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Do what you love

YOUR ULTIMATE CAREER& TALENT RESOURCE

Saturday 13 July 2013

T: 03 7966 8388 F: 03 7955 3355

Do what you love

YOUR ULTIMATE CAREER& TALENT RESOURCE

Pg 12-13

RECRUITMENT FACTSyou should know to boostyour chances of job success

HOW TO MAKE UPfor your lack of jobexperience

Pg 15Pg 14

SIX AMAZING THINGSyou probably didn’tknow about your brain

Time ToChange?Understand thechanges in leadershipthat your organisationneeds with Dr GlennWilliams.

Pg 5

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 20132

EDITORIALAdviserRoshan ThiRanEditorLiLy Cheah

Assistant EditorevaChRisTodouLou

Contributing EditorPRemaJayaBaLan

Operations Leadhyma PiLLay

Sub EditorLee KaR yean

Layout, Art & DesignTung eng hwaZuLhaimi BahaRuddinahmad fadZuL yusofadZnam saBRimohd KhaiRuL

hafis idZLamuhd hafeeZLaZaRshawn ngLisanne yeohsamueL Thum

Writers & ContributorseRiC quahsu-ann ChienTaLenTCoRPdR John suLLivanng eng han

TeRRy smaLLLim may Lee

Sales Managerian Lee

If you have any suggestions or feedback on our content, get in touch with the Leaderonomics team at mystarjob@leaderonomics.com.For advertising and advertorials, contact ian.lee@leaderonomics.com - 016 974 7087

Career Tips

LiLy says

The opinions expressed in this career guide are those of the writers orthe people they quoted and not necessarily those of Leaderonomics.

Thinking OuTside The BOx

sTudy! Take a CLass! Often when we are in a specific industry, all that we know about workcomes from our experience within that industry. A good way to think outside of the box is to learn somethingunrelated to your work. Study another industry, religion, or even a different country’s history. Your study ofseemingly unrelated topics will open up new ways of thinking and methods for business solutions.

Break free from your rouTines. Wake up earlier, take a different route to work or eventry an unusual drink from a new restaurant. Spend time outside of your comfort zone in major and minorways and you’ll be surprised at the new things you’ll encounter. Small things may be able to trigger ideas andhelp generate unusual thought processes that may lead to solutions outside of the ordinary.

Work BaCkWards. If all possible solutions end up with an unsatisfactory outcome, then playcheat by coming up with your ideal goal first. Select your most desirable scenario, then reverse-engineer theprocess. You will be able to clearly trace the chronology of the actions needed to be taken. This would alsohelp you to see if there are any other possible methods previously overlooked.

ask a ChiLd, or TaLk To differenT peopLe. We often refer to childhood as a simplertime, so why not check with a seven-year-old to see what he/she thinks of the situation? Sure, he might notbe able to solve 100% of your complex problems, but at the very least his untainted moral compass maybe able to steer you in the right direction in the case of an ethical dilemma. The solution might be morestraightforward than we think. Don’t underestimate the opinions of people who you think are less qualified.

ChaLLenge (your oWn) assumpTions. sTudy your fears andprejudiCes. Sometimes the inability to think creatively stems from our own fears and prejudicestowards things we do not understand. Do a self-check to examine where it is that you may be potentiallylimiting yourself. Perhaps it may be negative experiences in the past or baseless discriminations; overcomingthese restrictions will not only help you as an employee but also offer a fresh perspective as an individual.

Brain factsSix things you didn’t knowabout your brain. Pg 14

Spread yourwings and fly

Ng Eng Han’shard work

and sense ofadventure pay off.

Pg 14

No experience, no job?Overcome your lack ofexperience and nail your first jobby following these steps. Pg 15

Recruitmentthrough numbersFind out how everysmall detail plays outwith recruiters. Pg12-13

Leading withvirtuesIs it time to changethe leadershipdialogue in yourcompany? Pg 5

Positivity andintegrityRahul Colaco of DutchLady Milk Industries Bhdshares his career journey.Pg 3

Recruitment

Ihave always been intrigued by fast moving consumer goods.From the bright colours, great packaging, ads, to the prod-ucts themselves, as a consumer, it’s my favorite category ofproducts to shop for.

The FMCG industry is well-established in Malaysia, andhas built brands that we hold strong emotional connections to.Just think of a few names in the F&B side – brands like Milo,Julie’s and Twisties will surely trigger memories of some sort.

It’s the short shelf life of fast moving consumer goods thatensures we come in such frequent contact with them. Fromfoods to toiletries, companies in this industry are familiar namesto us and their brands instantly recognisable because their prod-ucts sit in every facet of our homes.

But what does it take to run the FMCG engine? As consumerswe cannot live without their final products, but what happensbehind the scenes?

In this week’s career guide, we want to showcase the machina-tions of this fast paced sector. What does it take to get that jar ofcream into your bathroom? Or that ice-cream into your hands?

With industry content courtesy of TalentCorp, we aim toincrease awareness but also showcase the exciting roles availablewithin the industry.

From generating demand, to supply to support services, flipthrough to pages 6-11 to find out more.

Gen-Y readers will be pleased to hear that many FMCG compa-nies also offer great work benefits, like training and development,and a great working environment. If you’re passionate aboutthese products and are looking for an exciting industry to join,this may be the sector for you.

For students, TalentCorp is organising a visit to the leadingFMCG companies in August. What an opportunity! Check outpage 11 for details on how to sign up. For readers already wellunderway in their careers, we also want these regular industryinsights to serve as great knowledge tools for your work conver-sations and decisions.

On our other pages, we feature Rahul Colaco in My First Jobon page 3. Colaco gives some great career tips, including theimportance of exposing ourselves to different cultures, and alsosurrounding ourselves with supportive individuals who can spurus on.

In Hard Talk, HR thought leader Dr John Sullivan tackles thehard question of WHY for those who find themselves unable toland a job. He’s pulled together great facts and figures on therecruitment process. Did you know, for instance, that HR folksusually only spend 5-7 seconds looking at a resume?

In Be A Leader on page 5, Dr Glenn Williams again digs intowhat role virtues play in leadership.

I hope you get great insights out of this week’s career guide,and maybe even land yourself a role in a FMCG company as aresult (If you do, please write to us to let us know!).

Remember you can also get the e-version of this guide weeklyon myStarjob.com/careerguide, which you can share on Twitterand Facebook with your contacts.

As usual, you know you can write to us at mystarjob@leaderonomics.com with your comments and suggestions.Keep your career questions coming to dearcareernomers@leaderonomics.com as well.

Wishing you a great week ahead, anda blessed fasting month for ourMuslim friends.

Until nextSaturday,

LiLy CheahEditor, myStarjob.com

househoLdnames

By ERIC QUAHeric.quah@leaderonomics.com

THE fast-moving consumergoods (FMCG) industry is anintegral part of Malaysia’sretail landscape. The profitmargin may be small for

each product item, but the industryplays a volume game. All packagedgoods have a relatively short shelf lifeso the turnover rate is high, and highreturns come in through this rapidmovement of stock.

Spearheading a company in thisindustry is no easy task. It requiresstamina and an agility to formulatequick solutions that are tactful andcost-effective.

Rahul Colaco has been leadingDutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd asmanaging director since 2012. Colacostarted off as a management traineeat Hindustan Unilever in 1997, thelargest FMCG organisation in India,known for its training.

As part of a 12-month trainingmanagement programme, Colacowas exposed to various departments.Colaco fondly compared his experi-ence there “to drinking water usinga firehose”. As drastic as that maysound, “I say that in a positive way,”he chirps.

The result was an increased capac-ity for learning and the chance tostretch his mind and imagination. Itempowered him to explore and dis-cover his limits, encouraging him togrow even more. Colaco believes thatpeople fresh out of university or col-lege should take opportunities such asthe one he had and push themselves

One of hissessions includedstaying in a villagewith no electricityfor six weeks. He livedin a hut and worked withvillagers on social change andbuilding projects. That experiencealtered his presumptions about vil-lagers and he began appreciating thelives they lead.

By then he realised he was learningmore about life. It helped him developempathy – what he described as“understanding other people’s pointsof views” and that those views couldsometimes work better than his own.

The opportunity to serve in dif-ferent functions allowed Colaco thechance to view things at a wholerather than from just a point of view.He explained that this ability is veryimportant, especially for leaders. Heagain pointed to developing empathy.

As the challenge of working as amanagement trainee at Hindustan

Unilever made such an impact

six-year stintat HindustanUnilever, Colacoassumed three dif-ferent roles, the firstof which was in a rolein finance for a new joint-venture company of Unileverin India. He later moved on toprocurement, followed by a positionin purchasing and then supply chainmanagement.

From there he rose through theranks to become marketing opera-tions director for Foods Central andEastern Europe, overseeing four cat-egories across 18 countries.

In 2003, he obtained his MBA andsince then has lead the internationalarena with appointments in Romeand Italy as European marketingoperations manager and marketingoperations director respectively.

In 2010, Colaco joined Dutch LadyMilk Industries Malaysia, and is poisedto take the company farther with hisoutlook and vision.

On attitudesand success

Colaco sees three aspects to work-ing towards career success. The first

is understanding yourself, which isnot easy. It takes time to discoveryour capabilities, motivations,

interpersonal skills and limi-tations. However, knowingand understanding these isessential.

Colaco also believes ininvesting in yourself. Like aproduct, everyone is essen-tially a brand that needs

to be marketed to how youwant people to perceive you.One way which he recom-

mends is to constantlylearn from all experiences.For Colaco, the learn-ing journey never stops

- he added that “themoment you stoplearning, your braindies.”

This belief was the

reason he decided to take a careerbreak in 2003 to spend a year earn-ing his MBA in IMD (InternationalInstitute for ManagementDevelopment) Business School inSwitzerland. Amid questions on whyhe was leaving the company, herationalised that he wanted a globalexperience and to learn more fromdifferent cultures and nationalities.

It was quite a risk, but Colacoasserts: “Investing in one’s self is obvi-ously the greatest payback. It was agood decision in hindsight but it wascertainly challenging.”

the allure Of fMcGColaco admits that he loves the

FMCG industry because it allows himto not only understand consumerneeds but also meet them. He regardsit as a challenge and he likes the fast-paced energy it generates. It keepshim on his feet and presents him withmany opportunities to learn.

The industry also offers cross-func-tion mobility which Colaco believes isuseful for someone to accummulatedifferent sets of skills. The possibilityof diversifying his skill-set is some-thing that appeals to him.

Furthermore, there is the oppor-tunity to explore international ter-ritories as more FMCGs are becomingmore global. This was evident whenColaco made the leap from HindustanUnilever to Unilever Europe in 2004and now to Malaysia at Dutch LadyMilk Industries.

Being in the FMCG industry hasalso allowed Colaco to distil the bestof his six bosses – three from Indiaand three from the Netherlands – intohis current leadership style. With that,he cites all of them as major influenc-es in his learning to become a more

effective leader.Colaco, an avid tennis player, also

finds inspiration in Roger Federer,whom he describes as a fantasticplayer and someone who embodiesgreat sportsmanship. “You go all outto win, but you don’t do it at all costs,”he says.

career tipsAs words of advice for others, he

firstly stresses the importance ofhaving a great life partner, one whocontributes to your dream and helpsbuild it together. He adds: “It is hardto make this journey on your own. Ifyou have an inspiring and supportivepartner along with you, that makes abig difference.”

“Because when you go home tofamily, it makes a big difference hav-ing the life-partner who is on thesame wavelength as you: to be able totalk to, bounce ideas off with, managethe stress, inspire or energise you.”

