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What is a press release?

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SAN FRANCISCO - MAY 15: A woman holds a copy ...
What is a press release?

A press release is an official statement or an account of a news story that is specially prepared and issued to news media. News media includes print media like news papers and periodicals and electronic media like TV and Radio.

In some parts of the world the Press Release is also known as News Release, Social Media Release or a Press Statement. They are mostly used by Public Relations Offices. A press release is either emailed, faxed, sent by courier or delivered by hand.

A press release while informing the reporters of the news, encourages the media person to write an article.

When is a press release useful ?

A press release is useful when an event is developed into an article.

Let us presume a manufacturing company has a new product to offer. An attractive press release would encourage the press to report it.  While a new induction into the board of directors is informed to the public through a press release, the individual also may have press release informing of his or her new status.  A budding singer has opportunity and she is cutting / burning a disc. She releases a press release informing of her career launch.

A new film is being launched. There is a press release giving the relevant details of the casting and the technical crew and such. A famous couple have a baby. A press release announces it.  There is an accident on the high way. The authorities release a press statement. There is an imminent weather catastrophe. The weather bureau or the concerned department releases a press release.  Some one important is ailing and is undergoing treatment. The hospital authorities release a press bulletin periodically. The VIP passes away after  a prolonged illness. There is a press release.  Your car manufacturer has opened a new service point near your home. They release a press release. All these occasions use a press release.
What are the benefits of a press release?

Recognition: While Joe Bill joins ABC as it’s Global Sales Head may not get the attention of the media an opportunity to interview Joe Bill on Prospects of Global Sales during recession would definitely help the media remember his name.

Web Site Popularity: A press release on your site about current trends encourages media to visit your site and quote you. More publicity.

Become Expert: Joe Bill keeps sending them the press release and they remember his name. There is new trend in business and Joe Bill can always share his opinion and in the process leverage his presence to become the expert on the issue.

Cost Effective: It is much easier for you to release the same copy to many. You need not individualize the content of the press release.

Now that we know what a Press Release is let us move to the next step.

What are the components of a press release?

The components of a great press release are:

Headline — Is the heading of the press release. Generally the font, type and the size is different from the rest of the content of the press release. While attracting the attention of the media person it should also ideally summarize the news content.

Dateline — This contains the date of the release and the name of the city where it is being released.

Introduction — This paragraph addresses the five Ws and the H. They are:

* Who? Who are going to be involved or was involved?

* What? What actually is going to happen or happened (what’s the story)?

* When? When is going to happen or did happen?

* Where? Where did it take place or where is it likely to happen?

* Why and

* How?

Body — The body of the press release elaborates with explanation giving vital data if any with relevant back ground and any other information that may be relevant to the content.

Boilerplate — This small paragraph throws light on the back ground information of the issuing company / organization or individual.. In other words it mentions “about” the company.
Close — It is convention in North America to indicate the close of News Release with the symbol “-30-“.
The “###” symbol also indicates the same. In other parts of the world “ends” at the end of the text indicates the the news is complete.

Contact Information: – The complete address of the Public Relations Office or the Media agent or the sender is given here. This would help the media contact for further information. The complete address is includes phone numbers email ids etc.,

Do‘s:

Always make sure that the press release is addressed to an appropriate person. A bland press release may not bring in the expected results when it is not individually addressed to either a person or the publication or the company.                                                                                                                         * 826 words

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What are Green Jobs?

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Doesburger windmill, Ede, The Netherlands.Image via Wikipedia
Green jobs are jobs that are associated with initiatives and or activities that either directly or indirectly reduce the harm caused to the natural environment around us. These jobs are naturally with companies that are conscious of their social responsiveness.

There are also different types of Green Jobs. Let us for the sake of clarity divide them into two.

1 – This type of Green Job involves discharging duties and help reduce the harmful impact on the surrounding environment. In this job, one need not necessarily be in an eco-friendly industry.

2 – In this second type of Green Job, it involves a certain responsibility with a company or an institution that works towards reducing the harmful impact on the natural environment.

While in the first one, the individual discharges a certain duty that impacts and possibly reduces the harm caused to the environment, in the second instance it is an enterprise whose aim is to contain and possibly diminish environmental pollution or harm caused to it. In other words these entities improve the quality of the surrounding natural environment.

For example if you are looking at a company that is into harnessing wind turbine technology, we can say that this is an enterprise that is working towards reducing the dependence on fossil fuels and hence is green and eco-friendly. Therefore one who is pursuing this career is said to be in a Green Job.

For example, let us look at a person who earns his bread, repairing bicycles. This individual is helping us bring down our dependence on fossil fuels that drive our vehicles and therefore is contributing to keeping the environment around clean and sustainable. While this individual may be pursuing this job with the complete knowledge that it is a Green Job chances are until this moment even you may have not thought on those lines, that is, this is a Green Job!

