By Wong Kim Hoh

WITH a solid career in IT behind him, Mr Daniel Soh reckoned getting a new job after his old firm went belly up would be a piece of cake. A large slice of humble pie was more like it.

One dispiriting month and 20 fruitless job applications later, Mr Soh knew he needed help and called on Mr Ho Ah Chuan for help.

Mr Ho, better known as AC, has seen a few recessions in his more than four decades at the sharp end of the employment market. So Mr Soh's plight was hardly going to faze him.

The 65-year-old training and development consultant spent several sessions working through the technical support manager's strengths and weaknesses, reworking his resume and teaching him how to field questions at an interview.

'I've been working for more than 15 years and I thought my resume was pretty kilat,' Mr Soh says, using the Malay term for polished.

'But after AC went through it, I realised how inadequate it was. Among other things, he taught me how to highlight my achievements and the projects I handled, instead of just describing my duties.'

The usual fee for advice from someone like Mr Ho - he has vast human resource experience in corporations like the National Productivity Board and Electronic Data Systems Corporation - would be about $5,000.

But Mr Ho, principal consultant of newly established leadership firm Gritti Consulting, did not charge Mr Soh a cent. He even went one further and sent out feelers to his vast network of contacts.

A month later, Mr Soh, whose wife gave up teaching to look after their three children aged between 11 and 16, nabbed an interview.

'There were about five other shortlisted candidates, all of them younger. But I think AC's coaching really helped and I aced it,' says Mr Soh, who now manages the helpdesk of a multinational firm.

'I'm really grateful to him because more than just helping me get a job, he also taught me not to view myself as useless.'

Mr Ho said helping the likes of Mr Soh makes him happy and brings him fulfilment.

About a decade ago, the father of two grown-up daughters drew up a list of 10 things to do before he dies.

One was to help people make life better. In 2007, he and his wife Helen, a retired teacher, decided to take two years off to hold free workshops and one-on-one consultations to help people find jobs, upgrade or be self-employed.

'It is my area of expertise,' says Mr Ho, who, together with Member of Parliament Denise Phua, was a founding member of the Centre of Effective Leadership that was sold to Right Management in 2005.

The two-day workshops comprising components on resume-writing, interview techniques and strengths assessment were held once a quarter on weekends at The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Bukit Timah Road.

'It was also open to the public as there was a lot of word-of-mouth. We welcomed everybody,' says Mr Ho, adding that each session attracted about 30 people. In between, he would offer one-on-one consultations to those who needed them.

Just as his two-year stint neared its end, the recession hit.

'I feel obligated to continue because the need for what I can offer is now even more critical,' he explains.

He has been kept busy with calls and e-mail from people referred to him by friends and those who have gone through his workshops.

While he can fine-tune resumes, hone interview skills and perform other services, Mr Ho stresses that he is not a one-man job placement agency.

'You don't come to me and say, 'I want a job, can you get me a job?' That's not how I work,' he says.

'I help you find your strengths and give you the skills so that you can go and look for one.'

He reels off examples of the people he is helping, including a radio executive axed recently and a businessman contemplating a career change.

He has already discussed the idea of more workshops with his church and is ready to conduct them free of charge for organisations such as the NTUC.

A poor boy who made good, he is a firm believer in community service and has served on the boards of the National Council of Social Service as well as the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises, Score.

The eldest of six siblings, Mr Ho learnt to be responsible early after his father died when he was 11.

Raised by his washerwoman mother and a kind uncle, he became a teacher after his O levels and took his A levels as a private candidate.

'I wrote several school textbooks on metalwork and technical drawing so that I could earn enough money to get married and get a degree from Brigham-Young University in Utah,' says Mr Ho, who married at 24 and graduated with a Master's in Education a couple of years later.

After a stint as director of planning at the Institute of Education, he moved into the private sector, focusing on training and human resource development.

He believes there are four stages of contribution in a person's life.

'First you learn, then you perform, then you coach and mentor and finally you lead, strategise and create things of value.'

It explains why one of the targets on his 10 things-to-do list is to mentor 10 young people - 'people who are earnest, have a purpose in life, and to whom I can add value'.

He does not seek them out but there is no lack of candidates, as people who have heard of him are always keen to seek his advice.

'When a teacher is ready, his student will appear. And vice-versa,' he says, adding that he has already coached four young people, including a bank officer.

'We go for long walks in Kent Ridge a couple of times a month and as we walk, I listen to him, teach him how to work with clients and how to network,' says Mr Ho.

He is moving into stage four of his life: creating things of value.

The free employment workshops are his first step but there is a far more ambitious project under way: The No-Bells Prize.

Using the Nobel Prize as inspiration, Mr Ho hit on the idea of saluting 'unsung heroes who give their time, energy, devotion, love, service and care for others' in Singapore.

One person identifies a deserving candidate, 'enrols' nine other donors - each contributing $100 - and together they bestow The No Bells award.

'No bells, no whistles, no pomp and no TV cameras. Just a simple gathering of friends, well-wishers and supporters to say, 'Thank you for what you have done, and here is a token of our appreciation',' says Mr Ho.

He started the ball rolling last December by getting a group to honour Sister Grace Lai, a former nun and school principal who now devotes her life to taking care of orphans and finding homes for abandoned children.

The idea has fired many people's imagination.

Last week, Ms Jennifer Yin, a director at the National Library Board, rounded up nine of her friends to salute Mr Wee Kok Wei, a general worker at the Northpoint Cold Storage supermarket.

Mr Wee, 37, suffers from cerebral palsy but takes care of two disabled siblings.

Ms Lee Siew Yian, 35, an account manager at SingTel, who attended Mr Wee's presentation last week, says: 'I think it's a fantastic way to spread kindness.

'It is especially uplifting in this recession, when many people are so bogged down by their own problems like wage cuts, that they forget those who need help the most, people like Kok Wei.'

Indeed, Mr Ho says people who are affected by the recession would do well to help others.

'Instead of lamenting, look for things you can do like helping other people, because when you do you will forget your own problems,' he says.

'When you do the right thing, everything else will fall into place.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.