A Killer Tip to Get the Job You Want

I was watching How I Met Your Mother Season 4 Episode 14 (spoilers ahead) and it's mostly about Robin trying to get a job in 7 days or she will be deported out of the country. Robin had been jobless for months during that episode and she had already been to countless auditions to get a job in the news industry.

Every time she auditions, she comes home complaining about how other auditionees got more experience than her or how they come from bigger companies or higher positions in other parts of the country. Even though she was anchor at the local news channel, she found that she couldn’t compete with many others in the same field.

Lesson # 1: There’s always someone better than you. So don’t slack!

Even when you come from the Top 3 universities in the country, even if you’re president of every organization you’ve joined or even if you’re the creamiest of the crop, never ever slack off during job hunting. Don’t underestimate the power of others to be more awesome than you already are. Which brings us to:

Lesson # 2: Stand Out!

Or in Barney’s vocabulary, BE AWESOME! Don’t just be good or excellent, be awesome! You see, I’ve been an A student ever since. I got good grades and all but here’s the thing: nobody really noticed me! My teachers hardly remembered my name; and to be honest, even if I honestly knew that I was at par with the best in the batch, I wasn’t as memorable as them. And simply because… I wasn’t awesome! I didn’t join clubs or became friends with the awesome people. I didn’t like greeting my teachers or spending time with other students in my batch. I didn’t like to get the ball rolling, I watched on the sides, watching the ball roll. Yeah, I was lame. So now you know, don’t be like me - BE AWESOME!

So how exactly does one stand out in the job hunting while hundreds apply for the same job?

Killer Tip: Think out of the Box

While Robin was clearly in deep trouble in job hunting, her friends decided to review her video reel to look for something there that is not making employers hire her. It was a normal reel, started out with her name and a clip from her first reporter job. After they decided it was a bit lame, the ever awesome Barney showed his own video resume:

Of course none of that happened but you get the point: it’s way different and definitely eye-catching than hundreds more video resume put together.

Here’s another video of someone thinking out of the box to get a job in one of the biggest companies in New York:

You can go with the usual stand-out tips like being confident or investing in your soft-skills or a power suit and they’re not at all wrong! I once took a job away because of confidence even though the manager was doubtful of my skills. But thinking out of the box to stand out will definitely get employers to look your way and remember your name.

What is your Think-Out-of-the-Box Plan to Get a Job?

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High Salary but Really Bad Working Conditions: To Quit or Not to Quit

Okay, here's the situation:

• You got loans for an expensive house, you have mountain-high credit card debts and some other loans to pay plus of course, daily expenses including a few luxuries like going out on dates or purchasing new clothes. 
• You got all of these financial woes when suddenly, you got offered a really high-paying job that you don't really like but you know you can tolerate. 
• You decided to accept the job because it would really help your finances and it did! You go to work then receive a lot of pay. You can easily pay for you loans and mortgage (which at your rate will be finished in 10 years) and you can also afford the luxuries that you usually have.
• However, the work load is really causing you some stress + lots of over time work including weekends which means much less time for you family or friends + your boss is like a warden from hell and screams at you and makes you feel like you've just been given the stupid-of-the-year award.
• You thought of quitting but you're already in one of the best companies in the country and it will be really, really hard to get in other companies of its caliber that can offer you the same pay plus awesome benefits.

What will you do? Go.

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"I Love Living Life. I Am Happy." - Nick Vujicic

This is one the best testimonies I've seen in my life so far. He is so amazing. Nick's happiness is genuine and is I could feel that it's overflowing despite his disability. It's truly a shame for those people who have complete limbs, yet spends every single day moping around, worrying and feeling so much self-pity. Yes, of course, each of us have unique problems of our own - and FACT #1: that's life! The important thing is to continue to stand up and be strong. Be more thankful of what we have than what we don't have because FACT #2: we can't have everything. There will always and always be something that others have and you don't have. So be more thankful.

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough. - Oprah Winfrey

What are you thankful for today?

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The Beginning of Oprah Winfrey

“As you can see from my first day on ‘AM Chicago’ on WLS, I had no publicist… no stylist, there was no hair and makeup team. Just a Jheri curl and a bad fur coat.”

    — OPRAH WINFREY, looking back on the days before she hit it big, during the finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

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Never Stop Learning

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Math 55

MATH 55

“At that pt. the equation of the tangent line…

Class, there are many solutions to this problem

However, there is but one answer.”

