Ten Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills

Ten Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills

We all have people with whom we have to work to get things done. Our ability to communicate with clients, customers, subordinates, peers, and superiors can enhance our effectiveness or sabotage us. Many times, our verbal skills make the difference. Here are 10 ways to increase your verbal efficacy at work:

Develop your voice – A high whiney voice is not perceived to be one of authority. In fact, a high soft voice can make you sound like prey to an aggressive co-worker who is out to make his/her career at the expense of anyone else. Begin doing exercises to lower the pitch of your voice. Here is one to start: 

Sing — but do it an octave lower on all your favorite songs. Practice this and, after a period of time, your voice will begin to lower.

Slow down – People will perceive you as nervous and unsure of yourself if you talk fast. However, be careful not to slow down to the point where people begin to finish your sentences just to help you finish.

Animate your voice – Avoid a monotone. Use dynamics. Your pitch should raise and lower. Your volume should be soft and loud. Listen to your local TV news anchor; take notes.

Enunciate your words – Speak clearly. Don’t mumble. If people are always saying, “huh,” to you, you are mumbling.

Use appropriate volume – Use a volume that is appropriate for the setting. Speak more softly when you are alone and close. Speak louder when you are speaking to larger groups or across larger spaces.

Pronounce your words correctly – People will judge your competency through your vocabulary. If you aren’t sure how to say a word, don’t use it.

Use the right words – If you’re not sure of the meaning of a word, don’t use it. Start a program of learning a new word a day. Use it sometime in your conversations during the day.

Make eye contact – I know a person who is very competent in her job. However, when she speaks to individuals or groups, she does so with her eyes shut. When she opens them periodically, she stares off in a direction away from the listener. She is perceived as incompetent by those with whom she consults. One technique to help with this is to consciously look into one of the listener’s eyes and then move to the other. Going back and forth between the two (and I hope they only have two) makes your eyes appear to sparkle. Another trick is to imagine a letter “T” on the listener’s face with the cross bar being an imaginary line across the eye brows and the vertical line coming down the center of the nose. Keep your eyes scanning that “T” zone.

Use gestures – Make your whole body talk. Use smaller gestures for individuals and small groups. The gestures should get larger as the group that one is addressing increases in size.

Don’t send mixed messages – Make your words, gestures, facial expressions, tone, and message match. Disciplining an employee while smiling sends a mixed message and, therefore, is ineffective. If you have to deliver a negative message, make your words, facial expressions, and tone match the message

So Why Didn't We Shortlist You?

So Why Didn't We Shortlist You?

You didn’t seem to know which school or which job you were applying to

Your letter began “Dear Sir/Madam” - couldn’t you check on our documents the actual name of the head? And find out if it’s a male or a female?

You put the name of another school in your letter. “I am particularly interested in working in Eton College because…

”You send a photocopied letter with the name of our school hand-written in it.

You have little, or inaccurate, information about the school or area: “I wish to work in a vibrant, ethnically-diverse community such as Surrey” (That application was someone lazily using the same letter for every post, not bothering to see if it was relevant)

You apply for a job that is not on offer. “I am particularly interested in this Foundation Stage post”. Sorry, ours was KS2· 

 

You apply for too many jobs: “I have seen on the TES website that your school offers many employment opportunities, and would like to apply for the posts of Senior Teacher in the Junior School, Head of Physics, Head of Psychology and teacher of English in the Senior School”.

 

Mock ye not - I have seen this actual example! The letter continued: “Please send a ticket from Buenos Aires to London so that I can attend your interview at your earliest convenience”

You didn’t do as we asked you to

We asked for a supporting statement of no more than 2 sides A4, you sent one which was 4 sides long Or one which was two sides, but in a tiny, tiny font Or just one paragraph.

We asked for your experience in chronological order, most recent first, you started with your GCSE results.

You left parts of the form blank (“Please outline your contribution to extra-curricular activities: nothing?”) Or you just wrote in: “See CV”. 

