job | PFAU

705 Views

Last spring, we interviewed Alif on the challenges and opportunities facing young adults during COVID-19. We thought this topic would be relevant for students looking for summer jobs, as well as recent graduates attempting to enter the already competitive job market. As the pandemic continues, these tips continue to be relevant.

MG 0902 683x1024 Finding a Job as COVID 19 Continues: Interview with Alif Huq

Alif Huq is a digital marketing specialist and job hunting expert. Since the start of the pandemic, Alif has been offering specialized job hunting webinars and tips on social media. He has also helped numerous young adults to learn the art of marketing themselves online.

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What kinds of challenges are you hearing about from young adults engaged in the job search process?

_

What I’ve noticed is that there’s a lot of hiring freezes. I have friends who work in the HR space where they probably had five interviews lined up. And unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and hiring freezes, those interviews were basically on pause or cancelled because companies are thinking more about how to sustain their budget and a new hire can be costly.

_

What pet peeves when it comes to people using social media ineffectively to get a job?

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So my biggest pet peeve is when people ask “Can you refer me to a job?” or “Alif, do you know any job opportunities?” and I don’t even know them. Being on the receiving end of a lot of these messages does get very annoying, and it feels like I’m being used. Instead of saying, “I noticed there’s a company opening, here’s my resume”, the best way to establish trust and is to ideally get them on a phone call with you.

_

How can young adults, who do not have a lot of work experience, present themselves as capable professionals?

_

The first thing I would say is, you’ve got to develop a tangible skill set. The way I got hired into my first marketing assistant role, without any marketing experience, or even any connections or education was because I made a YouTube video where I was showcasing my copywriting skills. They saw that video of me and decided to onboard me for the role itself. For example, if you want to go into graphic design, instead of taking just a course on graphic design, you might want to actually create your own graphics and a portfolio. For digital marketing, instead of taking a Google Analytics course, you might want to start your own blog and experiment with SEO and paid advertisements.

_

Alif’s Book Recommendations

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4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

_

Thank you, Alif, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers!

_

Missed the episode? Listen here:

_

For more advice about the job search process, check out our weekly podcast or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Both the written, visual, audio and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.

Finding a Job as COVID Continues: Podcast Episode Live!

By Pfau2018

May 22, 2021

717 Views

Blog, Podcast

PFAU 5 panel 2 300x295 Finding a Job as COVID Continues: Podcast Episode Live!

Last spring, we discussed the challenges of finding a job during a pandemic withcontent marketing specialist, Alif Huq. Unfortunately, we are still in a COVID lockdown, which is discouraging for new graduates. All hope is not lost though. Alif shares some tips with new grads to make the best use of this tricky time.

HIGHLIGHTS

Job market changes during COIVD-19

How to stay motivated when job searching

Social media strategies and what not to do

The art of marketing yourself online

_

To get more help with your assignments, book a 20 minute consultation with us and start your journey to reaching your full potential on the page, and in life.

Both the written, visual, audio and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.

Finding Your Dream Career: Interview With Luki Danukarjanto

By Pfau2018

July 22, 2020

704 Views

Blog

Luki Danukarjanto is the CEO of FOCUS.inspired, a unique business that focuses on helping individuals to find their professional passion. A number of our readers are likely graduating and headed into the workforce during a very tricky time. It can be hard to not get discouraged about your professional future during COVID, but if you know what you are passionate about it, it can help you to stay on track.

LukiBW 1 1080 683x1024 Finding Your Dream Career: Interview With Luki Danukarjanto

Luki refers to himself as a career catalyst and “DJ” for professional development. Luki was a management consultant for 12 years before transitioning into career counselling in 2015. Since then, he has published a book, the SWIKE web series, and spoken at many schools about his passion for career development.

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What do you think is the greatest challenge for young adults as they develop their careers?

