Loud Thinking

Author Archive

“We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.”

Why Egypt’s President Morsi was being toppled?

Do you want to know the unpardonable crime of Morsi?
Egyptian military sources say Morsi’s call last month for foreign intervention in Syria was a turning point.

Morsi’s Brotherhood went further, backing calls for holy war, rhetoric that alarmed a military that had spent decades hunting down radical militants.

Got it?

Why Egypt’s President Morsi is being toppled?

Do you want to know the unpardonable crime of Morsi?

Egyptian military sources say Morsi’s call last month for foreign intervention in Syria was a turning point.

Morsi’s Brotherhood went further, backing calls for holy war, rhetoric that alarmed a military that had spent decades hunting down radical militants.

Got it?

Is there anybody to Save Pakistanis from the slavery of the IMF?

AAY TAER E LAHUUTI USS RIZQ SAY MAUT ACHI
JIS RIZQ SAY AATI HU PARVAZ MEIN KOOTAHI

PAKISTAN SUCCUMBS TO IMF DEMANDS WHEREAS IPP’s ARE ENJOYING INCOME TAX EXEMPTIONS AND LAST YEAR ALONE GOVERNMENT WAIVED OFF RS.50 billion INCOME TAX OF IPP’s.

IS THIS A POOR MAN’S GOVERNMENT?

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to avoid potential financial default, Pakistan has conceded to a major demand of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by agreeing to withdraw tax exemptions to the wealthy.
Sources revealed on Tuesday that the concession has paved the way for a new bailout programme worth around $5.3 billion.

A formal announcement is expected within the next 24 hours, sources added.

The review and withdrawal of tax exemptions enjoyed by the country’s wealthy and influential lobbies will be a ‘structural benchmark’ or condition of the new IMF programme, confirmed a senior official of the finance ministry to The Express Tribune.

The tax exemptions have been granted through Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs), and no new legislation will be requir­ed to take them back, sources said. However, the amount the government will raise by withdrawing the SROs was not immediately clear.

In the budget for the fiscal year 2013-14, the government has already levied Rs207 billion in new taxes aimed at achieving a tax target of Rs2.475 trillion.

But this was declared insufficient by the IMF.

The move, though much-needed, is contrary to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s assertion that the government will not levy more taxes, “programme or no programme”. However, as a face-saving measure, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government will sell it as part of ‘homegrown reforms’ by insisting that it will not be a revenue measure, sources said.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will also soon start working on the SROs that will be withdrawn.

Levying more taxes either by withdrawing the SROs or through new legislation was one of the most contentious pre-conditions out of the five the IMF has set for Pakistan to obtain a fresh monetary package.

“We have converged on all issues and the deal will be closed very soon,” said Rana Asad Amin, a spokesman for the finance ministry.

Pakistan is in dire need of an IMF package to repay the loan it obtained in 2008. The reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan are not sufficient to meet international obligations.

According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2012-13, in the last fiscal year alone, the country provided Rs239.5 billion worth of tax breaks, mainly to influential people.

The FBR gave Rs82.3 billion worth of income tax exemptions. The sales tax exemptions stood at Rs37.5 billion which were mainly given to sugar and tractor industries. The customs duties exemptions grew to Rs119.7 billion.
But not all the exemptions can be withdrawn as many are given under international treaties, particularly on account of customs duties that are waived off or reduced under preferential and free trade agreements.

The independent power producers are enjoying income tax exemption and the country waived off Rs50 billion in the last one year alone, according to the government report.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2013.

Use Social Media in Your Next Presentation

Social media has changed how presentations work. Your audience can have conversations while you’re talking and project your words far beyond the room. It’s your job to participate in these discussions and gain people’s trust. Here’s how:
Provide a channel. Create a Twitter hashtag for your presentation and invite audience members to use it to chat about your message. Encourage social-media discussion before, during, and after your presentation; display your hashtag on an introductory slide.
Ask for their input. Try presenting a partially developed idea and asking people to help you refine it through social channels. Engaging them in this way focuses their activity on contributing to your presentation, not criticizing it.

Adapted from the HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations.

“You may think that taking a detour in life is a waste of time
and energy, but you can also see the detour as a means of
learning more about who you are and where you are heading in
your life. Being off the beaten path may be disorienting and
confusing at times, yet it challenges your creative spirit to discover new and different ways to get back home, into your heart; for your heart is your real home.”

— Andreas Moritz

Determination is firmness of purpose.

“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be road blocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

Michael Jordan (born 1963);
retired professional basketball player, businessman

My Twitter message on latest American drone attack on Pakistan:

US gift to Pak PM before his visit to China. US drone attack kills 17 in North Waziristan http://dawn.com/news/1022310

Six of the Most Common Resume Flaws (and How to Fix Them)

Tessa Miller

A Times of India Report Dated 2 July, 2013.

When job hunting, your resume has a way of highlighting little career imperfections in black and white. Maybe you’ve job-hopped, had a long gap between gigs, or earned a degree that requires explaining (hello, art history majors!). Is there a way to smooth over these resume imperfections — without being dishonest? You betcha.

You just have to get creative, be upfront, and do a little rebranding. We spoke with job coaches, recruiters, and candidates who have been in your shoes to find out how best to fix six of the most common resume flaws.

