December 2017

When it comes to succeeding in the workplace, a college degree isn’t necessarily enough. Nor is years of experience on the job.

That’s because the most in-demand skills that employers crave are the elusive “soft skills” —the intangible but important qualities that enable you to work and interact with the people around you effectively.

1. Social Awareness

This shouldn’t be surprising, but the best sales people are social, amicable, and likable—basically, they’re great communicators and conversationalists.

But social awareness isn’t just about what you say, it’s about empathy, good listening skills, and an understanding of when not to talk. “The best sales people are those who can relate to others, show genuine interest in others, and can share their real voice when they speak,”

2. Self-Awareness

With a confident, social personality comes the risk of cockiness. Great sales candidates own their accomplishments without an ego “they should be able to tell me about a mistake without shifting the blame, but rather focusing on what they learned from it.”

“Holding selves accountable and not blaming ‘the product,’ ‘the market,’ or ‘the manager’ for lousy results is what separates top performers from mediocre ones,” a company that specializes in hiring and training sales departments.

3. Listening: Make it Your Secret Communication Weapon

People often associate good communicators with excellent public speaking. But the best communicators do something that most others fail at. They listen.

The easiest way to build trust with someone is by showing interest in him or her. You can accomplish this by listening more than you talk. Good listeners don’t think about what they’re going to say next when the other person is speaking. Good listeners ask follow-up questions. Good listeners make it all about the person they’re with—not about them.

When in doubt, provide guiding cues like “Tell me more about that.” The most valuable thing that you can give someone is your attention.

4. Creative Thinking: Be Resourceful With What You’ve Got

Being creative often means finding ways to solve problems with limited resources. Chefs are a great example of how to do this. If a chef wants to make a dish that requires 10 ingredients, but he only has seven of them on hand, what will he do? Is he going to leave his customers hungry?

No, a great chef will go into problem-solving mode. He’ll find a way to get creative with the seven ingredients that he has to make a delicious dish. The greatest innovations tend to arrive under constraints. The companies with the largest budgets or head counts don’t always finish first. Use your disadvantages to your advantage.

“For admission, enquire here”

Few things you can do that will improve your resume for all recruiters. Let’s call it a polish; additions that can help your resume sparkle, and stand out to every recruiter, no matter what their preference. Some of these changes are big, others are small, but they have one thing in common: they’re effective.

So before you apply for your next job, it may be worth taking a moment and considering adding one or more of these to your resume…

• An aptitude for continued learning

There are many things that recruiters hope to see on applicants, and it’s important to include those– some of which we will discuss soon. However, it’s also important to avoid what recruiters don’t want to see. These are the signs that are a red flag to recruiters, and there’s one in particular you have to go to great lengths to avoid.

What recruiters don’t want to see is someone who has entered into their career and then done very little to improve themselves. Continual learning is the best way to demonstrate that you know you are not the finished product — because no one is! — but that you intend to keep improving yourself.

There are various things you can do to achieve this. If you’re already highly qualified, then you may want to consider vocational courses that can expand your knowledge in your chosen field. For example, if you work in coding, then you may want to consider learning a new programming language and receiving certification for it.

If you’re resume is a little light on qualifications, then you have even more scope for polishing it up. If you have a Business BA, then you can take the next step and complete an online Master Certification, which is beneficial both for what you will learn and how it will look on your job applications. If you don’t have a degree, then this may be something you want to pursue, provided you choose a subject that is genuinely related to your career goals.

Showing that you have a continued appetite for knowledge and self-improvement will impress recruiters, and reassure them that you’re looking for a career rather than just another job. If all of your qualifications and experience are out of date on your resume, that tends to be a bad sign, so invest in improving this area– you should see a better response to your applications as a result.

• Good formatting

It may sound strange, but good formatting on your resume is something that is important to recruiters. These are people who have to read through endless applications, some of which will be badly formatted and contain spelling errors– these are applications that will largely be dismissed without reading. If you can ensure that you have good formatting, then you stand out from the crowd and ensure your resume has a good chance of being read.

Here’s a few things to consider:

Use lines to separate sections, as they help create distinction between each area of information, and this makes the entire document easier to read. If you don’t know how to insert lines into a document, then here’s a guide for Google Docs, and here’s one for Microsoft Word.

Use a standard font rather than something more esoteric. Arial; Times New Roman; Verdana– anything other than these is going to make your resume harder to read. There’s a reason these fonts are standard, and it’s their readability, so don’t deviate too far from there. As for font size, this should be 11pt or 12pt.

Use bullet points– you can see this in action right now. If all of this information in this section was in a single paragraph, it would be dense and difficult to read. By inserting bullet points, it’s easier on the eye, and the information contained is able to make important points in a concise way.

If you have a well-formatted resume, then this is going to be noticed by recruiters– and the entire job application process is all about standing out from the crowd.