We actually want the form filled in to enable us to compare easily 50 different candidates. If you cannot be bothered to take the information out of your CV, why should we go to that trouble? Bin it.

We needed the fax and e-mail numbers of your referees, so that we could contact them urgently for a reference. 

We were unsure whether to shortlist you or another candidate, you were Even-Stevens. But he gave all the details, whereas we would have had to ring up the school to get the missing information to get your reference. So we chose him, and binned you.You didn’t have your current head as a referee. 

We are required by Safer Recruiting Guidelines to get a reference from your current employer (or most recent if not teaching at present). For NQTs, a head from one of your TPs is fine.You didn’t seem to be trying very hard to impress us

Form completed in a scruffy fashion

No reference anywhere to the actual person/job spec that we sent you, so your application seemed to be something you were scattering around everywhere.

You leave gaps in your chronology. Were you in prison? We need to consider this possibility under Child Protection guidelines.

Your spelling, grammar and punctuation leave much to be desired.

You don’t give the head of your current school (PGCSE tutor for NQTs) as referees. Why not? We would have to contact your current head anyway under Safer Recruiting guidelines, so put him/her in

You were trying too hard to impress us

A CV beginning with your mission statement: “An educator seeking appointment in fast-paced demanding professional environment where I can utilise my skills, education and experience to groom myself”. What does this actually mean? And why do I care about your desire to groom yourself - I am looking for my advantage, not yours.

You haven’t got the right balance in your CV: too much about your early experience (“I was a form captain in Years 7, 8 and 10, and a school prefect in the sixth form”) and too little about your current contribution to the school where you are working now.

Your statement/letter is too full of jargon and waffle, and includes paragraphs on irrelevant points.

You tell us as great length how good it would be for you to work with us. But would it be good for us.

TYPES OF INTERVIEW

PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW: 

The aim of prelims is to eliminate the applicants who are obviously unqualified of jobs.These interviews are generally informal and unstructured and conducted even before the candidates fill in the application blanks. This is presenting more obvious facts and information.This enables the manager to quickly evaluate the interviewee on the basis of appearance and quality of communication.
Formal and structured Interview: This interview is based on through job analysis, which directs the flow of interview.The questions cover all pertinent facts.The same questions are asked to all candidates which helps in better evaluation.

UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEW: 

No structured frames of questions.The more open ended questions. A candidate remained comfortable through out the interview.This tends to more subjectives.
Indepth Interview: This is more suitable in selecting the candidates for high end technology and high skill jobs. Experts in the relevant areas test the candidates ,knowledge and understanding of the subjects and assess his expertise.They determine suitability of candidates for the jobs in questions and based on these evaluation.

PANEL INTERVIEW: 

In this process, representatives from various departments get to meet and interview a candidates.This reduce the subjectivities involved in the one to one interview.
Group Interview :This method is resorted to when the number of applicants is high and time available for interviewing is short.This method is useful in while recruiting for entry level and junior management position.
Stress Interview: the objective is to test the applicants abilities to performs and deliver under stress.Interviewers put the interviewee under stress by repeatedly interrupting him, criticizing his answer,asking him unrelated questions or keeping quiet for long time after interviewee has finished talking.

* Psychometric Assessment :
This is standardized procedure to measure intelligences or aptitude or personality of aspirants. This is one of the important parts of selection process of many domestic and international organizations. This help employer to find best match of individual to occupation and working ambience. It should be standardized, reliable, predictive and non discriminatory. The information given by the candidates is checked by references after final decision taken and before offer is to made.This reference might have been work related (such as former supervisor or co worker) or they might have been personal (such as friend, clergy, or family members). In either case, to the extent that you could, you provided the organisation with a list of people who you believed would generally speak favourably about you.

* The Offer:
Once the candidates are evaluated and final decision is taken, then the offer letters is made which is formal, written and requires acceptance in writing.The objective of the offer letter is " we are pleased to select you for our esteemed organisation:
This is very common in hiring process .This is in fact mentioned in the clause in offer letter to the candidates , which says that the offer is conditional on the candidates being medically fit..

