Category Archives: careers

careers, social networks

Using Social Media to Find a Job

 

job searchThese days the recruitment process has moved online, which includes a shift to social media. Not only do employers browse social profiles when deciding who to interview, they’ll also use social channels to advertise opportunities. This media can help you or it can hinder you when trying to land that dream job, whether it’s for a learning mentor or a care worker, marketing professional or a skill tradesperson. Here’s how:

Private versus Public

There’s a strong chance employers will try to learn more about you via your social media profiles. For this reason, your public profile should convey the right impression. If anyone and everyone can view your Facebook or Twitter profile pictures, make sure they’re professional. Pictures that reveal aspects of your private life show you drinking excessive amounts of alcohol or generally just clowning around are best reserved for friends only. This also applies to the information you choose to publicly display on your social profiles. Do you want potential employers to be able to see your relationship status, the bands you like or even your birthday? If there’s any information you don’t feel entirely comfortable with employers seeing, switch your settings to private.

An opportunity to network

Many companies use social media to head hunt as well as recruit. Setting up a professional profile can get you noticed. At the same time, you don’t have to wait for employers to approach you. LinkedIn is an excellent networking tool and there’s no harm in trying to connect with companies or organisations you might like to work for in the future.

Creating the right impression

There are, of course, social profiles you might want potential employers to see. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you’re likely to use it to network and hunt for jobs. This makes it essential for your profile to create the right impression. Choose a professional-looking photo. If in doubt, ask a (trusted) friend or family member which photo to use. You should also update your profile regularly, ensuring it showcases your talents and experience. List all of your skills and try to get LinkedIn references from past employers. Your social profile could be your first impression—and you won’t get the chance to make another one.

Employers advertise through social media

Advertising positions online is commonplace nowadays. As well as updating their website with job details, many employers add vacancies to their social media feeds. If you want to be amongst the first to know when new jobs come up, connect with employers you might like to work for via their primary social channels. LinkedIn is particularly useful because you can receive email updates of jobs in your sector. Some sites are even area-specific, such as S1Jobs, and following their social feeds you can plan your next career move within a particular part of the country. Perhaps you’d like to work with children and young people by becoming a learning mentor. You could use social media to showcase your experience to potential employers and hunt for jobs.

Whatever career path you want to follow, social media can help you land that dream job if you use it wisely. Make sure all the public information you display gives the best impression.

careers

Adding Up–Career Paths for People Who Work Well With Numbers

 

mathDo you have a head for figures? With a decline in people enrolling on maths-oriented courses and the decided increase in demand for mathematicians, you don’t have to be Einstein to work out that your future employment prospects look bright. It’s tricky to reconcile something as conceptually abstract as mathematics with notions of a career path, but your skills qualify you for a range of stimulating and rewarding jobs. Read on for some career options worthy of your talents.

Surveyor

Surveying is well-paid, specialized work, which can unlock opportunities for you to travel the world and see the great outdoors. It can take a commitment of up to eight years to gain the necessary qualifications, but once accredited with a reputable firm, it’s likely you’ll be in demand.

Accountancy

Wherever there’s business, there’s a need for accountancy and people skilled with numbers. Accountancy jobs open doors and those who have qualified as an accountant will have the grounding needed to join a firm and work towards partnership, pursue a career in finance or even start their own company. Although often ridiculed and stereotyped, accountancy is an inherently stable, well-paid and enjoyable way to make a living.

Teaching

If you have the passion and the patience, teaching is a highly rewarding, varied career option. Whether in secondary or higher education, passing on your unique grasp of a concept, inspiring young minds to blossom and articulating theories could be a perfect fit. What’s more, if you choose to pursue a professorship in Higher Education, it goes hand in hand with contributing your own research and theories towards your department, and being surrounded by stimulating and intelligent people.

Actuarial

Do you find life to be one big game of calculated risk? If so, your next throw of the dice might just come up with actuarial work. Analyzing statistics, solving problems and having a numerical mind are all prerequisites in your bid to provide companies with the stats and advice they need to make game-changing decisions. Although becoming an actuary will require you to immerse yourself in risk on paper, it’s a dependable choice.

Physicist

If you’re inspired by super-minds like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Steven Hawking to unveil the wonders of the universe, you may wish to become a career as an apex predator of mathematics: a physicist. Whether you’re seeking work in a hi-tech industry, research and development or astrophysics, you’ll have to be able to rise to a challenge, and nurture a highly inquisitive outlook.

Architecture

If you want to balance your mathematical skill with technical prowess and a dose of creativity, make plans to be an architect. This is one career path that requires passion by the truckload, taking up to ten years to qualify for and demanding long working hours. Competition is fierce, and you will have to relish teamwork to drive a project to its completion but you won’t get bored, and your work will be written on the skyline for generations to come.

