Video Resume is the next big thing to hit the E - Recruitment Industry.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Monster India launched Video Resume last month.
This facility will help a Job Seeker to project himself in a better manner and will enable him/her to show:
1) Creativity
2) Communication skills
3) Confidence
Through the Online Video Resume of a candidate, a Recruiter would be able to see the overall personality, confidence level and the presentation skills of a candidate and it will speed up the overall Recruitment Process. Recruiters will be able to do the premilinary screening efficiently and a job seeker can also make his “first impression” count though there are few who think that this may not be that useful.
If you need some more information how to create a Video Resume, here are few articles on creating a Video Resume.
1) Create a Video Resume
2) Five Tips on Creating a Video Resume
Decide on your own if you are really interested in using such a service and if you eventually create one, do show it to me. I will share it with my Readers !!
Labels: good resume, it, job, jobahead, koovappillil, manesh, monster, naukri.com, video, video resume, youtube
posted by MIGHTYMAK @ 2:09 PM,
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10 Brainstorming Tips (Decision making process)
Friday, August 10, 2007
These brainstorming tips can help you find that big idea and put it to work for you.
Quantity not Quality.When brainstorming on your own or with a team of people, the goal is to express as many ideas as possible very quickly. Do not self-censor or hesitate before offering an idea. A free exchange is what can help bring your most brilliant ideas to the surface.
Pen to Paper.Assign a person to write down all of the ideas on a sheet of paper than can be seen by all of the participants. This list will serve as the master and will be culled to include the most relevant suggestions.
No Critics.All ideas should be welcome and no one (leader or participant) should issue any type of verbal criticism toward an idea presented, no matter how off base it may seem at the time. This will help keep the environment supportive and help to encourage everyone to take part in the process.
Time's Up.For fertile idea generation, set a time limit. Having a ticking clock or a timer helps get the creative juices flowing.
Go the Extra Mile.Even after you think you've exhausted all of the possibilities, reexamine the ideas presented and push yourself to add a few more to the list.
Change of Scenery.Sometimes the best brainstorming and idea generation can happen in new surroundings. So, leave the all-too-familiar conference room behind and meet somewhere new, maybe a colleague's home, a park or a quiet cafe.
Small Groups.Brainstorming works best in groups of up to 15 people. If a group gets too large, some attendees may not feel as comfortable participating.
Brainstorm Alone? Sure, it's possible. Create a mind map starting with your central theme and branch off that, setting new ideas in different circles that connect to the central theme. Maybe one of your new ideas inspires you, so make it a theme and connect new thoughts to it. This form of mind mapping is commonly used by writers trying to spark their imagination. The main rules are the same: no self-censorship, set a time limit, and keep writing - the pen must be touching the page the entire time.
Have Fun!Brainstorming can be fun, and is a great way to boost morale among employees and help them to feel part of the decision making process.
posted by MIGHTYMAK @ 11:57 AM,
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Five Don'ts in your career
1. Don't quit in a huff
There is no need to quit your job just because you feel you need a change.
Aman Sharma (name changed on request), 29, an assistant manager at one of the leading call centres in Mumbai, learnt his lesson in time. Or just about.
"I job-hopped a lot in the first three years of my career," he reflects. "Based on my experience, my advice is: Do not jump too much.
"Firms who look for stability and continuity (and they all do) will not touch you. People invest money in training you. They need experts in a given field.
"It is not fair to jump elsewhere. You must stick around so you can show 'stability' on your CV."
2. Don't be functional
Which is not to say that you must stop functioning.
Says Kaushik Gupta, a human resources consultant based in Bangalore, "Don't be merely functional in your career. You must understand the business. Unless you know your business and what your industry is about, you cannot do justice to your firm. Help your firm grow."
Find out what is going on in allied sectors.
Gather new ideas and try to implement them in your own firm, if possible.
3. Don't get complacent
A false sense of complacency could be your pink slip.
Kaushik Gupta agrees, adding that the fear of obsolescence has to be the driving force behind your career.
And the only way out of complacency is to keep constant track of what others are doing in the same industry or in allied sectors, and to try and beat them at it.
4. Don't play foul
Ethics, fair play, justice and so on are not just words in the idealists' dictionary.
They ought to be a part of your working manual. So...
~ No lies.
~ No exaggeration about your own skills.
~ No downplaying of a colleague's credentials.
~ No claiming credit for someone else's work.
~ No bribing.
No one forgives foul play. No one keeps mum about it.
Once word gets out in the market that XYZ has been playing dirty with someone else's career, you lose the respect of your team, and perhaps the organisation.
Besides, other professionals will be wary of hiring you.
5. Don't work like mad
No, really. Don't.
Your health and your family need you to take breaks.