* The Orientation :
Orientation is process by which we introduce new employees to the organisation, their superiors, coworkers and job.The orientation process provides a foundation upon which new employees can build their skill and contribute to our efforts to providing responsive and effective services to the organisation.

Issues in Recruitment and Selection:

* Chances of failure increases in RPO (Recruitment process outsourcing):
The chances of failure will be high if the RPO do not understand the Vision and recruitment strategy of an organization.The entire success of organization depends upon people and their integrity towards employers. Better recruitment begets better results this is true in every aspects.

* Break down in collaboration with other organization in poaching.
Organisation could offer job to which they thought of valuable but it does not means poach and hunting 100% right perspectives.This spoil the goodwill of an organization to some extent.The organization might practice Coordinate Recruitment.

* Competition driving up salary to unrealistic level.
This is common in today's scenario of fierce competition.
Authenticity of resume is questionable in this stiff competitive world. Prospective employers are using track methodology to judge reliablility of the content by references, educational qualification, talking to candidates over phone, previous employer reputation etc.

* Internet and PC savvy:
This is obstacle in popularizing e recruitment, but rate of enhancement in PC penetration is our country is quite high so in near future we donot take it as challenges. Lets we have to set modus operandi for online recruitment which will guide prospective employers and aspirants/jobseekers both. 

* Face to Face interview, meet the candidates in person:
Technologies have created impact on every function of an organisation and Recruitment and Selection is not an exception. An employer prefers to contact or interact people to feel and understand would be HR asset for them. This will help the organisation to manage expectation of would in best possible manner.

* Inbreeding ,nepotism and old boy's network:

Demonstrate Your Problem-Solving Skills in the Interview

Demonstrate Your Problem-Solving Skills in the Interview

Succeeding at an interview is often more of an art than a science. While your experience, education, and other qualifications play a significant role in the hiring decision, the hire is still very much based on the personal opinion of the interviewer. He or she will make a decision about whether to hire you based not only on your qualifications, but also on whether your personality will fit in at their company. Often the interviewer's instinct decides who will get the job offer.

I don't suggest you try to obtain a personality transplant to succeed in an interview. If you really won't fit in at a particular company, you don't want to work there. But what you can do is be personable and professional. Smile, look the interviewer in the eye, and engage in a two-way conversation. Listen carefully, respond thoughtfully, and don't digress into personal details.

Interviewers need to be convinced that you will be able to fix their problems and help their company achieve its goals. One of the best ways to answer interview questions is to use your career success stories. Career success stories are tales of the defining moments in your career when you overcame significant challenges to succeed. These stories create a memorable impression and give the listener anecdotes about you that identify your ability to handle the tasks at hand, solve complex problems and provide a solution.

Personal anecdotes demonstrate your unique ability to solve problems. When you tell success stories, you illustrate how you went about handling a difficult situation at work. Here's the idea -- at some point in your career, you were faced with what seemed to be an insurmountable problem. If the problem continued, there would have been severe consequences. Rather than sit back and watch things fall apart, you took initiative and implemented a plan to solve the problem and bring about a positive result.

For each appropriate interview question, relate it to a similar situation earlier in your career, talk briefly about how you handled it, and highlight the results. These stories demonstrate to the interviewer that you have specific experience in dealing with similar situations.
For example, let's say you were asked in an interview, "How do you deal with high-pressure situations?"
You could simply answer: "I'm very good when faced with high-pressure situations. I dealt with them all the time at my last job."However, this response doesn't do much to convince the interviewer of your abilities. 

Use a career success story instead: 

"I'll give you an example. 

I was leading a team of national account sales reps in the fourth quarter of the year. We were in the running to be the top sales team in the country in our organization. Prior to the fourth quarter, we hadn't even made the top 10. Our sales were good, but we wanted to finish the year as No. 1. I organized and led a sales-planning retreat to motivate my team to accomplish three things: 

First, we identified each of our prospects and determined exactly what we could close before the end of the quarter. 

