How to Find a New Job in 8 Easy Steps Building Your Future Now

How to Find a New Job in 8 Easy Steps Building Your Future Now Deciding to launch yourself into the job market and find yourself a new job can be exciting and a bit nerve wracking. It is always a good idea to look at your options and find out if changing jobs is in fact a good idea or that you simply need to look for something else. Step 1: Assessing your current employment Before you jump into your job search you need to assess if your current job has any opportunities that need to be revised. Such as: long term potential for you. Sometimes a good chat with your manager can give you a new lease on life with your current employer. Step 2: Whats available If youve decided to strike out and look for a new job, put your feelers out. Is there any job that interests you? Also, do some research on the job market. Are jobs scarce especially in your field? Do your homework before you fully commit to a job search. Step 3: Resume preperarion Even if you decide you arent job searching after doing your homework, its a good idea to revise and update your resume. Add any new experiences, skills or education. Check out resume examples online or even consider a resume writing service. Step 4: Portfolio preparation Putting together a portfolio is always a good idea! Resources include: educational documentation, project details, published worksthe sky is the limit. You can use your portfolio during job interviews or simply at exploratory meetings to give potential enployers a visual idea of what you can bring to the table. Step 5: Compiling Resources Check out what every and all resources are available to you. That includes: workshops, mentoring help, interview prep, career advice, books, websites etc. Compiling this may take some time, but will really help you when you are full tilt during your job search. Step 6: Online job search With your revised resume in hand it is time to apply online! If you are looking for specific opportunities (a very niche job) keep your resumes customized to each job posting. Step 7: Face-to-face job search Its always a good idea to meet potential enployers face-to-face by applying in-person. Print a bunch of your resumes and hit the pavement. Talk to businesses and see who is hiring within your community. Step 8: Networking As you submit applications both online and in-person, go out to as many networking opportunities as possible. Talk to as many people as you can and tap into the hidden job market. Every and all meetings and get togethers are ways to discover job opportunities around you. Results: Dont give up on your job search if you havent found something or havent heard from anyone. Keep at it. Revise your resume if you must and always keep your options open. If you have a mentor seek them out. If you might need addtional help find a career consultant or job search specialist in your areathey might give you a new perspective to your job search and how to tweak it.

