#mbaathome

[leckyqili-blog]

iMBA at Home (Self-study project)

Study iMBA related modules on Coursera since Feb, 2018.

Pre-courses Methods and Statistics in Social Sciences Business Foundations

Core Modules Strategic Leadership and Management Managerial Economics and Business Analysis Value Chain Management Financial Management

Areas of Focus Digital Marketing Entrepreneurship and Strategic Innovation Global Challenges in Business

Study notes and summary will be updated on Tumblr. Any review and suggestions will be highly appreciated.

[jobs180]

The first interview tip is to show up

Imagine this: 

An Employer goes through your resume and smiles. He reads further through your resume and nods. Then he goes back up to check your contact details. He picks up the phone and dials your number. 

Your phone is ringing! You answer and the Employer introduces himself, his company and a job opportunity for you. Then he schedules a job interview with you and you confirm before he hangs up.

Here’s a fact: From the moment you answered the phone call from the Employer, you already have the job. And it is yours to lose, depending on how your interview goes.

I don’t mean to put too much pressure on you as you get ready to dress for your job interview this morning. But let me give you a gold mine of a tip that’ll be too easy to ace: First, you better show up for the interview. Yes, it’s that easy-peasy.

Employers complain all the time that many applicants who confirmed for a job interview do not show up at all. So just the fact that you showed up for an interview already puts you ahead of almost half of the applicants vying for the same job. It’s a sad fact, yes. It reflects how much common courtesy has eroded from the psyches of the typical job seeker today. But it’s an occurrence that’s becoming more and more commonplace. Just ask any recruiter you know.

If for any reason you cannot be there for the job interview, the obvious action is to call the interviewer to let him know that you are cancelling. You can also send an email. If there is an emergency and you can’t get to a phone before the interview date, call afterwards to apologize.

From the point of view of the Employer, he allotted a special time just for you. Then he waited. And waited…  And waited some more… As he got madder and more irritable, he thinks, “Ininjan ako ng aplikante!” But once he gets a valid explanation, believe me, he’ll melt and give you another chance. After all, he really liked your resume.

This tip may sound so easy it seems stupid to even say it to a job seeker or even devote blog post for it. But reality is, not all job seekers seem to be aware that it is wrong and rude to blow off a confirmed job interview. You should know better. It is a reflection of your regard and respect for other people’s time, your pakikipagkapwa-tao. Pakikipagkapwa-tao is supposed to be an attribute of the Filipino culture, but from the behavior of job seekers today, I wonder what happened to it.

[jobs180]

Making it work: Interview tips

Let me tell you a secret.

You know that interviewer grilling you about your job application? The one who made you dress up in leather shoes or high heels at 8am in the morning and making your palms sweat? Well, what he really wants to do is to give you the job. He has read your resumé and liked what he saw. The interview is just a formality to verify that you are right for the job. Basically, the job is yours to lose.

Make sure that you’re covering all the basics of interview success by reading through these simple tips by Susan Krauss Whitbourne:

Be professional, be interesting, and be nice. Your dress, your small talk, your answers to questions should all be consistent in giving the impression that you’re a great person to work with and have around the office.

Be sure to prepare for the interview by doing some online research about the company. Know the basics about the industry, products and services to show that you are interested in joining the company.

Be interesting by keeping yourself up to date to current events. Some interview situations require small talk and going on and on about how hot it is outside does not make you interesting. You don’t have to be like Ted Failon in keeping up with the news. Relevant sports news, like Manny Pacquiao’s fight with Mosely, is a great example of neutral news that would ignite a conversation.

A simple but important tip: Be nice. Be nice to the security guard and the custodian and the receptionist. Be nice when asked about your former job and colleagues. And most importantly, be nice when talking about yourself. Don’t harp about your weaknesses, even when asked to do so. You can’t control what happens around you, but you can control your reactions and answers.

As an extension to being nice, be considerate. Arrive on time for the interview. Make sure to account for potential delays by going to the interview venue with plenty of time to spare. Arriving there just in time will make you look harassed and disheveled especially after going around and round Makati just to find the right building, or walking from the far-off parking space towards the interview venue. If you arrive sweaty, you can take the time to freshen up without being rushed. Also, you’ll be more focused and poised when you get to your interview.