At what point does this line end?

It seems that forever have I waited

to at least be tangent

to you.

I lost you in a circle

where I’ll never know

if we’ll ever converge…

That no matter how much hard

I try

to prove a connection,

(A continuity that will bind us)

the output would always be

just an assumption.

How can I fight

a limit that

Does Not Exist?

Hoping that discontinuity

would somehow be removable

Fighting the odds of

zeroes and infinity

I shall reside

in this imaginary line.

Contenting myself in the

meantime,

with this feeling, asymptotic.

This poem was written by a friend for their Math 55 class. :)

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How to Become a Math-Genius: How are the Chinese Good at Math

Many are wondering, is there a secret pill that I need to take to become an instant math-genius - even just for the day of our final exam?! I know… I wished one for myself when I was a student especially in my Trigonometry finals in high school. That was the only time in my life when I absolutely had no idea on an exam. I wished for some kind of math magic to be bestowed upon me even for just 20 minutes.

I’ve mentioned in my previous post that we should not fall into the trap of thinking that we must have a math-genius gene or divine-given talent to become good at Math. Some thinks a person needs to be Chinese! But let me tell you a secret that I’ve learned from several Chinese people on how to be a math-genius.

Lesson from the Chinese


We wonder… why is the Chinese good at Math? They invented one of the oldest calculation devices called the abacus so they really must be crazy about numbers. So many times have I heard that when someone is Chinese, people immediately think that he/she is good at Math. What is the Chinese secret to becoming Math pros?

Here is an answer that you will find on the web when you Google the question: It is because of the language.


Here is a helpful table to demonstrate the difference between English and Chinese counting systems

English	Chinese	English	Chinese
eleven	ten one	thirty	three ten
twelve	ten two	forty	four ten
thirteen	ten three	fifty	five ten
fourteen	ten four	sixty	six ten
fifteen	ten five	seventy	seven ten
sixteen	ten six	eighty	eight ten
seventeen	ten seven	ninety	nine ten
eighteen	ten eight	one hundred	one hundred
nineteen	ten nine
twenty	two ten

If you will notice, the Chinese counting system makes more sense such as -in my opinion - it sets the foundation of basic addition and multiplication. They learn how to add and multiply the moment they learn how to count.

ten one	10 + 1	eleven (11)
three ten	3 x 10	thirty (30)

Looks like genius, doesn’t it?

HOWEVER

This is not really the secret of the Chinese to becoming Math pros. Come on; let’s not blame a thousand-year old system!

I have talked to several Chinese people in my life. Not all of them were raised in China but certainly grew up in Chinese rearing by their parents. It took a long time before someone shed a bright light on “the secret”.

We learn Math by logic. Everything is about logic and common sense

And it all just came flooding to me like someone opened the roof to let sunshine in my dark, windowless room. My mom, who is an accountant, kept telling me since kindergarten, “Focus on understanding the logic behind the problem rather than just memorizing!”

That is why we all started learning Math with images and stories than pure numbers. One plus one is not just 1 + 1. It’s “You have one apple and a friend gave you another one.” That is why we always have problem solving questions in exams - and admit it, that part could be the most difficult part. It’s when you know how to answer the other questions because you memorized the formula but your mind gets all tangled when you see the problem in a paragraph. Understand, not just memorize. Logic.

Problem Understanding + Formula/ Solving Techniques = Right Answer

If you understand the problem, then finding the right solution is much easier. Understanding, I believe, is something that all of us possess.


note: for those who were waiting - no, there is no magic pill  ^_^


And isn’t that the same for all life’s problems? Everything has a solution. If you cannot solve the problem, it means that there is still something left to be understood. If you cannot solve the problem, maybe it means that there is another solution; maybe the formula is not right. Let’s think some more.

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Why Students Fail at Math: The Math-is-Difficult Traps

This post is for all the students out there who hate Math and for incoming students who haven’t really studied Math but already loathe it due to the influence of popular culture.

Math is a basic subject in school that teaches how to count and make basic computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Of course mathematics has a deeper sense, meaning and use to the world than basic computation but to avoid math anxiety here, let’s stick to that =)

I was not anywhere a math genius. Like most kids, I fell into the Math-is-difficult trap. And that is not the only trap many students and I fell into. Here are a few:

1. Being good in Math is a gift. This is the belief that being good in Math is a gift or talent and that only few are chosen to have it. Students stop trying because they’re simply not one of the “chosen ones”.
2. If you’re not good in Math, you must be good in English (languages, communications, etc.) and vice-versa.
3. I don’t need Math in my future career esp. because I dream of becoming a rockstar. Variations I hear students say, “Why do we need Math?”; “I am not going to use this in my daily life!” and so on.