Colaco also emphasises the impor-tance of thinking globally. As businessis rapidly becoming global, one veryimportant attribute to have is theawareness of different cultures, hesays.

“Open your horizons, be ready tolearn from different cultures anddifferent ways of looking at life,” headvises. He travels frequently, enjoyslearning about new cultures andexploring new places.

He also stresses on the importanceof integrity; of keeping your word anddelivering what you promised and notbeing afraid to be held accountable.

“I feel this is very importantbecause today we live in a highly-dependent world, so it is importantthat you are accountable for yourselfand for what you deliver,” he says.

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 2013 �

the one he had and push themselvesto their limits.

The experience hadalso taught him tolook at life throughdifferent lenses.“It allowed me toexperience differentfunctions. AlthoughI was a financegraduate, I was outin the market sellingsoaps to retailers,and sitting in the two-wheeler driving aroundfrom shop to shop. Wereally had to start from thebottom.”

Unilever made such an impacton him, Colaco read-

ily earmarks this ashis career’s first

milestone. It washis first job asa leader andthough hemade mistakes,he learnt from

them quickly,he says.

During his

ranks to become marketing opera-tions director for Foods Central andEastern Europe, overseeing four cat-egories across 18 countries.

In 2003, he obtained his MBA andsince then has lead the internationalarena with appointments in Romeand Italy as European marketingoperations manager and marketingoperations director respectively.

In 2010, Colaco joined Dutch LadyMilk Industries Malaysia, and is poisedto take the company farther with hisoutlook and vision.

On attitudesand success

Colaco sees three aspects to work-ing towards career success. The first

is understanding yourself, which isnot easy. It takes time to discoveryour capabilities, motivations,

interpersonal skills and limi-tations. However, knowingand understanding these isessential.

Colaco also believes ininvesting in yourself. Like aproduct, everyone is essen-tially a brand that needs

to be marketed to how youwant people to perceive you.One way which he recom-

mends is to constantlylearn from all experiences.For Colaco, the learn-ing journey never stops

never stoplearning

You go all out towin, but You don’tdo it at all costs.

it is hard to make this journeY on Your own. if You have an inspiringand supportive partner along with You, that makes a big difference.

rahul colaco shares tipsfor careers success

ALeader IsNever DeterredBy FailureWe all fear failure. The best leaders in the

world fail all the time but instead of fearing

failure, they embrace it.

Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times before he

perfected the light bulb. He never let failure

wear him down. Walt Disney was fired from

his first job for not “being creative”. He went

on to creating the ‘most creative company

in the world’ – DISNEY. Michael Jordon failed

miserably in his first basketball trial and failed

to make his high-school basketball team. That

never stopped him from becoming the best.

Leaders are not born, they just learn from

their mistakes. The great leaders in the world

learn from their failure, and grow from it.

Everyone can be a leader. Its about digging

deep within us and never letting failure

discourage us.

Be A Leader.

We can help your organisation develop leaders. Write in to: people@leaderonomics.com or call 6012.343.7716

www.leaderonomics.com

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iSnap me for a video > http://thestar.com.my/isnap

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 2013 �

By DR GLENN WILLIAMSmystarjob@leaderonomics.com

IS leadership changing? Does it need tochange? Is there a need for a differentleadership paradigm in light of somewell-known corporate collapses andthe fallout from the Global Financial

Crisis of 2008/09 (GFC) that continues toreverberate far and wide?

It seems that leadership literature isbeginning to address the importance ofethical or moral leadership as a key piecethat is missing in leadership. While there isno need to be critical of classical leadershipparadigms that primarily focus on traits,capabilities, skills, and styles, we must havethe courage and insight to explore theinterplay between leadership, virtues, andperformance.

More specifically, we must examinehow the presence or absence of virtues ina leader may define his or her character,and the impact this has on performance,both for the leader and the organisation.Over the last couple of years as I haveresearched this interplay, I have deliber-ately chosen to use “virtues” over morecommonly used terms such as “values”,“morals” and “ethics”.

One important reason behind this isthat some of the other terms have becomequite commonplace and their significanceeither diluted or dismissed as being some-thing that is more related to the field ofethics or leadership in a faith-based con-text.

My hope is that a robust discussion onvirtues will be a catalyst for starting a newdialogue on leadership that is often onlygiven superficial treatment: the interplaybetween leadership performance andvirtues or as Alexandre Havard states, “thecontent of a person’s character”.

For years, I have been fascinated andinspired by leadership: what it is, what itis not, what people think it should be orshould not be, and the variety of emotiveresponses that are evoked when we seeit demonstrated in a range of differentcontexts: at home, in work environments,sporting clubs, community organisations,churches, in government and schools, andacross every culture.

InspIrIng leadersAs a young child, I remember watching

a fireman being interviewed after runninginto a house to rescue a young infant fromthe fire that had almost entirely consumedthe family home. That took courage, self-lessness. It took leadership.

When I was twelve years old, I remem-ber being inspired by a courageousfootballer and captain of the HawthornFootball Club, Peter Crimmins, as he bat-tled cancer and tried to ready himself tolead the team onto the field on Grand FinalDay in 1975.

Sadly, he was declared unfit and was leftout of the team. But his courage and dedi-cation, and the commitment of his teamwho wanted so badly to win the match forhim, had a profound impact on me, andthe psyche of the wider football public.His work ethic, and the spirit he showedin battling cancer and wanting to see hisbeloved team win, embodied leadership.

Today, the Hawthorn Football club’sBest & Fairest award is called “The PeterCrimmins Medal” in his honour.

In February 1983, 180 bushfires on one

day ravaged the states of south Australiaand Victoria that resulted in 75 deaths.Only days later, I found myself with one ofthe cleanup teams working in the back-yard of a woman in her mid-50s, trying torestore some sense of order to her world.Although her house was preserved, shelost many of her belongings and her prop-erty was devastated.

Elaine Shepherd was exhausted andexperienced feelings of loss, but she wouldnot allow this setback to consume her. Iremember being impressed by her deter-mination and optimism. Ironically, yearslater, I would find myself working along-side this remarkable woman in a familymediation centre.

History is replete with examples of lead-ers who have both succeeded and failed indiverse fields of interest. They are research-ers, social commentators, military strate-gists, politicians, and business executivesfrom the private and public sectors.

They also include leaders from the socialsector or Non-Government Organisations(NGOs) and Faith-Based Organisations(FBOs) that serve a broad range of humani-tarian objectives, some of them religiouslymotivated. Some well-known examplesinclude: William Wilberforce, MahatmaGandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, St MotherTeresa, Nelson Mandela, Dr Rev MartinLuther King Jr and President MikhailGorbachev.

There have been inventors who havedemonstrated great resolve and initiative,like Thomas Edison and Alexander GrahamBell, and business leaders like WarrenBuffett and Microsoft’s Bill Gates who haveestablished corporate empires only to givebillions of dollars away to humanitarianefforts. There have been military leaderssuch as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar,Genghis Khan, George Washington andNapoleon Bonaparte.

gIvIng leadershIp contextLeadership is often very personal, and

very powerful. It is felt by everyone: bythose who demonstrate it in a large way orseemingly insignificant ways, and by thosewho are affected negatively or positively byleaders connected to them, or detrimental-ly by its sheer absence when it is needed.

Leadership is also local, regional, nation-al, and global. As Michael and DeborahJinkins note, “Leadership is always ground-ed in a particular time and place – in aparticular culture. And the effective leaderinevitably maintains a connection with thisspecific time and place, this culture, lead-ing these people in this moment”.

Every person in every culture could men-tion a list of names of leaders who aremore specific to their personal experience,the places or countries they live, why theyconsider them to be leaders, and throughthe wealth of information available todayhave an understanding as to whether ornot that leader has a role on the worldstage.

However, interpretations of leadershipare often quite different from one countryto the next, and from one person to anoth-er. Take a few moments to reflect on lead-ers you have been impacted by. In whatways have they influenced your views, yourdecisions and your own leadership?

Understanding that every organisa-tion has a culture of its own, what type ofleadership does your organisation need,and what changes do you need to make tofacilitate that change?

n Dr Glenn Williams is the CEO and principalowner of Outward Looking International,an organisation that empowers leaders andorganisations to grow their leadership capac-ity. To engage Williams for special leadershipworkshops for your organisation, email peo-ple@leaderonomics.com

Is It tIme to changethe Importance of leadIng wIth vIrtuesthe leadershIp dIalogue?

what’s the bottom-lIne?THERE are some excellent leadership modelsthat contain specific characteristics helpful toleaders suited to a range of different contexts,including across cultures. However, some lead-ers are running so fast responding to short-term demands, they rarely have time to thinkabout the type of leader they want to be. Hereare three important questions:

l What characteristics of leadership are criticalto my current organisationalcontext, and which onesdo I need to focus ondeveloping?

l What changes do I needto make totransition froma “Level 3” or“Level 4” leaderto what Collinsdescribes asa “Level 5leader”?

l As a leader do I knowwho I am serving?

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 2013�

THE WORLD Of fAST-MOving

FAST-moving consumer goods(FMCG) companies are behindthe biggest brands in the world.The FMCG industry is all about theproducts which everyone recog-

nises from trips to the supermarket or fromadvertisements on television.

From the cup of coffee you start your daywith, to your toothpaste and the face creamyou apply at night time, all these daily neces-sities are considered “fast” moving goods; theyare the quickest to leave supermarket shelvesand cost relatively lower than other durableitems.

The brands that make up this sector arewhat you have grown up with, know and love.Think Pepsi, Oreo, Milo and Dove.

Also termed consumer packaged goods(CPG), FMCG are perishable, have high turnoverand are replaced or used up over a short periodof days, weeks or months.

Broadly speaking the industry can be cat-egorised into three large market segments:Food and Beverages (F&B), Household Careand Personal Care.

You will be amazed at the number of FMCGbrands you are using and consuming on a reg-ular basis. When you think pharmaceuticals,you may think Panadol. In Malaysia, Pampers issynonymous with baby diapers, Nescafé withcoffee, Milo with chocolate malt drinks, and Cifwith dishwashing.

These are global brands, a fraction of thethousands of brands owned by multinationalcorporations employing hundreds of thou-sands of people all over the world.

A THRIVING INDUSTRYWhile there is no official data on how much

the local FMCG industry is worth relative togross domestic product (GDP), it is one of thebiggest revenue contributors to Malaysia’sservices sector.

The Malaysian FMCG sector has a goodrepresentation of both multinational and localcompanies with big names like Nestlé andUnilever fighting in the market place with localcompanies like Perfect Food Manufacturing(Julie’s biscuits) and Spritzer.

Most FMCG multinationals have been inMalaysia for more than 50 years and havebecome household names.

These include Nestlé, Dutch Lady andMondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods)for F&B, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Johnsonand Johnson and Reckitt Benckiser for per-sonal and household care and the likes ofGlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK)for healthcare products.

These companies are bringing in larger rev-enues and profits year-on-year thanks to the

increasing sophistication ofthe Malaysian customer andrising demand, despite theglobal slowdown.

Nestlé Malaysia, the larg-est FMCG company in the country, recordeda RM4.6bil turnover in 2012, up 7.3%, overRM310mil in revenue, and employs 5,000people.

Cosmetics market leader L’Oréal has a staffstrength of 800 while dairy giant Dutch Ladywith a more than 630-strong employee baseearned a revenue of RM882mil in 2012, a 9%growth compered to the previous year.