Use nonverbal cues to your benefit. Present yourself in the best light and learn to read the signals of the people interviewing you to guide your responses.

Learn to read your interviewer’s nonverbal cues. If the interviewer seems bored or impatient, try to figure out if you are causing the boredom with your long beating-around-the-bush answers. It is important that you keep your interviewer involved so be sensitive to the interviewer’s signals.

Use eye contact appropriately. Do not stare too long or too hard because you’ll creep out your interviewer. If it’s a panel interview, make sure that you look at everyone in the room.

Do not fidget. Keep your hands and feet still by folding your hands in your lap or on the table and sitting up straight in your chair. When you shake hands, keep it firm to appear confident. If you think you need practice, ask your friend to role play a job interview with you and take a video of yourself.  Watch the video without the sound on to examine your nonverbal cues.

Be encouraged by the fact that you’ve made it this far. Being chosen for an interview is definitely a good sign. Let that fact allow you to relax so that you present yourself in the best light.

Use common sense. Leave the cell phone off, get there early, and don’t be a pest after the interview is over.

Turn off your mobile phone before your interview. At that moment, the interview is the most important thing in the world so it is best to avoid preventable distractions.

After the interview, a thank-you note is always a good idea. You can simply send a short email thanking the interviewer. After the thank-you note, don’t pester the interviewer about when you can hear from them again. Just wait patiently.

Get feedback from others. A friend, a professor, or a colleague can help you prep by giving you a mock interview. If you video the interview, you can review it alone or with your mock interviewer to go over the high and low points.

Finally, take the interview as a learning opportunity. Learn from what went wrong- you probably made a lame joke at the expense of your former boss, and what when right. Don’t beat yourself up for things that you regret saying or doing. Simply acknowledge your error, learn from it and move on.

[jobs180]

Being excellent

In a recent workplace survey by Robert Half International, a leading specialized recruitment firm, it cited that Hong Kong has the toughest work environment in the Asia Pacific. 68% of the employers surveyed expect their staff to work even during vacations, compared to the regional average of 40%. According to Andrew Morris, regional managing director of Robert Half International’s greater China division, “Hong Kong's work ethic is intense. To avoid burnout and maintain morale, bosses must make it a priority to give their staff a break.”

While the Philippines was not included in the survey, I think that generally, our employers are not that demanding. Hong Kong’s lifestyle is very fast-paced, and I do mean it in the literal sense also. Whenever I go there, I find myself walking faster to keep up with the people as they go around the city, sometimes even rushing into the MTR station to meet the next train, when I was only going to Causeway Bay to check out what’s on sale in Sogo.

In our country, foreigners often remark that the people here are all laid-back, to the point of being slow to action. While this significantly reduced stress levels of majority of our population and makes our suicide and depression rates minimal, our country has lagged behind economically with the universal “maňana” and “bahala na” attitudes.

Of course there are a lot of exceptional examples, ranging from world-class exports such as San Miguel Beer to internationally-celebrated boxer Manny Pacquiao.

I think that the common denominator for world-class performance is simply striving to be excellent in anything you do. I came upon this article by Tony Schwartz on the Harvard Business Review. Schwartz has written a book on high performance, and has listed several keys to being excellent in anything, be it in a sport, in doing work or business, or in instilling a habit within yourself:

1.  Pursue what you love. Passion is an incredible motivator. It fuels focus, resilience, and perseverance.

2. Do the hardest work first. We all move instinctively toward pleasure and away from pain. Most great performers, Ericsson and others have found, delay gratification and take on the difficult work of practice in the mornings, before they do anything else. That's when most of us have the most energy and the fewest distractions.

3. Practice intensely, without interruption for short periods of no longer than 90 minutes and then take a break. Ninety minutes appears to be the maximum amount of time that we can bring the highest level of focus to any given activity. The evidence is equally strong that great performers practice no more than 4 ½ hours a day.

4. Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses. The simpler and more precise the feedback, the more equipped you are to make adjustments. Too much feedback, too continuously can create cognitive overload, increase anxiety, and interfere with learning.

5. Take regular renewal breaks. Relaxing after intense effort not only provides an opportunity to rejuvenate, but also to metabolize and embed learning. It's also during rest that the right hemisphere becomes more dominant, which can lead to creative breakthroughs.

6. Ritualize practice. Will and discipline are wildly overrated. As the researcher Roy Baumeister has found, none of us have very much of it. The best way to insure you'll take on difficult tasks is to build rituals — specific, inviolable times at which you do them, so that over time you do them without having to squander energy thinking about them.

It is reassuring to know that every one of us can be high performers. I’ve always wondered about how highly admired people like Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet and even Oprah Winfrey became leaders of their respective fields. I believe that their habits are what made them great. So as long as we discipline ourselves and set our minds determinedly on a goal, we too can rise above mediocrity.

[jobs180]

Going to the pro leagues: Professionalism 101

As kids, we often have dreams of going “pro” when we grow up. You could have been thinking of being a professional basketball player sinking a crucial 3-point shot, a pilot flying a jet plane over the city or even an entrepreneur overseeing a business empire. Being a professional is not determined by the number of years you studied law to get the title, or the 10,000 hours you spent practicing the piano. A doctor who may diagnose rare diseases brilliantly but insults his patients afterwards is not displaying professional behavior.  Athletes showing unprofessional or unsportsmanlike behavior are often booed by spectators. Even singers and dancers are expected to be professionals on stage and are ridiculed when displaying diva tendencies.

Regardless of what your dream job may be, professionalism is expected across all industries to succeed. I doubt if there are any CEOs who made it to the top by being a slob in the workplace. As aspiring leaders, here are some great places to start in displaying professionalism today:

Respect and consideration. The world does not revolve around you. The people around you  have feelings with their own things to do so always be courteous and think before you speak.

Honoring commitments. Don’t blow off scheduled appointments. Be sure to cancel in advance when you cannot make it. Meet your deadlines in submitting your work. At times, people depend on your output so you risk other people’s work output when you are late.

Accountability and humility. Don’t play the blame game. If you made a mistake, man up and vow to improve next time. Leaders are not born adept in leading. They made mistakes and they asked for help and they improve every single day.

Excellence. You probably have heard this word ever since you were in kindergarten that you’ve never seriously thought about how you can be excellent in everything you do. Excellence is about being the best you can be, be it in your attire and appearance, your relationships with co-workers, your interactions with customers and your reports. There are no shortcuts to excellence. Walk that extra mile and you’ll win over your colleagues, your bosses and your customers.

[jobs180]

8 Tips for Getting Ahead at Work

In any workplace, there are usually two types of workers: people who are just there to do their work, watch the clock and collect their paycheck; while there are also those who take the extra mile and deliver impressive results. You are either one or the other. If you’re part of the first group, achieving that promotion will be next to impossible. But, if you’re part of the latter group, there’s a huge chance your boss has already taken notice of you, and it will only be a matter of time until you get that well-deserved promotion.

If only that always happens. In reality, employees with strong soft skills are preferred over others with strong hard skills but weaker soft skills. Getting promoted will require more than just hard work, intellect and technical skills, especially if you have competition to watch out for. Most of the time, it’s not really the quality of work you turn out each day that matters, but how you are perceived in the workplace, whether you have what they deem it takes to become a leader. Leadership after all entails more soft skills than hard ones. The important thing to note is separating yourself from the herd.

