Our Vision
Hi, I'm Andrew, the founder of Gradkin - A Branding and Networking platform to connect Candidates with Employers. On Gradkin's Blog we draw on the experience of many professionals to share their knowledge and establish this site as the premier careers resource in Asia. Feel free to share your thoughts to enhance the learning experience for all. Cheers.Social Media
-
Subscribe for Career Advice
Radio Pulze is our Official Campus Radio Partner
Category Archives: Career Wisdom
Workplace Etiquette: Leaving Your Job the Right Way
People leave their jobs, that’s a fact. Often, when an employee leaves the workplace, co-workers find themselves overloaded with work, taking some of the goner’s tasks until a replacement is found.
In other occasions, the person leaving is a manager or executive who has been in the company for a fairly long period of time. While they were working, things ran smoothly and everything was organized. But the moment they walk out the door, things go awry. People start talking about how good this person was and how things were easy when he was around but now that he or she has left, every day is a nightmare. You can miss the person and the steadiness associated with his presence when actually, when this happens, it means that this person got it all wrong.
Also posted in Workplace Etiquette
Tagged ethics, etiquette, good impression, leaving job, making an impression, memory, planning, priming, right way, workplace
View Comments
Think Those Trainings at Work are Cheesy and Childish? Think Again.
When you are working for a big organization training is something quite unavoidable, whether you like it or not. There are some of those trainings where activities consist in ice breakers and team building exercises. Now honestly, tell me how many times have … Continue reading
Also posted in Work Experience
Tagged boring training, company training, emotional intelligence, exerises, fun training, having fun, HR, in service training, peer pressure, team building, teamwork, training
View Comments
How to Viralize Your Company’s Culture One Team at a Time
The British scientist Richard Dawkins coined the word “meme” in The Selfish Gene (1976) as a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Examples of memes given in the book included melodies, catch-phrases, beliefs, clothing fashion, and the technology of building arches. If Dawkins lived today, I’m sure he would have included Lolcats on his list.
Creating and spreading memes
Some types of viruses become successful organisms because they are simple and adaptable enough to be able to survive in a hostile environment long enough until they shelter in a host that lets them to replicate. For your memes to go viral you need to do the same thing: your meme has to be catchy or tempting to survive long enough and spread. It also has to be simple to adopt -so use the KISS method: Keep It Simple Stupid-.
You Are Not Your Title
You can argue whether people change or don’t. But I’m pretty sure of something though. People’s essence, barring exceptional circumstances, remains the same throughout life, but there are manifest behaviors and characteristics that do change over time due to what we experience … Continue reading
Also posted in Generation-Y, Work Experience
Tagged behavior changes, environment, hierarchy, people change, perception, self entitlement, title, types of managers
View Comments
Young Employee – Old Company: How to Stay Motivated and Drive Change in an Outdated Environment
Being a Gen-Y employee working for a company that still lives in the 20th century and where senior managers mistake Blackberries with Star Trek Tricorders can be a towering challenge.
Old company doesn’t mean that they’ve been in business for hundreds of years. Longevity here is not a factor, what I refer to is the way that business is done. There are companies that have been around for ages but their culture has been forged with cutting edge knowledge and tech. On the contrary, some start-ups’ organizational cultures seem to be founded on some medieval scriptures. Somehow, old companies tend to be a retention magnet for “old people” (leave age aside!).
Old companies often move at a pace that to you, may seem like bullet time. It’s not infrequent to see people complaining about how certain tasks consume their entire weeks. Strikingly, you can get those things done in 2 hours, which leaves you wondering if you are either Flash or there’s a time dilation field surrounding your desk.
Also posted in Generation-Y, Overcoming the Odds
Tagged bullet time, drive change, Gen-Y, generation y, micro culture, motivation, old company, organizational culture, slow pace, stay motivated, stress, viral, work frustration, young employee
View Comments
“No Reservations” – Personal Branding
As many of you know, Gradkin has teamed up with NUS’ Radio Pulze to deliver a weekly show on Careers for young people. Last week’s show covered Personal Branding and how it’s relevant in today’s age.
It’s a buzzword we’re hearing … Continue reading
Also posted in Personal Branding
Tagged blogging, NUS, personal brand, personal branding, radio pulze
View Comments
When Getting Promoted Can Make You Your Worst Enemy
Getting close to be promoted, if not appropriately handled, can become a threat to your current employment status.
Also posted in Work Experience
Tagged career advice, getting a promotion, getting promoted, irrational thinking, personal experience, promotion
View Comments
Keeping Up with Expectations at Work
In this post, my friend Fernando, discusses the similarities between your career and your relationships.
Some people are specially good at selling themselves during job interviews and -are also capable of- maintaining the expectations set during it, once they … Continue reading
10 Reasons Why a Gap Year is Great for Young Grads
Having gaps in your CV isn’t always a bad thing as long as you can validly explain the reasons for them. In fact there’s one “gap” that I highly encourage young job-seekers to make and that’s a “gap year”. It’s … Continue reading
The Third Option: Taking a Step Back
Today we are privileged to read a guest post from Elisha Tan. I met Elisha at an NUS event and was immediately inspired by her entrepreneurial aspirations. She’s taken an unconventional option most job-seekers wouldn’t have the courage to take. … Continue reading
Also posted in Work Experience
Tagged graduate career, graduate careers, graduate jobs, new grads
View Comments
