South Korea's largest mobile operator, SK Telecom Co has announced plans to run a trial network in its home market of TD-SCDMA, Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access, or TD-SCDMA, was developed by the Chinese Academy of Telecommunications Technology in collaboration with Datang Telecom Technology and Germany's Siemens AG, and was included among the family of UMTS standards by the ITU.
April 10 2007, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stopped by an SK Telecom test center that is working on a TD-SCDMA network, After greeting SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Premier Wen entered the test center and used a cell phone to make a long-distance video call to Wang Xudong, China's information industry minister, in Beijing. After finishing his phone call, Wen said, "It's surprising how clear the screen is. I feel very happy about working with SK Group."
How do I demonstrate that I have good interpersonal skills at the interview?
The employer will ask you a range of questions at the interview to establish whether you have good interpersonal skills. You need to demonstrate that you can solve problems and conflicts with your colleagues and peers and that you have in the past been able to build effective relationships with supervisors and management.
The employer will try to find out what your strengths and weaknesses are and may ask you how you rate yourself as a team player, how others would rate you etc. They may ask you to provide an example of a situation where a conflict arose with a colleague and or management.
They will ask you to detail how you dealt with the situation and what the outcome was. The answers you provide will allow them to determine whether you have good interpersonal skills.
You need to anticipate the questions and have your answers ready.
Questions may include things such as:
Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone who you did not like. What did you do to make the relationship work? Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a decision or request of your manager. How did you approach them? What was the outcome? Spend some time thinking about scenarios you have encountered at work that could have been or were problematic. Consider how you dealt with them and what you could have done differently for a better outcome. Think about situations where you have excelled under pressure. Offer those as examples of your good interpersonal skills at the interview.
What about my Interview Interpersonal skills, how do I communicate effectively with the interviewer?
Having good interview interpersonal skills is about being prepared and putting forward information with confidence. First impressions of course always count!
Prepare
Make sure you prepare for the interview by anticipating the questions and preparing your answers. dress appropriately and read your CV, application letter and take copies. Leave home in good time, check for any potential delays.
Try to arrive 5 minutes early and be pleasant with everyone you meet in the company when making your way to the interview room. They may feed back your performance to the interviewer. If you are late call and let them know and turn your mobile OFF before going into the interview.
Make your entrance
Enter the room with confidence walking at a steady pace. Make eye contact and smile. Smiling is important as it makes you seem personable and approachable and we all respond well to those who smile so its always a win-win situation. Shake hands firm but friendly. Try to avoid the nervous limp lettuce hand shake which can suggest a weak character. Also avoid trying to almost break the interviewers hand which implies over-confidence and arrogance.
Be seated
When seated, do not fold your arms. Sit upright and confident in your chair, do not slouch or sit round shouldered. Do not fidget or become too animated. Its ok to engage the interviewer with some hand gestures but do not bang fists on tables or point etc.
Keep gestures friendly, open and honest.
If offered a drink, its probably better to decline, you may be nervous and spill it, or your hands may tremble etc.
Communicate
Try to maintain good eye contact and only answer questions you are asked. Do not get an attack of verbal diarrhoea. Less is more in some cases! Refer to details you provided on your CV when they ask you questions and be prepared for trick questions where they may try to catch you out or just be testing your reactions.
Do not be rude or too personal about current or previous employers as this will reflect how you may be within their company should they hire you. They dont want someone who will bad mouth them when not at work.
Stay calm, stay focused and try to get what you want out of the interview, the job!
Planning for retirement is a crucial part of your life and career. Whether you are young – or not so young – you have to be sure to take the proper measures to ensure your financial future. It’s never too late to start, but you have to start now.
The 401(k)
A 401(k) is a great savings tool and a good way to start saving for your retirement, no matter what stage of retirement planning you are in. If your employer offers a 401(k) plan, you can have a pre-determined amount of money automatically withdrawn from your paycheck and deposited in your 401 (k) account.
Most employers have 401 (k) ‘matching’ - where the employer will match every dollar you invest into your 401(k) account with an amount, usually from .50 to $1. Perhaps the best part of investing in a 401(k) account is that you are not charged any taxes on the money until you actually withdraw it as you begin your retirement.
