 |
|
Young Singaporeans graduating from neighbourhood schools
are ignorant or not bothered about how to be well
prepared for job interviews or internships
|
INTERVIEW FOR A JOB/INTERNSHIP
AT TOA PAYOH VETS
Be organised and well prepared if you are serious
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
First impression counts a lot. "I forgot to print out a
copy of my resume," the girl in her mid twenties was punctual and
properly attired in a grey dress. She did not bring her mother along
as some younger prospective employees. "But I have it in my
floppy disc" she said.
She had phoned up to enquire about a job vacancy in animals and I
told her to come for interview with her original documents and
resume.
Now, this lack of preparation for a job interview did not create a
good first impression.
2. Resume & original educational certificates. I got her resume printed out at the Surgery. "How
come you did not state your educational history?"
"Oh, I adopted the advice of the job template of db.com,"
she said. If this db.com advised against showing your educational
history, do not bother with this db.com.
This sounded like a lame excuse to me. Was she really serious in
working or not? She produced a file with her original
documents. She did not bother to make a photocopy so that her
application was incomplete.
This really created a very bad impression. Was she hiding her poor
academic results. Was she organised? Would she be efficient and
productive if employed? Did she assume that her skills was in
great demand in this labour tight employment market?
3. Character References and written testimonials. Two names of her colleagues
with their e-mail addresses but no telephone numbers were written in her resume.
One of
them was her boss she worked for 8 years ago. She did not know whether
this lawyer was still practising and had no contact with him. "How
do you expect him to remember you? He must have had hired numerous
administrative executives since you resigned.
The other reference was her supervisor in a job 2 years ago. There
was no recent references. She did not expect character references to
be a big deal as probably her previous 2 employers did not ask for
them.
She assumed I could e-mail to them to ask
for character references. And they would e-mail to me back.
"Have you got their permission to be your reference?" I asked. She
shook her head.
"That is risky for you," I said. "You did not have the courtesy to
ask them at all and expect them to say good things about you?"
She did not have any written testimonials as well.
4. "How much salary do you expect?" She did not say
but her last drawn salary was $1,800 as an employee. She could
produce her income tax form if I wanted. Now, she ought to
have it at hand if she was serious.
She was a partner in a pet shop at $2,700. She said her pet shop
income was making money but did not know how much revenue it was
grossing. It would best to be honest. "If a business is making
money, why close it down?" I asked.
|
After some questioning, she said the landlord wanted more rentals
and there were no other half shop space available. Her partner did
not want to pump in more money. "This indicates that the business
was not making money," I said sadly.
She had worked hard and alone in this pet shop for 2 years. There
was a passion in her voice when we talked about this pet shop
business and the animal species she had specialised in.
She
marketed her services and had newspapers advertisements to prove
it. She had an increasing customer database.
I was most impressed as she would be around 22 years old. She could
manage her own business without having worked in a pet shop before
starting up.
Singapore girls of her age are so well pampered by the
parents. Many do not know what to do at work let alone manage a
start-up business.
5. Hours of work. "Can you work in the evenings and on weekends?" She
preferred a 9 am to 5 pm job with weekends off after some discussion.
She was recently married and her husband worked a 5-day week and
had asked her not to work. So why work at all? She wanted to give
some money to her parents from her salary. That was good of her.
Her past 2 jobs were horrific as she had to work long hours and
odd hours and became ill. "Printing work has deadlines to publish
the work," I said. "Employees can't work regular hours in this
industry."
6. "You are a job hopper," I noted that she resigned in
December for the past 2 years for the past 2 jobs she held. Employees
wait till December to get their bonuses before handing in their
resignation and she had done it for 2 companies in the past 2
years.
Character references are very important
as I had a theft of my notebook at my office recently.
No character references from previous employers disadvantage the
job seeker. First impressions at the interview count a lot.
Character references and testimonials are very important.
But many young people in Singapore with less stellar academic
qualifications and relevant experiences are like her. They flow
through the river of life with the illusion that the world owes
them a living and ended up with no jobs as they also display poor
work ethics.
In this case, this girl had worked 10 am to 10 pm without falling
ill in her pet shop, building up her business. "I did not
fall sick because I was passionate about this work."
I feel it is better for her to be working in a nice office from 9
am to 5 pm job at 5 days a week. Unfortunately she did not have
the testimonials nor "O" levels to compete with the younger girls.
I doubt she will be suitable for an animal-related job since she
does not like weekend work as a married woman. It is rather sad
that her pet shop business had failed after 2 years but it seems
that there is a high rate of failures in pet shops in Singapore,
with 1 in 2 closing down. Now she just wanted to be an employee.
To compete with better qualified candidates, a resume must be well prepared.
Character references especially those attesting to your good
character, integrity and diligence must be there if you care for
your
future. For boys, wear your ear stud if you feel your skills are
indispensable but it is best not to do it.
An interview is just a foot at the door of employment. If you
don't even prepare the resume properly, do you really expect to be
considered since there are many hungrier candidates than you?
|
