ResumeWeAssist Enterprise

I gave this speech during my previous Toastmasters meeting.

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My fellow Toastmasters & Guest,

We are living in a very complex world. Most of the things that are happening around us is based on a very complex system that are working together helping us to live a better life. Let me take a personal computer or commonly known as a PC for an example. About 20 years ago, it is not common to see a PC in most of our homes. But now, it has become an essential tool in our life and even some homes have more than 1 PC.

Even though a PC is relatively an easy tool to use but in the inside, a very complex system is working silently. The moment you press the start button, it will trigger the power supply to send electrical current to drive the processor which is the brain of the PC to process signals or data and send them to a detector to project the image we can see on the monitor screen. Thank God, someone has simplified the usage of a PC if not; imagine the hassle all of us have to go through or maybe we will not use it at all.

The point that I would like to share in my speech today is just make our life simple. If a computer did not evolved from its start up size as big as this room or maybe bigger to relatively smaller as what we have now, I’m sure the word PC will not exist. Unfortunately, living in this complex world has influenced us to think that complexity is a way of life. Even though evolution has simplified things such as computers, handphones and many more but evolution did the opposite to us. We have evolved from a simple life thousand of years ago to a very complex life in this 21st century. Even our body itself consists of many complex systems and so do our mind. The way we think is already a complex process and logically as a result our action will definitely be complex too. Fortunately, it is not impossible to make our life simple if we know how.

What I’m going to share next is something practical & fundamental which I call the process as F.O.R or FOR.

F is for Facts, O means Organize and R is for Reflect.

Whenever you want to simplify a solution to a problem, breakdown the problem into simple steps. Start by understanding the problem based on the facts which is the F. For example, if you are not getting the promotion that you supposed to get after working hard to complete an important assignment, rather than being upset and demotivated which will make your problem to be complex, why not talk to your boss about it to actually know why you are not getting that promotion. Do your facts finding.

Next O for organize comes in when you start to make arrangement with your boss to talk about your dissatisfaction. Clearly state why you think you deserved that promotion then let your boss talk. Ask for clarification if you don’t understand. Even though your boss can come out with many logical or illogical explanation, don’t make any conclusion yet until you reflect on the facts which is the R.

Later spend some time to reflect on the facts and also share with your close friends or love ones to get their feedback. With that, make a decision either to improve and wait for next round of promotion or if the facts does not make sense, then it is time to look somewhere else that can provide what you want.

Using these simple steps: F.O.R will prevent you to complicate your problem. Imagine if you don’t organize your facts finding and reflect on them, you might acted foolishly by arguing with your boss which will kill your career. So simplify your problem by doing F.O.R.

I would like to end my speech with a story I read sometime ago about a team in NASA whom for the first time wanted to send astronauts to a space station. The challenge the team had is due to no gravity in the outer space, it is impossible to write with a normal pen. So rather than looking for a simple solution, they spent million of dollars and several months to invent a special pen that can work in the outer space. Meanwhile the Russian team who also had the same problem resorted to a very simple solution that doesn’t cost much by just using a pencil. They just look at the facts, organize and reflect on them.

So my fellow Toastmasters & Guest, just do F.O.R to make our life simple.

Thank you.

This article is taken from our latest E-Newsletter – Aug’09 to Oct’09.  You can download a copy here.

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Every year in August, it is declared as a historical month in Malaysia. Previously on the 31-August, we have celebrated our 52nd anniversary of independence.

Malaysia has been independent for 52 years from the British regime. For the past 52 years, we have evolved from an agriculture and mineral producing country to a developing country focusing on many economy sectors. As a result Malaysian and also foreigners enjoy many opportunities of employment in this beloved country. To a certain extend, many foreigners willing to migrate to Malaysia legally and also many illegally to take advantage of these fertile opportunities.

Ironically, even though there are many job opportunities in Malaysia, the projected 2009 unemployment rate among Malaysian is above 4%. That is an increase of 1% from an average of 3% recorded from previous years. From my personal observation, there are several contributing external & internal factors which I will briefly share in this E-Newsletter.

“Ironically, even though there are many job opportunities in Malaysia, the 2009 projected unemployment rate among Malaysian is above 4%.”

Obviously the external contributing factor is due to the world economy  meltdown. Malaysia as a developing country rely heavily on foreign direct investment (FDI) especially from countries such as Singapore, Americas, Europe, Japan and etc. Most of these FDI are into the manufacturing sector. Many major multinational companies (MNC) in Malaysia have announced layoff plans including factory and office shutdowns to mitigate the impact of the economic slowdown. Since the presence of manufacturing MNC in Malaysia are significant, the layoff plans contributed to the increase of the unemployment rate.

