The Business Professional is an idea that came from majority of my readers on face book who had the chance of going through ideas posted as notes on a weekly basis. When starting the notes, I had no serious thought about who I was talking to but the idea that Facebook provided someone with a chance to share any value adding idea that crosses his/her mind thrilled me greatly. Facebook to me posed like a reunion with old time classmates, friends, relatives, acquaintances, old contacts and networks. The ease of meeting with an old deskmate in high school and getting the chance to invite them and view their photo and latest advancements in life and career made me visit the networking site frequently. It is quite funny because I had resisted the idea of joining facebook when it was first introduced to me by my lovely wife Doreen. She made a fuss about me joining the networking forum and her insistence made all the difference. I began by posting jokes found in magazines then interesting findings about life gathered from friends and clients. The notes have grown in number since then and most of my clients have enjoyed the read but at the same time raised serious concerns about being unable to interact with the notes probably due to lack of privacy posed by facebook. Advisors also saw the importance of having a forum where money and insurance issues could be discussed in a more private and interactive way. The issue of more readability was also an issue of concern to me since the forum was getting more serious and there was the need of safeguarding the interests of sensitive and conservative clients also. I consider the blogspot a journey rather than a destination because of the future goal of having an e-magazine that speaks to the ideal business professional. Names for the planned magazine are welcome from readers and will be put into consideration when launching the idea. I am delighted to travel through that path with you all. Have an interesting blogging day.
mallex555@yahoo.com
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Starting Again
Welcome to the new forum of The Business Professional that is a meeting of great minds in business where useful insights could be shared for the benefit of all. Our first issue of discussion will be the sensitive issue of retrenchment that is current and close to our hearts. I have been begged severally to review the issue of retrenchment and how one could start again in life and build an empire from scratch. It is a social issue that is affecting the way business is being done in this day and age. The human pain and suffering that comes with it cannot be easily measurable in monetary terms. Here is an insight on what could be done to alleviate the problem.
A person who has just lost his job might be faced with some days of reduced hope and if something is not done in good time depression might soon check in. The first measure of pressure control would be to go back to your files and fish out your dusty Resume. Make concerted efforts to update it and design a powerfully worded cover letter detailing the value you plan to add to your prospective employers, your special skills and level of industry training, projects accomplished before, your previous assignment, and why you plan to work for the prospective employer you have chosen. Develop a template, save it at a vantage point in your PC, say the desktop, or a portable flash disk for quick modification, printing and mailing. A phone directory will soon be a valuable asset at this stage. Create a list of companies in your target industry of choice, approach them and volunteer to do research and business analysis for them on management issues such as how to improve their services or product sales, how to get funding in lean times, how to manage their personell better with the intention of improving productivity, how to improve their systemes of operations, how to cut costs, increase revenues, reduce wastage, time management, automation of processes(here you need to partner with a software developer to come up with a value adding project), how to tighten financial controls, fraud prevention measures, how to improve service delivery, manage their risk environment. Half way through the project you will have already become a consultant and most HR managers will be willing to engage your services. Typset the research and bind it neatly for presentation. The project, your CV and cover letter will be your new tools of trade. Always drop the CV and cover letter once done with the project. Do the same immediately if you fear you might lose your job.That way the company will have known and trusted you and basing on the way you carry yourself, they will have liked you. If you do not get on to their payroll you will hit their internship list. Specify to them the department you love laying your hands on though the research done will already be sending clear signals on where you will land a job. Most companies want a youthful executive who will do things for them and not a person who has nothing to do and is just auto searching for an employer to siphon funds from. Do two companies a month. Make the internet and library your lifelong friends. Run away from facebook. Quit drinking and time wasting activities in order to honour appoinments and deadlines. Always wake up early, exercise for thirty minutes, freshen up, apply adequate lotion on your face to look bright, press your clothes, cologne your body to have a fresh smell. Eat healthy, sleep early, drink plenty of water. These are the usual stuff that will make you have a positive mental attitude and jovial face every morning. No HR will trust a lousy face, tired frame or rumbling stomach. Especially if they work for a financial services management firm. In summary where there is frequent contact with clients bringing in transactions into the company. An employer's heart is won by a sharp mind and body too.
Take your new job of looking for a new job very seriously. Bills, unfulfilled dreams,life are all items on your to do things list waiting for your attention.
