Year 15 BPC

I have read this article by Lucy Kellaway with much interest as I began to relate with every points mentioned. As far back as I could recall a year and half ago (while still at uni), I remember committing my time to live through the time of pre-modernization with electronics. I did not even last though 3 hours! Suffice to say that I, if not we as the general public living in this modern era, have become so dependent on electronic gadgets that I would be akin to a retarded fool wandering on the big streets in the city feeling completely lost without them.

Would you go back to the days of typewriter? Maybe you would but anyone can bet against you that you will not last more than a month (even a month's time is an optimistic assumption). Going down this way could mean a change in [a higher] lifestyle [to a lower one] altogether. It makes me wonder if our children one generation below (those born in the late 90's and beyond) would ever put up with primitive technology such as manual typewriters, filofax, diary pads, flip chart presentations, etc.

It's really something to think about...
Have a read at the article below.

Source: Financial Times, June 29 2008.
I am writing this column with a silver fountain pen. I had planned to bang it out on a manual typewriter, but I threw away my old Olivetti a long time ago and don’t know anyone who still has one.

Pen or Olivetti makes no difference: the point is not to write it on a computer. I have just started a 24-hour low-tech vigil to mark the stepping down of Bill Gates, who more than any other human being has made the modern office what it is. I wanted to celebrate his departure from full-time work at Microsoft by reminding myself of what life was like when windows were things that let the light in.

Last Tuesday afternoon, I composed an automatic e-mail reply that said: “Lucy Kellaway is in the office, but not on the computer. You can send me a letter, or ring, or visit me on the second floor.” Then I pressed Submit, but got a message saying: “Error. Database has too many unique field names. Ask administrator to compact database.” God, I hate computers.

I love them, too. I have no truck with the idea that they have frazzled our minds and shrunk our souls: most office workers seem to be doing perfectly well, as far as I can judge. Although I am addicted to e-mail, it’s quite under control. Twenty-four hours’ cold turkey would be no problem.

“I bet you £2 you’ll crack,” my daughter said when I told her about my plan. “Done,” I said.

That afternoon, I shut down my machine and turned off my BlackBerry. I cleared enough space on my desk for a lined pad of paper. I sat and looked at it. What am I supposed to do now, I wondered? Research my column, was the answer. But, without the internet, how does one find anything out? I became a journalist in the year 15 BPC (Before Personal Computers) and so I should remember, but I can’t.

Then I noticed that lots of people seemed to be coughing and squeaking on their chairs. Computers, it seems, make one deaf and, with the computer off, it was as if the power of hearing had returned to me. This wasn’t entirely a pleasure as the sounds of an open-plan office are better blotted out, especially if you are trying to concentrate.

Otherwise, though, I was finding concentrating fine. The problem was that, deprived of all the stimulation of the internet, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be concentrating on. I looked longingly over a colleague’s shoulder and saw that he was reading something on the BBC website and writing an e-mail. His screen was busy; I just had a blank sheet of paper.

That evening, I went home early, feeling anxious about all the people who were surely trying to get in touch with me. At around 9pm, I snuck upstairs and quickly checked my e-mail, reasoning that, as I was at home, it didn’t count. This was a mistake: not only was there nothing interesting but also my daughter caught me at it and so I lost face . . . and £2.

The next day, I got in late, there being no hurry. The black screen on my computer looked like a death, but what had died was my job. I felt an impostor in the office, feebly jotting down some notes on a pad like a work experience person. I didn’t want to disturb colleagues as they were attached to screens, so must be working. I stared out of the window, fretting that my lunch might have been cancelled without my knowing. In fact it wasn’t, and I made it a long one and had some wine in the way we did in the BPC age.

Back in the office, feeling slightly tight, I wrote a thank you letter to my lunch host. An e-mail would have taken about one minute, but a traditional letter was quite a kerfuffle, involving a hunt for envelopes and paper and two phone calls, one to directory enquiries for the company phone number and one to the company for the address.

