Knowing One's Own Value

Singapore society has mostly Asian values, of which modesty features as one of the highest of all "Asian" virtue. But I think in Singapore, we may have taken this one step too far.

What do I mean?

My brother is at this point of time coming out to work.

I took ONE LOOK at the resume and the cover letter and immediately told him that he's gonna need a MAJOR overhaul.

Why?

I have said it before, most Singaporeans are far too modest about themselves. The average Singaporean men SUCK at marketing themselves, simply cos they don't know what they're worth. They have no idea what they can offer and they cannot articulate their value.

That's why my brother's resume has got "please employ me" written all over it. That's why it needs a major overhaul.

I'm not asking anybody to boast, or tell any available person about their lifetime achievements in explicit detail 17 times a day.

For those looking for a job, or looking to move, understand this. Whenever you go for an interview, it's not only the person on the other side of the table looking at you and evaluating to see if you're suitable for the job. It's also YOU looking at him, and asking yourself, does HE have anything for ME?

Same thing in day-to-day relations and in the playing field of human attraction. Why is it that when guys end up hemming and hawing when talking face to face with good looking gals? The better-looking, the more the stutter?

Cos we're not confident of ourselves! And so it ends up the poor hot chick has to sit by the corner, and the only people that talk to her are sleazebags (who don't give a damn anyway) or the supremely confident.

And it's not that we don't have something to say, or cannot find something interesting to say. Hey, if the same hot chick rams her car into your baby Toyota Cilica, trust me, you'll have no trouble finding creative, interesting, and highly descriptive things to say about her, her lineage, her driving instructor and her cat.

So yes, there IS value in each and everyone of us. All we have to do is to be confident of that, and learn how to demonstrate that value, and articulate it. Once we can do that, well... the rest is just details.