Mediaboss Marketing

China and Vietnam: the first part of the final stretch on the road to Qatar pits Australia against two of the most improved and interesting teams in Asia. As has been the case for the past 18 months, however, Covid-19 casts a shadow over the qualification for the 2022 World Cup, and will continue to do so until it finishes we hope in March.

The global pandemic meant that the second half of the second round of qualification was delayed for more than a year. By the time it resumed in June, Australia had to play the final four games in Kuwait. As the first four had already been won back in the days of normality, Graham Arnolds men comfortably secured top spot and a place in the third round with China and Vietnam as well as Japan, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Group B starts on Thursday and ends with the top two in the six-team group going to Qatar. Finish third, as Australia did last time around, and the play-offs await.

The ultimate destination is Doha and that is also the venue of Thursdays game against China. It should have been Australia but the countrys strict entry requirements and quarantine inevitably resulted in the game being moved. Football Australia boss James Johnson spoke of the importance of home advantage in World Cup qualification, understandable comments given Australia have never lost a home qualifier since joining Asia in 2006 apart from a dead rubber against China in 2008.

Despite that win, China will be delighted not to head down under. Playing Australia in a quiet stadium in Doha is obviously a much different proposition than Sydney or Melbourne. Team Dragon fancy their chances in West Asia.

For one thing, preparation is top notch. Arnold must look at his opposite number Li Tie with envy. Li does not have to worry about far-flung players as only one of his 23, Wu Lei at Espanyol, is coming from overseas. All the rest spent 12 days in a Shanghai training camp before leaving for Doha last Thursday. The former Everton player does not have to worry about Chinese Super League clubs for the four games in October and November either as the league has been suspended from 15 August to 1 December.

Chinese preparation has, however, been good in the past but this time, the team is different. For one thing, it is a real team, with Li using the ample time with, and proximity to, his players to create a pseudo-club atmosphere and mentality. That was evident in May and June when China, desperate to add a second World Cup appearance to their 2002 effort, rallied from a poor start to qualification to win the last four games.

There has been much written about the financial issues in the Chinese Super League but there has been an upside to the departure of some big foreign names such as Hulk, Paulinho and Renato Augusto (the latter two were allowed to leave as they could not enter the country due to Covid). It has led to more of a focus on domestic-based players with young forwards like Guo Tianyu and Zhang Yuning getting more minutes, more goals and more dangerous.

If China are looking stronger than usual, then that is nothing compared to Vietnam. If the global pandemic means Australia have to give up home advantage in the first game at least, it also means that instead of having to deal with a raucously passionate 40,000 fans in Hanoi, who had been looking forward to a first ever home game at this stage of qualification against a powerhouse, the stands will be empty.

Robbed of their 12th and perhaps even 13th man, there is still plenty of determination in the lowest-ranked team in the group. Vietnam have often had talent before but a greater attention to youth development aided by former Japan and South Africa coach Philippe Troussier has resulted in more and better players like midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai coming through. Many of these grew up together and united the nation in reaching the final of the Asia U-23 Championships in 2018, the last eight of the 2019 Asian Cup and the final stage of qualification for the first time.

The hiring of South Korean coach Park Hang-seo in 2017 has added a harder edge to the previously genial Golden Stars. There is a greater emphasis on the team, on hard work and discipline. In short, a greater emphasis on winning. Not being at this stage before means there is little to no pressure but also little experience at this level especially against a physical side like Australia.

With coronavirus adding uncertainty and levelling playing fields, it has never been more important to pick up early points. For Australia, the final stretch of the road to Qatar starts in Qatar but anything could happen in between.

Here is the original post:
China pose real threat as Socceroos hit the road again on journey to Qatar - The Guardian

Berlin, Germany: It has been over 80 years since a Southeast Asian nation appeared at the World Cup. Such a dismal record is partly explained by incompetence and corruption, but now Vietnam is in the final round of qualifying for 2022.

In 1938, Indonesia, then a colony known as Dutch East Indies, appeared at the World Cup. Since then, Southeast Asia, a football-loving region of 650 million people that lies between India to the west and China to the east, has yet to return to the global stage.

While other smaller Asian countries, such as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, have appeared at the World Cup, none from the much more passionate and populous football ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region have even come close. South Korea and Japan have regularly profited from high-profile stars, but no Southeast Asian player has ever shot to prominence in Europe's big leagues.