Second, I had each rep -- with the assistance of his or her support team -- lay out a tactical plan for winning that business prior to the year's end. 

Third, I asked each rep to make a specific sales commitment with support from their team. The bottom line was that we not only surpassed our overall sales plan, we blew away the competition. Every sales rep hit his or her goal, some topping it by 75 to 100 percent. As a result, our sales-team production exceeded 250 percent of the target and we were recognized as the top team in the nation. As our award, my team joined the company's top executives on a five-day trip to Paris."

The key to any interview, particularly if it's for a new field or new job, is to make the connection between your unique abilities and related situations in the new field through your success stories. Although it may be a new industry or job you are pursuing, there are many similarities to the day-to-day challenges and opportunities. Your career success stories bridge the gap.

Few Select Interview Questions

Few Select Interview Questions in Job Interviews

Why have you selected to join us?

I always longed to work with a company. I am familiar and whose products I have used and trusted.(Narrate briefly how you can prove your statement. Do good research on the company before facing the interview)

Where do you want to be in 5 years?

I would like to be frank. Judge me from the work and I am sure you will put me right where I want to be.

Note : Do not over ambitious and speak in a way that you are not satisfied with your current job which you have applied for.

Describe your ideal career?

Talk of what you enjoy most your skills and natural talents. Do not specify your goal and any job title.

Tell me something about yourself.

Do not just repeat what you have given in your resume. Be ready with the answer, a talent or something you did out of the ordinary. You can sound it as unique or give it a touch of your personality.

How did you apply for the job?

Be specific and give a straight answer of how you came to know about the vacancy. If it was advertised specify how you came across it.

Why do you want to work here?

Have a research done about the company / organizationGive just one or two reasons why you are interested. You can add these points (1) company's reputation(2) desire to join the specific field of interest.

Advertising Industry: Eligibility and Qualifications

Placements in Advertising Industry

Educational: Most advertising agencies recruit candidates with a formal management or advertising/mass communication qualification. Preference is given for MBA's for posts in the market research, client servicing and media planning departments.
In the creative department, on the other hand, a general BA with a command of the language of communication plus knowledge of designing packages like Photoshop, coral draw or fine arts is the requirement.

There are also specialised courses in advertising/mass communication at diploma level and post graduate level for which basic qualification is graduation. However, advertising is also offered as a subject for the graduate degree course in mass communication studies at certain institutions for which minimum qualification is 10+2. In addition there are also certificate courses for which 10+2 is enough.

Personal attributes: Basic qualities like creativity and flair for writing or ability to translate ideas into a visual format are required for making a successful career in this field. They should have insight into the interests of people from all walks of life, ability to work as part of team, mental and physical toughness to be able to withstand high pressure and criticism, must be sociable and have calm temperament. Market and media researchers should have an analytical and logical brain. Those in creative field should possess artistic abilities to make the ad appealing to the masses.

Guidelines for Preparing a Resume

Guidelines for Preparing a Resume

A resume furnishes details for presenting yourself for a prospective job. It is a summary of your skills, accomplishments, experiences and education. There is no standard format for preparing your resume. It should be designed in such a way to impress your prospective employer and to ensure the call for an interview. Apart from the basic categories, you can add on details to make it more impressive. Always make a rough resume with all the details before you finalize on the fair one. We can go through the basic categories, to help you to make a resume.

Name, Address and Telephone: One has to give his/her permanent address with phone number if any. If you have an e-mail address, include that too.

Objective: It should be brief and to the point. It must give the employer an idea about your work preferences and where you want to be in your career, in future.

For example:

• Seeking a challenging position with opportunities for career advancement and learning.
• To have a long career in the (particular field), gain further skills and attain the goal of the organisation aiming at mutual growth.