“For admission enquiry click here, enquire here”

If your work speaks for itself, there is no need to please anyone or work overtime to show that you work hard. It’s time for you to get due credit for all the hard work you’ve put in for your company. However, if you’re playing the appraisal game like what’s mentioned in the following points, you’re doing it wrong. So stop before it’s too late.

• Treating it as competition

Many organisations treat appraisals as some kind of competition. This creates an unhealthy sort of rivalry between colleagues who compete against each other to get better appraisals. It’s NOT some school competition – it’s just a process to value the effort you put in for the betterment of the company.

• Discussing it 24×7 and getting paranoid about it

‘Do you think we’ll get above 15% this time?’ ‘How many points did you give yourself in the appraisal form?’ ‘This time it’s not going to be great.’ You will hear such conversations at the water cooler all the time. However, while they’re not particularly harmful, they aren’t productive either. Nobody knows what the stats of the management could be like this time around. So discussing it and getting worried about it is pointless.

• Expecting too much or too little

Sometimes we expect a lot from our organisation, and end up utterly disappointed if we don’t receive what we expected. Also, at times we are too cynical to expect good from the company. Avoid being so extreme. That’s actually life advice.

• Taking credit when it is not yours

In order to look ‘responsible and hardworking’, we try to take credit which is not ours. You can’t do this because of a) your manager knows who worked on what b) it will make you look like a really horrible person. So stop.www.iibmindia.in

• Bring examples and information
  Bring along your own notes and documentation of successful projects, accomplishments and achievements so you can identify and review them with your supervisor, “You should, ideally, have an ongoing achievements list you can look over so you can help steer the conversation. Have statistics and hard numbers to define your value, and bring examples of both hard skills and responsibilities as well as soft skills,” she says.www.iibmindia.in

A Business Analyst is the one who analyzes the business of an organization. The core duty of a Business Analyst is requirements management.

BA should be able to understand the business policies, business operations, a structure of an organization and suggests any improvements (like how to improve the quality of services, technical solutions to business problems etc) to achieve the goals of an organization.

• How can you explain the user centered design methodology?

It all depends on the end users. In such scenario, we develop the system with a user’s point of view. Who are the end users, what they require etc. Personas are basically social roles, performed by any actor or character. It is derived from a Latin word meaning character. In marketing terminology, it represents group of customers/end users.

• How will you be able to handle the changes to requirements?

(A) This is a logical question asked in an interview. As a BA, first I’ll get signed a document by the user which states that after a point of time no changes to the requirements are accepted.

In few cases, if the changes to the requirements are accepted then as a BA, Firstly I’ll note down the changes made to the requirements and will prioritize them. Will also go through those changes and find out the impact of them on the project.

Will calculate the cost, timeline, and resources required to cover the impact of change requirements in the project.

And will make sure that whether those changes affect or create gaps to functional design documents, testing or coding.

• Can you name the tools that are helpful for business analysis?

The process performed by a BA is termed as Business Analysis. The tools used by a BA are Rational tools, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Power Point, MS Project, ERP systems.

• What makes you unique from others?

The answer to this question will test your experience, skills, and individuality. “I am technically sound and can make a strong relationship with the customer. With this unique combination, I can use my knowledge and information to build a user-friendly environment”. www.iibmindia.in

For any given job opening, HR personnel and hiring managers are deluged with resumes. Since they don’t have the time or resources to interview everyone, they are always looking for ways to weed out candidates as quickly as possible.

In fact, some merely glance at each resume before deciding whether to toss it in the “yes” or “no” pile. So, it’s imperative that you make those few seconds count.

Tailor your resume to the job.

“Tune your resume to this specific role, with substantiating detail that shows why you are a great fit for the position,  a certified executive resume writer and LinkedIn profile expert. One way to do this is by including all of your skills and experience that are relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Use a modern, professional format.

 Format your resume so that it is pleasing to the eye but doesn’t focus more on visuals than content. Here’s an example of a nicely formatted resume.

Make sure it is error-free and easy to read

A certified professional resume writer and owner of a-perfect-resume.  Make sure it’s perfectly polished and error-free – and don’t forget to put the most important information on page one.

Keep the reader’s needs or industry requirements front and center

 You need to know what they are looking for in your candidacy. “Instead of developing your resume and then conducting a job search, it is wise to research the requirements of several opportunities to get a sense for how you should be presented in terms of branding, focus, and keywords.”

Customize your resume to tell a story

Your resume should bring the reader through your professional experiences, accomplishments, skills, and knowledge. It should show how you’ve advanced over the years, and what you can bring to the table.

“Make your resume long enough to tell your story, but short enough to skim in a single sitting” The key is readability and relevance to the job you’re targeting. www.iibmindia.in

The interview is indeed the last step, the last stretch and the toughest round to clear. This is because despite months of preparation, no one can predict the questions you’ll have to face in your personal interview.

