In Search of a Golden Sky

Friday, August 24, 2007

Job Opportunity at Sindh Education Foundation

Company Profile
The Sindh Education Foundation is a semi-government organization working towards providing literacy and empowerment to the disadvantaged communities of Sindh. The Foundation functions in various districts of the province and has the following core programs:

1. Adopt-a-School Program
2. Community Supported Schools Program
3. Child Labor education program
4. Fellowship Schools Program
5. Home Schools Program
6. Women Literacy and Empowerment Program

The Foundation also works closely with the Aga Khan Foundation through there Releasing Confidence and Creativity Program focusing on Early Childhood Development.

The Foundation has its major magazine Educate!, which gives a critical analysis of the education within the country. SEF has also launched the first Early Childhood Magazine of the country “Nurture” and is also working on producing thematic booklets.

The Foundation is working towards establishing a Quality Assurance Resource Center – a project that works towards improving the education within the country by focusing on the different types of schooling within Pakistan.

For more information visit our website: www.sef.org.pk

Position:
· Associate- Marketing, Advocacy & Publications

Job Description:
The person in this position will be responsible for the following:
· Develop content for SEF publications (newsletters, magazines, brochures)
· Develop content for SEF website
· Develop content for “Nurture” magazine on Early Childhood Development
· Conduct long scale researches on areas related to ECD, School Management, Teacher Education, Quality of Education and ECD policy
· Guide the creative and graphic designers in designing the publications and other advocacy material
· Conduct short scale research studies on various areas pertaining to the SEF programs
· Conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis for research conducted.
· Assist in organizing and managing conferences and seminars.
· Assist in designing advocacy and educational material for programs at SEF.

To be based in:
Karachi - Head Office


Eligibility:
Education:
BSc. in any area / Masters degree in any field
Experience:
No work experience required
Special Skills:
A natural ability to write. Patience to edit, proof read and undertake documentation for SEF programs.


How to Apply:
Interested candidates should forward soft copy of their CV‘s to tatheer@sef.org.pk latest by August 27, 2007 till 12:00 (noon).


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Sunday, August 12, 2007

HOW TO AVOID THE UNEMPLOYMENT DEPRESSION III

Avoid comparing yourself with people who have already secured a job. This is the second most deadly depression inducing tool after prickly relatives and friends. It’s inevitable that some of your batchmates are going to get better jobs and more quickly as well. It’s also possible that some have a GPA lower than yours and are even your close friends. That’s going to hurt the most.
So choose your comparisons wisely. Focus on those people who have GPA or grade higher than yours and still unemployed. That’s the only way to tackle this monster.

In many cases, the more you try to compete, the less competitive you actually
are.
Kathy Sierra

Of course, it’s a different story altogether if everyone is employed and you are the last man standing.

One of the studies quoted in The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People regarding comparison:
A large group of students was given a word puzzle to solve.
Researchers compared the satisfaction of students who finished
the puzzle quickly or more slowly. Students who finished the
puzzle quickly and compared themselves with the very fastest
students came away feeling dissatisfied with themselves.
Students who finished the puzzle more slowly but compared
themselves with the slowest students came away feeling quite
satisfied with themselves and tended to ignore the presence of
the quick-finishing students.
Lyubomirsky and Ross 1997

What all this means is the root of dissatisfaction is your ability to compare yourself with others. Comparing yourself with examples that make you comfortable about who you are and what you have will go a long way in removing much of the man-made misery in your life.

All said and done, the bulk of your time in any unemployment phase should be spent researching prospective employers, sending customized cover letter and resumes to them, and in some cases following up on them.

I cannot lay enough emphasis on the research part. It’s very much possible that your very first job is not your ideal or dream job, and while you accept that offer, you are still on the lookout in search of the golden sky. Remember that when you get an interview call while you are in a job, you won’t get sufficient time to prepare for that. So unless you’ve done your homework regarding that particular organization beforehand, chances are you won’t be able to do a good job of it on such quick notice. And in the end, you may blow your chance of getting hired by your dream company.

How can you prepare for a interview in a particular organization? Your best bet is to prepare a SWOT analysis of every firm and the industry it is in. Am I kidding? Who would go to the trouble of asking such stuff in an interview?

The PSO interview panel did just that. I agree it’s not a standard practice, but it can happen, and you don’t want to be caught in an awkward situation in an interview for a firm that you desire to be a part of. Even if the interviewer doesn’t ask for the complete SWOT, your having done the SWOT would enable to tackle any question he may have about his company.

