New paths to a great job

New paths to a great job Of course I have to open this post with something about how stupid college is. Colleges are finally responding to the problem they charge tons of money and then graduates are unemployable and in debt. Colleges are responding by becoming job preparation centers. And Frank Bruni,  opinion  editor for the New York Times, says this is a waste of time and resources. Heres whats better: 1. Skipping college. The real issue we have with admitting that college is not a path to the work world is then we have to ask ourselves why we send our kids to high school. There is plenty of data to show that teens are able to manage their lives without the constraints of school. The book Escaping the Endless Adolescence is  chock  full of data, and a recent article by my favorite journalist, Jennifer Senior, shows that high school is not just unnecessary, but actually damaging to teens who need much more freedom to grow than high school affords. 2. Focus on internships instead of school. Kids should be working in internships in high school. Because the best path to a good job is a bunch of great internships. But great internships dont go to people who need money. They are mostly for young people. Yes, this is probably illegal and classist and bad for a fluid society. But we will not debate that here. Instead we will debate why kids need to go to college if the internships are what make them employable? Kids should do internships in high school and by their college years, they are capable of real jobs where they are doing work that people value, with cash. You cannot take this route if youre saddled with huge student loans. You cant take this route if youre  inundated  by homework in required subjects you dont care about. You cant take this route if you have no work experience when you graduate college. Its too late. (Dont tell me you need to go to school to learn, okay? People just do not believe this anymore.) I was reading the Fortune list of 40 under 40 and I was struck by the career history of Kevin Feige (number 11 on the list). Hes president of Marvel Studios at age 39. He wrote that he interned with the Superman movie director as a film student and that was the last job application he filled out. Thats because if you get an internship with someone great, and your performance is great, your network will cover your employment needs for a very long time. 3. Start a company instead of writing a resume. Im struck by Marissa Mayer (number 3 on Fortunes list) whose announced acquisition strategy  is buying small, cheap companies. Which is, in effect, buying the team. Silicon Valley calls these acqui-hires. She is looking at young people who start companies that are not necessarily successful in terms of product or sales but successfully  market  the founders as visionaries, self-starters, and hard workers. You cant show those traits in school, so if you have those traits, you slow yourself down by going to school where you cannot exhibit your best,  marketable traits. 4. Refuse to present yourself in a linear way. Do any workaround that lets you forgo the linear obsession that LinkedIn has with career presentation. Because linear presentations favor  people  who have long, rule-following careers which dont necessarily make you look good anyway.  I could write a post ten thousand paragraphs long of all the new things people with nonlinear work histories are doing to get jobs. People use twitter as a resume, according to the Wall Street Journal, which requires only that you publish ideas, not any sort of academic experience. Young people are selling stock in themselves    paying out  dividends  for decades at a time. Agents represent workers who pick and choose projects that match them rather than signing on for indefinite amounts of time. The Harvard Business Review calls this supertemping. Business Week calls it going Hollywood. But heres the big takeaway. A fundamental shift is taking place, where the path to getting a job is massively circumventing college credentials. And, at the same time, the American public is fed up with the insane debt that college are expecting new grads to take on in order to graduate. (Good essay: How College Ruined My Life.) If you are not going to school in order to fit into the adult world, then why are you going to school? The love of learning, presumably. But school reform pundits are 100% sure that kids will choose to learn if you put no constraints on them. They will just learn what they want. Best example: The MIT program that gave iPads to illiterate kids in Ethiopia  (pictured above), and they taught themselves to use it, program it, and read it  in English. No teacher.  No curriculum. The biggest barrier to accepting the radical new nature of the job hunt is the reverberations throughout the rest of life. If you dont need school for work, and you dont need school for learning, then all you need school for is so parents can go to work and not worry about taking care of their kids. It takes bravery to go against the grain. Its  difficult  to say that the great learning and the great jobs come from leaning out, doing things in a nonlinear,  non standard  way, and playing only by the rules that fit your own style for personal learning and growth.

No Summer Vacation From Executive Job Search - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

No Summer Vacation From Executive Job Search Maybe you were recently laid off and, besides dealing with all the emotional upheaval, youre worried that summer is the worst time of year to look for a new job. So youve decide not to work too hard at it. You’ll lick your wounds for now and dive in this fall. Or, maybe youve been job hunting for a while and figure youre entitled to take a few weeks off, because no one hires in the summer anyway. But, just as it happened last summer, companies  ARE hiring. Theyre not putting the brakes on, so neither should you. According to a recent article by Joseph Daniel McCool of ExecuNet: Two leading indicators of projected executive job market expansion â€" a monthly forecast of management-level job creation and a separate reading on recruiter confidence â€" suggest continued hiring activity through the summer and fall. Recruiters expect 80 percent of employers to recruit for new management roles or trade up with new hires for existing roles. Now is the time to get your foot in the door and make some connections, while others are out sunning and catching waves, and trying to forget about job search. Competition is less intense. Fewer people will be jockeying to get the attention of hiring decision makers at your target companies. These key people will probably have more free time to speak with you because their staffs will be taking vacations and their schedules will be lighter. Make those calls to employers, recruiters and other hiring decision makers. You’ll be surprised by how many are in the office and available most of the summer. They have jobs to fill and they’ll be sourcing good-fit candidates to slide into them. Your network will probably be more available, too. This is the time to do some more relaxed in-person networking â€" playing golf, informal lunches on the patio, etc. People have more time right now to accept such invitations. And take the time to connect with them on , Twitter and other social networks, too. If you’ve been struggling with these new tools, now could be the perfect time to learn how to best use them. But its okay to relax and recharge a bit, too. Plan out goals for each day. Once youve met them, take the rest of the day off. And give yourself permission to take weekends off. Related posts: How To Land an Executive Job in 2011 Guide for Executive Branding and Job Search Twitter Executive Branding Strategy: The Beauty of a Retweet photo by chispita_666 00 0

