Interviewing Skills 101

You might be fresh out of school or returining back to the workforce after taking a break for your family. Getting the first interview is going to land you into a state of excitement, followed by a period of worry and anxiety.

It is important not to mess up your first interview.
You aim to shine as the most outstanding candidate, but you need to convince the interviewers to hire you.

Here are some things you should do to maximize your chances during interview time:

A) Get a makeover
B) Be Punctual
C) Make a lasting first impression
D) Come prepared
E) Listen
F) Ask questions
G) Say "Thank you"

Above are some of the points that interviewees should take note of.
I will elaborate more of the points in the next few days..
Stay Tuned

Strategic Career Planning 3 - Knowing Yourself

Always Know Yourself first before you find a new job, advancing your current one or even setting specific career goals. Be true to yourself and spend some time making sure that you are very clear about what you really want. You might have to consider the following 4 factors as you go through your inner thoughts:

A) Self-Discovery:
Do reflect your purpose in life. Ask yourself questions like: Why are you here? What do you want your life to be? The best way to achieve fulfillment is to ensure that your career choices reflect your purpose in life.

B) Talents, Interests and Passions:
Identify your talents and abilities. Go list down your skills sets. Think about your specialized knowledge that you have, or include all the things you are good at.

Identify your interests. List down your interests. What stirs up your curiosity? What things do you find fascinating? What other areas would you die to explore if given the opportunity?

Identify your passions. Make a list of all your passions and loves. What gets you excited and passionate about. What have you always wanted to try to do?

C)Identify your Driving Values
Your dricing values will determine what aspects of a jo provide the most motivation and fulfilling. Understanding your driving values can help you make career choices based on what is most important to you. Go list down and prioritise those values. Use the list to assist you to make future career decisions.

D)Strategic Career Plan
Lots of people tends to miss out on this part which is so impt. A strategic plan is essentially a document that combines all the elements of your career goals and it will includes:
- Your purpose statement
- Your vision for the next 3-5 years
- Your values
- Your guiding principles

With these, i hope you will be able to set your effective career goals.

Sean

Presentation Skills - Using Powerpoint

Have you been using Microsoft Powerpoint to help you with your presentations all this while?
Ever wondered how to better make use of powerpoint to make your presentations more interesting, intriguing and your message to be more convincing.

There are actually rules or points that we should observe in order to be effective in our powerpoint presentations. I chance upon a very interesting video that shows Comedian Don McMillan showing "How Not to Use Powerpoint". You can certianly learn something about effective use of powerpoint by observing some of the DO NOTs in powerpoint presentations.

Don McMillan gives a short comedy sketch around Powerpoint presentations and the common mistakes that people make.

Strategic Career Planning 2 - Goal Setting

In order to plan our career, we need to do 2 things i felt. Today i am going to cover the 1st Step.

A) Set you Goals

We spend most of our waking hours working. We go through school preparing for the workforce. But at critical moments, we are stumped! Questions like "Can i spend my time doing thr things I love most? Will i truly feel fulfilled in my careers? Will i realise my dreams? How do i get there?" cross your minds. It certainly crossed mine constantly.

Career goal-setting and work-life balance are not usually taught in school, yet if we don't know our goals and plans the steps we must take to reach them , we could end up somewhere completely different. Setting carrer goals charts a focused plan towards that dream job. It's a powerful motivational process for turning the vision of your ideal career into reality!


If you set clearly-defined short -term and long-term goals, you will be able to measure your progress and eventually achieve personal satisfaction. Your self-confidence will grow as you see your progess - which certainly would be hard to measure if you have not formulated your goals properly. You will become more aware of your abilities, which also boosts your self-esteem.

Tomorrow, then i will share with you on the 2nd thing to do - Knowing Yourself!

Strategic Career Planning

At different junctures of my childhood, i was asked" "What is my ambition?" or "WHat do you want to be when you grow up?" Have you been constantly being asked of this question?

My answer was always different. At five, i wanted to be a policeman bacause i thought they look very smart. At 13, i wanted to be a doctor, seeing how noble in them, having chance to save lifes after lifes. I watched all drama shows that are showed on screen, never missed them much.

Then at 15, i realised that being a doctor requirements large amount of time and money - which my poor family then, was never able to afford, and i was never able to afford that long period studying. I then dreamt to become a pharmacist.