Sadly, many young people fail to understand the true significance of Math - and many teachers fail to make them understand the true reason why Math is significant. Looking back, I guess there is a little bit of truth in the idea that not all things in Math can be used by everyone in the future. But studying the basics of every aspect of Mathematics sets the foundation for the future engineers, architects, economists, etc.

To tell you the truth, Math is only more difficult because students already have this grand impression that it is “difficult” before they even try to understand. The moment they see a bunch of numbers, their brains go ahead say, “Oh my God, this is what they all have been talking about *hyperventilate* I can’t do this!” The student is immediately defeated even before moving a single brain cell. That is the reason why students fail at Math. They think so, they do so.

Math, just as with every problem,  is easier when you think it is.

I had a couple of excellent Math teachers in my life that made the subject so much easier. Their common denominator: their attitude in class sets the mood that “Math is Easy.” My high school teacher’s favorite line was, “Ah, that’s easy!” “How do we solve the problem? Ah, that’s easy!” He always did that. Every single time there was a problem to solve, he would exclaim, “Ah, that’s easy!” and every time we solve math problems ourselves, we could hear him in our heads.

My Finance teacher in college was not as enthusiastic but she also always said that it’s just easy. Her explanations were simple and direct to the point.

Many agreed with me when I tell them that Math becomes easier depending on the teacher. It is the teacher’s job to set the mood and to explain the principles at the student’s level. However, before you start blaming all your Math teachers for your subject failure, you must read more of my tips on How to Become a Math - Genius.

“A Better Way To Teach Math” by David Bornstein at The New York Times, Opinionator.

Imagine if someone at a dinner party casually announced, “I’m illiterate.” It would never happen, of course; the shame would be too great. But it’s not unusual to hear a successful adult say, “I can’t do math.” That’s because we think of math ability as something we’re born with, as if there’s a “math gene” that you either inherit or you don’t.

What are your reasons for hating Math?

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Plunging into a Job of My Weakness

I was never good in oral communication skills. I palpitated and broke into cold sweat whenever I had to stand for less than 10 second to recite in class. So I didn’t like class recitation and oral exams. I always whispered the answer to my seatmate and he/she got to answer the teacher’s question.

I didn’t like small talk. I didn’t like speaking in front of a crowd. English is my second language and while my school tried to make us practice speaking the language in elementary by establishing English Speaking Zones, I tried my best to avoid them altogether. I didn’t realize that communication skills would be one of the most important skills that I need to learn no matter what career I want to pursue. Even when my career completely changed when I looked liked a complete idiot during that very simple interview to a BS Computer Science course, I denied to myself the fact that I needed to be more aggressive and enhance my oral skills.

I only understood the importance of communications skills when I started looking for a job in senior year. Every one of the job ads required an excellent degree in oral and written communications skills. I realized that I cannot avoid job interviews and I cannot repeat the embarrassing performance I had before college.

I took a job that required a high level of English communication skill.

I took an online teaching job that teaches English to ESL learners. It is a teaching job that requires the teacher to be really fluent and vibrant. It is teaching through phone so facial expressions and hand gestures won’t do well in explaining something without words. Dead air is an absolute no-no so we had to keep talking and asking relevant questions.

I took a job that targeted one of my weakest points. What was I thinking then? I thought to pressure push myself into improving that skill because if I didn’t, I feared that I would not get hired in bigger companies or move up the career ladder. I would always have that big flaw, whispering in my head, “You cannot do it!” and if I went on unarmed, I would be drowned in that fear.

I did improve a lot in my oral communications skills. Since then, I became less and less afraid of going to job interviews. I gained for confidence in talking to other people even though they are my seniors.

Do not go to battle unarmed. If you have a weak point, strengthen it. Improve it. Excel in it. Then there will be one less thing that you are afraid of on your way to pursuing your dreams.

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The Next Part of Resume Writing that Had Me Scratching my Head.

Because I was just getting out of college, I didn’t have any work experience to write. Instead, I had to include my extra-curricular activities and/or seminars attended. And boy, I heard the crickets.