A catalyst for change could be to see a country from the region qualify for the World Cup and capitalize on the platform it affords. Vietnam is aiming to do just that in 2022 as they prepare to appear in the final round of qualification for the World Cup for the first time.

It all starts on September 2 with a tough trip to Saudi Arabia. Millions of fans back home will be cheering on the Golden Stars and many more in the wider region will be watching.

"I have friends from Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia who told me that for obvious reasons of rivalry, the people over there won't exactly be cheering for Vietnam," Dzung Le, former CEO of Vietnamese professional club Pho Hien FC, told DW. "Overall thoughthey will be looking forward to seeing what Vietnam can do."

Historic underachievers

There are a number of reasons why Southeast Asia has underachieved in the game it loves the most. Dzung Le believes that there has historically been a lack of systematic youth development.

"As Thailand pushed for World Cups in the past and Vietnamnow, I think that most of the time, we relied on certain batches of generational talents, rather than the development of football in general."

Ability is not enough, according to Steve Darby, former coach of Vietnam's women's team who has worked in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. The English coach blames past failures partly on those who run the game.

"There is poor planning and preparation. Indonesia with a population of 250 million should be a force but they have chaotic administration," Darby said.

As well as poor leadership, there have also been examples of blatant political interference and corruption. In Malaysia, politicians come with the territory. Despite talk of privatizing clubs, most teams are still funded and operated by state governments and local politicians.

Thailand's most successful team, Buriram United, was set up by Newin Chidchob in 2009, one of the biggest names in Thai politics.

In Indonesia, Golkar party member Nurdin Halid was president of the football federation in 2007 when he was sentenced to two years in prison for embezzlement but incredibly, he was able to keep his job as the person responsible for football in the country.

Vietnam's chances

Vietnam has shown signs of moving away from short-term thinking and has made strides in youth development in recent years. The PVF Youth Football Training Center was named in 2020 as one of the top three academies in Asia by the Asian Football Confederation.

Former Japan and South Africa coach Philippe Troussier worked there until April. In December, 20 players graduated from the academy to join professional football clubs in the country.

"I am the head coach of the Under-19 team so I think I am also an assistant of Park [Hang-seo, the head coach of the senior team]. I wish my team willhave successes like Vietnam's Under-22, Under-23 and national teams in recent years,"Troussier said in 2019.

"Both me and coach Park have a common philosophy. That is to create driving force and desirein footballers."

Park Hang-seo became head coach of Vietnam in 2017 and brought with him a more pragmatic approach.

"Vietnam have improved massively and are now a true team, not just a team relying on individual stars," said Darby. "The reasons being that firstly they have appointed an excellent coach in Park and the federation have not interfered and allowed him to do his job."

2022 possible, 2026 a target

Vietnam is in Group B along with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China and Oman. A place in the top two would see them qualify directly for the World Cup but third place means the playoffs against another Asian nation with the winner playing a subsequent game against a team from another confederation.

Getting to Qatar would be massive for Vietnam as well as thewider region. "It will certainly be an inspiration for the generations to come," said Dzung Le. "Economically, sponsorships and investments will definitely pour in, which can be a good chance to develop further."

In Darby's mind, that may be one World Cup too soon.

"My heart wants them to, but my brain says they won't make this World Cup, but they should be planning for 2026," he said.

The 2026 World Cup to be held in North America will be expanded from 32 teams to 48 and Asia's automatic allocation is expected to double to eight. This means that Southeast Asia can expect a return to the World Cup in 2026. But for 2022, Vietnam provide hope.

Read the rest here:
Vietnam looking to take Southeast Asia back to the World Cup I Times of Oman - Times of Oman

SAN FRANCISCOand NEW DELHI, Aug. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Today Hiration, the platform that offers world class resources that makes it easy for qualified candidates to create the perfect resumes and find their dream role, announced it has raised $3M in seed funding from Prime Venture Partners, Venture Highway and Y Combinator, among others, to support further hiring and growth.

Hiration's technology flips the script on today's applicant tracking systems, leveraging AI and machine learning to help job seekers build and optimize their resumes to ensure that they rise to the top - providing a crucial leg up to applicants vying for the most competitive companies and roles. The company's AI-powered career ecosystem also supports job seekers throughout the different stages of finding a job, including drafting cover letters, optimizing their LinkedIn profiles, creating digital portfolios and helping them prepare for the interviews.

