Professional Approach Group

Your CV Does Not Define You

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:43:50 +0000

Whaaaat?! What are you talking about? Just a few months ago you told us to make sure that we present ourselves as best as can be done on our CVs and today you tell us that CVs aren’t everything? Didn’t you say that people get to see your CV before they see you and so it needs to be the best representation of you? Isn’t it true that without a CV with impressive educational, work experience and applicable skills information, I am nothing? I mean, besides pay, the whole reason why I go to work and pursue further education is to further build my CV.

What, pray tell, are you talking about?

My, aren’t we worked up?

Yes, it is true that presenting yourself as best as possible is more likely than not, to get your foot into that interview room and yes, the greater your profile, the better chances of you being considered for that job but, no, your Curriculum Vitae (detailed description of your education, skills, experience and competence in specific fields) does not define who you are.

What, pray tell, are you talking about?

You are more than this.

Ask yourself, how it is that people are headhunted at their place of work when they haven’t even put their CVs out there? How is someone called back to a job from retirement or consulting when they show no interest at all of going back to a job? How does someone who has no experience in a specific field get called on to sit as board director or advisor of a reputable establishment?

How come my colleague who is in the same department, who holds the very same position as me is forever called on to participate in other areas and I never see anything outside my job description come my way?

Yes, there are minimum qualifications for any job and many strive to attain these but you know that director who made their way up from the position of a clerk? You know, that one that everyone calls on for direction and sound advice? How did she do it? I mean, you can’t fault the woman on anything. She is on point.

Catch my drift? Today, we’ll look at what, other than formal education, skills and length of experience, makes successful people stand out from seemingly equally qualified (yet still mediocre) peers.

You must present that which you have as best as you can because unless I see the minimum requirements on your CV, I won’t call you in. Yet there are people, by virtue of their profiles and recommendations from others, are eagerly invited for interviews even where they haven’t presented their CVs. Their reputation precedes them.

This is the type of person we should all strive to be. A person like this knows that their CV does not define them. It may open doors but after that, they must walk in and perform. This, ladies and gentlemen, and not on the formal qualifications, is where they place their value.

Before writing, formal educational certification and organisational structures, candidates were nominated according to character and only where previous record exists, also proven competence in the area.

It is your character, work ethic and execution that will have people calling on you for advice, giving opportunities for you to share your wisdom, appointing you to govern a certain area. We are told that “[a] man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.” Take that which you learnt through formal education, the application of technical skills at work and mix it with the all important attitude ( ‘I can (always) do’, ‘I am accountable’, ‘I will execute like I am the last check point before this is presented/published’, ‘I want the organisation to prosper, not just me or my department so I will endeavour to think the business and propose solutions with its future in mind’, ‘I will treat this as if it were mine and so remain honest and exercise due care with all I do because this is how I would have others deal with me and my property’ ). Your attitude, exercised over time builds character and character leads you to your destiny.

You must understand that success is a choice. The attitude you choose to develop into character in you will make or break you, regardless of how great your profile is on paper. Your destiny lies in your character.

One of the definitions for character speaks of “reputation: the opinion that people have of you, particularly of whether you can be trusted or relied on”. It gives an example of “a man of good character and integrity.

I kid you not. Choose your “essential qualities” to be integrity, moral strength, firmness of purpose as evidenced by your being honest, transparent, trustworthy, reliable, driven, executing with detailed precision and correctness and you will hear people describe you as being distinctive, unique, credible, a [wo]man with standing and you would be surprised as to how high and how fast you would soar. Everyone would want you on their team; not just those you directly deal with at the workplace.

You see, the problem with placing your all on your CV is that if I don’t know your educational background, where you worked and what you did for them or what other skills you carry, then I won’t know your ‘supposed worth’ right? But with the right character, CV or not, just the way you carry yourself, interact with others, execute on a thing, work related or otherwise, and I’ll get to so drawn to you as to want to know who you are, what you do and for how much would you leave your current job to join my team.

