In Search of a Golden Sky

Thursday, July 12, 2007

HOW TO AVOID THE UNEMPLOYMENT DEPRESSION II

The second most important thing you can afford to do in this phase of your life is what most of us have grown to dread. Books. For some of us, they are a treasure trove, but for the majority, they are useless pieces of junk. However, they are surest way of mental development provided that you get hold of a quality book.
So you next move should be to start reading good books, something that can lift your spirits. Read a bit of yet another good book at the same time, but this one related to your field of expertise. It’s imperative that you know the maximum possible stuff about your field, get a 360 view of it, so that you can speak with authority whenever an interview lands in your lap. But that’s not going to be enough. You have to stay abreast with the latest developments as well in your field. For that you’ll have to either read the latest publications which are probably going to be available in your own university, or try to catch up on it on the internet.

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.
-Thomas H. Huxley

And while you are at it, read up on material that improves your interviewing skills. There are loads of free ebooks available on knowfree.net that help you in every aspect of this phase including preparing resumes and places to search for your ideal job.

Read the newspaper. It’s simply crucial. The interviewer is going to be asking you about the current affairs irrespective of whether you are applying for a technical position. It’s one of the barometers he’s going to be using to assess your worth to his firm. For some it’s an unpleasant experience, but its one of those things that simply has to be done. In fact the more unpleasant it’s for you, the more pleasure you are going to derive from having accomplished this task.

Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium
and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome
labor is immense.
Arnold Bennett.

Having said that, avoid the depressing news as much as you can, especially those that are near to the home and are certain to evoke a negative reaction in you. Focus on the international issues, that’s what the interviewer is going to be most interested in. Everyone knows what is happening about him, and with this assumption the interviewer is going to avoid delving into the local scene. The chances of him asking about that are pretty slim, and the benefits of not reading the local section far outweigh the losses.

It is possible that the international scene is filled with dark and dreary news, but then that’s the nature of news. The point is since you’re not emotionally attached to that place, its impact is going to be minimal. Unless of course, it’s about the religious caricatures or Salman Rushdie. The thing is that you have to suspend reality and try to live in a make-belief world, even to the extreme of ‘living in a fool’s paradise’, if that’s what it takes to create an impeccably consistent positive mental attitude.

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder
drug.
Patricia Neal

In fact, strive to do a couple of unpleasant tasks every day that you are unemployed. It’s a great way to boost your self-esteem. And do them early on in the day when you are still full of vigor. And avoid any leisurely pursuits until late in the day when you are done with most of the difficult tasks.

When you have a number of disagreeable duties to perform, always do the most
disagreeable first.
Josiah Quincy

In fact, get through the unpleasant ones by thinking about these goodies. Use them as an incentive to finish your chores, so that when you finally get to your favorite pastime (be it watching television, movie, going out with friends or simply reading a novel) at the end of the day you feel like you have earned it and you enjoy it more thoroughly. If you do it at the start of the day, there’s no incentive to get the dreaded tasks done. You end up procrastinating, getting bored and then your thoughts wander to the bitter fact that you are unemployed. It’s a vicious circle, and you have to tackle it on a day-to-day basis.


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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Management Trainee Program at Ferguson

A. F. Ferguson & Co. (AFF), a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), is the largest and most distinguished advisory/ accountancy firm in Pakistan. Our network firm, PwC, is the Global Leader in providing advisory/ assurance services with over 140,000 staff in 149 countries and annual revenues in excess of USD 22 billion.
For the last few years, AFF has been focused on developing its advisory/ consultancy business across all sectors of the economy. In this pursuit, we have developed a dedicated Risk Advisory Services (RAS) Division within the firm along the lines of PwC. This Division serves different Lines of Businesses especially Financial Services (i.e. Banking, Insurance, Capital Market entities etc.), Oil and Gas and Telecom.
Our RAS Team comprises of high-calibre individuals representing diversified disciplines ranging from MBAs, CAs and CFAs to people of specialized skills such as risk management (FRM), actuarial sciences, financial econometrics/ engineering, mathematics and statistics etc. Majority of our team members have served at senior positions in various banks, oil and gas and telecom companies in the past. This mix of skill set from diversified disciplines and sectors puts us in the best position to serve the needs of our clients to their satisfaction.
The following is an indicative range of our services:
Basel II Advisory
COSO/ SOX 404 Advisory
Business Process Re-engineering
ERP Services
Business Process/ Manual Development
Risk Management
Due Diligence
Asset Liability Management and Derivatives Advisory
Strategy Consulting
Internal Audit
Fraud Risk Services
Benchmarking Studies and Gap Analysis
Efficiency Audits
Review/ Design of Organisational Structure and Roles
Regulatory & Compliance Reviews
Solvency II
Our RAS practice is currently engaged in providing above-mentioned services to a number of large and medium sized organizations and has become the largest advisory practice in Pakistan over a very short span of time. The firm is also constantly working on future initiatives and projects and aims to maintain its market leadership in advisory.
We have recently introduced our Fast Track Management Trainee Program for 2007 under which we are seeking dynamic and enthusiastic Fresh graduates from renowned institutions. Individuals selected under this program will form a key part of our RAS Financial Services Practice and will have access to the methodology and tools developed by PricewaterhouseCoopers worldwide. They will also undergo internal and on-job training including those conducted with the help of our local and PwC Subject Matter Experts/ Trainers.

