The word ‘meetings’ is a word we dread — they clog up our days, making it hard to get work done in the gaps, and, sometimes, a waste of time.
 
There’s plenty of advice out there on how to stop spending so much time in meetings or make better use of the time, but does it hold up in reality? Can you really make meetings more effective and regain control of your calendar?
 
In her article, ‘The Condensed Guide to Running Meetings’, Amy Gallo asks Paul Axell, a personal effectiveness consultant and wrote Meetings Matter: 8 Powerful Strategies for Remarkable Conversations, and Francesca Gino, a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan whether much of the conventional wisdom holds true.

​The recent article in The Malaysian Insight essentially sums up the hurdles Malaysian companies face in their day-to-day recruitment drive. What this article suggests is that a section of Malaysian graduates are unemployable simply because of their less-than-stellar attitude. The writer further expounded that candidates with the right attitude are far more valuable than those with the right skill set for the job. And from our recruitment experience, this rings true.

Let’s face it, networking is not everyone’s cup of tea. Mention the word and we all shudder a little on the inside. Still we find ourselves building networks at work, socially, and personally – intentionally or unintentionally.

Why is having a strong network important? According to a research conducted by sociologist, Mark Granovetter, we tend to find new career opportunities through our weaker ties or acquaintances rather than through our closer circles who most likely know the same people as you.

Acquaintances are people we meet in passing and they are not in similar social circles as you hence they may be the ticket to a whole new social network. However, most of us are creatures of habit, preferring to stay close to the things or people that we are familiar with.
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In her article “3 practically painless ways to expand your network”, Associate Professor Tanya Menon, shares three easy strategies to expand your social circles. Here’s how:

​In recruitment, sometimes we are fortunate to get two or three equally qualified candidates vying for the same role, and you know that you would need to come to a decision fast if you want to secure your top choice.
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So you start looking for new ways to access your final candidates to ensure you are making a very objective and informed decision.