It is the attitude you choose daily and the way in which you apply it in and out of work, that will build the character that will take you to your destiny.

Do not be fooled, you will need to line up a lot more than just your certificates for you to achieve your dreams. Your formal qualifications are a bare minimum. So instead of looking for every opportunity to get more training, more degrees, more technical skills, ask yourself, how have a worked what I already have? Is my character worthy of my current profile? If you have a compromising work ethic and execute just well enough not to get fired, you are not made of the stuff of great men and women and nothing additional on your CV can convince any a discerning [wo]man otherwise.

Think of serving others with the best of you and you will in return receive the best acknowledgement and reward. Tune your mind to do well for others and your organisation and it is you they will choose to represent their best interests. They will sing your praises so loud that even neighbouring organisations will want a piece of you and before you know it, your gift would have ushered you into the presence of the great. Believe me, it works every single time. Look at history; what all the great people who made a great impact in their societies have in common is character and when you look at the essential qualities of that character, you won’t once miss out on ‘vision, integrity, tenacity, selfless service to others, excellence in execution’.

Please don’t lose focus, your CV may give a clue as to who you are and what you can do but it is what you are and what you do that will build you a CV that is far greater than your formal qualifications on paper, a CV that will outlast your years at work, A CV that there isn’t paper and ink enough to describe.

Kitu Kidogo (Ni Kitu Kikubwa)

admin — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 20:42:56 +0000

Wenzangu, you will have to bear with me. In all honesty, there are some practices that unless addressed, will continue hindering our progress kama wazalendo toughing it out in a global market. These issues have been giving me heartburn and should they intensify without being aired, I fear that I may soon suffer from angina or worse.

Sasa ndugu zangu, kwani inakuaje kwamba (how is it that) in performing our duties, which we actually get paid for, we still expect someone to give us kitu kidogo on the side?

Where did this all come from and how has it been so entrenched in our society that it is now demanded as a right?

Park your car someplace and not hand it over to the young man standing by it and dare leave without paying him (even though you have paid the parking attendants) and they will break your tail lights. What did you expect? You didn’t leave kitu kidogo for a “soda”.

Prospect for business at an establishment, win the bid and don’t “tip” the receptionist, officer, manager and director involved and watch your contract be rescinded for ‘lack of credible references’ within two weeks.

Does it stem from our past? Was it that working in government and parastatal organisations left people with such little to take home by way of real cash that people then resorted to supplementing their income with kitu kidogo at the job; siphoning off organisation resources to do their own business on the side and; outright bribery to receive fast track services elsewhere?

Do you realise just how much this stifles progress? How can anyone get ahead if everything they rightfully earn has to be divided 7 ways with those seeking to leech off of them (and that’s even before taxes)?

Public and private sector personnel alike, there are offices where applications are delayed when you don’t grease someone’s palm by giving them something “for chai”.

Defective products and compromised services, are approved of and ushered into our markets, without quality and safety audits and end up affecting us as consumers, sometimes even leading to fatalities.

Time is wasted, lucrative contracts are lost and Tanzania remains stagnant as it chases its own tail in a tragic web of corruption. Corruption is a tail that wags Tanzania.

Now, I don’t care just how entrenched ‘bribing to get by’ is, I know for a fact, if enough people say no, although having to suffer short term losses, in the long run, those that insist on bribery as the currency for business transactions would run out of customers and in turn business.

It is a fact.

It really depends on your values and priorities.

Why should I bribe you for giving you a service you get more value from, a service that leads to your ultimate organisational development and financial growth? How come you don’t remember me, the consultant, when my excellent work reaps you hundred fold returns?

How many organisations, 2 years after the success of interventions suggested by consultants, go looking for the consultants and give them kitu kidogo over and above that which had been contracted for and paid two years before?

What saddens me more is the fact that from the head of departments to the tea boy, someone is expecting something for doing their job, which they already get paid for.

