One of the things that causes a lot of stress in any job is having a lot of things to do and no idea what they all are. One of the things you can do to alleviate a little stress is to write down everything you are asked to do. This will help you to prioritize and also to relax a little as you can be certain that you are not going to forget to do something because you wrote it down.

Prioritize your list. A to-do list is all good and well, but it is easy for the important things to get lost in between the less important items. The trick is to have an easily editable list and to put the most important things at the top and shift everything else down as you go.

Channel your interruptions. Do not allow a “please, help me and do this quick” request from a colleague to distract you from your current task. Make a note of what it is that they would like you to do and prioritize it along with everything else.

Ignore your inbox. No, not completely, just for a while. When you are busy with an important task emails can distract you from what you are doing. Rather set your email software to retrieve your emails once every hour or so rather than every two minutes. This will decrease the number of distractions you get every day. It would be a good idea to have an auto responder on that notifies people of the fact that you do not check your emails every few minutes, just to make sure that an urgent request does not get delayed unnecessarily.

Be brave enough to delete things. Not every task needs to be done, situations change and tasks become irrelevant. Only do the ones you really have to.

Break big tasks down. It is a fact that some tasks are big and boring. Rather break these down into more manageable sections. That way you will do a little every day or every few hours and not end up putting the task off indefinitely.

Know yourself. Everyone has times of the day when they are most productive and ones where they struggle to focus. Use the times where you struggle to focus for your lunch break or for answering mails rather than the most productive times.

Take breaks. Set yourself small targets and once you have reached them, take a break. It is easy enough to do and will give your brain time to reset so that you can focus on the next set of targets.

It is possible to make any job less stressful, all it takes is a bit of time management and discipline.

MUSCAT — In line with the Royal directive of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos on the need to develop human resources and increase Omanisation, many considerate companies in Oman pursue a comprehensive plan to develop the skills of Omani employees and to achieve high levels of Omanisation.
The Sultanate’s vast oil and gas industry has an important role to play in this context. The Ministry of Manpower recognises the efforts of those companies that take concrete steps to welcome qualified Omani nationals and achieve high levels of Omanisation and gives them Omanisation Awards.
But this is not enough. The Tender Board too needs to consider the track record of achievements towards the Omanisation process of bidders before awarding them projects. In some cases it has been noticed that relatively new foreign companies with no worthwhile track record in Omanisation are awarded projects which could otherwise have been given to companies with high levels of Omanisation and a good track record of service to the nation.
High priority to Omanisation is important because this is part of the national agenda. His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has stressed from time to time on several occasions the need to develop human resources and increase Omanisation. The oil sector of Oman can play a key role in this context. Commitment to Oman’s national interests is only natural.
Honouring companies in the oil field that have achieved high levels of Omanisation is one thing and going a step further and giving projects to those who have proved their dedication to the principles and guidelines of Omanisation through comprehensive and effective training and qualification programmes is quite another.
In recent times, a joint government-private sector initiative has been launched to implement the Royal directive of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos to generate 50,000 jobs for Omani citizens.
What have oil field companies done in response to this very important Royal directive? It is surprising to note that recently petroleum companies in Oman formed a special committee and sent their delegation abroad to recruit people for the oil sector instead of looking for qualified Omani citizens for recruitment.
It is also learnt that in one of the oil companies belonging to the Government of Oman an Omani executive is due to retire soon and his position will be occupied by his nephew.
A position must go to the right candidate and not to someone on the basis of relations. This is highly disappointing and not in line with the policies of fair play and justice practised in Oman.
Also, a number of family companies in the oil field sector do not realise that their business organisation should be open for all qualified Omanis.
They however recruit people only from their own families. This is not professional and is to the detriment of qualified Omani citizens.
Not only this, but before the retirement of people at the top such as chairman, director, CEO and general manager, it is decided to offer these positions to people from within their families.
It is important to realise that commitment to national interests, caring for Omani citizens, and displaying fair play assumes special importance in the present day Oman.
Gone are the days when no one expressed concern or questioned unreasonable practices. Now things are changed. Oman is strict on discipline, and adherence to rules of law.

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In a crowded job market, having work experience in China on your résumé can make a big difference.

Recent graduates in industries from engineering to finance in both Europe and the U.S. are making their way to the country, hoping to land their first jobs faster and more easily than their competitors.