Profile: This category is optional but valuable. Here one should give an overall picture of his/her abilities and accomplishments. You must stress on your particular strengths. sd

For example:

• Good knowledge on Internet security, E-commerce Transactions, System Analysis etc.
• More than one year experience in the particular industry.

Educational Qualification: Here one has to include your degree, specialisation, institutions attended, year of graduation, subsidiary subjects studied, and any special workshops, seminars, related courses or projects done. You can give your qualifications separately as academic and professional or technical if any.

Career Graph or Work Experience: One must give details regarding the place you have worked, the position you held, your responsibilities and achievements if any, duration of work etc. List the name of the organisation, give a brief description if you prefer and the place it's located. Then give your work responsibilities with an emphasis on achievements- (work projects done, targets achieved etc.) and the dates or period you have served in the organisation.

Personal Profile: Your personal details like date of birth, permanent address and contact number, e-mail, passport details if any, hobbies, languages known etc.

References: References should be given with prior consent from the relevant people. This must include their name, address and phone number. It is not essential to give references in a resume. You can state that references can be furnished if needed.

Targeted Resume

Targeted Resume

A targeted resume is used to focus your resume toward a specific career objective, performed in a specific industry, and for a specific company. The content of a targeted resume is written to highlight the skills, qualifications, and experience that match the requirements of your job target. You may want to consider writing a targeted resume when:
*  You know the title of the position you are interested in and have a good idea of the qualifications that will be required for entry into this position.
*  You are sending your resume in response to an employment advertisement.
*  You are writing or revising your resume to apply to a specific company.
*  You have several different specific career objectives and want a different resume for each one

Tips to Write a Resume

Tips to Write a Resume

Gather and Check All Necessary Information - Learn to write a resume by writing down information under headings. 

Write your resume example that embraces your education; experience; honors; skills and activities and make a list of your training and education relating to your job choice.

Match Your Skills and Experience with an Employer's Needs - Choose a target job/title that works best and write a good resume by matching your wishes with positions that are actually available.

Highlight Details That Demonstrate Your Capabilities - Learn to write a good resume by selecting details of your information that best matches the employer’s needs. Results need to benefit your employer and make you a viable candidate for the target job.

Organize the Resume Effectively - You write a resume by organizing your Personal information followed by a Summary of key points, Education, Experience, Honors and Activities. 

Write a good resume chronologically listing primary jobs held, including unpaid work that fills a gap or that shows you have the skills for the job. 

Write your resume example and compare with other like-positions resumes and create a draft based on the resume format you choose. 

References are a separate entity and may not be included, but always have solid reference available if requested.

Consider Word Choice Carefully - You write a resume that accurately describes you – your skills, talents and expertise. Write a good resume by utilizing active verbs (in many forms) such as achieve, analyze, adapt. Learn to write a resume that describes you positively and accurately. Write a good resume using adjectives and nouns such as analytical, resourceful, capable.

Ask Other People to Comment on Your Resume - We at Houston Job Search will help you write resume and then we will critique it. Remain open-minded when you write a resume and with our constructive criticism, the final resume will achieve its objective. Ask your friends and trusted colleagues to review and critique your resume.

Make the Final Product Presentable - A resume should be printed on a high quality (24 lbs stock or more) paper using a laser printer. We at Houston Job Search can provide the resources.

Finance Rules the Roost in IIM-C Placement

Kolkata, Nov 11 (PTI) 

Finance emerged as the most sought subject for summer placement at the country's coveted business school Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) 2009-11, with as many as 43 per cent choosing to pursue it this season.

"Some 43 per cent of 407 students of the batch has opted for summer jobs in banks. This includes 80 offers from investment banks and private equity funds as against 58 offers in the previous year," an IIM-C final summer placement release said here today.Though there was increase in absolute number of placements in investment banks and private equity funds this year, however, in percentage terms it stood at 19 per cent.The number of students in the 2009-11 batch was higher by 104 students over last year.

Thanks