If you are not happy with your remuneration package, speak to your boss or HR personnel, where that fails and you have considered the pros and cons of choosing to stay, just make a plan to leave. There are recruitment agencies that don’t charge you a shilling to find you a suitable placement.

The money you accept as a bribe for a service instead of the customer paying the full fee, ends up in and out of your pocket without so much as consideration (because you didn’t toil for it) but imagine the difference it would make had the customer paid the full amount and with supporting structures in place, the organisation could collect its rightful revenues and in turn increase salaries or bonuses and perks that would end up of greater and longer term benefit to you than the odd “vijisenti” you scramble for now and then without dignity.

For those that are piggy backing off of others, try starting your own business or sharing your own salary and see how long you can maintain meeting your overheads and other people’s bills at the same time.

Then we complain when our own would rather do business with foreigners who in turn bring in their own as consultants? We have nothing to complain about. Think over and above your day to day wants and establish lasting ethical business relationships for the long term.

Yes, life can be short, so there are those who would say ‘live for today because that’s all that is guaranteed’ but life can also be very long and you may have to live with the consequences of your greed in jail or down and out with not a reference of good report anywhere.

Come on Tanzania, we are more than this. How many cars can one drive? How many houses can one live in? If it is because you don’t have and wan to ‘keep up’ with the trends, you are headed for disaster. You cannot want the prize without having to first pay the price. You don’t know what it took and the sacrifices that had to be made by someone you see as successful. You want the glory but can you drink of their cup (of pain and sacrifice?).

Please don’t say ‘well, everyone else is doing it, why should I not benefit? Even my boss and our public leaders are doing it, for crying out loud.’ If our leaders don’t show good examples, it doesn’t mean that leadership values have been compromised, it just means that we need to change the choices we make in appointing our heads. Let’s take a bottom up approach; let us, individually, take it unto ourselves to show them what real leadership is. After all, a leader is anyone who stands for values and serves their gift for the benefit of the people. You are a leader to serve others and not for others to serve and magnify you. You serve your gift for the benefit of others and wealth and recognition will always follow you.

There are no ‘get rich quick schemes’ to real prosperity. You need to take a stand and be counted.

We choose to stand to stamp out corruption. Will you stand with us?

HAVING THE RIGHT ATTITUDE

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:46:45 +0000

Abdallah ni miongoni mwa watu wenye ujasiri na uwezo mkubwa wa kukabiliana na changamoto za maisha. Ni jasiri kwa sababu ameweza kupambana na ulemavu wa macho alioupata ukubwani, na kuhakikisha anajitafutia maisha kwa njia halali. Yeye kwa sasa ni miongoni mwa mafundi hodari wanaokubalika ndani na nje ya nchini. Je, ilikuwaje hata akawa katika hali ya ulemavu aliyonayo sasa?

Nyangalio alipohitimu shule alifanya biashara kwa lengo la kutafuta mtaji kumuwezesha kutimiza ndoto za kuondokana na umasikini, lakini aliugua na kupofuka macho hivyo kujikuta katika kundi la watu wenye ulemavu. Kupofuka kwake kulikuwa mtihani mkubwa sana, lakini hakukata tamaa ya maisha, bali alikuwa mwepesi kukubali kuishi katika hali iliyomkuta, kisha kutafuta mbinu zitakazomuwezesha kujipatia kipato ili kuepuka kuishi maisha tegemezi.

Uwezo wake wa kukabiliana na changamoto za maisha ndio uliomfanya Nyangalio kuwa fundi stadi wa nguo na habari zake zimeweza kusambaa sehemu mbalimbali Afrika Mashariki na Kati kama kielelezo kwamba ulemavu sio mwisho wa maisha.   Mnamo mwaka 1988, Abdalah alipata maumivu makali ya kichwa yaliyoambatana na kukosa usingizi, hali hiyo ilisababisha aende katika hospitali mbalimbali kutafuta tiba bila mafanikio. Baada ya kufanyiwa uchunguzi katika hospitali ya Muhimbili, Nyangalio aliambiwa kuwa tatizo la kukosa usingizi linatokana na hitilafu iliyojitokeza katika mishipa ya macho na tiba pekee ni upasuaji utakaomfanya kuwa kipofu kwa maisha yake yote.

