Destiny Steps

Main Responsibilities

Effectively manage all aspects of Finance in the region (Asia Pacific countries), including the following:-

• Supervising Accountants, Financial accounting department staff and other support staff
• Preparing and presenting budgets and  financial forecasts in relation to developing the Region’s future strategy
• Providing analyses and commentary in relation to accounts and financial reports within the region
• Compiling and presenting information on costs and contribution by country and product
• Ensuring that all activities related to the country comply with relevant local government legislation in the assigned location including statutory reporting and local tax compliance.
• Monitoring closely the financial status and exposures of the business, advising management where appropriate
• Collating budgets, monitoring and reporting on performance
• Co-ordinating activities with senior accounting staff in Corporate Head Office
• Organises and supervises accounting activities to maintain control and accuracy in transactions on a regional unit basis
• Supporting the local MD while ensuring corporate standards and practices are adhered to
• Assist the Group CFO with other tasks/projects as required
• Documenting policies and procedures related to the function

Any other ad-hoc tasks as required

Qualifications & Experience

• Sound experience in Finance and accounting within a corporate environment
• Sound knowledge of Asia’s accounting practices
• Sound knowledge of IFRS
• At least 7 years of relevant experience
• Qualified accountant, members of the various well recognised professional bodies.
• Practical experience in financial planning, reporting and control
• Experience of dealing with external auditors, regulatory bodies and bank officials
• Financial experience from within the IT Industry would be desirable
• Technical Skills
• Knowledge of legislative requirements in respect of PAYG, FBT, payroll tax and EEO principles
• Numerical accuracy and attention to detail.
• Intermediate to advanced skill level of Excel
• Intermediate skills in Microsoft Word
• Intermediate skills in Access Databases

Competencies

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Excellent management of time & Team
• Flexible approach to work
• Eyes for details & High levels of accuracy
• Self-motivated and pro-active
• Strong leadership abilities and experience in managing staff,  remotely added advantage
• Able to do some travel

We have witnessed quite a few disaster, man-made as well as natural disaster in the recent years. It was 9-11, then it was Tsunami that took hundreds of thousands of lives, then it was Katrina, then Myanmar cyclone, then it was China Mega Quakes.

It has been 16 days since the quake happened. Following the quake news in international channels, I am impressed with the chinese people’s defiant spirit for overcoming the situation, both the government, the army, the ministries, the agencies, the rescue workers of all types - medical, actually rescue, the counsellors, etc; the rebuild work…even the victims resolve.

Immediately after the disaster, the Premier swung into action, taking lead on the matter, leading by way of example. The tenancity of the army going against all odds to retrieve surving people; their commitment, dedication & determination; working in shift, labouring to open the road, getting equipment through absolutely tough area; erecting temporary tent for children to go back to school; the quick distribution of food, shelters, etc. Not only that, the China government all aspects consideration, eg. quick deployment of medical agencies & personels to ensure the prevention of disease outbreak. Best of all, I don’t see the same loothing & fighting like other incidents….All these without or before the international relief assistance arrived.

Through all these, I must say - WELL done, China !! Well Done, Chinese people !! You made your nation proud. You showed the world how well prepared, how efficient you are, how united & resolved the people of China in the face of challenges & difficulties….Amazing people of strength. Your unbeatable spirit is examplary. 

Role : 

Consultation for Application / Software Development

• Development (customisation/configuration) / testing / delivery of client solutions in the retail banking industry – covering loan origination, credit decisioning and credit reporting.
• Working through business specifications to develop / build / test solutions.
• To budget – working to deadlines – as part of a client / consultant team
• Production of business specifications for projects.
• Co-ordination of client’s acceptance/quality control testing.
• Monitoring of results to ensure that business requirements are fulfilled.
• Provision of an internal liaison point for business and systems requirements (re: a single project) to increase understanding between the client and technical staff.

Software Maintenance / Support for change/enhancement request

• Initiation and prioritisation of changes (“fixes”) to software / systems as a result of requests from the client or in response to request from support staff.
• Specification of enhancements and compliance with QA processes. Make changes to PC software.
• Maintain problem log in Problem Tracking Reporting System and Problem Status Reports

Customer Service / Support 

• Provision of a point of contact for clients. Resolution of client queries.
• Ensuring client understanding and acceptance of recommended/implemented solution.
• Management of the migration of the client from implementation to day-to-day support, including training of help desk staff and client personnel in use of the product/system/service.

Sales Process / Product Knowledge

• Analysis of client requirements. 
• Pre-sales software demonstrations to prospective and existing clients.
• Post-sale client meetings to review business requirements and project progress.

Administration / Documentation

• Regular reports on own work and projects to line manager.
• Project status reports to clients.
• Maintenance of client files.