It took me 11 minutes all together, but I felt an unfamiliar stab of satisfaction when I was done and put the crisp envelope into the almost disused out-box.

Then I settled down with the fountain pen to write this. It was the biggest shock of all: writing with a pen involves thinking about what you want to say. On the computer, there is no need for this: I write any old thing in vast quantities, hoping that eventually I will write something I quite like.

On a computer, I write, then think. But the fountain pen forces one to do it the other way round, which is quicker but much harder. I am woefully out of practice.

But how many words had I done? How did we live without word count? I reread what I’d written and it seemed a bit amateurish, as if this was my first article ever. Still, a little earlier than usual, I was nearly done.

It had been a peaceful, if slightly lonely day. My phone had gone twice, both times the IT help desk trying to sort out the out-of-office e-mail problem from the day before. One person dropped by for a chat. I received no letters.

I had set out to see what work would be like without a computer. This, I discovered, was the wrong question. Work IS computers now. The two are the same thing. It may be technically possible to work without them but one has the feeling that one is in a wrong age or a wrong key.

Computers may make it hard to concentrate and they waste acres of time. But I don’t want to go back to the quieter life BPC.

I want to turn my computer on, copytype this article, check the word length, then see if anyone exciting has sent me a message.

Scamming is a job, too

There have been several occasions where I have witnessed a person going from one person to another telling each one of them of his/her tradegic situation. One of the most common story is the lost of wallet/purse. Another variation to this is his/her car got stolen and do not have enough money to get back home. One way or another, the situation is usually the inability to "get back home". Hence, the person lamenting his/her story would go around asking for money to "help" him/her.

One of their 'successful' aspect to get people into believing that their story is true is their professionalism. It's shown in the their clean-cut nicely dressed 'professional'. They'd appear to you as a white-collar professional or a PhD. student, etc. (depending on location) to avoid looking dodgy. It is an important aspect as first impression always count! Imagine just the opposite -- clothed in patch-worked shirt, stained and unwashed, dirty ripped jeans, and unwashed and uncombed hair etc. (what I'd call a genuine beggar) -- asking for "spare change". 9 (maybe 8) out of 10 would just walk away without sparing any change. The stranger would appear to be just-off-work (hence, still dressed professionally) but coincidently has just-been-robbed and seeking help from people to "spare any monies" ranging from 2£ to 20£ for a train fare.

Below would normally be the typical conversation set. There be may other variations.

Stranger: Excuse me... Can you please help me?
*Hessitant, but first impression already got you*
You: Yeah? What is it?
S: I am not begging for money. My car was parked here while I attended a conference at the University of ... it has been stolen. I have reported to the police and these are the statements to proof that. I need to get back to London but I can't because...
Y: Oh?
S: Can you please help me? I need to get enough money for a train fare to [destination].
Y: Yeah, okay. How much?
S: Any amount will do. What ever you can give. I'd rrrrreally appreaciate it!
Y: There you go... I hope this is enough. Good luck!
S: Thank you so very much!

At this point, you either walk away or take out your wallet!

These people are scammers! There is no doubt about it! They are otherwise called panhandlers! I am writing this so that you be aware that these people are professional scammers out there to get your hard earned cash. They stories are obviously bullcrap and whatever [documentation] proof they can come up with can be cooked up at home. They, too, work 8 hours a day. Using simple calculations you can work out how much per-hour s/he is earning, and is probably more than what you earn working as a qualified solicitor-- tax-FREE!

By the time the panhandler approaches you, s/he would have approached enough people to have enough money to make a phone call back to either friends or family member(s)/relatives for such assistance. All he/she ever need is just 1£ or no more than 2£ to use the public phone! But no, because people are easily fooled by first impression and it is this gullibleness that these panhandlers are obliged to take advantage of! They live and work in that city where you'd run into one. So, the "train fare back home" is utterly and absolutely nonsense!

