Join me in the celebration

Two weeks ago, I started my new job. In a sense, this is a huge “crossing over” moment in my life, since I moved from the client-side to the agency-side.

As I was forewarned, the dynamics of the job are completely different. A small request from the client can send us into a tizzy, the days are almost always long and accountability takes on its full meaning, for a gaffe can lead you to lose an account. (No pun intended.)

But the atmosphere here is electric with creative energy and for the first time since I started working, I’m starting to feel “fulfilled”. By fulfilled I mean that I am happy to get my hands dirty every single day (in the good sense of the term) and to see the results bearing fruit.

So join me in the celebration, won’t you?

Champagne!

How to ace interviews (A note from an ex hopeless case)

Ironically, the best part about the job hunt has been the interviews. I say ironically because I have generally been hopeless at them.

Compared to my very first job interview, today I am much more aware of my strengths and shortcomings. I know what I have to offer. So even though I get that there are ten other candidates vying for the same position, I am confident and don’t act desperate. I think it is something every employment-seeker should understand.

It is also very important to prepare for the interview. Here are some points that are often overlooked:

Prepare questions: Interviews usually end with “Do you have any questions?” This is a tough one because you might have already asked questions during the course of the interview and gathered all the information you needed. Still, not asking a question makes you look bad and uninterested. So prepare some questions in advance.

- Alison Green of “Ask a manager” is a big fan of the “magic question” : Thinking back to people who have been in this position previously, what differentiated the ones who were good from the ones who were really great?
- Penelope Trunk writes about questions that you should NOT ask.

Have a nice day: I am kind of superstitious and believe that if my day starts well, it will end well. So I will try to avoid any stress on the day of the interview. This means getting up early in the morning to avoid transport hassles on the way to work. Dressing up and feeling pretty. Having lunch at a restaurant with a friend. If I feel good throughout the day, I go into the interview with a positive attitude.

Take notes: Yes, because they will make you look organised and professional.

Send a thank you note: It takes only two minutes and yet most candidates don’t do it. Good for you, because it will make you stand out.

Don’t send in the mail right as you walk out through the door. Don’t wait for more than 48 hours either. Refer to your notes and include something thoughtful. Like if you discussed the employee training programme, say how it added to your motivation to work at the company.

Be sincere throughout the process though, because insincerity shows.

Living to eat

For most of us who love to eat, cooking is a hobby, nay, a necessity. Naturally, living in a foreign country is therefore an opportunity to try out different dishes and also to learn working with new ingredients.

France has a great and longstanding culinary tradition. The basis of the French cooking philosophy is to use spices and condiments sparingly in order to bring out the natural taste of meats and vegetables. For most Indians, French food seems bland. But my personal experience is that with an open mind (and I will underline that), you soon start to appreciate it.

For the past two years, I have had the opportunity to taste several different kinds of meats and veggies (rabbit, ostrich, snails, avocado, leek, endive…), with various ways of cooking (baking, boiling, frying…) and the tons of diverse sauces (pepper, red wine, tomato…)

[For the record, I never found frogs’ legs on the menu in French restaurants. And I ate the snails at a very touristy restaurant in Montmartre.]

What the French cuisine lacks though is a wide and interesting palette of vegetarian dishes. More often than not, vegetables are served solely as a side-dish and even in nice restaurants, they are practically tasteless.

There is however a (well-known) exception – ratatouille. Put together a few vegetables, some tomato sauce (not ketchup) and this delicious, healthy dish is ready in a few minutes.

Here is my easy-to-cook recipe:
(Since I cook by intuition the following proportions are approximate.)

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized onions, a few cloves of garlic, 1 brinjal/aubergine (for my Indian readers, the big kind of brinjal we use to make bharta), 1 capsicum, 1 zucchini (in India, called tori or turai), 1 big can of boiled and peeled tomatoes/2-3 boiled and peeled tomatoes, herbes de provence (a ready-made mixture of herbs – thyme, fennel, basil, etc.), olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the onions roughly and crush the garlic cloves. Heat some olive oil in a pan, add onions first and then garlic. Sprinkle some salt. Let everything cook until the onions start to reduce.

In the mean time, cut capsicum and brinjal roughly. Slice up zucchini. Add to the pan. Sprinkle some more salt and the herbes as per your estimate. (Again, a note for my Indian readers: in absence of the herbs, try using some chat masala. Go easy on the salt though.)

Finally, add the can of tomatoes to the mixture. Let all of it cook for about fifteen minutes.

As a finishing touch, sprinkle some pepper. If you are feeling gluttonous, add some grated cheese (preferably gruyère).

Your ratatouille is ready to be served.

Ratatouille can either be served as the main dish – accompanied by bread or rice – or as a side-dish.