The road might be sounding very smooth by now but the truth is that there will be long spells of regrets and turndowns that will be draining on your energy. A year without a successful job application ought to spring you into turning your eyes sideways. There are other sectors of the economy crying for your exquisite skills and expertise. Life offers you options and not the other way round.
If you have a talent in music like MJ, dancing, art and design, or a powerful voice, go ahead and hit the airwaves. There are billions waiting for you. There are others good in business and marketing their own products and services. Alcohol, meat, beauty products, clothes, furniture, events organizing, health herbs, fitness parlours, are goods and services that are known to have withstood the test of time. Partner with rich friends lacking ideas on where to invest their money.
Enrol for a foreign languages class say, French, German, Japanese,Chinese that could earn you an interpretors job in a tourism firm, foreign mission, or a teacher in one of the well paying daycare or international institutions that handle children born of expartriate parents.
You could also brand yourself as a manager of friends activities say; journalism, photography,music, football, rugby,marathon, paintings, designwork, artwork, dance group, drama, events, travelling logistics. Organizing for their marketing, promotion, ticket sales,entertainment, galleries,shows, travel documents, licenses, passports, and also managing their finances and investments as well.
You could work in an NGO as a business development manager or events coordinator.These jobs require you to be very flexible but are quite lucrative and entertaining as they offer you a chance to know your country and continent as well. Little experience is required all you need to prove is that you are a hands on person. They prefer outgoing and handy individuals who can articulate their mission and vision among rural communities.
If that doesn't work, go back to class and refresh or magnify your skills and knowledge. Ask lecturers assist you fine tune your career path. Identify an upcoming tertiary institution and offer to teach for free for say three months. No manager would stand the embarassment of outsourcing free tutoring services. Their image will earn you moderate pay for the three months. And we are moving. Market yourself thoroughly and earn yourself a department.
You could get a franchise agreement with a furniture, phone, clothes, detergents, carpet washing machines,car dealer. Obtain goods on credit. Ask them to assign you a guard on your marketing errands. Be a trustworthy person. Sell the goods aggressively. Pay back the owed amount and get more goods. It doesn't hurt.
Last but not least, network, network, network. We all know that inorder to get a job we must be knowing an official beforehand. Most of them establish rapports and exchange cards in their most relaxed moods. Go for dinners, fund raising walks, company parties, launches, exhibitions, trade fairs. Volunteer a hand in organizing the events for free. Talk to people in the process. Join a gymn and talk. Do not kill yourself with weights in a secluded corner. Talk. Avoid gymns that are hardly frequented by high end managers in the corporate world. I would not mind myself lifting some dumb bells for Titus Naikuni in a gymn or Maritn Oduor Otieno. Tell them about the volunteer to do something for their firms.Change your church if it does not have important people in the society. Change your neighbourhood too. Aqcuire leadership positions in your church and talk. Then do the projects. Then drop the CV's. Mailing them without being known will condemn you to endless years of joblessness. People hire other people they know and trust. And when you get the job, save and invest, save and invest, save and invest. It cannot be repeated in any other way. Have a splendid job searching week.
A person who has just lost his job might be faced with some days of reduced hope and if something is not done in good time depression might soon check in. The first measure of pressure control would be to go back to your files and fish out your dusty Resume. Make concerted efforts to update it and design a powerfully worded cover letter detailing the value you plan to add to your prospective employers, your special skills and level of industry training, projects accomplished before, your previous assignment, and why you plan to work for the prospective employer you have chosen. Develop a template, save it at a vantage point in your PC, say the desktop, or a portable flash disk for quick modification, printing and mailing. A phone directory will soon be a valuable asset at this stage. Create a list of companies in your target industry of choice, approach them and volunteer to do research and business analysis for them on management issues such as how to improve their services or product sales, how to get funding in lean times, how to manage their personell better with the intention of improving productivity, how to improve their systemes of operations, how to cut costs, increase revenues, reduce wastage, time management, automation of processes(here you need to partner with a software developer to come up with a value adding project), how to tighten financial controls, fraud prevention measures, how to improve service delivery, manage their risk environment. Half way through the project you will have already become a consultant and most HR managers will be willing to engage your services. Typset the research and bind it neatly for presentation. The project, your CV and cover letter will be your new tools of trade. Always drop the CV and cover letter once done with the project. Do the same immediately if you fear you might lose your job.That way the company will have known and trusted you and basing on the way you carry yourself, they will have liked you. If you do not get on to their payroll you will hit their internship list. Specify to them the department you love laying your hands on though the research done will already be sending clear signals on where you will land a job. Most companies want a youthful executive who will do things for them and not a person who has nothing to do and is just auto searching for an employer to siphon funds from. Do two companies a month. Make the internet and library your lifelong friends. Run away from facebook. Quit drinking and time wasting activities in order to honour appoinments and deadlines. Always wake up early, exercise for thirty minutes, freshen up, apply adequate lotion on your face to look bright, press your clothes, cologne your body to have a fresh smell. Eat healthy, sleep early, drink plenty of water. These are the usual stuff that will make you have a positive mental attitude and jovial face every morning. No HR will trust a lousy face, tired frame or rumbling stomach. Especially if they work for a financial services management firm. In summary where there is frequent contact with clients bringing in transactions into the company. An employer's heart is won by a sharp mind and body too.