If that person in the dialogue above have gone to the police, it'd be hard for me to imagine that the police actually just left him in the city stranded and did nothing further to help the victim of the stolen car get back home! For all I know, that victim should still be sitting in the police station; probably waiting for a patrol car to send him off, or something!! Instead, he is out there asking people for money to help him get home! Although, to be bloody blatantly honest, I'd love to see how s/he react when I flag down a police officer. Panhandling is illegal!

Panhandling or scamming is a job too! They are making money out of your gullibleness! And it is unbelivably easy! It is ironic that one would give 'some' money to these scammers/panhandlers, who'd usually live a normal live outside of their "working hours", then to give to the really genuinely poor and homeless -- Big Issue sellers!

You have now been warned. The next time a person appears in suit & tie, be it a woman (gawdammit!!) or a man, telling you sob stories as described above, just walk away! However, I'd really hate the fact when if it was a really genuine case and I'd turned him/her down. Or if you really want to help, bring him/her to the police! I betcha s/he will walk away from you! Busted!

Here's another person's sentiment (click here), have a read.

Curving up

This transition from life as a student embarking on a life long journey to a professional in the working class has literally been a roller-coaster ride. The emotional thrill rides of the ups and downs, false promises disguised in the name of business or professional ethics, and the daily repetitive mundane tasks almost had the better of me. However, it was the daily vicissitudes of job-hunting coupled with determination and a positive attitude that prevented me from surrendering. The past few months has not been much of a thrill ride at all to say the least. I hit the pits. I was in the trough of motivations. It was like I was heading straight to a hell hole with many deadly cockscrew twists.

Just when I think there is no end to the descend, the ride I am now experiencing is leveling up and it's going to be curving upwards. With no idea what to expect ahead on the ride up, I am certain to be enjoying every moment of it throughout. I would not have been able to pull myself through if not for those who have helped me, therefore, I would like to extend my gratitude to them (you know who you are!).

In times like what seems to be impossible or futileness and/or disappointment, I recognized the importance of staying calm under tension and embracing the fight-back spirit of determination. Never give up. Perhaps nothing is really impossible. It's just a matter of time.

Flabbergastered!

Which is more impossible? Selling yourself? Or Being convinced that they should hire you?

There are undeniably similar traits between a door-to-door salesperson and a jobseeker. The former could have done 200 miles knocking from one door to another and if lucky enough would have made a couple of sales. That's like going to 1000 residential units and only 2 responded positively. In other words, only 0.002% success rate! And the latter, well, his/her 'sales' would have been effectively terminated upon a sale.

After been successfully complete and achieve two bachelors degree both in Economics and Law in Canada and the UK respectively, I still cannot understand how could anybody turn down a person with calibre such as I. With due respect, I am not trying to toot my horns here and think that employers should be coming and offer positions of seniority to me. I need a place where to start and only then they will see my worth.

I am particularly disappointed at how the recruitment processes could turn down any applications based on cover letters alone. Perhaps it is a fair game for them to play out this strategy to avoid wasting valuable time as there are many time-wasters (jobseekers who waste time of others) out there. But if only they could see that I stand out to be more competitive than all other graduate students with only one bachelors degree. It is clear that work experiences is valued over education in this labour market; and that education would only be an additional benefit/advantage. I am strongly of the opinion of the fact that this should have been the reversed.

I pray for strength and a miracle that someone out there can appreciate my qualifications. I mean, are there many who can think multi-laterally and at the same time unify core principles of business, economics, and legal knowledge?! Probably less than 25% of the world's population.

Happy Chinese New Year

I'll start off with traditions:
Gongxi Fa Cai! Happy New Year! 新春快乐！生体健康！事业成功！万事如意！
Please keep my red-packets for me and don't spend it! They're mine!

Seven years have come and gone and I have not celebrated this joyous festive season with my family members, including this year's. It is suppose to be a time with families and relatives, and friends alike. It is like Thanksgiving Day in the western culture where everybody makes it a point to go back to their hometown for a reunion dinner. It is why millions of people are stranded at train stations in Guangzhou and Shanghai (one of the many places). They were all going home for this ocassion. China has never snowed like it did recently for over 50 years. I read that one stranded man could not make it home to get married with his fiancé, and even if he got on the train later, he would have missed his wedding anyway. The festive season runs for 15 days.

