Here to provide you with the tools to build a successful career

Share this |

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linked More...

Latest Posts

Archive for July, 2014
There are times in your life where everyone has an opinion on what you might decide to do next, or how you might go about it. Taking advice can be really difficult, especially when you feel it is unsolicited or inappropriate. So, what should you do?

I remember being 18 years old and applying to go to university, everyone had thoughts on where I should go, what I should study, what I could do with it afterwards. I had no idea. I didn't go to university, I trained as a pharmacy technician and carried on my life as normal, not giving university a second thought. Fast forward to three years later and someone close to me suggested I go along to a university to see what it was like. I went for the interview with the admissions officer, applied and got in through clearing, starting 6 weeks later. I never looked back.

What did I learn? That you have to make your decisions based on the information you have at the time and you have to listen to your gut instincts. I wasn't ready to go to university at 18 emotionally and although people who gave advice were well meaning I just didn't know where to start and it was all a bit confusing.

I see this a lot when talking to people in careers consultations - they are being given advice by the people closest to them and they don't know what to do for the best. My first rule in making a career decision is to decide what you want to do - don't think about anyone else, just for a moment. Ask yourself:

If I could do anything, what would it be?

I know, you still don't know! Think about what you could do if you weren't restricted by anything at all - change your career to something you have always wanted to do but never been able to, take on a promotion, retire! It could be anything. Once you have decided on that you may need to consider other factors like your family and be realistic in your expecations of what you can achieve (I will blog on this next week).

Want my advice? Take all the advice you can, so that you can make your decision with all the information you need. You are the one in charge of managing your career and therefore responsible for the consequences of your actions. If you want to seek advice, choose someone who has been through something similar as their experience will be able to give you good information, although of course it may not be exactly the same for you.

You will need to forge your own path.

What is the best piece of advice you have been given?
Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Jul 30, 2014 10:08 AM BST
In an ideal world the support we give you will provide the tools you need to manage your career; to enable you  to find the job you really love to do, the one which makes you bounce out of bed in the morning. Unfortunately it's not always an ideal world and many members we speak to are feeling overwhelmed in their career management.

Whilst we have developed a number of ways to help you manage your career, we can always improve so I have a question for you:

How can we help you manage your career?

Please comment, tweet or email your suggestions with what you would like to see from us. They can include, but are not limited to:
  1. Topics or subject areas you would like us to cover
  2. Methods of delivery you prefer e.g. phone, email, webinar, blog, video etc.
  3. Career events we could hold
  4. Things you would like us to stop or to start doing
  5. Anything else!
Thank you and have a happy Monday


Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Jul 14, 2014 9:50 AM BST
Do the words ' Please can you prepare/deliver a presentation on x' fill you with dread? Presenting is part of many job descriptions and one which many people would rather avoid. In fact when a team a team of market researchers asked 3000 U.S. inhabitants “What are you most afraid of?” Many named more than one fear but right at the top came speaking before a group, followed by heights, insects, financial problems and deep water. (Source).

An uneffective presentation can be unengaging, boring and can leave the audience wondering what the point is. With this in mind, here are our top five tips to presenting:

1. Prepare. What are the audience going to gain from attending your presentation? Also consider their position, existing knowledge, experience, number, and willingness to attend. Who are the decision makers?

2. Use an INTRO:

Impact Begin by raising expectations. Your opening must declare that what is coming is enthusiastic, relevant, interesting and dynamic. E.g. use a prop; a short story; a quotation; music; a good picture; a statistic; a question or other audience involvement.
Need Remind the audience why they need to listen to you. In particular how they will benefit from the experience.
Time Say how long you will be speaking, (and stick to it).
Response Explain when you would like questions. I.e. anytime / at the end. In presenting a proposal it is normally better to allow questions anytime as you can always curtail a discussion if you are losing focus.
Outline Tell the audience what you will be covering – outline your Structure
 
Don't forget the summary: summaries are vital for a professional end to your delivery. Repeat your top four or five key points. Leave the audience with a strong message.
Do not introduce any new material even if it was something you forgot earlier.

3. Keep it simple, the audience will not remember most of your words. Leave opportunities for discussion about detailed points rather than try to cram them in.

4. Consider your method. Do you have to use PowerPoint? Some of the best presentations I have been to have just been a single person on a stage; I was totally focused on them.

5. Slow down. Most people speak to fast, especially when they try and cram lots in. Take a breath and slow your words down - they will sound fine to the audience!


Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Jul 9, 2014 2:58 PM BST
Most of us have heard the old adage, "a problem shared is a problem halved" but how many of us share issues which affect us in the workplace? We might have a good old moan to someone we trust. Moaning about our situations is a natural thing, it can be a way of reacting to difficult situations where we feel we are not able to change outcomes. By moaning, we can feel some relief in sharing our discomfort with our friends, family and colleagues. But what if we stopped moaning and started doing?

First thing to do is to identify the issue. Once you have identified the issue, and in my experience the problem you think you have isn't always the underlying issue. The real issue is often the one which comes out 5 minutes before the end of a consultation/conversation! Anyway, once you have identified the issue, you need to find a solution. This might mean taking responsibility for your actions e.g. you need to actually apply (or even look) for new jobs if you want to get out of the one you hate. It could mean identifying someone who can help you and making the effort to ask them for help if you are sinking.

These things can be daunting, you open yourself up to others and I often hear concerns about looking silly or stupid. The fear of looking silly is often far greater than the actual reality. I believe in most situations that once you voice your concern you may feel that you're not alone; frequently others feel the same but similarly don't want to speak out.

Here are some proactive things you can do
  1. Make a pros and cons list for your problem and (try to) come up with a solution
  2. Set a clear goal that you can work towards - be realistic
  3. Do something that makes you happy
  4. Create a list of positive resources for those times when you need a boost

So I challenge you, do something today. Make a change, even a really small one, talk to someone (without moaning) because...... to give you another quote: "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate." (sorry!)
Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Jul 2, 2014 12:00 PM BST