1. Read the job description and company profile carefully so that you are aware of the job details when an employer calls you about your application. If the job advertisement does not contain enough information, ask the employer for more details.
2. Remember to write down the name & contact number of the recruiter in case you need to call back later.
3. Prepare for the interview by finding out more about the company, the job and the industry.
4. Be punctual for your interview. Bring your resume, transcripts, certificates and relevant documents to the interview.
5. IMPORTANT: If you cannot attend the confirmed interview for whatever reason, you must contact the employer at least one day beforehand to let them know.
Keeping a good interview attendance record will help to ensure opportunities for interview in the future, as employers have the right to share their "No show" and late cancellation records.
If you do not have the employer's contact details, look under the Company Profile in the Application Status page of your MyJobStreet account or look in the telephone book or Yellow Pages.
6. Send the employer a Thank You email after the interview.
7. Follow up with the employer on the status of the interview after two or three days. This shows your interest for the job and may increase your chances of success.
At JobStreet.com, employers have the option to blacklist you if you fail to attend an interview or falsify your resume data. Therefore, always be professional and courteous. We wish you all the best in your job search!
7/31/09
7/30/09
Pay holds steady for some diploma, degree graduates
SINGAPORE: While polytechnics and the government are rolling out schemes to help fresh graduates get by in the tight job market, one survey presents another picture: More than 50 per cent of companies are hiring fresh diploma and degree graduates, with salaries at least in some sectors holding steady.
These are engineering, IT and telecommunications, finance and accounting, and logistics, according to a Hay Group’s Fresh Graduate Pay survey. It polled 100 companies in Singapore in May.
"Though companies are recruiting less, they are still willing to pay a fair wage," said Hay Group Singapore’s country head of reward information services, Mr Christian Vo Phuoc.
Engineering degree—holders attract the highest starting salaries of S$2,700 a month, about S$200 more than the other three professions. Employers are also more optimistic about 2010, forecasting higher starting salaries for these four jobs.
Ms Annie Yap, managing director of recruitment firm AYP Associates said the premium wage is due to a "shortage of engineers" arising from the move to high—tech manufacturing.
There is also always a demand for accounting graduates because fresh graduates usually stay with a firm for a few years "learning one area". Then, they typically move on, leaving vacancies behind.
The optimistic hiring expectations from logistics companies were a surprise though. Salaries as high as S$2,900 have been forecast for fresh degree—holders in 2010, up from S$2,450 this year.
"Logistics usually follow after manufacturing. You produce and then you ship out," said Ms Yap. Still, the market is good for fresh graduates now, she said.
Some, however told TODAY it had been extremely trying to find a job. Ms Kartika Liaw, 22, a business graduate from the Singapore Management University said she found her marketing job after sending out "more than 100" applications.
Temasek Polytechnic graduate Nurul Fathin Aida Omar, now with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), said she would not have got her job if not for her internship at RBS earlier this year.
The 20—year—old Financial Business Informatics diploma holder’s starting pay is S$2,000 — higher than the average market rate.
source : http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20090730/tap-587-pay-holds-steady-diploma-degree-231650b.html
These are engineering, IT and telecommunications, finance and accounting, and logistics, according to a Hay Group’s Fresh Graduate Pay survey. It polled 100 companies in Singapore in May.
"Though companies are recruiting less, they are still willing to pay a fair wage," said Hay Group Singapore’s country head of reward information services, Mr Christian Vo Phuoc.
Engineering degree—holders attract the highest starting salaries of S$2,700 a month, about S$200 more than the other three professions. Employers are also more optimistic about 2010, forecasting higher starting salaries for these four jobs.
Ms Annie Yap, managing director of recruitment firm AYP Associates said the premium wage is due to a "shortage of engineers" arising from the move to high—tech manufacturing.
There is also always a demand for accounting graduates because fresh graduates usually stay with a firm for a few years "learning one area". Then, they typically move on, leaving vacancies behind.
The optimistic hiring expectations from logistics companies were a surprise though. Salaries as high as S$2,900 have been forecast for fresh degree—holders in 2010, up from S$2,450 this year.
"Logistics usually follow after manufacturing. You produce and then you ship out," said Ms Yap. Still, the market is good for fresh graduates now, she said.
Some, however told TODAY it had been extremely trying to find a job. Ms Kartika Liaw, 22, a business graduate from the Singapore Management University said she found her marketing job after sending out "more than 100" applications.
Temasek Polytechnic graduate Nurul Fathin Aida Omar, now with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), said she would not have got her job if not for her internship at RBS earlier this year.