Most 401(k) plans offer first-time homebuyers the option to borrow against their 401(k) for a down payment. However, keep in mind that if you make any withdrawals before retirement for any reason, you will have to pay a penalty of 10% to the IRS. Therefore, you should only borrow against your 401(k) as a last resort.
If You Are Nearing Retirement
If you are nearing retirement, three factors that you need to keep in mind are that you can accrue social security benefits, savings, investments and lastly, pensions after retirement. If you want to take advantage of these, you need to apply for these retirement benefits at least three months in advance. At the same time, you may want to sign up for Medicare, which will help you meet your healthcare expenses.
Evaluate and determine your retirement needs in order to maintain the same standard of living that you have now. Find out if you are entitled to benefits from your employer’s pension or profit sharing plan. Sign up and contribute as much as you can, if your employer offers a tax sheltered savings plan like the 401(k). Keep depositing money into your IRA account, where it can grow, tax-free.
Make financial security your priority though proper strategic planning so that you can retire without worrying that you may not have enough money to last throughout your golden years.
Just Starting Out To Midlife
Successful financial planning for retirement requires careful and calculated planning on your part. Your savings and social security income are surely not going to last for a lifetime – and there’s talk whether social security will even be around at all. With this in mind, the best way to financially prepare for retirement is to start saving today so that you will have a more secure tomorrow. And you can easily accomplish this through diversified investing. Today’s financial market has various options available, starting from US Treasury bonds to stocks to mutual funds. If you are younger, say in your 20’s or early 30’s, then you may want to have more aggressive investments. People in their mid 30’s to late 40’s or 50’s may want a more moderate-risk portfolio. The key point to remember with any investment is - the higher the returns, the higher the risks.
No matter what your age is, you should seek the help of a financial planner, accountant or stockbroker who can counsel and guide you in the right direction. When it comes to retirement planning, the sooner you get started, the better off you’ll be.
A leading expert in the employment search industry, Heather Eagar is passionate about providing working professionals with up-to-date, reliable and effective money tips and job search information. Heather created the Ultimate Job Search Experience for job seekers at www.JobsCareersEtc.com
HONG KONG - While the guessing game of when China will open its third-generation market is still under way, foreign mobile-phone vendors are being warned that they stand to lose out in China's 3G market, which is expected to unleash orders worth billions of US dollars.
However, industry experts believe foreign brands will retain their dominance in the world's largest handset market by number of users in the coming years, because of their more frequent new-product launches and more efficient marketing strategies than local firms.
As China has promised to provide 3G services during next year's Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the country is expected to issue 3G licenses this year.
The Ministry of Information Industry has so far provided cellular-phone operators with three standards for building their 3G networks. They are home-grown time division-synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), Europe's wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and the US-backed CDMA 2000.
The TD-SCDMA standard was introduced to compete with WCDMA and CDMA 2000, which are already used in the West. There are reports that the main reason for the delays in 3G licensing is that TD-SCDMA is still being tested.
Strong backing from the Chinese government will give TD-SCDMA an edge over foreign rivals, said Chen Haofei, secretary general of the TD-SCDMA Forum. He called for foreign handset vendors to get more involved in this locally developed standard or lose out in China's mobile-phone market.
"Foreign companies need to get serious about TD-SCDMA, as they are less likely to get anywhere with WCDMA and CDMA 2000 in the near future," Chen was quoted as saying by China Daily.
China Mobile Communications Corp (CMCC), parent of Hong Kong-listed China Mobile, which has been leading the TD-SCDMA trial in mainland Chinese cities, is estimated to have spent four billion yuan (US$523 million) of a budgeted 30 billion yuan in purchasing two million TD-SCDMA mobile handsets.
To cash in on the opportunities brought about by TD-SCDMA, foreign companies need to establish that they have the right attitude, Chen said.
Wang Jianping, a research director at the China Center of Information Industry Development, expects more than 3 million people to buy 3G handsets in China this year, and forecast the number to reach 300 million by 2012.
