A Publication on Employability for PMEs by PMEs
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About biipmi (branding individualised interactive portfolios through marketing innovations) biipmi bridges the gap between employers’ expectations and employees’ aspirations by focusing on personal professional branding. How it all started? In 2011, a small group of individuals who are passionate about employability set out to build the distinctive online employability enhancement tool. Collectively, we have seen how the (in)ability to gain, retain, or regain one’s employment has affected many new job applicants, professionals, managers, and executives alike. We have researched extensively into this complex concept of employability, and we have developed our distinctive approach towards lifelong employability. For those who care about, and willing to invest in, their employability, we believe we have the products and services for you. For everyone else, we urge you to start making time to understand the true meaning of employability. And reflect on its impact and implications on your future.
“Take the first step to this lifelong journey of a thousand challenges”
The move towards Employability In this modern era, potential employers don’t just look at resumes and interviews; they look deeper into everything - your social cliques, your ability to organize, reflect and showcase your lifelong learning outcomes, your possible contributions to the organization, and just about anything that shows how you portray yourself to the world. Employees need to shift their focus from maintaining employment to enhancing employability. This means they need relevant and highly usable knowledge and skills to move self-sufficiently within the labour market. Please email to ask@biipmi.com for more information Facebook: facebook.com/biipmi Twitter: twitter.com/biipmi Google+: gplus.to/biipmi
Resume, Portfolio, Networking, Market
biipmi provides users with a cloud-based
structured and innovative way of documenting their lifelong learning outcomes and work experiences from learning institutions through retirement. This is to facilitate formal, informal and non-formal learning, thereafter empowering users with the tools to brand themselves through marketing innovations. biipmi.com allows individuals to customize: • Profiles for employers to find you • Career, freelance and learning plans for latest offerings • Specific filters to pin-point job & course opportunities • Specific resumes and portfolios for career progression and advancement • Specific professional networks for social employability
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Feb 13 / March 13 Issue #08
Talent Capital Enhancement System (TaCES) A resume summarizes all your work experience, education, and related facts and activities since the word resume comes from the French for "summary". More importantly, a resume's job is to make it really easy for a reviewer to read and understand that information. So your job is to do all the work for the reviewer. That is critical! By doing this, your resume becomes a marketing document. Its job is to position you to get your "right fit" employment. So is your resume working for you? Do you look at your resume as a form of investment towards your overall employability value or do you only use it when you need to find a job? How can you bring out the best in yourself and present yourself to the world? If you are good at what you do, do invest your resume with us at biipmi.com because the top employers are looking for super achievers like yourself every day. Investing with biipmi.com is effortless. All you need to do is to key in your achievements and experiences or even upload your resume. We will lead you through our Talent Capital Enhancement System (TaCES) and you will see substantial return on your investment!
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So is your resume working for you?
Invest your resume with biipmi. We enhance your employability value through our Talent Capital Enhancement System, giving you substantial return on investment. YOUR INVESTMENT
YOU
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TaCES I • Image enhancement master class • Employability: the art of being employable • Skills Alignment Profiling • Professional Make Over • Resume Enhancement (Includes resume consultancy) • Portfolio Enhancement (If applicable) • Video Resume • biipmi.com Subscription (Power User Package) TaCES 2 • Professional Branding (Online) TaCES 3 • Market Visibility BRANDED YOU
ENHANCED EMPLOYABILITY: YOUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT 05
Feb 13 / March 13 Issue #08
Employability – Job Transition RoadMap
Employability Job Transition Doing Voluntary Work
Starting New Career
Working For Others
Part - Time
Goi
Continuing In Present Job Same Job Other Place Same Organisation Other Job
Full - Time
Working For Yourself
Direction
Composite Holding 2 Part Time Jobs One Job
There are various reasons why a person is out of work. With the volatile job landscape today, people in job transition can be those with little or no academic qualifications to those with shiny MBA degrees. Resting on assistance from Job Agencies, Job advertisements and armed with resumes, these people tried relentlessly to look for jobs. However hard they tried, it seemed even the simplest kind of work that matches what they know or have even studied for, eluded them. By mere unspoken logic, they thought: ‘I can’t find jobs using these methods; therefore, it must be there are no jobs available or I am over-qualified for the job’. Can this be true? Fortunately, there is a more thorough way to approach job-hunt looking at the various paths available as the Employability – Job Transition Roadmap shows. What job seekers really need to do is to think strategically before taking action. Lay out the options that most appeal to you as you embark on this Systematic Approach to Job-Hunt or Career Change.