Meanwhile, GSK has been in Malaysia formore than 50 years. It employs close to 600workers and has an annual sales turnover ofover RM300mil.

Locally incorporated firms include person-al care producer Unza (M), which employs2,000 people; Julie’s, which has been mak-ing biscuits since 1982; and mineral waterbrand Spritzer, whose revenue jumped 20%to RM178mil in 2012.

While these local names may bring inlower revenue compared with multination-als, they are more export-oriented andprovide consumers in Malaysia a choice ofproducts and pricing options.

EVER IN DEMANDFMCG sales across Asia are growing, with

the highest growth coming from China andVietnam. Kantar Worldpanel’s ConsumerInsights 2013 data showed that FMCG salesin 2012 rose the fastest in Vietnam at 14.8%followed by Thailand at 11%, the Philippinesat 5.3% and Malaysia at 5.0%.

This shows that Malaysia, and by exten-sion South-East Asia, is the place to be forambitious young talent.

Unilever Malaysia chairman RakeshMohan says: “The Malaysian economy isdoing great, growing 4% to 5% yearly, sothere are opportunities to do well. All oursegments are growing. As long as there isproduct and market development, we willdo fine.”

Tim Morris of Coriolis Research says,“Unlike other industries, FMCG does not suf-fer from mass layoffs every time the econo-my slows. You may put off buying a car, but

you don’t put off dinner. This lends FMCG alevel of job security unknown elsewhere.”

Many companies have grown on the back ofstrong people policies, with focus on brandingand sales and marketing roles in particular asthey look to develop and penetrate new seg-ments.

LOOKING OUT FOR GREAT TALENTWith Malaysia leading South-East Asia in

percentage of hypermarket sales (40% of totalmarket) and new shopping trends (e.g. emer-gence of the male shopper), FMCG employersare scrambling to find young, energetic execu-tives who can connect with shoppers on apersonal level.

But the sector is not only about brands.FMCG players focus on finding, training anddeveloping the right talent pool to drive thenext wave of innovation and market growth.

FMCG companies are renowed for highstaff retention levels through attractive remu-neration, institutionalised leadership training,global assignments and rotations, and flexibleworking arrangements.

Companies constantly hire people fromdifferent education backgrounds, and practisediversity and inclusion. Potential hires couldcome from a range of backgrounds, frommarketing to food technology and nutrition,engineering, supply chain or even law andactuarial science.

L’Oréal Malaysia managing director AshwinRajgopal notes, “In an organisation as diverseas L’Oréal, there are always job opportunitiesacross the board regardless of qualifications,age and gender. The nature of our business isvery consumer-orientated which makes skillsset such as operational marketing, negotia-tion and sales, merchandising and creativemarketing very high in demand.”

“In any business, understanding your con-sumers is key. There is no better place thanFMCG to learn and practise this. It can be verysatisfying to see and measure the impactof the work you do, as you create tangibleproducts that impact people’s lives,” saysDutch Lady Malaysia managing director RahulColaco.

Join the vibrant world of FMCG brands fora fast paced career enriching lives in a fun,inclusive and informal environment.

DO yOu HAvEWHAT iT TAkES?

“The FMCG indusTry is FasT-paCed,wiTh hiGh enerGy, hiGh deGree oFinnovaTion and a perForManCe-driven CulTure.” — sunil sethi,managing director of Mondelez Malaysia(formerly Kraft Malaysia Sdn Bhd) on whygraduates should consider starting a careerin the FMCG sector.

Mondelez Malaysia is home to iconicbrands such as Oreo, Cadbury, Jacob’s,Chipsmore, Twisties and Tiger biscuits andis part of Mondelez International, a globalsnack food powerhouse.

Being the world leader in snacks,Mondelez International aims to build capa-bility, engage employees and strive for highperformance at all times.

Employees at Mondelez Malaysia havethe chance to embark on regional projectswhich give them international exposure.

There are ample opportunities to fulfilcareer aspirations with added value throughcoaching and training, and above all, anenvironment that ensures everyone has funat work.

BEFORE you take the next step towardsembarking on a fastrack career inFMCG, here is a peek into what kind oftraits these companies are looking for.Prime yourself to get hired at some ofthe world’s best places to work!

The ideal candidate to joinFCMG is someone...

“passionaTeabouT ourbrands”

ivvory ChiaTrade marketingmanager, Nutrition;GlaxoSmithklineConsumer Healthcare.

“who Can hiTThe GroundrunninG”

ian Tan Teong KeatCustomerdevelopmentmanager;Dutch Lady Malaysia.

“wiTh hiGhlearninGaGiliTy”

nurul Farahana ellinaabdul rahmanAssistant key accountmanager; MondelezMalaysia.

“who isresulT-orienTed”

Joel lim hsienTrade marketingmanager;Unilever (Malaysia)Holdings Sdn Bhd.

TOucHingLivESEvERyDAy

cOnSuMER gOODS

BROugHT TO yOu By

MARKETSEGMENT

Food andBeverages

HouseholdCare

PersonalCare

SEGMENTS

Biscuits,chocolate,drinks

Fabric care, aircare, dish care,pet care

Oral care, anti-perspirants anddeodorants,cosmetics, haircare, pre- andpost-shaveproducts, babycare

BRANdS

Milo, Oreo,Wall’s, Cadbury,Horlicks

Breeze, Downy,Persil, AmbiPur,Eukanuba

Oral B, Colgate,Gilette,Pampers,L’Oréal Paris,Garnier, SKII, Dove,Aquafresh,Panadol, Head& Shoulders

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 2013 7

Zainun Nur Abdul Rauf, on the company’s ‘Good Food,Good Life’ tagline extending beyond to a ‘Great Placeto Work’.

As the largest FMCG company in the country, Nestléoffers young graduates a career as opposed to just ajob, with great opportunities for career progression inMalaysia and within Nestlé’s international markets.

Zainun adds, “We strive to develop well-roundedtalents, and we care about the wellbeing of ouremployees both within and outside work.” Thecompany provides a good platform to enable younggraduates to choose their career path, be it in salesand marketing of brands such as Nescafé, Milo andMaggi, manufacturing, supply chain, finance andother support services.

The Nestlé Management Trainee programme helpsyoung hires master management techniques and gainreal-life experience in different roles and functions.

Through the Nestlé Leadership Framework anddevelopment programmes, they will continue togroom high-performing young individuals to becomefuture leaders and export talent to Nestlé around theworld!

why you should join

Rahul Colaco, on why graduates should considerstarting a career with Dutch Lady Malaysia.

The company prides itself on its investmentin its employees, both internally in Malaysia aswell as through global career opportunities. Infact, several Dutch Lady employees are currentlyon short and long term assignments outside thecountry.

The company’s growth and profits haveaccelerated over the last three years and ithas won many industry awards. So consider acareer in the dairy industry. Consider helpingMalaysians move forward in life with trusteddairy nutrition!

Rakesh Mohan, espousing the company’s sustainable livingplan which recognises the need to build new businessmodels that enable responsible, equitable growth.

To achieve this vision, Unilever has set clear goals tohalve the environmental footprint of its products, to source100% of its agricultural raw materials sustainably and toenhance the livelihoods of people across the value chain.

At Unilever, you will be doing more than just bringingleading global brands like Lifebuoy, Wall’s, Magnum andSunsilk to homes in Malaysia. You will be making an impacton the lives of people around you!

Reducing greenhouse gas impact of its products acrossthe lifecycle, water associated with each consumer use oflaundry products and a drive on sourcing raw materialsfrom smallholder farmers, are some of Unilever’s initiativesthat will resonate with many of you wanting to make theworld a better place. So come, be part of the change!

Susan Weng, on how the company hires for a career andnot just for specific roles.

Individual competency and attitude is moreimportant than technical skills at P&G. To illustrate,P&G currently has a manager in a Customer BusinessDevelopment role with a Bio-Chemical Engineeringbackground and a group manager in Finance withEngineering background.

What the company is on the lookout for, iscandidates with integrity, leadership potential, strongthinking, operation discipline and a passion forwinning. As a ‘build from within’ company, P&G investsin getting the best individuals at the entry level whoare then trained to be the next leaders of the company.And that leader could be you!

Dion Leswara, on why graduates should consider starting theircareer with the company.

“At Philip Morris Malaysia, you will join a company thatinvests in you and supports your growth through individualdevelopment and structured career management. We havein place strong reward and recognition programmes whichare designed to encourage your achievements and foster yourpotential.”

“Being a fast moving consumer goods business, the companyhas a dynamic, fast-paced work environment in a constantlyevolving industry. Our diversity of departments and the roleswithin them provide numerous opportunities for the graduate’scareer to take shape. So if you possess courage to stand up forideas and convictions coupled with strong articulation and highemotional intelligence, this is the place for you!”

“We believe everyone hasa WorthWhile, impactfulrole in shaping anddelivering products andbrands that nourish thelives of consumers. ourdiverse business and globalreach means a World ofopportunities aWait.”

Zainun nur abdul raufhr & group corporate affairsdirector, nestlé malaysia

rahul colacomanaging director,dutch lady malaysia

rakesh mohanchairman,unilever (malaysia) holdings sdn bhd

“our vision to double ourbusiness While reducingour environmental impactis inspiring our employees.”

susan Wengcountry hr manager, procter andgamble (p&g) malaysia/singapore

Rachel Ferdinando, on how the company isconstantly looking for new ideas and approaches atthe workplace.

To foster innovation, GSK has put in placebest practices such as creating conversationsbetween senior management and otheremployees, allowing for different viewpoints andimplementing key performance measurements.

The company is driven to be the leading fastmoving consumer healthcare company which isin line with the company’s global effort to helpconsumers to do more, feel better and live longer.GSK is on the look-out for individuals who feelinspired by their mission and values.

So come join this company which is committedto enriching lives, for your development and tomake your personal aspirations a reality!

rachel ferdinandovice-president and general manager,glaxosmithkline consumer healthcare (gsk) dion lesWara

director of human capital and development,philip morris (malaysia) sdn bhd

“our employees havethe courage, curiosity,and conviction to seepossibilities Where othersonly see challenges.”

2 fmcg firms thrive onemployee and customer

retention. Employee investment is a bigpart of the ethos of the FMCG world. Perhapsit’s because they understand the importanceof loyalty. Customer loyalty can make orbreak a brand. Take Twinings, for example– a century after they entered the top 100brands list, they are still there and goingstrong.

So it makes sense for FMCG companies toencourage the loyalty of their employees too.

the FMCG industry

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1 Besides graduates in marketingand sales management, the

FMCG sector needs those in theengineering, food technologyand nutrition, law, humanresources, supply chain andlogistics too. So consider joining thesector for a fun and fulfilling career!

3 The FMCG markethas been growing

consistently over the lastfew years. Opportunitiescome about ascompanies lookto drive higherconsumption inmarket segmentslike male grooming inpersonal care, foodssuch as chocolates andfabric softeners in thehousehold care category.

4 Large multinationalcompanies have been

in Malaysia for a very longtime. unilever hasbeen around since1947, p&g since1987 and nestlésince 1912.

5 The culture in fmcgcompanies is open

and informal. Manycompanies offer family friendlypolicies like flexible workinghours and the choice ofworking from home.

6 The MalaysianFMCG sector

has grown in therange of 5 to7% per annumover the lastfew years.

retention

“We build from Within!We believe in hiringthe best entry leveltalent, regardless ofbackground, coursestaken or technical skills.”

“We believe in creatingan environment Whichenables employees to feelempoWered, engagedand trusted enough tobe let to innovate.”

