How to Create a Career Development Plan

by Carl

Creating a career development plan is all about deciding what you want to do, and figuring out exactly how you will do it. Whether you're a high school senior trying to decide what to do with the rest of your life, or a successful insurance salesman who has decided you'd be happier as a chef, taking the time to map out a career development plan is the first step. Plan in hand, you will know exactly what you need to do to reach that career goal you've set for yourself.

This is what you should do when creating a career development plan.

Start With Yourself

The first step is evaluating yourself. First and foremost, ask yourself what careers interest you? What kind of environment do you want to work in?

Next, consider what assets you already have that could help you pursue that career. What skills do you already have? What is your educational background?

Finally, do a reality check. Can you afford to quit your current job in order to pursue this new career, or will you have to do it while working full time? Will the people in your life support you as you pursue this new career goal?

Choose Careers That Interest You

After you've done a self-assessment, it's time to look at possible careers. Just take a look at the industries that interest you, and make a list of the careers in that industry that seem appealing. There are probably more options than you realize. For example, if you are interested in a legal career, you could become an attorney, mediator, court reporter, or paralegal. An interest in the food industry doesn't just mean becoming a chef. You could also become a restaurant manager or food writer.

Evaluate Each Career

Once you have your list of possible careers, it's time to evaluate them. Look at the requirements for each one. Becoming a lawyer requires that you attend law school, earn a law degree, and pass the bar exam in the state in which you intend to practice. That's a pretty big investment of time and effort. Is it an investment you're willing and able to make?

After this career evaluation process, you should have settled on two possible careers to pursue, one of which will take a little less time and effort than the other.

Make an Action Plan

Finally, map out an action plan for both your Plan-A and Plan-B career choices. What, exactly, will you have to do to reach your career goal? What kind of schooling will it require? How long will it take? Once you have your action plan, you will know what steps you need to take. What is the very first thing, something you could do today, to start moving towards your new career? What will you have to do after that? And after that? Which career choice seems the most appealing and attainable?

For some people, creating a detailed career development plan can seem more than a little intimidating. But when you know the road you need to take on your journey, there's a much better chance you will reach your destination.

Alison Milton has spent years helping others reach their career goals. She contributes to Degree Jungle an education and career resource for college students. She strongly believes that anyone in any stage of life can successfully pursue a career that will lead to a happy and fulfilled life.

{ 0 comments }

Top Five Biggest Social Media Networking Turn-Offs for Hiring Managers

by Carl

You've probably read dozens of articles about what you should do when social networking for employment, but applying any of these tips does nothing if you haven't cleaned up your bad habits first. If you're finishing up your online education, you are probably learning about maintaining a professional online presence and communicating effectively over the Internet. Although this educational background certainly gives you a leg up, there are probably a few things that you're still doing wrong--you just don't know it.

To weed out all of the hiring manager turn-offs on your profile, consider the following top five things to avoid:

1. Unprofessional Photos

It seems surprising, but most people don't know the difference between a good picture and an appropriate, professional picture when it comes to choosing a profile photo for their social media accounts. If you're unsure about this, you may be one of those people. Fortunately, it's not too late to give your profile a makeover by choosing a better-suited photograph. As a general rule of thumb, you'll want to avoid photos of you partying after-hours, lounging by the pool, or participating in any risqué or casual behavior that isn't career or education-related. Even casual clothing is not recommended. Avoid going overboard with Photoshop or trying to get too artistic with your photos and just go for a simple shot in professional attire. It's highly recommended that you visit a professional photographer to have headshots taken for a cleaner, higher-quality image that stands out.

2. Posting Overly Personal or Derogatory Comments

No matter what your privacy settings may be (or what you think they are), unprofessional and derogatory comments can always find a way to get into the hands of the wrong person and ultimately hurt your image. The easiest way to avoid this scenario: simply don't post them. CBS News contributor Ron Brown recently referenced a similar experience where an employee tweeted a negative comment about his boss, which, although intended to be a private message, ended up circulating throughout the entire office and ultimately made its way back to his boss. Assume that none of what you say is private on social networks and you'll usually make the best decisions about what is appropriate to post.

3. Tweeting Without Hash Tags

Forgetting to include hash tags in your tweets certainly isn't a social networking crime, but it's a commonly missed opportunity among professionals in the job hunt. Hash tags are one of the key components of networking within Twitter. In fact, it's the only way to put your account right in front of interested readers without them having to search for you--excluding re-tweets/recommendations from others, of course. Use hash tags as often as possible regarding industry news and general topics of interest in your professional sphere. If the hash tag is attached to interesting commentary, you'll likely gain several new followers in the process.

