Bluebell Solutions Ltd, has commenced human resource capacity building training programmes for the workers of establishments within the hospitality and retail industries in Ghana.

COURSE CONTENT

· Effective Customer Care

· Proper Time Management

· Building Teams

· Building a better Employer-Employee relationship

Don’t be left out!

Make sure your staff are trained to provide the kind of service your want for your organization and for your customers/clients!!

Go t:

www.bluebellsolutions ltd.com to register your interest or call us on 00233

246490626

WELL DONE EJOBS GHANA

Thanks to Ejobs for organising a fantastic career fair at the Aviation Social Centre, it was also a nice gesture to extend invitation to other sister recruitment agencies to participate

It was nice to be a part of it. I must say I was very encouraged to see many job seekers trooping and in fact some of them looked so desperate. It was so obvious the job hunting had been going on for a while.

However this was a moment that I thought, Ghanaian companies would grab the opportunity to make their presence, in order to sell themselves to the public and most importantly to inform and educate job-seekers on what their recruitment requirements are.

Job fairs are not just for job seekers but for employers alike.

Fortunately, I have had the opportunity of being a part of many career fairs outside our shores and it is great to see both big name companies and smaller ones making their presence felt.

Ejobs fair was generally good and well organised and attended (by jobseekers). The seminars, mock interviews were also very educating

Hopefully in the future there would be more of such Job fairs and the publicity would the wide enough to attract more companies and employer organisations.

EKUA EGUAKUN

THE USE OF OUTRAGEOUS EMAILS IN SENDING JOB APPLICATIONS ELECTRONICALLY

Job searching like any other business venture, should be taken seriously because being jobless is a very difficult situation, especially in our part of the world, where a social security support like the job-seekers allowance etc is non-existence.

On the other hand, landing the right job can be very rewarding both financially and emotionally. It is always said that, employment brings enjoyment.

It not only brings enjoyment, it as well boosts our confidence levels especially when we are financially independent and do not have to depend on others for our daily bread

In therefore for this reason that we must take our job search very seriously and treat it in the same vain as any other serious business venture, or on a more social and lighter note, liken it to a man trying to woo the woman of his dreams. (Laugh). I believe this should be treated seriously too because there is nothing worse that bruises a man’s ego than being turned down his love offer.

Within the job search market, applicants must bear in mind that the use of funny or sexually-connoted email addresses for sending job applications electronically is a no-no. Fortunately for us, there is no limit to the number of email addresses a person can create. So the advice is, simply to create one that we can use for formal situations.

This email address must easily identify who the sender is. For example if you are called Kwabena Poku, you may create an email such as k.poku@yahoo.com and not crimeshame@hotmail.com or sexymumma@yahoo.com.

The latter type of email addresses should not be used for correspondence such as school or job applications. They should be left for friends and loved ones

An applicant must note that, although he may have a very good application, he/she may be the disadvantaged because the recruiter might not even take a glance at all, at his application, and why would this be so? Because the recruiter will quickly and spontaneously delete an application sent via such outrageous emails.

The use of a funny email or sexy language email further portrays the sender as one who isn’t too serious in life. Moreover It is offensive, since the recruiter at this stage is neither your friend nor colleague, the relationship remains strict and formal.

The situation can be likened to an applicant who walks up to an office to see the manager and in filling the visitors form, writes down his name as sexy mumma. Although he will certainly not introduce your himself as such when he meet the manager face to face, it is highly unlikely he will even get the chance to see the Manger at all.

If it is his lucky day and the Manager is in good spirits, he will opt to see this applicant more out of curiosity than anything else.

King Solomon’s Ecclesiastic 3:1 says:

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the sun.

A time for being formal and a time for being causal, a time for being serious and a time for being playful.

Job search and job applications are serious ventures hence applicants should bear this in mind and act accordingly.

Good Luck!!!

Ekua Eguakun,

Bluebell Solutions Ltd

SOME MORE DO’S AND DON’TS IN JOB APPLICATIONS

I have recently been receiving several applications for a particular job vacancy we advertised.

These applications are carefully planned and well laid out. Simply I would say they are good.

Thanks to the wealth of information out there, which is helping job applicants make good applications. Although I am afraid to admit that occasionally you come across two or more CV’s with such great similarities, creating the impression that the information has been picked up from the same place without any changes being made.

I was with two job applicants last week, whom I was screening for a particular job role and I quickly detected that their skills and interest were so similar, that one could quickly tell that, either they had copied each other, or both had picked up the information from the same place.

I commented on it and the applicant admitted that indeed they had both picked up the information from the same place.

