What causes the negativities within you? Why aren’t you happy to go to work? This seems to be happening to most of us, middle class workers.

There are several causes of negativities among employees (us) and here are five of them:

1. Excessive workload

   Who likes to get tons of work and half the income? I am sure that most of us would love to get the job done as soon as possible but when you have tons of work ahead of you, the interest and patience are wearing thin. You started to feel like slave.

2. Too concerned with the management’s ability to lead the company towards success

   Some times, things look good on the outside but we never know what it really looks like on the inside. For example, the management of your company might be doing great in managing the whole company but perhaps they have something to cover up, who knows? It is easy to smell something fishy especially when some people are trying to hide something from the middle class workers (us). Why hide? We are all working for the same company!

3. Worried about the future, income and retirement

   How is your future in the company? Are you getting a raise this year? What about your retirement plan? Are you prepared for retirement by the time you are supposed to be retired? These are the questions that keep playing in our mind. How can we improve our performance when we have to do all the job, there is no possibility of getting a promotion and we are earning low income?

4. Boring jobs with no challenge

   You have to sort the mail, type letters, put on the stamps when there are better things you can do like contribute your brilliant ideas for the many projects your company are handling. You started to think, “I am useless”.

5. No recognition for contribution especially when the pay is not commensurate with your excellent performance

   So, you have done something quite remarkable and definitely help raise the performance of the company but you are not being recognised for your effort. You started to think “why am I doing this?”.

How to turn negativities into positivities?

Employers will have to do something real soon before losing all the brilliant staff. Find out what your employees need in order to offer them better benefit.

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For employers, this is an opportunity to hire and fill up their entry-level positions. The investment in renting and setting up a career booth varies. With a standard shell scheme booth that comes with 3m x 3m panels, company name displayed on booth, company name listed in the program book as well as their career fair website plus meals can be as low as RM450 per day. But usually with such package, the fair will run for at least two days, like in the case of Uniten, OR three days, in the case of UKM and USM.

Manpower is needed to man the booth. Usually personnel from the Human Resource department or the hiring department will be stationed at the booth for it only makes sense that job seekers can talk directly to someone from the company that is able to provide all the required information about the job and the company.

But, what if you are facing a budget and manpower constraint? Are there any alternatives? Good news is yes. Allyhunt provides the service of promoting the positions of employers that purchased their job posting package during these fairs. Currently, Allyhunt is providing an awesome deal for their job posting package. Check out here to find out more.

As for some up and coming career fairs, these are the ones that are taking place this and next month:-

1. Universiti Tenaga Nasional Career Fair
Date: 3rd & 4th February 2010
Time: 9 am to 5 pm

2. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Career Fair
Date: 23rd, 24th & 25th February 2010
Time: 9 am to 5 pm
Venue: DECTAR, UKM

3. Universiti Sains Malaysia Career Fair
Date: 5th to 7th March 2010
Time: 9 am to 5 pm
Venue: Dewan Utama Pelajar, USM

4. TARC Career Fair 2010 (ACCA/CIMA Students)
Date: 9th March 2010
Time: 9:30 am to 5 pm
Venue: Club-House Function Room, TARC KL Campus

5. UCSI University Career Fair 2010
Date: 10th to 11th March 2010
Time: 10 am to 4 pm
Venue: Multipurpose Hall, Level 4, UCSI University

6. UTP Technology, Education & Career (TEC) 2010
Date: 30 to 31 March 2010
Time: 9 am to 5 pm
Venue: Chancellor Hall, UTP

Source: http://www.allyhunt.com/cms/career-fair-listings

If you are a job seeker and unemployed, do I have to add more? Spread your net wide. Who knows, your dream job may just be a few steps away!

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The time will come where you may be required to do PowerPoint presentation in your thesis, during the job interview, in your weekly office meeting, speaking in seminars, when applying for business loans and many other events or activities in your life.

Here are 5 easy steps you can create an effective PowerPoint presentation:

1. Plan first on paper

Don’t kick start things by opening your PowerPoint and then simply start doing it. Do the good deeds first i.e. think of your theme, layout, design, number of slides and the time available to complete your presentation. Jot down all the key information you intend to use in your PowerPoint presentation so that you don’t missed them when you’re creating your slides.

2. Keep it simple

With PowerPoint presentation, there is always gonna be this inherent problem – most of the time, the information is just too much to swallow. It gets worse as many of the words cramped are those unnecessary (and repeated) connectors such as can, will, is, might be, possibly and bla bla.