“the possibility to developyourself and make animpact! the assurance ofWorld-class training andsignificant responsibilitiesat an early age.”

GENERATING demand is one ofthe most important functions inthe fast-moving consumer goods(FMCG) sector. It means generatingthe pull for your brand of chocolate,fabric cleaner or deodorant so thatyour product flies off the supermar-ket shelves.

There are so many brandsavailable in the market. How doyou ensure that your product ispreferred by consumers? By creat-ing brand awareness and multipledistribution channels so that yourproduct is available everywhereensuring customer loyalty, andkeeping the product visible andwith strong brand recall throughadvertising campaigns, events andpromotions. Marketing, key accountmanagement, sales and customerservice are important roles as far asgenerating demand goes.

Interested in getting leadingbrands off the shelves into thehands of the consumer? Loveto work on product pricing andpromotions? Have excellentnetworking and communicationskills?

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 2013� mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 2013 �

GENERATING demand and ensuringsupply teams cannot function on theirown. They need human resources forhiring, learning and development andcreating a great workplace.

They need Legal to help with con-tracts with suppliers and customers.Finance makes sure your product costingand pricing are able to ensure a goodbottom-line. Support services help bringeverything together.

Support services in the FMCG sectordo not have a dull moment. They haveto be agile and aligned to market trendsas the sector is fast moving.

There is a lot of cross functionalmovement from support services tothe demand and supply side, like amarketing talent moving to corporateaffairs or even finance professionalsworking in sales or supply chain.

The fast pace, dynamism andcloseness to consumers drewJennifer Ling to the FMCGsector. The customer rela-tions manager lives off theexcitement of ever-changingissues and demands on adaily working basis.

While others are taskedwith getting Dutch Lady’svast array of milk products –for both infants and growingchildren – on more shelvesand stores, Ling is focused

purely on the customer– in a nutshell, the averageMalaysian parent.

“I focus on sales ordermanagement to ensure theright products, at the rightquantity reach our custom-ers, while aligning with thecompany’s objectives.

“I also support colleaguesin other departments toensure product launches andre-launches are successful,”she adds.

With so many opportuni-ties for career growth in theindustry, she advises novicesto be open minded, assertiveand never give up.

“Have the courage to takeon challenges to find outwhich role and specialty bestfits you. It’s also importantto maintain an open mindand be resilient while findingyour feet in the early stagesof employment,” Ling recom-mends.

USM graduate in management(marketing) Elaine Lim is nowsenior brand manager for theAnalgesics business at GSK– which includes the Panadolrange of products.

“I develop and strategisemarketing plans. Cateringto consumer needs, theAnalgesics team sets clearmarketing objectives anddirection that lead to strongadvertising campaigns thatresonate with consumers,” she

explains.“My position also allows me

to work closely with the com-mercial marketing and salesteam to execute the brands’in-store visibility that ties withAbove-the-Line campaigns.”

“My key success measuresare delivering sales targets,maintaining Panadol’s positionas market leader and strength-ening the brand equity,” Limadds.

Driven by a passion for beauty,economics graduate Tee Ann Jiechose FMCG as her career pathto learn the ropes of the corpo-rate world and understand howbusinesses work.

“It is a very challenging envi-ronment, and the best time tochallenge myself is now when Iam young.”

“As product manager withL’Oréal, my operational market-ing role means I have a 360degree view of the business– from launching new productsto maintaining base growth forkey products.

“Nothing gives me more

satisfaction than pulling off afantastic launch,” she says.

Tee likes the open culture atthe personal care giant and theworkplace’s guiding nature.

“My first boss, Jennifer Bay, ismy mentor and remains a verystrong inspirational figure inmy life, and that drives me tochallenge myself further.”

To fresh graduates, sheadvises: “If you like processand routine, FMCG is not foryou. It’s dynamic and you needto work hard. Don’t think onlyof the glamour and parties.Remain passionate, enthusias-tic and driven!”

FMCG attracts people fromdiverse education backgrounds.As an actuarial science gradu-ate, Ahmad Faiez MohamedPisal, 26, can attest to this.

The senior key accountmanager at Procter & Gamble(P&G) acts as a single point ofcontact between a large localretailer and P&G; managingpromotion plans, consumermarketing campaigns, newproduct launches and categorymanagement to build sustain-able business models for bothparties.

He says P&G – which countsSK-II, Pantene, Downy andGillette among its householdnames – provides him flexibleworking hours, which help him

work at his peak capacity.“The deeply-ingrained

strong people culture pro-motes diversity within theworkplace, while the compa-ny’s focus on training, coachingand mentoring has helped meto become a better leader,” headds.

On his experience as ayoung professional in Malaysia:“Competing in a demandingcorporate world at a youngage is a plus. The key is to startearly, get as much experienceand accelerate your career tothe next level. The longer youare in corporate life, the moreexperience you get on the keysuccess drivers for the businessand your personal career”.

Some in FMCG find themselveswith unique titles, and LaiWei Lip at tobacco giant PhilipMorris Malaysia is one of them.At 25, he is the territory super-visor in charge of north KlangValley.

The RMIT economics andfinance graduate chose thesector because it “involvesmultiple touch points – sourc-ing, production, warehousing,logistics, marketing, distribu-tion and retailing, on its jour-ney to a consumer.

“This makes the industryvery interesting as there is a lotto learn and manage at everytouch point.”

Lai and his six territory exec-utives are tasked with identify-

ing potential outlets, buildingand maintaining relationshipswith outlet owners, propos-ing and executing businessinitiatives, all while addressingday-to-day outlet issues suchas volume and visibility.

He adds that the job letshim interact with a diversecommunity, as there are many“people from all over the worldcoming to Malaysia to work,invest or start a business.

“Moreover, the culturalexchange allows us to inte-grate our individual strengthsto form the pillar of success,”he said, adding, “Job knowl-edge comes as time goes bybut it is your attitude whichcarries you far.”

As a commerce graduate, Lee Jia Lynn wasdrawn to joining the banking or audit-ing industry upon graduation, as it was anatural choice for her given she studiedaccounting and finance.

However, when an opportunity openedfor Nestlé’s management trainee pro-gramme, she decided to give it a go andhas not looked back.

At 24 years old, as a management

accounting specialist with the F&B leader,Lee supports strategic decisions by coor-dinating the planning, budgeting andforecasting of income statements and cashflow projections.

Being in finance, she also works closelywith her team to keep up with the busi-ness environment and shares businessanalytics with other teams.

“We also play a vital role in reporting

and producing cross-functional informa-tion that drives business decisions,” shesays of her role in FMCG support services.

She believes the best part about being ayoung professional is that she has the time,energy and passion to pursue her dreams

“You are not bound by financial com-mitments or family responsibilities. Beingyoung is the best excuse to be bold, speakup and do what you want.”

Gene

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e Human ResouRces— Liases withemployees and uppermanagement toimplement internaldevelopmentprogrammes, rotationsand assignmentsas well as workingarrangements.

Finance & contRol— Managesfinances with otherdepartments, i.e. brandcampaign advising,tax planning andforecasting supply anddemand.

legal — Advisesother departmentson legal implicationsof activities i.e. localgovernment law,contracts and businesspartnerships and/orexpansions, protectingthe business.

PRocuRement— Communicateswith demand side ofbusiness to fill ancillaryneeds e.g. newdistributors of officeequipment, contractorsfor building new officesor vetting serviceproviders.

inFoRmationtecHnology andsuPPoRt — Deliverssecure, global, robustinformation systemse.g. designing andanalysing systems,risk management andidentifying emergingtechnologies.

PRoduction — Liaiseswith suppliers and produc-tion sites for raw materialsregionally, focusing on pric-ing and sustainability issues.

engineeRing — Ensuresenvironmental safety ofproducts and processes aswell as occupational safety ofproduction floors.

Quality assuRance— Ensures products aresafe to use, while adheringto industry standards in aspecific country.

ReseaRcH anddeveloPment— Researchescustomer feedback todevelop innovation,by inventing newproducts andimproving existingones.

Food tecHnology— Creates newproduct formulations,or modifies existingproduct contents forhealthier, tastier andbetter-packaged food.

customeR seRvice— Front line in collectingcustomer feedback,addressing immediatecomplaints throughproduct replacement oroffers.

WaReHousing anddistRibution —Workswith raw materials/unfinished goodssuppliers and transportpartners to keep thesupply chain running.

sales — Finds newcustomer segments,markets and shelves,working with chainstores and smallretailers.

categoRymanagement— Ensures the growthof a certain businessaspect e.g. Unilever’sF&B brands.

bRandmanagement —Develops promotionsand tracks revenueand distribution ofthe brand’s line.

maRketing &communications— Works withadvertising agenciesand media outlets onadvertising campaigns.

elaine lim cHin, 36comPany: GlaxoSmithKlineConsumer Healthcare (GSK)degRee: BA in Management(major Marketing), UniversitiSains MalaysiaJob title: Senior brandmanager

tee ann Jie, 26comPany: L’Oréal MalaysiadegRee: Bachelor inEconomics, UniversitiMalayaJob title: Productmanager

aHmad FaiezmoHamed Pisal, 26comPany: Procter &Gamble (P&G) MalaysiadegRee: Actuarial Science,The Pennsylvania StateUniversityJob title: Senior keyaccount manager

lai Wei liP, 25comPany: Philip Morris(Malaysia) Sdn BhddegRee: Bachelor ofBusiness (Economics andFinance), RMIT UniversityJob title: Territorysupervisor

JenniFeR ling, 39comPany: Dutch Lady MalaysiadegRee: Bachelor of Science (Human Development),Universiti Putra MalaysiaJob title: Customer relations manager

Be part of the exciting and energetic world of SALES AND MARKETING in the following roles:

lee Jia lynn, 24comPany: Nestlé Malaysia BerhaddegRee: Bachelor of Commerce, University of South AustraliaJob title: Management accounting specialist

While Leanne Ho Su Yee’s entry into theFMCG sector was a chance affair through anewspaper advertisement, the accounting,banking and finance major has success-fully segued her training into her role asfinance analyst with Mondelez Malaysia.

Besides preparing management reports,she does strategic planning, budgeting

and financial analyses.“We also partner with our colleagues

from other functions. It’s essentially aboutworking with everyone to move the busi-ness forward.”

For her, the best part about being ayoung professional is having the driveto move forward and all the resources

available via the Web in a rapidly growingeconomy like Malaysia.

She advocates constant learning forthose leaning towards the vibrancy ofFMCG: “My alma mater Monash’s mottois ‘AncoraImparo’ which means, ‘I am stilllearning’. I live by this and believe it is agood attitude to take to all aspects of life.”

leanne Ho su yee, 26comPany: Mondelez MalaysiadegRee: Bachelor of Business and Commerce(Accounting, Banking and Finance), Monash UniversityJob title: Finance analyst

At Unilever, Chuman Dev’s degree inchemical and process engineering hasnot hindered him from pursuing a careerin human resources (HR).

“When I decided on HR, I wanted tohave a continuously challenging job. TheFMCG industry frequently evolves basedon changes in society, research and devel-opment, target markets and competition,thereby forcing one to be creative in

dealing with clients and consumers,” heremarks.

As a HR global graduate trainee,Chuman’s role is to “place the rightperson in the right job”, by bringing intalent and developing them according toUnilever’s needs.

Besides the freezers filled withMagnum and Cornetto ice-cream coneslining the office walls, he likes the clear

direction the company has. “There ismuch rigour ensuring everyone is focusedon a common objective. Add this toinspiring leaders and helpful colleagues,Unilever is definitely the place to be. Ilearn new things every day.”

