Be honest about qualifications when job hunting, says corporate executive
While citing experiences where expatriates were the main culprits, a local corporate executive is calling on prospective employees to be honest about their qualifications when job hunting.
Sherylene Francis made the call during the recent renaming ceremony for the Department of Labour & Workforce Development.
“Never say that you can do something when you know that you can’t. In other words, don’t lie. Remember the goal is, ‘the right person for the right job’. I have had situations where I have had to cover others’ role [because they were dishonest about their qualifications]. I will not say where but I’m relieved to say none of them were BVIslanders. I like structure, and I want to measure progress. [But] I cannot do both yours and my work,” Francis said.
“So, please no lying to your employers or potential employers as to what you know that you cannot do. And besides tying up two resources, and halting efficiency, you have done yourself a disservice and missed out on an opportunity for learning.”
Labour dept helped in my job search
In the meantime, Francis said the Labour department has assisted her more than once to land jobs.
“Scoring a job as a BVIslander in the offshore finance sector can be an exhausting venture. After several fruitless job interviews, I turned to the then Labour Department … Little did I know that the Labour Department was staffed with professionals and resources to assist job seekers such as myself.”
Emulate me
She then urged job seekers to prepare themselves while they await landing their next job.
“Hone your skills and develop yourself … you might even have to consider a new field of study or reinvent yourself. Go back to the drawing board. My case, for example, I studied for funds, worked in funds, loved funds, and life was near perfect. The market crashed, the hedge fund administrator I worked for closed the BVI office. The funds were not there anymore. No jobs in BVI for me,” Francis said.
She said she had to study new courses to make herself employable again.
“I did not like being back in the classroom one bit. But if I wanted this job, I had to do it. So, I passed, with merits,” she said.
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Every fk….is exp.sh….
They island people does lie on the application forms all the time, especially those guyanese, they can do everything
Stop painting all the people from the same nation with the same brush. Every nation has honest and dishonest people.
Many Guyanese came here well qualified because we don’t strive on entitlement. In Guyana, we do not believe that politicians owe us so many of us went to school and studied hard. Check the CXC results. Many Guyanese here are very intelligent people.And YES, we are hard workers.
The time some of you take to point fingers, use them to get qualified and compete fairly. In this era, it is not time for (B.H) Born here but B.A and M.A( Bachelor’s and Master’s in Arts) When you all send for us we came so don’t be haters now.
e recognize you a usually hard on your brothers and sisters from other Caribbean islands.
I say, they are a part African heritage. We are in the same boat and are catching the same hell from te same who brought our ancestors here. We must learn to tolerate our own.
son soill, youare practicing a divide and oppressive tool that the European loves to see you ise against your own. You are doing their job for them and they are loving you for it.
Now many Africans, Indians,Philipinos, Europeans and others come here with false and illigitimate documents all the time, and find themselves in high paying salaries both in the public and private sector.
Those are facts, Our government is just not proactive enough in their scrutiny of presented qualifications, especially in the medical field.
Hope you will transform you thinking for your own people. I know what you must be feeling, thus your evident outward reactions.
As, i have been treated horribly, including attempts at taking my and family life, after helping, sheltering and getting them up on their feet when they first came by some.
We can deal with them, but with caution and we must, but we are still one people, deserving to work towards sincere unity for us all.
We have an historic enemy now reliving among us, and we know his history, innate natures and propensities. Therefore, our energies must be focused on maintaining what we have, our lands, beaches, control of our economies, rights and freedoms.
Your biggest enemy is yourself. Most people living here want to do so in peace, regardless of creed, colour or nationality.
Pah! You know so damn much about others yet so little about historical human facts.
The greatest fool is one that knows not himself or others,
Sleep on slave and slave master. Judge ye thyself first.
The time is coming in the future that Black people will realize how much damage colonialism has done to their mentality, on both sides, Black and white alike.
Except the white is still poised to continue damaging us in every respect, while we are busy damaging our own,, while blind to the serpant that is slidering around the perimeter waiting to attack, kill and conquer.
He who is blind and deaf never sees or hears, but feels only the anaconda’s deadly embrace.
So go thinking everyone wants to live with you in peace. Good luck with trying to change evil into good.
It is with a heavy heart that I often ponder on the way forward for the black man in the midst of his fellow homo Sapiens of Earth.
It is with disgust that I wonder why we have been made to believe that other races care so much for us and would sacrifice their resources to come to rescue us.
They live among us, with their racist and regionalist ideologies in tact, solely because of the US$.
Let the global economics of today change tomorrow and see how many of them truly want to live among you.
Human psychology, motivation and intent are often hidden under sherade of falsehoods and pretenses.
Not all will be fooled by them, however.
Some people just don’t learn. Being honest can actually help. Just be honest.
You should never fudge your qualification because you are going to end up looking real stupid. Just because you did a cashier job,it does not mean you are qualify to do an accountant job. You work in a law firm filing court papers does not qualify you to be a lawyer.
This is great, to actually hear it said like that with good reasoning behind it. It’s true people do put false information on their job applications, but what’s just as bad is that the persons doing interview often fail to see through the lies, being easily impressed with fancy talk, and fancy looks.Its time to all get wise and serious about.
Sorry Liberty, this one is real true.
Son of the Soil, I don’t think you understand everything you read because you are another black that hate blacks. She mentioned the Offshore Finance Sector this Sector employed more whites than blacks but you jump to island people. Please don’t be such a nincompoop.
I think Ms. Francis, that you should also give a speech about employers and their embellishments about positions needed in the territory!
Too many ads are looking for simple tasks that require fluency and written skills in Mandarin, French, Portuguese and Cantonese!
THIS IS WHERE THE FRAUD TAKES PLACE IN ORDER TO HIRE OTHERS NOT OF VIRGIN ISLANDS’ HERITAGE!
While I agree that any padding of a resume is not a good thing, employers too, should be held to similar standards and called out for it whenever descrepancies occur!
This is such nonsense. Have you any idea how difficult it is to employ staff? Adverts running all the time and very few competent applicants. It’s no wonder companies have to look outside the territory.
same thing with them island man police
You are so correct. I realy hope people will follow your advice. Don’t embelish your application or resume if you don’t have the qualifications for the job.
It’s appalling that a supposed professional persons would choose to push another wedge between expats and locals, whereby further aggravating a decades old situation.
This is unbecoming of a professional person. It was enough to simply advocate for honesty, but to suggest that expats tend to be more dishonest than locals is a mischievous statement.
Maybe this is just a cultural issue, that BVIslanders can’t escape.
is true..a lot of people especially expats comes here certificate and job experience on a application and they cant do the job because fake certificate and fake information….they will say they a qualified nurse and they cant do this n that..they would say they a mechanic and they don’t no what is this n how to do that… be honest ppl.
Facts they are. Many have witnessed this, especially of the European, throughout all areas since the 1960’s.
What Ms. Francis said is true. Your statement, “This is unbecoming of a professional person.” it is your opinion, but a true professional person speak the truth even when others don’t want to be honest.