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“life will be better in spring”

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Job search: Are good looks important?

well, ABSOLUTELY.

especially for a marketing job, it is VERY VERY important.

let review this topic slowly.


well, typically, first impression counts. Send in a CV with an ugly photo, or a 'wrong' photo. Guess what, you are automatically disqualified for the first round. So what if you have masters or PhD in marketing? if you present yourself wrongly, then chances are you will not be considered.

i've talked to my cousin who has more than 10 years of experience in the marketing field; she told me that when her boss was looking for a potential employee, looks matter, especially at the front line of the event. imagine the client which is a luxury brand, say Cartier, needs marketing personnel to be around during the course of event. You need to match the team's dress code, etiquette and even the way they communicate to the guests. thats the concept of branding- you need to match the rights things to portray the image.

same goes for bazaar magazine. my supervisor will ask us to wear black dress, because its the easiest to match for any events, and BLACK will never go wrong. Heels must be worn(but seriously i hate wearing heels) especially for the receptionists. Make-up must be put on, because you are at the forefront.

During an interview, first impression counts. A pleasant looking person is good enough to score, complementing with the right dress code that is suitable for the industry. then the way you speak to the interviewer, body language and the amount of conviction you portray becomes the next critical factor. well in fact, if you are pretty good looking, companies will most likely place you to do PR, because you have the look! see, handsome and pretty individuals have the edge!

then those below-average looking leh? back office loh. well, not say they will consistently be in the office. they might have lesser chance to interact during the event, unless they are the boss themselves. of course that would be a different story right?

based on the above analogy, i feel that grooming and dressing play an important role to score. or rather PACKAGING is THE number 1 concern.

clothes determine who you are, your personality as well as your attitude.

grooming shows how tidy you are, and how concerned you are with yourself.

A substantial amount is necessary to make such investment and display a positive glow to your prospective employer.

okay i will sleep after i have blogged this post.

I had a choir practice this morning for christmas carols. I was late so i took a cab. okay, here goes my money :(.

while singing those carols with my juniors, i felt no sense of warmth.

no no i mean the warmth of singing together in a group, not 'gaining' warmth after caroling.

I cant feel a sense of belonging to the group, after been in there for almost a year. Maybe i have shifted my priorities along the way?

my alumni group is dominated by the juniors, and teachers go to the juniors instead of the seniors, because the juniors know the current teacher in charge and the conductor. i am absolutely fine with the juniors getting the responsibilities, and i am glad that they are assuming the role. it makes me more free anyways.

but i feel that the 'feeling' wasnt not there. all along there are some who have been making the decisions without much consent from others, let alone the seniors.

today i voiced out my thoughts, and everyone looked shocked. okay maybe i am too frank and straightforward with what i said. kangde said i sounded too business like, whatever la. its always the choir people that said that i speak like a business major.

there isnt any structure or system, which makes us so diversified, that we do not know where are the boundaries.



whatever it is, the system that the junior is applying WILL NOT WORK.






Affordable art fair displays well-known and worthy exhibits, including painting, ceramics, portraits, artifacts and others. the whole lasted for 3 days.

Bazaar has no relation to art, what we do is we inject the fashion element to the art fair and organised the arty-licious evening for private guests. Fashion photo portraits are also put up for fashion lovers to appreciate the local stylist's taste and photographer's skills.



it was really an eye opener for me, i managed to get a chance to interact with exhibitors with great artistic sense and rich tai-tais. of course, i met some weird poet, Alexander-the-Great(he calls himself this) and overly enthusiastic patron. there's just say i have a fair good mix of meeting different types of people.

it was really an enriching experience for me; the fair gave me an opportunity to learn how to PR, mingle around, speak to strangers, and try to get contacts from potential clients and partners.

what gives me the greatest sense of achievement was people decided to sign for bazaar subscription after hearing to what i have to said. being able to persuade others tremendously boost my confidence haha. one lady even asked me to work for her after i graduated after seeing how i pushed the deal to her. Somemore i did it in front of my supervisor :P.



of course such events have behind-the-scenes. setting up the booth requires lots of hard work and strength. i had to carry many magazines and banners. as i was in charge of inventory, minor details such as glass bowl, pens, inventory lists, subscription gifts cannot be neglected. Insignificant details are very important to a niche magazine, especially serving to a group of high income earners and a handful bunch of tai-tais.