His personal five-step programme tosucceeding in the FMCG sector is simple:Dream, Strategise, Plan, Execute andMonitor.

cHuman dev, 26comPany: Unilever (Malaysia) Holdings Sdn BhddegRee: Bachelor of Chemical and Process Engineering,Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaJob title: HR global graduate trainee

sectorENSURING supply in the

FMCG sector means getting theproduct (ice cream, detergent,skin cream) manufactured andon the supermarket shelves.

That means getting the rawmaterials in place, supplyingthese to the manufacturingfacility, production, qualitycontrol, warehousing and dis-tribution and finally, supplyingto the hypermarket or retailer.If you were to take the exam-ple of a premium ice creamsold in Malaysia it may meanimporting the milk from NewZealand and the chocolate fromBelgium, manufacturing it inThailand and then importingfor sale in Malaysia.

In Malaysia many FMCGcompanies import productsfrom other countries in theregion like Thailand andPhilippines, so ensuring thatthe product arrives just intime, managing inventoryand logistics becomes veryimportant.

Interested in helping com-panies efficiently get theirproducts on the supermarketshelves? Interested in theorigin of products and havegreat ideas on innovation andimprovements?

Be part of the dynamic world of SUPPLY CHAIN, LOGISTICS AND MANUFACTURING in the following roles:

Be part of the dynamic world of SUPPORT SERVICES in the following roles:

rolesin the

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 201310

A GEN-Y

“Definitely its peopleanD working culture.”

Khairul Anwar Ab. Gahani,executive corporate affairsat Philip Morris MalaysiaSdn Bhd on the highlevel of openness at hisworkplace which has helpedcontribute to high level ofemployee engagement andorganisational success.

As it is talent that drives a company’sperformance in the market place, manyemployers realise they cannot keepspending on outbidding other employers.Companies strive to build employee loyaltyby investing in their development andcareer growth through graduate manage-ment trainee programmes and internalleadership programmes for young high per-forming talent.

Nora Mahbob, HR director, L’OréalMalaysia says, “As the world No.1 cosmeticcompany, L’Oréal provides a graduate withan excellent foundation to their careerbecause they are given exposure to variousfunctions and disciplines in the business.

As a Management Trainee, we have agraduate programme called the YoungEntrepreneur Programme (YEP) whereone will be given training on all relevantdivisions to gain a good perspective fromstrategy development right up to route-to-market execution.

The YEP focuses on building strong futureexecutives that have solid foundation insales, retail and trade, with further develop-ment and exposure in their field of choice.Excellent candidates will have the opportu-nity to participate in the Asean ExchangeProgramme, where they will be placed ina selected Asean country for a short-termassignment for three months.

Dutch Lady Malaysia managing directorRahul Colaco adds: “We offer the graduatetrainee Dutch Lady Associate Programme(DLAP), a great platform for fresh graduatesto start their career”.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare(GSK) vice-president and general managerRachel Ferdinando says GSK uses “differen-tial development” by customising trainingto the individual across three areas:

l On-the-job experiences (70%)– stretch assignments, increasing the scopeof their roles, new projects within their rolesor secondment.

l Developmental relationships (20%)– opportunities to get support and feedbackfrom managers, peers, mentors or coaches.

l Formal development (10%) – viae-learning, coursework, programmes, class-room-style training, articles or books.

In 2012, Fortune andChief Executive magazinesnamed P&G the top com-pany for leaders.

JP Donlon, reviewerat Chief Executive noted:“P&G executives are con-sidered the Navy SEALs ofmanagement. This resultsfrom a razor-like focus oninternal succession plan-ning at all levels.”

Susan Weng, whorecently took over theP&G Malaysia HR reins, isa testament to P&G inter-nal leadership develop-ment practices.

“P&G is recognised asa leader in developing tal-ent and grooming world

class leaders. As a ‘buildfrom within’ company,we invest in getting thebest talents at the entrylevel and are trained tobe the next leader of thecompany.

“We hold managersaccountable for buildingleaders at all levels in theorganisation via earlyresponsibility, trainingand assignment rotationsevery few years,” she says.

Having spent 10 yearsin P&G since joining freshout of university, she isnow country HR managerfor Malaysia, Singaporeand global developmentmarket-Asia.

Work-life balance has become anincreasingly important factor in careerchoices.

FMCG companies like P&G, Nestlé andMondelez International recognise this.

Many companies are flexible aboutworking location, hours spent in officeand start and end times of a work day.They prioritise results over the hoursclocked in.

Take P&G Malaysia for example. Thecompany provides flexibility on the timeat which you want to start your day andemployees are encouraged to work oneday a week from home. The companyeven subsidises the investment to setup your work station at home. There arepolicies which allow “less than full time”work and sabbaticals, depending onindividual and business needs. Workingfor progressive companies in the FMCGsector gives access to a flexible, empow-ering environment that helps you deliver

optimum results.Colaco of Dutch Lady says, “Our work

culture is inclusive, open and informal.Our policies are family-friendly, such as90 days maternity leave and flexi-time”.

At GSK, employees say “there is nolate-night or early-morning culture andnobody will micro-manage you”.

“agile working helps a marrieDworking woman like me jugglebetween mycareer anDfamily.”

name: LennyChuahDesignation:Marketingmanagercompany:Unilever Malaysia

For those looking for a new challenge everyday, many FMCGcompanies would be a good fit. Take the case of global snackfood giant Mondelez International.

Managing director Sunil Sethi shares the company’s cul-ture of empowerment, where employees are thrown intothe deep end to acquaint them with the business.

“As we aim to be a ‘Great Place To Work’, we ensure stra-tegic alignment and then empower people to make theirown decisions and deliver results”.

By empowerment, he says employees are exposed to vari-ous projects cross functionally apart from their day-to-daywork, which widens their horizons.

“i’ve been given thefreeDom to Develop myown way, to form my ownopinions anD come up withiDeas anD solutions.”

name: Naomi ChenDesignation: Shopper marketingmanagercompany: Dutch Lady Malaysia

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)programmes help employees lookforward to doing more than just aregular job. It adds meaning and givesa great sense of fulfillment.

While FMCG companies are look-ing to grow, they ensure they interactresponsibly with the society at large.Take the example of GSK.

“We have a global CSR initiativethat allows staff to take a day offfrom work to volunteer at a charityor community-based organisation.,”says GlaxoSmithKline ConsumerHealthcare vice-president and generalmanager Rachel Ferdinando.

CSR is another key factor in howhires pick the best fit for them, espe-cially as FMCG have global presenceand significant impact on the worldsocially and economically.

Cosmetics giant L’Oréal is also com-mitted to an impact beyond beauty!As a market leader in Malaysia,L’Oréal helps its employees findfulfillment by giving back to societythrough science, education and soli-darity.

Its yearly “For Women in Science”programme offers fellowships toexceptional female scientists world-wide; while the “Keep In School”scheme helps finance the educationof children above 12 who are infectedor affected by HIV/AIDS.

Meanwhile, by 2020, the UnileverSustainable Living Plan (USLP) aimsto improve health and well-being,reduce environmental impact andsource 100% of agricultural raw mate-rials sustainably and enhance people’slivelihoods across its value chain.

IF you know which FMCG role fits you,how do you decide on the company?

It’s really about what drivesYOU personally. Is it about beingempowered at work? Or are you

looking for a company that is strong oncorporate responsibility?

Are work-life balance and flexibilityimportant to you? Or are you a high-achiever looking at quick recognition andleadership training?

Every FMCG giant has internalcorporate values and structures that payattention to all these, but some focusmore on being sustainable, others onempowering staff.

Take your pick!

work FlExibilitY EmpowErmENt oN thE job

FriENdlYworkplAcE!

“my linemanagers trustme anD focuson growing mycapabilities”

name: Vanessa OngDesignation: Seniorkey account managercompany: Procter& Gamble (P&G)Malaysia

NoraMahbob,HR director,L’OréalMalaysia.

corporAtE SociAlrESpoNSibilitY (cSr)

iNvEStmENtiN lEAdErShip& trAiNiNG

p&G: buildiNG tAlENt FromwithiN For A GlobAl cArEEr

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 2013 11

“It feels good to be back home and to be able to contribute toMalaysia’s growth (my children can now enjoy the unique cul-tural diversity that epitomises Malaysia), and be able to share myvast global experiences and knowledge working in the UnitedStates, Asean, Australia, India and Greater China to groom moreMalaysian talents to be able to compete globally.”

Jenny ChewSales director, Procter & Gamble (P&G) MalaysiaReturning Expert Programme (REP)

After more than nine years of working overseas, Chew grabbedthe opportunity to return home when a senior position openedin P&G, a leading global FMCG company in Malaysia. She wasmotivated to return at the thought of being able to contribute tothe development of this nation by sharing the expertise, skills andexperience she gained during her time abroad. Incentives underTalentCorp’s REP programme helped made it easy for Chew to planher homecoming.

The REP is part of a host of initiatives designed to enable theestablishment of a Malaysian world-class workforce through thefacilitation of returning talent within key sectors of the EconomicTransformation Programme (ETP). Whereas previously applica-tions for the REP were only made by returning individuals, this waschanged last year to encourage greater industry participation andto complement Malaysian employers’ existing talent acquisitionefforts, by enabling them to apply for the initiative on behalf of theMalaysian professionals they target to recruit from abroad.

The REP incentive is now an important enabler for leadingMalaysian employers to attract top talent. To know more aboutREP log on to http://rep.talentcorp.com.my/

TalentCorp is organising a visit of Malaysian studentsstudying overseas to leading FMCG employers inAugust 2013. The purpose of the visit is for gradu-ates to experience first-hand the buzz and excite-ment of working in such a fast paced sector andto educate them about career prospects in thesecompanies.

Leading employers will host the students for a daywhich includes bringing them on a tour of the manu-facturing facility, warehouse or retail stockist.

They will be mingling with the young talent atthese companies who will share their own experi-ences. Graduates will also participate in knowledge-sharing sessions and get to interact with the seniorleadership at the company, including face time withthe CEO.

They will particiapte in activities within the com-pany as well as get a feel of the CSR programmes. Theywill get to experience first-hand the informal workculture.

So join in an exciting day out with the FMCG sector!To know more about this programme or to participate,please visit http://events.myworklife.my

industry insights - FMCg

talentCorp’s

“L’Oréal always has and will continue to contributetowards Malaysia’s human capital developmentefforts for many years to come.”

AShwIn RAJGOpALManaging director, L’Oréal MalaysiaResidence Pass - Talent

With the Government’s Economic TransformationProgramme, Malaysia continues to enjoy stronggrowth in investments and is opening its doors totop global talent including Malaysians abroad andforeign talent. The Residence Pass – Talent (RP-T),which was introduced in April 2011, offers foreigntalent and their families the opportunity to liveand work in Malaysia for up to 10 years.

L’Oréal is the No. 1 cosmetics group worldwideand is also the market leader in Malaysia. Today,L’Oréal Malaysia employs over 800 employees andis an active graduate employer. TalentCorp is col-laborating with L’Oréal and other leading FMCGcompanies to improve awareness of the diverseand exciting career opportunities in this sector. Toapply for RP-T, log on to https://www.expats.com.my/rp

“The GeMS programme helped me discover my strengths andenabled me to launch my career in a leading food and beveragecompany in Malaysia. From doing media audit to writing scriptsfor social media marketing, I am learning and growing in my jobat nestlé, Malaysia every day.”

nURUL FARhAnA ASMAwIMajor in Communication,International Islamic University of MalaysiaDigital communications executive, Nestlé Malaysia

Nurul was absorbed to a full time role as digital communi-cations executive in marketing services at Nestlé, Malaysiaafter an attachment with the company under the GraduateEmployability Management Scheme (GEMS) programme. Witha thrust on Graduate Employability, GEMS helps train, exposeand prepare graduates for future career opportunities with theintention to contribute to the economy by reducing the talentshortages in key economic sectors.

