This one is for all the recent graduates from UWI, UTECH and all the other tertiary institutions in Jamaica. CONGRATULATIONS!!! That was the easy part. Now you have to find a job in a very tough economy where there are way more applicants than positions available. Do not despair however, if you play your cards right, not only can you secure employment, but you just might secure a position that you are actually excited about.

So here goes yet another Life in Jamaica list of steps to take to get employed!

1. Identify your options
Do not jump into auto-pilot and start sending out applications. Take a day or two and examine your real options. What credentials do you have, what are your practical skills, do you have experience? Are you only prepared for finding employment, are there any options to create something for yourself?

2. Do the unexpected
If you decide employment is your best option, do not just do the humdrum cover letter and resume and send them off to Digicel, LIME, Claro, JMMB and the Commercial Banks. There are many smaller organizations that are not in the media everyday that are actually looking for talent (YOU). When you are compiling your hit list of companies that interest you, look also at the lesser known entities. You are not the only person with your eye on that Digicel Customer Service position, possibly 60-70% of your graduation class has also sent in an application.

3. Do a short course while you search
So the offers are not exactly filling up your mailbox, do a short course while you wait. Add a practical course that will enhance your position in your chosen direction or even step outside your comfort zone and start opening up new channels.

4. Volunteer
Volunteer. Why sit at home lamenting your lack of employment? Find an organization in your field and volunteer. You never know who you might meet and/or impress with your hard work and perky personality.

5. Create targeted resumes and cover letters
Ensure that the resumes and cover letters you send out are tailored to the position that you are trying to land. Yes it takes a bit more effort but generic cover letters sound exactly like the name…generic. Also recruiters are busy people; they get hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes keep yours short and to the point playing up relevant skills and experience. Do not put every single thing you have done and make sure it is of some value if it is to be included.

6. Address your application to an individual
Address your application to someone specific. Chances are if your application is addressed to “whom it may concern” it is going to end up in the junk mail pile. Take some time and do your research, get a name that has some clout that you can send your application to personally; keep in mind that people like to be referred to by name.

7. Entrepreneurship
Seriously consider starting your own business. Sometimes there are no beaten paths to follow or indeed the path ahead is filled with traffic. You might want to forge ahead by creating your own, or at least explore the possibilities. You may not have the capital to start up, but if you have a well written business plan and a great idea, convincing an investor to supply the start-up money might be easier than you think.

And for those of you who do secure employment, make your self indispensable in at least one (1) area.

Remember, when the axe falls, it is the dead wood that is chopped first.

Life in Jamaica is now Carbon Neutral!

The Internet weighs 56 grams (two ounces), but takes fifty million horsepower to run.

We do take so many things for granted without thinking of the true consequences of our actions. To be completely honest until I began reading this article I did not really give any thought to the actual cost of maintaining my website online outside of the real cost such as web hosting and domain name fees.

Thankfully by just this simple act of spreading the word I can have a tree planted for my blog and so move to negate its Carbon footprint.

We have also modified our website to “time out” after three minutes of inactivity by going to a darkened screen to reduced the amount of energy required to serve the page while it is not being used. Long live the Internet, Long live the world!

To all my readers who blog, please help to spread this message by making your blog Carbon neutral. If you need help accomplishing this I will be more than willing to help

- Dude in Jamaica

I drove through Sligoville today, not by choice but because Jamaica still has not found a way to construct a decent bridge across the Bog-walk gorge. The adventure began with two officers, motorbikes parked in the middle of the road.

“you have to go left, road close”
“OK, where does left take me?”
“Sligoville, it’s the detour”
“OK, are there signs along the way?”
“where do you live?”
“New Kingston”
“where are you going?”
“New Kingston”
“Where do you live”
“New Kingston”
“Oh OK, well when you reach the top of the hill, left takes you down to Red hills and Right takes you to Spanish Town”
“Thank you, officer”

He could have warned me, that it’s the second top not the first one that I need to make the right turn, or we could just build a couple of signs and stuck them along the route, Yeah Jamaicans don’t read but they didn’t have to say anything, just arrows that point.

The road was bad (worst than normal) the drive was long…very long, but between the beginning and the end, the vista more than make up for the negatives.
I stopped at a quarry and took these pictures to share.

[View with PicLens]

I drove through Sligoville today, not by choice but because Jamaica still has not found a way to construct a decent bridge across the Bog-walk gorge. The adventure began with two officers, motorbikes parked in the middle of the road. “you have to go left, road close”

« Galleries   Sligoville Detour – St. Catherine

In applying for a birth certificate you must submit the following information:

a. Name of child
b. Age of the child
c. Sex-whether male or female
d. Date of Birth
e. Place of Birth (name of hospital or address of home)
f. Parish of birth
g. Birth entry number
h. Parent’s name
i. Place of registration District of birth.

The birth entry number referred to as the “entry number” is the Birth Registration number and is an index of the birth. It is usually found on the top right hand corner of the birth certificate or the certificate of registry referred to as the “pink slip”.

If you do not have your birth entry number, you can complete the following form to request the information: http://www.rgd.gov.jm/?q=request-for-entry-number

Online application form: http://apps.rgd.gov.jm/web/Birth/lay_birthApplication.cfm

All children born and named in hospital as of January 1, 2007 are eligible for the first copy of their birth certificate free. This free copy takes approximately three months to generate.