Crunching numbers isn’t everyone’s thing, and that’s exactly what creates such demand for people who are skilled with numbers. It’s definitely the way to a successful and rewarding career.

careers, parenting

Helping Your Child Choose the Right Degree

 

degree
Image by Kevin Dooley,

It’s an important time when your child is just about to finish high school and is working out where he or she would like to go next. You want to let him or her make their own decisions and follow their heart, but you also want to ensure he or she is making the best decisions for future life and career. For example, when looking at degrees to study, maybe you want her to choose the chemical engineering degree, but she wants to complete an arts degree. It’s a real minefield: deciding whether to interfere or to let her make her own decisions unaided to choose the right degree.

You Know Your Child

You’ve seen him or her grow up, you’ve watched them play with other children and develop into the young adult they are today. You know them inside out, probably better than they know themselves. Children do value their parents’ opinions, even if they won’t show it. You’re allowed to help.

 Find Resources

You can give your child the resources they need to think through their own decision making. Send them links to quizzes online which ask them about their interests and suggests routes for them based on their answers. Find websites aimed at school leavers which outline career paths and which courses are needed to get to where they want to go. And then let them soak up the information themselves.

Go With Them

Take your child to university open days, trial study days, and guided tours. You can walk around with them, let them soak up the atmosphere and imagine what attending these places might be like. There will be talks about courses so your child can learn what their chosen course will be like, along with taster sessions.

Help Them Find Opportunities

If your child still isn’t certain, take a top-down approach: find out what career areas interest them, and then work out how they can get there. There are many work experience and internship opportunities available: even a couple of weeks in a role will give them a taste for whether they would enjoy a career in a certain sector. Do you have any friends who could offer them work experience or shadowing opportunities for a couple of weeks over the summer?

Ask Them Questions

Sometimes it’s helpful just to sit down with your child and talk. Ask them what makes them tick, what gets them excited about life, and where they see themselves in ten or twenty years? Bring along a pen and paper and make notes or draw a mind map: this is a great opportunity to be supportive and help them find a direction without forcing them where you think they shouldgo.

Support Them

It might be that your child wants to study a subject, and you don’t agree that this is the best decision for them. It’s okay to tell them how you feel, but ensure you’re thinking of their best interests: it is as important for them to study a subject about which they feel passionate, as it is important for them to study a subject with excellent career prospects.

Most of all: good luck to your child on their future career. With some guidance, they will make a decision which suits them and brings them to the place they want to go, wherever that is.

 

 

careers

Choosing the Right Career Path

 

Finding a job right after college can be particularly challenging for many individuals. After all, they have a degree but very little professional experience. In fact, the search for employment itself might seem like a full-time job thanks to the enormous amount of time and energy that it requires.

In today’s day and age, it is particularly important for recent graduates to choose the right career upon finishing college. But, how does one go about this effectively? Here are some strategies every recent grad should have on hand:

Choosing a field

eye doctorMany people start college without any idea of what they want to do when they graduate, but having some sort of idea before the job hunt begins is essential. While it may not be possible to have every moment of one’s personal and professional life mapped out, selecting a field in which to work is a good idea. Having a specific career in mind isn’t always necessary right away.

Often, it is the road less frequently traveled that reaps the most rewards, especially when it comes to one’s career. Being open to a number of different jobs within the preferred field also increases the chances of getting hired. This is particularly true when one wants to work within the healthcare industry. For example, working as an optician is a rewarding and respectable option. Check out Stanton Optical careers for some more information on this exciting sector.

 Do plenty of research

Just because college is over doesn’t mean the research and learning stops. Planning ahead and setting some concrete career goals are the essential first steps to landing the perfect job. One must understand his or her personal and professional strengths, weaknesses, interests, values, and personality. A self-assessment is critical in selecting the right professional path.

Network with others already in the preferred field

Networking plays an important role in the job search – it is actually the top job search strategy in every industry. Recent graduates should take advantage of every connection they have available, which means reaching out to friends, family, previous teachers, faculty, and employers in addition to utilizing their university’s Career Development Office. Connecting with professionals in the preferred field is also helpful, so attending job fairs, career seminars, and industry-specific events is a good idea.

Create an effective resume and cover letter

A good resume and an effective cover letter play an integral role in helping recruiters decide whom they will interview. Remember, these documents are the first impression most job hunters will get to make, so it had better be a good one! Cover letters must compliment the resume and highlight one’s talents and experience, but they should also be written with the specific employer and position in mind.

Look for job leads and start applying

There are a number of ways to look for a job. The traditional route of the newspaper’s classified ads works from time to time, but many college grads find work via online job postings, networking, and prospecting. It is important to widen the playing field and allow for as many opportunities for an interview as possible. Seeking jobs with large organizations and big corporations is acceptable, but applying with smaller employers may make getting started a lot easier.

On top of the above points, the key things to remember are, be persistent and don’t give up – with these thoughts in mind, a dream job will be gained in no time.