Hi.

My name is Chin Xin-Ci, but do feel free to call me Xinch.

In addition to my résumé (Download it here!), I thought I’d let you take a deeper look into where I’m at and the adventures & projects that I’ve undertaken. I’ve sprinkled links throughout this page so that you can delve a little deeper into what you have read (or will hopefully read) in my résumé .

I’m a Psychology major. I am passionate about my future. the Internet. Malaysian politics. Design. Photography. And food. Specifically, good food.
I speak and write fluently in English, mediocre B.M. and some Mandarin, Hokkien & Cantonese. And for some reason, I’ve been asked to make PowerPoint slides since… forever.

Prior to this, some of my adventures include bringing together big brands and local celebrities for a successful charity concert + fashion show fundraiser, rolling out the online communications strategy for a non-profit organization, designing and marketing Psychology-themed t-shirts and ghostwriting articles & designing e-book covers for Internet marketers.

And then I graduated.

So what am I going to do next? Where do I want to go now?

Unlike some fresh grads, I did not have a set plan to move into a certain industry.

Until April.

It was then that I started to consider investing my talents in the advertising industry.

What happened was that I attended BarCamp in April this year. There, I met the strategic planning director of a big-name international ad agency. While waiting for a talk to start, we had a very interesting (and absolutely hilarious) conversation about Petronas, game theory & mate selection. The conversation piqued my interest on the kind of people I could potentially learn from and the sort of problems I would be able to help solve in the vehicle of a top-rated ad agency.

On top of this, I also have some curiosities about consumer behavior, brand influence and the future of social media in marketing. This, in addition to strengths I’ve held throughout my student life, led me to think that the ad industry might be able to provide me with the experience needed to grow these talents and develop additional strengths in realizing my true potential.

My next action was to look into myself to see what I could potentially provide to an ad agency. Now, I don’t know whether any of this can be a relevant to the ad industry in the first place, but a few things became evident in my student life.

I love working on stuff & getting things done.

I cannot stand to sit still and rest on my laurels. In fact, I get agitated. Before finals were over, I had already made post-graduation plans that included:

• Marketing my self-designed Psychology-themed t-shirts under the label Psychotees. Read more about it here.
• Ghostwriting articles & designing e-book covers for Internet marketers. Check out some of my designs here.
• Recently, I also undertook a project to help Agathians Shelter (a non-profit organization) rebrand themselves. Within 24 hours, I devised an online communications strategy for the home and will be executing it pending approval from the home’s committee. Read more about it here.

I’ve been asked to make PowerPoint slides since… forever.

For strange reasons unbeknownst to me, I’ve been in charge of producing PowerPoint slides for the past 8-9 years. I’ve produced PowerPoint presentations for…

• My high school principal for her annual Prize-Giving Day speech. For 4 years,
• My high school’s 110th Anniversary Thanksgiving session.
• All team presentations throughout my undergraduate degree.

I’ve proven to be decent at client service.

I was on the main committee of the charity fashion show + concert, Rock Up! 2008 (read more about it here). My role as an entertainment coordinator required me to act as a middle(wo)man between the organizers and the celebrities / performers / talent agents that volunteered their participation for the event. This was my first real-world attempt at coordinating the needs & wants of two parties (I was a student representative during the first year of my degree). According to feedback, most (if not all) of the voluntary participants of the event were extremely satisfied with the organizing committee and the event itself.

All this client-service training started out with a lowly sales assistant position during my 4 months of selling music to strangers at Tower Records. Read more about it here.

I have coordinated a lot of stuff before.

• Though I was not the official backstage manager for Rock Up! 2008, I unofficially undertook that role by ensuring all performers & performances were on schedule and delegating tasks to the backstage team.
• My role in my academic research team is as an organizer and compiler. For two years, I delegated, coordinated, pushed and compiled the final product of all my group projects. Take a look at some of the academic research I have performed here.
• As a student-rep, I also co-organized several social events for the department such as the department’s annual ball & the Acoustic-BBQ night. For both events, I took charge of the publicity / creative sections. Read more about it here.

Lastly, more than 100 hours of instruction on scientific methods of inquiry has given me an appreciation of data and quantitative research. Because I want to see results, I just had to take a test.

