Professional Communication - Level Playing Field?

Normally I use this space for more light-hearted affairs. This time though I have a more serious message that I want to articulate. The gravity of the matter at hand has got me thinking about the validity of some of the things I've learnt in this module, as well as the nature of professional life and professional communication.

As I approach my graduation date I find myself going to several job interviews, as do many of my peers. I am one of the lucky ones; I got a job offer on my first attempt. Some of my friends aren't that fortunate though, and I want to highlight the plight of one of them. Lets just call him Karl for now.

Karl is a brilliant student; in fact when I saw him waiting outside the same interview room as me I was seriously hoping they was more than just one job vacancy, else he would surely be picked over me. As it turns out though, they were looking to hire several engineers, and I received an offer shortly after. Karl however, did not.

The problem with Karl is that he has a speech disorder. He stutters when he speaks so it takes longer for him to finish a sentence. This problem had apparently cost him a position with this company, something I found out as he was relating to me the phone conversation he had with the company's HR department shortly after the interview. He would also go on to tell me that he expected it and that it was not the first time.

I find the whole situation grossly unfair. Stuttering does not affect ones ability to be an engineer. Especially for that particular job we were applying for. Naturally he would have to talk to other people but it was not as if he was incoherent. Why should he be penalized for something that he could do nothing about? Is it a question of ignorance on the employer's part, or am I simply being naive? In any case it does not make sense to me.

This was what made me re-examine everything I had learnt in this module thus far. Karl could have composed the perfect cover letter, typed out an exemplary resume, and read every single article about EQ and IQ every written, which would have opened many doors for him, but he would still be promptly shown out of many of those doors as well. 

I arrived at the conclusion that many of the so called "rules and guidelines" of professional communication are not universal in nature, and as any engineer or scientist would tell you, non-universal laws = not cool. I am not saying they are not meaningful though; I have found that many of the things I have learnt thus far to be very useful, and can only be made more meaningful to me if someone gave me an 'A' for it (well it would be nice at least...). 

I suppose what I am trying to say is that while we may religiously adhere to these "rules", it is no guarantee that the person on the receiving end would extend us a similar courtesy. Perhaps that is the one true universal rule of professional communication.

Application Letter 2nd Draft

Faizal Zulkefli (Mr)

Blk 433 Long Hill Road #10-10 Singapore 657433

HP: 8564 7690 Email: faizal@mail.com

Mr. Chua Kok Eng

Deputy Director, (Infrastructure & Reclamation)

Building & Infrastructure Department

Housing & Development Board

Dear Mr. Chua,

This letter is to express my interest in joining HDB as a civil engineer. Singapore's built environment continues to evolve with time, and I am keen to play a part in its transformation. With HDB being a company synonymous with the local physical landscape, I sincerely believe that it is the best place to begin my career, and am eager to put the skills and knowledge that I have acquired over my four years of tertiary education to good and practical use.

As my enclosed resume indicates, I do have relevant experience in civil engineering, especially in the field of geotechnical engineering.  During my internship at Jurong Shipyard PTE LTD, I actively worked on the design of the Mega Shipyard project, a new shipyard that is being constructed in Tuas Extension. Part of my duties included soil and site investigation, design of earth retaining structures as well as design of deep foundations. As part of my Final Year Project, which is on geothermal energy in Singapore, I was required to extensively research on tunneling and deep drilling. This has given me a greater insight on the local geology, as well as a better understanding and appreciation of Singapore's construction industry. Geotechnical engineering is a very challenging field, with a steep learning curve, but I am confident that my experiences will help me to pick up the necessary skills faster and better than my peers in the early phases of my career.

Thank you for considering my application, and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Should you have any further questions, feel free to contact me at the number listed above.

Kind regards,

Faizal Zulkefli

Application Letter First Draft

Dear Mr. Chua,

This letter is to express my interest in joining HDB as a civil engineer. I am keen to start using the skills and knowledge that I have acquired during my tertiary education to help change the Singapore’s physical landscape for the better and I sincerely believe that HDB is the best place for me to do this.

As my enclosed resume indicates, I do have some relevant experience. During my internship I have gained valuable first-hand experience in site investigation. In addition, my Final Year Project (FYP) involves tunnelling and drilling in Singapore. I believe these two events have given me a greater insight on local geology, as well as a better understanding and appreciation of the nuances and intrinsic details of Singapore’s physical environment.

I will be e-mailing you within the following week to schedule an interview so that we can discuss my application further.

Meanwhile, should you have any further questions, I can be contacted at the phone number listed in the resume.

Kind regards,

Faizal Zulkefli

Nemesis What It Is: The Prequel

I admit it; I am not the best speller in the world. It doesn't seem like a big deal but it really did got me in big trouble one time. Really BIG trouble.

See I had to write a letter to the camp commander, who at that time, just like the guy who stands outside KFC all day, was a colonel. I know this sounds really stupid, especially now as I am literally only weeks away from graduating, but I sort of misspelled colonel.

Colonel = COL. Well I sort of spelled it as CPT. For the uninformed thats short for captain. Yes I know. Its really dumb.

Now the camp commander won't just read any letter; It has to be endorsed first. As it turns out the person endorsing that letter was none other than the female officer. She signed the letter without so much as reading it (which makes it her fault too right?), and sent it directly to the commander's office.

Needless to say the camp commander was none too pleased at being demoted 4 ranks by her. He called her to his office for a meeting, and while I wasn't there in person I did hear that it was not very pleasant.

Well she was furious with me, and sent the word out that she was looking for me. So I did what any person in my place would do; I switched off my handphone and avoided her at all cost.

I managed to avoid her for weeks if you could believe it; I guess she gave up after a while. I thought I just dodged a major bullet, but it seems that I ran straight into another one.

Because in that time she was looking for me, she bumped into my nemesis...

Interpersonal Conflict: Nemesis What It Is

Like Perry the Platypus, I too have a nemesis. I have several in fact. Like a bad habit, I keep collecting more of them each year. Unlike Perry the Platypus though my situation can't be summed up nicely in a parody song. Not yet at least. Maybe some day...

Well here's the story of how I came to acquire this particular nemesis. If you had read my first post you probably would know by now that part of my NS duties was to teach basic first aid to members of the public.  Now because of these teaching duties I never had to be duty medic, equivalent to what is more commonly known as guard duty, which of course everyone hated. Additionally, as most of this teaching duties happen outside the camp and after my normal working hours, I would get transport and meal allowances as well as an off day. It really was quite the sweet deal. 

My nemesis wanted in on this, and I knew this because all my friends warned me about it. "Watch out for this guy", they all said. "Relax I got it covered", was always my reply. But I didn't.

My nemesis was bad-mouthing me to my superiors. Accusing me of neglecting my duties and the like. Most of what he said was ignored though eventually he did get one officer to act on it. This particular person never did like me ever since I accidentally got her in trouble with the camp commander (It really was an accident! But I guess that's another story for another time/blog post), and so she removed me from my teaching duties and gave it to him. Adding insult to injury she put me in charge of store duties, which really was just plain cruel.

Don't worry though this story has a happy ending (Again, another story for another time...). Imagine that you find yourself in a similar position. What would you have done?