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Archive for November, 2011

Article by Peter Whitehead

As new graduates get ready to develop their careers, they transition from a world where they’ve attained a level of comfort and success into an entirely unfamiliar one. Many of them think their hard work in university will automatically entitle them to recognition and desirability as a new hire.

But just as gaining acceptance into university requires an understanding of what academia looks for in a prospective student, graduate careers also require careful study and preparation. Here’s what to keep in mind as you go about researching and planning your graduate career.

Do What You Love

Before deciding on a career path, it’s important to research the job market and analyse your own strengths and interests to find out what kind of graduate career might suit you best. As a wise counsellor once said, ‘Do what you love, the money will follow.’ This is good advice when pursuing your graduate career since the likelihood of success and happiness always improves when you’re doing something you feel passionate about.

To help you figure out your preferences and steer your graduate career in the right direction, many university career centres offer free aptitude and personality tests. These may help you zero in on the kind of graduate career that fits you best.

Start Your Job Searching Early

Start researching graduate careers early, before you graduate. Keep a tight focus on the work you enjoy and then apply that focus to relevant academic coursework, an internship and/or volunteer work experience that can give you a “foot in the door” to your chosen graduate career.

During the final year of study, set aside some time to work on developing your future graduate career options, and make sure you have the financial resources to cover calls, trips and business clothes for interviews. Take advantage of graduate career counselling at your university career centre. Schedule mock interviews to polish your presentation and speaking skills. Attend graduate career fairs and on-campus recruitment events. Keep your academics in good order, a. And learn to manage time effectively between studying and exploring options for graduate your future careers.

Anticipate Hurdles

Be alert to potential challenges early on, before they become roadblocks in your graduate career search:

* Don’t like speaking to groups? Take a public speaking class or join a debating club.

* Is your wardrobe fit for campus only? Invest some time and money on updating your clothes.

* Not much job experience? Experience counts, whether it’s paid or not. Use time off to volunteer or do part-time work in the field you’ve targeted for your graduate career.

* Not well-rounded in extra-curriculars? Make sure you have the requisite computer skills, driving license or other practical qualifications that might help in your graduate career and job search.

See Yourself As The Employer DoesRemember, you’re just starting out on your new graduate career path. As thrilled as you probably are to have attained your degree, you are not entitled to have grandiose expectations at the very beginning of your graduate career. Potential employers are far more interested in what you can do for the company than in what they can do for you. Know your customer (the employer); learn what they need, and then market the product (yourself) as intelligently as possible.

Start Selling!

Once you’ve applied the time, money and effort to prepare yourself thoroughly for your preferred graduate career job sector, it’s time to get yourself out onto the market with a top-notch CV.

Stay Positive

When you’re competing with other graduates for a position, often the person with better graduate career search skills will win the job over candidates with superior qualifications simply because they know how to sell themselves. Keeping a positive, friendly and professional attitude can compensate for a lack of experience.

So as you embark on the searching for a job, make it clear to recruiters that you’re an easy person to work with and are always willing to learn. It can go a long way toward getting your graduate career off to a running start.

Related Career Articles

Article by John Groth

Career planning after 50 can be a struggle if you are attempting to change careers. With some work and patience you can find the right job and new position.

Midlife job change ideas and after 50 career planning comes in many forms. Here are five midlife career change tips and planning ideas that you should find useful. These career change tips are central to a successful career change or job hunt with the integration of work, financial and life goals.

If in your mid-life career change you neglect considering any of these important personal goals your job change could suffer.

By not doing due diligence and in depth research on your newly planned career you may find yourself in worse shape than in your old position.

Successful career planning after 50 must consider all the financial aspects of the new career. Will you replace all of your old income? If not, when can you expect to reach the former levels of income? What do you need to do to adjust your budget to reflect the newer lower income levels? Are you prepared to take the necessary steps to make it happen?

Is the new career in harmony with your life goals? For example, if you plan on retiring early and perhaps working part time; will your new career support this decision? If you plan on moving and living in a different area are there sufficient jobs in your new career in that area? Does your prospective new employer engage in activity that you do not look at favorably? Tobacco, alcohol, etc.

Here are the five job change tips to get you started in career planning after 50:

Tip #1: Anytime you current career is not meeting your financial goals, and your future financial objectives, is just another day that you push your financial freedom farther into the future.

Moreover, a job change after 50 if fraught with hazards. You’ve got a lot of time and effort invested in your current work situation. You financial obligations are greater than when you were starting out.

Don’t settle for a career that is satisfactory. Start your career planning now-overall it’s not something that can be done overnight. You don’t build a house in days; it takes time and effort and most of all planning to achieve long term career and financial objectives.

Tip #2: Many times loving what you’re doing does not equal meeting your financial goals. Although doing what you love is important make sure in your career research that if your become an expert in your new career that the financial rewards will follow.

Tip #3: Get the financial issues resolved and you substantially increase your chances of success in your new career.

To many times in a job move after 50 the individual quits the current job before having a clear picture of their financial future in the new career. Although, you can’t anticipate everything, make sure the financial aspects of the career change after 50 are nailed down.

You do not want to make a career change and then find that down the road you are just older without a proper level of financial resources to make a more desirable career change.

