ENG040 Module 3 Lessons

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE

- Rude emails can impact wellbeing, causing insomnia.

- Increased digital communication due to COVID-19 restrictions is worsening workplace rudeness,
studies suggest.
- 98% of people say they have experienced uncivil behaviour in the workplace.
- Managers can help lessen email incivility by setting clearer expectations of staff.
- Because if companies, and economies, are to recover from the current crisis, they need to ensure
communication is flowing and employees can focus on big team goals, not big team rifts.

TOP 10 SKILLS YOU NEED ON YOUR PROFILE (what employers are looking for)

1. Communication 6. Project management

2. Problem solving 7. Presentations
3. Operations 8. Marketing
4. Analytical skills 9. Customer service
5. Microsoft office 10. Leadership

SOFT SKILLS
- The equivalent of 305 million full-time jobs have been lost globally since COVID-19 hit,
according to International Labour Organization (ILO) figures
- But there are signs recruitment is increasing in some markets
- LinkedIn has analysed millions of jobs adverts to find what employers are looking for.
- So-called ‘soft skills’, including COMMUNICATION and problem solving, head up the list.

INTERPERSONAL “SOFT” SKILLS

- Personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other
people
- Interpersonal “soft” skills (versus “hard” skills – abilities developed over time, like coding) are
the most prized
- Reflect previous research by organizations, which investigated the skills that will be needed in
the Fourth Industrial Revolution in its Future of Jobs Report

COMMUNICATION

- This is top of the wish list for many employers. It’s great if you can code – but can you express
yourself too?
- As work guide Career Contessa puts it:
• “Have you ever had a manager who refused to listen?”
• “Have you ever worked with someone who could not pick up on social cues; someone
who didn’t know when to be sociable and when to power down to work?”
• “Have you ever worked with someone who used a ton of office jargon in order to
say…seemingly nothing?”
- Because COVID-19 has increased the adoption of remote-working software, the need to strive
the right tone of voice has, if anything, increased – not just for employees, but for employers
too.
- LinkedIn says it’s not just verbal cues that recruiters are looking for, but “digital body
language”
- Are you making the right impression with the tone you adopt in email and texts?

• “The most qualified people don’t always get the job. It goes to the person who presents
himself or herself most persuasively in person or in paper.” – Jerrold G. Simon (Harvard
Business School)
• Business executives note the importance of communication competence (Argenti &
Forman, 1998).
• In a CNBC interview, Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture’s North America business, said the
greatest advice she could give was this: “Develop excellent communication skills. I think
people underrate the importance of investing in [their] communication skills as a way to
progress in [their] career.”
• Research also reveals that the higher and employee moves within an organization, the
more important speaking skills become (Ruth & Wysocki, 2009).
 ENG040 Module 3 Lessons

JOB APPLICATION PROCESS

HOW TO GET YOUR RESUME NOTICED (and out of the trash bin)?

- How long does it take a recruiter to decide if you’re right for a job? It’s actually around seven
seconds, according to eye tracking research.
OUTSMART THE ROBOTS
- “Organizations are increasingly using automation to screen resumes, so it’s important for job
seekers to use keywords that are also found in the actual job description,” he told me.
- In short, more and more artificial intelligence (AI) tools are being used to match the
language in your resume to the language in the job posting.

CAREER PLANNING: 4 STEP PLANNING PROCESS

1. Knowing yourself (Skills, likes/dislikes and values)

2. Finding out (Exploring what is out there)
3. Making decisions (Comparing options)
4. Taking action (Working towards your goals)

HOW TO FIND A JOB THAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU

1. Start by deciding what you want in a job.

2. Research job titles and descriptions.
3. Review salary trends.
4. Identify your must-haves.
5. Experiment with different job searches.
6. Use advanced search tools to avoid the noise.
7. Conduct company search.

GUIDE TO THE JOB APPLICATION PROCESS

➢ It’s easier to deal with the waiting – and the possible anxiety – when you know how the job
application process works.
➢ While every company does things a little differently, most employers use some variation on the
standard.

1. Get your resume ready.

2. Write your cover letter.
3. Learn how to answer/fill-out a job application form.
4. Prepare for job application screening.
5. Prepare for employment test/s.
6. Prepare for interview/s.
7. Wait for job offer.
8. Prepare for new hire paperwork.
HIRING PROCESS

1. Review company vision

2. Role specification
3. Research strategy
4. Long-list candidates
5. Pre-screen questionnaire
6. Initial selections
7. Phone interview
8. In-person interview
9. Background checks
10. Offers and negotiations
11. Job offers
12. Onboarding and training

IBM’S 5-STEP APPLICATION PROCESS

1. Apply
2. Screening
3. Online Assessments
4. Assessment Center/Interview
5. Decision/Offer
 ENG040 Module 3 Lessons

RESUME

“After 20 years of hiring, I refuse to look at resumes that have this common yet outdated section”

- It’s highly outdated and unnecessary. And yet, I still get so many resumes that have one. While it
may sound harsh, 90% of the time, I refuse to read through resumes that include an objective.

“I’ve been Interviewing for 20 years – and these are the 3 best resume examples, based on
experience level”

- There is no one-size fits all template for a resume that will guarantee a job interview or offer. But
there is one major message that every resume should illustrate: “This is how I made things
better for my employers.”

1. Put your education in the first section.

2. Keep details about your internships short.
3. Use extracurricular activities to tell a story.
4. Keep it to just one page.
5. Make your resume pleasing to the eye with lots of white space.

