skill-link: Interest Zone

' Take every job as if it might be the one you'll have for the rest of your life.'

“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

What is your advice to a hopeless professional? (e)
How can a Latvian find work in Cairo? (b)
What is the difference between the Managing Director and the General Manager? (g)
Could you provide me with sample "career objectives" for my CV? (b)
Where to find useful job descriptions? (g)

All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to advisor@skill-link.com - would be addressed in this section every week.

Check "Your Career Advisor" Archive

Q1: What what is your advice to a hopeless professional?

I am a graduate of Faculty of Commerce - Ain Shams University - Accounting Department. - English Section in 1998. Since I graduated, I have been encountering several barriers that set me back to square 1 in my career.

My first problem was that my military status was not yet determined, and that was the main reason for my rejection in most of the jobs I applied to then. Finally, when it was determined by the end of 1998, the opportunities were already gone. The only job available to me, was as a traffic officer in Aero Services Egypt - which was a representative and an agent for foreign charter flights. It was a temporary job. I stayed there for about 6 months. The reason for quitting was it was way out of my field of study.

I left the previously mentioned co. to join Novartis Agro Egypt (known now as Syngenta) on the 1st of July 1999, where I was recruited as an Accountant. Unfortunately, as time passed by, I realized that I was not performing the tasks that a regular accountant should be doing. My title changed later to "Treasury Executive" (Safe Keeper). I tried talking to the Financial Manager several times so that he would allow me to take the normal course of rotation taken by any junior accountant as part of enhancing my experience. I got No response from him. I lost hope, lost heart and interest as a Treasury Exec. (Safe Keeper) after two and a half years and decided to leave them by the end of Jan 2001, to join PriceWaterhouseCoopers (the multinational audit and advisory firm).

Unfortunately, they themselves faced major problems and to my good fortune (El-Hamdulilah) , recruitment was freezed. I stayed at home for about 7 months.

The only available job for me, was to work in a secretarial role for the Egyptian International Gas Technology (GasTec).

Three transitional phases, No experience gained what so ever, and the result is a total halt of my ambitions.

The idea of starting to take courses in Web Designing & Development; Networking etc. and to shift to the IT career crossed my mind, by I think its too late for that especially when it takes around 3 years to complete the studies to be Certified as an IT professional. and about L.E.15,000 to finance it. And still you don't know after completing the courses what is the market place for IT specialists is going to be like - i.e. Risky Haa!

Thanks for offering such an exclusive service to the hopeless & suffering like my self and thank you for you assistance and kind advice.

M. H. M. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. M.

We could not ask for a more detailed message J however there is one thing that was not clear to us: Why did you leave the aero services company ? :

You did not indicate you were miserable there ! you only mentioned it was outside your field of study … who cares ? our studies reflect a decision or a high school grade we obtained around the age of 17 or 18, it is not a religion we should follow for the rest of our life. We meant to stress on this point, so you do not maintain "your field of studies" as a key selection criteria, specially that you are a Commerce graduate… where as we often say, encompasses the largest number of fields / roles / sectors etc… So please do not imagine that if you are not working as an accountant then something is wrong. By the way do you know that the current Chairman of Misr International Bank (who was till very recently the Chairman of Banque Misr) Dr. Bahaa Helmy was a computer engineer ?

With regards to your Manager in Syngenta, you should not feel bitter about what he did. At the end of the day they are there to manage a business not to develop young professionals, so they have priorities. Also, you cannot tell for sure what was his own appraisal of your character or performance… so leave this episode behind you.

Now the good news is, you are not old… and you worked in a variety of environments where - whether you like it or not - you learnt new things and gained experience. Also, you have good English, judging from the message you wrote….

You must now decide what you would like to do… and what roles attract you more ? Is it only accounting or admin or sales or others ….. It is not too late to shift to an IT career, that is not the issue, the question is why ? there are thousands of graduates who already have experience and / or have completed studies in specific IT fields… so unless you are particularly interested and attracted by this field (which we do not think you are) there is no point in investing time and money. Hence an accounting (eg. CMA), HR or other certification may be more useful.

Of course we both know that the job market for the last two years has been very tight… however, maybe in a remote touristic area (Hurgada, Sharm El Sheikh or Taba) things would be relatively better… (assuming of course that the US does not get into a war with IRAQ…)

We hope the above was of some use to you.
Good Luck

Q2: How can a Latvian find work in Cairo?

I am from Latvia but I live here in Egypt in Cairo and I don't know where to go and what to do to have job.

I hold a B Sc. in Math and two diplomas in English. I am fluent in three languages and have good PC skills.

I came to Cairo just month and I am looking for work; till now I didn't find any. Can you tell me where can I go and what to do ?

S. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear S.

