Strange ad (or misplaced internal memo) seen on page 52 of Daily Nation of May 16, 2008. Titled Respect company property, it reads:"Is it not simple logic that the more you misuse company property the more you prevent your employer from awarding you the salary or benefits raise that you so badly need? Would you blame your employer for pointing out that the company has experienced a strain in operation finances, and would therefore not realise growth in profits to warrant a salary raise if you knew very well that you've made volumes of copies of personal material during the year?"
The individual to whom the text was sent is not known. But somehow it seems intended for all of us who do paperwork! Reminds me of what I wrote in a recent poem: "Down with all the peeps who cause ire!" More intriguing, though, is how it lodged itself on that jobs page (only one of some 20 jobs pages), wedged between six ads from: The Sotik Tea Companies, "A newly established Lighting company", Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited,The Advertiser, Amref and KIPPRA.
No contact address is shown, and so there is no possibility of RTS. No deadline is given, either. A botched-up job, sure. Or an unpublic, block-cut-and-paste reprimand that is now so anonymously public. Did it originate from the newspaper itself? Do we deserve a correction, then? And a laugh -- at whose expense?
All that I have said above would be a legitimate reading of the material text on page 52, as an odd stand-alone text. Which is what I originally thought it was as I came came suddenly upon it in my quick search for some UNDP ad which had earlier caught my attention. Later, as I went on with my search for that ad, and began to go over the same pages 37 to 56 again, I was surprised to notice that page 42 carried two similar but less accusatory inserts. In fact, two very useful pieces of advice. So this was someone's smart idea -- a new kind of ad, so to speak: In-between standard advertising texts, squeeze a few tips or inspirational messages for job-seekers. Fair enough!
The first insert is titled The Template Cover Letter and reads: "A template cover letter for job applications can save you a lot of time. Create one, from which you develop your specific job applications, making only the relevant alterations to suit the type of job you are applying for. It is time saving and will liberate you from the headache of coming up with an opening and closing (usually the most difficult) line each time you make a job application."
The second insert, titled Adopting the "ever-ready" attitude, reads: "Do you always update curriculum vitae (CV) as immediately as is necessary? If not, you should do so immediately. You do not have to wait up to the point you are frantically job searching to update your resume with the most recent developments. Having such a CV handy is considered good practice. An excellent opportunity might flash past when you least expect. You need to be able to immediately give chase."
Both inserts clearly presuppose the use of computers for working on both template and CV. One does not have to own a computer, however. There are enough cybercafes now in many of Kenya's cities and towns, which will do for the purposes of template re-doing and CV updating. Clearly, however, one must invest in a flash-disc or a CD for storing one's texts, which must be kept in a safe and easily accessible place.
One may even sidestep flash-discs and CDs altogether and safely save one's texts in cyberspace, for free, using facilities such as are provided by Google and Yahoo! But to do this, one must know how to surf the net. One must acquire the patience and attention to detail required to access and seamlessly use virtual files! The most basic skill in all this, it should be emphasized, is word-processing. It will greatly speed up matters and help avoid the hassle (and cost) of dealing with busy, expensive and/or long-faced secretaries/typists if one can type one's work oneself.
In today's rapid-fire society, templates are useful in virtually all contexts of textual communication, including intra-organizational memos and reporting. As the first insert indicates, they help us to avoid the stress and tedium of re-inventing the wheel. However, in the rush to rush -- that is, to block-cut-and- paste -- always remember to update the date of your memo or letter also, and to address it to the right office or officer or email address.
The frequency with which you should update your CV is a function of the frequency of material happenings in your life or career. There is not one standard formula. Thus, for some people, an annual update, complete with a new printout and saving, will do just fine. For others, a bi-annual update; while for some, even a quarterly update will be, generally if not invariably, too infrequent.
The value of the advice in the second insert lies in the fact that if you want to ensure maximum accuracy and detail in your CV update, the most frantic time to start doing it (to start recalling the facts and figures) is the usually short period between the publication of the relevant advertisement (and you may come across it only after a few vital days have passed) and the deadline it gives.
It is advisable and cost-saving, of course, to adopt the habit of accurately and accessibly filing (in long- or short-hand, if you have no ready access to a computer) details of important events in your life/career as and whenever they occur. Thus, even if your saved CV is not immediately updated and printed afresh after every event, you'll be OK.
Going back to the ad on page 52, all I can say in conclusion is that it goes against the grain on these jobs pages. I get the feeling that my first instinct was right. Alternatively, there was a quality-control failure in the office that determines the material to appear on the jobs pages. That ad should not have appeared. As an inspirational text, it strikes me as puerile.
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