RESUME VS. CURRICULUM VITAE

Summary Detailed list
Br.E – British English
AE – American English Has more than one page and for people who
has relevant years of working experience

4 MAIN SECTIONS/PARTS OF A RESUME (all arranged in REVERSE chronology)

Note: IF there are more relevant sections/ details to be placed on a one-page resume, the REFERENCE
part may be removed.

I. EDUCATION
II. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE/COURSE
III. SKILLS/SEMINARS ATTENDED/AWARDS/CERTIFICATION/AFFILIATIONS
IV. REFERENCES
• Name
• Designation/Job Title
• Company
• Contact Details
➢ No need to affix signature (unless specifically asked to do so by the company)
➢ No need to provide personal details such as birthday, marital status, etc. (unless specifically asked
to do so by the company)
 FORMATTING AND LAYOUT:

• Use WORD DOCUMENT and

secure a PDF format of the file.
• Keep it neat, simple and has a
sense of balance.
• Margins: One (1) inch all sides
• Font style: Arial/Calibri (simple,
common/free)
• Font size: 10, 11, or 12
• Be cautious when to use
italics/boldfaced
• If to contain photo/graphics –
good quality
• Every element should have a
purpose

➢ NOTE: Make sure to use correct/appropriate verb tense (depending on time frame indicated in the
resume).

REMINDERS

- Maintain integrity in information shared.

- Refer to the job posting/description/relevant information.
- Use power and precise words – avoid ambiguity.
- Use a decent email address and consider creating a LinkedIn account.
- Make sure your name has the biggest font size.
- Proofread (spelling, names, jargons, grammar, punctuations, capitalizations, tenses, etc.)

Details in a resume are mostly (if not all) in bullet/phrases form so there is no need to place a period
after the details.
 ENG040 Module 3 Lessons

JOB INTEVIEW AND PREPARING FOR A JOB INTERVIEW

3 REASONS YOU DIDN’T GET THE JOB DESPITE GREAT INTERVIEW

1. You think your CV is your golden ticket.

2. You didn’t show a culture fit.
3. You seemed uncertain instead of confident.

When interviewing someone for a job, I am primarily looking for:

- Fit with our culture

- Passion and excitement for the position
- Specific match with job description

IMPORTANCE OF JOB INTERVIEWS

- A business is only as strong as its people, which is why it’s crucial to find and hire the right
employees.
- In another report by the Center for American Progress, replacing a single employee cost around
16% to 213% of their annual salary.
- The job interview is equally, if not more, important in assessing the potential on-the-job success of
candidates.
- It is also a way for applicants to know more about the company.

4 COMMON TYPES OF QUESTIONS

1. Experience and credentials interview questions.

• How long did you work for your last employer?
• What were the responsibilities in your most recent position?
• How many years of experience do you have in this industry?
• What tools and applications are you familiar with?
• What training or short courses have you taken that are related to the position you’re
applying for?
• What skills required for this job do you think you’re strongest at?
• What industries have you worked in?
• What’s the longest time you’ve worked for one company?

2. Behavioral interview questions – closer look at a candidate’s attitude towards work and their
manner of working
• What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
• What is the greatest challenge you’ve faced and how did you deal with it?
• What are the steps you follow to ensure you deliver the best results?
• How do you deal with multiple deadlines?
• What are the precautionary measures you do to avoid errors and issues?
• Can you describe a time you dealt with misunderstanding or conflict at work?
 • How do you cope with burnout?
• How would you describe your work style?

3. Interview questions that involve hypothetical scenarios – explore possible courses of action and
demonstrate problem-solving abilities for different cases
• Let’s say one of your staff is underperforming, what steps would you take to improve things?
• If you were to lead the team, what’s the first thing you’d do to improve results?
• Let’s say the project you developed didn’t meet the client’s expectations, how would you
respond to the situation?
• If you are tasked to improve employee morale and productivity across the company, what
steps would you take?
• If you could choose anyone in your industry to be your mentor, who would you choose, and
why?
• Imagine our industry five years from now. How should we prepare to stay competitive?
• If you were the hiring manager for this role, what skill sets would you look for in a
candidate?

4. Interview questions that are outside the box – good test for the candidate’s creative thinking
and may also help determine if the person would be a good fit for the company culture and work
environment
• If you could have any superpower, what would it be and how would you use it for this job?
• How would you explain what our company does to an eight-year-old?
• Which fictional character do you identify with?
• If your professional life is kind of music, what genre would it be?
• How would you explain our innovative products to someone who’s been stranded on an
remote island for years?
• If you could choose to be reincarnated into any person you admire, who would it be and
why?
• If you could travel through time, what’s the one thing related to your career would you
change?
STAR ANSWER/METHOD

Situation: Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example.

Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation.

Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it.

Result: Share what outcomes your action achieved.

HOW TO USE THE STAR INTERVIEW RESPONSE TECHNIQUE

WHAT TO DO BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER A JOB INTERVIEW?

1. Prepare. Read about the company and for their instructions, if there are any.
2. Know about the different platform used for virtual job interview.
3. Make a good impression on video.
4. One of the best ways to leave a lasting impression is to come prepared with questions about the
company, job and hiring manager.
5. Have an idea how you would approach an offer from the company, what parts of the job package
you’d like to negotiate, and your mutual expectations for joining the team.

Every interview is a learning [humbling] experience, so learning that takes place during the
preparation, in the actual interview, and after the process is useful for future interviews.