Employ
ing back to School – Skills Upgrading
n to Greater
yability
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There are three questions that you need to answer: WHAT? What are the skills you most enjoy using? Identify these skills which can be work skills/innate-ability/talents. These are known as transferable skills which can be transferred to any field/career that you choose, regardless of where you pick them up or how long you have had them. Transferable (functional) skills are the most basic skills required of whatever career you may choose. Skills are the one thing that all jobs and all careers have in common. It serves as a bridge from one job to another or one career to another. You can break it down into three families, according to whether you use them to work with data (information), with people or with things. Always claim the highest skills you legitimately can, on the basis of your past performance or experience. Note that the higher your transferable skills, the more options you will have and also the less competition you will face for whatever the job you are seeking. Spend time thinking and gather an inventory of your transferable skills. There are cases I have known where employers even created a job that currently does not exist if they like the applicant enough. In essence, you may even approach any organisation that interest you whether they have a vacancy or not, or the job title advertised is not what you have perceived.
WHERE? Where do you most want to use these skills? Primarily, the inclination is often towards the field of knowledge which you have already acquired and most enjoy using; and the location of your work place. But ‘where’ here refers to your preferred working conditions i.e. the kind of people, the things or the data you enjoy working with.
HOW? How can you find such jobs that use your skills or field of knowledge? Check out by interviewing various people, for example, the skills required for certain job titles, the knowledge for this job title, etc. You may also wish to find out who actually has the power to hire you. Finally, with these overview in mind, begin you job-hunt. (Adapted from “The 1996 What Colour is Your Parachute, Bolles, 1996)
Goh Hin Lan | Professional Trainer and Curriculum Developer Hin Lan is a trainer and curriculum developer. She is a firm believer in Lifelong Learning and enjoys attending all kinds of seminars and workshops for self-mastery and business excellence. Her experience in the corporate service included many diverse operational portfolios like project and business management. She conducts Employability Workshops and has delivered modules for ACTA, Leadership & People Management and Employability Skills. Hin Lan is also a content hinlan@biipmi.com contributor for biipmi.
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Feb 13 / March 13 Issue #08
P A R I S
Carrie Models International and Carrie Academy International are proud to present ‘Style Me – First Impressions’ an executive make over contest targeted at individuals who inspires to achieve more in their career or personal life. Do join us to witness individuals embarking on a journey, going through a transformation to improve their image, self-confidence and poise to make that important first impression a lasting one! Prior to this, contestants will go through a 3 day training focusing on Poise and Deportment, Speech and Delivery, Grooming and to maintaining a professional image. Partnering with Carrie Academy International’s ‘Design and Apply Make Up’ graduates, the contestants will work hand in hand to showcase a stunning performance and contest The contest will be held on the 3rd of March, 2013, at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center Singapore, Hall F. There will also be complimentary talks by the likes of Carrie Academy’s Resident Trainer, Ms. Madaline D. Tan on Colour Theory and Make Up. Do come and join us for the full day of learning and stunning fashion show by Carrie Models featuring fashion wear from *Tally Weijl and *Springfield. Support the finalists for the executive make-over contest by voting your favourite and stand to win cash and product hampers from Bourjois Cosmetics. So what are you waiting for?! 3 March 2013 Sunday (HALL F) 11:30am - 1:00pm
Colour Theory & Make-up workshop conducted by Madaline D. Tan (CAI Trainer)
1.00pm - 1.30pm
Personal Grooming for Online Branding workshop conducted by Anfernee Tan (biipmi.com)
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Make-Over Contest by finalists
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Dance Performances & Audience Guessing of Make-Over Winners
5.45pm - 6.15pm
Prize Presentation to Winners of Make-Over Contest and Audience Winners
*Organiser reserves the rights to change the programme without prior notice
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You wake up from a slumber that seemed to last forever. You are totally exhausted and disoriented but at the same time puzzled at the tranquility of the room. You walk around, and to your astonishment, realise that you are alone! The only clue that you can find is a slip of paper on the right‌
About biipmi
biipmi.com is an innovative cloud-based platform that surpasses traditional method of job searching to enable you to develop your online personal branding, and hence employability, through investing with your resumes, portfolios, and social networks. With biipmi, job search does not ONLY involve waiting until the job is advertised. We provide tools and features within this innovative online employability platform that lead to jobs being offered to you before they are publicly advertised. After you applied for your job, biipmi.com is even able to compare and rank your application base on the company’s job specification and your personal attributes, personal circumstances and even demand factors. Although it is up to the company to decide who to call in for interview, you can be sure that they will pick the most relevant ones! 09
Perfection with accessories Accessories come in many forms such as purses, jewellery, handbag, headpieces and even shoes. Choosing the right type can compliment your outfit well; it can also balance your figure proportions. Try out these useful tips and transform your wardrobe to become more interesting and fashion forward.