Personal Development

• Design and progression through own Personal Development Plan following the identification, with line management, of technical or interpersonal skills development needs or lack of client/business knowledge.
   

Requirements :

• IT related degree
• No less then 4 yrs of software development / delivery experience
• Knowledge in SQL server (MS/Oracle)
• Experience in ASP coding preferred
• Solid understanding in Microsoft MCP qualified / IIS web server will be a strong plus
• Asian language skills an advantage (Mandarin +/orThai)

Desirable Skills, background experience in  :
• C++
• Java

• Minimum Undergraduate Degree
• Project management experience (optional)
• Optionally experience in the financial services sector.
• Good analysis and problem Solving
• Excellent communication ability & customer service attitude
• An fast adaptable and flexible person who is able to think out of the box quickly
• Good project planning and organising, monitoring and controlling skills, sharp & good attention to details
• Strong technical expertise background
• Keen personal development individual
• Customer service approach
• Mobile : able to travel regionally & internationally

 Reporting manager : Regional “Kwai Lou”. This position is part of a regional team.

As usual, you probably wanna know which company.  It is a MNC Vendor based in Ireland with their focus in the  information analytical tools and services to organisations, particularly FSI, to help them manage risk and make financial decisions. They have offices in 36 countries worldwide with about 16,000 employees, HQ in Ireland, listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.

Get in touch with me & lets have a chat.

Technical people won’t go far. Technical people’s career path is slow, ie. grow in their take home $$ is slow as compared to the sales people. Well, I beg to differ. If you are a good technical talent, you will have your career rewards. I have quite a few technical candidates whom I have placed with 5 figures income. As compared to the sales people, I think the technical people is indeed advantageous. why ? Well, sales people’s income largely depend on their ability to bring in the revenue in order to secure their commission income. It is indeed a very challenging task. However, when a technical people secure a high paying job, the % of varible portion in their income is comparably smaller then & more  in control for deliverable then the sales. 

So are you going to a well paid  techie ? We’ll see. If you are savvy, informed, well experience & well knowledge techies in the open source, your opportunity is here today to test it out. My client, a European based MNCs is looking at doubling the R & D team here in KL to almost 200 px. The 1st tier of people they need is the season techies in the Java arena.

Specifically, they want people who are :

• Energetic, resulted-oriented, ambitious, enthusiastic researchers with  appropriate Bachelor’s or Graduate Degree
• Strong programming, troubleshooting, analytical & problem solving skills (yes, leader don’t code but you need the strong expereince to be able to lead & be an example to the team you lead)
• Understand and familiar with SOA
• Understand and familiar with good Java software engineering processes and methods eg:
  o Design Patterns
  o Refactoring
  o TDD
  o Agile methodologies
  o Automation
• Familiar with three or more Open Source tools / Frameworks, including but not limited:
  Ajax, Spring, JSF, Ant, Subversion, Maven, CruiseControl,  Hibernate/JPA,Junit, FIT / Fitnesse, JMS,  SOAP, Axis
• Understand emerging Java Technologies
• Ability to work in a dynamic, fast moving and challenging  environment
• 8+ years experience

 On top of the above, you should possess the key skills of a highly qualified Java Architect/Technologist :

• Java Engineering & Design, ie,
  o Shows architecture decision making skills
  o Understanding of Design Patterns
  o Use of refactoring
  o Automated unit testing (JUnit)
• Hiring (focussing on selection of candidates as you are expected to hire & build your team), ie
  o Methods of determining technical ability
  o Screening of CVs
  o Interview technique
• Team Management, ie,
  o Control and assigning work
  o Mentoring and growing team members
  o Morale & driving the team (ie leads not pushes)

These positions will work under a well expereince open source technology manager.

You probably ask what does the company do. Yup, my client is a a global leader in providing information, analytical tools and services to organisations to help them manage risk and make financial decisions. They have offices in 36 countries worldwide with about 16,000 employees, HQ in Ireland, listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. 

Be one of the high pay techies ? Get in touch with me today.

The wind of change is blowing. And yes, that includes your beloved headhunter here too. J 

Headhunting has been a career of my interest & passion for years. An unexpected entry 8 years ago, set me to a path of no return. I am truly grateful for the opportunity given.  I enjoyed every bit of it. It has been a satisfying & fulfilling journey with many of you.  

Headhunting to me is not just about finding the right candidates for the right company & the right position. Although that will be my bread & butter. But it encompasses many other aspects such as getting to know candidates as a person beyond their job functions,  sharing their believes, their life philosophy, their fundamentals, their plans & objectives to a certain extent, their dreams, etc. So, I prefer to call it a special relationship rather than just mere business transaction trading professional heads. It is my wish & hope to enrich those whom I have crossed path with so far.  