There's no point having a pile of money if you don't have anyone to spend it on, nor the good health to enjoy it.
Kaushik Gupta recalls his own experience. "I used to be a workaholic. Then, I had a slip disc. I was forced to live off my savings while taking a six-month break, wondering if I'd be normal again. I did a lot of thinking about life and what it means.
"Now, I believe that breaks should be made mandatory in all organisations.
"In my last firm, we organised a lot of events and outings for employees. We also got families along. We make sure people are chilled out, and in touch with their families."
So do some yoga. Dance. Go trekking. Join a hobby group. Read. Experiment.
posted by MIGHTYMAK @ 9:06 AM,
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Tell Me About Yourself
The Toughest Question in the Interview
When you, as a job seeker, are asked the most common, and toughest, interview question, "Tell me about yourself," your answer can make or break you as a candidate. Usually job seekers will respond with their "30 second commercial," and then elaborate on their background. While almost every career book and career counselor will tell you that is the appropriate response, I totally disagree.
Many people fail in their job search because they are too often focused on what they want in a job including industry, type of position, location, income, benefits, and work environment. Their "30 second commercial" is centered around this premise. The commercial describes the job seeker's career history and what they are looking for. Too often, this is in direct contrast to what employers are looking for.
There are two dominant reasons why job seekers are successful in the job search. The first is focusing on the needs of the organization. The second is focusing on the needs of the people within that organization. In this article, we are going to examine how to focus on the needs of the people within organizations. This will assist in rethinking your response to that all-important question, "Tell me about yourself."
In order to learn how to respond to the needs of the interviewer, let's first learn more about ourselves. We can then apply that knowledge about ourselves to knowing how to understand and respond to the needs of others.
Most social psychologists recognize four basic personality styles: Analytical, Amiable, Expressive, and Driver. Usually, each of us exhibits personality characteristics unique to one of the styles. However, we also possess characteristics to a lesser degree in the other styles. To determine your unique style, you can take a Myers-Briggs assessment or go to the following site for a free Keirsey Temperament Sorter assessment test: www.keirsey.com
Here are the characteristics that are most commonly associated with each of the styles:
Analytical:
Positive Traits: Precise, Methodical, Organized, Rational, Detail Oriented
Negative Traits: Critical, Formal, Uncertain, Judgmental, Picky
Amiable:
Positive Traits: Cooperative, Dependable, Warm, Listener, Negotiator
Negative Traits: Undisciplined, Dependent, Submissive, Overly Cautious, Conforming
Expressive:
Positive Traits: Enthusiastic, Persuasive, Outgoing, Positive, Communicator
Negative Traits: Ego Centered, Emotional, Exploitive, Opinionated, Reacting
Driver:
Positive Traits: Persistent, Independent, Decision Maker, Effective, Strong Willed
Negative Traits: Aggressive, Strict, Intense, Relentless, Rigid
Gaining an in-depth understanding of your personality style has enormous value in your career as well as your personal life. However, our focus today is learning how to use this knowledge to make you more successful in your job search.
Once you have learned about your own style and have studied the other styles, I encourage you to have a little fun in trying to determine the styles of others. When you meet someone for the first time, try to identify his or her style within the first two minutes. You can often identify styles by observing a person's demeanor, conversation, body language, appearance, and possessions.
To demonstrate what I mean, let's take some examples from the business world. While there are always exceptions, generally speaking the styles fit the example.
Analytical Style: Financial Manager (or programmers, engineers, and accountants). They like systems and procedures. They are slow to make decisions because they will analyze things to death—but their decisions are usually very sound. They prefer working independently and are usually not very good in team environments, but they are also dependable. They buy cars with good resale value and great gas mileage. They are conservative dressers. At the party, they want to know why so much money was spent on Michelob when we could have purchased Busch. They come to the party with their laptops.
Amiable Style: Human Resources Manager. Very people-focused. They are dependable, loyal and easygoing; very compassionate. They will give you the shirt off their backs and the last nickel in their pockets. They are good listeners and value team players who don't "rock the boat." They are usually conformists and followers—rarely leaders. They avoid conflict and are not good decision makers. They drive four-door sedans or mini-vans to take the kids to sporting events. They usually clean up after the party is over.
Expressive Style: Sales Manager. Very outgoing and enthusiastic, with a high energy level. They are also great idea generators, but usually do not have the ability to see the idea through to completion. Very opinionated and egotistical. Money motivated. They can be good communicators. They prefer to direct and control rather then ask and listen. They drive red convertibles with great stereos; to heck with the gas mileage. They come up with the idea for a company party, but never help clean up. They are on their way to another party.