4. Mixing Business with Pleasure

Many professionals assume they can just clean up their act on their existing social networks and expect hiring managers to be impressed. In reality, the best practice is to divide your personal and professional life as much as possible by creating separate accounts for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms you may have already been using while you were still a student. If you've noticed that a lot of your recently graduated friends have changed their Facebook names to their first and middle names, they are most likely living the same personal-professional double life, while attempting to distinguish between the two accounts.

5. Leaving Your References Section Blank

According to a survey conducted by reputation management specialists at Reppler, 34 percent of a population of 300 hiring managers said that they hired an applicant because of the good references they saw posted on their social media websites. Even if you've just recently graduated from your online college, having a solid list of references will help get you noticed from investigating hiring managers. Contact old professors, bosses from internships, guidance counselors, and any other professionals you've worked with during your academic and professional development. They may be good resources and a testimony to your abilities will be a major plus on your profile.

More often than not, applicants are failing to create effective social networking campaigns not because they make the wrong decisions, but because they fail to make the right decisions. There's a major difference between the two. Social networking is filled with opportunities that simply aren't being used to their fullest potential. However, checking off the list of things to avoid can help prevent your resume from getting tossed into the wastebasket, and bring you one step closer to that coveted callback.

{ 0 comments }

Building Successful Work Teams

by Carl

The success of every workplace is based on building up a team with a very good coordination between the members. A team is crucial to a healthy work environment as it brings a sense of belonging to a larger than yourself and also loyalty towards the organization’s objective. No wonder in a workplace there is constant talk revolving around team building.

If the workplace has a team-oriented environment, you contribute to the overall success of the organization. The members work together to achieve this aim. Even though you have a specific job function and you belong to a specific department, you are integrated with other organization members to achieve the overall objectives.

Developing a sense of team work is different from building an efficient, focused work team when you consider the approaches to building a team. Executives, managers and organization staff members universally search for ways to enhance business results and profitability. Some consider team-based, horizontal, organization structures as the top design for involving all employees in creating business success. A team-based improvement effort may be termed differently like continuous improvement, total quality, or self-directed work or but what is significant is that there is an effort to improve results for customers.  An organization is not satisfied with the results they are getting from their team then they need to strive on the following C’s that is Clear Expectation, Context, Commitment, Competence, and Coordination.

There should be a clear communication and transparency regarding the expected performance and outcome from the team members. Team members should be aware of these expectations and should also be provided with the suitable resources to fulfill these goals together.

Team members should understand the motive behind their participation in the team and also where their work fits in the total context of the organization’s goals, principles, vision and values.

There should have a sense of commitment towards the mission of the team and should perceive their service as valuable to the organization and to their own careers. Commitment is an attribute which can be developed in a team if the member contributions to the team are recognized and there is scope of growth of skills and opportunity for the team.

The team should have the competence to handle any issues pertaining to the team’s goal and also to the larger goal of the organization. The team should possess the knowledge, skill and resources to work towards its goal.

There should be a sense of freedom and empowerment to feel the ownership necessary to accomplish its charter. At the same time, team members should clearly understand their limitations which are made clear to them at the beginning of the project. The team’s reporting relationship and answerability should also be very clear to the members.

The teams should be coordinated by a central leadership that supports the groups to obtain what they require for success. Priorities and resource allocation should be well planned and understood by the various departments. Apart from that the organization should develop a customer-centered process instead of traditional departmental thinking.

Such an effort towards team building greatly enhances the organizational environment and greatly contributes towards attainment of organizational missions.

{ 0 comments }

How to Develop Early Reading Skills

by Carl

Children are more likely to develop pre-literacy skills if they are read to, from birth. It is also known that half of a child’s brain growth takes place up to the age of 4. In order to develop a child’s listening, speaking and reading skills it is vitally important to begin reading to children at an early age. Infants as young as 6 weeks old are receptive to reading and children of ages 2-3 are ready to start recognising printed letters and words. The most powerful way of determining future literacy success is the ability to recognise letters and the sounds that correspond with them.

Helping a child to become literate cannot be considered the sole responsibility of the schooling system. As most brain development has actually already taken place before the schools get a chance to work with children, there is an obvious need to help children to develop at home, and in other ways.

The Role of Public Libraries

Education resources and free reading assistance materials can be accessed in public libraries. Free services such as access to literacy games and materials are offered alongside books and ‘story time’ sessions. Public libraries can be used to help stimulate pre-literacy and literacy skills through the use of different types of text, shared book reading and educational songs.

