SEGS, awesome!

If you are not a UK/EU graduate who's willing to work in UK, you should have heard about Science and Engineering Graduates Scheme(SEGS). No ideas? Ok, let's take a look at it.

SEGS was launched on 25 October last year which was introduced by Home Office allowing "non-EEA nationals who have graduated from UK higher or further education establishments in certain physical sciences, mathematics and engineering subjects with a 2.2 or higher to remain in the UK for 12 months after their studies in order to pursue a career." The purpose of setting this scheme is to enourage more overseas students to study in UK and contribute to the specific industries such as physical science, engineering and IT research after their graduations. As a result, it may improve UK's high technology competence and solve the problem of skilled worker shortage in associated markets. The scheme brings people like me a wonderful chance to pursue our careers in this country.

Before you apply for SEGS, please make sure that your are qualified. First of all, do check the course list (PDF) on the website to find out whether your course is in it (check the JACS code). If you have taken the combination course with two or three subjects, please follow the instruction mentioned in the same file. In my situation, because I am Msc in Information Technology and Management (JACS code: G500), which was not listed in the course list. I had to ask my university to provide an offcial letter to prove that half of my course is Information Technology (JACS code: G5) in order to match the qaulification (hopefully it will be done in these days).

The application form of the scheme can be downloaded here. It will cost you £335 for applicatioins made by post (decide within around 20-70 days) and £500 for applications made in person (decide within around 24 hours).

If we can pass the SEGS, we are not restricted in any work type in UK for a year. This is one of the best ways for us to work in UK. Is it expensive? No, I don't think so. At least it costs less than applying for extending my visa.

use Google Base to promote yourself

Google Base was launched yesterday after thousands of discussions on it. In order to 'sell' myself I created a item in Google Base, you can check it out. Besides Google Base's usages that Google designed for us, there are more ways to play with it. Just open your mind, then you can have fun on it.

Web Design Mistakes of 2005

No matter you are an experienced web designer or a beginner of web design, Jakob Nielsen's selection of 2005 web design mistakes is worth reading. By reading the article, you may realise most of them are 'old' mistakes that have been there several years such as Font or Flash problems. If you don't want to make the same kind of silly mistakes, just spend a few minutes in reading it.

Monsters Interview Tips For Job Hunters

Monster.co.uk provides much valuable advice for job hunters besides the job information. In this month’s newsletter a new service called ‘Virtual Interviews’ is delivered to those who prepare for their important interviews. The service covers several industries including Finance, Retail and Internet, etc. It is a very simple application that provides several questions and related optional answers for users to choose. After selecting an answer, the system shows users the analysis of the choice. The Internet sector’s standard answers are listed as below:

• What qualities do you think are important to this position?

To have a combination of technical and business knowledge and to be very results-oriented. My past record shows that I have those qualities and more. Because of my business acumen and technical know-how, the teams I have managed accomplished outstanding results, including booking more than $50 million in online revenue.

• What experience have you had that qualifies you for this position?

I have experience working with e-commerce companies on the consulting side. I've managed teams and have strong experience with HTML and Java. My communication skills and business acumen are my strengths. I can wear many hats and believe I can bring added value to a team effort.

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?

My strength is my flexibility. As director of operations at a startup company, I've had to deal with and handle changes and new policies constantly. As far as weaknesses, I really enjoy my work, and sometimes I put in too much time on some projects. But by being aware of my tendency, I have learned to work smarter.

• When have you been most motivated?

My first job in a pre-IPO. I had to undergo some rigorous training to understand the product and customer. At the same time, we were actually working with the customer. It required a lot of self-direction and motivation. I thrived on the whole experience -- the discipline, the planning and the deadlines. It was a pressure cooker, but I got through it.

• Tell me about yourself and your past experience.

I have eight years of experience working in the IT industry. For the past two years, I have been working as a project manager for a dotcom. I am also PMI certified. My strengths are my client-relationship management skills, and my leadership ability. I'm looking for a team environment where I can join the excitement of building a company.

• What are your salary expectations?

I really need more information about the job before we start to discuss salary. I'd like to postpone that discussion until later. Could you tell me what is budgeted for the position?

• Do you have any questions? (This is usually asked by the interviewer at the end of the interview.)

Yes, I do. Who are your financial backers? Who are the key competitors? Does the company have a plan for the IPO? What would you say is the best thing about your product/service?

• Why did you leave your last position?

I've set some goals for myself and my career, and unfortunately I'm at a standstill in my current situation. I have begun to explore options available before I spend too much time in a job where I can't advance. My goal is to continue to take on new responsibilities and be a key contributor to the success of an online venture.

• How would your boss describe you and your work style?

First, she'd say I have a lot of initiative -- I see a big picture and do what has to be done to achieve results. Secondly, that I have business savvy -- I know the business side as well as the technical side. And thirdly, I have a high work ethic -- if I say I'm going to do something, I do it.
[Source: Monster Virtual Interviews]

The test gives us some ideas on how to prepare for the interview questions. Though the answers sound good, it is not recommended to use them directly in our job interviews. It is better to keep the answers as flexible as possible depending on our real situations. Furthermore, making a checklist (or blogs of course) of interview can help us to gain more experience in job interviews and it might be used anytime in our life.

ps: The channel Graduates in Monster is worth accessing for the graduate students.

My first PAID job in Wolverhampton

Today was really a good day because I started my first paid job in UK. Though the job is quite simple that I just need to compare the data between two systems used in the research of Russells Hall Hospital (in Dudley) and document the potential problems in them, it’s meaningful to me since this was the first time that I’ve got paid from the IT related job. Before this job I’ve worked in a Chinese restaurant (Beijing City) for almost nine months and developed modelling software for the company CERAM without any salary (Msc project). Perhaps the current job is not quite interesting and with low salary, but as my friend Anna said, at least it is something. I hope this is the good start for me to find a satisfied IT job in UK. I would not give up as long as there is a hope existing.

prevent winform resized in C#

It is very easy to prevent the form to be resized in the winform application of C# .

Firstly, we should set the 'MaximumSize' and 'MinimumSize' properties to the same dimensions as the Size property. Then we can set:

form.MaximizeBox = false;
this.FormBorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.FormBorderStyle.FixedDialog;

The FormBorderStyle property can be changed into others according to what appearance we want it to display.

Creating PDF online

Today I ultamately finished the poster of project - Kiln Modelling, which spent me two days by using CorelDraw to make. For the convenience of being viewed by my supervisor, I wanted to make it as PDF file. After thinking a while I remembered the online service of PDF maker called 'PDF Online' that is bookmarked in my del.icio.us. The website can help us produce PDF file based on several kinds of file format including those we use frequently such as PPT, HTML, PNG, etc. All we need to do is uploading the local file and submiting our email addresses, then the produced PDF will be sent to the email account in 10 minutes. Since it is free, the file size is limited in 2MB. I uploaded one PNG file and got the PDF version in only 1 minute. It's awesome.