WHO: Cell phone use can increase possible cancer risk

This has been just published by CNN on cell phone and cancer link - the yoyo continues - oh yes we are the Yoyos
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/31/who.cell.phones/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Anna Hazare and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Many in the US and other countries, foreign to India, have been following the recent movement in India led by Anna Hazare and others with awe. Their effort to have the Jan Lokpal Bill implemented in India has taken on a seriousness that has been lacking for over 50 years.

I found some friends lauding the effort and commending the solidarity demostrated by Indians within a short period of time. Most participated as mere spectators with the understanding that what was happening in India did not affect them.

I believe corruption in any country affects every paerson.

Recently, former KBR Chief Executive Officer Albert Jack Stanley pleaded guilty in a Houston court to charges of bribery in Nigeria followed by a UK Lawyer who was involved in the deal.

According to an article in Bloomberg, two of KBR’s three partners in the venture have made deals to avoid U.S. prosecution. Snamprogetti Netherlands BV, a Dutch engineering firm, agreed in July to pay $365 million to settle criminal and civil charges. Technip, Europe's second-largest oilfield-services provider, agreed in June to pay $338 million to resolve all allegations it faced over the Nigerian scheme.

In the 2010 audit list on World Corruption by http://www.worldaudit.org/ India stood at 70 with New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore at 1 and Somalia at 149. It is unfortunate that India is a country regarded as a possible global economic leader ranked so high in this list.

It follows that whether one is an Indian, living in India or in a foriegn country or a citizen of any other country transacting business with India, you are affected by corrupt practises in India. YOU cannot transact business with or in India without breaking the laws of your own country. In the United States, the Foriegn Corrupt Pracrtices Act govern such acts: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa/ 

Should not one question why an American company should have a challenge conducting business in India while an Indian company has no similar challenges. As a nation, every American, irresepective of their ethnicity should join behind Anna Hazare as the eradication of corruption will level the playing field to transact business in India.

For more information about the Jan Lokpal Bill, visit: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/what-is-the-jan-lokpal-bill-why-it-s-important-96600

Job Interviews - What is said & what is heard!

Things are not always as they seem ... especially when trying to make a good impression on a job interview. Here's a list put together by Roberto Aponte, of some typical phrases said at job interviews and what might have been heard. Hope you find a few laughs ahead and nothing that hits too close to home!

Candidate to Interviewer:

What was said: I'm a very fast learner.
What was heard: I don't have the experience you're looking for.

What was said: I would change positions for the right opportunity.
What was heard: Make me an offer.

What was said: I've been an independent business consultant for the past two years.
What was heard: I've been out of work for two years.

What was said: I'd rather not talk about salary yet.
What was heard: I'm hoping you make me an offer before I have to disclose my low salary.

What was said: I left my last position, because I wasn't being challenged enough.
What was heard: My last company didn't trust me with the higher level responsibilities.

What was said: I'll get back to you with the names and contact information for my references.
What was heard: I have to call around first and tell people what I want them to say.

What was said: My leadership style is very honest and very direct.
What was heard: I'm abrasive, have no tact and don't get along well with people.

What was said: I'm a perfectionist and very detail-oriented.
What was heard: I'm a micromanager and don't trust anyone on my team.


Interviewer to Candidate:

What was said: This is a very hands-on position.
What was heard: You'll have limited resources and be expected to do things that are beneath you.

What was said: You have an extensive work history and are highly overqualified.
What was heard: We're looking for someone younger and less expensive.

What was said: Thank you for coming in today; we have a few more people to see, and then we'll get back to you.
What was heard: You won't hear from us again.

WHAT NEXT: Are credit checks before they hire you fair in the...

WHAT NEXT: Are credit checks before they hire you fair in the...: "Imagine a scenarioScenario: Harry ran a successful business before the downturn in the economy caught up with him. He was faced with a..."

Are credit checks before they hire you fair in the current economy?

Imagine a scenarioScenario: Harry  ran a successful business before the downturn in the economy caught up with him. He was faced with a situation of a bunch of dues ranging from overblown credit card dues to home mortgage to car payments, etc.

Next, Harry started looking for a job. A graduate with multiple skills; all he needed was to combine his transferable skills and finding a job was a non issue – so he thought.