So we can term any career that involves an eco-friendly technology and contributes to reducing carbon foot print on environment is a green job.

So if you are looking for a change look at a green job, in a green industry that is promising a bright and green future.

*369 words

Ideal dress for your baby

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“Children are a handful sometimes, A heart full all the time…”

During the first few weeks the baby‘s skin is soft and tender and is growing. It is rich with the hormones from it’s parents. This may cause some rashes which disappear after some time. These rashes do not cause any harm to the child. However it is advisable to have the opinion of the the gynecologist that delivered the baby or a pediatrician that is attending the baby.

Any cloth made of natural fiber is best. However cotton tops the list. Soft colors are ideal. Strong colors retain heat. So are best avoided.

Babies grow fast. The dress you choose for the baby should be a size large than her. It is ideal that you choose clothes that are easy to change. The neck opening should be large enough to help remove it over the head without any discomfort to the baby. It is better that the dress does not have any buttons for they can come off and cause unnecessary concern.

Baby’s fingers may get caught in the lace which adorn the dress. So it is best to avoid clothes with lace work. Though a lot of fancy dresses are available in the market they are best left alone. The stitching on the cloth should be soft.

Baby’s dress needs to be changed quite often. So make sure there are plenty of them available. Use a disinfectant while washing the baby’s clothes. Some disinfectants may irritate the baby. Look for those signs. Baby crying soon after dress change could be a reason. Dress that you choose for the baby need not require pressing. As long as the baby is comfortable with the dress you need not unnecessarily worry about it.

* 292 words

A sample web résumé

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Anil Rao
Albright University

Box C-23123

Cambridge, MA 02138

617-555-0392

[email protected]

OBJECTIVE

EDUCATION

RELEVANT COURSES

To contribute my education and health management skills in a position with a growing and dynamic firm.

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
Albright University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 2003
Major: Health Sciences
Minor: Management

  • Human Anatomy & Physiology I
  • Human Anatomy & Physiology II
  • Health Policy
  • Organizational Analysis and Health Care
  • Health Care Management
  • Human Resource Management

Health
Management
Skills
  • Served as Assistant to the Director of the Stacey G. Houndly Breast Cancer Foundation.
  • Functioned as Public Health Representative for the Cambridge Area Public Health Administration.
  • Coordinated, Harvard University Public Health Awareness Week, 1996, 1997.

Communications
Skills
  • Served as a phone-a-thon caller on several occasions, soliciting donations from Harvard alumni and parents for Harvard University.
  • Volunteered for a political campaign, distributing literature door to door, fielding questions and making phone calls to local constituents.

Management
Skills
  • Handled all back-office management functions, including employee relations and accounting.
  • Oversaw client relations, order processing and routine upkeep of the business.
  • Coordinated efforts between customer needs and group personnel.
  • Designed all market research analysis and projects for our client.
  • Delegated suggestions and duties to other team members.
  • Presented market research results to client with suggestions of implementation.

Leadership
Skills
  • Participated in Youth Leadership Boston, a group dedicated to developing leadership skills through diverse programming.
  • Served as formal/social coordinator for my sorority program council.
  • Elected Vice President of Risk Management for Panhellenic, a group that oversees and coordinates educational programming for Harvard’s Greek system.

Systems
Abilities
  • Microsoft Office
  • HTML/Web Publishing
  • WordPerfect
  • PageMaker

* This is a sample résumé format.

Guide to Ties – The Windsor Knot

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For those of you, who need to wear a tie to be more impressive either for a job interview or in an office a TIE is a must. This video would help you learn how to knot a tie – the Windsor Knot.
Learn it.
This guide shows you how to tie them properly and this clip shows the classiest knot of all, The Windsor.

How to Write A Good Résumé

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How to Write A Good Résumé

How to Write A Good Résumé
This helps you with a few tips about writing Cover Letter and a CV / Résumé and get you that job you want so badly!
Monday, March 24, 2003
How to Write a Good Résumé.

Hints, Pointers, and Tips ‘O the Trade
1. Don’t send your résumé as an attachment. People looking to fill a position can receive hundreds of inquiries, and they’re not going to bother to take the extra time to open and print out your résumé. Put your résumé in the body of the email, after your cover letter.

Writing Letters:
The résumé & the Application Letter gives the prospective employer everything they
Would like to know about you.

You need to format your résumé and Cover letter for the hard copy, which you may send.
1- While formatting leave adequate margins on all sides i.e., top bottom, left and right.
2 – The lay out should be neat and visually pleasing.
3 – The first block on the left of the letter would be the Employers Address.

