well, but sometimes unfortunately, they don’t apply it in their life, knowing the skill is useless when you are implementing it. Or on the hand, some people do not notice or feel that there are hidden negative body languages in their daily verbal and non-verbal gesture, which is habitual, not done on intentionally. But the most important this book is the guide and tool to project a professional image.

I have been in both corporate and service industries, and I realized that somehow to be successful in no matter what you are doing, it comes down to the very same rule, human business. Everyone started off somewhere before they became someone; basically they went through the same first step of the very few seconds of first impression. “By a man’s fingernails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his trouser knees, by the calluses of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt-cuffs, by his movement – by each of these things a man’s calling is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent enquirer in any case is almost conceivable. By Sherlock Holmes, 1887″

But what really helps in this book especially for most interviewees is The Nine Golden Keys to Making Great First Impression in the interview. And also Seven Simple Strategies for the Extra Edge such as stand up for meetings use power words and also how to switch table territories. A lot of interviewees failed in their interviews mainly because of their failure to give out good first impression and to market themselves despite fulfilling all the criteria. Visualizing and doing some homework before attending an interview help a lot in boosting your confidence and be mentally ready. Working on your weaknesses, such as your tone and speed of your voice, hand gestures and facial expression will help to be in control. Of course at the end, you should always look into what type of job you are applying and what kind of impression you should be creating.

This book is worth securing a space on your book rack, so that you could browse through whenever you need it, when you have doubts or even whenever you have some interviews around the corner. Happy reading!

Contributed by Shanie
Picture Source: Internet