Jobs in the front line

Even though we are In a recession, there are still jobs in the front-line. Jobs in which you face the customers and provide a service for them still exists. Bank tellers, customer support, front counter staff, call centres, tele-marketing and sales staff are some examples.

These are jobs that needs a personal touch, where every situation is different. It cannot be automated like an assembly line in a production factory.

People buy because they have a “want” rather than a need. This is rather surprising as you would have thought that we are all logical and rationale beings. Yet very often, we buy because of emotion. We buy because we feel good, we feel we deserve a small celebration when we have achieved a desired result or it felt like the right thing to do at that moment. This applies to men as well as to women.

Shops and companies will always need sales staff. In recession, it is more important to have good sales staff as people may need a bit more persuasion before they buy. Sales staff can decide which benefits are relevant to the person after asking a few questions and close the sale quickly.
Customers like to be shown how a product works rather than go home and read the thick user manual. They may have questions on certain aspects of the product and will come back to the person who sold it to them.

Customers may have some small complaints that a customer services staff can easily solve. Then the company has a satisfied customer who will probably buy other products from the same sales staff. Otherwise, people will ask for a refund.

Front line staff bring in the money or keep the money within the company. Office based staff, whether in mid-office or back office are only overheads. Hence they are more at risk of being retrenched as they do not contribute to profits. In a recession, there is less sales and therefore less need for high efficiency in the processing.

Please contact me if you want to join our Work and Study Program in the services industry. In my previous post you know that Singapore is doing many things to attact tourists, including hosting major sports events.

Warriors act FAST to stay alive, what about you?

I was away for 4 and a half days of training, entitled Enlightened Warrior Training Camp in Kuala Rompin, Pahang, Malaysia. A warrior fights because he has no other choice; if he does not fight he will lose his life, his loved ones will be enslaved and his hard-earned possessions will be taken away. A warrior may never have to fight a battle - he may live through peaceful times. In troubled times, a warrior have may to fight in many battles, maybe many wars too. In a battle, warriors have to ACT fast to stay alive.

On my return, the newspapers are FULL of news of possible global recession, AIA in Singapore is retrenching staff, the government warns of recession into next year, of more retrenchment and there are numerous articles of comparision to the GREAT DEPRESSION 80 years ago. The near future can be very difficult for those who are just entering the job market as well as for those whose job is not safe if retrenchment occurs. You will literally have to fight to get a job.

You choose to prepare for the battle ahead in many ways. One way is to get a job NOW as our program is a Work and Study Program - we will place you in a job while you study part-time, so you will be have a job for 2 years unless you do something really stupid to get yourself fired. Act now or be left behind - less jobs will be created and many will lose their jobs; these people will compete for any and all available jobs. We still have job openings so take them or others will.

You are warmly invited to the briefings on our Work and Study program in Singapore. Send an email with your name and mobile phone number to
jonathan.chan@harrietgroup.com or send an sms with your name and mobile phone number to 9476 2545. We will send you the address and give you directions.

Briefing dates and times in SINGAPORE:

1. Tues 4 November at 7pm
2. Wed 5 November at 2 pm
3. Sat 15 November at 2pm

Briefing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

1. Sat 8 November at 2.30pm
2. Sun 16 November at 2.30pm

2 Integrated Resorts boosts the Travel Tourism and Hospitality

The Travel Tourism and Hospitality (TTH) course offered by the Association of Business Executives (ABE) is a very relevant and practical course in Asia as 2 Integrated resorts will open in Singapore - The Las Vegas Sands consortium won the first government concession to develop a casino resort in downtown Singapore, due to open in 2009. It will have 2,500 hotel rooms and 1.2 million sq. ft. of convention space at a price tag of $3.6 billion.

The Genting consortium won the second government concession to develop a casino resort on the Sentosa Island and is due to open in 2010. These 2 Integrated Resorts will create 60,000 new jobs in Singapore. The TTH industry is a sunrise industry where many opportunities will be created for promotion.

Simgapore's tourism industry is very important to its economy. The inaugural night F1 race was held in Singapore on September 28, 2008. The Singapore Flyer was operational earlier this year. Singapore is also the regional hub for the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) industry - Singapore was the venue for the voting to host the 2012 Olympics. Singapore will host the Youth Olympics in 2010. In a survey conducted among students, Singapore is the 1st choice in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for holidays (35% of the votes) AND the 1st choice for work (54% of the votes) as reported in the Straits Times, April 30, 2008.

Students on the Work and Study program will have 2 years' of customer service experience when they graduate with a Diploma or Advanced Diploma from the ABE. This puts them at an advantageous situation compared to Polytechnic student with 6-month internships.

Work and Study in Singapore

Work & Study Program

The Work & Study program is a unique program in which students are placed in a full-time job and study one day a week. In this 2-year period, a student can earn up to S$40,200 while the course fees is about half that amount. Students may be eligible for a study loan from financial institutions that the private school has arrangements with.

The private school is registered with the Singapore Ministry of Education. Its subsidiary is a Licensed Employment Agency that is registered by the Ministry of Manpower, Singapore and will place all students in this program with full-time employers (terms and conditions apply).

Work and Study courses in high demand :

1. Travel, Tourism and Hospitality (ABE)
2. Business Management (ABE)
3. Nursing Induction program, accredited by the Singapore Nursing Board - foreign registered nurses can work as State Registered Nurses in Singapore

The Association of Business Executives (ABE) was formed in 1973 and has a 34-year track record. The qualifications are recognised around the world - from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in the UK, to Ministries of Education and Employers in 13 countries and by 60 Universities.

We offer the Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma for the "Travel Tourism and Hospitality" and "Business Management" ABE courses.