Doing SWOT requires considerable time, which you have in abundance when you unemployed. It becomes a scarce commodity when you get hired, so use it wisely. It’s the surest cure to your unemployment woes.

Finally, don’t make a plan beforehand that you’re going to such and such stuff for this amount of time. Just wake up early, and delve into the first unpleasant thing that comes to your mind. Finish that keeping those juicy incentives in mind and jump on to the next one. Keep doing this until you are almost at the end of the day, and then reward yourself with that thing that kept you going throughout the day. You deserve it now. But remember, in all this mayhem; don’t forget to tune with God a couple of times each day. I may offer you all the wonderfully soothing tips, but your best comfort lies in your spiritual connection with the Divine Power. Without that, you are just going to wither away emotionally, spiritually and even physically no matter how much you keep yourself busy.

Try to do most of the things that I’ve suggested here, and believe me, the next thing you know it would be time for the job that you had been patiently waiting for.

Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need.

Voltaire


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Thursday, August 09, 2007

National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP) 2007

Institute of Bankers of Pakistan (IBP) has announced a National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP) aiming at developing National Talent Pool (NTP) for banks, financial institutions, corporate and other reputed employers. To begin with we are organizing a Know Your Strength test exclusively for the MBA’s on 14th August, 2007 at 10:30 am at 6 centers viz. Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta, For details see IBP website: www.ibp.org.pk
National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP)
IBP as a knowledge Institute is committed to provide pro-active and innovative solutions to the financial services sector mainly in the field of Human Resource Management and development. To meet these objective several initiatives were introduced and successfully managed during the recent years. On the sixty first independence day of Pakistan, IBP is pleased to announce a National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP) aiming at developing a National Talent Pool (NTP) for the banks, financial institutions, corporate and other reputed employers.
Banking industry of Pakistan is on a high growth trajectory. The rising volume of business, expanding branch network, cut throat competition and appetite for quality products and processes have brought enormous pressure on the existing human resource inventory. It is felt that there is an acute shortage of competent human resource to meet the ever rising demand. In order to fill this gap the banks resorted to open or targeted recruitment processes. IBP is partnering with eighteen banks and financial institutions in their recruitment and promotion process. During current fiscal IBP, conducted 21 recruitment tests for SBP, NBP, MCB, HSBC, ZTBL, HBFC, Crescent Commercial and Bank Islami in which 17,500 candidates participated. Hardly 1,000 participants reached up to the acceptable pass standard. It is worth mentioning that the participants were from reputed educational institutes and secured good GPA or percentage from them. On the other hand the short listing criteria of the banks are on rise and therefore a good number of candidates may not be eligible to even enter into the test. Our experience in processing job applications and conducting of tests during last five years revealed that a large number of talented youngsters can not enter into the race mainly on account of their low GPA and/or their age crossing the limit.
The banks have their own preferences as to the desired GPA, age, experience, qualification and educational institution, however, IBP as a national Institute can opt for a different set of criteria and thus can effectively contribute towards developing a National Talent Database. Once developed this information will be available to the banks, financial services sector and other reputed employers through a powerful database to be maintained at IBP and will be updated periodically. There will be three specific objectives for this National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP)
a) Offering a chance to all those promising youngsters who cannot enter into the testing process owing to the short listing criteria suggested by the job offeror.
b) Through a scientific testing mechanism the participants will be able to know as to what is their standing in the National Talent Pool
c) Those who fail to reach a minimum pass standard will be advised and offered professional development program
To begin with we are organizing a Know Your Strength (KYS) test exclusively for the MBAs.
Please note, this is not an employment test but it will be a route to enter into the National Talent Pool. The success of this program will open new avenues for the other target groups.
Know Your Strength Test
Schedule: August 14, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. Insha Allah
Centres: Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta
Eligibility: MBAs with GPA 2.5 or above and Age up to 30 years as on August 14, 2007
Test Focus: a) English comprehension
b) Logical Thinking
c) Mathematical Intelligence
d) Current Business Affairs
e) General Knowledge
Methodology: Multiple Choice Questions
Duration: 90 minutes
Participation Fee: None.
It is yet another national service offered by IBP without any fee or charges
Result: The test result in the order of merit will be displayed on IBP website
What next: IBP will share this valuable information with banks and other
stakeholders who may be in search of talented youth and may be willing to
consider them for employment
How to apply? Visit http://www.ibp.org.pk/nthp.asp


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