Jun
29
Your Job Is Not Necessarily For Life. Should You Switch Careers?
Filed Under Career Change, Developing Your Career | Leave a Comment
Executive search firms regularly come across people who have decided to switch careers. There was a time where you chose your profession and stuck with it until retirement and many people still follow that path. An increasing number of people, however, are deciding to give up their first choice and try something new. For many, it is a move to a new country, or an exploration of a new skill, but for others, it’s moving the skills they already have to a new sector.
If you’re taking the plunge and switching careers, can you convince an executive search agency that it’s all for the best? How do you demonstrate that you haven’t lost any of your abilities?
Switching careers is a brave thing to do. It can affect your income, your working hours and even where you live. It’s not a decision that people take lightly, and it’s one that’s viewed differently by everyone. If you take a career break to travel or to study, you should be prepared to turn that experience into positive ways you can contribute to your new company.
Executive search firms look for the right candidates for the job. If you have switched careers or taken a break and want to sign on with an executive search firm, then it’s a good idea to make an appointment to go and see them. This will allow you to sit face-to-face with the consultant and explain why you took a year out, or why you decided to change from medicine to law. Whatever your experience, you should be able to use elements of it to illustrate how you could be valuable to a company in a senior position.
For example, if you spent your time volunteering for a charity and working in Africa, you will have gained better communication and diplomacy skills than most people. If you were involved in a building project, you can illustrate how you managed to project, getting people to work together as a team to achieve a common goal. Whilst sorting out a problem business area isn’t the same as building a school, the things you learned from your project can be applied in any situation.
It’s not whether you have changed careers that interests an executive search firm; it’s why, and what you’ve learned that could benefit their clients. It could be that your career switch gives the client exactly what they’re looking for. It’s up to you to turn it into the positives that could win you your next job.
Jun
20
Your Culinary Career
Filed Under Career Change, Developing Your Career | Leave a Comment
Many people are surprised by the broad range of employment opportunities available on completion of a Culinary Degree. When you graduate from Culinary School, you might choose to work in a restaurant, at a resort, or in catering. The job choice you make can set the direction for your career. Working in a restaurant is very different than working in the catering business for instance. There are different skills required for these jobs, and working in one field does not give you qualifications for the other. Keep this in mind before deciding which Culinary Career you intend to pursue. After you graduate, you have the opportunity to review the skills you have and decide from there what food service venue you want to focus your career on. During the first several years of your culinary you will spend a lot of time practicing your skills and then finding your niche.
One of the basic skills you will utilize throughout your Culinary Career is your technical skill. This set of skills includes cooking methods, knife skills, and line cooking. Another skill is that is learned is culinary. Budding chefs train to make food taste good. Chefs will learn seasoning, flavor combinations and plate presentations to
The most basic skill, the one that schools are designed to teach, is the technical. These skills are the basis of every chef’s talent - knife skills, cooking methods, timing, mise en place, and (the ultimate technical skill) making cooking on the line graceful, even during the rush. The other skill taught in school is culinary. Most chefs have a good palate to begin, but training for the nuances of flavor and seasoning, new flavor combinations, creative plates and presentations, delving deep in to a cultures cuisine all take training and practice.
The other two skill sets are what distinguish a cook from a Chef. A Chef is concerned with more than his/her own piece of the kitchen - they have the whole kitchen as a responsibility. With this in mind, organization is key. The chef has to stay organized, run the kitchen smoothly and efficiently, and conduct business.
Hand in hand with directorial skills are managerial skills. A chef understands how to work with people and get them to work for him/her. These skills are the highest level because they involve sharing knowledge and skill with those working for you. The most often-seen method is training, but ultimately being a mentor to a cook and to develop their career is the highest skill a chef can accomplish.
Melissa Steele, EducationGuys.com Senior Writer <br>
Find <a href=”http://www.educationguys.com/Culinary-Schools.php” target=”_new”>Culinary Degrees</a> Near You!
Jun
4
What Are Your Career Futures with an Art Degree?
Filed Under Career Change, Developing Your Career | Leave a Comment
Graduates with arts degrees often feel some difficulties to determine their career goal in the initial stage. In general view, most of jobs seem to suit the arts degree graduates but when come to decide a career goal, it seem like hard to define one. Unlike graduates from science and technology fields, graduates from the arts fields feel that their program of study hasn’t necessarily prepared them for specific jobs or careers. Many arts degree graduates become apprehensive once graduation approaches.
Are these the facts of art degrees? Is pursuing an art degree a waste of money and will only get you a job flipping burgers? These popular art degree’s myths affect many students who are interested in art degrees and they stop moving their step into art fields and force themselves to take science & technology related degrees for a brighter future.
The Facts versus Myths
In actual, the facts are contrary to the popular art degree myths, a variety of career possibilities await art graduates, almost half of all job vacancies available to new graduates are open to students with arts degrees. These employers are particularly interested in transferable skills.
Let review the true facts of these popular art degree myths and you will realize that you are totally employable with your Arts degree and arts degree graduates are really in high demand in the jobs market with well-paying positions.
Myth 1: A Bachelor of Arts degree is not enough to find a well-paying, interesting job. You need to go to Law School, the Faculty of Education, or a technical training institute to be competitive for professional employment.
Fact 1: Based payscales.com salary survey conducted in 2006, average salary for bachelor’s arts degree graduates in various job fields at United States are ranging from $32,000 to $55,000 annually, without having any further college or university study.