Lesmes Gutiérrez, a 23-year-old engineering graduate of Loughborough University in the U.K., who had a two-week placement with Baoshang Bank in Beijing late last year, says potential employers are more impressed with those who can demonstrate a willingness to move out of their comfort zone. “It’s quite a big step to go somewhere not knowing what to expect. The idea of going to China calls for awareness and the willingness to relocate,” which could be appealing to employers, he says.

And he’s not the only one to have spotted the competitive advantage work experience in China may bring. Applications for internships there have more than tripled over the past couple of years, according to figures released by CRCC Asia, a London-based recruitment consultancy.

In 2009, the company received about 250 applications, compared with more than 1,000 so far this year, says CRCC Asia Director Daniel Nivern. “The Chinese economy is booming and it’s very appealing for graduates to get an insight as to why that’s happening by visiting [the country]. With the job market depressed in the U.K. and the U.S., China offers a great opportunity to get a long-term career,” he says.

He says China has also come into focus for Western companies looking to grow. “A lot of businesses realize that if they want to be part of the global economy, they need to be going into China,” adds Mr. Nivern, whose company has mostly placed recent graduates from the U.K. and the U.S., but also from other European countries like Spain, in finance, marketing and legal firms in China.

“I have been told repeatedly that my work in China looks great on my résumé,” says Alexander Lesher, who recently finished a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering at the Indiana-based Purdue University and subsequently undertook a two-month internship at environmental company Nanjing Zhuangxun Tech Co. in Beijing.

He says his experience there gave him a greater awareness of cultural differences. He says he was surprised by the way business people interacted during lunches. During a working meal with a group of about eight people, a single person would buy enough food to completely fill the table and would go out of his or her way to make sure everyone ate as much as possible. “Then they would act humbly, as if they have done nothing,” he says. “That wouldn’t happen in the U.S.”

Others visiting China for the first time found the first few days disconcerting. Sophie Corcut, a former unpaid marketing intern at fair-trade company Shangrila Farms, says: “Living in Beijing and dealing with a totally foreign language was challenging. Things like crossing the road or buying things in the supermarket or counting the numbers were suddenly difficult.” But it was precisely that challenge that Ms. Corcut, who borrowed from her parents to fund her trip, was looking for. “It was brilliant. I was looking for that stimulation.”

Ms. Corcut, who now has a full-time job with management consultancy Accenture in London, says her two months’ work experience in China was more rewarding than previous internships she had done in her native England. “I have done a lot of work experience in the U.K., and they actually don’t need you. You are just there, and they are constantly trying to find you work. You are given something very menial,” she says. “But in China they were actually using me. I was lucky to be interning for a young company that needed a lot of help.”

She says initially after graduation she wasn’t sure what to do professionally with a degree in history and French, but in China she learned how to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and started designing promotional leaflets for the company. “I tried to get a big sales push and tried to get new clients,” she says.

But some recruiters are swift to point out that China isn’t the only place that will help students stand out. Chris McCarthy, of London-based recruiter Hays PLC, says it isn’t China experience per se that employers are looking for but evidence that potential employees are willing to challenge themselves.

“If Europe and the U.S. are going to maintain their place in global business people need to be prepared to put on a back pack” and head for less familiar places, says Mr. McCarthy. “It is evidence that people are willing to challenge themselves, not specifically China, that employers are looking for. They want to see a bit of ambition and entrepreneurship,” he says.

He adds, however, that China can be of particular relevance to employers looking for people with experience in emerging markets.

But while experience in China may be invaluable, some obstacles can seem formidable. Mr. Gutiérrez, working at a microlender, struggled with Chinese. “The problem with a rural bank is that Chinese is its first language and English is not used at all. When it came to producing reports on the fluctuation of gold prices, there were no previous templates I could use so I had to rely on an intuitive process and then improve the subsequent reports based on feedback.”

Despite some barriers, the benefits run in both directions, and companies in China are profiting from the surge in interest from potential interns in the West. Thomas Cao, chief executive of Beijing-based Broad Global Venture Capital Co., says he finds real value in the work done by interns.

“We look for graduates to come and do real work. We have asked our interns, for example, to help us analyze the chances of companies going public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange,” he says.

Ultimately, says Mr. Lesher, going to China was about turning a personal fascination into a tangible benefit for his career. “The country was just a point of personal fascination. I wasn’t sure how it would work out.”

Write to Javier Espinoza at javier.espinoza@wsj.com

French IT services company Capgemini will hire up to 8,000 people for its delivery operations in India this year, a top company official said.

This is in line with the company’s publicly stated vision of having the Indian workforce account for 50 per cent of its overall employee base in the next 2-3 years.

