Resume for success Writing a winning Curriculum Vitae is a skill. How do you make a positive impression?

If you’re someone who is done with your studies and are waiting to put your knowledge to some practical use, or someone who is looking for a career change, the first thing you do is either whip up a resume or update one.

While it’s never easy to pour out into a limited amount of space, information and qualifications that make up your resume, it is definitely something that ought to be executed skilfully.

Keep it crisp

It is no longer just the generation of black ink on a couple of white sheets of paper that drone on about what you’ve done, what you will do and how you will do it. In this day and age, the two-page resume which you’ve put so much thought into runs the risk of getting rejected or completely ignored for being too stale or monotonous.

Therefore, it’s a good thing that many individuals, like yourself, have already begun thinking outside the box.

It is an accepted fact that people charged with the responsibility of scouring through scores of resumes have a very limited span of attention. Whether it’s your qualifications or past experiences, key information represented in short, neat and evenly spaced sentences makes a huge difference.

Not only is this style easy to read, you also contribute by saving up on the employer’s time even as they simultaneously learn more about you.

The ultimate goal, on any day, is how the roles that you play and the tasks that you carry out will help you grow as a professional and as an individual as well. You might be sure about what you expect to learn from a particular organisation, but the organisation itself will need to know how you can help the company grow and why you should be chosen instead of the competition.

If the section on your past experiences state that you’ve either led a team or handled a project solo, instead of only saying that you’ve done that, you could elaborate on the process and share the positive outcome. Not only does this imply that you’re capable of dealing with such assignments, it also gives a clear picture of how you can contribute.Setting aside your capabilities and accomplishments, sections of your resume that at times do end up seeming similar to a contenders’ resume, it is vital to share information that is exclusive to you alone. Be it a hobby, a talent or a work experience in a field far from what you’re pursuing now, this section equally contributes in putting you on a future employers’ radar, ultimately leading to an interview call.

It might be too harsh to make a decision based on first impressions. But, when it comes to hiring, one look is all it takes to decide if your resume, and ultimately you, are worth spending time on.

This brings us to the most interesting and creative part of putting together a resume. Today it’s all about colours, optimum usage of space, design, visuals and even the medium itself. From graphical representations to pie charts, crisp tri-fold brochures to animated illustrations, video resumes to resumes printed on actual fabric; there is no dearth of ideas.

While this certainly puts life into the tedious task of compiling a resume, it is important to first know your audience. Quirky resumes might appeal to certain types of organisations while they may be deemed as inappropriate by others.

Last but certainly not the least is the task of stopping yourself from talking any more about yourself. You might wonder if the information provided is solid enough to get you to the next round, and, honestly, this apprehension can never completely be abated.

One way to handle this situation would be to summarise the facts about yourself, your aspirations and what you can accomplish. There’s nothing like a prospective employee who can get to the point right from the start. You may start your resume with this summary or conclude with it. No matter what you choose, you are sure to come across as someone who doesn’t believe in beating around the bush.

Finally, it’s your capabilities and the creative effort you put in that will help you stand out and eventually score the position you desire.

Key information represented in short, neat and evenly spaced sentences makes a huge difference.

Source | The Hindu | 24 August 2015

UPGRADE By giving employees the freedom to decide when and how they’re going to manage their work, organisations are getting a more responsible, loyal workforce

Digital workplaces provide employees the flexibility to work from anywhere. HTShine. com’s survey on ‘How does a digital workplace impact your life?’ revealed that as many as 50% of employees working in an organisation encouraging digitisation and flexible timing felt they were productive working from home, as they were connected with the devices of their choice and had enough time to be with their families. For 52.5%, this increased efficiency. 

When asked if flexible working hours had blurred the boundaries between work and private life, 47.5% found themselves to be more productive both at work and home because they got adequate time to be with their families. About 27.5% were increasingly comfortable in office, improving their interactions with teams. However, 25% found both their personal and professional life coming together in a digital mesh, leaving them with no time for family. 

Moreover, 37.5% found it easy to collaborate with colleagues and teams from across geographies in real time. Exhaustion was a problem, however, with 17.5% saying that being connected 24x7 was tiring. 

A massive culture change was evident. For 65% employees, the transition was smooth, motivating them to behave more professionally. Unfortunately, for 22.5%, getting used to a 24x7 work culture was tough. They were of the opinion that it was easier for the younger generation to get used to workplace changes. As many as 12.5% were overwhelmed by the changes and dismissed them, saying they were more used to their newspapers in the morning and books and had issues with the “tweeting and Facebooking culture.” 

When asked if professional interactions had undergone a change, 52.5% said it had led to increased efficiency, whereas 32.5% thought the personal touch was missing. About 15% rued the fact that they no longer got a chance to speak to their team members and that “life at work had got more process-driven.” 

As for managers, implementing changes was a big challenge. About 52.5% said that their role had changed from manager to coach and that they had to spend more time inspiring and encouraging the team. As many as 35% said they now had to depend on employees to do their job regardless of time zone, set working patterns and location. 

Source | Hindustan Times | 25 August 2015

The logic behind assignments

They provide the opportunity to do things differently, obtain feedback and build skills and insights.

A while ago, I was chatting with a former student and the conversation veered toward the familiar — my rant about how little effort young people seem to put into their assignments.

“I can see that they write their essays at the last possible moment, almost as if they are doing it just to fulfil the formality of the submission,” I complained.

“But that’s exactly what they’re doing,” she said, asking how much that particular assignment was worth in terms of marks. When I told her it was five marks (out of the semester total of 100), she laughed. “Then of course, that’s why — it’s only worth that much effort.”

Most students work through a process of elimination — how many marks will this question or task be worth? Is it enough to demand that I spend time on it? How selectively can I apply my effort and time? If it’s a multiple choice test, I have a one-in-four chance of getting something right. So how much reading will help me maximise those odds? Exams and tests become something of a gamble.

