two and a half years after my B.Com studies self-destructed, I received my final results for my Comms degree at RMIT.
My academic transcript won’t be stellar but to be honest , I really can’t be bothered with that.
What is important to me is that it’s done. Now I can move on.
The door’s now unlocked.
Time to start walking
did a radio interview recently for 3zzz, my first for a long time now.
What I like about playing an interviewer on radio is the expectation to make the interview exciting.
You feel it, the interviewee feels it, so you both work under this great pressure of making the chat interesting for all the listeners out there.
Even the nervous guests, i find, fight hard against their nervousness to present attractive titbits of themselves because they willfully buy into the idea of the exciting interview.
Now let's move away from the studios and into a plain undecorated meeting room, which suspiciously feels like it could also be used to interrogate suspects. There's a bookcase without any books in the room, and just enough space to push the chair back so you can stand up.
And the interview begins.
It's clinical and precise, what is this, who, where; and never lingers enough on a subject for you to probe what your interlocutor feels about it. No, you get shot down, and next item on the list.
The tricks you use in the studio:eye contact, mirroring, affirming, which could scrape some emotion from the dullest of subjects, does not stand a chance here. Your advances are
crushed like a can in middle of a busy highway of disapproving looks.
So no, don't crack funny anecdotes in front of potential employers
unless you’re going out with some industrialist’s daughter, chances are no one you know from school is going to be a lead to a job.
Look across the table, do you think that guy eating $2 dollar sushi three days in a row to be any help in gaining employment?
So stop spending so much time with him.
Go somewhere where people can afford haircuts. Try to look inconspicuous; at least buy a shirt.
Make sure you talk, unless your strategy is absorbing positive vibes off people
the most anxiety-filled task in a job hunt, in my view, is writing cover letters.
there’s so much pressure! The cover letter has to make a powerful first impression. The cover letter has to address their needs. The cover letter has to address your needs. The cover letter has to leave a powerful, staying, impression.
you wouldn’t think so from reading examples of cover letters on the internet, formal stiff documents you can use to apply for anything from zoo work to fraud investigation.
those boring documents, we use them anyway since the alternative is writing one ourselves, which in other words, placing our future employment (and career) under the appeal of our own words.
what a terrifying thought. I can’t even sell a credit card to a shopaholic
a new acquaintance handed out his ‘personal’ card in the middle of our coffee session.
He’s not working yet. He’s still in school like the rest of us, though soon graduating.
At this point, I must say I don’t like cards. They’re so... ‘business’-y.
Starched-up, formal, tucked in, shoe shined, effective, ‘hello I’m a businessman, and I’m here to do business’.
Anyway, he saw the face I made and explained himself.
“It’s a personal card. I just thought I’d get my name out there as soon as possible.”
Once more, it was summer. Now this being a Melbourne summer, it was not something you entirely looked forward to, not unless you come from climes where the sun only cameos. Here's what happens in the months beginning November in this desert country.
Semester ends. Friends balik kampung. People leave for vacations. Employers still won't hire you.
'But I have a previous experience!
'No.
'I can work full time!
'No
'I'll work for peanuts.
'No.
'I won't use Mohamad as my name.
'No.
Hai. Le Rejecion is no fun, but it's something you have to live with.
But how?
I was pushing aside the froth of my soy mocha with my tounge waiting for bro A (bukan nama sebenar) to respond. I had propositioned him earlier, in terms as seductively as society would permit, to embark on a business venture together.
T-shirts. Think about it. We buy them. We go around markets. We sell them. Cash out, cash in. Simple.
'Don't knowla, doesn't sound reasonable
'Before you say no, think about it. We don't need that much capital upfront. We could get them for cheap in KL. And even if we sell them for the same sticker price, we'd still be making a profit.
'But how are we going to get the t-shirts here?
'I'm still working on that.