A It would be better to call up the advertiser and get to know the name of the person who is to receive the letter. Check the spelling. Check it again read out aloud and confirm it. If you do not have a name, if the advertisement gives you no salutation, print ‘The Advertiser’ or ‘The Personnel Manager’.

The title of the employers name can be abbreviated like a Mr. Or Dr. If it is a woman you are addressing, use ’Ms’. Most of the other forms would be a Mrs. or a Miss.

It is a Ms. Laxmi and a Dr. Adam Wheavil and NOT Dr. Vinod Kumar MBBS.

Introduction:
You identify yourself, the position you are applying for and how you came to know about it.

Body:
You mention about your knowledge, your experience and your desire to work for the company and any of your knowledge about the company.

Conclusion:
You indicate the enclosed contents of the résumé and finish with a request.
You may also be proactive and inform that you would call back say in a week or ten days time to follow up your application. You request for an interview.

Ending

It is ideal to close the letter with ‘yours sincerely’ and ‘with regards’ / ‘warm regards’ ONLY when you know the employer.

Signature Block

You put your signature here. Ideally two lines below the ending of the letter. Beneath your signature your name should be printed legibly. Ideally with the first letters of your name in capitals e.g. A. Bill Gates but not Mr. A. Bill Gates. (You never introduce yourself with a Mr. / Ms / Dr. Etc.,)

Check the résumé for spelling mistakes before enclosing. The enclosure should be mentioned in the cover letter.

After your name leave two lines space and type : ‘Enclosure’. You may also type
‘Encl.:’ my résumé or simply résumé or append your name to it, to make it unique.  Say for example if your name is Joe Bill, it would read, Joe Bill_résumé.

SAMPLE LETTER:

DATE

dd mmm yy

The date on which the letter was written.

ADDRESS:

The Advertiser (When no name is given) When a name is given Mr. / Ms. / Dr. /Prof. /)
The address in the advertisement.

Dear Sir / Madam

(You use this salutation when you or not aware of the gender of the person to whom you are addressing the letter.)

Sub: Application for the post of (mention the position you are seeking)

This letter is with reference to your advertisement
(NEVER USE THE ABBREVIATIONS) in the mention the name of the publication, and the date
(for e.g ‘The Hindu’, dated 15th August 2003.) I would like to apply (mention the position).

(This paragraph mentions about personality, character attributes that would suit the position you are applying for. These are the qualities that you wouldn’t able to mention in your RÉSUMÉ apart from others. Here you may mention that your résumé is enclosed).

I have ………………………. about ………………as mentioned in my résumé which is enclosed

Kindly give me a chance to present myself for an interview. I am looking forward to an early and positive response from you.

Yours sincerely,

(leave at least five lines space.)

Your signature.

(Your name)

Encl.: Résumé .

A résumé is a document that describes you, your background and the career your seeking
To excel in. This is THE document that creates the first impression of you on the prospective employer.

 try to get to know about the organization.
 Its services / products.
 Avoid length descriptions.
 Combine your knowledge with the experience required by the organization.
 Put it chronologically.
 Mention what ‘YOU’ did for the previous company or the present company with which you are employed NOT what ‘WE’ did.
 Use action words.
 Check your gramar.
 Check your spling.
 Take second opinions.

Résumé should mention your

 Personal Details
 Educational Achievements
 Work Experience
 Additional Skills and any Training
 Extra curricular interests and hobbies

Résumé
(This is to be printed in capital letters and center aligned. Ideally all the heading should be in bold letters.)

Leave three blank line spaces. But should not be less than two lines.

Name: *Start here and align the consequent text to
this margin.
Age: *Leave double / triple line spacing between
Headings. Keep it uniform.

Date of Birth:

Address: 123, abc apts
456, road
Area
City – Pincode (123 456) or zip code in some countries or postal code in some other countries.
State / provice

Telephone No: 91+ (Std Code) 1234 56 78

Academic Qualification:

Degree / Course Year of Passing Percentage

Degree 1999

HSC 1996

SSC 1994

Technical Qualifications
(Mention different h/w and s/w platforms.)

Work Experience:
Interests:

*
*

You can mail me at:

Email Id: the.achievers+résumé AT gmail DOT com
While the help that is offered here is free it would be appreciated if you could acknowledge the use of this material.

How to Write A Good Résumé

HSBC GLOBAL RESOURCE

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This is the full text of the interview in ENGLISH with Malcolm H Wagget, Chief Operating Officer, HSBC Global Resourcing- South Asia, that was published in DIKSUCHI, a book supplement of Andhrajyothy, a Telugu Daily News Paper, on 28th February, 2006.

This is to help those of my column readers who would like to get the original interview in English.

* Work force is now expected to be more skill savvy, knowledge dependent. There seems to be a lot of activity in hiring for the Finance and Banking Industry. Is HSBC looking into this? If so, why and if NOT why not?

