Posts Tagged ‘Business’

The job market has never been so competitive. With the credit crunch still looming overhead and a skilled people taking lower paid jobs just to gain employment, the best option can be to gain extra skills and improve one’s employability.

There are a range of opportunities available to enhance your skill set, and below will list a few of the options available to get started.

1.      Think about what you want to do. Think about what kind of job you want. Gaining skills can be beneficial to develop your all-round employability, but it should be a priority to focus on skills that will benefit your future career.

2.       Pay a visit to a career centre. Career centres are designed to offer advice and direction for those who are seeking to gain employability skills. Once enrolled, you can begin a course which is specific to the skill you require.

3.       Spend time searching the internet. There are a wealth of resources and advice available on the internet that can help you. Online courses are also available and many are free.

4.       Visit your local library. There are a range of books available to help improve skills and employability. Books on skill set development and employability will often have sections which engage the reader in undergoing tasks to develop their skills.

5.       Find out which skills are currently required by employers. By reading up-to-date literature on what businesses are looking for in a person’s skill set, you can stay ahead of the game.

6.       Engage in a typing course. By taking a typing course, you will improve your typing speed an accuracy. This is beneficial to modern day businesses, as most jobs require at least some typing skills. The better equipped your typing skills are, the more productive an employee you will be.

7.       Find out the most popular interview questions. There are some interview questions that will be used in most interviews. Use the internet to research common interview questions, then develop clear, structured and intellectual answers. Next, practise the answers in front of a mirror, a friend or a family member to become confident in your answers.

Most of the options available above are available for free, so there’s no reason to hesitate. Don’t just sit around, waiting for the next opportunity to be perfectly tailored to your abilities; tailor yourself to the job you want!

How To Put A Positive Spin On Your Age

You may be worried if you are creeping over 50 that you won’t be in a job much longer - the word over the recent years is that employers are less likely to either employ or retain employees over the golden age of 50.

However, over the coming years this isn’t actually looking like it is going to be the case.  As more and more jobs open up over the coming years, there won’t be enough younger workers applicable for roles and older workers will be in their element.

You need to start realising that your age can work to your advantage - below are a few of the main ways you can turn your age to your advantage and get ahead in your career once again;

Offensive

Being an older worker doesn’t mean you have to feel grateful that you are still in full time employment.  In fact it should be the other way around - you are not an old worker, you are a highly experienced worker - you aren’t passed it, you are it!  You need to make sure that when people see you they are seeing experience and confidence!

You have a powerful tool to your advantage against the younger generations and that is experience and knowledge.  Over the years you have gained a wisdom that just can’t be held by the younger generations so make sure you use it to your advantage.

Forget Age, Think Results

Don’t rattle on to either your boss or your potential employer about how many years you have under your belt - this is just boring…who’s to say these years under your belt weren’t wasted making mistakes and dragging businesses down.

You need to show how you have achieved success over the years you have been working and then you’ll be attracting the attention of the boss!  These results are a true weapon that will beat off the competition…

Focus On The Now

If you are applying for a job, make sure that you don’t rattle on about the different roles you have had over the years - instead focus on what will impress your potential employer and stay relevant.

Over the years you have undoubtedly filled a lot of roles, however only mention the ones that will make you look good for this specific job otherwise you will look like a rambler.  If possible remove any irrelevant roles from your CV and just focus on what will impress the potential employer.

Resume Revamp

You should review your CV and see whether it needs to be revamped.  Think if you would hire yourself for the position if given your CV.  If not then re-work your CV in a way where you would hire yourself.  Get your CV right…

Is Age A Problem?

Are you finding your age holding you away from some employment opportunities?  Has our advice helped?  Let us know…

Honda have pulled out of Formula one. The costs of running the team, £200 million a year, were too much for the owners who are currently looking for a buyer.

This is just another reflection on the state of the economy at the minute. Woolworths has gone down the drain, the banks are borrowing money from the government with no real intent of ever paying it back, even Dragon’s Den start Theo Paphitis has even said that ‘he’s out’ of a deal to save a large portion of the Woolworth company.

Money is the first thing on anyone’s mind at the minute and I’m starting to think that I’ve spent to much for Christmas, even though I’ve spent less than I ever have in previous years. One thing that I do see is lots of people finding themselves slipping further down a slope that is difficult to climb out of.  I’m actually starting to think that if this trend were to continue for another year, we could be looking at a 1980’s revolt all over again.

The queens speech, I’ll be honest I never watched it, I knew that she’d be coming out with ludicrous suggestions and madcap plans, and if I’m being completely honest, I think the near £40 million a year we pay to keep the Royal family living the high life is beyond outrageous. It’s a slap in the face to the average worker trying to find spare coins down the side of the couch, and I for one believe that they don’t do anything for us: American’s still think we all have bad teeth and stupid accents.

This is a nightmare time for businesses too. The funny thing is I get offered these insane business loans still, which sounds great: “you’ve been pre-approved for a £30,000 loan” but if you read between the lines it means: “Take this money, but we want it back with massive interest, and we know know-one is spending any money, leaving you with a massive debt, oh is that your house? We’ll take that thanks, and your car, and everything else, but at least you could get a job in a supermarket, but unluckily for you know one is hiring”.

It’s a sorry state, but I’m desperation people are doing it. Thousands of people are going into business and find themselves owing huge amounts of debt. Know one knows what will happen when/if this economic doom ever comes to and end.