To date, GEMS has successfully trained over 9,071 graduates.In 2012, TalentCorp acquired GEMS Malaysia Sdn Bhd fromKhazanah Nasional Bhd. Under TalentCorp the newly revivedGEMS is more sector focused and demand driven. The GEMSprogramme incorporates classroom training with an attach-ment with host companies to enable graduates to learn expe-rientially and land high income jobs with leading companies insectors like oil and gas, electrical and electronics, FMCG, Telco’s,shared services as well as SMEs in the country.

About tAlentCorpTALENTCORP was established in January 2011 under thePrime Minister’s Department to formulate and facilitateinitiatives to address the availability of talent in line with theneeds of the country’s economic transformation.

Collaborating closely with relevant government agenciesand employers in priority economic sectors, TalentCorp devel-ops demand-driven initiatives focused on three strategicthrusts, specifically: (1) Optimise Malaysian Talent; (2) Attractand Facilitate Global Talent; and (3) Build Networks of TopTalent. Since early this year, TalentCorp has been workingclosely with the Malaysian fast-moving consumer goods sec-tor, mainly on building a sustainable Malaysian talent pipe-line of talent for job families which are in high demand.

Companies are also working with TalentCorp on awarenessof opportunities in the sector to help attract back Malaysiantalent from abroad. Large employers in the sector have takenup various products and programs of the TalentCorp. Read onour website www.talentcorp.com.my to find out more.

the SCholArShip tAlentAttrACtion And retention(StAr) progrAmme

The Scholarship Talent Attractionand Retention (Star) programmeis a collaboration between thePublic Service Department (JPA) andTalentCorp. It aims to place JPA schol-ars with leading organisations in theprivate sector, both benefiting in max-imising talent and pushing forwardin terms of excellence and knowledgein the work place. More details canbe found at https://star.talentcorp.com.my. FMCG companies that arepart of the Star programme are NestléProducts Sdn Bhd, Dutch Lady MilkIndustries Bhd and BAT Malaysia.

Contribution to the

FMCg seCtorreturning expert progrAmme (rep) reSidenCe pASS - tAlent (rp-t) grAduAte employAbility

mAnAgement SCheme (gemS)

Malaysian students from foreign universities on an industry-insight camp with TalentCorp last year.

By DR JOHN SULLIVANmystarjob@leaderonomics.com

IS your “six seconds of fame” enough to landyou a job? As a professor and a corporaterecruiting strategist, I can tell you that veryfew applicants truly understand the corporaterecruiting process.

Most people looking for a job approach it withlittle factual knowledge. That is a huge mistake. Asuperior approach is to instead analyse it carefully,because data can help you understand why somany applicants simply can’t land a job.

If you can bear with me for a few quick min-utes, I can show you using numbers where thejob-search “roadblocks” are and how that data-supported insight can help you easily double yourchances of landing an interview and a job.

Your resume WillFace a lot oF competition

Although it varies with the company and thejob, on average 250 resumes are received for eachcorporate job opening. Finding a position open-ing late can’t help your chances because the firstresume is received within 200 seconds after a posi-tion is posted. If you post your resume online ona major job site so that a recruiter can find it, youare facing stiff competition because hundreds andthousands of other resumes can be posted on jobsites each and every week.

understanding the hiring“Funnel” can help Yougauge Your chances

In recruiting, we have what is known as a “hir-ing funnel” or a yield model for every job, whichhelps recruiting leaders understand how manytotal applications they need to generate in order toget a single hire.

As an applicant, this funnel reveals your chancesof success at each step of the hiring process.

According to Talent Function Group LLC, for thespecific case of an online job posting, on aver-age, 1,000 individuals will see a job post, 200 willbegin the application process, 100 will completethe application, 75 of those 100 resumes will bescreened out by either the applicant tracking sys-tem (ATS) or a recruiter, 25 resumes will be seen bythe hiring manager, four to six will be invited foran interview, one to three of them will be invitedback for final interview, one will be offered thatjob, and 80% of those receiving an offer will acceptit.

six seconds oF resumerevieW means recruitersWill see verY little

When you ask individual recruiters directly, theyreport that they spend up to five minutes review-ing each individual resume. However, a recentresearch study from TheLadders that includedthe direct observation of the actions of corporaterecruiters demonstrated that the boast of thisextended review time is a huge exaggeration.

You may be shocked to know that the averagerecruiter spends a mere six seconds reviewing aresume.

A similar study by BeHiring found the reviewtime to be five-seven seconds. Obviously six sec-onds only allows a recruiter to quickly scan (butnot read) a resume.

We also know from observation that nearlyfour seconds of that six-second scan is spent look-ing exclusively at four areas, which are: job titles,companies you worked at, start/end dates andeducation.

Like it or not, that narrow focus means thatunless you make these four areas extremely easyfor them to find within approximately four sec-

onds, the odds are high that you will be instantlypassed over.

And finally, be aware that whatever else thatyou have on your resume, the recruiter will haveonly the remaining approximately two secondsto find and be impressed with it. If you think theinformation in your cover letter will provide addedsupport for your qualifications, you might beinterested to know that a mere 17% of recruitersbother to read cover letters.

a single resume error caninstantlY disqualiFY You

A single resume error may prevent your resumefrom moving on. That is because 61% of recruit-ers will automatically dismiss a resume because itcontains typos, according to Careerbuilder.

In a similar light, 43% of hiring managers willdisqualify a candidate from consideration becauseof spelling errors (Adecco). The use of an unprofes-sional email address will get a resume rejected76% of the time, found BeHiring.

You should also be aware that prominently dis-playing dates that show that you are not currentlyemployed may also get you prematurely rejectedat many firms.

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 201312

Why you can’t

RecRuitment methods explainedland a Job

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 2013 13

A FormAt thAt Is Not scANNAblecAN cut Your odds bY 60%

TheLadders’ research also showed that the for-mat of the resume matters a great deal. Having aclear or professionally organised resume formatthat presents relevant information where recruit-ers expect it will improve the rating of a resumeby recruiters by a whopping 60%, without anychange to the content (a 6.2 versus a 3.9 usabil-ity rating for the less-professionally organisedresume).

And if you make that common mistake ofputting your resume in a PDF format, you shouldrealise that many ATS systems will simply notbe able to scan and read any part of its content(meaning instant rejection).

WeAk lINkedIN ProFIlescAN Also hurt You

Because many recruiters and hiring managersuse LinkedIn profiles either to verify or to sup-plement resume information, those profiles alsoimpact your chances.

Ey-tracking technology used by TheLaddersrevealed that recruiters spend an average of 19%of their time on your LinkedIn profile simply view-ing your picture (so a professional picture may beworthwhile).

The research also revealed that just likeresumes, weak organisation, and scannabilitywithin a LinkedIn profile negatively impactedthe recruiter’s ability to “process the profile”(TheLadders).

50 secoNds sPeNt meANs mANYAPPlY For A job theY Are NotquAlIFIed For

Recruiters report that over 50% of applicantsfor a typical job fail to meet the basic qualifica-tions for that job according to Wall Street Journal.

Part of the reason for that high “not-qualified”rate is because when an individual is lookingat a job opening, even though they report thatthey spend 10 minutes reviewing in detail eachjob which they thought was a “fit” for them, wenow know that they spend an average of just 76seconds (and as little as 50 seconds) reading andassessing a position description that they applyfor (TheLadders).

Most of that roughly 60-second job selectiontime reviewing the position description is actuallyspent reviewing the narrow introductory sectionof the description that only covers the job title,compensation, and location.

As a result of not actually spending the neces-sary time reviewing and side-by-side comparingthe requirements to their own qualifications, jobapplicants end up applying for many jobs wherethey have no chance of being selected.

be AWAre thAt eveN IF Yourresume FIts the job PostINg, YoumAY stIll be rejected

To make matters worse, many of the corporateposition descriptions that applicants are read-ing are poorly written or out of date when theyare posted. So even if an applicant did spend therequired time to fully read the job posting, theymay still end up applying for a job that exists onlyon paper.

So even though an applicant actually meets thewritten qualifications, they may be later rejected(without their knowledge) because after theyapplied, the hiring manager finally decided thatthey actually wanted a significantly different setof qualifications.

mAkINg It through:A keYWord seArch requIresA customIsed resume

The first preliminary resume screening step atmost corporations is a computerised ATS systemthat scans submitted resumes for keywords thatindicate that an applicant fits a particular job.

I estimate more that 90% of candidates applyusing their standard resume (without any cus-tomisation). Unfortunately, this practice dramati-cally increases the odds that a resume will beinstantly rejected because a resume that is not

customised to the job will seldom include enoughof the required “keywords” to qualify for the nextstep, a review by a human.

Even if you are lucky enough to have a liverecruiter review your resume, because recruitersspend on average less than two seconds (of thetotal six-second review) looking for a keywordmatch, unless the words are strategically placedso that they can be easily spotted, a recruiter willalso likely reject it for not meeting the keywordtarget.

No oNe reAds resumes housedIN the blAck hole dAtAbAse

If you make the mistake of applying for ajob that is not currently open, you are probablyguaranteeing failure. This is because during mosttimes, but especially during times of lean recruit-ing budgets, overburdened recruiters and hiringmanagers simply don’t have the time to visit thecorporate resume database (for that reason, manycall it the black hole).

So realise that recruiters generally only havetime to look at applicants who apply for a specificopen job and who are then ranked highly by theATS system.

some APPlIcANts hAveAddItIoNAl dIsAdvANtAges

Because four out of the five job-related factorsthat recruiters initially look for in a resume involvework experience, recent graduates are at a decid-ed disadvantage when applying for most jobs.

Their lack of experience will also mean thattheir resume will likely rank low on the keywordcount. To make matters worse, the average hiringmanager begins with a negative view of collegegraduates because a full 66% of hiring manag-ers report that they view new college graduates“as unprepared for the work place”, according toAdecco.

remember A resume oNlYgets You AN INtervIeW

Even with a perfect resume and a little luck,getting through the initial resume screen by therecruiter only guarantees that your resume willqualify for a more thorough review during what Icall the “knockout round”.

During this next stage of review, the recruiterwill have more time to assess your resume foryour accomplishments, your quantified results,your skills, and the tools you can use.

Unfortunately, the recruiter is usually lookingfor reasons to reject you, in order to avoid thecriticism that will invariably come from the hir-ing manager if they find knockout factors in yourresume.

If no obvious knockout factors are found youcan expect a telephone interview, and if you passthat, numerous in-person interviews.

eveN IF You do everYthINgrIght, the odds cAN be less thAN1%

Because of the many roadblocks, bottlenecks,and “knockout factors” that I have highlighted inthis article, the overall odds of getting a job at a“best-place-to-work” firm can often be measuredin single digits.

For example, Deloitte, a top firm in the account-ing field, actually brags that it only hires 3.5% ofits applicants.

Google, the firm with a No. 1 employer brand,gets well over one million applicants per year,which means that even during its robust hiringperiods when it hires 4,000 people a year, yourodds of getting hired are an amazingly low 4/10of 1%. Those unfortunately are painfully low“lotto type odds.”

uP to 50% oF recruItINg eFFortsresult IN FAIlure

In case you’re curious, even with all the time,resources, and dollars invested in corporaterecruiting processes, still between 30% and 50%of all recruiting efforts are classified by corpora-tions as a failure.