The 20—year—old Financial Business Informatics diploma holder’s starting pay is S$2,000 — higher than the average market rate.
source : http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20090730/tap-587-pay-holds-steady-diploma-degree-231650b.html
7/27/09
joke of the day
A college class was told they had to write a short story in as few words as possible. The instructions were: The short story has to contain the following three things:
1) religion
2) Sexuality
3) Mystery
Below is the only A+ short story in the entire class
"Good God, I'm pregnant; I wonder who did it"
1) religion
2) Sexuality
3) Mystery
Below is the only A+ short story in the entire class
"Good God, I'm pregnant; I wonder who did it"
7/22/09
Total Solar Eclipse 22th July
VARANASI, India (AFP) - - The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century cast a shadow over much of Asia on Wednesday, plunging hundreds of millions into darkness across the giant land masses of India and China.
Ancient superstition and modern commerce came together in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity likely to end up being the most watched eclipse in history, due to its path over Earth's most densely inhabited areas.
While bad weather confounded some eclipse watchers, tens of thousands of people gathered at dawn on the banks of the Ganges river in Varanasi where a largely cloudless morning offered a stunning view.
With Hindu priests conducting special prayers, the crowds cheered and then raised their arms in salutation as the sun re-emerged from behind the moon, before they took a spiritually purifying dip in the river's holy waters.
A total solar eclipse usually occurs every 18 months or so, but Wednesday's spectacle was special for its maximum period of "totality" -- when the sun is wholly covered by the moon -- of six minutes and 39 seconds.
Such a lengthy duration will not be matched until the year 2132.
State-run China Central Television provided minute-by-minute coverage of what it dubbed "The Great Yangtze River Solar Eclipse" as the phenomenon cut a path along the river's drainage basin.
Millions of people in areas of southwestern China enjoyed a clear line of sight, according to images broadcast on CCTV, but the view was obstructed along much of its path by cloudy weather.
Shanghai viewers braved rain and overcast skies to witness the spectacle as darkness shrouded China's commercial hub at 9:36 am (0136 GMT).
"It is working hours now, but with such a spectacle going on, you don't want to miss it. The experience is truly thrilling," said Allen Chen, a Shanghai office worker, who stepped out into the street to witness the event.
And despite the weather, hotels along Shanghai's famed waterfront Bund packed in the customers with eclipse breakfast specials.
Those who could afford it grabbed expensive seats on planes chartered by specialist travel agencies that promised extended views of the eclipse as they chased the shadow eastwards.
The cone-shaped shadow, or umbra, created by the total eclipse first made landfall on the western Indian state of Gujarat shortly before 6:30 am (0100 GMT).
It then raced across India and squeezed between Bangladesh and Nepal before engulfing most of Bhutan, traversing the Chinese mainland and slipping back out to sea off Shanghai.
From there it moved across the islands of southern Japan and veered into the western Pacific.
In Mumbai, hundreds of people who trekked up to the Nehru planetarium clutching eclipse sunglasses found themselves reaching for umbrellas and rain jackets instead as heavy overnight rain turned torrential.
"We didn't want to watch it on television and we thought this would be the best place," said 19-year-old student Dwayne Fernandes. "We could've stayed in bed."
Others opted to stay home and shuttered their windows, fearful of the effects of the lunar shadow which some believe can lead to birth defects in pregnant women.
Superstition has always haunted the moment when Earth, moon and sun are perfectly aligned. The daytime extinction of the sun, the source of all life, is associated with war, famine, flood and the death or birth of rulers.
The ancient Chinese blamed a sun-eating dragon. In Hindu mythology, the two demons Rahu and Ketu are said to "swallow" the sun during eclipses, snuffing out its light and causing food to become inedible and water undrinkable.
Some Indian astrologers had issued predictions laden with gloom and foreboding, and a gynaecologist at a Delhi hospital said many expectant mothers scheduled for July 22 caesarian deliveries insisted on changing the date.
The last total solar eclipse was on August 1 last year and also crossed China.
The next will be on July 11, 2010, but will occur almost entirely over the South Pacific, where Easter Island -- home of the legendary moai giant statues -- will be one of the few landfalls.
source : http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090722/tap-science-astronomy-eclipse-asia-2a5be5e.html
7/16/09
Secret to a Happy Marriage
SYDNEY - Living happily ever after needn't only be for fairy tales. Australian researchers have identified what it takes to keep a couple together, and it's a lot more than just being in love.
A couple's age, previous relationships and even whether they smoke or not are factors that influence whether their marriage is going to last, according to a study by researchers from the Australian National University.
The study, entitled "What's Love Got to Do With It," tracked nearly 2,500 couples -- married or living together -- from 2001 to 2007 to identify factors associated with those who remained together compared with those who divorced or separated.
