SAYA Presents its First Ever Resume Workshop

By Hafeeza Shaik

HOUSTON: South Asian Youth Alliance (SAYA), an initiative of Indian Muslims Association of Greater Houston (IMAGH), was launched on April 27, 2014, to help the South Asian young adults find mentors, develop leadership skills, build a peer supported network, and learn about their heritage. SAYA’s goal is to have young representatives from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan as its members.

SAYA held its first Resume Workshop on September 19,2015 at Platform Houston. Being an organization for youth, SAYA tries to bring practical knowledge that is beneficial to them.  Ramesh Anand and Tam Nguyen, entrepreneurs who have unique backgrounds and experience were the featured presenters. Ramesh Anand is  President of American Personnel Resources and started his recruiting business in 1985.  Tam Nguyen has been a  Senior Human Resources Manager at such prestigious companies as Dresser Rand, Halliburton and Waste Management. She has now started her own consulting business, NB Business Solutions.

Latafath Hussain, President of IMAGH, welcomed  Ramesh, Tam, and the SAYA members and emphasized the need for preparing a well thought out Resume and Cover Letter.  Mohammed Khan, President of SAYA, welcomed everyone and initiated a round of introductions. Kashif Khan, Vice-President, Hafeeza Shaik, Secretary, and Zaid Hussain, Historian then introduced the objectives of South Asian Youth Alliance and the importance of the Resume Workshop for the youth.

Both Ramesh and Tam gave an interactive presentation on resume writing, cover letter, job search, and interview preparation. With a combination of more than 45 years in these areas, Ramesh and Tam provided excellent and valuable advice.

First, no one should undervalue any skills they have and should share their own unique story. Ramesh Anand said, “Every person is unique and must tell their story. This is called the Unique Sales Proposition (USP).” Everyone has something unique to offer. For example in the South Asian Community, most people are bilingual or even multilingual. Or someone has traveled the world and has that experience of meeting and connecting to people from several backgrounds. Another great piece of advice was that each of us have a passion and we must find that passion. This passion is what will help to find a good career. Ramesh and Tam  emphasized that if you don’t know what you want to do and what drives you, then you will not be satisfied with what you have or where you are in life. Third, one must come across as confident. If you’re not confident, you will not be perceived as the candidate that you should be. Being confident is what makes you get to where you need to be.

Another interesting piece of advice that really intrigued many  was that people should blog! Ramesh and Tam both have their own blogs and write about matters  that they love. For example, Ramesh loves dogs and rescues them. He shares his stories with the world. For the youth, Facebook and Twitter is the social media where they are highly active. However, writing blogs on various subjects for which they are passionate about will take them a long way! They emphasized that young people should go into a job to learn and deliver. Companies don’t hire people  to just teach…. they must also deliver for the position that they were hired for. Another valuable advice was to help others. “Always help someone: no good deed goes unrewarded. You never know when a little deed of kindness can help you in life. No one has been successful without help,” Tam Nguyen explained. Everyone has reached success through the help of someone else.

Latafath Hussain and Mohammed Khan thanked Ramesh Anand, Tam Nguyen, and all the SAYA members who attended the first Resume Workshop. Everyone in the room had something very valuable and worthwhile to take from the table.

For further information, call Latafath Hussain at 713-269-6171 or Email: houstonsaya@gmail.com or Facebook: www.facebook.com/SAYouthAlliance.