Then came the road block - his credit score stopped him from getting some jobs that were within his reach. Some of his potential employers checked his credit reports and based on his current status would not consider him. Does a bad credit score really make him a bad employee?

A credit check was primarily instituted to insure one’s ability and track record in repaying loans. It was not meant to be involved in any manner whatsoever in one’s employment search.

That’s the question being explored  by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces laws that prohibit discrimination against workers based on race, religion, gender, age, or disability.

**“SHRM believes there is a compelling public interest in ensuring that employers can assess the skills, abilities and work habits of potential hires,” Christine Walters, a human resource professional and lawyer, told the EEOC. She appeared before the October meeting of the commission on behalf of the 250,000-member SHRM.

SHRM’s latest comments on the practice of conducting credit investigations for some job applicants come in response to an idea that was floated at an Oct. 20, 2010, EEOC hearing. It was suggested that the answers to these three questions from a former employer would obviate the need for credit checks:

1. Did the employee perform adequately?
2. Did you have any concerns about the employee’s integrity or reliability?
3. Would you re-hire this employee?

SHRM said that using just these three questions would raise “practical and legal issues.”

In a Dec. 3, 2010 letter from the SHRM Director of Government Affairs Michael P. Aitken said, “asking previous employers the three suggested questions is not a realistic substitute for employer use of other available information, including credit reports.”

*In defending employers’ use of credit checks as part of the hiring process, Eric Rosenberg of the TransUnion credit bureau paints a sobering picture. Retailers lose more than $30 billion a year because of employee theft, he says. Workplace violence costs employers $55 million a year in lost wages. A third of employees provide bogus information on their résumés.

Even Eric Rosenberg, admitted at a legislative hearing in Oregon: “At this point we don’t have any research to show any statistical correlation between what’s in somebody’s credit report and their job performance or their likelihood to commit fraud.”

As a friend mentioned – most of the folks on Wall Street had a great credit score; what happened? Mere financial challenge of an individual should not allow one to lay aspersions on one’s integrity. There is no correlation between the two.

For most jobs, your credit score is not an important qualification. That's why states are starting to crack down on companies who use credit checks to screen applicants. Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon and Washington have all banned the practice. I understand 15 states are moving aggressively for a similar ban. Probably, this is the right time for you to write to your Representatives and ask them to ban such a check in your state.

It is important for a ban of this practice at a federal level to insure wrongful discrimination. Each day means many jobs lost for persons already hit by a bad economy.

Source: * NY Times **  SHRM Online     

 Please conduct further research for this and other career  related information                                   

"WHAT NEXT" is provided by Ramesh Anand, President, American Personnel Resources LLC.                 He can be contacted at: E-mail: ramesh@aprllc.com  Twitter: http://twitter.com/happyhirer                      Blog: http://aagekya.blogspot.com/ Blog: http://myjobboard.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                     

A recent discussion with Chen, an accomplished engineer looking for “OUT” of his current assignment..‘What Next?’ was his question…

Scenario: My friend, Chen (name changed) is a graduate  from a university, well known for high caliber engineering graduates. He has had over a decade of experience in selling and overseeing engineering projects. He has had an extremely successful track record with his medium sized employer and is compensated at par with current industry standards.

Chen feels that he can keep doing this through his career but is convinced that it is driving him insane and he cannot carry on for long.

Chen has been continuously involved in various community activities ranging from philanthropy to commerce to grass root issue based politics.

Options:

We had a great discussion over lunch and talked about his strengths, his weaknesses, his challenges and his hobbies. We could identify a bunch of skills and sweet spots that one can leverage to shift careers.

Here are some of the options that Chen and I could identify:

1. Explore new opportunities within the company. The current employer has been seeing growth and there may be opportunities within which will provide a wider range of professional exposure and do away with the frustrations of monotony associated with his current role.
2. Given Chen’s ethnic background, one can leverage his ability to interact with Asian culture as easily with American culture. Option to look at Asian companies looking for a professional who can speak both languages and play a key role in sales and business development in the United States.
3. Non-profit organizations are today known to hire high caliber executives with multiple capabilities for roles ranging from community engagement to fund raising. Given Chen’s active community related involvement, he can very easily look at opportunities with non profits that will be very happy to hire a dynamic engineering graduate with such a broad exposure.
4. Chen has also been actively involved with main stream political organizations. He can explore opportunities with key elected officials in DC or in global agencies requiring his multiple skills.

