Great Union

Source: Jobsdb.com

In order to stand out from the crowd, your resume, cover letter and interview techniques have to be excellent. This includes your first impression too. People evaluate your personality based on the first time you met them. They look at your appearance and decide whether the conversation was smooth to judge what kind of a person you are. Therefore, first impression is very important.

The first thing your recruiter will look at is the CV. Make sure your CV looks professional with no spelling errors. It should consist of your detailed work experiences, the skills you have and the qualifications that you hold.

Then, when an interview is arranged, the next thing you need to consider is yourself. You should have a clean formal suit with no wrinkles on the shirts. Make sure your suit have no loose or wayward threads as it looks unprofessional. Also, the suit shouldn’t be too bright of a color, so a darker color would be ideal. For the footwear, make sure your shoes are polished with no visible dirt. Women who are wearing high heels should keep their heels to three inches. Furthermore, women should minimize their accessories. Try to keep it simple by wearing a simple necklace instead of a dangling necklace.

Now that you are all dressed up, make sure you give a confident smile and have eye contact when you are talking to the recruiter.

Source: jobsdb.com

Digital skills have increasingly become a  crucial skill in the world. Almost every job consists of some kind of digital elements and if you don’t know how to operate a certain function, you will become a disadvantage in the workforce.

“The digital revolution has touched the lives of virtually every consumer and business around the globe,” says Christine Wright, Managing Director of Hays in Asia. “As a result digital strategy – and along with it digital literacy – is growing in importance.”

For example, customer service representatives these days have to interact with customers by using live chats and social media platforms. Most of the daily tasks are operated by using the computers. Manager base their decisions on the data found in the digital world.

During the autumn season in 2015, the UK became the first country for children to learn coding from the age of five through to 16.

Therefore, no matter if you are a job seeker, a student, a waitress, or a bus driver, it is very important that you update your digital skills. Regardless of which industry you will end up in, technology will surely take over our future.

Source: topick.hket.com

The most common question you are being asked in an interview is the self-introduction. All the interviewers will like to know a little background information about you, so it is very important to prepare it well to impress your employers!

There are two main parts on the self-introduction including the format and the content. Make sure the content consists of your educational background and any work experiences you have contributed in the past. You may refer to the following tips for an ideal answer.

Self introduction sample:

• First 30 second: Briefly introduce your name, job seniority, work institutions and your recent title.
• Then, you may use a minute to describe your personal strengths, skills and expertise. You could say you have excellent organizational skills, a good listener and a good team leader etc.
• The next 2 minutes: Focus on the reasons of why you applied for the job. Tell the recruiter a little information of your previous company. This includes the achievements that you have gained, the responsibilities that you took and the challenges that you have came across. Then, explain how those factors can help you to perform well in this company.
• Lastly, you can talk about your objectives and prospects. Tell them your goals or plans in the next five years, state out the things you would like to achieve, and your expectation of the job.

Further tips:

1. Be a story teller. Transform your working  experience profile into a story form to make it lively and attractive.
2. If you have 0-2 years of working experience candidates (fresh graduates), you could emphasize the extra-curricular activities and volunteer works that you were involved in.
3. If you have more than 3 years of working experience, you could tell them the biggest challenge you have faced, your management skills and some of the achievements that you have gained.
4. If you have 10 years of working experience or more, you could show that the knowledge you earned from previous years and share your prospect to the recruiters.

Source: topick.hket.com

Have you ever wonder what are the objectives of an interview? Would it be to give a good impression to people?  Well… interviewers see many candidates per day and they are most likely to forget who you are at the end of the day. So, in an interview, you should be aware of what answers are appropriate to say and what are not.

1.Why do you want to join our company?
Well, I am sure that everybody who had interviewed for a job would come across this question. You would assume that by saying “I would like to learn and accumulate more experiences…” will get you a good chance of getting the job because it shows that you are willing to learn. However, from recruiters’ perspectives, they will think that you don’t have the real passion to join the company and meet goals.

2. Why did you change jobs for a few times?
This is a very typical question that a lot of employees encounter. You may be tempted to say you get bored easily, your previous boss was incompetent, or you couldn’t get along well with your colleagues. However, these sorts of answers will let down the recruiters and the chance of hiring you would drop to zero.
A better response would be as followed:” As I was still young the past years, I wanted to try different types of jobs to explore my interest.  After several attempts, I realized that this position is most suited to my own characteristics and I will always bring the best out of myself, therefore, I applied for this job.”

3. What are your strengths?
Do not joke around in an interview by saying you have a humorous personality, like going to sleep, or you simply don’t have any strengths etc.  Make sure your answer is related to the job you have applied for. For example, you could say “you pay good attentions to details”, “you are efficient in your work”, or “you are a very reliable person in which you are able to handle important tasks cautiously”.

