Design your resume in a very convincing way. Not too flowery, but simple, yet compelling. Your resume is your ticket to a job interview so this is where you start. It doesn’t have to be in narrative paragraphs relating all your achievements. It should contain facts about you and try to keep it concise.

Study on Your Employer
Most companies require you to know a thing or two about them and the kind of job you are after. Therefore you have to do your research and study them carefully. Browse the internet for information on your desired company.

Emphasize Your Strengths, Acknowledge Your Weaknesses
Questions about your strengths and weaknesses are common in job interviews. Make sure to accept your weaknesses but put more emphasis to your strengths, achievements and excellent skills and how these can contribute much to the company. This is the part where you share to them what your capabilities are. Work on promoting yourself to convince them that you are that competent candidate appropriate for the job position.

Do Not Blame Your Previous Employer
Another question commonly asked by interviewers is “Why did you resign from your previous job?” When you provide a reply to this question, be professional enough not to bad-mouth or criticize your previous employer. Do not put the blame on your previous employer as to why you have shifted to a new company. This will only give the interviewer an impression that you are resentful and that you don’t take things in a positive way.

Be Confident
Build up the self-confidence you need. You should show the interviewer that you are willing and eager to join the company. Show your assertive side, but do not exaggerate things. You may come out as arrogant and aggressive.

Get Everything Ready
Before you actually show up for the day of your interview, make sure you have everything prepared—from your looks to the way you talk and act. With enough preparations, you can get through your job interview and who knows, you might actually land your dream job!

source:
The Daily Mail

Bernard Matthews may be receiving compensation of almost £670,000 ($1,300,000) for culling turkeys during the avian flu outbreak last month. More than 159,000 turkeys on the Suffolk farm were killed. The law allows for payment to farmers when their poultry is destroyed in order to prevent the spread of disease.

However, those critical of the way the Bernard Matthews farm was managed feel that instead of receiving money, the Company should be fined and possibly prosecuted. It is felt that poor sanitary conditions, along with sloppy handling of infected meat scraps, likely brought into the U.K. from Hungary and spread by scavaging wild animals, contaminated the sheds housing turkeys.

Ben Bradshaw, Minister for animal welfare, stated, “The Animal Health Act 1981 requires compensation to be paid for all healthy birds slaughtered for disease control purposes at the value of the bird immediately before slaughter. This applies to all birds suffering from any strain of avian influenza regardless of whether it is high or low pathogenicity. We also compensate for eggs or other property that is seized and destroyed.”

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source:
Daily Mail

Poultry farms in Dorset will be checked for any signs of the H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus after three swans tested positive for the disease. The dead swans were found on the Abbotsbury Swannery during a planned inspection.

The general manager at Abbotsbury, John Houston, stated, “Our main concern is the welfare of the swans, our staff and the general public. We are working closely with Defra to ensure that this outbreak is contained and that the number of swans affected is limited.”

Although the risk of infection is thought to be very remote, precautions are being taken, and workers have been given Tamiflu. Bird gatherings and hunting in the local area have been banned, and Government officials will begin inspecting poultry farms in the region for signs of the virus.

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source:
Daily Mail

British scientists at Acambis in Cambridge have developed an all encompassing flu shot, two injections of which could provide immunity against a wide variety of flu viruses, including the avian flu. Human trials in the U.S. have shown this vaccine to be effective in 90% of cases. It appears to have raised the levels of antibodies in the majority of test subjects.

This vaccine is quick to produce and, in the event of an avian flu outbreak, can be made rapidly in quantity. Known as ACAMFLU-A, it will go through several more years of testing before being brought to the marketplace.

Britain’s leading flu expert, John Oxford, stated: “There is nothing wrong with having a holy grail, something to aim for. If this can be grasped, it would be a wonderful beginning to the new year.”