Seven years I have been away from my country. I have been away from my hometown. I wish I could go back every year during this time. I wish we will do this more often in the near future. I wish all our dreams and wishes will come true as we begin to build our lives away from home, away from hometown.

I remember lion dances, the deftening explosions of red crackers (type of fireworks), wishes from everybody saying "Happy Chinese New Year", counting all the monies I received from red-packets, etc. I remember all.

Pray for me for a good year this year. It's the year of the Rat. Everything about the rat is round, which symbolises good returns. Enjoy your holidays!

For more information about Chinese New Year, log on to Wikipedia. I have contributed to many articles related to the festivity.

Photos shot on Feb 6, 2008 -- New Year's eve dinner.

Our Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. Roast duck was the main hightlight of the night. It was to go with pancake/wrap with duck sauce.

It took three days to prepare for the roasting of the duck. First 24 hours for thawing, and left to dry. After that, it was bathed with rice wine (Shaoshing) and salted. Left to dry for the next 24 hours. Then it was sent for a honey bath and left to dry before sending it to the oven. Leave a comment if you want to know the remaining steps.

Fish is a compulsory dish on Chinese New Year's eve dinner. It draws from the belief that there is a good start to everything as well as a good ending to all, which is homophonous from the Chinese idiom "有头有尾" (literal: there's head, there's tail).

The fish's head and tail must not be eaten and be left until the festive season is over (I'm not sure if that's okay) to reflect on the above belief.

We also had home-made Sweet BBQ Pork (叉烧肉), home-made pork's belly, and a secret good stuff. Everything homemade.

Sparkling wine and the auspicious bamboo. The sparkling wine pops as loud as a champagne. The drink was good!

The look of a devourer

A picture before messing ourselves up

The look of a food deprived man

Wish everybody who views this post a Happy Chinese New Year.

I can't wait, sorry. *Ducks leg in mouth*

Seven years have come and gone in a blink of an eye. I wonder what will life be seven more years from today.

88 Ways to Know If You're Chinese

Received a forwarded email from a friend. Found this to be rather interesting so, I have bold-faced each that applies to me as the truth and/or at least it's what I've been doing. Out of 88, only 65 applies to me, which means I may just be 73.8% Chinese! Here's the list:

1. You look like you are 18

2. You like to eat chicken feet.

3. You suck on fish heads and fish fins.

4. You have a Chinese knick-knack hanging on your rear view mirror.

5. You sing karaoke.

6. Your house is covered with tile.

7. Your kitchen is covered by a sticky film of grease.

8. Your stove is covered with aluminum foil.

9. You leave the plastic covers on your remote control.

10. You've never kissed your mom or dad.

11. You've never hugged your mom or dad.

12. Your unassisted vision is worse than 20/500.

13. You wear contacts, to avoid wearing your "coke bottle glasses".

14. You've worn glasses since you were in fifth grade.

15. Your hair sticks up when you wake up.

16. You'll haggle over something that is not negotiable.

17. You love to use coupons.

18. You drive around looking for the cheapest petrol.

19. You drive around for hours looking for the best parking space.

20. You take showers at night.

21. You avoid the non-free snacks in hotel rooms.

22. You don't mind squeezing 20 people into one motel room.

23. Most girls have more body hair than you, if you are male

24. You tap the table when someone pours tea for you

25. You say "Aiya!" and "Wah!" frequently.

26. You don't want to wear your seatbelt because it is uncomfortable

27. You love Las Vegas , slot machines, and blackjack

28. You unwrap Christmas gifts very carefully, so you can reuse thepaper.

29. You only buy Christmas cards after Christmas, when they are 50% off.

30. You have a vinyl tablecloth on your kitchen table.

31. You spit bones and other food scraps on the table. That's why you need the vinyl tablecloth.

32. You have stuff in the freezer since the beginning of time.

33. You use the dishwasher as a dish rack.

34. You have never used your dishwasher.

35. You keep a Thermos of hot water available at all times.

36. You eat all meals in the kitchen.

37. You save grocery bags, tin foil, and tin containers

38. You have a piano in your living room.

39. You pick your teeth at the dinner table (but you cover your mouth).

40. You twirl your pen around your fingers.

41. You hate to waste food

42. You have Tupperware in your fridge with three bites of rice or one leftover chicken wing

43. You don't own any real Tupperware - only a cupboard full of used but carefully rinsed margarine tubs, takeout containers, and jam jars.