Tip #4: Dissatisfaction with a job or career can arrive in many forms. A bad boss, a business with a caustic work environment, a business with a bleak future, a bad overall area economy all are reasons for dissatisfaction. Perhaps the reason is that you are just ready for a career change.

Just be clear on your reasons for a career change. The last thing you want is a mid-life career change with a good boss, in a great company with a rising future and you are still dissatisfied. Not a good position to be in.

Tip #5: Don’t be in a hurry. A career change after 50 is a big step, full of financial and career pitfalls. Don’t expect all you job frustrations will magically disappear.

In your self-analysis if you find you need to change your attitude on job related issues-correcting them may take some time. Build them into your career plan after 50, gage your progress and work toward your overall goals.

Financial planning combined with robust career plan are both keys to a successful after 50 career change experience. Although financial planning is usually not enough by itself to guarantee a successful career change it ensures a smoother transition to the new career.

If your financial plan is working and you have a high degree of financial freedom you will have more career options to make the right career change.

Find More Career Articles

Article by Melanie Click

Nearly everyone wants to do their own thing their own way and this includes having a career. If you’ve never thought about what your needs are in relation to your career, then perhaps it’s time to start. Just having a career is enough for some people, but if you are feeling dissatisfied with your career, maybe its because your career has you! To successfully own your career and make it go in the way you want it to, you must develop a plan that’s right for you and then put it into practice. By thinking of yourself as a product that must be competitively marketed, you can get your career on the path you want it to take. They may not always be amenable to advice on the best way to do things. Perhaps they stick to the principle that there are two right ways to do a thing, someone else’s and their own.

To have a good career your own way may mean that you must initiate your own principles. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses could be the first step on a fulfilling and interesting career journey. With a little more thought and introspection you will be able to set your own goals and realize what you need in the way of training and skills to achieve the kind of career you’ve always wanted.

This career may not be different to the one you have already, but it may be stuck in a rut with no clear way out. But once you identify your goals, you’ll be able to develop the strategic plans you need to attain them. Your career is really all about you. It’s not about the training you did to get there or even about the company who employed you. It’s not about your boss or your friends or your family. You are the one doing this job and you must own it. If your career is not the way you want it to be, then you are the one who must do something about it.

Your whole life is about who you are and what your needs are. Your career should be an outcome of your own needs. For instance if you are the kind of person who to feel good needs to help other people, then your career should be in doing just that. You could be a nurse, doctor, teacher or advisor of some kind. All these careers are based in helping people.

If you’ve never thought about what your needs are in relation to your career, then perhaps it’s time to start. Just having a career is enough for some people, but if you are feeling dissatisfied with your career, maybe its because your career has you! To successfully own your career and make it go in the way you want it to, you must develop a plan that’s right for you and then put it into practice. By thinking of yourself as a product that must be competitively marketed, you can get your career on the path you want it to take.

Related Career Articles

Article by Psychics Corner

Choosing the right career that suits your knowledge, talents and passion can help you ensure future happiness, but it is crucial to make the most empowering choice possible when it comes to your career.

If you want help with your career or want to increase the chance of getting your dream job, a psychic reading can definitely pave the path by helping you to find a career that supports your values and aids you to achieve personal freedom.

It can also provide a useful insight into understanding your strengths and weaknesses which can help to focus your energies in the right career or help determine your ideal career path.

Choosing a wrong career can make you stagnate, so it is crucial for you to focus your energies with your interests. If you do not like your current job, it can affect your life significantly. Unhappiness in your career can cause relationship problems, stress, financial problems and health problems. By disliking your work, you block your energy and creativity.

A Psychic career reading can help you understand whether it is the right time to change your career and can give you guidance to choose the career that best suits your taste and needs. The right career can empower you to achieve a sense of happiness, and will help you utilise your full potential, and create a positive environment in your personal as well as professional life.

Although your career helps you earn your livelihood, it is not advisable to choose a career based on salary alone. If a job does not give you satisfaction or you do not have an interest or passion in that job, you will quickly feel stress, no matter how financially rewarding it is.

A Psychic career reading can offer the right answers to your career related questions like what job is right for me, do I need any additional skills and how to find a new career based on my current skills and strong points. In this respect a Psychic career reading can throw some light on the pathway to reaching your goals in your professional life.

If you have already chosen the right career, then a psychic career reading can guide you to get fulfilment in that career and help you live your life to the full.

A Psychic career reading can warn you about the potential risks in your current career so that you can get better insight into your professional life and take on challenges that come on your way more easily, avoiding the opportunities that look good but may be harmful in the future.

A Psychic career reading can also help you to handle challenging situations in your life without any stress, through increasing your awareness of your colleagues and employer, which can aid you to be more confident in yourself and your abilities in your chosen career. You can also make use of the advice provided in your career reading to make improvements to maximise your potential and success in your chosen career.

Psychic career readings can help you to realise your past mistakes and can give you the knowledge and preparation to grab the right opportunity when it comes along with confidence, making it easier to avoid a bad career choice.

Psychics specialising in the area of career can lend you a hand to help channel your energy in the most productive manner, so that you can climb your career ladder more confidently and quickly, using your skills to their greatest effect.

They can also let you know the qualities that you need to develop to achieve your future career goals, including overcoming simple obstacles that may be holding you back so that you can achieve the career you desire.