Islamabad Job Fair: Students get tips for seeking job

[Naveed Yaseen]

Experts at a seminar urged the students to never give up and remain consistent while seeking a job until success.

The seminar, which was attended by a large number of female job seekers, was held at the sideline of second day of the Job Fair 2009 here on Wednesday.

They said that the average ratio for getting a call from an organisation you applied for a job was 10:1, which means that a candidate has to apply in dozens of organisations to get a required job.

The speakers on the occasion described various job-seeking tips to the students and said that each and every aspect starting from the application till the interview must be handled skilfully.

They said that one of the frustrating part of the job search was locating job openings.

“Everyone should have yellow pages which provide detailed information regarding the number and addresses of the offices in the city,” said Faculty of Management Sciences Assistant Professor Shoaib Bin Naeem.

Naeem also suggested that some leading newspapers including ‘The News’ and ‘Jang’ could be lot more helpful in finding job openings. “A person seeking job must have these newspapers on Sunday in order to get the useful information regarding various vacancies,” he said.

He also pointed out the common mistake made by the applicants when they make similar job letter for every vacancy. “The job in which one is interested must be specified in the subject,” Naeem said.

He further advised that a considerable information regarding company must be included in the application as it shows the interest of the applicant in the respective organisation.

“The HR should have an impression as if you are really interested to work in that particular organisation,” he said.

Shifa International HR Manager Ehsan-ul-Haq urged students to be prepared about the various questions that they were expecting during the interview. “One should not mention ones weaknesses in a straightforward manner rather present ones weaknesses as strength,” he said.

Saadia Malik, a manager HR, stressed for the grooming of the applicants as far as their personal appearance was concerned. “The HR manager selects or rejects an applicant in the first 10 seconds on the basis of his personal appearance and manners,” she said.

She suggested various tips regarding the dressing, accessories and makeup of the applicant when called for interview. “One should wear a sober dress with light make up and jewellery,” she said.

Addressing on the occasion Numeratics Managing Director Owaise Anjum said that there were few technicalities involved in filling the job application, which include the proper full name, all dates of employments, all experiences and proper reference. “If there is a blank for salary desired, try to give a salary range or state ‘open’ or ‘negotiable’,” he said.

While describing the various don’t he said that never misspell words, do not omit signature, do not ever be negative and do not make your application a challenge to read.

He said that there are some common questions, which are usually asked by the interviews so a candidate must be prepared to answer them. He said that the most asked questions include the question regarding your strength and weaknesses, your personality, goals and requirements.

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