44. You also use the jam jars as drinking glasses. (not me but I know tonnes of people who does this)

45. You have a collection of miniature shampoo bottles that you take every time you stay in a hotel.

46. You carry a stash of your own food whenever you travel (travel means any car ride longer than 15 minutes). These snacks are always dried and include dried plums, mango, ginger, and squid.

47. You wash your rice at least 2-3 times before cooking it.

48. Your dad thinks he can fix everything himself.

49. The dashboard of your Honda is covered by hundreds of small toys.

50. You don't use measuring cups.

51. You beat eggs with chopsticks.

52. You have a teacup with a cover on it

53. You always look phone numbers up in the! Phone book, since calling information (*69) costs 50 cents.

54. You only make long distance calls after 11pm.

55. If you are male, you clap at something funny and if you are female, you giggle whilst placing a hand over your mouth.

56. You like Chinese films in their original undubbed versions.

57. You love Chinese Martial Arts films

58. You've learnt some form of martial arts.

59. Shaolin actually means something to you.

60. You like congee with thousand-year-old eggs.

61. You prefer your shrimp with the heads and legs still attached.

62. You never call your parents just to say hi.

63. If you don't live at home, when your parents call, they ask if you've eaten, even if it's midnight.

64. When you're sick, your parents tell you not to eat fried foods or baked goods due to "yeet hay". (in Mandarin: 上火)

65. You know what "yeet hay" is.

66. You e-mail your Chinese friends at work, even though you only 10 feet apart.

67. You use a face cloth.

68. You starve yourself before going to all you can eat places.

69. You know someone who can get you a good deal on jewelry or electronics

70. You save your old Coke bottle glasses even though you're never going to use them again

71. You own your own meat cleaver and sharpen it

72. Your toothpaste tubes are all squeezed paper-thin.

73. You know what moon cakes are

74. When there is a sale on toilet paper, you buy 100 rolls and store them in your closet or in the bedroom of an adult child who has moved out.

75. Your parents know how to launch nasal projectiles.

76.You iron your our own shirts

77. You play a musical instrument.

78. Even if you're totally full, if someone says they're going to throw away the leftovers on the table, you'll finish them.

79. You've eaten a red bean popsicle.

80. You bring oranges (or other produce) with you as a gift when you visit people's homes.

81. You fight over who pays the dinner bill.

82. You majored in something practical like engineering medicine or law.

83. You live with your parents and you are 30 years old (and they prefer it that way). Or if you're married and 30 years old, you live in the apartment next door to your parents, or at least in the same neighborhood.

84. You don't tip more than 10% at a restaurant, and if you do, you tip Chinese delivery guys/waiters more.

85. You have acquired a taste for bitter melon.

86. You eat every last grain of rice in your bowl, but don't eat the last piece of food on the table.

87. You know why there are 88 reasons.

88. You see the truth in this and then send it to all your Chinese friends.

For those of you who don't already know why it is 88 or the number 8, well, here's a simple explanation. Eight is considered as a lucky number in the Chinese culture and communities. It is homophonous to the Chinese word 'prosperity'. There are many things in the culture that are considered to be auspicious, therefore, it will not be uncommon to see bizarre practices expressed in forms of decorations, ornaments, and symbolicisms. Perhaps the greater underlying reasons for most practices will always connote good luck, which will bring prosperity, therefore, surplus, long life, and good health, and so on and so forth.

Hence, it should not be surprising so as to raise another curious brow up when you spot a car with registration plate that reads with the numbers 2's and 8's.

