Right-on CV

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Off-the-track

The picture is the book I'm into now, Marketing: An introduction, co-written by Prof. Philip Kotler and Prof. Gary Armstrong, the 7th edition. As the title, the book comes up with all what a newbie needs when starting learning about Marketing. Can say, I'm swallowing every single words of both two authors because they express their ideas in such a very clear and convincing way. The book rings a bell to my mind that agitates it to re-think the misconception of Marketing beforehand. Only after reading this, and some others, could I know what is real Marketing. Very helpful book. It is my recommendation from me to you.

Containing 700-page-plus, the book is more involving than you expect because coming up with theories of Marketing, two that geniuses add loads of case studies; insights of famous organizations or firms to help readers be clued up on their Marketing strategies. So informative and comprehensive! I keep myself from reading at least 10 pages each day, a little slow 'cos I need to ponder about and to link information on the book together, for a full grasp. It isn't easy for me to read, but I am trying since I know I love Marketing so much. Secret: I used to hate the subject I am studying: International Business (BBA), but thanks God I chose it anyway.

Now, the question risen here is whether I could apply this theory into practice when coming back Vietnam and working in a firm? Let's see.

...


When applying for any firm, the people who recruit you always require a CV comes along with all other papers. The more impressing it is, the better chance you have. I am thinking of a CV which is not just plain a paper but a set of stuffs which really could indicate Who I am and How I am. Recently, I like LinkedIn, thanks to bro Duc Ban's suggestion. It is like an online profile maker for you. Give it a try. All you need to do is to give your personal information, the website will help in designing and forming the profile appearance. Useful!

Pretending yourself as an employer, what do you expect from your future employees, and current recruiters? Do you want to fathom them out? Do you wish to get inside them in order to ensure the person you choose is Mr(s). Right? Well, if I am an employer, I really wish I could know them well. In contrary, once I am a candidate, I really wish the employer should know me that well, too. I don't think a plain paper with some texts could figure out how a person is. The interview doesn't help, either. Because in an interview, many exterior factors can affect its quality: candidate's mistakes, disconcertment, overreaction or just the employer's unwisdom, irresponsibility. You can be IN or OUT unreasonably and wrongful. Hence, instead of qualifying someone just by their manifestations, I suggest the funnier way, figure them out deeply. You could miss an effective and interesting employee as a gift for your competitor if you make the decision carelessly, recklessly quick. So, read on!


Right-on CV/Resume?

The idea is I build up my CV/resume by the available tools instead of self-writing and designing it.

As said above, I like LinkedIn for its utility. I plan to use it as the official personal profile to send/show off to my future employers. In case of on-line application, instead of filling the suggested form the firms provide, I just give them my link address to my LinkedIn page. Profile is there to read. But LinkedIn isn't perfect, it doesn't support users in self-customizating (am I wrong?) so that the employers could think of me as lazy or uncreative. To solve it, I think of using another service called Tumblr. The draft page is here. The theme is so well-designed, simple and clean with the charming font style used. A typification of minimalism! I still cannot define what Tumblr really is, it's quite huge in scale, but it helps me in designing an indispensable thing accompanies with CV, the Motivation Letter, aka Cover Letter. Conventionalized Motivation Letter is meant to be formal and in order, I hate that. I want something new rather than just a statement-of-purpose essay. Well, when you apply for a job, the Motivation Letter is supposed to answer the big, harsh question from the employer---Why should I hire you? Therefore, instead of boasting about your "dreaming" qualification, why don't let them discover you?

Confronting that question, I will answer, "Well, I believe I will please you in the position you offer. But listening me fussing about myself is not more interesting than reading my papers. So that I suggest you evaluate me yourself by surfing through those websites. My identity, personality and qualification are all placed there".

In my current Tumblr page, yet it has been done 'cos it's a draft. I plan to write a Motivation Letter to publish there, accompanies with some decoration (yes, decoration) which could indicate me such as interesting Quotes from interesting people, my writing about things, my other link addresses etc. The idea is once the employer visits my LinkedIn page, he/she reads my profile. Then, he/she goes to my Tumblr page to see my flourishing Motivation Page (not just a Letter anymore). By turns, he/she keeps going through my Blog, my Gallery, or my social network pages. Everything is to get to know me well enough. This whole progress shapes my real, fully CV! He/she can see multiple sides of mine. And those websites are all very trendy! People should appreciate if you are active enough to follow the trends. Be active! It is a good point one should have. After all, I think it expresses the creativity. Creativity is essential for everything, especially for a marketer or people working in Marketing field---my target. Besides, it express how much I appreciate my profile. And of course, a set of resume like that can truly reveal Who I really am and How I really am. Indeed.

If you notice, in the right-side menu of this blog, there has one section I set, "Havens". Why Havens? Well, I like to think of cyber-spaces as where I haunt; where I self-efface from the real, hustle and bustle life. I list some websites there, they are part of my on-line world. It is what I wanna put on my CV to employers. Still, I'm in search for other better services, Tumblr seems not to be meant as I use.

You will say there is no employer could be that patient to go all the way long to discover a recruiter. Well, you are right. Many employers are like that. Why they bother discovering you? Okay, as said beforehand, you could miss an effective and interesting employee as a gift for your competitor.

CV is your personal thing, so just make it personal. Just like the slogan of HP in one of its best Marketing campaigns, "The Computer is Personal again". Stereotyped CV is tedious, and poor. There are many available tools and services which the Internet provides, if you find them helpful and useful to make the best of. Like Apple or Steve Jobs says, Think Different!

Be personal.

My two cents.

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