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So my perspective is that there’s a lot of these kind of generalisations when people talk about young adults. Students and young adults go through school, they’re supposed to graduate they’re supposed to get a job they’re supposed to get married and have kids and moved to a house in the suburbs and and all that sort of stuff and then retire and have a good life. But that kind of supposed to and and that typical life trajectory is often not not true anymore. A lot of people who when they’re going through life, they actually have multiple career paths.

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You developed the acronym SWIKE to inspire a lot of your work. What does that mean and where did that idea come from?

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So I guess the start of writing the book was I had a colleague , who I used to work with who actually wrote a book. I’m like, oh, wow, that’s that’s amazing. I would have conversations over coffees with a lot of folks and it ended up being that a lot of the conversations were the same, right? So I figured, well, instead of me having to say all that stuff over and over again, why not just write a book. It was like 500 pages. And, I don’t know what this is. It’s like a reference manual. So, a friend in publishing helped me get in touch with with an editor. The whole concept of SWIKE came about where originally it was that the stuff you didn’t know you needed to know. So then SWIKE developed into the stuff I wish I knew earlier. It references my interest in mentorship.

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How you advise students to be able to shift from the learning to pass the test mentality to one of mastery?

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Yeah, I would say for them, it’s getting over that fear of failure, right? There’s a lot of judgement involved. And it goes back to kind of that conveyor belt of life. That you should be doing this. Oftentimes, others are not as critical as people think. Most people are afraid of people judging them and things like that. And I just had a conversation with someone with the perspective that fear is made up. It’s something that doesn’t really exist. One of the things is a lot of people misunderstand fear versus danger, right? Danger is real. But in terms of fear, like getting up in front of someone and doing a speech or presentation, well, that’s not going to kill you. Then once you’re past that, then you can just start learning and try to follow your your passions.

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Luki’s Book Recommendations

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Stuff I Wish I Knew Earlier: How to Unlock Your Career Potential by Luki Danukarjanto

Mindset by Carol Dweck

How to Be Everything by Emilie Wapnick

The Straight-A Conspiracy by Hunter Maats and Katie O’Brien

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Thank you, Luki, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers!

_

Missed the podcast? Listen here:

_

For more advice about professional development and writing, check out our weekly podcast or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

_

To get more help with your assignments, book a 30 minute discovery session with us and start your journey to reaching your full potential on the page, and in life.

Both the written, visual, audio, and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.

Succeeding Professionally as an Introvert: Interview With Faris Khalifeh

By Pfau2018

July 16, 2020

684 Views

Blog

We interviewed Faris Khalifeh, a Quiet Confidence Coach who coaches introverts to embrace who they are and leverage their natural strengths. The professional environment has traditionally favoured extroverts, especially for leadership roles. With everyone staying inside due to COVID-19, communications have shifted online, giving introverts an opportunity to take advantage of their unique skill sets.

%name Succeeding Professionally as an Introvert: Interview With Faris Khalifeh

Faris helps clients from different backgrounds, cultures and industries. He teaches courses at various colleges on business, leadership and personal development. Faris also founded the Vancouver Quiet Leadership Community, which recently launched an online discussion group for introverts called the Quiet Confidence Cafe.

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What exactly is a Quiet Confidence Coach?

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I coach introverts to embrace who they are and leverage their natural strengths. Seeing how being an introvert is like any other personality type, we both have our strengths and weaknesses. But for some reason, the culture and the world these days, gives more attention to or considers extroverts to be better in certain aspects like, leadership positions. It doesn’t matter if you are an introvert or extrovert, you can perform these roles. So that’s part of the work I do with capitalizing on the key traits through one-on-one sessions with clients. I also do group coaching and corporate training about how to bridge the communication gap between introverts and extroverts at work.

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What are some strengths unique to introverts?

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Number one, we’re introspective. Introspection and reflection is important. Studies show that introspection is a catalyst to innovation, and if you think about it, most innovative stuff happened when someone was alone in a lab or in a cabin. We’re also better at expressing ourselves in writing, because introverts need time to process information. We need time to reflect before we share our opinion. Introverts are also great listeners. they are able to actively listen which builds empathy. That sense of understanding leads to deeper, more meaningful relationships. Lastly, introverts thrive with one-on-one interactions.