Internally, there are several factors that contributed to the increase of the unemployment rate such as job competition & matching.

Malaysia is a heaven for job seekers who is not so particular on what job is available. As long there is a job, they will just take it. This is very true for foreigners especially from less developed countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and many more. Their presence have created a competitive job market in Malaysia especially among the blue collar jobs where most of employers prefer to hire these foreigners rather than Malaysian because of relatively cheaper labour cost and easier to manage.

“Malaysia is a heaven for job seekers who is not so particular on what job is available. As long there is a job, they will just take it.”

Another contributing factor of higher unemployment rate in Malaysia is due to job matching. Even though there will be about 200-300 thousands university/college graduates will be entering the job market in 2009, the competency of these graduates is still a concern where their qualification can’t directly match the needs of the employers. This is a known fact that the government is putting more attention financially to provide platforms for graduates to be train & place in suitable job market. To make it more effective, these graduates themselves has to realize that they need to adapt to the needs and wants of their future employer. Bottom line, they need to market their career smartly for their own & their future employer success.

We would like to invite you to a FREE EXTENDED DISC PUBLIC MINI-SEMINAR:

INCREASE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR RECRUITMENT WITH EXTENDED DISC ASSESSMENTS REPORTS

The use of personal assessment tools is now a necessity in the recruitment and management of people. It is critical that the method used in the process be validated, internationally understood and accepted.

Why are assessment tools a necessity? See if these situations sound familiar to you?

§ A manager comes to the HR department telling to fill a certain position and just giving the technical requirements.

§ Company keeps on advertising the same job, because of high rotation on that position without knowing what causes this situation.

§ Smaller business owner advertise for all positions in a similar manner, requesting only required technical skills or the same set of traits (e.g. able to work independently, strong drive for results)

§ The applications received are not meeting the desired requirements, as if the advertisements are not attracting the right candidates.

§ During interview the person seems to be the best candidate, but once employed turned out to behave quite different.

The end result is that candidates of questionable suitability apply for positions, which they may or may not really want, and companies spend time recruiting and interviewing people who may not possess the fundamental behavioral traits that suit the job description. How do you ensure that you’re hiring the right people to take on the critical roles in your organization?

Defining requirements is the initial step in recruiting the right people for the job. By measuring candidates against the defined requirements that are crucial to success in the role and in the business, you ensure you have an objective framework for selecting candidates and developing staff. The most successful organizations know that their most important resource is the people who make up their team and carry the responsibility for the growth of the company, so they use assessment tools in the employment process and further for the ongoing management of their people.

In this two-hour mini-seminar, we will present a two interactive and practical case studies and a model that can be easily applied immediately in your current recruitment process

This mini-seminar will take place on  1st October (Thursday) at 9 am in Extended DISC office (Lot 237, 2nd Floor, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor).

Please book a seat by sending an e-mail to career_advisor@resumeweassist.com ASAP.

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Extended DISC (http://www.extendeddisc.com) is the leader in understanding how people information can generate business value to client. We service each client with individuality and tailor our approach to their needs!

To determine if Extended DISC can help you and your organization, contact us today. Together we can find out if your organization needs the information Extended DISC provides.

THANK YOU!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our Muslim clients & friends Eid Mubarak & Selamat Hari Raya: Maaf Zahir Batin.

I will be away from 18-24 Sept and most likely will not have access to internet. I’ll reply your e-mail or request immediately once I’m back in office.

Happy Ramadhan to all our Muslim clients & friends.

This article is taken from my speech during our last Toastmaster meeting.

Do you know what is the only thing that will never stop until you die other than the pumping of your heart?

You will never stop learning from the day you were born until the day you end your life. Learning is a continues process for you to develop a certain skill set to do something effectively to achieve a desirable result.

Learning can happen in 3 ways.

Firstly it can happen instantaneously using the subconscious mind like a baby trying to stand up for the first time by holding the edge of a table or a chair to lift its body up and stand before falling on the floor. But later on will try again and learn to balance its body until it can stand up comfortably.

Learning can also happen by force as what we have gone through in school. Like it or not, we have been forced to go to school and obviously all of us have adapted to this type of learning.

