WRITING A CV/RESUME
I always look for examples when i am writing a cover letter or resume. Therefore the best way to write your own cover letters or resume is to learn from others. It is common practice to keep the resume/CV to 2 pages with short notes on each experience. Please find examples of CV for engineers, these can be written with educational emphasis or skills-based CV.
**Shak's Top Tip 1: To save time, use a resume template from MS Word and modify it to make it your own. **
Very simple engineering CV:
Engineering resume tips:
http://www.bestsampleresume.com/engineering-resumes.html
**Shak's Top Tip 2: Check spelling and sentence construction over and over again. **
Searching for jobs
You know what is the best way to get a job? The best jobs are snatched up even before they go into the market. How is that? Most employees are hired by recommendations, internally. It is the sad truth if you have no connections. This reminds me of phrase that was printed on our hoodies in University chemical engineering society, which brings me to my next top tip.
**Shak's Top Tip: Its not what you know, its who you know. **
Don't let me dampen your spirits of finding a job, because i fall into the category of people with no connections to industry and i managed to secure a job after many months. It was probably the most trying time in my life, when you feel frustrated, tired and almost wanting to give up. I mean sure, if i got a job through my father's connections or a relative's recommendation, i would not feel as relieved to find a job, nor would i write this blog.
Whichever part of the world you live in, go to their local job website because they will have the most relevant job. For example JobsDB is a very good source of job adverts If you live in the following countries:
Australia
China
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Korea
Malaysia
Phillipines
Singapore
Taiwan
Thailand
USA
**Shak's top tip: Don't waste time looking for jobs and applying in a country that you have no permit to work in. **
[I should probably explain the above tip properly: Most companies will not bother to facilitate work permit for their prospective employee. They would rather employ local talents first. But its not always the case when they REALLY want you or immigration laws towards foreign professionals are not so tight (example Singapore, Dubai etc..)
You may also use other job search engines such as Jobstreet, JobCentral, Singapore Job Classifieds: ST701 and so many other. I highly recommend Jobstreet and JobsDB because these two are most used by potential employers.
But please don't stick to one because some employers may advertise on one site and not the other, so check the sites alternatively or become a member, signing up to their job alerts through email.
PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW
Congratulations! you for the interview. That means you are qualified for the job, but also also means that you have to prove yourself to the recruiting managers that you are the best candidate. Being prepared for an interview is probably the most important task in the process of job hunting.
**Shak's top tip: Do research on the company you applied for. Understand their values, their business interests and how you can fit into their organisation.
Prepare questions for your interviewer as much as you would prepare answers to potential questions they might ask. In my opinion, interviews are meant to assess how well a candidate fits into the organisation. So it is vital to spark off a GREAT conversation so that both parties are in a relaxed environment.
ON THE DAY OF THE INTERVIEW
Try to avoid setting up more than 2 interviews on the same day. If you have to really do it, allow at least 3hrs between each interview because an interview might stretch as long as 1.5hrs depending on how well you are getting along with them.
**Shak's top tip: Leave your home early and ARRIVE EARLY
Do i have to mention this? Arriving late to an interview will dinimish your chances of getting that job. UNLESS you have extenuating circumstances like you had a traffic accident or your wife is going to give birth. In any case, you should call your interviewer to let them know your situation.
DID YOU GET THAT JOB?
So you have followed all the top tips on this blog, got the interview and even impressed your recruiters. In order to really get an offer, send them a "thank you" note 24hrs after the interview. This will re-affirm your intentions and also show interest. If they do not reply in the next few days. Email or Call them 1 week later, this will be your last chance. Usually by then, they will have some sort of answer as to whether or not they are interested in offering you a job.
**Shak's top tip: If your potential employers keep postponing their decision, there's a good chance you wont get an offer. Keep looking elsewhere, dont let them keep you hanging by a string.
Move along with setting up other interviews. If you get an offer early, Congratz! you now have the upper hand if you decide to accept their offer, negotiate or compare with other offers.