Cost: $650 with Birth Entry Number, $750 without

Additional information
This information is provided as is and is subject to change: If in doubt please visit the website of the: Registrar General Department

A Work Permit is a document (card) bearing a number and photograph issued to an expatriate which authorizes that individual to work in Jamaica according to its stipulations for a specified period of time.

Persons seeking to obtain a work permit are required to make an application to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security through their prospective employer, contractor (individuals), the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro – Investors) or through legal representation.

http://www.mlss.gov.jm/download/Work%20Permit%20Application.pdf

Fees

http://www.mlss.gov.jm/pub/index.php?artid=42

Supplemental Documentation

http://www.mlss.gov.jm/pub/index.php?artid=41

Employed Applicants

1. A cover letter addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, 1F North Street. Kingston. The cover letter should be written by the local employer and should clearly set out the reasons for making the application.

2. The cover letter should also state the efforts made to recruit a Jamaican national to undertake the work contemplated and the expected duration of the work to be undertaken by the applicant.

Self-Employed Applicants.

1. Self-employed applicants should submit a cover letter outlining the nature and duration of the work to be undertaken. Details of investment proposal(s) should also be stated (documentary proof of proposed investment(s) should also be submitted).

Proof of Qualification

1. Certified copies of proof of academic or professional qualifications or letters of accreditation. A letter of recommendation or written reference from the previous employer of the applicant or evidence of the business/commercial/professional activity of the applicant abroad.

2. In cases where any of the above named documents are prepared in a language other than English, a certified English translation of the relevant document should be supplied. A Justice of the Peace or a Notary Public with a valid Commission should certify the documents. Authorized members of staff of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security may certify copies of the documents upon presentation of the original documents.

3. A resume’ outlining the professional or business experience of the applicant.

4. A police record

For new applications:

The record should be issued by the appropriate Security Authority in the country of the domicile of the applicant.

For renewals:

The record should be issued by the relevant section of the Ministry of National Security Jamaica.

NB. Please note that the police record submitted should bear a date of investigation not greater than one year prior to the date of submission to this Ministry.

Proof of Business Registration

1. Certified copy of Business Registration Certificate for unincorporated enterprises.

2. Certified copy of Certificate of Incorporation and the Memorandum of Association for duly registered companies. Articles of Association are not needed.

• Where an applicant is self-employed or where an enterprise is in operation for at least a year, or the applicant is applying for renewal of a Work Permit, a Tax Compliance Certificate should be submitted.

• Certified copies of pages from the passport of the applicant showing, (a) proof of identity, (b) passport number, (c) date of issue and expiry, (d) landing status in Jamaica and (e) relevant visas (where applicable).

• Two (2) photographs in the case of a Work Permit and one (1) in the case of a Work Permit Exemption. (See instructions below)

• The attached Tax Payer Registration Number (TRN) form, completed and signed by the applicant.

NB. Applications for Renewal of a Work Permit or a Work Permit Exemption in excess of thirty (30)days should be accompanied by (a) certified copies of current -updated documents where these documents have expired since the last application (b) copies of salary statement of the last three (3) months’ salary (c) cover letter as outlined in instruction (i) above.

Photograph Instructions

Photographs should be professionally produced and taken not more than six (6) months prior to application, with the following specifications:

1. It should be taken in colour with a flat finish against a plain background.

2. It should provide a full frontal view of the head, neck and the top of the shoulders with ears clearly visible.

3. There should be no reflection from eyeglasses or background shadows that may obscure the image.

4. The size of the face should be 25mm to 35mm, from the chin to tile top of the head.

5. The applicant should not wear any head covering while taking the photograph except where required for religious reasons.

6. Should be enclosed in an envelope and should not be stapled.

7. Should be certified by a Notary Public or a Justice of the Peace.

Additional information
This information is provided as is and is subject to change: If in doubt please visit the website of the: Ministry of Labour and Social Security

Everybody loves a good holiday! What’s not to love? You get to stay home from work, eat and drink as much as your belly can hold and laugh and talk with your friends. These days however holidays in Jamaica have taken on a new macabre twist.

Yesterday we celebrated our first official “Brudus Day” in commemoration of Bruce Golding and his henchman, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, fucking Jamaica royally.

This holiday, far from the usual script, gave us half a day home from work rather than the full day we have come to expect. Also we had no warning, no eve, no indication of the impending “everybody guh home early” to go out and properly prepare for the day.

So we celebrated “Brudus Day” for half a day, huddled in our cars, stuck in traffic, crapping our pants praying to get home before the “fireworks start”. The fact that it took some people up to three hours to travel 2-3 miles meant we did not get the chance to eat and drink as we would like, since we did not have a “Brudus Eve” and did not get a chance to stock our glove compartments.

“Brudus Day” did however gave us a chance to talk and cry with our friends, as we panicky keep calling, and Blackberry messenger-ing each other, for updates…weh yuh deh? Yuh reach home? Mi still inna traffic! Mi did jus downtown yuh nuh! Thank God mi reach home! Yuh reach? Thank God…mek sure de grill dem lock!

So how do we celebrate our next “Brudus Day”? Pretty much the same like the first, as this is a holiday that sneaks up on you like a gunman, without warning, without eve. But at least we made a carol we can sing while we huddle in our cars, stuck in traffic:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Bruce and Dudus are burning the town!!