As of March 31, 2011, the €8.7-billion Capgemini group had a total headcount of 1,12,127 employees.

“Last year, we grew our India headcount by around 20 per cent…this year also the HR additions should be in a similar range,” Ms Aruna Jayanthi, Chief Executive Officer of Capgemini India, told Business Line.

Ms Jayanthi is the first lady CEO to head operations of a software services company in India. She was one of the three Indian leaders who was promoted and given global roles in a restructuring exercise by Capgemini earlier this year.

In her earlier role of Global Delivery Officer for Capgemini Outsourcing, Ms Jayanthi was responsible for improving the quality, productivity and profitability of Capgemini’s outsourcing operations worldwide.

In addition to recruiting heavily from engineering campuses, Ms Jayanthi said that the company is also on the look out for science graduates. It has had success by taking the ‘off campus’ route to further flatten its employee pyramid.

Off-campus hiring

Off-campus hiring refers to the incremental fresher hirings done by IT companies when their need for entry level graduates exceeds the numbers they have picked up during campus recruitment drives. In such cases, IT companies conduct walk-in-interviews of fresh engineers who have not been picked up by any company during on-campus drives.

“Even the off-campus route can throw up high quality candidates if you are careful with the selection procedure. Having said that, if you select one out of four during campus drives, now you may do only one out of 10,” said Ms Jayanthi.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2011, the company has already made net additions of roughly 3,000 persons, taking its employee count to 33,510. Capgemini follows a January to December accounting calendar.

Capgemini, which has about eight delivery centres in India, is now looking to expand into smaller cities.

Its first move in that direction was made couple of years ago when it setup a centre in Salem, Tamil Nadu.

“We have used Salem for providing finance and accounting BPO services to clients and the experience so far has been very positive…the endeavour is to now take this model to other cities in South India,” said Ms Jayanthi.

Hub-and-spoke model

The company wants to operate on a hub-and-spoke model, targeting cities that are ‘just an overnight journey’ from Chennai so that it does not have to invest in local management talent.

Apart from servicing overseas customers, Capgemini also works with India-based companies. In November last year, the company had bagged a workshop management system contract from the Indian Railways.

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Next year this time I will
be faced with a task that I haven’t had to conquer in many years – finding a
new job. While I love working from home, and will continue to do so on a part
time basis, I also want the steady paycheck that comes with working for someone
else.

Looking for a new job,
whether as a new college graduate, a stay at home mother returning to the
workforce, or an employee unhappy with the current situation, can be stressful.
Though I have a year to go, I am already beginning to feel the pressure of
writing the perfect cover letter, putting together the best resume, and nailing
an interview.  I’m already considering
what it is I want to do, how many hours I’d like to work, and what will – and
won’t – work for a career at this point in my life.

I’m still working on how I’m
really going to get from here to there.

“Success is about getting
the fundamentals right,” says Ben Newman, coauthor with Dr. Justin B. Short of
the new book Pocket Truths for Success: 365 Daily Principles to Become the
Most Successful Person You Know. 
Newman says there is no magic bullet for building a home-run life. “You
have to get up every day and hit singles and doubles.”

Just how do we do this?
Newman believes there are certain truths we should all know as we tackle the
real world. “You may have heard some of these short, sweet, success-oriented
instructions before,” he says. “But they bear repeating because they’ve
withstood the test of time.”

Some to remember as I
prepare myself for the difficult – monumental, I should say – task of finding a
job next year include:

The first impression is
made in the first 90 seconds. Each
time you meet someone new she forms an opinion about you that’s difficult to
change as time goes by. Think of the people that you have met along the way in
life; has your opinion of them differed that much from that first meeting?
Newman says because of this, don’t underestimate the value of a well-groomed
appearance, firm handshake, and friendly smile. When you go out to an
interview, put your best feet forward (notice I don’t say foot, because both
feet should be in there together).

Age doesn’t matter. Quality, says Newman, is as important as quantity,
which is good for our children just starting out on the road to employment.
Still, even those of us with some years behind us should not feel bad because
we are older than some of the newest graduates entering the job market. “Your
ideas, your commitment, your character, and your willingness to grow and
improve are every bit as valuable as years on the job,” says Newman. Show up to
the interview with ideas you can share that will show the potential employer
you have done your homework and are interested in his company and know what you
can do to help it succeed.

