My Birthday Gift

I'm going to divert alittle today. It's my birthday today and I shall be talking about one of the gifts that I got, which I feel is the most meaningful one. Though the ideal gift for me would be Josh Groban's latest hits but haha I won't ask for anymore then the friendship as a gift. Thanks everyone.

The gift is a book titled, 'It's not how Good you are, it's how Good you want to be.' by Paul Arden. It was given to me by my good friend, Venetia. Basically it's made up of a series of chapters that guided my thoughts and gave me insights on how to think creatively and positively. I enjoyed the book so much I finished it in a day. But I'll be reading a few more times as I have not yet understood everything in it.

One chapter caught my attention, it's called 'IT'S ALL MY FAULT', oh the chapters are all in caps by the way. It said,

If you are involved in something thst goes wrong, never blame others. Blame no one but yourself. If you have touched something, accept total responsibility for that piece of work. If you accept responsibility, you are in a position to do something about it.

I felt that the author was really critical at this point but his very last sentence caught my attention. Let's take for example, the Financial Meltdown, it has had several effects around the globe. It poses a major challenge for us, the graduates, when we look for a job. Do we blame the market for this misfortune and continue spending our time that way? Or take responsibility of ourselves and be in the position to do something about it?

We can't tell the market not to fall into a recession, we can't tell the Tsunami not to hit Java, we can't govern how the job market is to be affected during this recession. But what we CAN do, is to govern ourselves, to decide what to do with the available time that we have to pursue the Goals that we made. In this realm of Choicelessness, we can still choose how we want to live. That is why having a Goal is so important. Thank you for reading. =)

Our strengths? Our Weaknesses?

Have we ever thought of what our strengths are? Well I never thought that it was important until I've caused so much frustration and unhappiness among the people whom I had the fortune and opportunity to work with. I asked myself what was it in me that caused all these. Was I trying to be someone I'm not? Was I biting more than I can chew? I'm quite embarrased about the huge ego that made me avoid all these questions in the beginning. What was my true potential?

Now I realize that in order to understand my true potential, there are two tasks that I have to do. Firstly, to identify and perform my Strengths. And Secondly, to admit to my weaknesses, or should I say, my limitations and Hone my skills from there.

Of the two, I must admit that achieving the second task was the toughest and most humbling one. Only by stepping on my pride and smashing a part of my ego I'd like to call, the Fool's Ego, that I began to realize. At this point I would like to apologise to those who had to bear with me for such a long time, and to thank them for their patience, I wish to tell them in person, but I still lack the courage to do so. Egoistic, chauvanistic, stubborn, impatient, self-opinioned are some of the limitations that exist in me.

Once you have admitted to your limitations, will you know where you stand and once you've secured a foothold, can you build yourself up. It's gonna be tough but the benefits will last you a lifetime.

Once we have admitted to our limitations, it is time for our Strengths to take the stage. It is our Strengths that will build us up. Once we identify our Strengths, we have to keep practicing and performing them until it becomes a habit. I'd like to qoute:

We are what we repeatedly do;
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. By Aristotle.

Our strengths and limitations, when we know them and make them a part of us, in our behaviour, our conversations, our actions, in our way of life, will set us apart from each other and everyone else. This will improve our chances of securing that ideal job, once we are irrelevant from competition. I am currently studing an article which talks about differentiating ourselves from the other competitiors in the job market and will discuss about it in my next entry. Thanks for reading! Peace!

Looking for a job in bearish times?

What goes through our mind when we look for a job? We consider things like, does the job fit our interests? Is the income justifiable? How many days of leave do I get? Is there a yearly trip to a luxury island? What's the bonus like? Tough anot? Alot of work anot? Is the boss a slave driver? And the list goes on...We are always asking and questioning what our employer can give us, be it benefits or limitations. Well let's face it, all this questions worked for our seniors who graduated in 2007 and before, as they found their ideal jobs. But it DEFINITELY didn't work for my friends who graduated in 2008.

Are we asking these questions too? If yes, STOP! Instead of looking at what the job market can give us, we should be looking into ourselves and seeking to give. What do we give? To whom do we give to? In an article, 'Grads face up to fading job prospects' by Business@Asiaone, SMU's Mrs Sohmen-Pao mentions that skills such as leadership, strategic management and finance will remain evergreen and relevant to any profit organization across any industry. My question is then, is it important to identify our strengths? Is it Equally important to identify our weaknesses too?

Grads face up to fading job prospects

In an article written by Lee U-wen and Emilyn Yap, on Dec 03 this year, states that due to the financial crisis, university students graduating next year, are fast coming to terms with the rising difficulty in landing their ideal jobs. The number of placings and range of jobs available are taking a hit.

Of those who graduated in 2007, 9 out of 10 students from NBS found jobs before graduation and top students earned between $8,000 to $15,000. Two-thirds received multiple job offers. What about this year? 2008? 7 out of 10 of my friends from the business and engineering faculties found their jobs 4-5 months after their graduation. 2 out of the remaining 3 found their job 2 months after graduation. Of course I wouldn't say that I have huge numbers of friends. What about your circle of friends? Isn't this an obvious sign that when we graduate in '09, that it will be tougher to look for a job by the time we graduate? With no signs of recovery as yet?

It's obvious that we have to start earlier in order to increase our chances of securing a job by the time we graduate. In my next entry, I'll discuss on the mindsets that might come in handy. Later then...

p.s to read up on the article, please visit http://business.asiaone.com/Business/Office/Learn/Job%2BHunting/Story/A1Story20081201-104728.html

Welcome

Welcome reader,

This blog has been started to share some insights and information on the job market. It will be updated as more reports are made on the news. There will be no 'professional' views in this blog, just general thoughts and ideas made by regular students and adults whom I've met along the way. I will include the article in question along with each topic, reading them will give a clearer picture of the topic. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas by emailing them to me. I hope that you'll have fun and wish you all the best in your future endeavor.

Regards,

Benjamin Koh

p.s. oh please feel free to browse through my other blogs, they're interesting as well. =)