Driver: Corporate CEO. Intelligent, intense, focused, relentless. They thrive on the thrill of the challenge and the internal motivation to succeed. Money is only a measure of success; it is not the driving factor. They are results/performance oriented. They have compassion for the truly disadvantaged, but absolutely no patience or tolerance for the lazy or whiners. They drive prestige cars, not because the car attracts attention, but because it was a wise investment. They want to know why we had a party; what were the benefits of the party, and did we invite the banker?
Ok, now you are really getting some insight into your style and the style of others. It is time for the interviews. Throw out your 30-second commercial. Think on your feet.
You will be interviewing with the human resource manager, the finance manager, the sales manager, and the CEO. The first question each of them will ask you is: "Tell me about yourself." How should you respond? Remember the second reason for succeeding in a job search: focus on the needs of the people in the organization. Here are just a few examples of how to respond to that question:
"Tell me about yourself?"
Response to Finance Manager: "I have been successful in my career by making well-thought-out decisions based on careful analysis of all factors. I approach problems with logic and sound reasoning. I would enjoy working with you in developing the appropriate systems and procedures to make our two departments function efficiently together."
Response to Human Resource Manager: "My career has been characterized by my ability to work well with diverse teams. I seek out opportunities to involve others in the decision-making process. This collaboration and communication is what has enabled me to achieve success in my department. People are the most valuable resource of any organization."
Response to Sales Manager: "Throughout my career I have always adhered to the principle that everyone in the organization must be sales-focused. My department is always trained in customer service, providing outstanding support to the sales team and to our customers. Without sales, the rest of use would not have a job. I look forward to helping you drive sales in any way possible."
Response to CEO: "I have achieved success in my career because I have been focused on the bottom line. I have always sought out innovative solutions to challenging problems to maximize profitability. Regardless of the task or challenge, I always established benchmarks of performance and standards of excellence. I have never sought to maintain the "status quo." An organization that does not change and grow will die. I would enjoy working with you to help define new market opportunities in order to achieve the organization's goals."
In each instance, we responded to the "needs of the individual." It is almost guaranteed that, when you respond appropriately to the diverse needs of the different managers, you will become the standard by which all of the other candidates will be measured.
I challenge you to learn about your personality and leadership style, learn about the styles of others, and learn how to think on your feet when responding to questions. Whether you are seeking a job or you are gainfully employed, by understanding the needs of others you will become a more valuable person, employee, manager and leader.
Source:Don Straits, CEO and Dragon Slayer, Corporate Warriors
posted by MIGHTYMAK @ 9:04 AM,
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SQL SERVER - Count Duplicate Records - Rows
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
In previous article SQL SERVER - Delete Duplicate Records - Rows, we have seen how we can delete all the duplicate records in one simple query. In this article we will see how to find count of all the duplicate records in the table. Following query demonstrates usage of GROUP BY, HAVING, ORDER BY in one query and returns the results with duplicate column and its count in descending order.
SELECT YourColumn, COUNT(*) TotalCount
FROM YourTable
GROUP BY YourColumn
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1
ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC
posted by MIGHTYMAK @ 4:41 PM,
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SQL SERVER - Delete Duplicate Records - Rows
Following code is useful to delete duplicate records. The table must have identity column, which will be used to identify the duplicate records. Table in example is has ID as Identity Column and Columns which have duplicate data are DuplicateValueColumn1, DuplicateValueColumn2 and DuplicateValueColumn3.
DELETE
FROM MyTable
WHERE ID NOT IN
(SELECT MAX(ID)
FROM MyTable
GROUP BY DuplicatevalueColumn1, DuplicateValueColumn2, DuplicateValueColumn3
OR
Delete from table t1
where t1.rowid>(select from table t2
from table t2
where t1.col_name=t2.col_name);
OR
delete from emp where rowid in(
select rowid from (
select emp_no, sal,rownum() over (emp_no,sal) as
Rownum from emp order_by emp_no,sal
) where rownum > 2
)
Bonus Q:
John writes "I'd like to be able to automatically number each row as it comes into the table. Is possible to do this? How do I know what the value of the row I just inserted is?"
Well John,
What you can do is set up an identity column in SQL Server. This will autonumber the rows. In Enterprise Manager, start by setting a column with a datatype of int. This column cannot allow nulls. Check the Identity checkbox and the Identity Seed and Identity Increment will be set to 1 automatically. These do just what they say they will. The Identity Seed is the value of the first entry in the table. The Identity Increment is the value that will be added to the previous row to get the next identity value.
Note that if you delete all the rows in a table and start adding rows, the identity column will pick up where it left off. You can reset it but that's a topic for another day.
The script to create a table looks like this:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Items] (
[ItemID] [int] IDENTITY (1, 1) NOT NULL ,
[ItemName] [char] (50) NOT NULL
)
You can use the @@IDENTITY function to return the value you just inserted.
posted by MIGHTYMAK @ 12:01 PM,
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