Where Should You Work? BPO or Traditional Company? Tips From 10 Years of Experience

Hey just because I have 10 years of experience doesn't mean I'm old. I started working quite young. Blame it on old people who made bad investments. But nevertheless, there's no reason I shouldn't put this to good use.

I've worked in a traditional company and I've worked in a BPO company (business process outsourcing). They are very different industries with very different cultures. Where will you fit in? Here are some tips

• If you want to move up the corporate ladder quickly, try a BPO company - they are usually more open to that. Why? That's because turn-over is slightly higher in a BPO company - dog eat dog world. That's not to say that turn-over is any less in traditional companies, but you'll probably find a lot more older people (people who have been in the business longer) in traditional companies rather than BPO companies, making it rather difficult to move up the corporate ladder
• If you want higher pay/ salary right now - you'd probably be better off in a BPO company rather than a traditional company. Why again? That's because BPO companies are used to paying in dollars (and most likely receive their revenue in dollars) so compared to what they make, your salary equals peanuts. Traditional companies are more conservative when it comes to salaries
• If you want just to work days, then you should stick with a traditional company. The very nature with BPO is the fact that their clientele is outside the country (more often than not the time zone probably differs), so this will require some work hours that are rather uncommon (or unholy, however you want to put it)
• Depending on the how you would like to dress - a traditional corporation will require you to dress up, while a BPO company is not likely to care
• Also depending on how good your English speaking skills are, a traditional company will be more forgiving of your twang or your local accent, a BPO company on the other hand will be stricter with regards to your communication skills. If your English is deficient then you probably won't get very high in the corporate ladder in a BPO company
  
• If you're interested in stability, these days they say that a traditional company would be the way to go. I think it's not much different. Given the economic situation now. Everybody is having some difficulty - BPO and traditional companies.

One thing I've learned though is that if you work hard and go the extra mile, whatever the pay range... whatever the industry, whatever the company... someone will take notice and all that hard work will pay off.

Are You a Fresh Graduate? Here Are Some Resume Writing Tips

This post is dedicated to new graduates. Here are some tips to write your resume from Monster.com

Young graduates face one of the hardest tasks in all CV writing, which is how to differentiate themselves from everyone else and not come across as a wannabe with overblown intentions but little to offer.

Contrary to popular belief, naked ambition is not highly regarded by recruiters, who are actually looking for evidence of maturity and judgement, at least an appearance of originality and creativity and the definite hint of potential commitment.

Your challenge is to imply all of these things without being so crass as to actually say them. This is where intelligent candidates can score highly by making the most of their NON WORK activities and interests.

Young graduates rarely have a great deal of work experience, and if they do it tends to be irrelevant to their future career. I often see long CVs that ramble on about the communication skills the person learned selling burgers and the numeracy skills they acquired at an all night petrol station.

This sort of information cuts no ice with anyone. Important things about work experience might be whether or not you did it to fund some amazing trip around Europe or whether you did it to pay for your university tuition fees and then managed on sheer talent to convert it into degree....

Years ago, milk round employers started introducing trick questions on their graduate trainee recruitment applications. They asked things like: What is your worst mistake and how did you recover from it?

Think about that question and what it implies about the people they are searching for: people who can first of all recognize an error, then come up with a strategy to deal with it, then manage a project that gets the result.

What this means in CV terms is that it is that you need to be reflecting on where you are now, not pretending to be Richard Branson.

Avoid using the word 'I' at all costs but describe the experience you do have in such a way that brings out all its value.

Examples:

You chose your study path
Tell them why, what was in your mind, what evolution there has been in the light of experience, what skills you believe it has given you, appropriate to what kind of roles in real work. Do this in a concise and intelligent way that tries to imagine what they want to know about you (see above). Make sure it is not merely blind ambition but also shows judgement, knowledge outside the syllabus, awareness of modern developments in culture and business.

You have non work activities
Don't just list them in a dull way; if you practice martial arts mention the resolve and inner calm they help you achieve; if you have participated in voluntary work say why you did it and what you got from giving your time; if you have rebuilt a VW Beetle from scratch and supercharged the engine, you can describe your engineering achievement; if you have travelled and worked abroad, make the most of it by laying down at least one interesting piece of bait for people to connect with at the interview.

The heart of your proposed CV
The focus is bound to be your studies, and for some professional starts it is essential to achieve high grades, which can justifiably be mentioned in detail.

I often advise people to say why they chose specific courses, who their tutors were (if famous) and what they learned, specifically, from that branch of study. If you fancy investment banking, for example, and have experience in using the same appraisal system that top trading organisations actually use, then mention it and say what you did with it. If you haven't, and you expect to break into a golden career, find out quick!

Your knowledge
Young people without maturity, and who are unlikely to be of any use to an employer, expose themselves at once by expecting everything to be done for them. I get enquiries from History graduates who vaguely fancy a career in e-commerce because it pays well (they imagine). Forget it - unless you are a History graduate who has spent hours on the Internet, read the e-business gurus and can talk convincingly at the interview about the future. If this is you, say so in your CV; if it is not you, then you aren't much use at the moment and you need to use your initiative to acquire information that wasn't handed to you on a plate.

That rule applies to every field of activity. People with 1st Class Honours degrees can almost ignore it, but everyone else can benefit from having gone beyond the narrow confines of academia and well beyond what the university careers service has ever dreamed of.

