About Philip

Out of your many achievements, which one is the most significant?

Having my daughter would be the most significant but in terms of career, the most significant would have been having the courage to move to China, into a market where I didn’t speak the language back in 2005.

And how are things going a few years on?

I absolutely love it, I wish I had moved sooner. It’s a dynamic market and I always remember what the MD of Nokia China said to me, “What happens here in one year, is the equivalent of seven in any other market”.

If you could change anything in your career what would it be?

An earlier move to China. I wish I read the Harvard Business Study in 2003 that said any western businessman who failed to learn Chinese would be ultimately unemployable by 2015, as they will have more than 650 million internet users by then which is bigger than the next 10 countries combined. One other area that I would to change is, getting in at a much earlier age than I did information on how to run a business and also how to budget for your own personal life. Peter Irvine, Co-founder of Gloria Jeans Coffees taught me a lesson many years ago which was always remember to pay yourself first, before you pay anything else in your personal life.

When was the last time you experienced a feeling similar to interview nerves and what did you to control them?

The last time was when I went for an interview in China back in 2005, as I had very little experience of living and working in China. I had visited the region as a CEO, but did not have that day-to-day living experience. Being able to answer the question, “What China experience do you have?”, I felt like I was going for my first-ever interview. Being able to justify why someone should have the faith and the confidence to employ me, made me feel like an 18 year old again. To control any nervousness, I learnt a long time ago that whenever you’re asked a question that you don’t know the answer to, stop and take time to think before you respond. While one or two seconds might seem like an eternity to you, in reality it’s not. Even if you have to say something like, “That’s a very good question”, this will allow your mind time to process your answer. A really good friend once told me “If you’re not nervous before something that is important to you, then you don’t really care about it” and that helps me to control my nervousness.

Resumes

What resume format do you prefer to look at when you are hiring, Chronological, Functional/Skills or Combination and why?

It’s a combination of three factors.

First, the opening statement should summarise who they are, what they’ve done and more importantly, what they are looking for and why they think they have the ability to give the potential employer the success they are looking for.

Secondly, it should have their career history with responsibilities and achievements and the achievements must be directly measurable results that they’ve been able to achieve in each and every company they’ve worked for.

Thirdly, a referee for each company they’ve worked at.

Have you ever discounted an application because of a poorly presented resume?

Absolutely

What are the three most common mistakes you find on resumes?

People using inappropriate photos

Poor spelling

Attention to detail. Getting the dates wrong on your employment history for example Job 1 2005 – 2007 and Job 2 2003 – 2006

How many pages can a resume contain before you switch off?

One page, at the most two. If you can’t articulate yourself in one page you are putting yourself at a disadvantage particularly in the current climate as there are hundreds of applications coming to recruiters and hiring managers each day. You need to make a good first impression to get the hiring manager or recruiter to call you, then you can go into more detail. I believe the sole purpose of a resume is to get an interview or someone to call you. You need to look at a resume like a TV commercial. You can only sell one thing. Jobseekers should ask themselves what’s the single most attractive thing that I can offer a potential employer that’s going to get them to call me.

Cover Letters

How important is a good cover letter and why?

It should be short, no more than two or three paragraphs and should convince the employer why you have the skill set to deliver what they are looking for. Too often I see cover letter that is a repeat of the resume or so generic and not specific to the position that has been advertised.

Thank you Philip, I think you’ve answered all of my following questions on cover letters there which were going to cover, can we get away with a generic cover letter and what cover letter mistakes have you seen. So definite no to these…

Yes, when applying for a job and it’s going to pay you, 30, 40, 50K a year, then the attitude I think people should take to their cover letter and resume is this, how much is this position worth to me and how much time am I prepared to invest in making a good impression. If someone is only going to spend 5 minutes on a cover letter or a resume, they are not making an investment in themselves and it comes across in their presentation. They are a brand and like any brand they should invest in it. They need to stand out from the competition and if they don’t have the time, at least engage a professional to write the material for them.

General

For school leavers choosing university courses, what industries will experience growth in the next 3-5 years?

Anything in the digital space is definitely a growth industry despite what is happening around the world. Even in Australia, Digital will experience 20% year on year growth. Other industries that will experience growth are those servicing digital such as IT, Computing, Logistics (shipping of online sales) and in every country there’s the aging population and what services this group will need. In the US, the over 50s count for 25% of spend and this is growing rapidly. We’re not just looking at aged care, I’m referring to travel, lifestyle products and services.

What advice would you give to current graduates struggling to find work in their chosen field?

Many graduates will choose their course at 18, finish at 21 then look for work in that field. When you ask most graduates is this what you really want to do? The overwhelming response is “I don’t really know what I want to do”. “I made a decision 4 years ago but now I’m not so sure but I don’t feel equipped to do anything else”. My advice would be, don’t lock yourself in to the course that you studied. Look at what you’re passionate about and what you have to do to pursue it. It’s interesting to look at resumes and notice how many cases where someone’s degree bares little relevancy to the current job being performed and the field that’s become their chosen career and passion. It’s ok to change your mind.

What advice would you give to individuals, for instance Accountants, Engineers or IT who feel pigeon holed or stuck in a career they don’t like?

What are your transferable skills? Engineers as an example, are good project managers. It’s important to look at your key skills and how these skills can be applied to other industries because you can bring a fresh perspective that people already in the industry may not have.

Given the fact that the tables have turned somewhat and employers now have more candidates to choose from, what changes will candidates have to make in their job search approach to be successful?

People should get external advice on how they are presenting themselves to the market. Most people have never thought of having someone review their CV [resume] each year, just like their employment performance is reviewed each year by their boss. It staggers me how little attention people pay to themselves, until they’re forced to do something about it, like find a new job. I believe an annual review of your CV and your life goals helps you plan your career and what work experience you need to achieve those goals. While some may baulk at the cost, calculate what percentage of your annual income it represents and it’s the best return on investment I can think of. I’d also suggest paying for coaching on how to answer questions in an interview. Apart from that, don’t rely on job boards alone. People should be using social networking sites as there are often job opportunities listed by members, that will never be promoted publicly on a job boards. They should use their own network and not be afraid to let friends know that they are looking for work. An American friend of mine and quite senior in his industry sector, was made redundant and within 12 hours of sending an email to his group of friends he had a job offer from a third party.

Many thanks to Philip Beck for taking part in this interview. Philip is the COO for meijob.com, one of China’s leading job boards covering all the jobs in China on one website.

Download Interview Philip Beck Part I

Download Interview Philip Beck Part II

Each time you send out an ineffective resume, you can chalk it off as an opportunity lost. Before you apply for your next job put yourself in the shoes of the employer.  Try hard to honestly review your application against the criteria in the job advertisement or position description.  Would you hire you?  If you’ve passed the You Test the next step is to objectively look at your resume.  Use your current job search to benchmark your resumes’ success.  Bottom line is the ratio of send outs to interviews ie how many times have you sent your resume to an employer or recruiter and how many interviews has it generated for you.  You decide the acceptable ratios but I would be looking for 2 interviews from every 3 send outs.

How is this achieved?

Each application needs to be tailored to increase your chances of getting interviewed.

Why tailor your response?

• Recruiters and HR staff do not have the time to look for the information – you sit in a pile of maybe 100 applications
• If you tailor each application, you will find the job for you!
• You will save time by not applying for jobs that really don’t  interest you
• You will be much happier – a generic application is more likely to trigger the generic response “thank you but no”

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