Set goals that scare you. Then set bigger goals. Up until this point,
my goals have centered around business and running. I wanted to do a half
marathon; then I set a goal of a full marathon, regardless of how much it
terrified me. Now I need to use this in terms of finding a new job. I must set
a goal, and then set a higher one that scares me. Newman says that many wise
people have pointed out the value of living outside of your comfort zone,
because if you are not challenging yourself, you are not growing. “So set goals
that you know will stretch your intellect, your persistence, and your
ingenuity. And once you’ve achieved them, set more.” You can think of these
goals as your life plan, Newman adds, remembering that what gets planned gets
done.

Support your peers. The impact is greater when they also succeed.
While you’ve probably heard it is a dog-eat-dog world and you should always put
your priorities first, don’t do so by throwing others under the bus. “The fact
is,” says Newman, “when you support others, your collective efforts will
achieve much more. Plus, you’ll have a source of help when you need it.” The
worse job I ever had was one in which everyone worked against, and not for, one
another. Pettiness, bickering, and sabotaging happened on a daily basis and
made for a very toxic environment. As you go out into the world in search of a
new job, make sure you let the employer know you are a team player – and then
be that team player once you get the job.

Mediline Carers and Nurses, now based in Foston, has won a contract with Staffordshire County Council which makes it one of the main care providers in the East Staffordshire area.

The contract has immediately created around 35 new jobs in the East Staffordshire area and more are envisaged. The company say recruitment is ongoing.

The company began in Tutbury in 2003, beforemoving operations to Foston three years ago.

In the last two years it has seen rapid growth, expanding from a client base of 313 to around 773 — an increase of 147 per cent.

Mediline supplies carers and nurses to both the public sector and private individuals.

It not only provides basic care but also more complex care packages such as for people with learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and dementia.

Managing director Michael Baines told the Mail the company’s rapid growth meant it was constantly recruiting.

He said: “With sealing this new contract it has created rapid growth, and as a result we currently have lots of jobs available in the area and we are looking for new carers as well.

“We are recruiting all the time and are doing inductions on a regular basis.

“We can’t stress enough that the opportunities are there within the business for employment in the Burton area.” Speaking about what the company provides, chairman Peter Cook, from Sudbury, who set up the firm in April 2003, said Mediline has a philosophy of doing all it can to help elderly people stay in their own homes.

He said: “People of that age just want to stay in their own home and that is what we push for wherewe can.

“We do everything from30-minute calls to 24-hour live-in support, from the very basic to total packages with specialised care which other companies don’t provide.

If there is a challenge with specialist needs, wewill embrace that.” Regional care manager Fay Phoenix said: “Part of the success of the company is that we have a team of people, right down to the carers, who are very dedicated and loyal — that is what we continue to build on.”

As well as its base at Tomlinson Business Park, just off the A50 in Foston, Mediline is continuing to expand and has just taken on new premises in Lichfield.

Various jobs are available with the company and anyone interested is urged to contact the recruitment line on 01283 586606 or visit the website www.mediline nurses.co.uk.

Rob Green, Managing Director of CML in Asia stated, “We are delighted to be launching this privilege program for our staff, our clients and our placed candidates. We are always looking at ways to engage our partners and our staff are a very innovative bunch of people that are always encouraged to come up with new ideas. The recruitment market in Asia is a busy place and companies should always be looking to reward loyalty. CML are pleased to be the first to the market with this program and believe that our members will see a lot of benefits from it. I’ve already used the membership card in a couple of restaurants and bars in Soho and saved myself a lot of money, my wife used it at one of the city’s Spa groups and was very pleased with the discounts she received”.

Total Loyalty Company specialise in providing lifestyle social clubs to companies in Hong Kong. They are a new concept in Hong Kong, however have come with over 15 years’ experience in Australia where their partner program MyRewards which boasts over 1,000,000 members. Sam Lau, managing director of Total Loyalty Company expressed his enthusiasm for the CML Privilege Program “It is great to see a company like CML really embrace the concept of a lifestyle program and recognise the intrinsic value of rewarding their candidates for their loyalty in this very competitive -840242276  market place.”

For more information, contact:
Sam Lau                  
Total Loyalty Company         
P +852 5131 6338            
F +852 2536 9002            
E sam@totalloyalty.hk         
W www.totalloyalty.hk      

Rob Green
CML Limited
P +852 2836 6382
F +852 2836 6980
E r.green@cmlor.com
W www.cmlor.com.hk

The Sport of Writing Your Resume Where the Job Description Left Off
To me, resume writing is a sport of sorts.  I have taken friends’ resumes and tweaked them only to the chagrin of having their email inboxes flooded in a few hours. 

