Resume

Saraswathy D/O Gunasegaren        Mobile: +65 12345678 Email: mailmail@hotmail.com 

Education National University of Singapore (NUS) §  Bachelor of Engineering (Major in Bioengineering) § Expected Second Lower Class Honors §  Dean's list in 2011 Semester 1 §  Expected Date of Graduation: May 2013	Aug 09 – Present
Work Experience Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Temporary Tax Assistant, Customer Service Officer (ETRS) & Call Centre §  Managed tax declaration forms (Individual and Property) §  Handled difficult phone calls with patience §  Assisted passengers in Changi Airport with their GST refund through the Electronic Tourist Refund Scheme(ETRS) and received compliments from 2 customers §  Changi airport group (CAG) certificate for customer service Kandang Kerbau Hospital (KKH) Temporary EEG Assistant §  Understood the nuances behind electroencephalogram and worked with EEG technologists and doctors to ease the EEG experience for patients §  Played with patients and got them to cooperate during the EEG SINDA Teacher §  Tutored 6-15 children aged between 7-12 in various subjects §  Taught lessons in a creative manner that garnered high success rate among students	March 2009-July 2009 May 2010-July 2010 May2011-July 2011 Jan –  March 2009   July 2012-present
Co-curricular Activities English Drama and Debate Society Member §  Participated in several plays and camps §  Roles in speech day plays Tamil Drama and Debate Society Member §  Participated in National drama camp SINDA Youth Leaders’ Programme (SYLP) §  Collaborated with Eden School to organize a carnival and walkathon for children with autism that has an expected turnout of 150 participants Volunteer with several organizations §  Assisted in goodie bag packing for the Children Cancer Foundation’s(CCF) “Hair for Hope” project §  Volunteered with Singapore Arts Festival in ushering duties §  Spearheaded a carnival in Nee Soon East Zone 1 Residential Committee(RC) that drew a crowd of 100 people	Jan– Dec 2005 May – Aug 08 Sept 2012-Present
Awards / Achievements §  National Debate 2005 & 2nd prize in Tamil Oratorical competition
Skills / Interest § Fluent in both written and spoken English and Tamil § Proficient in Microsoft Office § Basic Photoshop skills and C programming knowledge(FYP)

Application Letter Critique

15 February 2013

Block 123 Cover Road

#12-345

S123456

Mobile: +65 12345678

Email Address: mailmail@hotmail.com

HR manager

Human Resource Department

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore

55 Newton Road, Revenue House

S307987

                                                                                       

Dear Hiring Manager

Application for position of Senior Tax Officer (Enforcement Officer)

I am writing to express my interest as a Senior Tax Officer (Enforcement Division) with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) after attending your recruitment fair at the National University of Singapore(NUS).  I am expected to graduate from NUS with a 2^nd Lower Class Honours in Bioengineering in May 2013 . I am keen to start work as a Senior Tax officer in IRAS as it is a reputable government body that overseas the tax management in Singapore. 

As an engineering graduate, I have honed my analytical skills through the various projects and modules I have taken through my stint in NUS. My analytical mind and leadership qualities have rendered my team a constant A in design projects and group projects. Also, I am proud to be a good logistics personnel in my team projects as I keep track of project progress and project documents in an organized manner. I have also ventured to study modules outside of my line of discipline so that I will be an all-rounder. These modules have aided in improving my verbal and non verbal skills making me an effective communicator in the workplace.

During my stint with IRAS on 3 occasions, I have worked with various departments that includes the Individual Income Tax (IIT) Department, the Property Tax Department and the Good and Services Tax Department (GST). I worked as a customer service officer under the GST refund scheme in Changi Airport and I have a Changi Aiport Group(CAG) certificate on customer service. My stint in IRAS taught me the computation of taxes and customer service etiquettes that I believe will be pertinent for the position of Senior Tax Officer(Enforcement Officer).

Apart from academics, I also volunteer actively. Recently, I joined the Singapore Indian Developememt Association(SINDA) under a programme called the Sinda Young Leader’s Programme(SYLP). This programme allowed me to improve my leadership skills in a national level. As a team, my group in the programme spearheaded a carnival for children with Autism that saw a turnout of 150 Indians and Non Indians. I believe that these experiences will help me to become a better person in the workplace and the society.

I thank you for your time to review my application. I enclose my resume for your consideration. I look forward to a face-to-face interview with you to discuss my suitability for this position. I can be contacted at 12345678 or mailmail@hotmail.com at your convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Saraswathy(Ms)

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Working well in a team is a quality that is cherished upon in workplaces and schools alike. If you were to ask me, I would say that working with people is like making a coffee. You need to know that too much of sugar will make the coffee too sweet and too much of water will dilute the coffee. Similarly, being too understanding or outspoken might not work in your favour when working in a team. Just remember that working with people is not just about you, it is about a collective team effort. And when a team comes together, many things can go wrong. In the end, it is not the conflict that counts, it is the ability to resolve the conflict that is pertinent.

Speaking of conflicts reminds me of a group project I had in the first semester in Year 3. Everything was fine until one member of my team started taking the rest of us for granted. Let's just name this team member Y. Y was a good team member in the initial stages of the project but as our project progressed, Y stopped turning up for meetings. The rest of us, we sat down one day to talk about it and we reached a conclusion that it was time that we sent Y reminders of meetings. Although this idea was the best for the team in that situation, it didn't exactly work in my favour. As the assistant leader of the team, I was tasked with calling Y to remind him of meetings .This turned bad cause whenever I called Y, it appeared like I was nagging at him and picking on him. Our relationship got strained and the team started ostracizing Y and functioning without him.

Soon, Y realised that we were cold towards him and he proposed a meeting in person.  He said that he had a lot of activities outside of school and that he didn't have time for meetings. He promised to make time in the future. After that meeting, our group worked together. There were still instances when we felt that Y was not working hard but we got used to taking turns to remind him to do work. In my team's case, it was quite evident that communication was a problem. The lack of communication changed the team dynamics and it resulted in conflicts.With communication, we understood each other's schedules and differences. We got to working as a team, where we took turns to remind Y of meetings.In the end, my team got an award for best design presentation. I got my coffee, not perfect, but definitely one that was worth it. After all, a perfect coffee can only be achieved with practice.

Although the conflict was resolved amicably, things might have turned out different if we had decided otherwise in the initial stages of the project. What might have happened if we never resolved the conflict with Y?