So I bought the book Strengths Finder 2.0, by Tom Rath of Gallup Organization. The book came with an access code for Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder (CSF) test, an online assessment of the areas in which a person’s greatest potential for building strengths exists. Based on a 40-year study of human strengths from the perspective of Positive Psychology, Gallup surveyed more than 10 million people worldwide, identified the 34 most common talents and developed the CSF, which has been translated to 24 languages and taken by more than 2 million individuals all over the world (Apslund, Lopez, Hodges & Harter, 2007; Link to full technical report here, a brief description of the themes can be found from PDF pg 34 onwards).

So according to the test, these are the 5 “strengths” that I have…

• Input
  People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more and have an open and absorbent mind. They naturally soak soak up information in the same way that a sponge soaks up water.
• Arranger
  People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity. If a team needs to be created, an Arranger recognizes talents, skills, and knowledge in people.
• Adaptability
  People who are especially talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to “go with the flow” and take things as they come. Adaptability talents give a person an even-keel mindset that allows them to ride the ups and downs without becoming an emotional volcano.
• Harmony
  People who are especially talented in the Harmony theme look for consensus and can work/socialize with just about anybody. They don’t enjoy conflict; rather, they seek areas of agreement.
• Positivity
  People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Truth is, I don’t know what the future will hold but I have a strong desire to grow and learn from great people and organizations.

Thank you for reading through my resume (download it here!) and I hope you enjoyed my informal and slightly personal cover letter. In fact, if you would like to read a little more about my projects, there are more links and stories if you continue scrolling down.

If you would like to grant me the opportunity for an interview, I can be contacted here.

Sincerely,

Xinch =]

Relevant links:
Read my blog here.
Follow me on Twitter here.
Find me on Facebook here.

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EDUCATION

BSc (Hons) Psychology

Graduated with Second Upper Class Honors (CGPA = 3.11)
HELP University College, KL
Additional Modules: Mass Communication, Public Relations Strategies, Elementary French, Public Speaking, Sociology, Intercultural Communication

I’m a naturally curious person. My favorite questions start with “Why?”, “What?” and “How?”. Psychology managed to answer many questions I had about humans and their thoughts & behaviors. However, it was never my intention to be a certified psychologist or even pursue counseling. But, I did not want just any certificate as a paper qualification for any future job application.

I wanted something real. Something truly applicable. Something different from the norm. I didn’t want to graduate with just about any degree. I wanted my job application to stand out. I wanted to study something that I could apply to just about any field or industry, post-graduation. Psychology gave me all that.

CURRENT PROJECTS

In addition to job hunting (which is a huge project by itself) I’m currently working on three projects simultaneously while awaiting my results and a positive response for a job application.

Branding & Communications, Agathians Shelter

Agathians Shelter is a a non-profit organization that owns a home for abandoned / orphaned children. I undertook this project, not just to fill all the free time I have now, but to also in some way continue contributing to the home and to the children that I have built a relationship with while volunteering there. The main challenge faced by the committee is attracting potential donors and sponsors for the sustainability of the home. Working alongside the committee, I have just devised and will execute an online communications strategy, which includes:

• a new logo
• a new website
• an updated story
• external communications
• building a community of volunteers / child sponsors through various social networks.

So far, I’ve created a mock-up of their new site and pending approval from the committee by the end of May, will be helping them build a community of volunteers and child sponsors.

Psychotees

Psychotees is a label producing Psychology-themed t-shirts, targeting Psychology majors. I designed the tees and marketed them to Psychology majors using Facebook and an online blog shop.

Relevant links:
Blogshop
Facebook Group

Freelance Ghostwriter / Designer

Since late 2007, I have ghostwritten / transcribed over 50 articles on various topics on online marketing strategies and self-improvement subjects. I have also designed more than 20 e-book covers. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

In addition to offering design services for Internet marketers, I have also designed several e-flyers for the local independent gig-organizing body, Project Bazooka.

PREVIOUS PROJECTS

Apparently, I was unable to be immobile even while I was in university. As much as I enjoyed the typical party-play-then-study student life, I was always looking for more. So, I undertook several projects in my free time and during my holidays to delve into social work, event organizing and an internship.

Rhythm Rascals

Creative / Photography

Rhythm Rascals was an independent and non-profit project I undertook with 3 other friends in our own time to spread music to underprivileged children to help them express themselves creatively. We brought a group of percussionists to teach the children of Agathians Shelter how to play traditional drums two Sundays a week from late 2007 to early 2008. Using our blog and Facebook group, we managed to gather volunteers to help us with our bi-monthly routine. Rhythm Rascals is now defunct.

