You can't grow upwards, if your skills don't move forwards.

No statement makes more impact in your career growth than the one above. Many of us hop into the grind of the job, thrive in it and get to the point we become the best at it. But inevitably, all of us also reach the point where we need to think about what's next for me.

Bygone generations of our fathers and their fathers had the benefit of being employed on the onset on privatisation and industrialisation. So they stayed loyal to their job and their organization for decades on end. But in today's world, one has to constantly improve themselves if they want to stay in the good graces of our employer.

If you do good today, you are expected to do better tomorrow. If you do better tomorrow, you need to learn to work faster day after. The minute you slip, there is no body to catch you and lift you back up. There is only someone to take your place.

Think about it, how many of us upgrade our phones every few hours with the latest model which is faster and more efficient. Companies feel the same way too. So get ahead of the curve, upgrade yourself before you get swapped for the newer model.

Be the best version of you that you can be today. And then be better tomorrow.
#SriramSpeaks #careeradvice

The Art of Jobseeking

Hi, They say job hunting is like going fishing in the sea. The journey might be rocky and what you find might not always be what u seek. There are plenty of job opportunities in the world, yet finding the perfect job might be easier said than done. Let me share with you a few tips I learned along the way which might make the job seeking seem less gruesome.

• Don't go broad spectrum - be systematic. Most of us inadvertently two trajectories - go all in or make calculated decisions. Nowadays, I see most job seekers applying to every single job opening that they can get their hands on and still come out with not a single interview to attend.
  
  The problem seems to be in this "all guns blazing" approach. What you really need to do is first sit down and think of what you really want to be doing in a job, what your skills are and what sort of companies give you exactly what you are looking for. If you streamline your application process, it is much clearer what you want.
  
  Imagine you apply to a company like Apple, you apply for openings for Systems Engineer, Payroll Associate and HR Recruiter. Think of what is the impression you are leaving with the company here. They will definitely wonder whether you are good at any of these roles, you come across as desperate to work with the company in any role possible. Is that what you want? Think hard.


• Refine your resume - sort out the clutter - A clean resume puts you miles ahead in the job hunt. I cannot emphasise on this hard enough. Recently I had an interview experience where the first thing the interviewer told me is that my resume stood out among the rest of the applicants. Think about it, with your resume you can create a good impression on the interviewer even before the face to face interview. Also, research on ideal placements of detail blocks in your resume. Most job portals use automation tools to look for profiles matching their boolean search. So if your resume isn't optimised for these tools, your profile will not come up in searches. For tips on a better resume you can click here to read my article for some pointers


• Connections, Connections - They matter a lot - If you are interested in working for a company, check out their LinkedIn page or go to your Facebook friends list and search there. Knowing somebody who already works in the company opens up the possibility for a major gamechanger - Referrals.
  
  Internal referrals are your best friends when it comes to getting job interviews. Companies trust the people who are referred by their own employees more than general applicants. This by itself gives you a competitive edge over others. LinkedIn is a great place to both apply for jobs and ask for referrals. We'll talk more regarding this in the next point


• Optimize your Linkedin Profile - In my opinion, LinkedIn is the most powerful tool (I know it comes across like I work for LinkedIn). The most underused sections in LinkedIn are the skills and endorsements sections.
  Adding keywords related to the kind of jobs you like and skills that match your expertise is a definite way to get noticed. Ensure that you get your colleagues to endorse your skills. The more people vouching for your skills, better your profile looks for prospective employers.
  
  Also, if you work closely with people and they have high praise for your work and skills, ask them if they can write recommendations for you in LinkedIn. You can ask for recommendations from your peers, subordinates or superiors(more the merrier)

These tips are just the tip of the iceberg (Sorry for the bad pun). You can always find better and more effective practices that work for you. Drop in your comments if you have anything I missed. I would love to hear from you. Until next time, Sriram (Signs off)

How do i boost my productivity?

How do I boost my productivity at work?

The most imminent threat to your productivity is accessing social networks during office hours. It will sap away your time before you realize it's almost lunch time and you haven't gotten any work done. So refrain from devoting time to such distractions. If it is really unavoidable, make use of the lunch hour most of us are experts at multi-tasking when it comes to this aspect.

Many of us subconsciously feel the urge to constantly check our personal emails. Although this isn't a major time killer, it has the tendency to start the domino effect which will somehow get us back into the social networks which we are trying so hard to ignore.

Set time for tasks and mark your calendar for all the action items you want to get done for the day. If there is a report that you need to prepare or a file which you needed to process,  set schedules for them in your calendar and stick to it. During this time, do not entertain taking up anything else.

Take advantage of your travel time. If you have a decent phone and secure internet connectivity, you can get so much done on the move.

Take scheduled micro breaks. Although this may seem counterproductive, they will help sharpen concentration.

Follow the "two-minute rule" to fight procrastination. If something can be done within two minutes, then do it right away.

Hope some of these tips help you.

With love,
Sriram.

"So do you have any questions for me?"

