Prior to becoming a careers specialist here at the RSC my background was working in HR.  This involved considerable recruitment and lots and lots of interviews and it has always amazed me to see what people consider as suitable dress for an interview.  As an aside I've often been tempted to write a book sharing some of the humorous and disastrous interviews I have conducted - maybe one day.

According to a survey conducted by a careers management company 37% of employers decided not to hire someone based on what they wore.  It therefore really is important that you think about your outfit. more...

We all know job titles have changed over the years, although sometimes it's debatable as to whether the actual roles change that much. If I think back to my childhood (not that long ago folks) there were no mobile phones (well, not as we know them today) and no internet and so jobs like Chief Technology Officer or e-science specialist just didn't exist....crazy to think about that now.
My colleague sent me an interesting article which details what job titiles of the future might be...do you have any others that could be added to the list?

I have been saving for my pension since my mid-twenties, on some sound advice from a colleague in my first role. I don't really think about it too much as it seems like retirement is a long way off for me...probably 40 years or so! Still, it's good to be prepared, or at least feel like I am trying to be prepared!

In all seriousness though, it is never too early to start thinking about your retirement, whether it is planning your long term goals or saving for your pension. There was an interesting article in the newspapers today regarding savings in retirement and the Careers Team here at the RSC run events on retirement planning and this year we will be doing sessions across the UK at our hubs - contact us to find out more.

Recognising that trying to find the right job can be like finding the right partner in your personal life I thought I'd share this article on the Guardian website today. 

As it highlights, most of us want to find a role where our career is supported by our employer and this can be difficult so have a read as it gives some top tips to think about and could help you find that perfect 'relationship.' 

It even recommends one of the career's teams favourite books - How to Find a Job You'll Love by John Lees.  It's definitely worth a read if you are wondering about what you could do next by getting you to think about your skills as well as what interests you, both equally important when trying to find 'perfection.'

Are you a woman in science? If so, RSC President Lesley Yellowlees will be on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour this morning between 10am and 11am to discuss women in science as part of a feature on the Daphne Jackson Trust, which helps women back into science careers after a career break.
 
If you fancy listening in with your morning cuppa, or catching up later in the day/week the Woman's Hour website is www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb

When I ask people what they like most about their company the most common answer I hear is " the people". I am very fortunate that I too enjoy working in my team...especially as today my boss showed us how much she valued us in the form of chocolates...catering for all the dietary requirements in the team as well, no easy feat with gluten and nut and dairy free!
Making the most of my sugar rush I thought I would write the blog and so turning to my team I asked for a topic (not the chocolate kind, do they even make those anymore?!) and the suggestion came immediately....how does your team make you feel valued? more...

Following on from my blog on Friday regarding work life balance I thought it may be worth exploring something related - your values. Values are what is important to us and they provide direction and motivation and often subconsiously determine how we spend our time. They also influence how we evaluate our experiences, underpinning our beliefs and behaviours.

A value is defined in a single word or two. Anything longer is classed as an 'expression' which is more likely to be a belief. I was told that a good way to test if something is a value is to consider the question - could it be placed in a box? You shouldn't be able to put your value in a box as they are more conceptual than that, for example: happiness, honesty, security, success, recognition, winning, helping others etc.

Everyone has a hierarchy of values that is meaningful to them at a particular point in time. You may move your values within the hierarchy or even change them at some point but this is not a common thing nor is it easy; it is often borne out of a trauma or life changing experience of some kind. more...

I love my job, I even check CVs and give advice (usually when asked) outside of work. Sometimes I don't even consider it to be a job, more of a hobby. The danger is of course that my work life balance can become, well, unbalanced.


What is work life balance I hear you cry? It's personal...it's about being in control; the more 'out of control' you feel, the more 'imbalanced' your life will feel. They key to regaining your balance, so to speak, is to recognise the symptoms of when you are and are not in balance.

Start by considering what is important to you. This could be many things, your partner, family, work, career, finances, friends, social life, health...the list goes on. There is no wrong or right answer, as I said, it's a personal thing. You will find as you go through your life that all of these things will become more or less important to you at different stages.

Think about when you are at your most happy, are there any patterns? E.g. are you happiest when you are surrounded by your family? Is there any situation in which you find yourself unhappy? Where could you be happier? If there is more than one situation, which would make the biggest difference to your life right now? E.g. if you are worrying about your finances and you hate your job, which is giong to make the biggest difference? more...

As I look out of the window the snow is coming back down, albeit lightly at the moment. It changes the landscape so much, creating a black and white canvas. When the sun shines down it sparkles, when it is cloudy it looks like all the colour has been sucked away, depending on your perspective of course.

It is so easy to get trapped by one way of thinking...sometimes it's good to change your perspective and I have 10 things to help you do that...some more practical than others! more...

Although this isn't a specific post relating to your career, I wanted to blog on something that might be useful to you as part of your career development - think CPD....

The National Chemical Database Service hosted by the RSC is now live it launched on the 2nd January this year.

Who is it for? This first release will provide access to a series of databases and services commonly utilized by the UK academic community.  The previous service offered hosted access to a set of commercial databases – primarily to crystallographers and materials chemists. The RSC  intends to build the Service to apply to a wider range of chemical scientists, and to offer a solution to the push for data management, data sharing, funder mandates  and open science – so alongside some core commercial offerings we will develop a chemistry data repository for UK academia (initially), and to build tools, models and services on this data store to increase the value and impact of researchers' funded work.
 
What does the first release provide?
-          Access to a series of commercial databases and services. A number of these have been accessible previously through earlier variants of the CDS but new resources are already available through the new release
 
Later this year…
-          A repository capability allowing chemists to host their data
-          Sharing of data between individuals, groups and institutions
 
Want to find out more? Watch the video, read the blog, or follow the twitter feed @cds_rsc