Relevant links:
Rhythm Rascals Blog
Facebook Group
Flickr Gallery

Rock Up! 2008, in aid of Agathians Shelter

Co-Founder & Entertainment Coordinator.

What initially started as an outlet for the children to perform and showcase their new skills turned into a full-fledged fundraiser when we realized that Agathians Shelter was severely in need of a new home. Rock Up! 2008 brought The Curve, Calvin Klein, Naf Naf and local celebrities such as Amber Chia, Deborah Priya Henry & Stephanie Chai together for a charity concert + fashion show. Through sponsorships, t-shirt & raffle sales and on-site donations, it successfully raised RM40, 000 in addition to gaining media attention from TheStar, KLue magazine, Utusan Online & FlyFM.

Facebook proved to be a powerful and integral tool as it was the main tool I used to enlisted the voluntary participation of almost all the celebrities and performers. In addition to Facebook, a coordinated blog marketing strategy was utilized to successfully draw in crowds and the media for the event. It was through this charity event that I learned the true power and capacity of social media and how strong of an influencer it can be. To date, Rock Up! 2008 is the personal project that I am most proud of, and felt most fulfilled by.

Relevant links:
Blog / Website
Facebook Group
Photos of the Event
Gua.com.my’s video coverage
Dzof Azmi’s (The Star columnist) review of our event
KLue’s review of the event

MindValley

Intern / Research Assistant

During my 2007 summer break, I applied for (and successfully obtained) an internship with MindValley. For 1.5 months I worked alongside a marketers and technologists from 5 different countries to help build and launch a web 2.0 blogranking system called SocialRank. During my time there, I identified and analyzed top blogs in various niches in the blogosphere, learned of the power of Internet marketing and the importance of surrounding yourself (and partying with) with brilliant individuals.

Click here to download a referral letter by Mike Reining (the founder of MindValley & former Head of New Venture & Strategy of EBay Inc.), whom I worked directly under.

Tower Records

Sales Assistant

While waiting for the Psychology course intake, I decided to spend 4 months selling music to strangers. By the time my first month was over, I was also cashiering and in charge of liaising with music suppliers such as Warner, EMI and Sony Music to communicate and coordinate special customer orders.

WHILE IN SCHOOL

Academic Research

In the 3 years of my degree, I have performed 8 full academic research projects.

1. Family Connectedness & Social Connectedness as Correlates of Emotional Autonomy in Malaysian Adolescents (Undergraduate Thesis Research topic)
2. The Effects of Relevance and Humour of Captions on Memory of Brands and Products in Advertisements (2009 Outstanding Group Research winner)
3. Interactions Between Gender and the Inclination to Retaliate Under Provocation (2007 Oustanding Group Research winner)
4. Kiasuism: Hypercompetitiveness and Job Satisfaction
5. The Effects of Gender & Priming on Pro-Social Behavior
6. Gender & Ethnicity on Emotional Intelligence
7. Gender Differences in Mate Selection
8. The Stroop Effect

Our department hosts a Psychology Colloquium two times a year. My team won the “Outstanding Group Research” prizes in 2007 and 2009 and in 2009, I was among the three students who were awarded the “Outstanding Speaker” prize.

Student Representative

2007-2008. I was elected the Year 1/2 student representative in the annual Department of Psychology student council elections.

Function: Middle(wo)man between department and students to enhance student experience

Additional roles:

• Social Events Co-organizer
  I also co-organized several successful social events such as the department’s Acoustic BBQ nite and first Annual Psychology Ball. On each organizing committee, I took charge of event publicity which included promoting the event via flyers / posters / banners, Facebook and the department’s student network site. All flyers / posters / banners were designed by me.
• Resident Designer
  In addition to designing all flyers / posters during our term as Student Council members, I also designed and sold over 300 Psychology-themed t-shirts in 1.5 months to successfully to raise funds for the Student Council.
• Student Council Group Moderator
  I set up and moderated the online student council Google group where council members communicated their proposed activities, shared files and downloaded meeting minutes and important information.

Art and Layout Editor

2002-2003. I was handpicked by teacher advisors to be on the Art & Layout team for my school’s seemingly elite editorial board. Using my self-learnt Adobe Photoshop skills, I was responsible for working with the team to generate a layout for the school’s annual magazine. I also managed to obtain a large advertising / sponsorship package from KDU College, Penang for the magazine. On top of that, I dabbled in proofreading and photography.