Ask MCG Fantastic Career Ideas For Young Creative People

Ask MCG Fantastic Career Ideas For Young Creative People Creative fresh graduates are asking what is there for us in the Real World? During the last few weeks, I’ve received a lot of emails from people who read the career section on this blog. Everyone wants to know which career path I think they should take. It’s difficult to advise people individually because I don’t know them on a personal basis. With that in mind, I’ve decided to publish a post that highlights some of the coolest careers around today. Most of them are more than suitable for young creative minds like yours, and some will even allow a good income for years to come. I don’t expect you to quit your day job straight away, but educating yourself about the opportunities out there is a wise move. At the end of the day, nobody wants to stack shelves at Tesco until they reach the age of thirty. It makes sense to start as you mean to go on. So, take a quick look at my suggestions and see if any seems appealing to you. Graphic Designer Presuming you are good at using computers to create stunning designs, you might like to consider a graphic design career. There are so many different companies you could work for that you won’t have trouble finding employment. Maybe you focus your time on creating logos for new companies? You could even do that on a self-employed basis if you use freelancing websites. Those of you looking for something a little more stable might want to find work with exhibition stand designers. Business owners spend a lot of money on creating the right images for their brand these days, and so designers are paid handsomely. You’re still going to need the right qualifications to score the best roles, and so now is the best time to book your place on a relevant college course. Independent Artist Yes, that’s right guys! Believe it or not, it is more than possible for you to make a living by becoming an independent artist these days. It might take a long time before you are earning enough to pay the bills on your home, but it is not impossible. You just need to create lots of cool art and then exhibit it in some of the most desirable galleries. Again, you would benefit from a qualification in the subject, but that isn’t the only reason you should head off to university. The art world is a tight-knit community, and so you need to network with others to make the right contacts. There are some fantastic artists out there at the moment who will never make a good living because they don’t move in the right circles. Session Musician If you have musical talents, you probably spend time thinking about what you life would be life if you became famous. However, the chances of you making it in a rock band are pretty slim, and so you need to look for more viable alternatives. Becoming a session musician is a wise move if you would like to create lucrative income streams from music. You just need to build relationships with people who own recording studios. Whenever they have an artist who needs some support, you could visit the studio and play on their track. Once you’ve been doing that for a few years, the chances of you finding a permanent position will increase. Who knows? By this time in 2020, you could be playing guitar on stage with one of the greats. Interior Designer Finding work as an interior designer is not difficult. You just need a good reputation to win the biggest contracts. To build that reputation, it is essential that you have a portfolio of work. So, you might want to decorate your family’s properties for free to gain some experience. On top of that, you are going to need a design degree. That is the case unless you are willing to start a small business and work for yourself. Just don’t make the same mistakes we’ve seen in the past. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen might think that every home should be painted in shades of purple and pink, but most people disagree. Comedian Are you always the life and soul of the party? Do people regularly wet themselves after hearing one of your witty jokes? Then becoming a comedian might not be as far-fetched as it sounds. Making people laugh on stage is tricky if you don’t have the right personality type. You must be an outgoing person with a thick skin who does not care what others think about them. That is the only way you are going to succeed. To get a feel for what the job is like, you should visit local comedy clubs on open mic night. After spending five minutes on the stage, you should be left with no doubt in your mind about whether or not the career is right for you. Actor / actress If you like being on stage, but you’re not confident enough to handle a one-person show, perhaps you should join a local theatre group? Acting is incredibly fun, and it’s a fantastic career choice if you have enough talent to go professional. Once you have gained some experience in your theatre group, you can start attending auditions for major parts. Most of the jobs that pay well are in London, and so it might make sense to relocate. At the end of the day, you are certain to score a decent role at some point if you keep trying. Taking some extra acting classes when you reach the capital should help you to network with the right people. Pick up a copy of Stage magazine, and you will soon learn about all the best opportunities. I hope you manage to find the ideal creative career soon. As a young person myself, I know all too well how difficult it can be to get it right. Don’t stress too much if you select something and then change your mind in a few month’s time. You have your entire life to find the perfect form of employment. It just helps if you can identify it sooner rather than later. Image source

How to Deal with Stress as a College Student

How to Deal with Stress as a College Student You have more than a million insanely funny stories about waking up outside after a yesterday’s party, eating nothing but fast food and doing all kinds of crazy things with your friends? It may sound like a good idea for a movie, but we’re just talking about student years. Everyone was there but only a handful of people know how to study and have fun without stress. If you have a headache, tachycardia, insomnia or some other symptoms like these, it can be caused by stress. The reasons can be different, including you being far from your family, getting failing grades and not having any friends yet. So, let’s see what tips for dealing with stress graduate students can give to freshmen. Sleep as much as you can (but less than Sleeping Beauty). It is no secret that having enough sleep is a perfect way to recover your energy. And conversely, oversleeping can result in all kinds of adverse health effects, ranging from cardiovascular disease to premature death. Try setting a sleep schedule and sticking to it, so your body knows exactly when to fall asleep and wake up. Of course, following this schedule will be hard at first but you need to try your best to be able to achieve the expected result. When you get used to this sleep-wake cycle, it will be much easier for you to overcome stress and always be in a good mood. Embrace healthy eating habits. As a student, you usually dont have time to cook. However, that’s no excuse to eat pizza, hamburgers, snacks, and sandwiches. Even if you dont know how harmful junk food is, it does take a toll on your your body. Try finding a cafeteria near your college or dorm where you can eat homemade food. Eat more fruits and vegs. Consider having cereals with yogurt for breakfast. Avoid alcohol and energy drinks. Go to the gym or do a sport. Doing a sport, having enough sleep and eating healthy food will make you as strong as Superman. If you dont like going to the gym, you can always do jogging in the nearby park or train at home. Exercising will keep your body trim and toned, and help you clear your mind. Manage your time more efficiently. Studying in the morning, meeting with your friends in the afternoon, working in the evening and partying at night? When you’ve got a lot on your plate, it is hard for you to be everywhere on time (or simply be there). However, you won’t miss anything if you create a plan and stick to it at all times. But planning alone isn’t enough you’ll need to learn to make sacrifices as well. For example, if there are several things you should do, you should pick the most important one. So, prioritizing is also very important. Delegate tasks. Lets face it, everyone has to figure out ways to handle times when theres simply too much to do.   There is nothing wrong with making your life in college a little easier.   If you team up with your fellow students and divide up one task into smaller pieces, it will be done in no time at all.   You’ll need to have   friends   who are up to the task to be able to accomplish something like that.   If you don’t, you may want to consider a custom writing service   to do your assignment for you when youve simply got too much to do and avoid stress. Find free time for hobbies. Having a hobby can bring pleasure back into your daily life. It’s also a perfect way to relieve stress and entertain yourself at the same time. One more reason to have a hobby is a possibility to make it your work in the future. And there’s surely plenty to choose from! Chill with your friends. There are many great places to hang out with your buddies bowling clubs, cinemas, night clubs, and even libraries, if you are a bookworm. In fact, you can do anything you like, as long as it’s not against the law. You should not get upset if your friends are in another city. Just get in touch with them and plan a trip to the mountains, ocean shore, different country or continent. Remember you’re young and free to live your life the way you want it! Well, there you go. You now have all the tips you need to live a stress-free life. Good luck!