Behind these practices also exist an established practices of taboos and superstitious beliefs. Sometimes one practice will conflict another. For example, it is a common practice to clean up or dust away one's home before Chinese New Year. All must be spick-and-span before welcoming the festive season. Such practice is a belief to dust away bad luck or any unwanted uncleanliness. But the year 28AD or 128AD, ... 1928, 2028... etc., I doubt the house will be cleaned. The contradicting belief would be such that one would sweep away all the good fortunes of that home.

Despite all that, they will never stop any Chinese from having a good time with plenty of good food over the festive season with many great companies of friends and lots of card games (gambling!) I take this opportunity to wish everybody a Happy Chinese New year, and Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Bah Kut Teh (肉骨茶)

Just a couple of days back when I was at the city's grocery store, Morrisons, looking to grab a bottle of milk and some beef for curry later, I over heard 3 girls conversation at the butcher's department. They were arguing about which part of pork would be best for their dinner. They will be having "Bah Kut Teh". (For How to make Bah Kut Teh, scroll to bottom)

I couldn't help but to think of my hometown upon hearing one of them exclaiming "No, no, no... this one is good for Bah Kut Teh!" refuting the other two's choice of a pork steak. Every time I heard those three words was as though they have just pronounced my hometown -- Klang. They couldn't be from anywhere else but from Malaysia and most probably Subang or Petaling Jaya area. I know just from the way they spoke and their accents.

Being a little nosy as I was a little more amused at the commotion they were creating, I neared my cart pretended to be looking for pork. They must have just moved to Leeds as university students and already missing Malaysian food. HF and I have just returned from Malaysia and we had plenty. In fact, I didn't realize I had too much of Malaysia food (already fear of deprivation while still back home) that my pants size up'ed 2 size!! Horrified!! Absolutely gutted! Went through several episodes of self-denial.

Anyway, their drama was indeed peculiar in a funny way. All three of them wanted to make my hometown's most famous herbal pork [boned] soup and couldn't agree which pork cutting to use. They have repeatedly took different packs of pork off the refridgerator's shelves and put them back, and again. Each time one will say the one she picked is better. There I was still pretending, my searching hands settled on a pack of pork shank. I was telling myself, "Listen you three dungu's (idiots), this is the better meat substitute for your Bah Kut Teh's dinner. If you have a little more to pay, choose pork ribs! It's the best!"

I avoided looking like a retard & a busybody by not saying anything. But my smile (and an almost silent snigger) gave it all away. Their drama paused for a moment and one stole a glance at me and said in Cantonese to her friends, "Is he Malaysian? You think he understood us?"

Time to cart away! My identity was blown! Sighed and shook my head as I head off without any pork. My reconnaissance mission was over! My wish to tell them which pork that would best fit for the Bah Kut Teh quickly evolved into thinking WHEN am I going to make one for myself and HF!? Maybe next week would be perfect!

This is how you can make Bah Kut Teh from scratch. No cheating by using ready-made packs/sachets. It's easy! Remember, this is my recreation of Bah Kut Teh, which may or may not taste like that of my hometown's.
Assumptions:
1. No access to all necessary herbs
2. You are living outside of Malaysia, Singapore, and China.
3. You've been deprived of all the good food in Malaysia! You want to make some of your own.
4. For frack's sake, they're English pork. Pigs here are fed differently. (Pigs 101)
5. At least 2 litres (8 Cups) of water is used for the soup.

You'll need:
A
3-5 star anises

1 TBSP kay-zi 枸杞 (those Chinese herbs red seeds that are known to be good for the eyes)

1 cinnamon stick

2 tsp cloves

2 tsp cumin seeds (optional)

1 tsp Chinese peppers (花椒）

1 Ginseng root (optional; for the extra ummph! Never Tongkat Ali, please!)


1 roll bandage dressing (optional, but preferred)
3-5 big garlics (whole)
10-15 Chinese mushrooms
1 TBSP salt
1 tsp Chicken powder OR preferrably MSG
3 TBSP Dark Soy Sauce (老酱油)
2 TBSP Shaoxing Chinese Cooking Wine
1 Iceberg lettuce (optional)
Pork shank, AND/OR pork ribs (1-1.5kg or depending on your appetite) would be nice. Get those with bones in. Recommended.