Source: Jobsdb.com

Nowadays, Interviews have become a popular trend of recruitment. Some statistic from UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development say that 83% of organizations select their applicant base on the interviews, compared to 68% in 2009. Therefore, interviewers should conduct the interview with consistency and in a fair environment.

Here are some tips on how to enhance your interview skills:

• Avoid the robotic questioning style: Try to stay away from scripts as the conversation can sound very unnatural and awkward. The script can limit you from exploring other areas of the candidates.
• Get ready: Prepare all the questions you want to ask and find out the ability of the candidates which are most suitable to the role.
• Make it friendly: Try to make the interview as relaxing as possible, so that the candidate can show you their real potential without the nerves in the way. Make sure you are paying attention to what they are saying and be interactive. You may ask a few gentle introductory questions to help the candidate warm up.
• Look beyond technical skills: You can ask them some devise questions to decide whether the candidate is aligned with your business’ culture.
• Everything should be lawful: Before the interview, you should beware of what questions are appropriate to ask and what questions are sensitive to the candidate. Asking the correct questions avoid accusations such as discrimination.

Last of all, enjoy the interview. Treat it as an opportunity for you to hear someone’s story and maybe you will change their life positively.

Source: topick.hket.com

In addition to proper dressing, grooming, and some professional certifications, body language plays a very important role in the interview. It often reflects your true feelings and your inner characters. However, as long as you know how to hide your weaknesses in the interview, you can definitely beat the opponent and stand out in the workplace!

1. Eye contact

Eye contact is a crucial factor when you are talking to someone. If you look at them for a short period of time, it shows that you are nervous. Oppositely, if you look at them for a long period of time, it creates pressure for them. The trick is to position your eyes in the right position. If you feel shy, you can move your attention to their eyebrows, which you feel less tense up.

2. Gestures

Once you are nervous, you will uncontrollably fidget with your hands and create different hand gestures. Different hand gestures gives people different impression and before are some of the examples:
Minaret type: It gives out the confident look and shows people that you are paying attention to the  conversation.
Hands together evenly: This is a gesture of frustration, which stops negative emotions.
Touching your chin: it represents that you are thinking of an answer for the question

3. Posture

A good posture will make the interviewer feel your sincerity:
Standing position: Put your hands by the thighs and avoid splayed feet. Women who are wearing high heels should place their  balance on their heels and on their foot sole. Then, stand upright with shoulders pulled back and look up.
Sitting position: It is more favorable when you are sitting on a high chair as it creates a convincing look and a sense of authority. Your chair should not be too far away from the table and try to slightly lean forward when you are answering the interviewer’s question.

4. Fidgets
During an interview, you should avoid rocking the chair, playing with your hair and bite your nails. All these actions represent that you are nervous!

Source: on.cc

Summer time! One say is time for a holiday to Europe, but I say it is time to get an internship to get some good working experiences for the future. Many students will have already got themselves a summer job or an internship. However, we always forget that an internship not only gives us good experiences, but it has a potential to become our permanent job in the future. Below are some tips for interns to present a smart self to the boss.

1. Be prepare before work
We all do background research before the job interview, so we should also be well prepared on the first day of work. It is a good idea to review the company’s background, the industry, and some information about your manager.

2. Work as if it was a full time job
If you want your boss to treat you well, then you have to treat your job well too. Remember, that every position in the company counts. Your work will affect one another, therefore, don’t underestimate yourself.

3. Dress well
Look around the environment and match your outfit to the company. If everybody is wearing a smart outfit, then it would also be nice if you (as an intern) to dress smart also. This will give people a better impression and it can influence your performance in the future.

4. Bring a spare outfit
It is always a smart idea to bring extra clothing to work because you will never know if you have a formal event to attend to. Then, your boss can see you well prepared and leave a good impression of you.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask questions
Nobody is perfect. Therefore, don’t be afraid to ask questions when you don’t know the answer. People will be more than happy to help you and it shows them that you are willing to learn.

6. Good time management
Being an intern can get very busy because everyone gives you a task to do. Make sure you can handle all the work before you agree to help them. Nothing is worst than missing the deadline and say you were too busy doing other things.

7. Challenge yourself
You could try to challenge yourself by doing something that you have never done before. Not only it will be a good opportunity for you to learn and improve your skills, but also it can build up your portfolio.

8. Learn from your mentor
During lunch time hours, it is a good chance to ask your mentor questions. Ask them to share their past experiences with you and you can learn a lot by listening to them. Just don’t be shy and take actions.

9. Build your social network
Don’t waste your internship just by working. It is very important to know more people, build good relationships between your colleagues and it will become very handy in the future.

10. Ask for feedback
When the internship comes to an end, be initiative and ask for your overall performance. Take the advice and analyze the answers. Think about your strengths and weaknesses. Then, see how you can improve in the future.

Source: jobsdb.com

Nowadays, we focus all our attention to finding a good job, preparing for interviews, and studying for a professional qualification. However, we often forget to think about the things we should do to our current company before moving on to a new position. A study conducted by MetLife found that more than one-third of employees hoped to change jobs within 12 months. Therefore when we resign the job, we should resign kindly and in a professional manner.

1. Notify the staff and clients
When you resign from your job, your boss would be the first person to know the news. However, the rest of your teammates, colleagues, clients and customers should also get a notification from you. This is because they can have an idea of your status and it is also a good opportunity to thank them for their help. You could send them an email to express your appreciation and that you have enjoyed working with them.

2. Say Thank you
The word “Thank you” is one of the best words you can say to people. It gives people the impression of your politeness and the respectfulness. You could treat your colleagues and managers for lunch. Show them that you are very thankful for the help and guidance they have given you. They will be very happy to receive your appreciation and keeping good relationships with your work mates will be an advantage in the future.

3. Never burn your bridges
Even though your boss is your worst enemy, never ever tell your boss off. You might feel great at the beginning, but after you walked out of his office, you will regret it. The consequence of telling your boss off is that you have lost a reference. Also, if you are thinking to leave negative comments on Facebook about your past boss/ company, I recommend you to avoid that too. Facebook have no privacy and it will only worsen your situation.

4. Provide useful information for your replacement
The new employee replacing your position will be very puzzle on their first day, therefore, if you provide them detailed notes of the work they will appreciate it greatly. This will make the transition much easier for your replacement and it shows the boss that you are a very responsible person. 

Source: on.cc 

Nobody becomes a millionaire over night. All the successful people have some habits to help them to become rich and successful. Here are some habits that they do in their daily life.

1. Turn hobbies into a part-time job
Many people think a part-time job is just a part-time job where you can earn some extra money. However, a part-time job does more than that. It expands your social network and it allows you to gain more knowledge in different fields. Therefore, if you turn your hobby (e.g. photography, baking, music etc.) into a part-time job, you might have some surprising results.

2. Change to a high interest account
You might think most of the banks have the same interest rate, but if you spend some time doing the research, you will find that there might be banks that have a higher interest rate.

3. Turn your money into more money
The best way to make more money is to use your money on investment. Start with a small amount and once you gain more experiences then you can put more money into the stock market. However, make sure you invest wisely as investment can be risky.

4. Surround yourself with successful people
By surrounding yourself with successful people, you can see how they behave and how they think. They usually have a routine and you can learn from their habits. You would also expand your connections through their gatherings and social activities.

5. Read more books
Knowledge is power. Warren Buffett, the world famous investor, spent 80% of this day to read. Try to watch fewer dramas and spend that time to read some books on investment instead.

6. Say goodbye to late owls and be an early bird
Many successful people wake up early and sleep early. They use their time wisely by spending their morning replying emails, go to the gym, and do some readings.

7. Stay out of your comfort zone
You should know that being rich isn’t easy. Before the luxurious life, there is always the challenging and uneasy time. You would have many doubts and uncertainly. Therefore, don’t stay in your comfort zone. Explore the outside world and do not be afraid to fall.

8. Set a goal
Having a goal is very important because it motivates you to earn more money and you will feel more energetic in general. Make sure you are not afraid of challenges and just do the things you want to do. A successful future is ahead waiting for you.

Source: topick.hket.com

A Curriculum Vitae is a letter to introduce yourself to the managers and the format is the same as an ordinary letter.

Firstly, you write a sentence to tell them the purpose of the letter. For example, “I am writing in response to your advertisement posted on XXX (website)” or if you have a referee, then you could say “I was referred to you by XXX (name). Please accept this letter as my application for the position of XXX (Job title).”.

Secondly, you write a paragraph to introduce yourself. You can include your education background, working experiences, and job duties. Also, you should state out why you would be a good fit of the position that you are applying. It is important that you include some examples and elaborate your answers because it is more persuasive. For example, you could say “This position represents an opportunity to continue my career path.” Or “My professional skills appear to be well suited to your company’s requirement.”

Thirdly, you need to show them you really want to join their company. When they feel your passion, the chance of getting the job increases. Sentences such as “It is my pleasure if I have the chance to work with your company” or “Joining your company will definitely provide me a rewarding job opportunity” are a good way to show your enthusiasm.

Lastly, you should mention that you hope to have an opportunity for an interview and thank them for their time. For example, “I would be grateful if I could have an interview at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your time and consideration.”.

Next time when you write your CV, you could use this as a guideline and I wish every candidate a successful future!