Perceptions can be tricky. You may spend time trying to make sure that you act in the 'right' way around people only to find it's taken the 'wrong' way or you may think that you are naturally self conscious but others may perceive you as confident...as I said, tricky.

So how do you handle perceptions? more...

I thought I'd share with you this week the various things that we get asked during consultations and by email.  Today's query actually follows a consultation I had yesterday where the member was considering the pros and cons of applying to work for a big or small organisation.

Ultimately I think it comes down to personal preference as to what works best.  At different times in your career you may find one type of organisation suits you better than another.  Generally speaking larger organisations are more likely to have structured training programmes, more opportunity for promotion and better pay and benefits packages.  In a smaller organisation you are more likely to be involved in a number of aspects of the business rather than just one small function and therefore possibly have greater impact.

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When it comes to job descriptions I often get asked how much of the crtieria an applicant should meet to make it worth their while applying.

Ideally you need to be able to demonstrate at least around 75% of the criteria that they are asking for.  Don't be put off if you don't meet every single essential criteria provided that you can give solid examples of how you demonstrate the majority of them.  And by solid example I mean that you are able to practically demonstrate what they are looking for.

Whilst the selection criteria may have a number of essential criteria listed, it is likely that the recruiter will see some criteria as more essential than others.  It therefore may be worthwhile spending some time thinking about which you think are the most important criteria you need to demonstrate to the recruiter. 

 .  If .  .      What is worth remembering is that a job description is often written with the 'perfect' candidate in mind ............... and they rarely exist.  I therefore always recommend that it's worth taking a punt on a job because even if you can't meet everything listed, you never know you might just hit the crucial things that they are looking for.

Following on from my last post about working to live I appreciate that some of you may be thinking about going to university this year and wondering how much it is going to cost you! You may even be weighing up if it is worth going to university or whether it is better to go straight into work?

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In a week of unprecedented violence in many of England's cities perhaps there are more important things in life to worry about. To some people however money is one of them. Does money bring happiness? In my opinion it doesn't bring happiness but it does allow you to do more, but a word of warning, most of us live to our means, regardless of how much we earn. I have survived on £8-9k a year and been fine and now I earn significantly more than that I am still 'just' fine.

I am in the (possible) minority of people who genuinely loves their job, so much so I often don't see it as work, it's just something I do for a salary, and to be honest, something I often do for free! My family and friends take advantage of my speedy eye and constructive criticism when reading their CV; they look to me for encouragement and guidance when I coach them through interviews. But do I live to work? No. I enjoy what I do but I also enjoy having time out, pottering in the garden, spending time with friends and my plethora of hobbies.

I personally am a big believer that you work to live, not live to work and for me I would rather earn less and enjoy my job. But I know plenty of people who are the other way inclined, who are driven by money because they have to be (and some because they want to be). That doesn't mean they don't like their job but for them, it is just a job, something to pay the bills, something to get through, something they have to do.

This week on the Guardian website they have debated this very subject.

Do you look for salary or satisfaction? Comments below please.

I spoke to a member yesterday who was having trouble finding a job, they told me all about their background what they had been doing, how many jobs they had applied for, how many interviews they'd had and what kind of roles they were pursuing. All sounded very good and I reassured them they were doing all the right things. Then I asked the killer question - 'so, how long have you actually been looking?' more...

"The Government is focused on boosting growth and the Hargreaves review highlighted the potential to grow the UK economy. By creating a more open intellectual property system it will allow innovative businesses to develop new products and services which will be able to compete fairly in the UK’s thriving markets for consumer equipment."

So I am told from the BIS website but what does this mean to us? more...

We often advise that it can take around 6 to 9 months to find a new job and to expect that sort of time scale.  However, we do appreciate that it can be hard to maintain the motivation to job search, particularly if it goes on for some time.  I'm certainly seeing this personally whilst I help a good friend job search.  He's only been looking for a couple of months, but patience is not his virtue ...................... more...

The title of this blog may be a little extreme but spelling is important, epecially within your career. This article caught my eye this morning and I thought it might be a good blog idea. I am wondering if we have just become lazy in our attitude to spelling and grammar or whether it really is a lack of education? (I am sure you will comment) In my opinion there are no excuses, with the introduction of spell check and of course good old-fashioned proof-reading before you press send we should all be spelling words correctly. more...

I have some good news for you! The latest figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show a slight improvement in graduate employment outcomes over last year. For 2009/10 graduates it shows that within six months of graduating, 86% of UK graduates were either working or in further study, and 9% (down from 10% in 2008/9) were unemployed. Average salaries were unchanged at £19,000 (median) and £20,000 (mean).

There are interesting variations across the UK, with graduates from HE institutions in Scotland doing better than the UK as a whole, both in terms of employment rates and salaries.

If you want to read the full report you can do so here