Well… that is a real difficult one… as you know you have the basic skills that tens of thousands of Egyptian graduates possess…. You did not indicate in your message any particular job experience you have. Hence it is very difficult to identify what competitive advantage you may have. Specially that we are not aware of any active trading between Egypt and Latvia where you could be valuable for a company dealing with Latvia (the language, the customs etc…).

Teaching may be an option, in private schools. They usually are in hiring mood specially for the younger classes.

We are sorry for not being of real help.

Good Luck

Q3: What is the difference between the Managing Director and the General Manager?

Can you please explain to me what is the difference between the Managing Director and the General Manager as well as a short description of their role?

Theodore (Greece)

Replying:

Dear Mr. Theodore
We are happy to receive our first message from Greece J

A year ago, "Your Career Advisor" addressed the difference between Chairman, President and Managing Director. Which we believe are a good introduction to the answer to your question. Thus please click here to check our feedback on that particular issue.

The "General Manager" on the other hand, does not have the same legal status, ie it is not addressed by laws and regulations like Managing Director or Chairman. It is merely an organizational title reflecting a certain seniority level. In some companies one or more General Manager report to the Managing Director, in others they could be reporting to a Division Head or even Senior General Managers. The title does not exist in all companies, some entities use Vice President instead. Additionally, since it reflects an organization seniority, it is often associated with a particular function, eg: Finance General Manager or, General Manager Sales & Marketing etc…

So, in a nut shell, while a Managing Director has a clear role in a company, that of the most senior executive, the General Manager is just a rank (like General in the army), his or her responsibilities will differ from one case to the other.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q4: Could you provide me with sample "career objectives" for my CV?

First I would like to thank you for your great efforts in trying to make the image more transparent for the job seekers by offering solutions to them.

I want some examples about general personal or career objectives in a resume to use it in my C.V.

K. M. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. M.

Believe it or not, the "personal objectives" or "career goals" or similar sections at the beginning of a CV are of very little importance. We can safely advise you to ignore them... and you can trust us on that.

Potential employers know that - if they find this section - it is usually artificial and must look good. Know one will ever right in his objectives "to find any job and make some money, hopefully without having to work very hard and ideally close to my home"… right ?! Employers or recruiters go through CVs to find out what they think the owner knows and can do… regardless of his/her objectives.

This is not to say you should not express yourself and communicate your interests and goals, this however does not belong to the CV but to the cover letter, which is as important. For more information on the cover letter and samples, please visit the Career Resources section of skill-link.com's Interest Zone… or click here.

If after every thing we said, you still insist on including a "Career Objectives" section; we have presented below some samples from real CVs:

"Pursue a career in Marketing or Business Development through which I can apply my knowledge of marketing and business concepts and build upon my work experience."
* * * * *
"I want to develop my career in the field of Computer Engineering by working with a reputable organization where I can anticipate making progress in the type of fast moving environment that I thrive in."
* * * * *
"Seeking a challenging and competitive job opportunity in the Marketing department where I would combine all my experience so as to bring out the best outcome for the company's image & reputation and thus fulfilling it's needs."
* * * * *
"Seeking a challenging career opportunity where I can enhance my skills, capabilities, and to contribute to the growth of the firm. Ready to learn, and looking for a dynamic position."
* * * * *
"I aim for a successful international organization that would provide a clear job description, a clear managerial hierarchy and a fair chance for promotion and growth for active and effective members."
* * * * *
"Seeking a challenging position in a well-established organization whereby I can utilize and further develop my experience in the HR field."
* * * * *
"A challenging position with a leading corporation where by my technical and interpersonal skills can be applied and developed."
* * * * *

We hope the above was of some use to you.
Good Luck

Q5: Where to find useful job descriptions?

I could not help but admire the way you have responded to the question about the HR job description.

I work for a consulting firm specializing in recruitment of senior executives. We are considered generalists and do not specialize in one specific industry or sector. One of my tasks is to understand client needs and to write job profiles that describe the objectives and responsibilities of the job as well as a profile of the right candidate. I often have to do it from scratch. This is too time consuming.

I am wondering if you could point out to me some sources where I can find pre-written job descriptions or relevant information. Books, references, web sites, any lead you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Of particular interest for me at the moment are job descriptions of Senior Executives in the Banking industry.

Your advice and assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Z. K. (somewhere in the Middle East)

Replying:

Dear Ms. K.

Well in a way we may be competitors J however it is our duty to attempt to reply as best as we can or know.

The fact is that job descriptions differ in various degrees depending on the country, the sector and the job itself. As a rule technical jobs tend to vary less than Finance, Human Resources or PR & Communication. On the other hand the essence should be the same.

There are US and European books/reference manuals with job descriptions. The few we have seen were not terribly interesting (being too generic or not close to the Middle East practices). Other than printed references there are also online content providers.