It’s also a very fulfilling journey especially when clients are open in the HR partnership with me. That empower people like me to speak on behalf of the organization & to hire effectively, thus a win-win result.  

4 years of working with some really outstanding souls, I have learn so much from them. Now, they have ALL moved on to greener pasture, it is my turn now. Yes, headhunter can also be headhunted J. It is fun to have many options presented, both to be internal recruitment as well as similar role with various other search firms. It was a time for careful soul search. What I really want ? What are my criteria ?  

I finally bid farewell to a familiar place which was not the same anymore since a year ago. Closing the chapter to make time for a long overdue break before sealing my final decision.  

Now that break is over, choice is getting clear in the light of what I like to do & what are my criteria. Yes, I will remain in the headhunting, a role that I am passionate about, a place that I enjoy. I am slowly easing into action and will be on full swing very soon. I will in touch with you soon, else do drop me a line or two to touch base. Watch this space for new things & updates.  

At the mean time, be AWESOME !!!

Being in the search industry, apart from the privilege to know the candidate “life story”, I will also  get to know bosses in the market either from afar or closely. On the bosses end, I heard of many unbelievable stories and this week is this one :  

A candidate of mine shared with me that he joined this company 3+ years ago. At the interview, right from the very start the MD appeared to be a forth coming & upfront person. He was already talking about remuneration package, but mainly telling her how much she can earn with the company & bla bla bla. (Now, that when she think back, it was a sign of a over bearing, controlling person) The process proceeded to her meeting the country director. That meeting was a total opposite. It was a chat, practically a pleasant chat. To cut the long story short, she got the job. 

So, she went onboard.The first year wasn’t a pleasant year for her. She was under the care of another team lead. What she understood from the MD & Country Director was the team lead will take care of her mechanism to generate sales funnel. However, the truth was far from it. The team lead will only give her what he already mould on it for sometime which he didn’t see it has much potential for closure. So, the first year was rough for her. Nevertheless, her hard-work brought her through threshold point. But this rough year awake her to a painful truth. What does that mean ? Well, that is assuming my candidate is earning a “salary” RM5,000/pm and if she made a total quarter commission of RM35,000. She will not get RM35,000 but RM35,000 - (RM5,000 x 3) = RM20,000. Yes, it means, the salary was really an advance. In other words, my candidate is being paid on RM5,000 x 12%  = RM600 for the employers EPF contribution as well as a minimal group medical insurance that is equal to none. RM600 for a professional consultancy role which my candidate have to abide by the office working hours & report activities, slog in more to make the quota, etc ? Are you shock yet ? Read on.  

Well, I asked her why then she stayed on. She said she saw her potential towards the end of the first year. Her pipeline was strong. And the departure of the team lead also make it easier for her. True enough, she broke her quota & achieved 132%. Yes, she instantly became the favourite pet.  In Dec 2006, the government announced that employers has to make employers EPF contribution for commission earned. An urgent meeting was called by the MD. The meeting objectives was the MD wants the team to bear their own employers EPF portion. The reason gave was it is a big sum for the company to bear. Are you rolling your eyes & seeing stars yet ? Don’t bluff, I can see you from here. :) Good thing was, there were quite a few outspoken seniors in the team who demand it to be borne by the company and the MD has to burge. 

There were expected high attrition rate with this kind of scheme & arrangement. Come 2007, even the Country Director left for greener pasture. The Country Director’s departure sent a shock wave through the organization. My candidate said she later discovered from the market that even the people out in the market heard & felt of the shock wave. With the country director & a few other seniors’ departure, my candidate who has been there less than 3 years then become the most senior staff in the organization. The operation obviously reverted to the MD hands. After the news of the long serving country director tendered, the MD put up a pity party & tears front with the team  in individual seasons. He was using tears to fish information with my candidate & her colleagues, eg. telling my candidate that another team member told him the country director was approaching so & so in the team to follow her to greener pasture and asked if my candidate were also being approached.  In the desperate effort to put the operation back to the well oiled motion, the MD was tireless in revisiting his ex-senior employees, extending his invitation for them to return. His believe was they left mainly becoz of the country directory. (hahha, duh…). But non took his offer. (Doesn’t that speak a volume ?) After the initial havoc which rocked through the industry, the dust settled & everyone back to routine & operation.  His apparently good & kind investor & MD facet started to fade & true colours begin to reveal. You can read all about  it here.  