Instead of using those lengthy phrases, simplify them into bullet points or phrase clouds and only choose to insert the important keywords. Let the audience connect the dots and cross the Ts. Remember, bullet kills, but bullet points do not. They are here to make your (and other people’s) life easier.

If you’re presenting a list of points, organize them according to the importance; the more important points are presented first, followed by the rest. By doing this, you can skip the least important points when you find yourself running out of time.

3. More photos/images/diagram, less words

Remember, you’re writing a PowerPoint presentation, not a Word document. Photos, tables, diagrams and statistical chart speak a thousand words and can be the most effective tools in conveying your messages across. The audience can also digest the information faster, and you can re-emphasis the information again to them through your own verbal explanation.

If you don’t have your own images, the PowerPoint software offers a wide range of images through its Clip Art Gallery. Use them smartly without overcrowding your space.

4. Use humour

When the audience laughs or giggles, you have created a positive, refreshing atmosphere which will make your session more memorable. Not only you’re getting across your message, you become more likeable among those who are listening to your presentation. The next time they are looking for not-so-boring kind of presenter, your name will come into mind.

Make sure you stay away from insensitive, religious or racist type of humour.

5. Add effects – animation, sounds, video etc

Usage of these effects will always keep the audience captivated. Moreover, scientifically, these elements are known to create a longer lasting impact. They create the true illusion of joy, thrill, sadness, fear, fun and other sort of feelings.

Just don’t overdo this.

Photo: loogix.com

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Under the new pay scheme, policemen from the rank of sergeants in the PDRM (Polis Diraja Malaysia) and above will enjoy new salary and allowances.

Those with the inspector rank are the biggest gainers and will be getting a starting salary of RM2,060 compared to the previous salary of RM1,492. Students who finish Diploma and SPM can also now join the force directly as sergeants with a starting basic salary of RM1,500. The previous pay was RM890.

With the introduction of the new pay scheme, an inspector can now take home more than RM3,000 salary which covers the basic pay, incentives, cost of living allowance (COLA) and housing allowance. To rank as an inspector, one will need to have a min degree qualification.

Of late, the police force has been a subject of criticism by the public and certain quarters in the country mainly due to the increasing crime statistics, and a number of seemingly unsolved high profile crimes. Let’s just hope they will work harder to safeguard the nation now.

The pay raise and allowance scheme came three years after it was recommended by the Royal Commission in 2007.

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So, for me, these must-haves in this concrete, i.e., working world are like our survival kit.

My top five must-haves:-

1. Computer.

It can be your notebook, netbook, Mac or PC. No need to say more why a computer. The frustrations encountered when the computer is not working are all too familiar to us.

2. Internet Access.

Many years ago, a TV is a must-have for every household. Now, it’s a wireless router. A computer is never complete without internet access. We receive and send emails every day. A big bulk of our day-to-day transactions rely heavily on the internet access. So, when the internet line is down, we get devastated and frankly, some of our professions only make sense with the internet access. Without it, most of us would be jobless.

3. Google.

Or any search engine. Did you notice how our conversations had taken a new jargon without us realizing? When our friends asked about something and we do not have an answer, I can safely say that almost all of us would reply, “Google it, dear.” Whether we like it or not, we turn to Google for help more often than we care to admit. Google has become our new god.

4. iPhone 3Gs.

Obviously, I’m biased here. What I really mean is smart phones. When our laptop is not with us, we want to remain connected and you simply can’t do that without a smart phone nowadays. The latest and best smart phones around right now have to be the iPhone 3Gs and Blackberry Bold. Hands down.

5. A Twitter or Facebook Account.

Every Executive should own a blog similar to a home, albeit virtual. But, not every one wants to maintain a full-fledged blog and that’s okay. With Twitter, you micro-blog. Today, Malaysians have slightly more than 1 million Twitter users and the numbers are climbing as we speak. Now, many ordinary people like me have questioned the necessity of having a Twitter account. I’m no big shot – who wants to follow me? Look at it this way – get a Twitter account to follow people, tap on their thoughts and engage with them. Makes sense? The networking phrase has indeed taken a new twist nowadays. (A twitter account sample, mine obviously: http://twitter.com/sinseeho)

Or you can opt to have a Facebook account. As of now, most Executives would own both.

In short, we need to stay connected to survive. And believe it or not, the virtual world is more real than we thought. In a way,this has helped to create a lot more job opportunities than before. And not only that- it’s possible to have a great career without having to step out from our bed now– an almost impossible feat in the past century.

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