Abdalah anakiri kuwa ilikuwa vigumu kukubaliana na hali hiyo kwa sababu alishindwa kutambua mchana na usiku kutokana na kiza kinene kilichotanda kwenye macho yake. Alihofia kuishi maisha tegemezi. Hata hivyo daktari aliyemfanyia upasuaji alimfariji na kumpa nafasi ya kukaa katika hospitali ya Muhimbili kwa miezi mitatu akipewa ushauri pamoja na mbinu za kuishi katika hali ya kutoona. Anasema mbinu hizo alizojifunza ni pamoja na elimu juu ya maisha na changamoto zinazowakabili watu wenye ulemavu na jinsi ya kupambana nazo,  Pia alifundishwa kusoma maandishi maalumu kwa watu wasioona, kutumia cherehani pia jinsi ya kukata na kushona nguo mbalimbali.

Baada ya kutoka hospitalini, alikutana na changamoto nyingi katika maisha kwa kuwa baadhi ya ndugu, jamaa na marafiki walimuona kama mzigo hivyo baadhi ya ndugu walilumbana wakitupiana jukumu la kumtunza.

Anasema pamoja visa na mikasa iliyompata aliweka mikakati ya kushinda changamoto katika maisha ili aweze kuudhihirishia ulimwengu kuwa binadamu ameumbwa ili aweze kukabiliana na taabu mbalimbali kwa kumtegemea Mwenyezi Mungu. Aliendelea kumuamini na kumtegemea Mungu kwa kila jambo alilolifanya huku akiwa na matumaini makubwa kuwa Mungu atampa njia nyingine ya kuishi bila ya kuwa tegemezi.   Baada ya miezi saba ya ugonjwa alirudi katika shughuli za biashara ndogo ndogo kwa kuuza nguo za mitumba pamoja na kushona nguo kwa kutumia cherehani ya jirani yake. Alidunduliza mtaji mpaka alipopata uwezo wa kununua cherehani yake na kuanza kazi ya kushona nguo mbalimbali hasa sare za wanafunzi wa shule ya msingi. Pia alijiimarisha kiuchumi na kurudia maisha ya kujitegemea kama kiongozi wa kaya.

Kipaji cha Nyangalio alianza kufahamika mwaka 1994 wakati wa maadhimisho ya siku ya kimataifa ya watu wenye ulemavu wa macho maarufu kama siku ya Fimbo Nyeupe Duniani.   “Wakati wa maadhimisho hayo mgeni rasmi alisifia suti aliyokuwa amevaa aliyekuwa kiongozi wa taasisi ya wasioona. Kisha akaambiwa kuwa suti hiyo ilishonwa na fundi asiyeona hivyo nikaanza kujulikana kuanzia siku hiyo,” anasema Nyangalio anayekumbuka kuwashonea nguo Anna Abdallah, wakati huo akiwa Waziri wa Afya, Sophia Simba, Joel Bendera na wengine wengi.   Hivi sasa Nyangalio anafanyia shughuli zake Mbagala Kibonde Maji jijini Dar es Salaam ambako amejenga makazi yake ya kudumu, amefanikiwa kusajili kampuni inayojulikana kama Nyangalio Fashion Centre ambayo ana mpango wa kuitumia kutoa elimu ya ufundi cherehani hususani kwa watu wasioona.   Nyangalio amewahi kutoa elimu ya ushonaji kwa watu wenye ulemavu ambayo yalifadhiliwa na Taasisi ya Taifa ya Huduma ya Maendeleo ya Wasioona (TNIB), ambapo wanafunzi wanne walihitimu na kufaulu kwa kiwango cha kuridhisha.