Of course, again, I can’t help but asked my candidate the same question : why didn’t you leave ? why subject yourself to his emotional & mental bashing ? Don’t tell me you see hope in him changing ? :) Well, the truth was my candidate has another great performing year of achieving over 100%. If she were to leave, the commission will go up in smoke and it is way too big a sum to let go. It was all her hard-work. So, my candidate began her plan of exit by working just enough to cover her threshold, get him off her back while waiting for the payout. Just as any business, there’s always hiccup. One particular deal my candidate closed last year has a little fallout & needed rework. Anyway, her diligent work paid off, the deal was restored. But, she has yet to see how far the MD will go just to rob the revenue off her. When she restored the deal this year. The MD cited the non payment on the previous invoice of the client as a basis, told her to treat it as a new work & invoice anew to the client. In fact, it is a slightly higher invoice value. My candidate was stunt. She can’t believe the MD would go against service contract terms & do this to an anchor client. At this point, my eyes was as big as Garfield’s & jaw dropped as though gravity pull suddenly got stronger. 

“Wait, the story not done yet” my candidate was on a roll. She was doing e-filing last week. As she was verfying her commission calculation, she suddenly came to a dark truth of her MD, the very reason why would her MD instructed her & the finance dept over & again to make it a new invoice. See, not only did my candidate achieved over 100%, she also broke the commission kicker treshold which entitle her for higher commission bracket. With the change in the invoice, she lost that kicker and it is amounted to RM38,000. I was totally speechless. What a daylight robbery. Do you call this guy crook or smart ? con-man or businessman ? My immediate respond  to my candidate was : aren’t you going to fight it back ? It was a quiet, almost similar to a pin drop sort of cold & chilling answer : “Do you think he will give me ?”  Furthermore, if I were to fight this with him, do you think I will have a pleasant & peace of mind exit ? Oh My Gawd, I rubbed my forehead. What a jxxx. How can this happen in the professional business world. May be I am still too naive to think this kind of thing doesn’t happen in the professional business world. I don’t know. I am confused. ”So, what are you gonna do ? Continue to work/suffer in silent ? Hey this is enslaving wei !”  “Nope, I fired him yesterday.” Wooohooo…..

My candidate has hardly taken any leave in the past 3 years. That explain her achievement. She has accumulated leaves sufficient to give a month notice and yet go off quite immediately. But the drama didn’t stop here. Apparently, the MD even got the cheek to ask my candidate why she wants to resign, why so sudden, what is her plan,  is she going join the ex-country director, etc. He can even remark, “I hope is not this morning mail. I have been very lenient, open, transparent & flexible, apart from the occasional breathing down the neck.” OMG, he called this occasional breathing down the neck & flexible?  Since my candidate has witnessed his MD of temper flare, raising his voice with other colleagues, his intention & how he handled & treated the ex-director’s exit before, she braced herself for sudden storms for her last few days.

True to her anticipation, the 1st storm came the day after she fired him. He called her to ask the same questions probing what is her plan, where will she be going, is she joining  the ex-director, what’s wrong and what’s really her reasons for such a sudden resignation (duh…sudden ? my candidate planned it for a long time. She has options in hand of competitors as well as endusers offers.),  what is her plan & etc. My, this man has no self awareness, hasn’t he ? He even has the gut to request for my candidate not to disclose anything of the company situationand direction (what situation ? that the team has dwindled from 16 to barely 7, all of which less than 2yrs service ? Direction ? what direction ? Is there any ? RFLOL) After all these, is my candidate that foolish to still trust him and disclose her plan ? Or does he such have low regards to his employees thinking they are such a fool ? When he can’t get my candidate to tell him what he wanted to know, again he rare his ugly side, accusing her that what she did is not fair for him, didn’t give enough notice for him to taper, didn’t give him time to digest & process, what did he do to deserve every employee leaving in such a manner, did he short change her anything ?He was already on a jumpy & raising voice mode as he rant on. I wonder what will happen if my candidate were to say yes, he did short change her the RM38,000. 

In response to his endless accusation, my candidate asked him what does he want. Apparently, he wanted my candidate to stay on another week, but can’t specify the objectives or purposes & what to do in that week and no mention to pay her to forgo her one week leave in this demand. His reason was he is busy running about, has many matters in his plate, cannot digest her resignation & handover. Duhh..is that her problem ? This man seem to think he is the ruler of this world that everyone else must adjust to fit his agenda and schedule hah. Anyway, my candidate has promised a clear handover detailed record & documentation to him & the admin. Of coz I believe she will do exactly that as why would she want to have anything to do with this jxxx & organization ? 

As I can see he has totally pissed my candidate off beyond amend, just as he pissed those who has gone before her. Although there is still a short time more to her last day and a month to go to final payout, she has already closed that chapter mentally & emotionally. For whatever his dance there on, it’s just not the interest & concern of my candidate. I wish her best of luck in her next job.

I wish in my search career, I will not have to refer or place any of mine candidate to a place such as this. A strong mental note taken of this company. I am sure you are interested to know which company is this & who is this man…Well, buy me Starbucks coffee & we will think about it…:) :)