– HSBC Global Resourcing is actively involved in recruiting for its businesses to cater to its customers. We have successful operations in all the cities in India that we operate at viz., Hyderabad, Bangalore, Vizag and Kolkata. One of the things that worked for us is our close association with educational institutions and government bodies to develop skills and knowledge of applicants in the Banking and Financial Services Industry.

* What are the basic / fundamental skill sets that HSBC is looking for in the potential employee?

– For a potential entry level employee, HSBC looks at the following skills and qualifications:
i. Excellent communication skills in English
ii. Ability to interpret and handle complex numerical data
iii. Strong customer service orientation
iv. Excellent interpersonal skills
v. Negotiation skills
vi. Good Keyboard skills
vii. Flexibility to work in shifts
viii. A 12th pass or graduation certificate

* Do / are the aspirants meeting the challenges when offered a position with the corporate entity?

– Upon joining HSBC all new employees undergo a comprehensive training to understand the job requirements and gain the skills required, they are also given support while they are new on the job. This enables the employees to meet the challenges of a position they are recruited for.

* Are they helping your productivity?

– During the training period all employees are trained to perform to an expected level of customer delight, which not only helps the employees maintain emphasis on productivity but also on quality.

* Is HSBC looking at Freshers?

– Diversity has always been a key element of HSBC’s people Strategy. At HSBC Global Resourcing, we look at a diversified set of skills and age groups. It is interesting to note that in the entry-level while we recruit candidates with less than 2 years of experience, we also have a considerable number of employees above 30 years of age.

* Is it just plain academic brilliance, excellent people skills or a mix of both- if so could you be more specific

– In today’s competitive employment market one cannot succeed with just one or two skills. While recruiting for HSBC, we look at an array of skill-sets along with a high level of general aptitude in all the candidates. Good customer service skills, ability to work well with a team and pro-activeness are some of the facets we look for in a potential employee.

* When the aspirant or the job seeker doesn’t have the access to these so called life skills (soft skills like – communication, presentation, leadership skills in addition to the academic excellence what do the corporate entities do?

– Learning is an ongoing aspect at HSBC Global Resourcing. We have a state-of-the-art Learning & Development Centre with a well-experienced training team. Employees are provided with opportunities to develop their communication, leadership, presentation anbehavioralal abilities along with technical training about their job-role.

* Presuming that the applicant gets into HSBC, does it upgrade her skills?

– HSBC recognises the importance of a trained workforce in order to meet change positively and seize opportunities for success. We are wholeheartedly committed to the development of a learning culture and training is at the forefront of many of our strategic initiatives. We therefore encourage each individual to consider the benefits of being involved in some form of learning, either to build on their strengths or work on their development areas.
– Apart from the traditional medium like classroom training, we continue to provide alternatives and are moving towards solutions that offer full training programmes using a variety of blended media including e-Learning through the intranet.

* What are these skills that HSBC feels that the applicant is lacking?

Could you be more specific like at the entry level, and @ the middle level managements?
– When we talk about the ITeS industry, proficiency in English is one of the key skills required. Though generally speaking, Indians have considerably good English speaking skills, we could do with some improvement especially at the entry-level.

* Could you, yourself, in a few words tell us about what the situation was say a five years ago in

your own domain?
– We are happy to note that the outsourcing industry in India has reached a certain level of maturity today, than about five years ago. Awareness has been created about the industry in different tier cities and more and more young individuals are choosing the industry as a career choice today.

* Where do you think it would be, say three years hence? What could be the basic / fundamental

needs of entities in your own field at that point of time?
– According to an analyst report by the year 2008, the Indian ICT services and back office work is expected to swell five-fold to a $57 billion employing 4 million people and accounting for 7 percent of India’s gross domestic product.
– There will certainly be a greater need for ready to employ talent in the market. However, fundamental needs will be to focus on Talent Attraction, Acquisition, Development and Retention.

* What is HSBC’S contribution to the society in this regard and what is your advice to the job

seekers & Freshers in particular?
– When we talk about the ITeS industry, proficiency in English is one of the key skills required. Though generally speaking, Indians have considerably good English speaking skills, we could do with some improvement especially at the entry-level. We are also faced with such situations more than often. We are glad to inform you about the imminent launch of HSBC Global Resourcing’s English Language Development Program, which will cater to the youth who wish to enhance their Spoken English skills and brighten their prospects of employment in HSBC or in the ITeS industry as a whole.
– HSBC is also working in close association with NASSCOM and APSCHE for supporting initiatives on Industry awareness and curriculum changes to be able to nurture a greater talent pool
– We would advice job seekers and Freshers who are aiming for this industry to focus on the key requirements of the job and develop their skills accordingly.
//


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