Why are early development and assistance important?

If a child is a poor reader at the end of year 1 of school, there is a 9 out of 10 chance that the same child will still be a poor reader at the end of their fourth year of school. In contrast to this, 90% of poor readers can be assisted in improving their literacy skills to an average standard if intervention takes place at an early enough stage. If this intervention does not come until the child is 9 years old, then 75% of those students who are helped will continue to struggle.

What can libraries do alongside parents?

Public libraries in Australia are seeking to aid parents in the development of literacy skills in their children. The most important developments will take place at home but not all parents are necessarily capable of helping their child to read and develop literacy skills. It is also not possible to assume that all parents are able to provide the necessary learning tools for their children. Public libraries offer the opportunity for parents to augment any education that they may give to their children at home, with dedicated programmes aimed at the early development of literacy.

Literacy focus at home

The primary goal of parents helping their children to mature should focus on the development of literacy skills. These skills are fundamental to the development of a well-educated child. Things to do at home to help promote literacy development include:

  • Playing games like ‘I Spy’ with your children.
  • Reading to your children on a regular basis and from an early age.
  • Providing reading materials for young children.
  • Communicating with children regularly and clearly.
  • Teaching children the alphabet and the meaning of letters.
  • Utilising real-world texts like road signs to promote literacy.

Developing your child’s reading skills early will give them a better chance of becoming a proficient reader as they progress through school. All of the above tips make for the perfect starting point for giving your child the tools and the support they need, before starting their school life.

{ 0 comments }

A Continuing Education Opens the Door to a Career Change

by Carl

Many of us were required to choose a career path sometime during our high school years. Some of us chose wisely, and some of us would have had more success throwing a dart at a list of college courses.

It’s not easy knowing exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life when you haven’t lived much of it yet, and more often than not, people find themselves in their twenties or thirties, or even forties, making a fear-provoking career change. Or maybe they do like their career, but want to advance and climb the ladder to more responsibilities and a bigger paycheck. Either way, continuing your education can be the catalyst to lead you to a more satisfying and profitable career.

More Skills = More Money

In today’s economy, you need every possible credential to set yourself apart from the hundreds of other job seekers who are applying for the position. With fewer positions available and more and more people to fill them, employers want to know they are hiring the absolute best candidate. It is no longer enough to have real-world experience; you need to possess higher education credentials if you really want to compete.

Studies have shown that people who have earned a Bachelor’s degree will make more money, in general, than those with an associate’s degree. And if you’ve earned a Master’s degree you can feel confident that you’ll make thousands more per year than those with a Bachelor’s degree or less. As far as being advanced within your own organization, don’t assume you will be promoted when an outsider may offer the company more with their combination of experience and higher education.

Boardroom Blues

Or should I say “bored room” blues? Are you happy and satisfied in your current career? Are you excited to get up every day and go to work? If not, what’s stopping you from going after the career you really want? If you said you don’t have the time or money to go back to school and earn your degree, then you should consider pursuing an online education.

The benefits of taking online courses are numerous.

Affordability

An online education is typically far more affordable than a traditional campus education. Also, when you factor in things like saving on the cost of gas (which isn’t getting cheaper), physical textbooks (which many online courses don’t require), other school supplies and time spent commuting, an online education is a much more affordable option for the average person who wants to better themselves but is on a tight budget.

Flexibility

In a traditional school setting, you are required to attend classes at whatever time the classes are held. It doesn’t matter if you have to stay late at work or your child is sick; you either show up or risk failing the course. For most adults, this lack of flexibility isn’t conducive to their work and family life. With an online education, you decide when is convenient for you to learn and when is not. Classes can be taken anytime, day or night, and even on weekends and holidays.

Sensibility

There are other reasons an online education makes more sense when compared to a traditional education. For instance, in a campus setting if a class were to be cancelled because of bad weather, that class most likely would be made up at some point during the semester. The chosen make up class may or may not be during a time you could attend. Also, many colleges require a student to take elective classes, but with online learning that is not always the case. It makes sense to only study what is relevant to your major and not be required to take a “filler” course that will have little value on your chosen career.

An online education is a great option for those who want to change or advance their career. From an associate’s degree to a PhD, online courses are affordable, flexible and just make sense.

Guest post submitted by Karen Lederer. Karen works with the online programs at Dominican University and enjoys finding and sharing information relating to the education world. Connect to her via Twitter @Karen_Lederer.

{ 1 comment }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →