The world economy was in the snail phase during pre-COVID19, the demands were plateauing. China's appetite was definitely approaching flat phase and also the other parts in the world. IR4.0 was thrown in, whereby labor intensive will affected, thus all this factors were already in motion pre-COVID19.

Now, COVID19 has fast forwarded graph plot, and we are facing economy recession, how bad it is? How many countries will be affected? etc..

Fresh graduates, they have a few situations to prepare for it:

1. Lament and cry over the predicament they will be baptised soon

2. Prepare resumes and apply for whatever job placements available

3. Look for windows of opportunities and prepare for it

Now, allow me to narrate some interesting real life adaptation which i came accross during the lockdown phases.

Thailand as we know, depends highly on Tourism sector for its economy, thus thats the worst hit. The write up i came accross, was about a pilot, an air stewardess and an aircraft engineer. 

The pilot, transformed into a grab rider to deliver food to survive, and the air stewardess decided to rely on her extra skills and opened a saloon. The aircraft engineer, decided to start on airconditioning services.

Now analysing the above situation:

1. The pilot used his asset for another opportunity.

(Source: Reuters Bangkok)

2. The air stewardess used her extra skill to survive and create opportunity.

(Source: Reuters Thailand)

3. The aircraft engineer, must have learned the skill or he had prior experience and grabbed the window of opportunity.

(Source: Sin Chew Daily)

All above did not cry over their predicament and adapted immediately to the situation. The aircraft engineer has my best scores, WHY? During lockdown, WFH and movement control phases, people were staying in home most of the time. In Wuhan even after lockdown phases, the malls were still empty as the fear still lingered on. This if we look into, air condition usage will have its spike, more usage more service. Thus, the aircraft engineer has made a good decision jumping into this niche (im not sure if he saw this and decided but im assuming he did so)

Now, coming back to our fresh graduates, look and reflect at yourselves, what skills you need or you have?, what assets are available to you?, do a simple ground analysis. Find out available opportunities, available demands work on this.

• If you need to use the web, map out the skills needed to venture into the new opportunity.
• If you are going to jump into hydroponic sector, list out the needfuls.
• If you still insist in getting a job, do a thorough analysis on the company's required additional skills.
• If you want to wait out the recession phase, look into postgraduate studies, plot out future demands and jump into that niche of studies.

I end this write up with a quote from Charles Darwin....

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."

Greetings to all, this article is for the undergraduates. Most of you'll will be taming into LinkedIn either in the final month before garduating or once you have job and want to find another.

LinkedIn in short is an investment social media. You have to start early, get acclimated and be active as it going to be your second home. LinkedIn is where you find your interest, your parallel hobby groups, get knowledge, jobs either come to you or you find them etc etc. Thus in a crunch, LinkedIn is a comprehensive and holistic social media for the professionals.

Since there so much going in there, its best you start early and get familiar with all its nooks and corners.

LinkedIn is where the employed, self-employed, startups, new ideas link up etc etc dwell and link up. You have groups of interest, icons to follow and many more. Its a dynamic habitat of the economy elements.

You definitely need to build your very own platform and it has too have the right informations....

Self employed or being employed ends the teen moments of any general population, responsibility has a greater share in this change of paradigm. The motivation that drove me to write this piece was the questions posed to me on every new intake in the university. The most popular session which has lively two-way interaction has always been about the prospects one’s course has in the job market. The questions every year in and out are nearly the ones from same template, such FAQs:

1.       Where can AAAA course graduates get a job in?

2.       Are BBBB courses  highly paid?

3.       We have so many Uni’s and so many graduates, can all of us get job?

4.       I haven't heard of this CCCC course, should I stay or change to a more familiar one?

5.       What’s the difference between DDDD & EEEE both are nearly similar, where does the change occur?

6.       I don’t think I am tailored for this profession.

7.       I have never heard of this course, I came in because was advised to register for it.

8.       My friends are all in that field, should I change to that course.

The above are some of the question painted in their minds when they walk into ending their teen years. There so many factors involved in searching for the most appropriate job.

            Firstly one should profile oneself first, where he or she is cut out for. We need to understand, there are characters whereby:

            i.      Love desk job.

            ii.     Love lotsa interaction.

            iii.    Love being bossy.

            iv.    Love managing.

            v.     Love experimenting.

            vi.    Love travelling.

            vii.   Love anything away from humans.

            viii.  Hate monotonous routine.

            ix.    Hate getting dirty/oily/dusty.

            x.     Hate being dictated upon.

            xi.    Money is everything.

            xii.   Future needs to be secured.

            xiii.  Welfare job gives satisfaction.

So it is utmost important you derive satisfaction from the job which in turn will be a joy to work in even though multiple extrinsic working environment  stresses will act upon.

All fresh graduates need to remember one GOLDEN QUOTE, there is no ideal environment whereby best job, best pay, best boss, etc will be showered upon. Thus stop being choosy grab whatsoever offer which comes along with respective skills and blend in accordingly to your own characteristics like listed above.

There are ample advice's in the web on preparing for job interviews, etiquette attending interviews, choosing jobs etc. What are you going to do once you have landed on a job offer and you have accepted it? The next two to three years is going to be the defining moment in your life. The first steps you are going to take is going to be the one chiseled into to the last. Your first few weeks/months/years:

1. Ask as many questions possible (but don't be a pain in the @#$* by annoying with your questions).

I get it, you will be wondering, I am asking you to ask questions and at the same time telling to be cautious. Asking question is an art, ask questions relevant and important in your job line of fire. Not simple & logical ones, and also not technical ones for a newbie whereby you cant even digest the explanation. Whom are you going to ask?? Boss, colleagues, technicians, clerks, operators.... Now, your boss (generally speaking) they want solutions NOT QUESTIONS. Colleagues: Welcome to company politics, they are usually the best ones BUT also it can turnout to be a nightmare. Shed, hide, delete, throw away your EGO, go down to ask with all others at all levels AGAIN RELEVANT AND ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS. Wrong questions might make you a fool!!

2. Visibility: Yup that's the ball game.

What visibility here, show yourself everywhere, take responsibility, throw in your voice (in meetings, ideas, solving problems etc). Don’t shy away, if you can’t be an alpha male/female, make sure your in the dynamic personality team.

3. No "Tai-Chi" shows

“Tai-Chi” is a term coined within the industrial fraternity for a person whom is dynamic, vocal, omnipresent at all issues BUT DOES NOT DO ANYTHING!!. He is easy to spot, flatterer, sweet talker, famous in pushing-“tai chi” jobs. Please do not adapt such an attitude,  sincerity coupled with passion in doing work is utmost here.

4. Record 

Yearly appraisal is very important at manufacturing or at any jobs, recording tasks with proofs, accolades filed in, white papers, awards etc, will ease your yearly appraisal process. This records will also help you in defending and justifying your work performance.

5. Jumping jobs or loyalty

A sensitive area for both the employer and the employee, an area where has been in dispute for a long time. The employer feels they have given ample, the employee feels he is not valued, thus he leaves and the employer disappointed.

Now, for newbies put aside your feelings, grow up in the job for the next two to three years. Jumping jobs just to get better remuneration package might look good due to $$ BUT in actual situation your CV will reflect your JUMPS and paint you bad. Value the opportunity given by the employer, response to it by showing your loyalty and commitment (remember all those flowery words you used in your resume, are those to deceive?). Learn the job, learn the nooks and corners available, at the end it will surely be recognised and being a long term employee will surely benefit in most cases.

6. OT

Another sensitive matter, there are personalities:

i.                     Staying back and not doing anything for the sake extra hours OT

ii.                   Some create job for justification

iii.                  Some search for extra hours jobs for justification

iv.                 Some are required to stay back BUT they don’t

v.                   The rare ones, they stay back to learn new stuffs BUT they NEVER claim

I am not here to advise what is right and wrong, I know it aint my money or anyones cash BUT it’s the company’s cash, STILL there must be conscience and ethics in this matter. At the end of education, it is not about money, status, fame etc BUT its about CHARACTER (my teacher says this often to me). You are given the carte blanche within the manufacturing floor to move, learn and adapt, use it to the maximum and learn the job.

7. Mea Culpa

To do a mea culpa requires guts, in the manufacturing floor it requires more than guts. Owning up to ones responsibility due to some mishaps or failures is important. For a newbie, you better do it, don’t shy away or let someone take the blame.

This are to the best of my knowledge, some tips and guides recollected walking down the memory lane, all the best on the new job.

(Taken from http://tradesensation.com/)

"RIGHT PROPOSAL GETS YOU HITCHED WITH!!..WRONG PROPOSAL GETS YOU REJECTED"...rc

It’s the first step anyone takes or faces when entering the universe of research. I have chosen Two words in my first sentence which are ‘takes’ and ‘faces’, one who has willingly chosen the path of research, whom has done some background work, knows the expectations, while the latter are those who took the plunge, its sort of an acid test. The third category will be the ones whom have done their graduate final projects diligently, they will also be in the former definition. Irrelevant which field research is being done, science or non-science, the rituals and oblations are the same.

Getting into the proposal, what are the main sections’ which needs to be written?:

i.                     Introduction/Overview/Background

ii.                   Problem Statement

iii.                  Objectives

iv.                 Scope

v.                   Methodology

If you have noticed, buffet protocols are never adhered, majority rush in, start piling up and building mountains on their plate. When congregated back on their table, you will see another mini-buffet arranged in the table itself, and rest is history. In the end food is wasted, missed some small crucial items, stuffed with their favourite food and rest becomes waste. WHY I chose this example, because the same happens in early stage of research and proposal writing. Lucky ones with a good articulate supervisor will be guided well, but in research it is believed the boat must be sailed alone, thus another common buffet debacle waiting to happen.

HOW do we start the Introduction section? Let’s pick a common layman discussion topic for this purpose. Hmmm  lets write a research proposal on a ‘A Study On Choosing An Appropriate Hobby For Either A Blue Or White Collar Working Class Person’. The topic is neither biased to technical nor arts, it’s a daily common social interactive scene in a human’s ecosystem. Getting now to writing, how are we going to start this?, lets zoom into the topic, WHATS the most general and common substance. We can either start with ‘HOBBY’ or ‘WORKING CLASS’, if its hobby than, the first paragraph should start describing about hobbies. Hobbies ranging from kids to adults, past times to serious ones and there some which has become a business. THIS is what I call roaming around from an aerial perspective, the first phase of narrative should just be on the superficial depth of hobby. If we are going to start with “WORKING CLASS’, than a general description of working class and its definition. Once this is done, segregation and explanation between both the white and blue collar will come in.

My advice would be, start with the ‘HOBBY’ and later explain about the ‘WORKING CLASS’, you guys can ask now WHY such?. Hmmmm…it takes time you see to put in the right words to explain so it will be easier to comprehend and digest. It goes like this, a sales man has to explain all his products than lets the customer choose accordingly within their specified constraints. So in this case we have to explain ‘HOBBY’, than get into ‘WORKING CLASS’, and the latter also has the embedded tip in extracting the “PROBLEM STATEMENT”. In this aspect, the flow of narrative is smooth……to be continued (tight schedule...will be back)

RESUME WRITING TIPS

by R.Charan

(Taken from:http://www.reliancestaffing.com)

A RESUME is a preface or a preview of a person prior to an engagement, thus it is an important document reflecting a person’s character. The resume plays a pivotal role in both potential employers and employees role finding a suitable candidate or landing a suitable job respectively. Having this mind, a job seeker has to craft and layout his resume accordingly, he has to load the correct information whom most employers would seek. Here in this piece, i will try my best to touch base at all the sections of a resume and the critical errors most candidates do.