Problem: You Want to Change Fields, but Don’t Have Any Experience
What to Do: Play up your skills, not your positions. “What skills have you gathered in your previous positions that would be helpful in another job?” asks Lea McLeod, a career coach and the founder of Degrees of Transition, a job coaching firm.

That’s just what she did with her client, Todd Mauvais, 29. Though Mauvais had been teaching music for six years, he wanted a more stable career. He applied to government jobs for a full year before he intended to make his transition, but nothing panned out, and Mauvais wasn’t sure why. Once he began working with McLeod, the problem was clear: He didn’t lack skills — he simply hadn’t identified the right field to apply them.

“Because Todd had a job where he commuted among multiple schools to teach arts classes, he was an exceptional self-manager”. she says. “He also promoted summer arts programs to increase enrollment, was a great public speaker and presenter, and was comfortable in front of a room.” She helped him recognize that this skill set translated perfectly to a career in sales.

Mauvais rewrote his resume to focus on his relationship building, speaking and promotional skills, and reached out to a craft beer distributor he thought would be a good fit through LinkedIn. In just over a month, the former music teacher was hired as a sales associate, and is still happy in his role there today.

Problem: Your College Degree Isn’t Directly Relevant to the Job or Field
What to Do: If this describes you, don’t worry, you’re hardly alone. “Only specific fields — like engineering, graphic design, health care/medicine, pharmaceutical and automotive, to name a few — require related degrees for entry-level work,” explains corporate recruiter Dennis Tupper. “Otherwise, companies are seeking someone who is coachable and mouldable, will work hard and has a vested interest and passion in the company or industry.”

Taylor Brady, 23, faced this very challenge with his sociology degree. Having grown frustrated after three months of sending out resumes for jobs in social work and nonprofits without getting any response, he, too, reached out to McLeod. “I had friends graduating from business school who were Excel wizards and such, but I had to be creative in regards to selling myself,” says Brady.

“To focus Taylor’s experience,” explains McLeod, “we called out his work with a grant-writing mentor as a ‘special academic project’ and included the types and values of the grants he had written, so it really popped when he was applying for the grant-writing jobs he really wanted”.

He also led his resume with a “Special Skills” section, which highlighted the key points of his past internships (including grant writing, donor database management and volunteer coordination), then provided more information about each role in the “Work Experience” section. With McLeod’s help, Brady found his current role as a grant writer at a nonprofit by rebranding his resume to focus exactly on what he could do for his potential employer.

Problem: You Have a Big Gap Between Jobs
What to Do: According to Jill Knittel, C.O.O. of recruiting and staffing firm Employee Relations Associates, significant gaps between jobs are fairly common imperfections that can be handled with two different approaches.

“One solution is to list just the number of years or months you worked at your earlier positions, rather than the usual start and end dates,” Knittel advises. The other approach? “You can also use a functional resume, which elaborates on your skills, instead of a chronological resume. This will take the focus away from time, and on to your abilities and what you can do for a company.” If asked in an interview about the time frame of your resume, you will still need to be honest about the gaps, but either of these approaches can de-emphasize them on paper.

Problem: You’ve Job-Hopped Frequently
What to Do: Jessica Bedford, a recruiter at Artisan Creative, a staffing agency that specializes in finding jobs for creative talent, recommends that job-hoppers include a “Reason for Leaving” next to each position, with a succinct explanation like “company closed”. “layoff due to downsizing” or “relocated to new city”.

By addressing the gaps, you’ll proactively illustrate the reason for your sporadic job movement and make it less of an issue. “If you have multiple gaps or have filled the time with several temporary projects, you might also create a section called ‘Consulting Work’ or ‘Freelance Work’, and list all of them under the one section. With this approach, job seekers can account for a number of years at once,” recommends Bedford.

If you stayed at a job for only a matter of months, consider eliminating it from your resume. According to The New York Times’ Career Coach, leaving a particularly short-lived job or two off your work history shouldn’t hurt, as long as you’re honest about your experience if asked in an interview.

Problem: Your Resume Is Three Pages Long, and You Don’t Know What to Cut
What to Do: Tupper says that if you work in an industry unrelated to one you worked in ten years ago, you can omit the details of that past experience and include only the years and industries in which you worked (so you don’t appear deceitful in the case of a background check).

For jobs you held several years ago that are in the same field, but don’t reflect your current “level”, keep descriptions brief. And, as mentioned above, in the advice for job hoppers, jobs you held for only a few months can be eliminated, as long as you’re upfront about the experience if the subject comes up.

Problem: You Haven’t Snagged That First Real Job
What to Do: If little professional experience is the reason your resume is lacking, executive recruiter Bruce A. Hurwitz of Hurwitz Strategic Staffing recommends adding a subhead called “Related Employment Activities” right under “Work Experience”.

“You can fill it with volunteer work, online courses, short-term employment and consulting assignments — list everything from a part-time job to a webinar to an online course,” says Hurwitz. This section allows you to explain why you’re the right candidate for the role — before a recruiter concludes you’re not. Don’t forget to include the valuable “soft skills” job candidates tend to underestimate, like the ability to resolve customer service issues, work with ambiguity, coordinate among different groups and negotiate with vendors.