The Perfect Student Permission to fail University of Manchester Careers Blog

The Perfect Student Permission to fail University of Manchester Careers Blog Lets make it clear, I dont want you to fail, I dont expect you to fail, and if were talking about your viva or any exams, it would be a really smart move not to fail... But if you always succeed, you may simply be playing it safe and not learning a really important lesson how to bounce back and try again. I reckon you have permission to fail if you: Try things youve never done before This is how youll stretch yourself, find out what youre really capable of, and potentially set yourself apart from other job applicants. Fail early and learn fast Spot when things are going wrong know when its time to stop and start again and dont repeat the same mistakes. Do what you can to reduce the cost of failure Fail when it doesnt really matter (remember what I said about your viva) and lean on your most supportive friends to put any failures into perspective. Are you The Perfect Student? As a postgrad, youre a high achiever, and theres a lot of pressure on high achievers to be perfect. Some of this may have come from schooldays teachers or parents focusing on the one or two subjects where you didnt achieve the top grades they came to expect as normal from you. These days, the pressures more likely to come from yourself. Perfect can be very limiting though, in several ways: 1. Constantly aiming for perfection This can mean you never quite finish something, or take an inordinately long time to deliver the perfect product. This time-stealer can leave you exhausted, with no time left over for more pleasurable activities or even worse, more important activities. Recognising when good enough is acceptable is a really important skill, particularly as you head into the workplace. If your standard is perfect, then youre not in a good position to judge when something is good enough. You need feedback from others who also produce good work, but who always seem to have more time on their hands than you. Nurture any friends who seem to do this with ease and pay them the compliment of asking for their feedback and support. Have a look at our handout on Asking for Feedback (pdf) for advice on how to do this. 2. Giving up at the first sign of failure This is also known as Im no good at networking (when your first attempt leads to a brush-off), Ive tried getting jobs in X but its no use (after zero response to your two, count em, two applications) or I cant do interviews (after one solitary rejection). Finding jobs in a competitive job market demands effort and multiple applications and youre unlikely to be perfect at your first attempt. You can reduce your cost of failure by starting your job search in plenty of time, so you can make your mistakes early, ask for feedback, improve your technique and hopefully be match-fit just in time for when you really need a job. Wouldnt it be better if your first couple of interviews were for jobs you didnt really want, where you could practise your technique without worrying about the outcome? Sure, some employers might not like this but they always interview more people than they have jobs for. Youre just testing out more jobs than you need! 3. Not trying because you might not succeed This might be responsible for that lack of crucial transferable skills on your CV. If you only try things you know youll be good at, youll never learn anything new. Of course youre learning lots on your degree, but so is everyone else. The ones who will stand out are the ones who have the courage to try stuff outside the norm. Personally, Id aim for activities where the cost of failure is damaged pride rather than loss of life or limb. Put in place recovery mechanisms, like friends who know youre trying something new, and who will cheer you on, or cheer you up, whatever the outcome and have a go. At worst, youll have a great answer for the tricky interview question, Tell me about a time when you didnt succeed. The importance of bouncing back The work weve been doing on employability has really highlighted the importance of being able to persevere and bounce back after setbacks. From the undergraduates weve looked at, being resilient seems to be one of the defining behaviours of those who get into good graduate jobs quickly, and I suspect that postgrads arent any different. If you need any more support in developing your ability to bounce back, have a look at our postgraduate careers guide to How to recover from setbacks. Post Script Its all very well for you, writing all this stuff Little Miss Perfect, huh! Exactly! Im just writing what I wish someone had told me thirty years ago. That right first time mentality never really leaves you but it does get easier. Even so, youll probably still need the odd shove in the right direction. My inspiration for this post was my lovely new sewing machine, and discovering that one technique I wanted to use (free-motion quilting, to get technical for all you crafty-types) is Impossible I just cant do it. Im no good with my hands. Ive never been able to sew in a perfect (ooh, warning sign) straight line, never mind flowing curves. That is, until I found a great blog post and video showing how everyone starting out makes a pigs ear of their first attempts. Their message? Its normal, its OK and to get through it, you just need to practise, practise, practise. So, like learning my scales or my times tables, Im trying to sew row after row of curvy lines, every night. Im still rubbish (stop that right now!) but you know what? It is better than it was a couple of days ago. Wish me luck. All Postgraduate employability