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source:
Daily Mail

The H5N1 strain of avian flu virus has been discovered in Norfolk and Suffolk, affecting five million ducks, geese, chickens, and turkeys. More than 6,000 free range poultry have been culled at Redgrave Park Farm, a Gressingham Foods farm situated near a wildfowl lake. There is concern for 90 other nearby farms, where wild birds could be spreading the disease. This current outbreak could potentially contaminate 25 million birds. Hilary Benn, the Food and Farming Secretary, expressed fears that the outbreaks could continue.

A major concern is that this strain of avian flu, while not contagious for humans, will mutate into one that is. That would put hundreds of thousands of people at risk. Thus far, there have been 300 human deaths linked to the H5N1 strain of avian flu. However, there is no indication that people will get sick from eating properly cooked fowl. Despite this, poultry farmers are worried that that the population will find something else for their holiday tables, and that will have devastating consequences for the industry.

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source:
ITV News

Bernard Matthews is to receive nearly £600,000 ($1.2 million) for the approximately 160,000 turkeys that were killed at the farm in Suffolk during the bird flu outbreak there in February. It is thought that the disease came from infected turkey meat imported from Hungary, but no direct source has been proven. Compensation is provided for any healthy animals slaughtered to prevent the spread of disease.

Ben Bradshaw, the Animal Health Minister, stated, “Although we cannot be sure how the outbreak happened, this episode reflects the need for constant vigilance, high levels of biosecurity and robust and well developed contingency planning in dealing with animal disease outbreaks.”

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source:
ITV News

According to the Food Standards Agency, the Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk, which was the site of a recent avian flu outbreak, will not face criminal charges because of “insufficient evidence” for the way food waste products were handled. The Agency stated, “We have carefully scrutinised and considered the evidence in this case and concluded there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction. Accordingly, we have decided not to proceed to a prosecution in this case.”

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source:
ITV News

It has been revealed that during the outbreak of avian flu at Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk last month, 757 tons of turkey from the UK and 93 tons from Hungary, as well as 50 tons of chicken from Brazil were processed there. It was assumed that the entire facility was closed as soon as the avian flu virus was confirmed. The Food Standards Agency insisted that any processing took place away from the contaminated areas of the property, and no one was at risk.

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source:
The London Times Online

An outbreak of avian flu has been confirmed at two chicken farms within 30 miles of Moscow, the first time this virus has been found so close to the capital. Testing is underway for more than 5,000 residents of the region. It had been determined that the avian flu virus first appeared at a bird market in Moscow, and during the last ten days, more than 150 birds on private farms have died.

Nikolai Vlasov, director of veterinary inspection for Russia’s state agricultural agency, stated,
“From the very beginning we have been taking safety measures, assuming that it was this strain, so the confirmation does not change anything.”

The director of World Health Organization’s bird flu program in Russia, Sergei Yeremin, issued this statement. “There have been no cases of human infection in Russia, though it is located in a migratory zone for wild birds. This is one of the signs that Russia is ready. What worries us more is the source of the infected birds, how they wound up at the market.”

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source:
ITV News

Sales are down 40% on turkey products produced by Bernard Matthews farms, and turkey among all producers is seeing a 30% decline since the discovery of avian flu virus on a Matthews farm in Suffolk. No surprise there. The week after the avian flu scare, £2.4 million (or approximately $4.7 million) was spent on fresh turkey, a drop of £1 million (or nearly $1.98 million) from the week prior to the incident. Sales of fresh chickens were also down by £2.5 million, or nearly $5 million for that week. These statistics come from market research prepared by AC Nielsen, using scanned data from the major supermarkets throughout Britain.

An AC Neilsen spokesperson said, “Despite experts assuring the public that there is no risk of humans contracting avian flu via the food chain we have still recorded a significant drop in turkey sales.”

This decline also translates into job loss for hundreds of people. Initial lay-offs of 130 people from Bernard Matthews are planned, with an additional 400 to 500 jobs at risk, depending upon market conditions. Union representatives want Government compensation for the industry.

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