1. Choosing one particular feature and highlighting it with accessories. This may be part of your body or your outfit. Draw attention to make the waist appear smaller by wearing a small waist belt to give you that tinier looking waist. If your outfit is with prints, keep the accessories simple such as a pearl earring or just a vintage ring to compliment the prints of the outfit. Vice versa when wearing a simple plain dress, a large necklace or brightly coloured shoes with a neutral-coloured dress will be most suitable. 2. Theme! Create a theme for your outfit such as a particular colour or texture or season. For example for summer season, you could wear varying shades of orange. 3. Match your accessories with your outfit style or feel. If you are wearing a suit, it is best to carry a structured style of handbag and not a purse or a clutch. Even your shoes would be best as a covered up heel instead of pumps or chunky platforms. 4. Balance your body proportions. A body with a larger top should stick to a wider belt which would give balance to the heavier top. If your bottom is heavier, it is good to wear a shawl or even a jacket or statement earrings for that balance. A polished appearance is achieved through balance. You should try to keep within 8 items on your body and that include your clothes, belt, earring, necklace, shoes, handbag, ring, watch or anything that you put on yourself. Too many can appear flashy, overdone and inappropriate. Too few can make you look uninteresting. If you are in doubt, it is best not to wear it.
Article contributed by Madaline D. from Carrie Academy International If you would like to find out more about professional grooming courses offered by Carrie Academy, simply consult our experts at Carrie Academy International. Please refer to the centre spread for details.
For more information on colour theory, please enquire on the ‘Maintain Professional Image + Apply Colour Theory’ course. (Courses are funded for Singaporeans and PRs) at w w w . c a r r i e a c a d e m y . c o m
“Your communication and the image you present create the first impression – often the lasting impression.”
PAY ONLY
10%
OF THE COURSE FEE!
- Join our retail WSQ programs. WSQ Maintain Professional Image and Apply Colour Theory - Maintain Personal Grooming - Maintain Personal Hygiene - Apply Professional Etiquette - Apply Concepts of Colour Theory - Advise on Application of Colours - Colour Matching of Products Duration : 16 hours Course Fee : $43.00 after subsidy
WSQ Provide Advice on Skincare Products
- Describe Skincare Products Range - Advise on Selection of Skin Care Products - Advise on Handling, Storing and Care of Skincare Products Duration : 16 hours Course Fee : $32.00 after subsidy
WSQ Design and Apply Make-up
- Establish Customer’s Needs for Make-up Services - Prepare Customer for Make-up Service - Analyse Customer’s Face for Design of Make-up Plan - Formulate Make-up Plan to Meet Customer’s Needs - Apply Advanced Make-up Techniques to Achieve Desired Looks - Apply Hairstyling Techniques - Recommend and Advise Use on Make-up Products Duration : 24 hours Course Fee : $65.00 after subsidy
For more information on our courses Call us: 6836 6961 Email us: info@carrieacademy.com 119 Devonshire Road Singapore 239881
Feb 13 / March 13 Issue #08
INVESTING IN EMPLOYABILITY Investment is a word that practically everyone has heard of, and possibly knows what it means. We always hear of people mentioning about investing in real estate (a real hot topic in several Asian countries like Hong Kong and Singapore), equities, commodities, insurance, art, wine, and even other exquisite products like bird nests (yes, Malaysia has a recent investment scheme where you can purchase multi-storey houses for swifts to build their nests to be harvested)! But what really is investment? And what should we invest in? I would like to critically look at the meaning of investment by looking at the components that make up any investment. There are three defining components – the input (resources such as money,