Dare to Express Your True Personal Brand - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Dare to Express Your True Personal Brand

Gone skiing - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Gone skiing - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Allrighty then, Im outta here. Id love to hang around, but theres fresh snow in the alps, and Patricia and I cant possibly stay in Copenhagen and leave those pristine slopes unskied/unsnowboarded by us. It would be against our religion. This time were going all out and staying for two weeks of fun in the snow. While Im gone, I have a special treat for all the readers of positivesharing.com: Ive snagged one of my all-time favorite people as a guest blogger. Thats right, the one and only Traci Fenton, one of the most determined, energetic, creative, fun, visionary people I have ever met, has agreed to blog right here. Traci is the CEO of WorldBlu, a company dedicated to organizational democracy. She is also the woman behind one of the best conference events I have ever attended, the WorldBlu forum in 2005. Its only fitting that Traci should blog here, because we actually met through this very blog way back in 2003 I wrote about a mention of Traci in Fast Company. Traci saw that and contacted me. Ive also pre-blogged a few posts of my own which will come online while Im gone. Through the magic of technology (start spooky voice) it will seem as if Im still here. And while Im gone, why not read my best article on happiness at work so far: Make your business rich and happy. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Why You Should Write SQL Queries On Resume

Why You Should Write SQL Queries On ResumeWriting SQL queries is the key to success. By using the SQL database language, you can easily access and manipulate all the information that you need to help your customers search, find and complete transactions on your website. Using this simple programming language is essential to running a successful online business.Through the use of the database, you can help your customers quickly access information they need, whether it is a query on information on one of your different websites or to fill out an online form. When you are writing SQL queries, you must make sure that the queries are filled out properly, so that there are no mistakes in the results returned to the customer. Therefore, you should create the queries yourself, while they are working on a trial basis to ensure that they are working properly. The next step is to run these queries on a test database until they are working well.When writing SQL query, you will first be asked to enter the company name, address, and contact information for each company. Next, you will be asked to choose a different company with the same name from the 'Contact company' list. After selecting the new company, you will have to select the product the customer wants to purchase. Once this is done, you will then be asked to enter the product price and add it to the product data.Finally, you will be asked to submit the customer's details for the transaction to be completed. After doing this, you can then print the details of the transaction. The final step will be to write a query that will automatically print the customer's details to the screen of the client's browser.You will be required to submit these queries to each client that is shopping on your site. Since you can now use this SQL query writing as a skill on resume, you should include this information on your resume.If you feel that the client has never been involved with your company before, you can use this SQL query wri ting as a skill on resume by including this information on your resume. Just make sure that when you are quoting your skills, you mention that you can write queries for the database, rather than your skills in general.Finally, writing SQL query can be a very useful skill for any company. This particular skill will enable you to use the database to search the various information that you need without having to keep track of many other tools. By writing SQL queries, you can access all the information that you need in a much more efficient manner.Having knowledge of SQL is not a new skill. However, when you write an SQL query, you can now use this as a skill on resume, which will allow you to get more job interviews.