====================== Issue 02 ======== October 22, 2002 =========================


Hello, my name is Anna Tulchinsky. I am an editor of this newsletter as well as all other stuff that gets published on the PulseHR website. If you find this newsletter interesting and helpful, feel free to forward it to your friends and collegues.



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1. Health related goodies
2. Resume etiquette
3. The one knock-out point to include in your cover letter
4. Looking for work abroad (for Canadians)
5. Advisor's experience


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HEALTH RELATED GOODIES
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Cloning pregnancy claim prompts outrage


A woman taking part in a controversial human cloning programme is eight weeks pregnant, claims Severino Antinori, one of the two controversial fertility specialists leading the effort.

"One woman among thousands of infertile couples in the programme is eight weeks pregnant," Antinori is reported as saying at a meeting in the United Arab Emirates. If true, this would represent the first human cloning pregnancy.


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150 Years of Anesthesia

This unabashed celebration of the wonders of ether comes from Massachusetts General Hospital, with a description of the first ever operation involving effective anaesthesia. There is information on the restoration of the Ether Dome in which the first operation occurred in 1846, as well as various articles on the stomach-turning history of surgery before anaesthesia and its importance in contemporary medicine. Within the site there are several amusing anecdotes and discussions which contribute to an entertaining overview of the topic.


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Need to prove your love? The full body health scan is the best way to show you care

Dr. Bittner is one of the many entrepreneurs cashing in on the body-imaging boom spurred by consumers' burgeoning appetite for preventive health-care services. While imaging systems -- which cost between $1 million and $1.5 million -- have typically been purchased by hospitals and medical centers, recently there has been a surge of companies targeting consumers directly.

Patients pay $960 for a set of scans designed to detect early signs of coronary artery disease or cancers of the lung, colon or kidney. They leave with a written report and a compact disc featuring a colorful tour of the inside of their body.


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AIDS Foundation Adds Charges to Suit Against GlaxoSmithKline

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed suit against Glaxo in July, accusing the British-based pharmaceutical maker of overcharging for its HIV medications.


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Male cancer: side effects scare men off treatments

2.3 million men globally are currently living with one of the so-called male cancers, some are delaying or even refusing treatment when the cancer is at an early stage due to the difficult side effects associated with treatments for these types of cancer.


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RESUME ETIQUETTE
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It is amazing that despite the ocean of easily available information on how to write a good resume, so many people continue to send employers poorly prepared resumes. I receive dozens of resumes every day, and I systematically reply to all senders asking them to create a professional profile online (have you received one of those?). Main reason? To have all the necessary information in order to make the proper assessment of the candidate's needs and skills. And I am taking bare minimum! The second reason? To ensure that everyone gets a chance to make a good first impression on potential employers. If your cover letter and resume do not look good, if they contain formatting and spelling anomalities, employers will not even bother reading it, no matter how great your skills are (nurses are exceptions, I know that!).

If you are looking for a job through career sites like PulseHR, make sure you fill out their profile forms whenever possible. Pay attention to the structure and questions/entries asked. Compare them to your own resume. Identify information you did not provide in your resume. Modify your resume accordingly.

This method is especially useful for foreign job seekers. If you are a job seeker from outsite of Canada or United States, you need to make an extra effort in order to learn how to present yourself to potential Canadian or US employers in the best possible way. By virtue of being a foreigner, you are at risk of making - almost always unknowingly - cultural assumptions and mistakes.

What's my point? - My point is that, if you allow for a possibility that you might not know everything that is important to know about resume/cover letter writing in Canada or the United States, use the online tools which are available to you almost always for FREE. Use these tools to improve your own resume, even if you are from Canada or the United States. They can't hurt you.

Not only will it help you apply for many jobs online with a simple click of a button, it will also ensure that the application your potential employers receive from you looks professional and contains all the necessary information for them to make an evaluation.

[in the next issue: Will employers reply to you and when?]


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THE ONE KNOCK-OUT POINT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COVER LETTER
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If you want to include only one point in your cover letter (as opposed to a list of things I talked about in the previous issue), this one point should include an answer to an as-if question of "why you chose our organization". We all know that in many cases we don't choose, we are frantically looking for a job and some of us are ready to accept whatsoever, anything at all. But you do not want to communicate this to your potential employers. Do a little research by clicking around on the net and make up 1-2 sentences which would say something valuable about the organization you are applying to. If you are applying to 10-15 organizations, preparing these sentences may take a few hours. So what? Do it, if you want a good job! You will be able to recycle these pieces over and over. Coupled by a good resume and a proper follow-up strategy, it will give you results.



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LOOKING FOR WORK ABROAD (FOR CANADIANS)
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If you are a Canadian looking for work abroad, consider yourself lucky! There are plenty of opportunities and few restrictions. However, you are still vulnerable, but in a way different from foreign workers looking for a job in Canada (those poor souls!).

Your most vulnerable spot is your cross-cultural awareness (or the abscence of it, I should say). It is somewhat paradoxical that Canadians, whose multi-cultural society is welcoming and accepting thousands of immigrants from all over the world every year, often lack even basic knowledge and understanding of the way life is in other parts of the world.

If you are looking for a job abroad, burden yourself with cultural research. Some of the questions you might want to ask yourself are the following:

- Will I feel good living in a totally foreign environment where very few people can understand me?
- Can I sustain feeling "lonely" for a considerable period of time?
_ Do I want to socialize with a limited number of compatriots who might not necessarily be the type of crowd I would choose to be with at home?
- Am I good at learning foreign languages? How fast can I learn enough to get by without assistance?
- Am I accepting of other people's unusual habits and food or do they annoy me for the most part?
- Am I willing to change some of my own habits for the sake of adapting to a new environment?

If the answers to all these questions are in the positive direction, then your work abroad will be a great and fulfilling experience, no matter where you go. If, however, you are hesitant about these questions or might even say 'no' to some of them [just be honest to yourself, you don't have to tell us], then you need to be very careful about choosing employment abroad.

More specific details on this topic on the PulseHR website


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ADVISOR'S EXPERIENCE
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If I ever get a dog, I will probably call it "DirSarh" (from "Dear Sir"). It is my new nick name here in the office! Don't laugh. This is the sad reality of my work and the exact beginning of 99% of all cover letters I receive from foreign job seekers, including women [sigh, sigh].


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- The End -
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To give me your feedback or ask a question, write to me at anna@pulsehr.com . I personally reply to all e-mails in the hope that my information and advice will be of help to all people seeking employment, i.e. means to advance in life while supporting themselves and their loved ones. If you send me an email and do not receive a reply within 2 business days, there might have been a communication error or our server may have rejected your email, in which case please re-send your message.


Anna Tulchinsky,
PulseHR Co-founder and Editor
anna@pulsehr.com
(613) 231-6308

 

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