Attitude over aptitude
There is a saying that employers hire candidates for attitude and train for aptitude.
This holds true as personal character, positive traits and passion are favoured by many employers over professional experience. Someone who has a good point of reference, positive attitude and passion will win over someone with a great portfolio but doesn't have any good traits. Tap on your confidence and passion to succeed in life when you attend an interview.
Showcase your capabilities
Employers look for depth of knowledge, problem-solving skills and communication skills during an interview.
It is therefore vital to share your capabilities to your prospective employer. You may speak about your interest, activities and hobbies to draw your interviewer into having a better understanding of you. For some of you, this may be your first attempt at getting a job and you would not have past work experience to share. Touch on topics about your school activities or projects that you had embarked on. The main concept here is to have you share something interesting and to showcase your capabilities.
Moderate Expectations
When you set your expectations too high, you are setting yourself to fail!
This is a critical point to remember as it's important to be realistic in what you expect to achieve, your capabilities and the commensurate rewards and salary scale. Match your abilities to how you can add value to a company. Understand the industry standards or market rate during discussions on salary expectations. As a fresh graduate, not every job pays you RM3,000 with a room of your own and a view to boot. As William Shakespeare said - “to climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.”
Reality Check
Not every job offers you shorter work hours, ability to work from home or greater flexibility.
Unless you have displayed and proved your worth as an employee, chances are your bosses will not trust you with remote working options such as working from home or away from the office. Find your passion and identify the companies that best suit your capabilities for that successful job offer. The true test of a new employee's capabilities is during the first three months where you are given specific tasks to handle to prove your mettle in differentiating those who are cut out for the job and those that have been placed in the wrong role.
Aim to succeed even though it would be a learning curve for you when you join a company during the first six months. You need to adopt, adapt and approach the role and expectations with a determination to succeed.
Pushing boundaries
There are some career opportunities which may require you to adapt and survive in an environment that was completely different to your usual environment.
Take for example, a job offer which will see you posted to another country on a project. Such opportunities will provide invaluable training in understanding and appreciating different cultures which is a useful skill to have in the globalised corporate environment. Some of these experiences pushes you to think on your feet and is not necessarily something that is taught in schools.
Beyond average go for extra'
In an environment where “average is over,” everybody has to find their extra' factor - their unique talent, skills,contribution, or commitment that separates them from the pack.
That Used to Be Us, Thomas Friedman's newest book (written with Johns Hopkins professor Michael Mandelbaum), has at least one such observation - a principle so clearly true that it should become a mantra of sorts for leaders everywhere who want to build something great and do something important. Chapter Seven of the book is called Average Is Over, and what was average' worked ten years ago but is below average today and will be further below average ten years from now. As a result, everyone needs to raise his or her game just to stay in place, let alone get ahead.
Strike a balance between what you can achieve against what you think and hope to achieve. It's key to understand that in order to achieve and taste success, you need to understand where you're heading and to embrace each step ahead with determination and humility. I'll like to leave you with words of encouragement especially to those venturing into the working world:
“I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they are great and noble. The world is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” - Helen Keller
By,
Melissa Norman, managing director for Kelly Services Singapore and Malaysia, believes it is never too early to set a clear direction for one's future, even if the working world is still some years away.
There is a saying that employers hire candidates for attitude and train for aptitude.
This holds true as personal character, positive traits and passion are favoured by many employers over professional experience. Someone who has a good point of reference, positive attitude and passion will win over someone with a great portfolio but doesn't have any good traits. Tap on your confidence and passion to succeed in life when you attend an interview.
Showcase your capabilities
Employers look for depth of knowledge, problem-solving skills and communication skills during an interview.
It is therefore vital to share your capabilities to your prospective employer. You may speak about your interest, activities and hobbies to draw your interviewer into having a better understanding of you. For some of you, this may be your first attempt at getting a job and you would not have past work experience to share. Touch on topics about your school activities or projects that you had embarked on. The main concept here is to have you share something interesting and to showcase your capabilities.
Moderate Expectations
When you set your expectations too high, you are setting yourself to fail!
This is a critical point to remember as it's important to be realistic in what you expect to achieve, your capabilities and the commensurate rewards and salary scale. Match your abilities to how you can add value to a company. Understand the industry standards or market rate during discussions on salary expectations. As a fresh graduate, not every job pays you RM3,000 with a room of your own and a view to boot. As William Shakespeare said - “to climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.”
Reality Check
Not every job offers you shorter work hours, ability to work from home or greater flexibility.
Unless you have displayed and proved your worth as an employee, chances are your bosses will not trust you with remote working options such as working from home or away from the office. Find your passion and identify the companies that best suit your capabilities for that successful job offer. The true test of a new employee's capabilities is during the first three months where you are given specific tasks to handle to prove your mettle in differentiating those who are cut out for the job and those that have been placed in the wrong role.
Aim to succeed even though it would be a learning curve for you when you join a company during the first six months. You need to adopt, adapt and approach the role and expectations with a determination to succeed.
Pushing boundaries
There are some career opportunities which may require you to adapt and survive in an environment that was completely different to your usual environment.
Take for example, a job offer which will see you posted to another country on a project. Such opportunities will provide invaluable training in understanding and appreciating different cultures which is a useful skill to have in the globalised corporate environment. Some of these experiences pushes you to think on your feet and is not necessarily something that is taught in schools.
Beyond average go for extra'
In an environment where “average is over,” everybody has to find their extra' factor - their unique talent, skills,contribution, or commitment that separates them from the pack.
That Used to Be Us, Thomas Friedman's newest book (written with Johns Hopkins professor Michael Mandelbaum), has at least one such observation - a principle so clearly true that it should become a mantra of sorts for leaders everywhere who want to build something great and do something important. Chapter Seven of the book is called Average Is Over, and what was average' worked ten years ago but is below average today and will be further below average ten years from now. As a result, everyone needs to raise his or her game just to stay in place, let alone get ahead.
Strike a balance between what you can achieve against what you think and hope to achieve. It's key to understand that in order to achieve and taste success, you need to understand where you're heading and to embrace each step ahead with determination and humility. I'll like to leave you with words of encouragement especially to those venturing into the working world:
“I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they are great and noble. The world is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” - Helen Keller
By,
Melissa Norman, managing director for Kelly Services Singapore and Malaysia, believes it is never too early to set a clear direction for one's future, even if the working world is still some years away.
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