I didn’t have any significant extra-curricular activity. The one org I joined in college was good enough but I must admit that I never became an active member (excuse: conflicting class schedules). I scrambled through my records for any sign of certificate from seminars I have attended. I called my classmates to refresh my mind and add to the list. Truth is, I also didn’t really pay attention to any seminar in school. I only did attend because we were required.

Lucky me because when I was applying for a job, the working industry was still not as competitive as it is today. However, times have changed. Having worked in the job recruitment industry, I have seen so many job ads that require a certain degree of job experience. With that, so many fresh graduates are complaining that they can’t get any job experience because everybody wants someone with previous work.

I agree that this is a disadvantage to many who didn’t have the opportunity to work as interns before graduation. But I cannot disagree with employers who also want to hire good people, save efforts in training and move company sales fast. Here are a few tips from me:

Get active in extra-curricular activities. Clubs and organizations open you more to possibilities, networking and other activities outside the classroom. Some organizations are nationwide and they organize major events that can just open your experiences to anything. Do volunteer for apprenticeship. People say that nothing is free nowadays but don’t be afraid to do volunteer jobs related to your preferred career. Volunteer as server, waiter, be an assistant to anyone you know in the industry. For sure, many will not turn down free assistance. While under apprenticeship, be highly trainable and observant for out-of-school lessons that you can pick up. Do not be shy to ask for advice and future referrals. Get online and home-based jobs. It a new era now. People can get online jobs especially those that are related to IT, programming, software development and you can get a ton of jobs related to SEO, link building and online content writing. If you are interested in these areas, browse the web for online jobs portal like Odesk.com. I have heard so much about them and had a few friends who became quite a success in this. Get your thing off your seats and actually do something! It’s probably one of my biggest mistakes at one point or another.

"As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do."

- Zachary Scott

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Staring at my Resume: Lesson #1

RESUME TIPS Your name and contact details must be prominent. Do not include unnecessary personal details. Resume should only be a page. Max of 2 pages. Dated info (i.e educational background) must be written from most recent down to past records. Glam up on achievements!

The first important thing in one’s career that I learned dawned on me when I was staring at my resume template - it gave me a blank stare while I sit in front of my computer monitor. I thought, “I should have seen what a resume looks like when I was 10 years old!”


I was about to graduate at that time and because I wanted to be ahead of the newly-graduates pack, I decided to look for a job early. Looking for work all starts with a piece of paper: THE RESUME and I must tell you, it will force you to travel back in time, asking yourself, “What have I done?”

The first part of resume writing is easy. You have to fill out your personal information. The name and the contact details are the most important. The resume template I copied from also stated height, weight, birthday and religion. I promptly deleted those details now.

Educational background also came as a breeze. Schools, university and date attended. Well I had to count back the years a few times just to be sure.

Then… what next? I had to state achievements. It wasn’t very difficult because while I didn’t gain much academic achievement in highschool, I had some academic awards when I was in the university including a Cum Laude and an opportunity to be an exchange student in another country while I was senior. But are they enough? Are they enough compared to others from my batch who have joined several competitions and won them?

Many will argue that scholastic achievements are not important and that everyone is leveled in the working industry. This could be one of the biggest myths that any student should never listen to. Yes, everyone begins at the bottom in terms of career but achievements boost your image when employers start reading your resume in less than 30 seconds.

If you cannot achieve something when you were studying, what can you achieve from hereon? Where are your proofs that you are hardworking, can be easily trained and has discipline under pressure?

Children, it’s a competitive world out there.

Next post >>> The Next Part of Resume Writing that Had Me Scratching my Head.

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I, Bedazzled

So here I am again, attempting to yet again begin another blog. Why I have stopped blogging, I'm not sure. I thought it was ceasing to write my thoughts because suddenly, I became afraid of my words. Not that they're bad, they just suddenly became frightening. And when you are frightened with words, there is a certain level of constraint - the feeling of being in prison in some way.

Then another is that... there was/is difficulty for me to stay in a niche. When a blog has no niche nowadays, it just floats somewhere in the middle of millions of blogs and websites on the web now. It's like a light pole on a crowded street - it brings light, alright, but nobody really notices it for its presence or its worth.

Now... there's just been a lot going through my head. I want to share with you my journey, my career and my learnings in life. I am not a successful person by popular standards but by sharing my mistakes and my learnings, somebody out there might do better than I did. Enjoy reading!

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