The calls for IT jobs you ordinarily encounter are mostly for web designers, graphics artists, call center staffing or programmers. This one is not for any of those. It also does not involve selling or marketing or a graveyard shift. This is a specialized career path that can open up a lot of opportunities for growth and development. Not everyone is cut out for it, but maybe you are.

MBTC TECHNOLOGY, Inc., the IT Company of the Metrobank Group, is looking for a IT Training Assistant.

Candidate must have a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or other IT-centric courses and must possess good oral and written communication skills.

These are pretty generic requirements, I know. Any IT Graduate worth his salt will qualify. If I were to list down other “must-haves“, I think the traits below would be the equally important and required for the position.

Love for Learning. Most often, what you need to know is not necessarily taught in schools or are applied in a different way. Learning does not end after graduation,. It is lifelong. A must of you want to succeed in your career and your life.

Technical Skills. Finishing an IT course does not mean you are an expert, but at least you should possess the “basics“ like troubleshooting what’s wrong with a PC; identifying why a computer can’t connect to the network; and work with basic web and multimedia applications. If you possess more skills like programming in PHP, DotNet, etc., that would be a plus for you.

Presentation Skills. This is where those oral reporting and communication courses you took would come in handy. If you can be at ease in front of your class discussing the new widgets of Wordpress or different environmental issues, you might be a good candidate. If you can express yourself fluently and be able to impart your knowledge to other people well, a career in IT education and training might be a good fit for you. If you (instinctively) know that the first thing you should think about when you are making a presentation is constructing the learning objectives, score yourself some additional points.

Documentation Skills. Those reports and the thesis you made should make this point a little easier. Whether you used MS Office or Open Office, documentation is something often neglected but becomes a crucial skill in the workplace. Grammar, sentence construction, style - something bloggers who work on their craft are familiar with - gives you an edge.

Positive Mental Attitude. All else being equal, everyone would rather work with someone who exudes and lives optimism. (If I were to decide, this should be the first criterion.) In life, as well as the corporate world, challenges will come. I’d rather side with someone who thinks about the solution rather than focus on the problem.

If you think you are what is described here (or at least near it), email me you resume at jun.asis@gmail.com and I’ll forward it to them. Or you can submit your CV at:

MBTC Technology, Inc
11F PSBank Centre
777 Paseo de Roxas corner Sedeno St.
Makati City

The Santolan-EDSA intersection where I pass daily is a very busy intersection. While it is still bearable when we pass, there are times that it gets clogged because of passenger jeepneys (along Santolan) and buses (along EDSA) waiting, stalling, trying to get more passengers. The left turns from both sides of Santolan also take a significant amount of waiting time for vehicles just going straight. Add the impatient drivers going against the traffic flow in order to get ahead.

It is a given that traffic discipline and enforcement of rules are keys to better and faster travel. Also, good engineering and study of traffic flow can yield significant improvements in how fast cars can go.

Recently, the intersection has been re-designed to be a circular flow. The initial implementation was a disaster because everybody was surprised. The mindset that prevailed was, “I have to get ahead of the others.”
I made a detour to a farther route and said “Now I will have to travel farther. More gas, more time spent and adjustment of our comfort zone.”

The next day came as a surprise. I planned to avoid that point but noticed that traffic was flowing smoothly, faster than when the intersection was not a roundabout. So I made haste for my usual route and found myself not waiting for a green light. I didn’t even stop. I cut my travel time by a good ten minutes.

The problem now is when it is congested at peak hours.

I remembered an animation about vehicles giving some space in front of them so others can merge faster. I tried it and it worked! It significantly made us move faster and smoother. Images and more explanations can be found here.

A similar finding for airlines with the same concept was featured recently here.

“Have 10 passengers at a time board in alternating rows. He says it’s at least four times faster than what most airlines are doing because it lets everyone stow their luggage and take their seats without getting in one another’s way. People get seated sooner, which means planes take off sooner.”

I think taking turns works because:

1. Psychologically, everyone is moving, albeit a little slower. But compared to wanting for minutes at a time, your patience threshold can only hold so much. Not competing against the other driver gives you a better disposition and view.
2. It makes you much more considerate of others and in turn, you will all be given consideration. There is something about showing kindness and respect, the seeing it returned - the “pay it forward” concept - that makes anything more bearable.

The question is how do we imbibe this in the national psyche?
I can start with myself. You can do the same.

Other traffic thoughts.