The Dubai Chronicles

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

needle in a haystack

shutter speed: 1/50 sec, aperture: f/6.3, iso: 400, focal length: 18mm, manual setting

now, it's hard to get a decent job here and the competition is difficult.

being a sort-of-a-hr-guy searching for the right person for the right job is hard. we've posted a job opening few days ago and up to now, the mailboxes are piling up on my boss' inbox. he decided to filter up to himself first then distributing it to each department on who's who seems to think the best. let say he got a thousand emails saying "my resume" or "applicalication for..." or "curiculam vitae" (take note of the spelling, that's how it was sent) he sorted it out and in our department; we received around fifty on the first day. we picked only the first day just because these guys are serious in taking up the job. from those mails received, we screened and filtered each and every one of them, word per word.

i don't have an education for human resources training but i have the common sense on who's really deserving for the upcoming opportunities (or dangers) ahead. first, i based on work experience, education, skills and portfolio. most of the people don't know how to do their resumes and to employer, it's important. i admit too that i'm not good in english but i'm careful in my spelling and grammar as much as possible. you present yourself and it reflects in your cv.

so how to have a better chance in getting the interview (and hopefully the job), especially in a multi-cultural place with an overloaded jobseekers like this?

cover letter. show to employer that you're really interested. you don't just attach your cv in an email or just put it on snail mail. tell yourself more on where and when did you see the job opening, your interest, what do you think why we should hire you, and where and when can we contact you.

well presented resume. forget the fancy stuff on a jpeg or whatever colorful paper with uber-designed graphics. ok, you're looking for a graphic designer job but you can present it on your portfolio instead. an honest, discreet and concise resume will do with no more than two pages.

put the strong assets you have. if you have a sturdy work experience, list 'em all and list all the achievements (not boring tasks like i typed a gazillion characters in a month checking every 1's and 0's) as long it is related to your job you're seeking. if you have cum laude or whatever degree, stress it out. if you are the walking swiss army knife skills or jack(a**)-of-all-trades that it will benefit your employer, give it all out. if you have a portfolio, list the significant ones and show the others later if you got the interview. forget the height-weight, who's your daddy-mommy, i love singing, dancing or porsche driving and all that crap... it's just a waste of space. in abroad, just your age, nationality, religion, language written/spoken, passport/visa details will do.

layout is essential. make it readable, stress out the strong points (did i make it boldfaced?) and in proper indention. check your grammar and spelling carefully. i can imagine myself (or you) seeing someone's grammar and spelling mistakes (remember "all you base are belong to us?") probably laughing your a** off or nodding in dismay. if you're not sure, let someone help you out.

your picture. unless you want to go for an artist job, looking glamorous or posing in a different angle, look presentable and neat. anyway, serial killers look neat sometimes; let's just disregard this... your employer just want to see on how you look like. a plus factor for good looking species.

i'm no guru in these job hunting but in my experience and reading the "resume building for dummies" when looking for a job before, it helped. and now i'm sharing it with you.

now, we're only down to two applicants who were having their test. good luck and hope this helped.

note: this is an advice to my fellow kabayans who want to venture forth to the sandlands, reality-based and it wasn't meant to discourage anyone.