Job Seeking as a Challenging Aspect of Modern-Day - Essay Example

Skills required to work as a Deputy Events Manager Introduction Job seeking has become a very challenging aspect of modern day, in that there are many people looking for jobs, while the opportunities available may not be as many. Therefore, for any individual to have an upper hand over their competitors in any vacancy, having some relevant qualifications, coupled with desired skills and experience above the others is necessary. This ensures that the individual will be favored by the job selection criteria; in that, they will be found to posses the right qualifications, while at the same time having the desired skills (Bill, 2011 p20). The relevant qualifications for any job have to match the duties and the roles that the prospective employee will be undertaking, once they have been hired. Thus, while the academic qualifications serves to indicate that the individual has sufficient knowledge on the field they are to work, the industrial perspective seeks the expertise that the individual has gained while working in that industry. Thus, to work as a Deputy Events Manager, there are some qualifications and skills deemed necessary. These skills include: The possession of excellent communication skills is one of the relevant qualifications for this post. Without communication, nothing can progress, since it is out of communication that the customer, organization and employee needs can be identified and effectively addressed (Armstrong, 1989 p188). A well developed and all round individual is desired for this position, where writing as well as verbal communication is useful. Verbal communication is more of how you pass the relevant information to others, than it is what you say. Considering that one of the roles that the individual has to play after being hired is to develop audience growth through marketing and promotional activities, then, excellent communication becomes inevitable. Verbal communication will ensure that the individual is in a good position to talk to the members of this organization, who numbers well over 2000. Since the job, description also entails the development and delivery of training program, then, it becomes extremely vital for the individual to be able to communicate both verbally and through witting. This will enhance the ability of the manager to oversee the writing and design of the promotional materials (Hall, 2003 p167). The inability of such a potential employee to connect well with the organization members or his inability to coordinate the development of relevant promotional material due to lack of relevant communication skills would mean the downfall of the organization. Even though technology has played a greater role in assisting individuals to communicate through the provisions of various communication platforms, it does not erode the fact that an individual’s communication skills is a key to enhancing teamwork and cooperation within an organization (Bill, 2011 p28). Lack of such skills is detrimental to the organization in that, the manager may fail to offer suitable leadership to his subordinates, by failing to communicate effectively, on the roles they are supposed to undertake. This further undermines the execution of duties by the subordinate employees, resulting to chaos and underperformances. Without sufficient communication skills, the individual may not be able to resolve conflicts, both between the subordinates or the organization members, which is a very vital aspect of leadership (Jonathan, 2010 p13). Thus, the possession of these skills is not an option for the prospective event manager. Employee focus and customer service skills are relevant for the prospective occupier of this office. The ability of the individual to connect and entertain the customers of this organization is a skill that the individual suitable for this position cannot do without, anyway. Customers are the most important focus for any business or organization, in that, without customers, then, an organization has no business being in existence (Budd, 2004 p33). The ability of any entity to meet and satisfy the customer needs greatly determines the ability of such an organization to grow and the extent to which it generates revenues and profits. If a business has a higher number of customers, it is likely to earn higher revenues and profits. Therefore, the prospective event manager has to be in a position to focus on the needs of the customers and work towards fulfilling them (Armstrong, 1989 p190). Additionally, his ability to interact with them and motivate them to visit the enterprise, while at the same time making them feel comfortable, valued, and at ease is a major step towards advancing the success of the organization. With good customer focus skills, the event manager will be in a position to develop respect and reinforce trust to that organization by the customers, an aspect that serves to create goodwill and customer loyalty. Therefore, while selecting on the most suitable individual to occupy this position, customer focus is a skill that cannot be overlooked. Financial and budgeting skills are the other skills that the prospective event manager must have. In the job description, the event manager is supposed to manage the budgets for the events, which he has the responsibility to manage. This being the case, lack of good financial and budgeting skills will be detrimental to the events organization, in that the available funds may not be planned for accordingly (Stone, 2005 p412). Additionally, if the prospective event manager lacks such skills, then, chances are that there will be a misplacement of priorities, where the most vital elements of the events are overlooked, while allocating funds to those activities, which can be done away with. Considering that financial shortage is a characteristic of many businesses, then, the ability to plan and budget appropriately is necessary (Bill, 2011 p35). These skills should enable the manager to first plan for all the activities and their requirements. This should be followed by prioritizing on the most important of the requirements and allocating the available funds to them first. The remaining funds can then be shared among the other activities in ratios deemed appropriate (Hall, 2003 p200). On the event that such skills are lacking, there is a danger of having the events fail to take place, since there are always shortages of funds to finance many events, and thus budgeting plays a vital role in the success of such planning and execution of the events. The events manager is required to posses the experience to manage the budgets against the financial targets, to ensure that profits are obtained from such events (Budd, 2004 p70). Adaptability, flexibility, and ethics counts as some of the most important skills that any event manager should posses, to enable him deliver effectively. This is because, the environment, the timing and the activities to be undertaken during different events keeps on changing. This way, the potential individual is required