However, there are differences which would include the fact that the 'boss' in the case of a people's representative are the voters or electorate in the constituency, whereas the boss in a company (although they are the shareholders) is normally the CEO who is entrusted with management and who has the final say in the selection. We have just seen how difficult it was to get the message to the voters who are large in number, individuals with his or her own mind and at best, in disparate groups.
I have been drawn into the latest trends in selection of job applicants for specific vacancies because two of my children have recently been through them, after our usual natural anxieties as parents.
It is nice to consider oneself being 'headhunted' though it depends a lot on the vacancy at hand. For example, there are only a few professional CEOs or fund managers in banking and their performance speak for themselves. Owners of a bank wishing to employ the best would literally offer the best terms to get the person from another bank. Because of the small number, lady CEOs of banks like Yvonne Chia and Bridget Lai stand out among them. This part is just to spice up my topic!
Below the high and mighty level of CEO of banks (it is easier seeing Najib than any of them if you don't know them: because Najib will come to you if you have anything on Anwar), are the managers – corporate planning, finance, sales and so on.
Anyway, let's talk about the more ordinary jobs like management trainees which most newly qualified graduates apply for.
I have come across a case of a local graduate who decided to go overseas on a 'working holiday' which extended to more than a year. Upon her return, she attended an interview with a leading computer company and was asked, among other things, her ambition, future plans and so on. She got back and told her parent that she is unlikely to get it because she answered negatively on those things. It seems she was told that the disadvantage with her kind of attitude is the lack of direction, but the advantage to him is the fact that she would be open to new ideas and therefore easier to train! And to her surprise, she got the job.
Then there was a selection for a management trainee with a foreign multinational company. An applicant has to go through a few tests online, presumably on intelligence, aptitude, problem solving and so on. After all those tests came a telephone conversation. Then a very small number was selected for a day of activities which included interviews, case studies and presentation. The final selection rests on the person the applicant is supposed to work with, presumably on compatibility. Wow! Can anyone who is just relying on paper qualification without the necessary attributes, get through?
According to M Bakri Musa in his article, 'Genuine Obsessions With Fake Qualifications '
“The kerfuffle over the college credentials of Kamalanathan a/l P. Pancanathan, the Barisan candidate in the recent Ulu Selangor by-election, reveals less of the man but more on our fascination with paper qualifications. This obsession with credentialism is an intellectually lazy way to judge someone; you let those papers and certificates do it for you.
Who cares if you have a doctorate from Oxford, for if you cannot speak and read our national language then you have no business to be in Parliament or the state Assembly, where bills are debated and businesses conducted in Malay. You cannot possibly be effective if you are not fluent in that language.
...
If after a few minutes of conversation it turns out that your association with those august colleges was merely attending one of their culup (“quickie”) courses, then whatever impression you may have created initially would rapidly vanish. Actually you need not reveal whether you are a genuine product or not, the content of your conversation would be a sufficient differentiator. Less than a minute into Barack Obama’s and Sarah Palin’s speeches and you could readily tell who is the product of an Ivy League and who is from the local community college. ...”
According to Ibrahim Suffian, Merdeka Center for Opinion Research director, as quoted in The Nut Graph on the new MP:
"If Kamalanathan wants to shine, he will now have to prove his mettle in Parliament against a more popular opposition. Public relations skills may carry him only so far. To gain the respect of his peers across the floor and a more sophisticated public, he'll have to showcase his own capabilities or risk being known as Umno's lackey. He is now the fourth MIC MP.”
...
If after a few minutes of conversation it turns out that your association with those august colleges was merely attending one of their culup (“quickie”) courses, then whatever impression you may have created initially would rapidly vanish. Actually you need not reveal whether you are a genuine product or not, the content of your conversation would be a sufficient differentiator. Less than a minute into Barack Obama’s and Sarah Palin’s speeches and you could readily tell who is the product of an Ivy League and who is from the local community college. ...”
According to Ibrahim Suffian, Merdeka Center for Opinion Research director, as quoted in The Nut Graph on the new MP:
"If Kamalanathan wants to shine, he will now have to prove his mettle in Parliament against a more popular opposition. Public relations skills may carry him only so far. To gain the respect of his peers across the floor and a more sophisticated public, he'll have to showcase his own capabilities or risk being known as Umno's lackey. He is now the fourth MIC MP.”
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