Failure is defined as when an offer was rejected

or when the new hire quit or had to be terminat-ed within the first year (staffing.org). Applicantsshould also note that 50% of all new hires laterregret their decision to accept the job (RecruitingRoundtable).

FINAl thoughtsUnfortunately, much of what is written about

“the perfect resume” and the ideal job searchapproach is based on “old wives’ tales” and is sim-ply wrong. However, when I review the numbersthat are available to me from internal companyrecruiting data and publicly through researchdone by industry-leading firms like TheLadders,Adecco, BeHiring, staffing.org, and Careerbuilder,it doesn’t take long to realise that the real jobsearch process differs significantly from the idealone.

Rather than leaving things to chance, my adviceboth to the applicant and to the corporate recruit-ing leader is to approach the job search processin a much more scientific way. For the applicantthat means start by thoroughly reading the posi-tion description and making a list of the requiredkeywords that both the ATS and the recruiter willneed to see.

Next submit a customised resume that is in ascannable format that ensures that the key fac-tors that recruiters need to see initially (job titles,company names, education, dates, keywords, etc.)are both powerful and easy to find during a quicksix-second scan. But next comes the most impor-tant step: to literally “pre-test” both your resumeand your LinkedIn profile several times with arecruiter or HR professional. Pre-testing makessure that anyone who scans them for six secondswill be able to actually find each of the key pointsthat recruiters need to find.

My final bit of advice is something that onlyinsiders know. And that is to become an employeereferral (the highest volume way to get hired).Because one of the firm’s own employees recom-mended you and also because the recruiter knowsthat they will likely have to provide feedback tothat employee when they later inquire as to “whytheir referral was rejected,” résumés from referralsare reviewed much more closely.

I hope that by presenting these 35+ powerfulrecruiting-related numbers I have improved yourunderstanding of the recruiting process and theroadblocks that you need to steer around in orderto dramatically improve your odds of getting agreat job.

n Dr John Sullivan is an internationally known HRthought-leader from the Silicon Valley who spe-cialises in providing bold and high business impact,strategic talent management solutions to largecorporations. He’s a prolific author with over 900articles and 10 books covering all areas of talentmanagement and an engaging corporate speakerwho has excited audiences on all six continents.

RecRuiteRsRepoRt thatoveR 50% ofapplicantsfoR a typicaljob fail tomeet the basicqualificationsfoR that jobaccoRding toWall stReetjouRnal.

By NG ENG HANmystarjob@leaderonomics.com

DURING my primary andsecondary education inMalaysia, I rememberedwriting several essaysabout travelling, and

how teachers said it was importantbecause it enabled one to meluaskanpengetahuan (broaden one’s knowl-edge). Although I wrote all thoseessays espousing the advantages oftravelling, in hindsight, I didn’t reallyunderstand how the concept couldactually benefit me.

Fast-forward 5½ years after SPM, in2009, and here I am in Santiago, Chile,close to the end of my second studyabroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina,having just visited a Chilean friend Ihad befriended during my study stintin Barcelona in 2007.

For me, the past five years havebeen an incredible eye-opening jour-ney as I travelled through 20 countries,lived in five countries across four con-tinents, and met people from over 100different countries.

I hope that detailing my experienc-es here would inspire others who havesimilar dreams to reach for the starsand also shed light on how to makethese aspirations a reality.

Given the experiences I have had,one might think that I come from asuper-wealthy family. The reality isthat I grew up in a household whereboth my parents were governmentservants for many years, and wouldnot have been able to fully fund any oftheir three children to foreign universi-ties for higher education.

In academics, I was good, but notgreat, and rarely ranked within the top10 in my class. However, I did eventu-ally manage to obtain excellent SPMresults and record notable achieve-ments in extracurricular activities, allof which were important in helpingme secure the opportunities for thenext phase of my education.

After SPM, I applied for sev-eral scholarships and was fortunate

enough to be awarded a 75% schol-arship to study at the United WorldCollege-USA (UWC-USA), in addition toa full scholarship by the Public ServicesDepartment (PSD) to Germany.

For those who are not familiar withUWC-USA, it is one of 12 internationalboarding schools around the worldthat focuses on promoting interna-tional understanding by bringing stu-dents from dozens of countries to liveand study together.

Although the PSD scholarshipseemed the more lucrative and secureoption at that point, I defied theadvice of friends and relatives to optfor UWC as I felt I was able to chal-lenge and grow myself more in a com-pletely unfamiliar environment.

That gamble certainly paid off. InUWC-USA, I had an incredible learningexperience living together with stu-dents from over 90 different countries.Through UWC, I also found out aboutthe concept of financial aid, and everyyear, many Malaysians manage tosecure necessary funding for tertiaryeducation there.

This is largely still a secret among

most students in Malaysia but every-one who desires a tertiary educationand cannot afford it should know thatthe United States is the only countryin the world where financial aid andscholarships are made available toa large number of international stu-dents on a wide-scale basis.

After UWC-USA, I gained admis-sion into Dartmouth College with agenerous financial aid package thatrequired me to spend even less than astudent in a Malaysian public univer-sity would pay.

Dartmouth provided me with allthe resources necessary to achieve mydreams, in areas as diverse as foodand lodging to health insurance andpocket money for study abroad pro-grammes.

The first reaction people usu-ally have when I relate my experi-ence to them is to tell me that I amreally lucky. I acknowledge that beingblessed has definitely played a part inthings.

However, from my personal experi-ence, grit and the willingness to workhard is equally, if not more important,

as well as the fact that opportunitiesare abundant if one is willing to workhard enough.

I have met many Malaysians inthe United States and abroad whoare pursuing a variety of their owndreams, even if they were originallyfrom less privileged backgroundsbecause they were willing to make ithappen.

While you do need a little bit ofluck, it really boils down to passion,hard work and initiative that willprovide the desired results in the long-term. In short, you can shape yourown unique experiences too!

Back in the airport, I reflect aboutmy recent stay in Argentina, whereI studied their political historyand learnt how it and other LatinAmerican countries had huge immi-gration waves also in the late 1800sand early 1900s like Malaysia.

However, it seemed to have done

much better in fostering a nationalidentity that supersedes the variousethnic identities that existed afterimmigration.

Instances like these help me critical-ly reflect upon my multi-ethnic expe-rience growing up in Malaysia, andeven after being exposed to such anincredible amount of new knowledgeover the past five years, I still feel likeI am only beginning to experience thetip of the iceberg of how melancong(travelling) can help one meluaskanpengetahuan!

n Ng Eng Han, 26, considers himselffortunate to have studied across theUnited States, Spain and Argentina. Hewrote this article in 2009, and todayis a management consultant, continu-ing to travel for work. This article wasextracted from the “What’s After SPM”book published by LeaderonomicsPublishing.

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 201314

By TERRY SMALLmystarjob@leaderonomics.com

Here are six things you probably didn’t knowabout your brain:

1 Your brain is a 1.3kg universe... wrappedin tissue and bone... it is proportionately

larger than in any other creature on earth.

2 Your brain is just 2% of your bodyweight... yet demands 20% of your blood

flow and 20% of your oxygen.

3 The number of physical thoughtpathways that your brain can potentially

create is the number one followed by 10.5million km of standard font zeros.

4 The one hundred million neurons in yourbrain can create more ideas than the

number of atoms in the known universe.

5 These ideas zip around in your brain at428km per hour!

6 Your brain’s total capacity for datastorage is a terabyte of terabytes (you

can look this one up... I did).

Congratulations on learning somethingabout your brain today. The Brain Bulletin iscommitted to help to do just that.

RemembeR: “You are a genius!”

Broaden yourhorizons

Things you

aBouT your

didn’TKnowBrain

n Terry Small is a brain expert who resides in Canada and believesthat anyone can learn how to learn easier, better, faster, and thatlearning to learn is the most important skill a person can acquire.To interact with Small, email mystarjob@leaderonomics.com

1

23

4

5 6

Your brainweighs 1.3kg

Your brainis just 2%of your bodyweight

It can poten-tially create astaggeringamount ofthought pathways

The one hundredmillion neurons inyour brain can createmore ideas than thenumber of atoms in theuniverse

Ideas zip aroundin your brain at428km perhour

Capacity fordata storage is aterabyte ofterabytes

Ng at the Iguazu Falls, Argentina.

Ng (second from right) with some friends in Barcelona.

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 2013 15

making up for

By LIM MAY LEEmaylee@mystarjob.com

SO you’ve got a degree and you’relooking for a job! The problemis, most of the jobs you see havethat depressing line about need-ing job experience. But, how do

you get job experience without gettinga job first? With this seemingly hopelessdilemma, fresh graduates and even thosewho would like to make a drastic careerswitch may find it easier to just give up.

Don’t panic, and don’t give up! Thereare many others in the same boat. Thosewith internships under their belts mayuse those as the job experience needed,if applicable. But if you didn’t have anyinternship opportunities, or the job posi-tion you’re eyeing is vastly different fromany job you’ve ever done, here are sometips on getting that sweet job withoutprior work experience!

Tip 1: HarvesT your goodqualiTies from yourscHool or universiTy days

Transferrable skills are your secretweapon! Did you lead a club in school?That is leadership. Were you in a sportsteam? Teamwork. If you’ve ever handledan event, that is event management. Areyou starting to look through your resumewith different eyes?

Everything that you’ve experienced cre-ates an impact in your life. Your skills as afresh graduate can include proof-reading,fact-checking, researching, adept atusing Microsoft Office, budgetingand good social interaction!

You may not have actually workedin an office environment, but you haveworked, and if you can translate thoseexperiences into the soft skills needed toget yourself a job, you should be success-ful.

Tip 2: volunTeerOrganisations that need volunteers do

not quibble over work experience and thelike. While waiting for potential employersto respond to your application, it’s time toget busy!

Volunteering offers you a great way to

explore and develop skills, likes (and dis-likes) that you may have never known youhad. If you were planning to apply for a jobthat involves children, it could be a goodidea to volunteer at an orphanage first.

Not only will you gain valuable workingexperience in dealing with children, youalso get a first-hand glimpse at how anorganisation is run, funds are managed,and definitely learn to multi-task.

For some ideas on where to volunteernext, check out Do Good. Volunteer atdogoodvolunteer.com!

Tip 3: learnIf you’re lacking in work experience,

then knowledge is your friend. You don’thave to get a second degree, but certifi-cates in skills, whether soft or technical,could go a long way towards impressingpotential employers.

Certifications go beyond equipping youwith knowledge; they also indicate thatyou are someone who is willing to learnand is committed to improving yourself.Of course, learning isn’t a substitute foractual hands-on experience, but it’s a goodstep forward!

a writer. Make a video of yourself giving asales pitch if you would like a job in sales,and draft a marketing plan for a fictitiousproduct if you would like to start yourcareer in marketing.

Work samples give employers solidproof of your abilities and can help giveyou more consideration. Remember, appli-cants with job experience already haveproof in terms of their achievements intheir previous jobs, so you would need tohave something extra to hold your ownand not lose out.

Tip 5: sTand ouT!This is no time to blend into the wood-

work; this is the time to grab the spotlightand, most importantly, the JOB. If thereare competitions, take part! Jazz up yourresume with an awesome cover letter!

If necessary, call the company about aweek after you’ve submitted your resume,

Tip 6: neTWorkSometimes, it’s not just what you know,

it’s who you know. Make the most of yourcircle of friends and acquaintances!