Myth 2: A Bachelor of Arts degree will get you a job of flipping burgers.
Fact 2: Based recent job survey conducted by a well-known survey company, arts graduates are often employed in a professional or managerial capacity (50 - 81%). This compared favorably with those in Commerce (60%) and those with technical or vocational diplomas from colleges and technical institutes (24 - 35%).
Myth 3: A Bachelor of Arts degree is a waste of time and money and does not earn as much money as a bachelor degree in science and technology.
Fact 3: According to a job survey report from “Express News” of University Alberta, Those with a general arts degree do well in the long term, although initially they may not make as much as graduates of professional faculties, what’s really striking is the gains they make over five years, the gap starts to close. This is because Arts graduates emerge with highly developed research, communication, creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills that are in high demand because they are difficult to teach in the workplace. Many employers want this type of well-rounded employee, who can be trained for more specific skills.
Arts Degree Students Are In Demand
Almost 50% of job markets are opened for students with arts degrees. Many of these jobs are within Arts students’ reach upon graduation, particular if they have already identified their unique interests and abilities. Career opportunities for Arts degree graduates are ranging from non-profit, to private business and to government sectors; examples of job titles held by Arts graduates are:
- Manager
- Events Planner
- Advertising Executive
- Program Coordinator
- Counselor
- Marketing Professional
- Facilitator
- Corporate Trainer
In Summary
Arts degree graduates are in demand in the job markets, a variety of career possibilities are awaiting for art degree graduates at a well-paying level and expandable career future.
May
30
Finally, an Entry-Level Job that’s Worth Something
Filed Under Career Change, Developing Your Career | Leave a Comment
As anybody who has ever looked for a job fresh out of college or sought to change career fields can attest, it is exceedingly difficult to find an entry-level job that pays well enough to make the change worthwhile. In this day and age, employers still insist on paying their newest employees peanuts. What’s more, the job market has shifted far enough to their side that they can continue to do so and still expect a slew of applicants. A quick scan of the classified ads will reveal as much; the jobs that do offer a decent starting wage are the ones that carry requirements and experience that you simply cannot meet if you’re just starting in that field.
Construction jobs, however, pay considerably better than the typical fare you’re likely to find in the newspaper. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, heavy equipment operators earned up to $22 an hour in 2002, a number that has undoubtedly risen in the past few years. While entry-level operator jobs don’t all pay quite that high, the median rate then was still a very respectable $17 and hour. What this means is that it is possible to make a good living for yourself and maintain a steady supply of work and income as a heavy construction equipment operator. The construction industry is one of the largest in the country, and most conservative estimates have it remaining as such past 2012.
With the ample opportunity provided by construction and operator jobs, it is important that you receive the proper training for them, the training that will give you the best chance of transitioning directly into the industry. The National Heavy Operators School provides just this sort of training. During our comprehensive two-part course, you will learn all essential background information about the various types of heavy machinery currently in use, and you will receive a month’s worth of actual on-site training with the latest machines and technology. The program at National is affordable and designed to be flexible enough to meet any individual needs. The first phase is completed in the student’s home at his or her own pace, and the on-site portion of the training is offered several times a year at National’s North Florida facility.
It’s time to move past the frustration of finding a well-paying entry-level job. Put down the classifieds and say no to thankless, menial tasks. The training program at National will afford you with the skills and knowledge that you need to find a rewarding job.
May
22
Matching Your Skills To Find Appropriate Jobs
Filed Under Career Change, Developing Your Career | Leave a Comment
Skills refer to the things you do well. The key to finding the most appropriate jobs in the industry is recognizing your own skills and communicating the significance written and verbally to a probable employer.
Majority of the most viable skills are those that are used in a variety of work settings. What are these skills? Would matching your skills to find the right job be successful?
* Determine your skills. This would help you in becoming the lead candidate of landing the job. A skill does not necessarily mean it was adapted in a work environment. If this would be your first job hunt and you have no job experience to date, you still have a chance in the industry.
Majority of skills, including knowledge-based and transferable, could be absorbed and developed as a volunteer, a student, a homemaker, or in your other personal activities. The skills you have used for these activities can still be applied to your desired jobs.
Organizing and listing your personal skills could help you easily fill out job applications, provide useful information for job interviews, and prepare quality resumes.
First, you should categorize the skills by separating your interests and aptitudes from your work experience.
1) Aptitudes and interest. These include all of your hobbies, activities you have been involved in the past, and all the things that interest you. By listing all of these down, you could examine the skills it takes to achieve each item.
Skills from aptitude and interest may be homemaking, playing basketball, fixing cars and many more. All of these items could determine if you are capable of working with a team, able to handle multiple tasks, have viable knowledge of human development, knowledge of electronics and ability to diagnose mechanical and numerical problems. The list goes on, but make sure to consider the skills that would be beneficial for a working environment.
2) Work history. This includes volunteer, part-time, freelance, summer and full time jobs. Once you have listed all your past employment, examine the skills you do work each work duty.
* Ask for help. As soon as you have your list ready, you could now go to job services that could help you acquire your desired job. You could also search job yourself. However, always remember to match your skills and abilities in your list to the needed skills and abilities of various jobs.
In most cases, people who seek jobs are threatened with job titles. This should not be the case. As long as your skills and abilities could meet the requirements of the workload and job title, your possibility of acquiring your desired job increases.