time, effort), mechanism (product and process), and outcome (returns such as money, recognition, results). In all investments, people expect the outcome to be better or higher than the input. So when a person makes an investment in property, the input is money; the mechanism is the property itself with the transaction process; and the outcome is money, which is expected to be more than the initial input. Juxtaposing investment with gambling, we actually see an interesting similarity – gambling also has an input (money, or stakes), mechanism (the game and gaming process), and outcome (money of course!). And even more interesting is that everyone who gambles expects the outcome to be higher than the input, to the frustration of anti-gambling counselors! No one will object when I say that the outcome of any investment is as unpredictable as the outcome of gambling. Up or down? Even or odd? These are probabilities that the currency or equity broker has to contend with as much as a roulette player. Why then is investing very much encouraged, while gambling very much frowned upon? Is there any characteristic feature between investing and gambling that we have somehow sub-consciously assumed? In my opinion, many investments that we are familiar with are essentially gambling repackaged. I doubt the duration of investment (which is generally short- or long-term) can differentiate it from gambling (which is very short-term or immediate). Be it equities, commodities, properties, or currencies, many so-called investment
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Anderson Tan is the Director of biipmi pte ltd. He has a distinction in MA in Lifelong Learning from Institute of Education, as well M. Eng and 1st Class Hon. Degree from NUS. He is a career coach, an adult educator, and an entrepreneur. He can be contacted at anderson@biipmi.com.
schemes are essentially different forms of gambling, simply because no one can really influence the outcome or outcome. Yes! I opine that the characteristic that differentiates investing from gambling is the ability to influence the outcome. The origin of the word invest came from the Latin word investire, which means to install, surround or clothe in. There is a connotation of purposeful effort to influence an outcome. So, when you purchase a gold investment product at a certain price, rather than praying hard for the price to rise after your purchase, a more objective approach would be to ask whether you can influence the gold price with your purchase. If you can, then it is investment; if you are not able to, then the purchase is merely a gambling hope. To really influence the share price of a company, for example, an investor would have to purchase not 10 lots of shares, but become the majority shareholder, if not 50.1% of all available shares! If you agree with this manner of defining investment, you probably will suddenly realise that there are not many things that are truly of investment grade! The few real investments I could think of would include education, inter-personal relationships, personal well-being, and entrepreneurship. One other area which I believe really worth investing in is a person’s employability. Why do I consider employability an investment? Employability refers to the ability to gain employment, retain that employment, and regain employment should one need to change career, and this cycle will need to keep revolving and evolving as long as one intends to remain employed. Embedded in this employment cycle is a process of evaluation and valuation by both the employee and employer to arrive at a mutually agreed price known as remuneration.
Employability is therefore akin to the product and process component of investment. The inputs of this investment would include personal effort, commitment and finances. The outcomes would include remuneration, satisfaction, knowledge and skills. The outcomes are generally higher than the inputs. Although no one can really guarantee the outcomes of employability, the fact that one can influence the outcomes would qualify it as real investment. To influence the outcome, one can follow the CUBES principle: • Cultivate an enterprising mindset to be innovative and resilient • Upgrade skills to stay relevant for current and future industries • Build competencies in advanced job-seeking skills to be marketable and well valuated • Establish strong and extensive social networks to better manage personal circumstances • Scan the macro-economic landscape to be prepared for global employment changes Of course no one can guarantee that one’s employment will be a smooth and upward sailing journey despite having followed the CUBES principle. However, the fact that one can actively engage in the employability mechanism, one will be in a much better position to influence the outcomes. Those factors which are beyond the control of the individual, like a sudden global recession, are just part and parcel of any investment risks; nothing else should be left to mere chance. Hence, the next time when you are looking for investment opportunities, consider seriously in investing in your own employability. This is a fail-safe investment. 13
Feb 13 / March 13 Issue #08
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