Thursday, October 09, 2008 Ng: Challenging times By Wilson Ng Wired Desktop
THE last few weeks have been very challenging: The stock markets went down; major banks, financial institutions and investment houses reported huge losses, and many went under.
They all say that this is the worst financial crisis in the United States with several trillions of dollars already wiped out. Banks in Europe are also having problems, and stock markets in Asia are tanking as well.
Pictures of depression or economic turmoil always depict people lining up—either in front of a soup kitchen to get free food, in front of the unemployment office or at the bank. A line at the bank is one of the surest signs of financial collapse because it means people are trying to withdraw whatever they can.
But due to economic and technological advances, people do not have to line up in front of the bank building. People can now withdraw from ATMs or transfer funds through the Internet. This is important to know because the old picture of trouble no longer applies. Nowadays, a bank may appear tranquil but beneath the calm, it could be losing money furiously.
This is what they say happened to Wachovia and also to Fortis Bank of Belgium before the government started stepping in and giving support and guarantees.
It is also important to understand that the notion that only a limited amount of money can be withdrawn from the bank is already obsolete. With a click of a mouse, huge amounts of money could be exchanged in just a few seconds. This is why, in times of financial uncertainty, one must not take action that will cause people to lose trust.
If the website of a healthy bank goes down or if its system prevents withdrawals, one must not panic and start spreading rumors that all is not well with that bank. That can easily trigger massive actions that may not augur well with the bank.
Anyhow, crisis or not, business organizations are less recession-prone because even in hard times, they invest more on technology that makes them more efficient and able to cut costs. Although this is a widely accepted theory, it has also undergone its challenges as stocks for technology companies have started to go down as well.
At any rate, our company is hiring, and we get lots of applications now through e-mail. Here are some tips that you may want to consider when e-mailing your resume:
1. Write a comprehensive introductory letter that clearly explains why you are qualified for the job. Don’t just put in a resume, especially one that looks like it was edited three years ago.
2. Spell check! It gives a very bad impression to have wrong spelling or grammar in your application.
3. Be careful when putting attachments that cannot be opened. Case in point: Be careful not to save it in Microsoft Word 2007 format as this is a new format and cannot be opened by companies that are still using Word 2003 or Word 2000.
4. Don’t use an e-mail address with a weird or goofy name.
5. Don’t ask a friend to send or e-mail your application.
6. Specify the job you are applying for. Don’t make the company evaluate what job suits you best.