Method

In large pot, fully immerse pork and bring to boil. Discard broth (cooked blood)

Fill up pot again so that pork are all submerged.

Unless you have teabag, insert all ingredients listed under "A" in bandage and tie up. This will be your herbal pack.

Insert garlics

Bring to boil then simmer for 2 hours.

Add in chicken powder/MSG, dark soy sauce, mushrooms and salt to taste.

Let stand for 4 hours on very low heat. For best result, remove from heat, leave it overnight (at least 12 hours). Reheat by bringing to boil. Add vegetables.

Serve with steam rice. Garnish with fried shallots. Adjust soup to taste with salt.

There's plenty of room for you to modify the taste to your likings. If you don't like my version, check out The Star's Kuali's version. Alternatively, you may replaced pork with [whole] chicken. Everything else are the same.

Enjoy!
Comments welcomed!

Almost scammed!

If there are any reasons to be happy for a job-seeker that would be returning for a second stage of the interview process.

Executive Advertising (www.executive-advertising.com), otherwise known as Executive Advertising, Inc. based in Boston Massachusetts, was rather quick to wrap up my first round of interview, in Manchester, which lasted well under 10 minutes.

75% of the time was spent talking about what they do. How they have grown so big and expanding rapidly across the country -- a reasonable justification for a successful business (of scamming people by brainwashing!!) They used prominent brand names like Sky, Boots, Pizza Hut, etc. to show that their clients are big players in the market.

"Are you okay to interact with people face-to-face?", I was asked the question; to which I said on the level of preferences, of course, I'd dealing with people face-to-face!

As I walked away feeling like I was on top of the world, I was also quick to inform HF about the success of the first round of interview. I read their job description over and again not believing that I was going to be a candidate for a management training position. Well, having already two bachelor's degree (not tooting my own horn here) I thought the management training fits me well. Here's the job description, found on a job website:

GRADUATES, GRADUATES, GRADUATES!!!

TRAINEES, TRAINEES, TRAINEES!!!


CAREERS, CAREERS, CAREERS!!!

SEEKING: DIRECT MARKETING, DIRECT MARKETING MANAGERS, DIRECT MARKETING GRADUATE/TRAINEES


Are you a graduate searching for a career opportunity with a proven company? Still hunting for a position where hard work and ambition arerewarded instead of just seniority? Look no further!

Based in Manchester, Executive Advertising is a direct marketing company which specialize in the sports, home improvement, and telecommunication industries. Planning and executing promotions for our premier clients is our main focus. This year, our success with our portfolio has led us to increase our marketing and management teams. We value innovation, leadership, and a positive attitude. We offer career opportunities, competitive pay based on merit, a fun work environment, and paid training.

THE POSITIONS:
We are currently looking to fill entry-level Account Representative positions with career opportunities available in:

Promotional Marketing
Management Training

All positions are FULL TIME and ENTRY LEVEL. Advancement is based on performance, not seniority.

Executive Advertising develops a complete business solution targeted to our clients’ specifications, which makes our Account Representatives responsible for a wide variety of things, such as:


Teaching and training a team of marketing/sales/public relations experts to achieve a high-powered presence in the Manchester market.
Monitoring campaign and individual progress to ensure a steady stream of results.
Establishing relationships with local business owners to acquire new clients and strengthen our client’s presence in the market.
Communication of daily progress reports and maintaining established feed of information to and from our clients.
Execution of special promotions, test and target marketing, and brand management.
THE PERFECT CANDIDATE:
We are seeking individuals who enjoy working in a fast-paced environment. You must possess initiative, teamwork skills, and the ability to set and achieve goals. As our company is constantly expanding to national and international locations, we need people who are highly motivated and driven by the opportunity to financial and career growth.

