The Power of Wisdom and Humour

We all know the expression “lies, damned lies and statistics”that was popularised by Mark Twain in “Chapters from my Autobiography.

Regrettably the ONS (Office of National Statistics) has issued what might be called d……ed statistics concerning the quarter July-September 2011.

For example:

• 

  Employment Trend

  In July- September 2011,  the total of those in employment fell by 305,00

• This exceeded the fall  in the 2008-9 recession

Although this was offset by approximately 100,000 opting for self employment, it was probably more attributable to expediency than entrepreneurship.

A decision to opt for self employment might be taken for economic reasons rather than strict career or genuine entrepreneurial reasons, nevertheless, it sometimes takes a shock to prompt a re-appraisal which can lead to recognition of an opportunity in a new direction.

This consultancy, incidentally, had identified this tendency on its home page for several weeks before the ONS statistics were available.

 The reasons for the fall in employment (apart from the obvious Eurozone, the Banking crisis, Inflation) include some more specific factors: 

• Public Sector cuts taking place faster and in greater numbers than expected
• Private sector employers accepting the market indicators and cutting back
• Private sector firms holding on to staff for recovery now facing reality & shedding jobs

However, if you think all this is bleak, consider youth unemployment breaching 1.0million unemployed with a contribution of 286k (up from 269k) full time students looking for work.

Optimism of the young - too often dashed in the job market

The young are being hit by factors such as:

• Competition from migrants
• Impact of minimum wage
• Mismatch between their skills and those required by employers.

However, please also note that if any politician of whatever brand offers a plan for growth, then be reminded that the numbers of youth unemployed actually rose from 2001 – 2007 when the economy was growing. 

What can we take from all this?

• There is no quick fix
• Self preservation is the individual’s priority
• Personal preparation for the market has never before been as important
• Self employment is a real option
• The start up of small business is a hugely significant economic lever

This consultancy is unique in offering both the employed and the prospective self employed relevant practical help. The home page featured this trend weeks before the statistics came out from ONS.

If you want real practical help, seek it from those qualified and unfortunately the Government replaced the Business Link chain, on which small business sector growth depended, with a web site packed with information, as opposed to help and one-to-one support from experts.

To obtain vital practical help, call us now on 0800 970 5545  0r 0333 800 0898 (using mobile minutes until 0800 is free to mobile also) and speak to an expert with a track record of helping hundreds of business start ups in the last 10 years and who has first hand experience of starting his own business.

info@careers.gb.com             www.careersspecialist.co.uk

It is probably impossible to improve on the Careers Advice that Steve Jobs gave us in his address to Stanford University.

About work, he told us simply and clearly:

“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

Steve Jobs was flagging up the need to find the right job. My role as a Career Consultant is exactly that  i.e working with you to develop a PLAN A to identify with confidence the right career/job for you. PLAN B then is to make sure you keep your focus on PLAN A. Helping you with achieving that ideal career/job is the next step and in the words of Steve Jobs:

“If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle”

Talk to us about your career . Call us on 0800 970 5545 freephone or email us at  info@careers.gb.com

SCC (Sheridan Careers Consultancy)

Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, London.

and also

The rest of the world by video using Skype at : sheridanconsultancy

The Good?   The number of Jobs is on the up

The Bad?  The number of Job Applicants is even higher and the market is still below pre -recession levels.

Why is that?

There are a variety of factors.

For example:  The Office of National Statistics (ONS) tells us that a load of people who opted for part-time employment during the recession are now back in the market for full-time.

What else?  Well, experienced people who found themselves out of work have opted for jobs below their skill-set. They will be looking for the first opportunity in the post recession recovery to rectify that.

Anything else?  There certainly is – individuals who are desperate for work will apply for anything with the result that there have been reported to be welders applying for marketing jobs – this does not help.

What else?  the ONS tell us that the job market is still below pre recession levels and pre and during recession a significant number went into courses to study and they are all coming on to the market now along with several more years of Graduates.