Founded in 2017 by Aditya Sharma and Anish Raj Sikka, Hiration leverages technology previously only available to recruiters and puts it into the hands of job seekers. The platform helps qualified candidates write an effective resume that is customized to ensure that it passes through today's tech-powered candidate review tools and gets in hands of those doing the hiring. While resume-building is at the core of the platform, Hiration also helps job seekers at every step of the process, from drafting an effective cover letter, to creating digital portfolios and preparing for interviews in their chosen field.

"Aditya and I met in business school, where we were given intensive training on the art of finding a job, like networking, writing great resumes, and preparing for job interviews. But when we were hiring for roles at our last startup, we saw firsthand how today's hiring technology is tilted in favor of the companies doing the hiring," said Sikka, co-founder and CEO. "We realized while people invest time and money learning the skills for their jobs, they aren't taught how to excel at the hiring process. We saw an opportunity to offer the same technology to job candidates, offering tools to those who may otherwise have been overlooked because they didn't have access to the same resources or training."

"Over the past 3 years, we've analyzed millions of job postings and resumes to identify signals that determine whether a candidate is suitable for a job or not. Making sense of data at this scale has only become possible with the recent advancements in natural language processing and deep learning. Using OpenAI's GPT-3 and other in-house machine learning models, we've developed a career assistant that guides job seekers in real time, while they are crafting their resume or preparing for their interview. As a result, our users end up getting better jobs in less time than they otherwise would have," added Sharma.

The company has partnered with over 80 universities and nonprofits specializing in workforce development, including Stanford University, University of Idaho, Brandeis University, San Diego State University, Indiana UniversityPurdue University (IUPUI), the Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board (SOWIB), and others, to offer new graduates and job seekers a leg up in an unpredictable post-pandemic hiring environment.

"During my years in workforce development, I have constantly searched for automated resume software that offered current resume formats, easy use, intuitive creation and innovative user experience. It was always a challenge locating any software of quality and most times a disappointing experience that became truly exhausting," said Nate Marsh, Director of Must Ministries. "That all changed with Hiration. It is simply the best, most enjoyable, modern, cutting-edge and cost-effective resume creation experience I have seen. The additional features and use of AI is 'tech at its finest'. Hiration goes far beyond other resume-generation software and, dare I say, even makes resume building fun."

While resume writing, optimization and design is the core of Hiration's offering, the platform's customized flow also offers job seekers additional tools like a cover letter builder, online portfolios, LinkedIn SEO optimization, and comprehensive interview preparation.

"Artificial intelligence will have as much if not more impact on our lives than even the internet. Hiration is using AI and ML to help job seekers auto-magically create resumes from scratch with little to no human intervention. Not only are these resumes much easier to create, they are in fact better than ones authored by humans since they are built for humans and software alike that are evaluating them for hiring positions," said Amit Somani, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners. "Hiration dreams of helping job seekers in all aspects of their job search process. They also have an impressive roster of world class universities, job boards and companies using their technology. Prime Ventures is very excited about this missionary set of founders as they transform the hiring market."

"While multiple players are solving for recruiters, we have not come across platforms which are focused on candidates and meaningfully solve for the entire candidate employment journey. Hiration is building a uniquely powerful, customised career platform for job seekers which is candidate first and tech-first, starting with an automated resume offering. There are strong tailwinds for this model due to the pandemic. We are very excited to partner with the Hiration team as they continue to disrupt the employment vertical," added Samir Sood, Founder & Partner, Venture Highway.

Hiration's platform is available to job seekers in nearly any industry for $39.99 for the first three months or $69.99 for one year. For more information on Hiration, to sign up to build your own resume, or to inquire about potential partnerships, visit http://www.hiration.com.

About HirationHiration levels the playing field for job seekers, offering world class resources to make it easy for qualified candidates to create the perfect resumes and find their dream role. By leveraging the power of AI and machine learning previously only available to recruiters, Hiration flips the script on today's applicant tracking systems, helping job seekers build and optimize their resume to ensure that it rises to the top. Hiration was founded in 2017 by Aditya Sharma and Anish Raj Sikka and is based in San Francisco and New Delhi. For more information, visit http://www.hiration.com.