At present, the top foreign handset makers in China have yet to give full support to the development of TD-SCDMA mobile phones. Motorola has just developed a model based on the Chinese standard, while Nokia has adopted a wait-and-see approach.
However, other industry experts believe foreign handset vendors will retain their dominance in the mainland's handset market in the coming years.
As CMCC is expanding its trial of TD-SCDMA to more and more Chinese cities, it is in effect giving the handset vendors that have developed a model based on the Chinese standard a head start in the 3G market.
"Once cellular operators are [permitted] to build 3G networks, TD-SCDMA phones mostly developed by domestic players might be able to tap the new market first. However, it won't take long for foreign players, which have been betting on WCDMA and CDMA 2000, to lure back potential 3G users because of the brand effect," said an expert who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Besides, 3G service performance in other countries is just so-so; that's why we don't see leading operators or the authorities very excited about the launch of 3G services. Therefore, China will keep its promise to provide 3G services in some big cities during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but it will be difficult to launch the services across the country by 2010," said the expert.
"Third, I really doubt the prospect of 3G services in China. Given the high production costs, the effect of higher prices of 3G handsets cannot be understated. Although China has more than 481 million mobile-phone subscribers, 80% of them have phones priced at less than [$105]. I wonder how many people here are willing to pay for a more expensive 3G cell phone," he said.
There is a similar situation in Hong Kong, where 3G phones have become increasingly popular. But one reason for this is that many users are forced to buy 3G handsets because that is all some telecom operators provide. As a result, many people use 3G handsets for 2G services, but decline to use more expensive services offered by 3G service providers.
The expert also said the lukewarm response to TD-SCDMA from foreign handset vendors indicates that they do not have high hopes for 3G services in China.
"Even if domestic handset vendors are able grab the small 3G market in China in the beginning, the dominant status of foreign handset vendors will not be under threat," he said.
Sandy Shen, a Shanghai-based telecom analyst at Gartner Inc, a US-based information-technology consulting firm, said foreign handset vendors remain dominant in the domestic market, with combined unit sales of the top three foreign brands - Nokia, Motorola and Samsung - accounting for 60% of the total in the first quarter of 2007.
She attributed the popularity of foreign brands among mainland phone users to more frequent new-product launches and effective marketing strategies.
"Foreign brands are more fashionable and pack an array of features including digital camera, color display and a music player compatible with MP3 format - doing them earlier than their domestic counterparts, which still pale in comparison to foreign brands in terms of technology and design," she said.
Nokia sells its products through 20 retail partners, including Gome Electrical Appliances, China's largest home-appliances chain retailer. Last month, Motorola and Suning Appliance Co, China's second-biggest home-appliance chain retailer, formed a partnership in Nanjing, under which Motorola will open counters in 100 select Suning stores in China.
While foreign brands remain dominant, there is a growing presence of domestic brands, with the top three domestic handset brands being Lenovo, Bird and Amoi.
In the first quarter of 2007, more than 36 million mobile phones were sold in China, an increase of 10% over the same period in 2006.
In terms of unit sales, the market share of foreign handset brands was reduced to 63% in the first quarter of this year from 73% in the last quarter in 2006, according to Shen.
Shen attributed the growing presence of domestic brands to a competitive "price-value ratio" offered and more price-sensitive users in the rural market.
"Domestic brands, including new entrants, are able to pack more features into the same price points, so their models look more attractive to price-sensitive users," she said, adding that unit sales of Tianyu accounted for more than 2% of total sales in the first quarter of this year, although it only started selling handsets last year.
As of this March, China had 481 million mobile-phone users, most newly added subscribers in rural areas, where many consumers are buying handsets for the first time.
But Shen believes it will take time for domestic handset brands to increase their presence in the domestic market.
"There is no single factor [allowing] any brand to get a bigger market share [of] the domestic market; for example: handset vendors need to develop and carry out marketing campaigns and introduce new products to cater to diverse customer needs," she said.
However, given that domestic handset vendors are much smaller than well-established foreign vendors, which can inject lots of money into marketing to increase brand penetration, it takes time for domestic counterparts to build up their market share, Shen noted.