Hivi sasa ana mashine mbili za kushonea ambazo anategemea kuzitumia kutoa mafunzo. Anaomba watu wenye uwezo kumsaidia ili kupata wafadhili wa kutimiza ndoto zake za kuanzisha shule ya ushonaji hususani kwa watu wenye ulemavu.   Ustadi wa Nyangalio umemuwezesha kushiriki katika maonyesho mbalimbali ya ujasiriamali yaliyofanyika nchini pia katika nchi za Zambia na Kenya. Huyo ndiye Abdallah Nyangalio ambaye hakukata tamaa baada ya kupata ulemavu, bali aligeuka kuwa jasiri kiasi cha sasa kuwa mmoja wa watu wa kuiga mfano.

Lorem Ipsum Dolor

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:46:25 +0000

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Jamani, Let’s Pay Attention to Detail!

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:01:25 +0000

Now here is where we separate excellence from mediocrity (there is no halfway house). You either execute with excellence every single time, with every single thing that you do or don’t even bother.

This post is going to be painful my brothers and sisters so please brace yourselves for the onslaught.

If we don’t point these things out amongst ourselves and make a point to change the way we think, perform and present ourselves, then we would continue performing at a less than satisfactory level, all the while wondering why we are not being recognised and rewarded for our efforts. I write that it is something we need to dig up ourselves because I know many take offense and make excuses when ‘wageni’ point out where we fail to produce quality results.

One thing we need to know from the word go is that we are not called to do the best we can. No, no, no, terrible misunderstanding. We are called to do the best that can be done by anyone in this world. Yes. Daunting as it may seem, each time we do something, we need to show the highest level of workmanship that can possibly be done by a human being in access to the resources to do so. Do you know what this means? This means that you are not even comparing yourself to others, this means that you are comparing yourself to what a human being has the potential to deliver and believe me, applying skill and with faith and determination, a human being can do all things.

This leads me to ask, why do we compromise on delivery? I often make a joke saying that you cannot fire the average person based on the actual undertaking of tasks because when you look at each item on someone’s job description you will see that they do actually do what it asks. However, the quality of execution is what leaves you reeling. Take these areas as examples and write back to tell me if I am not justified in my stance:

Arts and Craft

Tusiende mbali, ebu tuangalie vinyago vyetu (let’s not go too far, let’s just look at our carvings); you find that yes, the carving is identifiable as a specific object but let’s take a closer look at the finishing details of many of our ebony wood animal carvings and you would notice, for example, that; the wood is bumpy and chipped in parts; one of the animal’s legs is shorter, forcing the buyer to have it lean against the wall as opposed to free-standing on their display shelf; the underbelly of the animal is rough and untouched, simply because when placed on display, it is usually not within direct view; should there be tusks; one may be larger and longer than the other and without being mishandled, falls off at the slightest touch. I can go on and on.

Look at the prices though. So what do tourists who have travelled the region do instead? They buy from Kenya. This eats at me every single time.

We get so close to producing quality that would undisputedly justify its price, but fall short on the finishing. This also goes for jewellery, metal works and furniture (oh, don’t get me started with the quality of metal grills and wooden furniture, that’s a whole other topic for an entire article, I simply won’t go there).

Printing

Faded ink and black blotches on photocopies, wrong pantone colour and different sizes in one batch of business cards and, even amended written details on magazines, we start with the very best of intentions; to deliver a product, but quality is seldom considered as part of the paid fee. Being miserly with resources, ignoring detail and loss of attention and interest ‘because you do the same job day in and day out and one customer is just the same as another and what do I care if they shout, I don’t get affected by it, they business isn’t mine anyway so what do I care (besides, they don’t pay me well enough for me to make sure I do a good job for them)’ cost Tanzanian businesses too much money, reputation and loss of repeat business. The individual? Forgoing training, promotion, recognition opportunities, to name a few.