What can a graduate do?

Aim to be the stand-out candidate.

Well, graduates may be light on work experience but they are usually strong on problem solving and learning skills. With a bit of patience and resolve, with some help (it was their tutors at Uni - now it could be professional help) and by dint of preparation (Psychometric Tests with a bit of interpretation input), allied with research and preparation (e.g. interview skills, communication skills), They can create show-case opportunities for their  qualifications and talents. 

 Those who act positively along these lines can take encouragement from the thought that only a small proportion will be as competitive as them and they will be the stand out candidates.

Get active and Good luck from

www.careerchangespecialist.co.uk

Tel   0333 8000 898

Personality Test such as Psychometric Tests are not always understood as a recent light hearted tweet suggests:

Psychometric Tests give focus

“Psychometric tests measure how much of a psycho you are?”

 Well – we all have good points too.

While it is not good to take things excessively seriously, I think there are three myths that ought to be de-bunked.

Firstly, some might say that “Psychometric tests are hocus pocus and tell us what we want to hear, and we can manipulate the answers anyway to ensure this”

Well, we do base the conclusions on the interpretation of reports produced from your answering 24 simple multiple choice questions. However, experience shows that not a single client has ever refuted the conclusions and many clients have been encouraged to be, and have opted to be accompanied by somebody who knows them very well (e.g. wives, mothers, husbands, partners) with the express purpose of having a second opinion present at meetings to go through the interpretation of the report findings with the consultant. Those accompanying have always confirmed, reiterated and reinforced the conclusions.

 That would simply not be the case if the client were able to (or even wished to) fudge the issues when answering their questions.

Secondly, others claim that “I have a complete self knowledge – I do not need Psychometric Tests to tell me my strengths”

Well, the Reports produced by Psychometric Tests can be a real eye-opener – telling people about their  behavioural tendencies, strengths and areas for development (we do not say weaknesses). However, for example, the direct communicators probably know that is what they are, but they may be blissfully unaware of the adverse impact they can create daily by this habit.

So, by going through the process they can learn about their own behaviours and also learn how to modify their own behaviour. They can also learn, by extension, to read other peoples’ visible external behavioural signs – how useful is that in a negotiation, interview or inter-action? 

Thirdly, yet more views are that “I am able to choose my job – I have done it before and I can do it again without the help of  Psychometric Tests”

That really is the problem – 7 million unhappy workers (“Personnel Today”) one quarter of all between 16 and 34 fail to derive any kind of satisfaction at work i.e. that only covers those who have a job. In my experience, the world is full of lawyers, doctors, surveyors, teachers, sales and marketers …… the list is endless….who all have one thing in common. They all have hated their working life and environment, and, significantly, all have chosen their jobs in the first place, sometimes several attempts.

 A Psychometric Test can direct you to the kind of work, the challenges, the kind of environment and people you would enjoy and would be right for your personality, natural behaviours and strengths.

Why would you not build this into your planning as many have done and who have voiced their un-reserved satisfaction?

Perhaps we could re-visit that poll now.View This Poll

A survey reported by Personnel Today found one in five rarely or never felt fulfilled at work, with younger people faring the worst – a quarter of those between 16 and 35 experienced a lack of job satisfaction – needing a career change.

So, how many of us enjoy that elusive good life balance?

and, if we do not -what can we do to  fix our Life Balance?

Perhaps logically, a career change may just be the answer you are looking for, because, all too often, your job or career imposes such pressures and stresses that you may really need to stop and ask “why continue?” A career change can be the magic you need to release you from your pressures and stresses.

Maybe your career change will take you into a new field, introduce you to new work conditions, new work, peers, friends, opportunities.

Above all, get it right and that elusive happy work balance can be yours.

The answer is that good careers advice says that Psychometric tests reveal to the individual all their own particular strengths, behaviour patterns and improve the quality of relationships and interactions.