Here’s how:

1. Look presentable Studies show that people naturally respond positively and respectfully towards others who dress up nicely. According to Frank Bernieri, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology at Oregon State University, dressing the wrong way is equivalent to the worst social faux pas. Those who come across as polished and pulled together are seen as putting in more effort, hence, more dependable to perform difficult tasks. 2. Build positive relationships with everyone The more good relationships you have at work, the more chances you’ll get strong support when the boss asks your coworkers if you’re a good candidate for promotion. It’s important to cultivate these relationships by improving team morale and not engaging in petty fights and gossips. 3. Find role models Surround yourself with people you admire. Learn from and emulate them. If there’s a formal mentorship program in your organization, go take part in it. It’s essential to learn from people who have more experience and wisdom than you. 4. Always be proactive and productive Give your hundred percent in everything you do. Don’t settle for anything less than your best. 5. Seize leadership opportunities Find opportunities where you can develop your leadership abilities. If there’s a particular project no one wants to deal with at work, step up to the plate and embrace the challenge as an opportunity for growth, the key is to constantly take yourself out of your comfort zone. 6. Improve yourself Leaders never stop learning. If you think you need more improvement in a specific area, take the initiative to attend training sessions or even enroll in further studies. The important thing is that you never stop learning. 7. Be accountable to your actions Failure is the best teacher. It is always humbling to experience defeat. Never be afraid to own up to your mistakes, this shows your superiors that you are a person of integrity and it is a rare quality that good leaders should possess. 8. Stand up for yourself Just because you need to be nice to the people around you does not mean you have to be a doormat. Saying no sometimes can be a good thingimages. Don’t be afraid to tell people what you want.

[jobs180]

That first day at work

Congratulations! All that preparation and hard work have finally paid off and led you to where you are now—looking at your reflection on the bathroom mirror on your first day of work. You are understandably nervous and excited. You feel like a kid again on your first day of school. Only this time, you won’t be seeing old classmates but new faces who will be your colleagues.

Much like your first day of school, there is nothing you can do to prepare for it. You got yourself the job, so that means your company already think you’re a good match. So start off your new job with these tips:

Get enough sleep. Be sure that you are well-rested for the big day. You want to be alert and make a good impression.

Be there early. Give ample time for rush hour traffic. It’s difficult to make a good first impression when you’re late.

Bring your lunch baon. Your boss might (or might not) treat you out for a welcome lunch, and there might be no cafeteria nearby. Just to be sure, bring food so you won’t go hungry.

Take notes. During orientation, you are sure to get too much information about everything. Names and positions are important to note. Don’t rely on your memory to keep track of the 3 Marks and 2 Jens you meet.

Listen and observe. Take note of the dynamics of the team, what kind of jokes they make, and how they respond to each other. Colleagues might be taken aback if you jump right in with the green jokes and loud bantering.

When in doubt, ask. Make sure you understand all instructions by asking questions. While in a middle of a task and you’re unsure how to proceed next, don’t be shy to ask again. Just don’t go asking every couple of minutes—your boss might regret hiring you.

[jobs180]

Managing a professional online identity

If you were a recruiter and you Googled your name, would you hire yourself based on the results you get? Increasingly, as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have become ubiquitous, people oftentimes do not think twice about sharing personal information and mouthing off offensive comments, getting them in hot water.

As you get ready for a job interview, you make sure to put yourself in the best possible light— you make sure your ResumeLink showcases your best work, you wear your flattering interview suit, and you take a breath mint so you won’t have bad breath. Just as how you prepare your physical self for your interview, so should you clean up your online identity. Did your high school barkada tag you in a picture showing you looking wildly drunk on Facebook? Untag your name from that picture! Did you vent out against your previous employer on your Twitter? You better delete that, pronto. Did you snap a sexy selfie for your Instagram? If you want to appear professional, then it’s best if you remove that post.

Here’s what you can do to keep things professional:

1. Google yourself. Since the moment you shared your ResumeLink, some recruiter may be Googling you right now. Control what they can see by removing anything negative about you. 2. Pause before you post. Is your comment controversial? Will it rile up some of your more conservative friends? If you don’t want to cause an issue, then you better censor it. 3. Bury those pics. Any photo you post is for public consumption. If you want to hide them, make it private by controlling your privacy settings. 4. Delete old social media accounts. Forgotten and outdated accounts can still show up on Google so it’s best that you delete or deactivate these accounts. 5. Use your accounts responsibly and wisely. Scrubbing all online presence will make you seem like a technophobe, so be sure to maintain a couple of public accounts. Use these to bolster your image in your field by posting articles of interest and participating in groups within your industry.