Another type of learning which I will talk about in my speech today is self learning which is the best type of learning just because it originated by your own initiative. When a person opted to develop him or herself, automatically the commitment and the dedication will come out by itself. A great example is here in Toastmasters. I’m sure no one is here by force or just happen to be here because your subconscious mind brought you here. We are here because we have chosen to develop ourself to be a better speaker and at the same time develop leadership skills for our career or personal needs.

Self learning is about how you want to develop yourself in whatever way you want by yourself. You can learn by reading books or articles, by attending talks or courses, by reading and leaving comments in blogs or participate in forums and etc. You can also learn by joining clubs such as Toastmasters or just do something positive to get out from your comfort zone.

The “Law of Entropy”, one of the fundamental universal physical law stated that anything that is left to itself, organized system will get less organize and unstable as time advances. For example if you abandon a new car for a year or more, you will notice a flat tire, broken windows, corrode parts and etc. Similarly, if you are not continuously learning and developing yourself even currently you are at your peak, you will not be at your best in the future.

The question most of you will be wondering now is what is the best way to start a self learning process.

The answer is “Just focus on your strength”.

Many leadership gurus have shared many ways on how to kick off a self learning process. For example by Stephen Covey in his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” where the Habit # 7 is Sharpen The Saw.

A saw will only be effective as long its teeth are sharpen diligently. The strength of the saw is determine by how sharp its teeth are. Similarly to us, our effectiveness will be determined by our strength not by our weaknesses. Going back to the analogy of the saw, if you diligently sharpen the wrong side of the saw, yes in the long term it may eventually get sharp of course after some great effort but it will  be useless in a short term.

Hence, as a start, you can begin by assessing your self learning needs by identifying your strength. To avoid being bias, get feedback from your family and close friends. You will also need to be very honest to yourself and should be ready to leave your comfort zone. You will need to remember this is a self assessment, no one will be there to tell you if you are doing the right thing or not.

Once you have completed this assessment, you should have a good understanding on your strength.

Next it is time to sharpen the saw. Focus on activities that can enhance your strength. I’m sure in no time, you will start to have a very sharp saw, literary.

So in the future, if you want to start a self learning process just focus on your strength.

Your copy is waiting for you to download HERE

Last week I’ve attended a motivational talk by a friend who is also the L&D (Learning & Development) Manager in conjunction with Engineering Week in Agilent, Penang. The title of the talk was “Tough Time Never Last but Tough People Do”. Overall, the talk is about the challenges many of us are facing with the current economic meltdown. The good news is this challenging time will not last forever but if you can’t survive during this bad time, once the good time comes; you will not be able to enjoy it.

During the talk, I’m attracted to Stephen Covey’s 90/10 Principal which simplifies the concept of destiny and also the ability to make a change. The principal clearly stated that 10% of whatever happens in your life has been set as your destiny; you can’t change it but for the remaining 90%, you still have the ability to make the change as long if you want it. It all depends on how you react to it.

With that in mind, leveraging this 90/10 Principal into your career marketing process does make sense. Obviously you can’t make sure that whenever you are applying for a job, you will get it, but on the other hand you still have the control to make yourself marketable to win in the job market.

“10% of whatever happens in your life has been set as your destiny; you can’t change it but for the remaining 90%, you still have the ability to make the change as long if you want it. It all depends on how you react to it”

Regardless in what situation you are currently in; lost your job, not satisfied with your current job, bad relationship with your boss or colleagues & etc, you are able to recover from your misery just by knowing that you have the control to make the change.

How to do that?

Well, in the following 5 steps I’ll be sharing what I personally used and also shared with all my clients.

“1st step: Identify what is actually making you miserable; 2nd step: Identify & list down the things that you can change to improve your satisfaction level; 3rd step: Strategize a plan you will need to take in making the change; 4th step: Take action; 5th step: Enjoy if successful, repeat if fail.”

1st step:

Identify what is actually making you miserable (it can be anything). Ask yourself if it falls into the 10% (I can’t change it) or 90% (I can change it). If it falls into the 10% (e.g. world wide economy recession, natural disaster, H1N1, war, death etc); there is nothing much you can do. If it falls into the 90%, then you can proceed to step 2.

2nd step:

Identify the things that you can change to improve your satisfaction level. List it down on paper. Then move to step 3

3rd step:

Based on what you have listed down, strategize or think of a plan you will need to take in making the change. Talk to friends or family members that are able to give you positive feedback.

4th step:

With the plan, take action and finally….

5th step:

Congratulation if your action brings success. But bear in mind that whatever happens after you have taken the action, you must remain positive and if still fail to get what you want, then you have the choice to repeat the above steps and improve the plan or just continue to be sad and miserable.