Psychometric tests also help you to read the visible signs and body language of others.

Well, Djokovic was certainly displaying great outward signs of apparent weakness and near collapse in the Foro Italico clay court semi-final with Andy Murray, but he was able to recover almost instantly and reverse his situation repeatedly. He was two points away from defeat but triumphed. He then went on to defeat Nadal in straight sets the very next day.

The television commentator voiced my thoughts – was there a bit of gamesmanship occurring at the Djokovic end?  We will never know, but I wish I could have been closer to events to be able to express a view. In the heat of battle, was Andy even slightly, or even subconsciously, influenced by the very visible outward body language signs leading to Djokovic breaking back?

Luckily, the rest of us mere mortals are not exposed to such phenomenal physical and mental stress as these top tennis players experience, and we can benefit so relatively easily from learning from Psychometric Testing.

A bit of good careers advice would be that we can reap the benefits of recognising what is going on in front of us at crucial moments in interactions through skills derived from Psychometric Tests, as others reveal their positions through their natural visible body language and signals.

So what is the best careers advice?  I reckon we should take Psychometric Tests to learn all about ourselves and to become alert to the visible outward signs that others exhibit. In this way we can interpret what we see in interactions and exchanges with others, and we can adapt our behaviour to obtain the best outcome.

In Andy’s case?…… perhaps, it was nothing to do with Djokovic. Instead, if Andy could have thrashed down a few more of his aces at the critical moment, Djokovic would be history. I am confident that is what we will see in future encounters.

So, does Andy need any good careers advice from me? Definitely not. Instead, while Andy progresses and succeeds at tennis, the rest of us can succeed through Psychometric Tests.

“Young, gifted and jobless”  or “Recession creating a lost generation of young 16 -24 year olds”

It is difficult to ignore statistics such as: one million unemployed 16-24 year olds; graduate unemployment doubling during recession; graduate unemployment at highest since 1995.

Nevertheless, my glass continues to be half full because I believe that you can take positive action to influence your graduate job, your career change and because there are positives, such as a recent Sunday Times Supplement identifying the 100 best companies to work for in 2011 as reported by a pretty reliable source, namely the people who work for them. These companies and many others are recruiting and perhaps especially bright grads with lots to offer.

So, what can you do to get the graduate job that you want? Some may reach for the Internship option which can be useful for both the employer who gets the bright recruits inexpensively and some young grads, but, others will go direct and get the job and gain their first career step sooner. Both approaches have merits, so, whichever you opt for, good careers advice would be: Get help if necessary, but work up your career research, your personal presentation, networking skills, communications skills and those who do so will succeed.

There is so much you can do positively and that is why I continue to be a glass half full  kind of person.

This time we pick up the list with the next 5.

1. Management recognition. Individuals with good self knowledge will be able to identify the recognition they need, whether it is for their results, acknowledgements, teamwork or accuracy and quality of result
2. Security in the role. Each individual must be satisfied that they will have security in their role (in this context not job security but personal security) i.e. some will want to have freedom to exercise leadership, for others it will be scope for gaining approval, yet others friendship and cooperation and finally being allowed thoroughness and preparation in their role.
3. Stability in the organisation which takes a variety of forms depending on the individual, i.e. some will seek recognition of value, for others social recognition, others look for no sudden change and finally some prefer no personal criticism.
4. Growth opportunities. The vast majority of us have room for improvement. A good work culture will encourage and even stimulate this in the workplace, e.g. developing qualities of tact and soft people skills in the more dominant members; encouraging greater focus where needed; encourage prompter responses where individuals are prone to taking excessive time over decisions or conclusions; and weaning perfectionists  away from excessive detailed considerations
5. The workplace values. Nobody functions in isolation, so we all seek work conditions that are ideal e.g. efficiency and decisiveness is a must, others thrive on variety, others want an environment where there is teamwork and harmony and finally there are those for whom the hall mark is a well organised operation where things get done right first time.