Eligibility Criteria:
MBAs graduated in May 2007 with specialization in Finance.
Candidates should possess excellent oral and written communication skills.
Internship in renowned consultancy organisations/ accountancy firms with specific focus on risk management advisory / process development in banks will be considered a Plus.
As a first step in the selection process, we have already conducted an orientation/ group discussion session for a group of interested candidates to explain to them about AFF and in particular RAS, RAS product profile and services and most importantly the key features of our Management Training Program for 2007. The session also highlighted the career prospects and progression opportunities and a description of the role of Management Trainees during the training period of six months and going forward when they would be serving as consultants in our organization.
We would like to provide another chance to those individuals who could not make it to our earlier session. You are accordingly informed that our next similar session is due to be held on July 17, 2007 at 11:00 A.M (Sharp) at the following address:
A.F. Ferguson & Co.
Chartered Accountants
State Life Building No. 1-C (First Floor)
I.I. Chundrigar Road,
Karachi.
If you are interested in attending the session, please send soft copy of your resume to saad.mukhtar@pk.pwc.com by July 14, 2007.
For further clarification, kindly contact the following:
Saad Mukhtar Ahmed
Risk Advisory Services(RAS)
AF Ferguson & Co.
Phone: 021-2426711 (Ext) 313
0300-8208210


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Friday, July 06, 2007

Job Opportunity at AAJ TV

AAJ TV is a part of the highly credible Business Recorder Group and is one of the biggest Urdu language television channels. AAJ TV is the logical progression of the group's mission to dispense unadulterated information through easily accessible mediums. Extensive planning, spanning over 2 years, has gone into perfecting the organizations operations. Now AAJ TV employs over 350 employees and has fully equipped bureaus in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. AAJ TV is the only digital satellite channel to have an Earth Station in Pakistan that broadcasts directly to the AsiaSat satellite with a footprint of over 60 countries. This Earth Station provides exceptional flexibility and control in responding to local and international events.
AAJ TV is in the process of hiring fresh graduates from Institute of Business Administration, Karachi for its Marketing department.
The incumbent should:
Be holding MBA degree
Having 1 - 2 years of experience. Fresh graduates can also apply
Have Marketing major
Be positive in approach and attitude
Have ability to understand business requirements
Be self motivated to learn new features and tools
Interested candidates should send soft copy of their resume to marketing@aaj.tv latest by, July 14, 2007 (noon


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Sunday, July 01, 2007

MT Program at Askari Bank

Askaribank, an institution, which aims to provide innovative financial solutions to its customers, is seeking highly talented, innovative and resourceful candidates with strong academic background for induction in the Bank as Management Trainees to go one step further in achieving the desired Excellence.
The program is a unique and challenging opportunity for those who strive for excellence. It is enriched with rigorous classroom training, job rotation and personal mentoring. The objective of the program is to develop high potential leaders who will be able to implement the growth plans and strategic imperative of the bank.
Eligibility Criteria
The candidates should possess MBA, MPA, M.Com, M.Sc (Banking & Finance), MA/M.Sc (Economics) or equivalent degrees in related disciplines from HEC recognized or well-reputed foreign universities. Four Years Bachelors Degree Program holders in the above-mentioned disciplines are also eligible to apply.s
Candidates having highest degree passing year of 2006 and 2007.
Maximum age up to 26 years as on December 31, 2007.
Interested candidates who fulfill the above mentioned criteria may post their CV on the www.askaribank.com.pk latest by July 06, 2007.


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