Writing Documents

No one has, not one excuse for not doing grammar and spell checks on word processors. To take it back even further, no one has any excuse not to use computers where they have access to them; at an office or internet café.

It doesn’t take much to press a button that will initiate an action that goes through your document to flag up incorrectly written words or ill-fitting syntax. The program does it for you. Of course, I recommend that you read and re read your document to make sure you haven’t missed or misstated anything but for crying out loud, everything you need to make sure that what you deliver doesn’t come one step shy of the best presented document that can be done, is integrated into the application. Use it!

This then takes me to the words we use. Short of tickling or annoying the recipient, there is nothing of business value that is added to using inappropriate and sometimes outright wrong words in communication.

I mentioned this on the radio and I will write it here; someone wrote to me saying that they attached their CV “for [my] nourishment”. How does the CV nourish me? Did this person (a) assume that they knew this word and that it was used appropriately (b) actually feel that I would be nourished by reading the CV (c) not know the word but thought it sounded interesting and intellectual so felt they should just slot it in there (d) none of the above (e) all of the above?

It is beyond me and my mental faculties as to why we get so lazy and non committal to our own success. It remains beyond me.

So someone submits something which, in general content and context is appropriate but in detail, poor to the chore. Those that are guilty of this, tell me, where are you always rushing to that you cannot spare a few minutes to read through your submission and scan for spelling and grammar mistakes, misused words etcetera?

Wherefrom does this confidence in having done something right and this arrogance that even if not, you will send it anyway ‘because you at least understand what I am trying to say so you can overlook the errors’ or ‘if there is anything wrong, then just change it before you forward it’ originate?

When you send me an e-mail with the subject (in capital letters): “APPLIATION FOR JOB”, I don’t take you seriously, will skip your mail, look at others I think are more serious (and likely to be so at work as well) then maybe turn back to yours last. And you better believe that I am not the only person that does this.

For those who submit half-baked work to supervisors expecting them to do the formatting, grammar and spell checks etcetera, shame on you. Do you know how much time you waste? So instead of getting to the heart of the matter, you first expect me to correct the document?

Font type and size, bulleting or numbering, paragraphs consistency etcetera, you did the course (at least professed to on your CV), you figure it out. By the way, not everything has to be formally taught, many of us pick up a lot of what we know through trying things out as the need arises. If you care about your future and want to progress fast then you will go out of your way to research how to best present yourself and endeavour to execute with excellence every single time.

You can only hone your skills in an area by applying them. We sometimes get so excited by listing all our qualifications but keep them as trophies on our CVs and never actually apply them in the world of work.

Honestly, you know we have lost the plot when organisations put ‘producing quality products’ in their vision and mission. Producing something qualitatively should not win you a prize. It is the minimum standard expected of anyone engaged in an area. If you award me for quality execution you imply that mediocrity is the minimum expected performance standard, so when I execute with excellence it is such a great deed of note that I must be rewarded for it.

If I won’t lose my pay or benefits for being mediocre, why bother strive for more? What if I don’t want your prize for quality performance? Are you as an employer, content with people producing less than quality every single day? If not, stop rewarding people for results that are really the minimum standard a human being can produce all other things being equal. Make it clear, daily, that this is the standard of execution expected, guide and encourage but also penalise when it falls short of the mark.

There shouldn’t be a different yardstick for Tanzanians because Tanzania has to compete in the global arena and no one there is cutting us any slack. The sooner we wake up to that, the better prepared we will be to deal with competition.

WaTanzania, we have all that it takes to stand out as one of the most developed countries on this continent but our relaxed attitude towards life; putting little in and expecting phenomenal returns is what is keeping us where we are. Look at our resources, including human, to ask yourself ‘how can a land so rich, be so poor?’Never forget that ‘Only Developed People Develop Nations’.