Give it a try and I’m sure if you practice these steps diligently, I’m sure your misery will not last long…

In this month’s E-Newsletter, under HOT Jobs, there are opportunity for Process Engineer & Quality Manager. Under the  CMS article, I’ll introduce the importance of continuous self development in CMS. I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce another service that we are providing which is Career Marketing System (CMS) Resume & Cover Letter Writing & Consultation services.

I really hope the information available in this and the future E-Newsletter will be beneficial for your career marketing. If you think this E-Newsletter will be beneficial to your friends or family members, please feel free to share it with them. Sharing is caring.

Nevertheless, I know that I am not able to fulfill all your needs that is why I highly encourage for your feedback and comments on how to improve our future E-Newsletters to exceed your needs.

Please e-mail to: career_advisor@resumeweassist.com,

Till next month E-Newsletter, take care.

“If you think this E-Newsletter will be beneficial to your friends or family members, please feel free to share this E-Newsletter with them. Sharing is caring”

You can find the previous edition of E-Newsletter HERE

Atikel ini diambil dari Harian Metro, 29-Januari, 2009.

Bagi jurujual atau seseorang yang menyertai sesuatu pertandingan, perkara paling diutamakan mereka ialah penampilan kerana ia mampu memberikan penilaian pertama pelanggan atau juri. Jurujual biasanya berpakaian kemas supaya mudah menghampiri sesiapa saja manakala barangan yang ditawarkannya kelihatan menarik, termasuklah dibungkus kemas. Peserta pertandingan seperti nyanyian dan tarian, apatah lagi ratu cantik, berpakaian paling menarik yang boleh selain solekan supaya kelihatan cantik dan menarik.

Begitu juga dengan sesi temuduga. Tempoh 2 minit pertama, iaitu bermula membuka pintu dan masuk ke ruang temuduga hinggalah duduk di kerusi sebenarnya penilaian pertama oleh penemuduga. Bagi menilai penampilan, meja temuduga biasanya diletakkan sekurang-kurangnya 3 meter atau lebih dari pintu supaya panel penemuduga boleh melihat & menilai seseorang yang hendak ditemuduga ketika dia masuk dan berjalan ke meja. Tempoh 2 minit itu boleh menjadi penentu kejayaan temuduga atau sebaliknya. Jika pada pandangan pertama penemuduga sudah menyukai seseorang itu, mungkin soalan yang diajukan tidak susah, sebaliknya lebih seperti perbualan.

Oleh itu, serlahlah penampilan diri yang terbaik tetapi bukan bermaksud berpakaian secara berlebihan terutamanya bagi wanita. Cukup sekadar kemas dan menepati kriteria jawatan yang dipohon di organisasi terbabit. Persediaan itu tidak harus dipandang remeh oleh calon sebelum menghadiri sesi temuduga kerana apa juga kelakuan atau ciri luaran yang ditonjolkan, ia memberi  tanggapan pertama serta perlbagai persepsi daripada majikan. Seeloknya, graduan perlu dilengkapi perkara asas berkenaan sebelum melangkah keluar dari universiti supaya tidak “terkial-kial” mencari bimbingan dan nasihat kerjaya selepas itu. Ada institusi pengajian tinggi mengambil inisiatif menyediakan panduan menghadapi temuduga untuk pelajar tahun akhir mereka sebagai persiapan memasuki alam pekerjaan. Panduan itu bertujuan memberi bimbingan asas persediaan untuk sesi temuduga kepada bakal graduan.

Kebanyakan syarikat & majikan menetapkan beberapa ciri yang perlu dipenuhi bakal pekerja masing-masing, iaitu kemampuan berkomunikasi dalam bahasa Inggeris, kebolehan komunikasi secara efektif, mempunyai ciri-ciri kepimpinan, personaliti menarik, positif, kebolehan membuat keputusan dan bekerja dalam kumpulan serta dapat menyesuaikan diri dan bergaul. Kemahiran itu boleh dianggap kelebihan selain ijazah yang diperolehi sebagai pengukur kelayakan akademik kerana apabila bekerja, kita bukan sekadar melaksana tugasan tetapi juga perlu bercampur dengan rakan pekerja lain di syarikat masing-masing. Majikan melihatnya sebagai kayu pengukur dalam menilai dan membuat pemilihan tenaga kerjaya.