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How can we use these strengths to our advantage in professional or academic settings?

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You can take your time you can articulate what you want to say you can have the first draft, you can do tweaks, etc. These days, it’s important for writing articles or blog posts. Communication in companies are now via emails or slack. Another idea for writing is, let’s say you go to a meeting, and you’re bombarded with all the simulation. You could then afterwards go back to the desk and think about what you want to say then send an email. Another tip for introverts, if they are put on the spot and they don’t have the answer, it’s okay to tell that person, let me sleep on it and get back to you. There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re just asking for your needs and providing them something in return.

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Faris’ Book Recomendations

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The Introvert Entrepreneur by Beth Buelow

The introverted Leader by Jennifer Kahnweiler

The Dynamic Introvert by Leslie Taylor

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Thank you, Faris, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers!

_

Missed the podcast? Listen here:

_

For more advice about writing, check out our weekly podcast or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Both the written, visual, audio and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.

Finding a Job During COVID-19: Interview with Alif Huq

By Pfau2018

June 17, 2020

757 Views

Blog

We interviewed Alif on the challenges and opportunities facing young adults during COVID-19. We thought this topic would be relevant for students looking for summer jobs, as well as recent graduates attempting to enter the already competitive job market.

MG 0902 683x1024 Finding a Job During COVID 19: Interview with Alif Huq

Alif Huq is a digital marketing specialist and job hunting expert. Since the start of the pandemic, Alif has been offering specialized job hunting webinars and tips on social media. He has also helped numerous young adults to learn the art of marketing themselves online.

_

What kinds of challenges are you hearing about from young adults engaged in the job search process?

_

What I’ve noticed is that there’s a lot of hiring freezes. I have friends who work in the HR space where they probably had five interviews lined up. And unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and hiring freezes, those interviews were basically on pause or cancelled because companies are thinking more about how to sustain their budget and a new hire can be costly.

_

What pet peeves when it comes to people using social media ineffectively to get a job?

_

So my biggest pet peeve is when people ask “Can you refer me to a job?” or “Alif, do you know any job opportunities?” and I don’t even know them. Being on the receiving end of a lot of these messages does get very annoying, and it feels like I’m being used. Instead of saying, “I noticed there’s a company opening, here’s my resume”, the best way to establish trust and is to ideally get them on a phone call with you.

_

How can young adults, who do not have a lot of work experience, present themselves as capable professionals?

_

The first thing I would say is, you’ve got to develop a tangible skill set. The way I got hired into my first marketing assistant role, without any marketing experience, or even any connections or education was because I made a YouTube video where I was showcasing my copywriting skills. They saw that video of me and decided to onboard me for the role itself. For example, if you want to go into graphic design, instead of taking just a course on graphic design, you might want to actually create your own graphics and a portfolio. For digital marketing, instead of taking a Google Analytics course, you might want to start your own blog and experiment with SEO and paid advertisements.

_

Alif’s Book Recommendations

_

4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

_

Thank you, Alif, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers!

_

Missed the episode? Listen here:

_

For more advice about the job search process, check out our weekly podcast or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Both the written, visual, audio and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.

Finding a Job During COVID-19: Podcast Episode Live!

By Pfau2018

June 13, 2020

732 Views

Blog, Podcast

PFAU 5 FINAL Dec 18 1024x205 Finding a Job During COVID 19: Podcast Episode Live!

We discuss the challenges of finding a job during a pandemic with job search expert and content marketing specialist, Alif Huq.

HIGHLIGHTS

Job market changes during COIVD-19

How to stay motivated when job searching

Social media strategies and what not to do

The art of marketing yourself online

_

To get more help with your assignments, book a 20 minute consultation with us and start your journey to reaching your full potential on the page, and in life.

Both the written, visual, audio and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.