If you have knowledge, flaunt it and get it out there. Locate your employment targets on the Internet, research the company in detail and contact them direct. Don't expect to follow all the other sheep through an easy gate marked "A graduate career". It isn't like that any more. People with training who left school at 16 can be just as highly regarded as Computer Science graduates who have no idea what they want, what is possible and how to move themselves forward.

It's a tough world out there
It is entirely commercial. All careers in the future will be sales related in some sense. Wise up to that fact immediately and be prepared to develop your career from whatever angle you can gain entry into the world of your choice. Many of the most successful people I write CVs for started life by leaving school at 16 and showing initiative at every step of the way. Bear in mind that as a young graduate you are untried and unproven and that the world does not owe you anything. You have to prove yourself and make yourself valuable enough to employ.

The way to start is by showing that you can actually sell yourself, getting the message right, positioning appropriately, not producing a bombastic imitation of a mature career CV.

Snappy letters work wonders
Spend time on your application letters and throw the first 25 you write away. Until you have one that sings, that is less than a page long, that excites interest, that does not repeat your CV and is not soured by blind ambition, you have not yet written the letter. When you have written the right letter it will open doors and you can adapt it for application form statements.

I cannot tell you how to write a letter. It's a creative process, par excellence. You need to throw away your constraints and start by just saying what you want to say in plain English. Then tidy it up and add a few choice buzzwords. Then cut the ones that go too far. Then write it again, and again and again and again until it feels just right. Then try it out and revise it if no results come back.

Like your proposed glittering career, your very first application requires some hard work, commitment, maturity, willingness to get your hands dirty, admission of ignorance, capture of new knowledge and all the creative flair you can muster.

via Monster.com

What do I wear to a Job Interview?

Here's a nice & helpful article about how to dress yourself up for an interview. I picked this up from Monster.com

You have a job interview in five minutes. You've learned everything about the company, you're prepared for any questions they ask, and you even arrived a few minutes early. You couldn't be more ready.

But when you stop in the restroom for a last look in the mirror, your mind starts racing: "Am I dressed the way I should be for this interview?"

"In an interview situation, you're marketing yourself as a product, and so you want and need to have the best image possible," says Amy Glass, a trainer and coach at Brody Communications Ltd. of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, and an expert on presentation skills, business etiquette, professional presence and interpersonal communication.

Presenting a professional image is more about doing your homework than spending money. So as you prepare for your interview, keep these wardrobe tips in mind.

It's OK to Ask What to Wear

In many traditional industries, like finance or accounting, business professional dress will be appropriate: A conservative suit, shirt and tie if you're a man, or a conservative suit if you're a woman, with -- perhaps -- personality shown through your shirt or jewelry, Glass says. In other industries such as advertising, public relations, graphic design and information technology, what to wear might be less clear. If that's the case, Glass says, ask about the company's general dress policies when you're first contacted about an interview.

"You can say to the person you speak with, 'I want to make sure I understand your company culture and dress appropriately,'" Glass notes. "It's not a bad thing at all. In fact, it shows respect."

If in doubt, err on the conservative side. "I've been overdressed at times, and that can be uncomfortable," Glass says. "But that's much better than being underdressed."

Shop Smart

You don't have to buy several suits for different interviews at the same company. In many instances, you can get by with one suit combined with what Glass calls a "capsule dressing" strategy -- varying what you wear with the suit each time.

"If I'm a young woman and I invest in a nice black pantsuit, I could use that one suit for interviews, but change the shirt, jewelry or scarf each time," says Glass.

You Don't Need to Spend a Fortune

Visit higher-end stores, like Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus, to look at interview wardrobe possibilities, Glass says. But when you're ready to buy something and money is tight, head for the outlet stores.

When considering your purchasing options look not so much at the specific price tags on various garments, but at the "cost per wearing," suggests Glass.

"Suppose you see a suit that's $150. If it's a trendy cut and it wasn't made of great fabric, you might be able to wear it once a month for two years. So your cost per wearing is fairly high. If you buy something for $300 instead, in a cut that will last longer -- not trendy but not old-fashioned either, and not screaming the year it was made -- your cost per wearing goes down dramatically. So don't look at the original price so much as how long the piece will be useful to you."

Don't Neglect Accessories

If you have leather shoes, Glass says, make sure they're shined. If you have suede shoes, make sure they're brushed. And if your shoes are five years old, have the soles redone at a shoemaker. If you have a leather briefcase and it's still in good shape, now's the time to use it. If you don't, a nice portfolio binder will do just fine.

Will all the effort and expense you put into looking the part during your interview make any difference? Absolutely, Glass says. In fact, it's essential.

"Your image matters because it shows your attentiveness to detail and gives recruiters an idea of how you'll represent their company to clients, both internally and externally," Glass concludes. "The visual message you send makes a big difference in how you're perceived and, ultimately, whether or not you get the job."

via Monster.com

What All Workers/ Employees Should Learn!

Here's a lesson that all workers/ employees should learn. I got this from Ashton Kutcher's twitter :) He's not only adorable, he also has a cool sense of humor

More Women Bosses In the Philippines

Regardless of cultural nuances, women rule in the Philippines. There never really was a solid patriarchal society ingrained by the Spanish or the Chinese. Majority of Filipinos still have bosses who are female and statistics show that it seems this has always been the case since the new millennium



In 2002 the ratio was 1.86 million females to 1.4 million males in supervisory and executive positions. In 2006 the ratio was 2.257 million women managers to 1.629 million men. By 2007 there were 2.281 million female managers to 1.677 million males.

Not many may admit to it but women in the Philippines have really broken the proverbial “glass ceiling” not only in the corporate world but also in the government.