IT scholarship

Edutech Informatics has launched Infoplus, the IT scholarship programme for students seeking admission into Informatics HDIT course. The Infoplus scholarship test can be taken at any of the Informatics Computer Centres in the country.

To qualify for the scholarship, students have to undertake a 30-minute on-line examination consisting of 50 objective type questions and a personalinterview. The on-line examination is being conducted with the help of a specially developed Informatics software. The highly user-friendly software can be used by students who do not have any background in computers. Every student who takes the on-line test gets questions which are put together by the software at random from a large question pool. Marks secured by the student are displayed immediately after each question is answered.

The total marks obtained by a student makes him/her eligible for a pre-determined scholarship on the actual course fee. A student scoring over 90 per cent marks in the scholarship examination gets a 100 per cent fee waiver.

Feeling like a stranger

So you're in your new job and feeling like a stranger in a strange land? Welcome to the workplace. It can be a bit overwhelming and certainly stress-inducing, especially if you are a twenty-something hopping in there for the first time, reports Washington Post. It's no longer a comfortable world of roommates to runhome to, professors you can easily argue with or work-study duties you can complete mindlessly.

Many young workers find that first experience isn't all it was cracked up to be. You were psyched to get that ``dream'' job at the cool company. Then you get there and find yourself at the copy machine more that at the client's office. Or you thought you'd be brilliant, and you make an incredibly stupid mistake. That kind of disconnect between expectations and reality may mean that you find yourself in the bathroom, trying to stop the tears, or popping off in anger. Fine when you're by yourself, not fine when your boss is nearby. Young workers need to learn to ``give themselves the luxury of making little mistakes and then letting them go,'' says Bruce Pomerantz, a licensed psychologist based in Chevy Chase. Until you can face up to the fact that mistakes happen and that workplace stress can be handled, work is going to feel like, well, work.

Remember the Scouting slogan, ``Be prepared''? That also goes fortimes when you're not wearing the Webelo badge or Brownie beanie. Take an active role in the life you are about to lead. Before heading into the workplace, says LaVern Chapman, associate director of the undergraduate business career center at the University of Maryland, take an internship to get yourself used to the new culture you're about to enter. ``If you do an internship, that's the best way to do your research and investigation about a career,'' he says.

You can even have an ``externship'' these days, which is a shortened version of an internship. It usually lasts one or two weeks, and students can take part in one during semester breaks, among other times. ``It brings students in to route them through the divisions in the companies. And it exposes the students to a number of different things,'' Chapman says.

If your internship days are past and you are already in the full-time working world, get involved in a professional organisation related to your career. This, says Chapman, will provide youwith possible mentors, a great networking group and a chance to listen to guest speakers who have experience in your field.

``I think everyone needs to develop some type of mentor, whether that person is in the organisation or outside of the workplace,'' Chapman says.

Everyone seems to be big on mentors these days. They can be important assets to young workers. Find that person you can trust and ask him how he dealt with his new job. Just ask...everyone.

Remember that even though you may feel alone in this new atmosphere, you're not. Even though more experienced workers might seem as if they never felt uncomfortable in their new workplace, they did. Seek them out and remember that, yes, they are experienced. Use that to your advantage.

Website scandal

The labour ministry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched an investigation into a recruitment website scandal and warned the public against unscrupulous employment agencies and individuals advertising their services via the Internet. Asenior official said the ministry will look into websites charging job seekers for their services and take action against any UAE-registered company found guilty.

Mohammed Essa Al Suwaidi, undersecretary for labour affairs at the ministry of labour and social affairs, has warned the public against paying cash to companies advertising jobs on websites operating both within and outside the UAE.

The warning and the probe into the matter came as a result of a Gulf News investigation after letters from readers complained of some job recruitment agencies and consultants charging fees and other commissions, which is against UAE law. Referring to website services by recruitment agencies and consultants, Al Suwaidi said that these companies can have their websites and offer their services via Internet, but they cannot charge money to the candidates. Any UAE company found asking for registration or other fees via the Internet will face severe punishment, he said.