TO APPLY:
Please send your CV to Jennifer Tanner at manchester@executive-advertising.com, or call 01612421780 and ask to speak to Jake Bradford. We are looking to fill all positions immediately. We apologize, but only those whom we wish to select for preliminary interviews will be contacted.

Thank you for your interest in Executive Advertising!

Feel free to visit our website @ www.executive-advertising.com.


All details and descriptions for the job sounds legitimate. Anyone will see it as the golden opportunity and would click-to-Apply right away. In fact, many people did and I was there (venue of the interview) to know.

Had I not took an interest to find out more about the company (their products, services, history, etc) last night, I would already be in Manchester for the second round of interview.

I began my search for, naturally, the company's name -- Executive Advertising. There was nothing much about the company and I began to be very curious. If ExecAd claimed to be as big as it claims to be, their histories (acts, profiles, deals with other businesses, news, etc) should be picked up and made traceable by search engines. I remember I was told,
"We've been around since 2001..."
If that was the case, I did a Whois search to find out about their website. Apparently, there were some discrepancies and I began to get very suspicious. First, the address of the registrant:
69 Wilson Street
First Floor,
Yukon Territory EC2A 2BB
Zimbabwe
1. Wilson Street... There are ten Wilson Streets all across United States.
2. Yukon Territory is in Canada.
3. EC2A 2BB refers to Islington, a part of central London, UK
4. Zimbabwe, is well one of Africa's country

It sure looked like an address on first glance. But this address points to nowhere, which translates to mean that the registrant does not want to be known/discovered.

Having discovered new information, I went back to their website to read their entire contents. I realized that the choice of words used were mostly ambiguous and unspecific. Reputable companies do not use ambiguous words. They will specify exactly their nature of business, how they are conducted, and choice of words are directly specific. But Executive Advertising's website was just the exact opposite.

Then I applied search filters filtering keywords like: jobs, leeds, manchester, -site:.co.uk, etc. and the first item to appear on the search outcome was DS-Max -- Direct Selling to the Maximum. Uncertain what has DS-Max has to do with Executive Advertising (I didn't even know what it was all about), I clicked into it. I was definitely in for a surprise!!

Executive Advertising (and I made sure the two terms referred to the company, and not some corporate position) is a real company that is out there to scam job-seekers by brainwashing them into believing they are doing something good for the company with the hopes of career progressions -- with hard work!. As far as I have read, the candidate will never progress. He will be going door-to-door selling discount coupons, shabby goods, while claiming that he's doing it on behalf of big company names (legitimizing his sale pitch).

There's a whole lot more about job scam stories on http://www.ripoffreport.com, a consumer website for which I am thankful. It has made aware there are giants out there to make you scapegoats. Searching for "Executive Advertising" + scam yielded more search results than just searching for "Executive Advertising".

I am, nevertheless, happy to have found out about such scams. I am not disappointed in any ways. I hope job-seekers alike will have the instinctive interest to find out more about the company they will be working for. As HF said, "If a company does not show an interest to know more about you, clearly the company is ONLY interested in what you can do for them!" The absence of such simple reciprocity is what raises suspicion.

Pressing on!

Bomb scare at LMU

Hundreds of prep-ed students sat down in the examination hall and wrote their respective papers today. I sat for "Family Law & The law of Divorce" along with 149 classmates. Engineering students and commerce students were all facing their most dreaded day as well. Twenty minutes past and there were an announcement instructing us to put our pens down and stop writing, and so we did. Waited outside for 70 minutes. It was a bomb scare! Some students laughed out loudly about it. Other students were busy exchanging knowledge, basically, cheating! We were thinking it's not going to last more than 10 minutes standing outside and so took advantage of the situation. I am probably among the hundreds who felt relief from the situation as I have seen the examination questions and I was like "no way!!"
Since the examination process has been inevitably compromised, it was duly canceled and shall be rescheduled... which will screw up a lot of people's plans and schedules. But at least we all know what to expect when we sit for the paper again!

What a day! Dang! That means I gotta stay up whole night again!! :-(