Dated November 09, 2005
(Questions answered on career concerns)
I have been employed as a temp with different companies. How do I answer the question, "Why have you had so many employers in the last two years?"
Mahesh Singhal
Banglore
First---redo your resume and stress the continuity of employment (presumably doing similar/related work). Use a functional resume to stress your skills, experience and qualifications. Include any and all skills that you have picked up at these various companies.
Stress your years of experience and how wonderful it was to train in various companies. You will have to face the obvious question...why temp? Was it a choice or did you not find permanent employment?
One thing that is seemingly more true is that organisations are blending their employee staff with a mix of full-time and temp/contract workers. You were just ahead of the curve. Do not apologise for being a temp. Be proud that you were so able to fit into different companies and make a contribution from day 1. You were reliable, a quick learner and you had to have obvious people skills to be able to be effective in different environments.
Stress the positive aspects of temping...You got an education while earning a living and now, having seen what other organisations offer, you are able to target the job/organisation where you wish to work as well as have a clear understanding of your personal skills and career goals.
What does it take for one to be successful?
Jay Krishnan
Chennai
It is not just one factor that makes one successful. For instance people in the sales field are successful when they put forth that extra effort that turns potential clients into first-time customers. If you are in sales you need to attend to the minute details by doing whatever it takes to win over a prospective customer.
Secondly, if you label success as an attainable goal, you will never consistently remain successful. You can only succeed if you learn all there is to learn about your product, your competitors, and personal selling. Since this learning process is continuous, it's an unattainable goal. With good reason, salespeople should not consider success an attainable ending point but an objective that will always linger slightly beyond their reach.
Lalita Shastri
Mangalore
Look over your courses and part-time and summer jobs (if any); do not neglect any other activities such as clubs, sports, etc. Lots of skills are transferable and highly valued such as communication, delegating, organising. Think in terms of verbs...things that you can do. Next, think of adjectives that would describe you the person- such as calm, patient, incisive, creative.
Now that you have this list of what is needed for the job (verbs and adjectives), come up with as many examples of these attributes in your college work or internship. For example, if you have completed several extensive reports, they would have involved research, time management and organisational skills. Tell short stories as examples of `proof' of your expertise.
Being able to translate college experiences to job-needed skills is an art in itself. If you are not certain of the qualities needed for the job, do some research on it yourself. Make sure you do some research on the organisation you want to work for...show them that you are interested and motivated by the fact that you did your 'homework' before applying.
This 'skill-matching' exercise can also give you your key selling points and areas to highlight in your resume and marketing letter.
The FAQ column deals with career concerns addressed to the C&K Management Ltd. P.O. Box 2178, Secunderabad 500003 or emailed to faqs@cnkonline.com
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