JOB SEARCHING MADE SIMPLE-Module Three

Welcome to our latest job search skills entry.

Module Three: Building Your Resume

Your resume is one of the most important parts of the job seeking process. Whether you are chosen for an interview or not depends a great deal on the professionalism demonstrated in your resume and the language you use to communicate your skills, abilities, and experience. In your resume you must put forth the strong impression that you are the best option for the companies’ employment needs.

Basic Resume Formats

There are a few basic formats worthy of consideration for writing a professional resume.

 Essential Information to Include

*Full name and contact information. Telephone numbers, e‐mail, and street address and fax numbers if necessary. If you have a professional website, this would also be important to list. Avoid putting social networking sites that are for personal use.

*Work experience related to the position you are seeking.

*Work experience not directly related to the position you are seeking. This shows other skills and experiences you have and your larger picture of work history.

*Education and schooling relevant to the position.

*A summary of qualifications or skills and abilities you bring to the job.

*Awards and recognition.

*References ‐ You may choose to say references available upon request or list them on the resume itself.

 Chronological Style Resume

*One traditional resume format is a Chronological presentation of your work experience and qualifications. The following is true about this format:

*Lists the specifics of your work experience in reverse chronological order

* Includes work history and education.

*Many organizations and human resource departments prefer this method.

 Combination Style Resume

*Focus on the target position / job. Present your capabilities that are required of that position.

*Relate your ability to do the job regardless of when the skills were last used.

*Show research about the position sought.

*Include job titles and dates of employment.

*There are different formats for students entering the workforce for the first time.

Some formats help people moving from one level of responsibility to higher levels in the same career. Still other formats are helpful for professionals changing from one career to another.

Dealing with Awkward Points

There may be gaps in your employment history that create tension or awkwardness. If you have such gaps you may decide that the Combination Style Resume works better to draw less attention to these hiatuses of employment.

Careful and creative wording can help present special circumstances in the best possible light. Honesty is the best policy if you are asked to explain times of

unemployment for any reason such as extended illness, disability, incarceration or just times when you could not find a job.

GET INSPIRED: OUR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR OF THE WEEK-MHUB

As a social entrepreneurial journalist, I've embarked on another life journey -a journey that will see me tell inspirational stories of people who are making a difference in life-from far and wide! Today, I talk to mHub Executive Director Rachel Sibande.

 

How did the idea to start mHub come about?

60% of Malawi's population are youths and children. Post secondary education opportunities are limited. There is a high rate of unemployment amongst youths; 75% of youths are unemployed. ICT is one of the key drivers of Global economies. There was therefore a need to embrace young people and  enhance more opportunities for young people in technology.

Mhub is thus Malawi's first technology hub. We identify, nurture and incubate young technology entrepreneurs. These are young people with skills in buidling websites, mobile applications and technology applications. We champion the development of local technology solutions for local problems. We support young technology enthusiasts with technical skills and training on entrepreneurship.

What is its main or core business? What service and support does mHub offer?

Our core business is the development of local technology solutions for local problem. We have young people that build websites and other technology applications.

For example; we have a young man that developed a local accounting package, being translated to chichewa and specifically designed for small enterprises.

We also developed Malawi's first online fashion store for Malawi's top fashion designer LillyAlfonso. http://lillyalfonso.com

We also developed a mobile application for the Lake of Stars music festival. One of the largest music festivals in Africa.

Which benefit is the most important about mHub?

We embrace and nurture talent in technology in young people. We mentor young technology enterpreneurs and enhance the culture of enterpreneurship.

How is the mHub different from the competitions? (Which features

are exclusive? Which are better than the competition’s?)

What problems does mHub solve in the marketplace?

We develop local technology solutions for local problems than going for off the shelf solutions that often do not fit in to the context of our challenges. We also solving the problem of youth unemployment by enhancing a culture of entrepreneurship among the youths.

How is mHub positioned against competing services?

We are Malawi's first technology hub and leverage this as an advantage. We are the first incubator space for technology startups.

So far, how has mHub fared since its inception?

We have started off well. Being a social enterprise; we have got funding from Hivos, UNICEF and recently partnered with TNM in the Smart Challenge Competition where young Malawian technology enthusiasts will compete to develop mobile applications and win a trip to the silicon valley among other prizes. The competetition is also supported by Google, Facebook and IBM.

What sort of challenges is mHub facing, and how are you addressing them?

Since we are just setting up; getting to sell the concept that technology solutions can be developed locally is a challenge. Often people associate technology platforms as being elite and to be imported. Yet there's immense talent in our youths to develop technology solutions

What are your future plans?

We intend to become a leading Software development house and an ICT4D think tank in the region

HOW TO MASTER ENGLISH LANGUAGE...SO EASILY-LESSON 3

Welcome to our next lesson. Are you ready?

Let’s dive in:

John drives.

John is driven.

In (1) above the subject (John) is the doer of the action. Thereafter the verb is said to be active. In (2) the subject receives the action, and the verb is passive. Active verbs can take objects. To find the object if any) of a verb, we ask, “whom?” or “what?” after the verb:

John drives an old car. (Drives what?)

Julie assisted me. (Assisted whom?)

Note that object words (car, me) are, like subject words, always nouns or pronouns. So, when nouns or pronouns appear in sentences, they are very often subject words or object words. Otherwise they are usually following prepositions – in which case they are said to be governed by prepositions they follow:

In the water, after dinner, of anger, with a smile

Exercise 3:

Decide (in correct order) the task performed by the nouns and pronouns in the following sentences:

He took the dog for a walk.

(A subject, governed by preposition, object)

(B subject, object, governed by preposition)

Out of the house came she.

(A subject, object)

(B governed by preposition, subject)

A box of nails has disappeared.

(A subject, governed by preposition)

(B subject, object)

What shall we do?

(A subject, object)

(B object, subject)