We hope our list of 10 workplace culture elements have been useful to you. As we move into the new year we’ll spend some time examining what you need to do to make sure 2011 is your best career year yet!

In the meantime, be sure to visit our new website.

Have a fantastic Christmas and a massively prosperous and happy New Year!

Call us on 0800 970 5545

As she rightly says;

Click through to read her entire list.

What are you festive office party plans? Let us know in the comments.

Here are some recent headlines:

• “The Lost Generation of Graduates” - Sunday Times 11 Nov 2010
• “In line for a new approach” Employers expecting more from candidates - Business Herald August 2010
• “2.5m out of work but we can’t find suitable candidates” - Sunday Times 25 Oct 2010
• “Graduate Unemployment rises 25%”  - Think Tank 4 July 2010

Against this background, what is it that probably most of us have in common?

We all need jobs to pay the mortgage!

Here are few words to the wise for all of us.

• We spend the greater part of our waking hours at work – to be successful it is important to be happy at work
• Being happy at work is not usually an accident – it usually takes some foresight, planning and wise career choices

What 4 obstacles stand between us getting and keeping that job in which we will be happy?

1. Recent statistics from the ONS (Office for National Statistics) reported upwards of 100k graduates likely to be unemployed including this years crop
2. The number of graduate vacancies fell by 7% and in 2010 there are commonly 69 applicants for each job ( compared with 49 in 2009 and 31 in 2008)
3. A significant number of new graduates head for the public sector where they are currently vulnerable to the impending cuts which will bite soon.
4. In the private sector some employers conducting interviews credit themselves with laser sharp skills in evaluating candidates on the first impression.

It is not uncommon for employers and organisations to set the educational requirements bar well above that genuinely required for the position as a means of sifting the candidates and setting a short list.

Is this a way to get the best candidates?

Highly unlikely but expedient, in their view.

News Tonight reports that only 16% of new teachers have been retained on permanent contracts. Lawyers cannot get into practice after graduation.

What should we do?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. As far as possible do not do nothing. Nothing is not an option. Travelling and even voluntary work is better and will provide CV material.
2. Consider taking employment below your expectations. This could lead to recognition of your real value and open up opportunities. Employers obtaining an over qualified candidate may well recognise that the candidate can contribute more and may adapt an organisation structure to retain you.
3. Regard gaining the right job/career as a project that requires preparation, organisation, resource – even professional assistance.

Getting professional expertise will enable you to establish the foundations for getting that job:

• Personal self knowledge that provides a focus and direction
• Awareness of strengths that you would contribute to any employer
• Skills in self presentation – at interview and networking
• CV with impact and well crafted letters
• A systematic structured approach to the project
• Critical self de-briefing after each interview to assess how to improve
• With the right campaign in place, it will be your decision whether you accept an offer of employment.
• Direct your efforts towards well researched companies and sectors.

Will all that effort be worth it?

To answer that, let’s have another look at the headlines

• “The Lost Generation of Graduates” - Sunday Times 11 Nov 2010
• “In line for a new approach” Employers expecting more from candidates - Business Herald August 2010
• “2.5m out of work but we can’t find suitable candidates” - Sunday Times 25 Oct 2010
• “Graduate Unemployment rises 25%”  - Think Tank 4 July 2010

The need to take effective action and have a really sound career strategy was never greater.

Remember that, as well as the pressures suggested by these headlines, we are still to see the real effects of an exodus from the public sector causing even greater competition in the private sector.

Call us on 0800 970 5545 for expert assistance. Either call us to arrange a meeting (free and with no commitment) to have a preliminary discussion, or e-mail us at info@careers.gb.com and tell us when we can call you to arrange a meeting at which we will formulate your way forward. You can learn, with our assistance and coaching, all the best ways to win in the job market and to shape yourself a successful career.