Terlalu gugup juga menjejaskan penampilan kerana ia menunjukkan kurang keyakinan diri yang menyebabkan majikan menolak meneruskan proses temuduga kerana beranggapan calon terbabit tidak layak. Calon perlu fokus dan bersiap sedia dari awal supaya ketika hari temuduga tidak terlalu gugup. Menjadi kebiasaan calon berasa seram sejuk apabila tiba masa untuk ditemuduga sehingga rasa gementar kemungkinan boleh menyebabkan seseorang tidak dapat memberi tumpuan menjawab soalan dengan baik.

Ada kalanya keadaan boleh menjadi lebih teruk jika penemuduga seorang yang tidak mesra dan melayan calon dengan sikap yang kasar serta dingin. Ini mungkin boleh memberi tekanan kepada calon sehingga melakukan kesilapan ketika menjawab soalan atau gagal menonjolkan kualiti diri dengan baik. Perlu diingat, sikap kasar seseorang penemuduga tidak seharusnya menjadi halangan kepada calon untuk meneruskan sesi temuduga atau mengubah fikirannya untuk bekerja di syarikat terbabit. Antara cara yang boleh dilakukan ketika berhadapan dengan sikap penemuduga yang kasar adalah menarik nafas dan bersikap tenang serta berfikiran positif. Calon perlu fikir bahawa sikap penemuduga tidak mewakili keseluruhan syarikat terbabit.

Another opportunity to grow your career into higher level managerial position in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. If you are interested and have the below requirements, please drop your resume to career_advisor@resumeweassist.com. We will work with your future employer to assess your suitability for an interview.

Good luck.

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Reporting Relationship:

Operational Report : Senior Director & General Manager

Functional Reporting: Quality Manager

Job coverage:

1. Factories : Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Philippines
2. Subcontracted manufacturing : China, Philippines, Malaysia
3. Key BOM Suppliers

Key Areas of responsibility:

1. Collaborate with Corporate and Business Unit Quality Departments to develop and enhance comprehensive quality strategy, policies and programs, key metrics, reporting methods and standards, processes, goal setting, organizational approaches and customer satisfaction.

2. Complete ownership and bottom line accountability for the entire quality function within the organization.

3. Define key metrics for reporting, monitoring and management of quality related initiatives throughout the company.

4. Identify and make recommendations for processes and organizational changes, related to quality control that lead to measurable improvements in quality, cost, and other variables.

5. Work with internal stake holders to drive continual improvement.

6. Implements policies, procedures, processes and corrective actions that define and guide quality assurance of products produced at subcontracted facilities and by external suppliers.

7. Set quality standards and ensure that end control processes are in place through functional leadership of different site quality teams.

8. Oversee various quality audits including certification, key BOM suppliers and customer audits , customer complaints, quality documentation, processes etc to ensure compliance initiatives and requirements are achieved.

Personnel Specifications:

1. Malaysian

2. University education or above in an engineering science.

3. Not less than 10 years in a senior level, quality focused position in an industrial manufacturing or related environment context. Semiconductor industry is preferred but not essential. Can be considered as Senior Manager for the candidate with less working experience.

4. Must be familiar with and have demonstrated success in leading a quality organisation in a multi-culture environment

5. Exhibits character with positive attitudes, strong leadership skills as well as an outstanding communicator.

6. Have proven track record of effectively working with customers and partners relating to all aspects of the manufacturing process and product quality.

In Wikipedia; the meaning of hybrid is the combination of two or more different things, aimed at achieving a particular objective or goal. The word hybrid is famously used for cars with dual power source; petrol and electricity. Similarly to resume, when the features of chronological & functional resume are combined, it is called a hybrid resume.

In my opinion, this is the best resume format available for those with working experience and I would highly recommend this format for your “masterpiece” resume. Even for myself, I’m also using this format which I’m sharing as a sample for you to download HERE. A combination or a hybrid of chronological & functional resume elements will emphasize your career history together with its accomplishments and also your skills and expertise. This format also creates the flexibility to market your career when you do not have a specific job field to focus on.

A hybrid resume consists of the combination of components from chronological & functional resume as following:

• Contact information (mailing address, contact # & e-mail)
• Career objective
• Professional summary
• Chronological employment history (avoid dates if your employment history is lack of stability)
• Education history
• Special achievements/rewards

Hybrid resume is a powerful marketing tool for you to secure an interview especially if you have a decent working experience. Make good use of it to your upmost advantage.

Please feel free to leave your comments or e-mail me at career_marketing@resumeweassist.com if you need any resume writing assistance from me.

We can help you attain your career goals!