to be in a position to adjust accordingly, change their plans and even discard them altogether while making new plans (Stone, 2005 p414). Considering that the event manager has to deal with different kinds of people as well as organizations, then, their ability to adjust accordingly is not an option. The manager has to work to fit his program, while also fixing his program to fit in the timetable of other people or organizations. In such a case, one needs to be flexible, so as to shift and reschedule some activities, while even working late night or beyond the stipulated time so as to beat all the deadlines (Jonathan, 2010 p15). Therefore, making the right choices and outdoing oneself is expected of any potential occupier of this position. The commitment and dedication to walk an extra mile so as to deliver is required of an event manager, since at times they may be required to undertake duties that are out of their job description, just to see the event succeed (Budd, 2004 p41). Technology and computer literacy skills are the other elements that cannot be ignored while selecting the best candidate to fill in the position of an event manager. The managers will be required by their job to use certain technological devices while in line of their duties. Additionally, their responsibility to select the best hardware or software best suits their duties. Therefore, computer and technology proficiency is desirable for the potential candidates to this position (Bill, 2011 p22). The more the exposure and skills that an individual posses in computer programs and applications, the better for them, since the event manager has to multi-task. He might be required to supervise the financial applications to ensure accuracy and accountability, while at the same time required to oversee the design of promotional materials. This would require that the manager be conversant with financial programs as well as the design programs and applications (Stone, 2005 p413). This fact leaves such a potential event manager without any other option, other than to learn and get accustomed to the relevant technology skills. The possession of such skills allows the managers to organize their activities and information accordingly, thus enhances the planning and execution of successful events. The need to ensure that customers’ needs are met calls for good information organization and storage (Armstrong, 1989 p193). This necessitates the use of computer programs such as excel to store such information. The presentation to be made by the managers to the event sponsors and other stakeholders also creates a need for their proficiency in computer presentation programs such as PowerPoint. Perceived strengths and weaknesses in view of the job description given. Considering the skills requirement for an event manager as presented under the job description, there are some strengths that I possess, which strongly qualifies me for the position. The first of these strengths is flexibility. Flexibility is an essential requirement for such a position, in that, the nature of this job may require one to adopt different working hours, reorganizing their schedules every now and then, while committing themselves to work for longer durations and even undertake some tasks outside their job specification, with the sole aim of succeeding (Bill, 2011 p41). Therefore, the fact that I can work for longer hours and go an extra mile to perform different tasks which could not be meant for me, while being easy to reorganize my schedule places me at a suitable position to undertake this job. The possession of excellent communication skills also places me at a good position to take up this position. For the success of any event, the leaders involved in its organization should be in a very good position to share their ideas and communicate clearly and in a respectful manner, the key aspects of the events to all the stakeholders (Jonathan, 2010 p14). Such leaders would be required to negotiate with partners, lenders, customers and even their own employees to see an event organized through to success. Therefore, my ability to communicate and articulate my ideas clearly and take criticisms positively, while accepting and integrating the shared new ideas from others qualifies me well for this position. The other of my strength is the passion and the strong will that I have for my responsibilities. It is such passion and strong will that are required to pull through organizing tough events, which may present various challenges. When organizing certain events, the event manager could be faced with such challenges as lack of sufficient resources or lack of cooperation from the stakeholders towards making an event a success (Hall, 2003 p205). But with these qualities, then an individual will to pull through major hurdles and even continue pursuing things even when they fail to go their way (Bill, 2011 p64). Therefore, the passion and willingness I have to see all my responsibilities accomplished no matter what it takes acts as one of my strengths, necessary for this position. However, I am not without some weaknesses that would make the occupation of this position a challenge to me. One such weakness is that I do not possess the comprehensive computer skills deemed necessary for this position. Even though I am computer proficient, I have not yet completely understood all the financial and design programs, which is a prerequisite for this position (Budd, 2004 p59). To occupy the position one needs to be well versed with all the financial programs, to enable them monitor the usage of finances for any event organization, as well as be conversant with designing programs, so as to offer assistance whenever required. This is a weakness for my candidacy to the position. Additionally, being too considerate is another weakness that might prove my occupation of this position a challenge, in that I tend to consider each and every contribution and viewpoint of all parties involved in an issue and tries to incorporate them all. This makes it a challenge to make a decision whenever a disagreement arises, as I seek to leave all the parties satisfied. This attribute may not be very suitable for the position, especially since one may be required to overrule some opinions and reach a favorable decision, which may not be supported by all (Jonathan, 2010 p13). References Armstrong, S., 1989. Predicting job performance: A comparison of expert opinion and research findings. International Journal of Forecasting 5: 187–194. Bill, C., 2011. The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders Put People before Numbers. Crown Publishing Group. 18-65. Budd, W., 2004. Employment with a Human Face: Balancing Efficiency, Equity, and Voice, Cornell University Press. 30-72. Hall, T., 2003. Personnel Management: A New Approach. Prentice Hall International. 160-205. Jonathan, D., 2010. The Changing Environment of Professional HR Associations. Cornell HR Review. 13-15. Stone, R, (2005), Human Resource Management, 5th edition, John Wiley and Sons, QLD Australia. 412-414. Read More