I studied harder ever in my last year of school, to achieve the grades that will allow to go places i want. After i took my o level results - i found out that i do not want to go Junior College and to Pharmacy cos i felt Pharmacist job is too boring. So i decided to take up a course in local polytechnic called Building and Poperty Management. You know what! I switched to Chemical Process Technology in the same Polytechnic, even before the school starts. The switch was made after i took a long time break and think of what i realy like. Chemistry was my LOVE.

So tomorrow i am going to share more of Setting Effective Career Goals and to better prepare ourself for the job market.

Joel Bauer - Workshops on Persuasion Review

Came back from Joel Bauer's 3 hrs free workshop seminar on his Persuasion tools. He is indeed a serious person and knows all about negotiation and persuasion.

He started by asking us how committed are we to spend 3 precious hours of our Sunday time to listen to his talk. If we are not interested, he encouraged us to lift our butt and leave the conference hall as soon as possible. He believes that Doing Business is all about Credibility and Building Rapport.

Each of us are by Default. In order to be successful, we need to change to the Design Mode. He also incalculated that the Art of Persuasion = Art of The Truth. We need to speak and tell the truth in order to be able to be effectively persuading others.

In Persuasion - we should always rmbr to: 1) Present, 2) Persuade, and 3) Preserve.

Joel strongly believes that First Impression counts. We need to dress for the occasion in order to be Succcessful, and to have the Persuading Power - even before we speak to others. If we dress casually, people will question our authority. For blazers, Joel recommend that we always choose Black as overall. This is bcos black is able to hide us inside the packaging (blazer. pants) and allows others to look at our faces and hand gestures when we are presenting/talking.

For ladies, he would think the following will be ideal:
5th Most Effective: Electrical Blue blouse/top
4th Most Effective: White blouse/top
3rd Most Effective: Red blouse/top
2nd Most Effective: Yellow blouse/top
1st Most Effective: Pink blouse/top

Joel also believes that Namecards need to be properly designed. Purpose of the card is to Engage. We should only give to people who understands & appreciates that i can deliver something useful to them. We should not be giving it to all people that wants it. Scarcity is Power of Persuasion.

I will be getting his best-seller soon: "How to Persuade Others that Do Not Want to Be Persuaded".

Cheers
Sean

Joel Bauer - Persuasion Workshops for Free

Didn't manage to go for the one today..Have instead registered for the one on Sunday 2-5pm.

Here’s A Glimpse Into Joel's 30-Year Proven Persuasion Trick Bag… All His Secrets Are Now Revealed at the LIVE Workshop..
Anyone Can Learn To Persuade With Impact Regardless of Their Appearance, Education or Personality. He promised to share his system on how to use effective persuasion to get what you want…. from getting a raise, to a deal on a car, from convincing one person to a thousand. His techniques even show parents how they can better relate to their children.

His methods don’t involve cheating, manipulating, controlling or forcing others to submit to his will. His experience proves that the best way to influence others is to employ fun and entertainment to make a more convincing pitch.

His unique methods and principles work for everyone, at any time and in any situation. Be Prepared To Learn…

- How To Instantly Grab People’s Attention At Your Very First Point Of Contact, Where A Stranger is Hanging On Your Every Word and Move You Make.

- The One Zero-Cost Transformation You Can Put Into Action To Give You Instant Credibility, Often Receiving FREE Upgrades To First-class Air Travel, Suites In Hotels At Standard Rates, And Often The Best Table In The House!

- Differentiation Tactics That Make All Of Your Competition Minor League And YOU The Only And Obvious Choice In Your Market.

- I Will Expose The Power and Precise Design of the Perfect Business Card. A Card That Clearly Motivates A Stranger To Want To Know More About What You Can Do For Them.

- Learn How To “Dress for Maximum Impact”.

- His Transformation Mechanism Technique will Fascinate Even A Stranger. I Will Reveal The “You Do As I Do Hand Lock Demonstration”, followed by the How To…

- Jaw Dropping Techniques For Establishing Respect, Credibility And Rapport In 4 Seconds Or Less. Because You Don’t Know This Is Why You Don’t Have As Much Business As You Need.

- You get my Unique Positioning Statement Technique - The Power of Scripting With Precision In An Emotionally Engaging Manner.

And tons more!... That is what he has promised..and will also be what i wish and hope to learn this sunday.