This one question has always had most of us tongue-tied and grabbing for our default answer for any ambiguous open ended feedback question.

"No questions".

But many do not understand that this is the time you can break out of the  FAQs section and break into the RAQs section (Rarely Asked Questions).

So here are some Intelligent questions you must ask your interviewer.

- What does a typical day in this position feel like?

- Is this a new position and if not, why did the previous employee leave and what did he/she go on to?

- What are the growth opportunities for an employee in this position? How does one get to the next level?

- Why was I shortlisted among other candidates and what stood out in my resume?

- what is the downside of working in that position? Does it have paid overtime? Does it involve travel?

- what are the key skills i must acquaint myself with before joining the position?

- who would I be  reporting to? Are they in same location/building? If not how often do i get to meet them?

- how is success measured in this company? What have other employees in similar positions done to succeed and grow?

-Is there anything else I can provide to help you make your decision?

These are questions which you should ask, but most of us don't thinking it will ruin our chances. Don't be afraid, be outspoken.

With love,
Sriram.

Tips for a better resume

Hi all,

I know it's been a while since i posted something here. So here are some resume tips for all you job seekers out there. These are lessons i learnt through research and personal experience.

• Do not include a photo of yourself in your resume. The recruiters wouldn't shortlist you based on your appearance. Besides that is valuable space in your resume which you can use for highlighting more about your work or education.

• Do not include your address in the resume. We live in a time where all communications happen over emails. The recruiters wouldn't need that information. Besides putting your address in the resume puts you at risk because anybody can find where you live with a google search.

• Do not skip short internships which you feel are insignificant. Internships are those short term stints where learning is at the highest. It may also give the recruiters/interviewers more reasons to consider you.

• Share your resume with a few of your friends and ask them to share feedback. This shows how others see your profile and evaluate them. Ask them for reason why they would hire you and why they won't based on your resume.

• Ensure your resume is free of typos, get it reviewed for grammar and context while you are at it. This ensure that you are presenting yourself in the best light possible.

•  Highlight your achievements and quantify them. This way the interviewer will make sense of the scale of your achievements.

Good luck!

If you have any other topics you want me to write about, kindly drop in your comments.

Bye for now,
Sriram.

Life Lessons - Job Change Messup

Hi All,

It's been a while since i wrote something so might as well make it a meaningful post. Recently i found a chance to move back to Kochi,my hometown. A job opportunity in one of the Big 4 Audit firms. I was being considered for the position of Audit Associate and i was very excited. Perhaps too excited.

I made a series of errors which made me lose the opportunity and almost quit my present job as well. I could have become unemployed, if i hadn't realized the error of my ways sooner. So here i am, facing the problems and living to tell the tale. I want to give you few lessons which i learned from my mistakes so that you dont make them too.

1) When you're considering a job change, finalize everything about your prospective future job before beginning the resignation process from your present job (This seems kinda obvious, but sometimes the HR from the other company can be so vague, that it is easy to get confused and make a few rushed decisions). In my case, i knew i had the job guaranteed in my hand, but i hadn't received the offer letter in hand before making a few hasty decisions.

2) Communicate clearly with the HR from the other company, about the notice period you have to serve with your present employer. In my case, even though i had told them twice about my 1 month notice period, they clearly didn't understand me the right way and gave me a joining date which was non negotiable and which was on very short notice (13 days, to be precise as opposed to the 1 month notice that i have to serve)

3) Only after everything is satisfactory with the job offer from the other company, you give your notice at your present company. Suppose, if things don't work out with the new job scenario, it will put you in a very awkward situation to retract your resignation and your reputation with your present employer will be tarnished.

4) Always understand that, when you are moving into a field of work which is different from the one you are currently working in, the salary might not increase by as much as you expect. There might even be a situation where you have to take a pay cut. But never hesitate to negotiate on the job offer, if you feel that your experience with the present employer can be a value addition to your new employer.


I learned these lessons through the circumstances i faced, but you needn't. So hear it from me.
I hope you dont feel, you have lost a few brain cells by reading this.

With Love,
Chikku

Attention Please!

Hey all,

'Attention' the word has many meanings. Its something that anyone craves. Its no longer enough that people know you, they also have to pay attention to us for us to be satisfied. The way we show people that we notice them have evolved over the years. In old times, when you see somebody you know walking past you, you take your hat off and show them that you are acknowledging their presence. Then as time went by, the hats went out of commission and we started waving at people. Just that movement of our hands were enough to show our notice. Then further ahead in time, we people started becoming lazy, and abandoned the waving hands gesture and we just held our hands up to show that we know the person passing by . What was once a courtesy is now being practiced as mere obligation.

Then came the era of the present generation, where even so much as lifting our hand was too much of a task.we started doing the sympathetic single nod of our head to show that we see that one person we know pass by.

What was once a sign of respect and acknowledgement has now become a sign of obligation and indifference.

Lets bring back those times of true respect people, lets pay attention to the people we know.lets take some time of our idle lives and talk to those people we know, show them that we care for them.

Lets pay attention.


Bye,
With love,chikku.