We had merely touched the tip of the iceberg through our lunch and realized that we had opened a Pandora’s box of opportunities and decided to follow through with more opportunities.

If you have suggestions, let me know…

On the lighter side:

The politician was sitting at his campaign headquarters when the phone rang.

He listened intently, and after a moment his face brightened. When he hung up, he immediately phoned his mother to tell her the good news.

"Ma," he shouted, "the results are in. I won the election!"

"Honestly?"

The politician's smiled faded. "Aw, heck, Ma, why bring that up at a time like this?"

"WHAT NEXT" is provided by Ramesh Anand, President, American Personnel Resources LLC. ( www.aprllc.com ) He can be contact at ramesh@aprllc.com

Please conduct further research for this and other career  related information

A career in sales of software or oursourcing services?

A career in sales can be extremely rewarding. A sales person primarily assists a customer decide on the product or service they need, collect payment and provide customer service

Sales of services can include consulting, hospitality, courier, software, outsourcing, banking and financial services, insurance – the list can go on.

With the advent of technology, some professions vanish and new ones come up. An individual’s strength lies in moving with times and being in touch with the times and the trend.
Two decades ago, one would have never imagined the need for individuals in the field of sales and outsourcing services. Today, it is a highly paying job which many professionals have entered leveraging their prior experiences.

The growth in the software and outsourcing industry over the last decade has been astronomical. This has created a large number of positions for individuals with different background combined with sales skills. By virtue of the global nature of the business, the personnel required need to possess very diverse capabilities. The job is like most other corp to corp jobs that are not restricted to a typical 9 to 5 schedule. The global nature may require one to works nights interacting with partners in the other side of the world.

While there are no specific required qualifications, most employers prefer a graduate in engineering or management for sales of these services. Companies have today evolved into selling to niche industries. Sales representatives with experience or knowledge in a specific industry have a distinct advantage. Example, a person who has earlier worked in the chemical industry will find it easy to sell services to the same industry vertical with their prior subject matter expertise..

Soft skills that most employers look for are a pleasant personality, good communication skills and tact in responding to queries. Multiple languages can be an edge to leverage, especially in offshore delivered solution sales. Knowledge of presentation techniques is a major advantage.

Here is what www.monster.com says about Outsourcing & Software Sales:

Outsourced Services Base Salary: $150,000 to $200,000 Commissions: $200,000 to $500,000 Any task a corporation can outsource is a chance for a salesperson to earn a hefty commission. Call centers were among the first outsourced tasks, but there’s also plant maintenance, office administration, human resources, payroll and legal compliance. This is one sales job you can walk into mid-career, because companies actively look for salespeople that come out of the sector they’re selling into, Gaffney says. “You know where strengths and weaknesses are and where companies are vulnerable in what they’re doing,” he says. Keep in mind that selling may require a completely different skill set than the one that made you successful in your field. For instance, running a call center and selling call-center services are two completely different jobs.

Software Sales Base Salary: $80,000 to $100,000 Commissions: $250,000 to $1 million Successful high-end software industry salespeople know how to combine consultative sales with just the right amount of arm-twisting, says Gaffney. To start as a junior salesperson, you’ll need a college degree and demonstrated aggressiveness, such as having played a varsity sport. An IT or marketing major will also help land this position. If you work in the industry using a software product, you may also be able to move over to sales mid-career, because you know the industry players, as well as the application’s technical and functional specifics. “You’ll still have to have an aggressive personality if you want them to take a look at you,” Gaffney says.

It’s the perception that helps a salesperson succeed:
Two shoe salespeople were sent to Africa to open up new markets. Three days after arriving, one salesperson called the office and said, "I'm returning on the next flight. Can't sell shoes here. Everybody goes barefoot."At the same time the other salesperson sent an email to the factory, telling "The prospects are unlimited. Nobody wears shoes here!"

"WHAT NEXT" is provided by Ramesh Anand, President, American Personnel Resources LLC. ( www.aprllc.com )

Please conduct further research for this and other careers of your choice.