Ratatouille forever!

When in Rome… err, Paris…

A few days into my internship, I had already incurred the wrath of the top boss’ assistant. Why? Because I failed to say “bonjour” to her the first thing in the mornings!

In France, it’s customary to go around the open space saying hello to everybody in the morning. It’s also OK (or rather important) to chit chat with your colleagues around the coffee machine. And as someone who plopped herself in front of the computer immediately on arriving, I ran the risk of appearing anti-social and a misfit.

Companies look for people who fit into their culture. And this can be especially hard to do when you are working in a foreign country. And add to that the pressure of being a new intern in the organisation!

My tip? When in Rome, act like the Romans. Observe. Mime. Find a mentor. And if you make gaffes, apologise.

My first steps included saying hello with a bright smile to anybody that crossed my desk. Watching a football match in a meeting room crowded with half of the department (even though I had only a slight interest in it) made me feel like a part of the team. Lunches with colleagues at the office canteen allowed me to connect with them on a more personal level.

My goal today is to learn the right etiquettes and codes of conduct in order to be a perfect fit for the team – something that will surely add to the chances of me being recruited.

A company is about people, about human interactions and to thrive, you need to know the ropes!

Stuff you need to know while working in France:

- It’s OK to take long lunch breaks: one, one and a half hours is not shocking. Eating in front of your computer is for losers with no life.
- In July and August, everybody will go on leave. If you have important things to get done, you either do it before or wait until the summer ends.
- Work and life separation is very important for the French. After work happy hours are rare in most companies.
- Weekend is SACRED. Nobody will work on a weekend.
- People don’t work crazy hours but flexibility in works hours is not encouraged.
- You know how awkwardness descends when a stranger joins you in the elevator? Say a cheery “bonjour” and it vanishes like magic. No need to stand awkwardly in a corner pretending to be invisible.
- It’s OK to call your boss by his/her first name (usually), even when you’re an intern. Can be very hard for us South Asians.

Counting my blessings. And letting go of the rest…

When I was little, I was often teased by other kids for my complexion. I was a tad too dark. And it wasn’t just the kids: I’ve grown up listening to some very unappropriate comments about the colour of my skin from various adults. I’m almost my mom’s photocopy but I inherited my dad’s dark skin. People would shake their heads with pity like it was some unfortunate accident.

In a country where 80% people have dusky to dark complexions – people are “obsessed” with white skin. I am not going to go into the reasons why; some say it’s a remnant of the colonial era, some says it’s a result of the caste system as the so-called “superior” castes tend to have a lighter skin. The fact is, even today, dusky actresses are not the norm in Bollywood. Pharmacies sell skin creams promising girls (and now even men) a fairer and “lovelier” complexion. (Worse the ads usually equate a lighter complexion with more success in personal and professional life) Matrimonial ads have prospective grooms looking for a “fair” bride.

Unfair (pardon the pun) and unjust? Borderline racist behaviour? Or simply a beauty criteria (like tall, thin, etc.)? I don’t know.

On coming to France I saw the other side of the coin: people with light skins spending hours in the sun to tan, using UVs, etc.

So I wonder: don’t we always aspire to be something we are not? The grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence. We always find a way to burden ourselves with unrealistic expectations and in the process make ourselves unhappy.

My resolution for the day: Be myself. Be happy. Be grateful for what I have.

I’m back

I have been away from my blog for two long and now I’m back.

Following a review by Sadya Siddiqui, a fellow Brazen Careerist, I decided to re-think about the raison d’être of my blog. I came up with a new blog description and a renewed vigour to contiue blogging. Thank you, Sadya!

Social media overload

For the past few weeks, I have been using a professional social media site which is not LinkedIn.

Brazen Careerist (yeah, that’s what it is called) is a hybrid of Linked, Facebook and WordPress. In fact, BC is a community of bloggers who share “ideas” and these ideas constitute their CV. There are several “networks” on the site where you can ask questions, reply to your fellow brazen careerists’ questions and basically network.

BC is really a great platform for social media afficiandos and blogging enthusiasts. I’ve also spent quite a bit of my time reading interesting and well-written blog posts on this site and commenting. Blogging is, I have come to realise, the perfect way to start conversations.

The underside? The members are mostly American, so I don’t know if site can help me careerwise. Plus the amount of activity on the site leaves a lot to be desired. Of course, BC is relatively new and will draw in more users with time.

All said and done, I must say that I have started to feel overwhelmed with the amount of social media in my life. There is the blog, the Twitter account, the Facebook and Orkut profiles and not to forget, LinkedIn and Viadeo.

Is it a waste of my time to be on so many sites? Do they all add value to my life?

I’m still wondering….