The Poster:

Hmmmm, you guys must be wondering whats this, most resumes will feature a picture of the candidate and the contact information. Why i labelled it poster, because a picture paints a thousand words, a candidate’s appearance says a lot about the person. So, please do choose an appropriate image of yourself which has decent and disciplined outlook, have this in mind general employers are still in the orthodox mindset region. See the images which is better?

(taken from http://www.callmeshallow.com/)

(Taken from:http://watermarked.cutcaster.com/)

Next please and please do give the correct information, specifically the contact number, one ring and you should answer, unless if you envision yourself as the next Steve Jobs, calls can be raining onto you, but in reality 90% of the job seekers want in.

The Introduction:

In this section (About, Motivation, Objective..etc a few titles to write about introduction) fresh graduates generally will state their preferred job designation and a few words on their contribution and motivation. In this description all should take note to present short and crisp BUT creating attention on wanting to know more of the candidate. Too much of flattery and flowery words puts off any reader, the axe will go down even before other information are looked upon.

Education:

All fresh graduates need to understand their highest qualification is your degree which was pursued, thus always your latest education level should reflect first and not your early years. Employers will zoom into the latest so ‘paint’ the most wanted first. Another reminder, do not state details, such as listing of subjects taken, a resume must always be simple and precise. The other information's bring along during your interview session.

Experience:

Obviously fresh graduates do not have this, but still there are elements related to experience during your tenure of studies and semester breaks. So its here we need to dig up what we have learned and adds value. For an example your final year project (if true effort has been put into it) reflects independent research, project management, problem solving, knowledge contribution and more, this will surely be one your major trump cards. The other which would be relevant is the industrial training and the knowledge gained. This two will provide any potential employer an overall picture of the candidate, further thorough analysis will be done during interview session, whereby if the candidate fails to demonstrate what he or she has written, it will reflect badly on one.

Skills/Honours/Activities:

Common error here, always fresh grads do is to list frivolously all skill sets under the roof. For an example to let this message sink in, ‘using microsoft word’ for an graduate will it be a skill? No, there is no need to list this types, you are expected and must have mastered this similar skill sets. Next, you will be asking me, what are the skills to be listed than? Here is where you have to play your cards well, some of you may have several skills acquired, and can demonstrate well in all.
Guess the current generation here are well versed with the game DotA (Defense of the Ancients), you will surely pick an hero with its unique abilities (which you well trained with), during the game the choice will demonstrate the tactical advantage your hero has over the other. Choosing the same character for all scenarios would be disastrous(Mega Kill). Thus its the same here in the skill listing, choose the appropriate accordingly by evaluating the company. Having C Programming skill, will be useful for an electronic or software based company, but for someone applying into food manufacturing this would be irrelevant. So list the skills wisely and make sure you have mastered them accordingly, do not overstate the ability. If you are an beginner, be humble and honest enough to own up.

Cover Letter:

The final garnishing act, here most of us would prepare a generic cover letter for all the companies. It is not a grave mistake to do, it is just not healthy. Take your time do some background search on the company, reflect this information in the cover letter, this might buy you a second look by the potential employer. Do not state any personal problems, on how desperately need the job due to personal reason, all writings and information must be professional. 

The Others:

Grammatical error, poor command of English and silly typing mistakes, this are a errors which can’t be tolerated. This puts off any reader looking into your resume, please get at least someone to vet through the resume. The other element, resume length maintain it within 3 PAGES, maintain short, concise and precise information listings.

(Taken from:http://www.eduers.com)

Effective Way To Write Reviews On Literature 

by R.Charan

Whats in it?.. Literature Review (LR) is the mini library of your chosen project. Whats the approach for this?  C.R2.W is the formula, but its the basic. LR writing is an art, a summarizing art, it has its expert levels from Basic, L1, L2, L3 and advance. 

With just L2 level technical writing skill, your LR will definately stand out among the general research population....MORE TO COME