Call me naive, call me impractical, but, to me, thinking this way seems to defeat the whole purpose of education. I agree that much of what goes as education in our country is about toting up enough marks to get a decent grade so that we can qualify for the degree. So, young people spend entire decades looking at courses as nothing more than marksheets to be filled with the right numbers. The way in which classes are conducted does nothing to change this.

But, occasionally, one is presented with the opportunity to do it differently — and this happens more often than one realises.

Let me draw from my own experience here. I teach a class on writing, and, in the course of sixteen weeks, I hope to expose my students to a variety of forms of professional writing. On an average, they are required to submit twelve weekly assignments, and these tasks amount to 40 per cent of the grade. If a student calculates the value of each task in terms of marks, it works out to less than 4 marks each. That’s not very much, right? It is okay to miss a couple or not to take a few so seriously — it’s not going to affect the grade that much. Besides, there is still the 60 per cent that one can focus on to make up.

But what, really, is the “value” of each of these assignments? It is the opportunity to (however briefly) attempt a certain kind of writing task. If one misses a particular assignment, then what is lost is not just the 4 marks, but the opportunity to learn or practise that particular kind of writing.

Unfortunately, the structure of evaluation doesn’t allow me to count marks beyond 100, and, in my view, there is so much to be learnt that I have to build in many tasks — a situation that leads to several short assignments, each really “valuable” in my estimation in terms of learning. When a student approaches the task only in terms of the marks it represents, we both stand to lose. The student loses that learning opportunity that exists in the doing and in the receiving of feedback. I lose the teaching opportunity that exists in reading and giving feedback.

We do need to be smart about allocating time and effort in our busy lives. There’s so much to do and so little time and space to do it. But one can also get overly calculating about assigning value. Assignments or classwork have certain logic to them. That logic is not really measured in terms of the marks, but the learning opportunity they represent.

So how does one really evaluate this value? Think carefully about whether and what you will gain from doing the task, setting aside the marks it will fetch. Is it a repetitive task that aims to build skill or is it a creative or reflective task that aims to build insight and understanding? Clearly, you will learn more from the latter but it also takes more time and effort.

Courses are a jumble of learning opportunities, and these come in different shapes, sizes and forms, defined by marks, time, interest and effort/engagement. You may not always be able to judge the real value just in terms of the marks. That is a somewhat arbitrary measure that teachers are forced to apply.

Source | The Hindu | 23 August 2015

New CAT, new strategies - Some preparation tips Three one-hour sections, onscreen calculator… the exam has changed with the times.

The IIMs have changed the format and structure of CAT this year. Specifically, there have been four key changes. First, the exam will comprise three sections instead of two sections as seen in CAT 2014. Second, the duration of the exam has been extended to 180 minutes (from 170 minutes last year) with the time split to one hour per section. Third, a basic onscreen calculator will be provided to students. And lastly, a few questions will require answers to be entered directly, instead of the traditional multiple-choice format. These changes are but tweaks that should improve the test-taking experience for students and are not a dramatic overhaul.

“Quantitative Aptitude, Verbal Ability, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning tested in a competitive exam that is objective and conducted across the country” This is how one would have described CAT in 1990, 2000 or 2010. This statement remains the same in 2015 as well. The core tenets remain the same; the CAT has merely decided to use a few of the inherent advantages that online testing offers.

The features introduced this year are not new to CAT. From 1990 to 2012, CAT had three or more sections every year. The two-section format was seen only in the last two years. Previously, we have also had fixed time limits for individual sections (in CAT 2013).

CAT is now effectively three one-hour exams and this is a blessing in disguise.

Counter-intuitively, the time allotted per section being fixed is a boon to students. Although the change in format appears to have taken some flexibility away from students, the freedom of allocating time across sections was illusory anyway. Students used to spend a lot of time fretting about section cut-offs and going for a ‘balanced’ score across sections. The only adjustment students will have to make is to think of CAT as three one-hour exams instead of one three-hour exam.

No place to hide

In a traditional two-section format, students had the option of treating Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension as less important and ‘hiding’ in the other segments. For instance, one could go in hoping to get 14-15 questions correct in Logical Reasoning and completely skip RC. These imaginary luxuries are out. Students need to have more balance in their preparation and cannot afford to have glaring weaknesses.

Computational pressure is off, which is a big relief and a great leveller. 

The one unambiguous takeaway here is that the on-screen calculator is a boon. Students no longer need to worry about knowing 45x35 or computing 34.6 per cent of 72 quickly. Computation speed is not really important in the 21st century, and CAT has quietly acknowledged this fact.

Students should resist the temptation to use the online calculator for every single computation. Relying on an external computational tool for all computations dulls numerical intuition, and, so, the online calculator should be prudently used. My suggestion would be to use it for the Data Interpretation section and not really bother with it for the section on Quantitative Aptitude.

CAT has moved with the times and test-takers should follow suit. The test-setters have utilised technology well and picked a format that focuses on knowledge of the fundamentals and de-emphasises computation-speed. Students should make three small adjustments.

Learn from first principles: Ignore shortcuts, speed-math related gimmicks and focus on basics.

Read, read, read: The single-most important factor for excelling in the verbal ability section is reading comfort. Students with a consistent reading habit have a massive advantage in this section. Students should aim to read for at least 90 minutes every day.

Take plenty of ‘mocks’: Students should aim to take at least 20 ‘mock’ CATs in the new format. They should aim to take these tests from different providers so as to be exposed to different question styles.

The writer runs 2IIM, an online CAT Coaching institute, and is an alumnus of IIMB. He scored 100 percentile in CAT in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

Source | The Hindu | 23 August 2015