We all know that the questions will be from personal life, qualification, job experience, extra curricular activities, hobbies and interests, strengths and weaknesses, goals and ambitions besides general awareness and subject knowledge.

We’ve hand picked a few questions you can definitely prepare for ahead of the interview.

Why Master Program?

If you are a fresher, your answer could be that an Master Program would be your ideal launch pad into the corporate world.

While an Master Program will impart necessary set of skills required for your career, it will also polish the intra personal skills you already have.

Not only will it give you insight into the corporate world, but it will also transform you from an average individual to a thorough professional.

What are your short term and long term goals?

Short Term Goals (three to five years)

Your short term goal must include acquiring a certain set of skills, gaining knowledge about the corporate world and its functioning.

During this time, you must try and settle in a job that is suitable to your knowledge and skills.

Long Term Goal (five to ten years)

If you’re yet to make up your mind, a safe bet would be to say: I’d like to excel in my chosen field (can mention your preferred specialisation). You may even share about your dream business project if you have any.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Strengths

You should sound ambitious, hardworking, dedicated, eager to learn more, innovative, etc.

The point is, don’t just give words, explain them with examples.

Weaknesses

You must justify all your weaknesses and support them with at least one statement.

For example, I’m a slow starter. I take time to plan things before doing.

I am overambitious. I have set high goals for my self. www.iibmindia.in

There are many things that are taught in Master Program classes but there are some things that are not told by anyone about the Master Program. I just want to point out some things that I feel are most important and should be known by every management student.

• SUCCESSFUL MANAGERS ARE GREAT COMMUNICATORS

Yes, success comes from many factors, but the communication skills are the most prominent of all the factors. Good communication skills give many advantages to the person and most of the successful managers are invariably good communicators, whether it is with their employees or customers. Develop effective communication skills and by communication skills, I not only mean public-speaking skills, but also empathetic skills.

• MASTER PROGRAM IS NOT JUST ABOUT BUSINESS

An Master Program candidates, should know about many things along with business, Think broadly, politics, demographics, technological developments, financial innovations, internal relations, foreign exchanges, share markets, etc. Master Program is not solely meant for business and management knowledge, it must equip you with lot more knowledge of surroundings.

• CASE STUDIES ARE REGARDED AS HEART OF MASTER PROGRAM

Case study teaching is more practiced in top business schools and if you are not fortunate to get the opportunity to study in one of those coveted institutions, don’t worry, you can also study many case studies using the websites like Preplounge.com. Case studies are the best way to improve your problem-solving skills and improving knowledge about practical problems faced by organizations.

• STEP OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Try learning new things and increase your skill set by jumping out of your comfort zone. For example, if your specialization is marketing, don’t be in a comfort zone by learning only marketing concepts, besides, try to learn finance subjects also from your peers or by online courses. Remember, the skills learned do not go in vain. www.iibmindia.in

Are you applying for roles left, rights and centre but can’t seem to get through to an interview? It could be that your CV needs some editing.As someone who shortlisted countless candidates for roles, here are 3 tips I would share, to increase your chances of being selected.

• Make your CV tailored to the role

One of the most common reasons candidates do not get shortlisted is due to their CV being generic/not tailored to the specific role. Utilise either the key skills section or your profile/personal statement to address the job you’re going for directly – ‘I would be an excellent fit with Company X because…’

Also, remember to read the advert or person specification closely and make sure your CV addresses what the company seeks, especially if there is no option to attach a Cover Letter. This would mean making your most relevant experience come first and focusing on the skills and achievements you’ve developed which are specifically relevant to this role.

• Capture the audience with Page 1

If I get a printed copy of a CV, I will look at page 1 first, as you would expect. If that page does not catch my interest, it’s unlikely I will move on to page 2.

Your CV should be 2 pages long (longer if you’re wiring an academic CV, a template of which you can find here). It’s therefore essential to capture your audience from page 1, making them want to read on.

Audience

Some tools I’ve seen and used are an effective key skills and achievements section where you summarise what your strengths are and how you’re suitable. Another good tool is dividing your experience into ‘relevant’ and ‘other’ – so you can present the relevant experience you’ve had that suits the role first. This is especially a good tool if you have a lot of work experience and if you want to come back to a field you worked within before, after a break. Say you started working in finance, then decided to try out IT but now feel it’s time to come back to finance. The relevant experience section allows you to highlight your financial experience.

• Present your experience in a clear and concise way

One of the best tools in creating an easy to read CV is bullet points. They’re easy to move around and allow the writer to summarise concisely the point. It can be very hard to grasp large bulks of text andClear.PNG given how limited a recruitment managers time is, they may not read the content if it’s bulky and hard to grasp.

Allow for white space on your CV, as a cramped CV could be very off-putting also.www.iibmindia.in