It found that a husband who is nine or more years older than his wife is twice as likely to get divorced, as are husbands who get married before they turn 25.
Children also influence the longevity of a marriage or relationship, with one-fifth of couples who have kids before marriage -- either from a previous relationship or in the same relationship -- having separated compared to just nine percent of couples without children born before marriage.
Women who want children much more than their partners are also more likely to get a divorce.
A couple's parents also have a role to play in their own relationship, with the study showing some 16 percent of men and women whose parents ever separated or divorced experienced marital separation themselves compared to 10 percent for those whose parents did not separate.
Also, partners who are on their second or third marriage are 90 percent more likely to separate than spouses who are both in their first marriage.
Not surprisingly, money also plays a role, with up to 16 percent of respondents who indicated they were poor or where the husband -- not the wife -- was unemployed saying they had separated, compared with only nine percent of couples with healthy finances.
And couples where one partner, and not the other, smokes are also more likely to have a relationship that ends in failure.
Factors found to not significantly affect separation risk included the number and age of children born to a married couple, the wife's employment status and the number of years the couple had been employed.
The study was jointly written by Dr Rebecca Kippen and Professor Bruce Chapman from The Australian National University, and Dr Peng Yu from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
source : http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20090715/tod-odd-us-odd-couples-a929486.html
To summarize,
if you are a guy, get married after 25,
get a wife not more than 9 yrs youunger than you,
have good money management and healthy finances,
and if you smoke, find a smoker wife.
but of cos, you can always find a smokin hot wife regardless of whether you smoke or not.
A couple's age, previous relationships and even whether they smoke or not are factors that influence whether their marriage is going to last, according to a study by researchers from the Australian National University.
The study, entitled "What's Love Got to Do With It," tracked nearly 2,500 couples -- married or living together -- from 2001 to 2007 to identify factors associated with those who remained together compared with those who divorced or separated.
It found that a husband who is nine or more years older than his wife is twice as likely to get divorced, as are husbands who get married before they turn 25.
Children also influence the longevity of a marriage or relationship, with one-fifth of couples who have kids before marriage -- either from a previous relationship or in the same relationship -- having separated compared to just nine percent of couples without children born before marriage.
Women who want children much more than their partners are also more likely to get a divorce.
A couple's parents also have a role to play in their own relationship, with the study showing some 16 percent of men and women whose parents ever separated or divorced experienced marital separation themselves compared to 10 percent for those whose parents did not separate.
Also, partners who are on their second or third marriage are 90 percent more likely to separate than spouses who are both in their first marriage.
Not surprisingly, money also plays a role, with up to 16 percent of respondents who indicated they were poor or where the husband -- not the wife -- was unemployed saying they had separated, compared with only nine percent of couples with healthy finances.
And couples where one partner, and not the other, smokes are also more likely to have a relationship that ends in failure.
Factors found to not significantly affect separation risk included the number and age of children born to a married couple, the wife's employment status and the number of years the couple had been employed.
The study was jointly written by Dr Rebecca Kippen and Professor Bruce Chapman from The Australian National University, and Dr Peng Yu from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
source : http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20090715/tod-odd-us-odd-couples-a929486.html
To summarize,
if you are a guy, get married after 25,
get a wife not more than 9 yrs youunger than you,
have good money management and healthy finances,
and if you smoke, find a smoker wife.
but of cos, you can always find a smokin hot wife regardless of whether you smoke or not.
7/15/09
Solar eclipse on July 22
THE eclipse of a lifetime takes place in July, and people here will get to see a small slice of the action.
During the July 22 solar eclipse, the Sun will be completely blacked out, and day will turn to night for six minutes - the longest eclipse this century.
Complete darkness will affect a swathe of land that will stretch across parts of India, Bangladesh, China and the Pacific Ocean, but which will be just 16km- to 32km-wide.
In Singapore, which is outside the band, the Sun will be partially cloaked.
A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes in front of the Sun and blocks it.
While there are up to five eclipses a year, total eclipses are rare, happening in the same location once every 370 years and lasting mere seconds to minutes. The last one - which lasted about 21/2 minutes - was on Aug 1 last year.
The July eclipse will be partially visible in Singapore from 8.41am to 9.44am, peaking at 9.11am.
Seen from here, 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the Sun will be obscured because of the Moon's path in relation to Singapore's location.
To catch the sight in its full glory, a small band of eclipse-chasers from the Astronomical Society of Singapore will be travelling to the Chinese city of Wuhan, about 600km west of Shanghai, to view and photograph the spectacle.
Remember to wake up earlier on this day if you want to see the eclipse !
source : http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_349118.html
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