US Media ContactErin First, Brick Lane PR415-902-5308317047@email4pr.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hiration-raises-3m-to-offer-its-affordable-ai-powered-resume-building-platform-to-job-seekers-all-over-the-world-301359214.html

SOURCE Hiration

See the original post here:
Hiration Raises $3M to Offer its Affordable, AI-powered Resume-Building Platform to Job Seekers All Over The World - StreetInsider.com

Welcome to the blog!

Tyrone go into this All-Ireland minor football semi-final off the back of a barnstorming finish to the Ulster final.

Two late goals at Brewster Park saw them turn a tight battle with Donegal into a seven-point win and secure their 24th provincial crown.

One of the stars of their team is captain Cormac Devlin, who said they proved some people wrong in the Ulster final.

He told the Irish News: I think we proved a point. There was a lot of people who maybe didnt think we had that warrior spirit when the game was tight to pull through.

But we showed that we have and it will only stand to us going into the All-Ireland semi-final.

I know we didnt get the opportunity to show it, but I knew we had a team full of dogs, who are just willing to work.

You wouldnt believe it, but we have matches like that every week in training.

CORK (MFC v Tyrone): Daniel Walsh (Douglas); Dan Twomey (Ballinascarthy), Shane OConnell (Kilshannig), Patrick OGrady (Killavullen); Sam Copps (Mallow), Conor Twomey (Carbery Rangers), Darragh OBrien (Glanworth); Michael McSweeney (Knocknagree), Rory OShaughnessy (j-c, St Michaels); Jack ONeill (Castlehaven), Niall Kelly (Newcestown), Colm Gillespie (Aghabullogue); Luke OHerlihy (St Michaels), Jamie ODriscoll (Castlehaven), Hugh OConnor (j-c, Newmarket).

Subs: Niall Murray (Killavullen), Fionn Crowley (St Finbarrs), Conor Cusack (Nemo Rangers), Alan Kelleher (St Colums), Dylan Crowley (Urhan), Jack Cunningham (Douglas), Olan Corcoran (St Marys), Niall Daly (Ilen Rovers), Bryan Hayes (Nemo Rangers).

Visit link:
Cork v Tyrone score recap as the Red Hand stroll into minor final - Irish Mirror

It can feel daunting to start a new business. However, when you get your team of professional, trusted people around you, it will feel like no effort.

With the construction industry picking up and beginning a very healthy climb, the future looks very bright. Therefore, you must make sure to have the following points covered to get the most from your growing business and keep your customers happy.

Regardless of what industry you are starting up in, the steps of gaining customers and keeping them are pretty much the same.

The best way in today's business world is to have a website and asocial media profile. A website is much like your shop window, and your social media profile is how you can connect with potential customers who are passing by.

With the website, you will need it to reflect your business and what you offer. It will need to be user-friendly and look professional. It is much better to get a web design business to design your website for you as most of the off-the-shelf kind can look substandard and may not fit well to your business. Getting someone to tailor a website around your business, including the functions your customers will need without extra buttons leftover, will give your business a professional look and your customers a good impression of you.

Similarly, getting a professional SEO business to manage your SEO work will do wonders for your business. However, just having a website is not enough. You want your potential customers to find your website, and that is where the SEO comes in.

Having a social media profile does help with this, but you will need to keep updating and blogging to keep it current. If you feel that this is too much for you to do timewise or that you will not have anything to write about, maybe outsourcing this part of your business is a good idea for you. Many professional bloggers are available for subcontract work.

It is important to have the correct paperwork to inspire your customer's confidence in your business. This paperwork includes thegeneral contractor license requirements by state. Some states require you to obtain licenses from either a state or a local government, and yet others do not require a license for minor repair work. Therefore, It is a good idea to check it all out thoroughly before you start working.

A knowledge of this paperwork and any other is a must when entering into this kind of business. If you appear the expert, you will gain trust from your customers and your workers alike, bringing you more success in your chosen field.

Ensure that all your employees are competent in their work and ensure their required training. In addition, You should make all your workers feel valued and be sure to praise and thank them when the occasion arises.

A happy workforce that works well together can feel like a godsend. However, a workforce with friction is an unhappy workforce, and projects will not run smoothly.

On behalf of your customer, it is your job to ensure that the project is carried out smoothly without a hitch and to an acceptable standard, though you and your team should aim for an excellent standard and settle for nothing less.

Read more:
Starting up Your Own Business to Support the Construction Industry - Industrial Distribution