today marks the second day of internship.

i should take some photos to show how my workplace is like.

i didnt do much today. I did some SMSes stuffs for the magazine's readers since 2 of their magazines involved heavily in lucky draws. then my supervisor and i went to pack the gifts storeroom to pack the sponsored products in orderly fashion. it was totally sai kang. if my supervisor didnt do it with me, i probably would have complained.

my philosophy would always be: i will NEVER do it for free.

yes, in monetary terms, i am doing for free. but what i am doing is for experience's sake. so the deal is: i will do the job for free, in exchange for valuable experience and knowledge that i can squeeze from the company.

my impression on my supervisor was a cold and unfeeling person. she has a petite figure, soft spoken but she doesnt seem to be very interactive and friendly. she reads a lot into nonverbal languages; she asked me why do i looked shocked for some assignments that she requested me to do. i was actually shocked, because she asked me to the same things again, and i was a little upset over it.

during the storeroom packing, i gained many insights from her. she understands the importance for a supervisor to communicate to one's subordinates the reason for every move. otherwise we would be blindly, or worse still, i may make a tantrum and asked them if they are just exploiting the interns. she is actually an open-minded lady and willing to share stuffs only if asked. i never treat her as my boss, just give her the respect because of her wisdom and knowledge, and told her my exact views, instead of giving courtesy bias response. i dont really care whether i get fired or what, since it is unpaid.

sometimes she will ask if i am fine doing dirty jobs or run an errand for her. probably she feels guilty for asking me to do those stuffs since i'm not paid. but what i ultimately want, is to be able to apply what i have learnt. otherwise taking up a marketing degree seems useless.

there are 2 marketing interns, including me. compared to the other 2 internships, i was given less autonomy here. instead, they embrace initiation, and would prefer interns to learn all basics before passing on more challenging tasks to us. compared to the other intern, i'm closing to my supervisor, because i handle matters under the same magazine as my supervisor, whereas the other was doing the other magazine.


let's see how it goes.. i want something challenging!

finally exams are over :).
finally i can proudly say this.

i wanted to change my blogskin but i dont know how to use a macbook seriously to change the html codes. i still prefer my shitty toshiba.

in the future blogposts, i may little elements of seriousness, to discuss perhaps current affairs, controversial topics and.. well, i havent thought of anything yet. however, i will still be typing about my selfish, opinionated ideas of mine here. not much change, besides to rejuvenate some GP energy here. my angmoh is really getting cui. :(

so how am I going to spend my holidays while waiting for school start(unfortunately, most of my 2.5 years friends are leaving me in the lurch, while they are going to venture into working society)?

i believe in spending my holidays fruitfully, rather than spending at home slacking, or rather, rotting. :P i believe some of my friends are doing that. really, i do envious of them being able to stay still and relax every pace they owned.

i cant. i seriously cant. i tried to rot before at home for a week last year, before i went to the States. i ended up going to the library instead and pick up fashion design. or i will just go kajiao my cousin who was working RBS then.

during this holiday, i applied for an internship, and it will commence on next tuesday. seriously, i cant wait to work there, to see how models posing for fashion shoots, getting in touch with my beloved cosmetics and boutique brands, being involved in events, and most importantly, working in my favourite magazine company.



some said taking an unpaid job is stupid. NO MONEY LEH. you eat what, AIR ARRR?

bo bian, what can i do? much as i wished that they would at least, at bare minimum paying me some allowance, just for food and transport, they arent offering anything. i checked out with other magazine companies but there's no pay as well.

but i eventually accepted this internship because what i ultimately want was the EXPERIENCE.

PRICELESS, VALUABLE, and perhaps unforgettable(i hope) working experience.



to be able to learn something which i am always interested in is always what i want to do. i always wanted to see how advertising and media works, thats partially the reason i chose marketing as my major. being fascinated by brands marketing their products. like whats the big deal about LV and their handbag? of course, another aim is to beautify my resume, and show my future boss that i have sufficient prior knowledge to work in his/her company.

i believe in learning new things and add more substance to my knowledge. even if i didnt have an internship placement for this holiday, i would travel- to see how the world is like, to gain new insights and witness breathtaking moments that you can never get to see in this tiny island.


learning has no age limits. 

i'm going to revive this blog soon.

watch out this space soon.