The Tribune

By IAN FERGUSON

THE Bahamas is preparing to welcome thousands of new jobs with the opening of world-class resorts and casinos and complimenting businesses that provide support to them.

This employees market will allow thousands of Bahamians the opportunity to sit before human resource executives and vie for a plethora of jobs. While these jobs fall in the broad band of tourism and hospitality, they will draw on a myriad skills including finance and accounting, medicine, law enforcement, training and education, customer service and scores of other sectors in the workforce.

People the world over are viewing the same job opportunities and in today’s global marketplace, the mindset of job entitlement by virtue of nationality or citizenship is not valid. The individual who firstly qualifies themselves adequately and secondly markets those gifts and talents effectively will secure the job.

There are some basic lessons of self and skill marketing or interviewing skills that Bahamians must learn if we are to compete with the highly-skilled and market-hungry foreign potential employees waiting to wash ashore.

Our discussion provides then some dialogue around three top areas of focus for those vying for jobs in this season. These three points have been chronicled by Fortune 100 human resource executives.

The successful interviewee must have presence

This means simply that these individuals demand the right attention when they enter a room. You know who they are they and you want to engage them.

They are dressed appropriately, they are punctual, they have a warm and pleasant glow, they greet you appropriately, they are socially aware and alert and bring with them all of the common courtesies taught by our grandmothers.

This individual must be knowledgeable

Some level of research must have been done in regards to the position they are contending for, the organisation, its executives, customers, competitors and everything else that is relevant and available for public consumption. Being equipped with a power resume and knowing it without referring to the paper also adds value to the experience.

The successful interviewee must communicate impeccably

This person must be able to use simple language with good grammatical structure, using language that confirms their ability to deliver what is written on paper.

They must be careful of negative body language and must balance both listening and verbal and non-verbal communication skills. The warm smile and appropriate humour in an interview are extremely useful as they convey the message that you are both relaxed and pleasant.

• Ian R. Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com.