There are a few reasons why resume writing can get tricky and the first is that not many employers have the time to write a four-page job description. 

Because writing a job description is such a tedious task, many employers don’t have the time nor do they have the patience to spend 16 hours jotting down and/or remembering every important detail that corresponds with the job slot they are responsible for filling. 

Video: Writing Your Resume Like The NYTimes Homepage…large font on your resume will promote..

This is why a simple “cut and paste” from the job description to the resume is often  unsuccessful.  

Doing the best they can, resume writers are often forced to read between the lines and infer the more significant points to transfer from the job description to their resumes (and cover letters).  Sometimes, these points are not written down at all. 

For instance:

If the employer says they need someone who dresses nicely near the top, it probably means that the last incumbent was a slob or the clientele is high-brow.  Put a picture on your resume. 

Also, use your knowledge and common sense to decipher the daily activities that are probably of the utmost urgency (not always importance) to the hiring party and place these additional points throughout your resume in an unassuming manner.     

In most instances, use the buzzwords or industry terms that correspond with those tasks.  

Finally, they need to know how to verbalize on a piece of paper that someone is probably going to glance at for all of 30 seconds prior to determining if it warrants a full minute of review.

All of this is a daunting, but doable task.  To get you started, I’ve included mock resume objectives and resume tips for sales/sales management, marketing and recent college graduate job seekers. 

All of these stem from self-taught business knowledge and writing skills that were not taught to me in university. 

Sample Sales Objective:

To leverage my business knowledge, sales acumen and marketing skills in order to align myself with a progressive, growing company that rewards results, team effort and forward thinking….

To write a good sales or sales management transition resume, you have to think like the employer or hiring manager.  Remember that both think differently and have different personal and professional goals which will be the driver of a final decision.

When transitioning into a sales management role for the first time, remember that you are a risk factor and I would personally spend more time on smaller, entrepreneurial companies who are more apt to take risks.  
Contrary to the practice of many, it is sometimes good to recognize this gamble on your resume and egg on the entrepreneur or forward-minded thinker.

Remember that you are a sales professional.  Focus on how you can make them money; no more, no less.

Sample Recent Grad Resume Objective:

After spending four years studying x, y and z, I feel that I can heavily contribute to an employer’s bottom line….

Tips

Just as there are apprenticeships/internships in law, accounting and medicine, sales and marketing newcomers have to pay their dues.  When it comes to writing a resume or cover letter, the young job seeker should have 2 different versions – corporate and entrepreneurial.

The larger companies are going to look for stability, while the smaller firms, regardless of clout or marketing are more willing to take somebody without internship experience.  It doesn’t make one better than the other; it just makes knowledge of that difference part of your job seeking.

Remember that as a recent college graduate, your sole existence is to do the tasks that the employees who are a “recent college graduate +1yr.” worked hard enough not to have to do.  Proving yourself is a marathon; any employer who says it is an absolute sprint, has inaccurate information. 

Sample Resume Objective – Marketing Careers:

Following a  four-year tenure with x corp., I have begun to transition to the more analytical side of marketing and wish to….

Marketing Resume and Cover Letter Tips:

The primary reason many marketing job seekers, especially entry- to mid-level, miss the initial “resume scan cut” when going for a marketing position is that they focus on the knowledge they guess the employers want, and it turns out that they’ve guessed wrong.

From countless interactions with younger job seekers looking to get into marketing, I’ve noticed that the majority have all the pertinent skills and knowledge.  However, for a reason I can’t understand, many are being told by universities, writers, coaches, friends and colleagues to focus on other, overly creative and less lucrative skills.

The last tidbit of advice that I can give to prospective job seekers wanting to be in marketing is to focus as much on the analytical side of the employer’s needs as you do the creative aspects listed on the job description.

Regardless of whether you’re writing a sales, sales management, recent college graduate or marketing resume, resume writing is about telling the employer exactly what they want to hear.  Whoever has them most excited prior to the initial interview is usually going to be the winner. 

Just like anything else, many times luck plays a role as to whether the employer actually picks up the phone to call you after you submit your CV, though it’s hardly a sizable factor. 

“For me, losing a tennis match isn’t failure, it’s research.”
Billy Jean King

Just as the tennis champ says, resume writing is simply trial and the proper tweaks after each perceived error. 

Ken Sundheim just launched KASWrite resume writing and marketing consulting

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