How to be likable and yet get your point across

I never thought I’d require any training in being likeable.

Softspoken and self effacing, I try not to annoy people. I get along with most people. I am always polite and smile a lot. Always.

So when I realised that my emails with a client from across the seven seas started to resemble a screaming match, I was kind of surprised. She pissed me off, I pissed her off in return and then we were both pretty pissed off.

Finally, a colleague sent her a mail saying basically the same things that I was explaining to her. And she replied : sugar and spice, and all that’s nice.

I learnt two things about email etiquettes from this incident:

- Stay firm but polite.
There is a fine line between being firm and rude. And until you learn to recognise the line, remain absolutely polite. Avoid sarcasm because you might seriously piss someone off.

- Never write in a mail something you wouldn’t say in person.
I for one could never be brusque and cutting to someone in real life (at least in my professional life). So there is no reason to do so online either.

One of the reasons why I love my present internship is because I get to interact with people from different cultures. My job is as much about dealing with people as it is about advertising. And I find the former a lot more challenging and formative.

Learning to manage finances

Earning your own livelihood can be quite liberating but at the same time you might be saddled by the need to manage your finances wisely. You might want to save for a trip, pay off your student loan or invest and make your money fructify. Whatever your reasons may be, a good way to start is by reading personal finance blogs (see below).

Here is a summary of what I have learnt over the past few weeks:

Define your goals

I shall graduate this year with considerable student debt. I also know that considering the situation of the job market, I might not land one immediately. I thus need to create a savings pool to support me through the no-income periods.
And if I get lucky, I just might use it to travel around Europe!

Setting a precise goal is extremely motivating and rewarding.

Spend less than you earn.

Sounds simple enough but difficult to put into practice especially since the lure of easy credit is high… Thankfully, I have mastered this principle.

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”

– Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

Know the value of stuff. Pay for value.

You don’t have to be miserly. Spend on things that matter to you. Cut costs on things that don’t.

This is pretty tricky: knowing what matters to you is easy. But try making a list of stuff that doesn’t matter and you’ll see.
I still need to work on this one.

Plan your expenses

Think twice before buying stuff. Ask yourself if you really need it. Plan the bigger expenses well in advance and try sticking to your budget.

Last weekend I went to the supermarket to buy a face mask and shampoo. But I ended up falling for a beautiful white cotton shirt (29 euros!) and bought it spontaneously. Result: Guilt.

Track your expenses

Write down your expenses every single day. I have started to do it and it did help me rein in my expenses or at least identify the problem zones. (Read eating out)

Automate!

If your bank provides the facility, automatically siphon off part of your pay check to a savings account so that it’s out of sight (and out of mind).

I manually transfer a part of my salary to the Livret A or Livret Jeune the day it arrives on my current account. It forces me to save though I need to be disciplined enough not to touch it.

I still have a long way to go. I still splurge a lot on eating out. But I’m glad that I have taken the first steps. The idea is not to cut down on having fun but to realise the value of money and being responsible.

Two of my favourite blogs:

Ramit Sethi’s I will teach you to be rich

J D Roth’s Get rich slowly

Why I rewrote my CV for the fifty-seventh time.

I have a new, unusual hobby. It’s writing CVs.

I keep looking for tips on the Internet. I keep writing and re-writing my CV, editing, formatting, polishing, tweaking…

Am I obsessed? How much time should you ideally spend writing your CV?

I don’t know.

But I know that:

- There is a lot of competition out there and the first and foremost way to distinguish myself from others is my CV.

- At the same time, a recruiter will spend no more than 10 seconds reading my CV.

So how do I attract and retain a recruiter’s attention and at the same time convince him to hire me? How do I sell my degrees and skills in a few words?

Well, there is no right way to do this resume-writing thing. People keep squabbling over how long a CV should be, what it should contain, etc. And I’m no resume-writing guru. But let me share with you two of my favourite strategies which I have come to believe in intuitively.

Cut, slash, edit. Be ruthless. Be pertinent.

It broke my heart to leave out certain information (irrelevant work experience, my French language test score, etc.) but I did it anyway.

A recent graduate’s CV should not be longer than one page. A CV is a macro-level view of your life. You can discuss the details in the interview or the covering letter.

Present your past work experience in the form of achievements.

An example from my own CV:

Before: “Updated XXXX website by collaborating with different department heads”. (Boring.)

After: “Updated and reorganised XXXXX website by collaborating with department heads, improved the aesthetics and helped ease navigation.” (Now that’s something!)

As I said before there is not right way. You simply need to have a CV that you’re happy with and are proud of.

And so I’ll keep looking for the right words. I’ll keep weeding out unimportant stuff. Until my CV is all squeaky and shiny….