Take your new job of looking for a new job very seriously. Bills, unfulfilled dreams,life are all items on your to do things list waiting for your attention.
The road might be sounding very smooth by now but the truth is that there will be long spells of regrets and turndowns that will be draining on your energy. A year without a successful job application ought to spring you into turning your eyes sideways. There are other sectors of the economy crying for your exquisite skills and expertise. Life offers you options and not the other way round.
If you have a talent in music like MJ, dancing, art and design, or a powerful voice, go ahead and hit the airwaves. There are billions waiting for you. There are others good in business and marketing their own products and services. Alcohol, meat, beauty products, clothes, furniture, events organizing, health herbs, fitness parlours, are goods and services that are known to have withstood the test of time. Partner with rich friends lacking ideas on where to invest their money.
Enrol for a foreign languages class say, French, German, Japanese,Chinese that could earn you an interpretors job in a tourism firm, foreign mission, or a teacher in one of the well paying daycare or international institutions that handle children born of expartriate parents.
You could also brand yourself as a manager of friends activities say; journalism, photography,music, football, rugby,marathon, paintings, designwork, artwork, dance group, drama, events, travelling logistics. Organizing for their marketing, promotion, ticket sales,entertainment, galleries,shows, travel documents, licenses, passports, and also managing their finances and investments as well.
You could work in an NGO as a business development manager or events coordinator.These jobs require you to be very flexible but are quite lucrative and entertaining as they offer you a chance to know your country and continent as well. Little experience is required all you need to prove is that you are a hands on person. They prefer outgoing and handy individuals who can articulate their mission and vision among rural communities.
If that doesn't work, go back to class and refresh or magnify your skills and knowledge. Ask lecturers assist you fine tune your career path. Identify an upcoming tertiary institution and offer to teach for free for say three months. No manager would stand the embarassment of outsourcing free tutoring services. Their image will earn you moderate pay for the three months. And we are moving. Market yourself thoroughly and earn yourself a department.
You could get a franchise agreement with a furniture, phone, clothes, detergents, carpet washing machines,car dealer. Obtain goods on credit. Ask them to assign you a guard on your marketing errands. Be a trustworthy person. Sell the goods aggressively. Pay back the owed amount and get more goods. It doesn't hurt.
Last but not least, network, network, network. We all know that inorder to get a job we must be knowing an official beforehand. Most of them establish rapports and exchange cards in their most relaxed moods. Go for dinners, fund raising walks, company parties, launches, exhibitions, trade fairs. Volunteer a hand in organizing the events for free. Talk to people in the process. Join a gymn and talk. Do not kill yourself with weights in a secluded corner. Talk. Avoid gymns that are hardly frequented by high end managers in the corporate world. I would not mind myself lifting some dumb bells for Titus Naikuni in a gymn or Maritn Oduor Otieno. Tell them about the volunteer to do something for their firms.Change your church if it does not have important people in the society. Change your neighbourhood too. Aqcuire leadership positions in your church and talk. Then do the projects. Then drop the CV's. Mailing them without being known will condemn you to endless years of joblessness. People hire other people they know and trust. And when you get the job, save and invest, save and invest, save and invest. It cannot be repeated in any other way. Have a splendid job searching week.
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