If your mother has a friend who mightneed an extra employee, it won’t do youany harm to get more information aboutthat job from the friend. Who knows, youcould get that work experience that youneed.

Informal enquiries about available jobsmay reap great opportunities as well!Asking friends of friends about their jobs,and about the jobs available in their work-place may give you a clearer picture ofhow a workplace is like and whether youare the right person for the job.

Going to career fairs also helps with thenetworking because you get to know thepeople who really matter in your job hunt:The HR team! Above all, be patient. Keepsubmitting those resumes and don’t giveup! If there is one way to ensure a 100%failure rate, it is to not try at all.

Keep improving yourself, and striving tomove onwards and upwards. Do research

on the companies you’re apply-ing for and tailor yourresume and cover letter

accordingly. You may not getthe first job you applied for,

but that happens to almost eve-ryone, regardless of work experience.

Hang in there, and while you’re waitingto be employed, work on your skills.

There is no such thing as being “pro” orbeing the best: Everybody could do withmore knowledge, life experiences, and con-tacts. Make new friends and keep an eyeout for prime job openings that you couldsubmit your application to! You can do it!

Your cover letter gives people a glimpse of who youare and what you hope you achieve. When writing acover letter, tell them why you would like to join thecompany, what you bring to the table and why youthink you can succeed.

Try to keep it short (about 200 to 300 words) though,HR managers have many applications to review andmay not have the time to read a mini-novel.

lack of experience

If you have an engaging personality,why not let potential employers seethat in the flesh? Create your very ownvideo resume and attach it to yourapplications!

This is most useful if you’re applyingfor jobs that place an emphasis onpersonality, like sales or customerservice. You can attach your videoresume into your applications by usingmyStarjob.com’sVisume function! Formore information, go to myStarjob.com/visume.

When writing yourresume, you usuallyhave to add in your workexperience. If you havenone, emphasise whatyou DO have, such asyour grades and the softskills you have pickedup in school and whilevolunteering.

Don’t be too shyto call up the HRdepartment and askabout the status ofyour application!One call, about aweek after you’vesubmitted theapplication, shouldbe good enough.

That is leadership. Were you in a sportsteam? Teamwork. If you’ve ever handledan event, that is event management. Areyou starting to look through your resume

Everything that you’ve experienced cre-ates an impact in your life. Your skills as afresh graduate can include proof-reading,

experiences into the soft skills needed toget yourself a job, you should be success-

Organisations that need volunteers donot quibble over work experience and thelike. While waiting for potential employersto respond to your application, it’s time to

Volunteering offers you a great way to

step forward!

Tip 4: Work samplesThey say “The proof of the pudding

is in the eating”. If you have samplesof your skills that could impress yourpotential employers, display them!

Add samples of your designs toyour application if you’re applyingfor a position as graphic designer,

and samples of your writing ifyou would like to be

week after you’ve submitted your resume,and enquire about your application’s

status – this is also a goodopportunity to have a quick

chat with the person onthe other line; if you can

impress the person infive minutes, your

chances of gettingan interview couldbe that muchhigher.

place may give you a clearer picture ofhow a workplace is like and whether youare the right person for the job.

Going to career fairs also helps with thenetworking because you get to know thepeople who really matter in your job hunt:The HR team! Above all, be patient. Keepsubmitting those resumes and don’t giveup! If there is one way to ensure a 100%failure rate, it is to not try at all.

Keep improving yourself, and striving tomove onwards and upwards. Do research

on the companies you’re apply-ing for and tailor yourresume and cover letter

accordingly. You may not getthe first job you applied for,

but that happens to almost eve-ryone, regardless of work experience.

Hang in there, and while you’re waitingto be employed, work on your skills.

There is no such thing as being “pro” orbeing the best: Everybody could do withmore knowledge, life experiences, and con-tacts. Make new friends and keep an eyeout for prime job openings that you couldsubmit your application to! You can do it!

resume tips

cove

rlet

ter

video

resu

me

emph

asis

call

ing

gives people aglimpse of who youare and what youhope you achieve

Dear Stephanie,Thank you for your inquiry

and sharing with us your currentsituation.

Having served close to eightyears as a sales analyst is a goodrecord but you have not sharedwhether you are a graduate withprofessional qualification or wheth-er you are based in an MNC, or alocal FMCG environment. However,the fact that your firm has a jobfamily does indicate that you are inan active business of some scale.

The eight years would have pro-vided you with a very solid ground-ing of the job and a good apprecia-tion of numbers. There are a fewroutes which you can do immedi-ately to elevate your role:

1 Embrace change and takeadvantage of the situation.

Get to know your bosses and thenew HR folks.

You mentioned that your work ismundane and that you are boggeddown with loads of paper work.

Study the work-flow and suggestnew processes so that everyonewho is in the sales or businessdevelopment team can support youand still allow you to extract real-time data to support the firm andthe business. I can only assume thatthis data is used to help monitorachievement of targets, strengthand weakness of the sales pipelineand also for redevelopment ofstrategies.

Having such insights, you shouldtry to influence and see if you canmove up into a marketing or busi-ness development role. Try andwork yourself out of this role.

2 You highlighted that you likewriting. Depending on your

current capability, writing is used in

many parts of an organisation. Withthe advent of digital marketing andsocial media, you can actually startby doing this:

l sign up for a social media pro-gramme and understand how writ-ing is used in the new era;

l understand how the variousmediums and channels of commu-nications are used;

l develop a new blog by yourselfand write on topics that you arekeen on. By starting a blog, you willcompel yourself to research intothese topics a bit more and enforcethe discipline of making your blogpopular. I mentioned research andthis is key to writing.

After completing the socialmedia course and starting yourown blog, you can then talk toyour HR or Marketing head andenquire if they have an openingin your company for a role in PR,advertising, market research. Applyinternally first. Some jobs are neveradvertised.

Writing alone has limitations.Remember this is the digital age, soyou need to package yourself andpitch your skills to include not justwriting, but other skills too. An edi-tor looking for a writer would lookfor someone who is creative andalso independent. If you are tightfinancially, there are many free on-line courses on social media.

3 If you are really keen, thereare openings in journalism.

They provide very good training butyou have to be ready for the stressand also tight deadlines. There is agood mix of business, newspapersand female magazines that arelooking for writers and also on-linepublications.

The entry level salary is not soattractive. Unless you are workingfor a top notch newspaper, I wouldsay that PR consultancies andadvertising firms pay better.

4 In the eight years, you wouldhave worked for numerous

bosses. Where have they gone to?How can they help you? Connectwith them and see if they will giveyou a chance. You will be surprisedhow much networking and old

bosses can help.

Lastly, you mentioned thatfinancial stability is importantfor you. Changing jobs andchanging employers is alwaysrisky. But you should startreinventing yourself today.I would like to quote Ziglar:“where you want to be, the

seed is already planted whereyou are standing.” Steve Jobs

in his famous Stanford speechsaid one’s life experiences will

have bearing on your success and

you just need to link up the lines.I hope you find what you want

Stephanie. Good luck.

nancy S-y Sim-lim

Dear Stephanie,There is always uncertainty

with any change in management,and this may require a period ofadjustment from both the employ-ee as well as the management.

Have a conversation with yoursuperior to convey your expecta-tions for a more challenging task orrole complementary to your skillsand capabilities.

Some people enjoy expandingtheir knowledge in their areas ofexpertise, while others seek togive breadth to their knowledge byexploring different fields of work.

If there is any opportunity foryou to apply for lateral movementacross departments in your compa-ny, take it. It would be an opportu-nity for you to experience new chal-lenges and practical experiences.

You may also want to volunteerfor special projects at your work-place (if there are any). Sign upfor stretch assignments or specialprojects to accelerate learning andto minimise any skill or knowledgegaps.

You mentioned that you enjoywriting; perhaps, you could reachout to your communications teamto support them through yourwriting skills. Offer to write andcontribute articles for your in-housenewsletter; if there is none at themoment, consider starting one foryour organisation. Opportunitiesmight arise from such endeavours.

Any change can be frighteningand painful. It would be difficultto walk away from a secure, stablejob and pay. At the same time, aswe spend a great amount of timeat work, it is important that we dosomething meaningful and reward-ing.

Regardless of your current status,take time to reflect on your contri-bution in the organisation. Is thatwhat you want for your career?Does it allow you to do what youare really good at? Does it help youto grow professionally?

In summary, the following maybe used as a guide:

1. What are your realintereStS anD SkillS?

Look back on your successesover the years; review your roles,projects and tasks to identify yourskills and what you really like to do.Make a list of what your ideal jobwould include, for example:

l less administrative workl more writing-based assign-

ments and opportunities

2. are you happy Withyour current job?

Be clear of why you want to leaveyour current job. You can do this by:

l keeping a log of your currentjob and responsibilities

l identifying which part of thejob you like/dislike

l asking if you are satisfied/dis-satisfied with the job/responsibilityor your company or the people youwork with?

3. are there any careeralternativeS?

Be honest with yourself and askwhat you do and do not like aboutyour current job.

Ask yourself what would it taketo make your working life morepleasant. Take time to explore alloptions and alternatives before youmake any decisions.Think of theimplications they may have on youand your family. Perhaps you maywant to:

l Discuss your ideas and planswith family, friends and your net-work of professional contacts

l Read and research to evaluateyour different areas of interest

l Talk to contacts in those areasfor in-depth information

l Google for more ideas fromonline resources

4. hoW Do you re-learn anD DevelopneW SkillS?

Make a list of your experiences,skills, accomplishments and chal-lenges. Do this:

l Check out and learn new skillswhich could help you pursue yourcareer in a new direction

l Sign-up for in-house pro-grammes, if available

l Find a secondment oppor-tunity or get involved in projectswhich could help you broaden yourknowledge and skills

5. Who can youShaDoW to obServethe job firSt-hanD?

Learn from the experts. Arrangeto spend time shadowing peoplewhose jobs interest you for insightsto the job itself. I personally findthis very inspiring and educational.

Most importantly, be curious andenjoy every learning opportunity.Remember to also focus on family,friends and hobbies.

Aristotle says, “Where the needsof the world and your talents cross,there lies your vocation”.

Good luck.

emily Wong

n The opinions expressed are thoseof the authors and not necessarilythose of myStarjob.com

mystarjob.com, saturday 13 July 201316

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Also next week

WE haveexpertson careermanagement, HR and office issues whowill address your questions weekly. Werefer to them as Careernomers - expertsin career matters who will help youin your career journey. So if you haveany burning question to ask, send it todearcareernomers@leaderonomics.comand we will get the panel to answeryour questions.

This week, Datin Nancy S Y Sim-Lim,SVP & head of Human Capital, GreatEastern Life Assurance (M) Berhad andEmily Wong VP, head - OrganisationalDevelopment & Learning at AllianceBank answer Stephanie’s question.

Dear careernomerS,I have been at my current job for

eight years now, as a sales analyst inretail. My job has been getting moreand more mundane and routineevery day. The change of my companymanagement makes the situationworse as the instructions and objectivesare not delivered clearly from top tobottom. I talked to my superior askingfor more challenging work but all Igot was more paperwork that otherdepartments neglected to do.

I am reconsidering my career pathand my close friends, knowing that Ilike writing, encourage me to pursuethis direction. I am in my 30s andhave financial commitments so I amapprehensive about taking risks withbeginning a new career.

I am in a dilemma now and wouldappreciate if you could advise me inmaking a good decision.

Yours truly,

Stephanie