In fact he admitted this without any sense of guilt, and it was there that I appreciated that he did not even know or realise that he had committed a faux pas by admitting to the fact that he had picked up the information about his skills and interests from elsewhere.

I was embarrassed but he was not. Why? because he did not even know anything was amiss.

Indeed I have encountered similar situations on various occasions. Do job applicants not realise that they must prove to the interviewer that everything written down on their application is original and their own?

It is undeniable, that recruiters and interviewers are much aware that most CV’s presented to them are not necessarily original however it is up to an applicant to disprove this.

Every now and then we pick up bits of information from here and there to spice up and make our CV’s look good, but does the word plagiarism ring a bell at all? Please let’s be mindful of this in our day to day professional and academic life.

In our bid to create impressionable CV’s, lets not be simply cutting and pasting from the CV’s of others, otherwise we end up creating a negative impression rather than the positive we intended.

All the best in your job search!!!

Ekua Eguakun

Bluebell Solutions Ltd

WHO SAYS WHOM YOU KNOW IS NOT IMPORTANT?

Last time, I had a comment from someone about my last article saying that, its not the common pitfalls which prevent us from securing jobs buts rather its about who knows you.Yes there is no doubt, there’s “whom you know” in our society, but its not just here but in every other society; developed or developing.

Social networking or in common Ghanaian parlance “whom you know” pervades all aspects of our lives, job search not excluded.After all people have more confidence and feel comfortable in working with those they know and can trust. Besides obligation, to family, friends and society requires that we assist those we know.

To cite a typical scenario, how would you, a young jobseeker feel when you go for a job interview. In this instance you have the exact qualifications all right, nevertheless you fail to secure the job, despite your uncle, club or church member being the chairman of the panel. Would this job seeker (and probably family and friends alike) later not go about castigating this recruiter, whom he knows for failing to offer him/her the job?.

On the reverse, wouldn’t this dear uncle, church member or club member not feel at peace within, knowing he has fulfilled his societal obligation, in offering the known jobseeker the position despite the other contending applicants (he does not know personally) having the same qualifications or probably better?

It is for this reason that students in higher education, preparing for the job market are constantly advised to attend useful workshops, seminars and career fairs and training programmes as well as to join various societies, clubs and social organizations because it is through these social networking groups that we are able expand our horizons, making it a lot more easier for us when we start job hunting.

Students and graduates who have recently left school, should be well-advised that there is nothing wrong in taking the opportunity to get to know as many people as possible.

If you want job in a particular firm and you are really keen on it:

The first rule is getting to know as much as possible about the organization. This would involve visits to the place and reading literature about them, etc.

Rule two, get to know some of the Bigshots who work there.

Rule three, find out what their interests and hobbies are. If they belong to a particular social group, join too if you can, and through this you can work your way into becoming acquainted with them and finally knowing them on a personal level.

Remember these Bigshots of the organization are the ones who take decisions within it and know what they look out for in terms of manpower or the necessary or relevant expertise for their business. This could therefore be an opportunity for you to sell yourself to them. There is no need to hold back or feel inferior just because you are a student or a recent graduate and he is an executive. At this level you are both in a social situation. Take advantage of it!!!

Remember! Whilst you are doing all this, make sure you are building the right qualification and experience so that come interview day, there’s no reason why you should be turned down

SOME COMMON PITFALLS IN JOB APPLICATIONS

I have always wondered why job applicants do not pay attention to details when making job applications. Recruiters in considering job applications come across simple grammatical errors, typographical mistakes etc. These go straight to the bin, whether or not the particular applicant is qualified for the job.

One would have thought that, in this era of economic crisis where jobs openings are so competitive and hard to come by, applicants would put extra effort into the applications they make.

I would advice that a potential job seeker handles job applications as if his/her whole life depends on it and indeed that is the way applications must be tackled unless, otherwise you are not a serious job seeker.

Also not too frequently though, a company, ABC Ltd receives an email from a job applicant that has been addressed to XYZ Ltd. This is a simple error which could have been avoided by having a second look at your application before you click, “send.”

There is something else that I have observed, and that is the use of funny email addresses, for example: sexybaby@hotmail.com and coolguy@yahoo.com. How can an applicant with such an outrageous email address expect to be considered seriously by the recruiter? Please leave these funky email addresses for correspondence with your schoolmates and colleagues and certainly not for official correspondence.

It is always advisable to have a second, third and fourth look at your applications, if possible get a second opinion on it before you finally send it out.

Good luck to all job applicants.

Ekua Eguakun