MET Police Detective Direct Entry Application Process

MET Police Detective Direct Entry Application Process Detective Constables play an incredibly important role in the day-to-day operations of the police. As high ranking employees in the police force, Detective Constables are responsible for conducting complex investigations, interviewing witnesses and suspects, and leading police-wide improvement efforts â€" in order to guarantee the best level of service to the general public.One of the biggest and most well-known forces in the UK, is the MET Police. The Met Police have recently changed their criteria for hiring Detective Constables. The new system is known as Direct Entry. In this blog, we’ll take you through the Met Police Detective Direct Entry Application process!Direct Entry Application Process â€" Phase 1As we already explained in our previous blog on Met Police Detectives: Direct Entry, the direct entry process is extremely tough to pass. The application process starts with what is known as ‘Phase 1’: Phase 1 of the direct entry application process begins with an online el igibility test. The purpose of this test is help YOU decide whether you are the correct fit for the role. You’ll be asked questions that describe the type of work that a Detective Constable performs on a daily basis, and then asked to confirm that you can meet these requirements. This test will not be marked, and is only there to give you an indication of whether you are the right person for the job. Naturally, the police do not want to recruit someone who quits 2 weeks into the job, as they can’t handle the difficulties. So, pay close attention to your score from this assessment, to check whether this is the role for you!Application FormThe next part of the direct entry application process is an online application form. This requires you to fill in a number of personal details about yourself, and then answer a set of competency related questions. The application form is extremely important for the police. Not only will they use this form to vet you â€" ensuring that you meet th e background criteria to join, but they’ll also analyse the competency responses extremely carefully. These will show the police that you have conducted an in-depth study of the behavioural requirements for the role, and that you have evidence that you can meet them.Online Verbal Reasoning TestFollowing this, you’ll conduct an online Verbal Reasoning Test. This will essentially consist of a number of linguistically challenging questions and problems, which you will need to solve. The purpose of this test is, as you might have guessed, to test your understanding of the English language. Detective Constables must be able to utilise a high standard of grammar, whilst working the role. Amongst other things, there are numerous forms and paperwork to fill out, and you’ll also need to utilise clear and detailed written communication throughout your time working for the police. Grammatical mistakes and unclear language can delay the crime solving process, and even lead to suspects get ting away.Assessment Centre â€" Day 1The next stage in Phase 1 is the Assessment Centre â€" Day 1. This is a gruelling assessment day, where you have to sit not only the standard constable assessment, but also the detective constable assessment. The detective constable assessment is a more challenging and in-depth set of exercises, designed to push potential candidates to their limits. Amongst other tests, you will need to sit:A Numerical Reasoning ExerciseA Report Writing ExerciseA Group ExerciseA PresentationA Verbal Reasoning TestA Non-Verbal Reasoning AssessmentA Face-To-Face interviewAs you can see, the tests that you’ll need to take are extremely varied and complex. This means that you will need to spend a huge amount of time prior to the assessment day, revising for the tests. The better you prepare, the better your chances will be of acing the centre. The interview in particular is something which you need to give full use of your time to. You’ll need to learn the core c ompetencies off by heart, and understand how to utilise them in your responses.Following the first day of the assessment centre, you’ll need to sit another day, Assessment Centre â€" Day 2. During this day, you’ll take part in various medical and fitness tests, and may also be required to verify certain references and security issues.After it’s confirmed that you’ve passed the second assessment centre day, you will be invited to attend the following:Pre-foundation training. This is an initial training period, which lasts for 30 to 40 hours. This period will aim to educate new recruits on their role, and provide them with an in-depth introduction to life as a Detective Constable.Foundation training. Next up, the proper training. The foundation training essentially consists of a mix of classroom training and practical training, all with an investigative focus. You’ll make various visits to police stations, and experience what it’s like to work in CID.Phase 2The second phas e involves candidates actually going to work as Detective Constables in real boroughs. In this endeavour, you’ll be backed and supported by professionals already working in the field, to ensure that you come to grips with the requirements as quickly as possible. You’ll also begin studying for your National Investigators Exam, and following this will complete your Advanced Detective Training. This entry was posted in Police, Career Advice. Bookmark the permalink. Jordan Cooke How2Become Grenfell Tower DonationsAustralian Police Interview: 5 Hardest Questions Answers

Video from my keynote in India - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Video from my keynote in India - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I just discovered a short video on youtube from my keynote at this years World HRD Congress in Mumbai India: In my talk, I told the participants that India absolutely needs more happiness at work. Its not that workplaces there are particularly bad, it?s just that the war for talent is still going strong. Indian workplaces are facing some stark realities: Employee turnover among specialists and middle managers is around 20-30%. Annual average pay rises are 12-13%. There is a huge fight to attract newly educated Gen Y employees. In short, Indian workplaces are doing their best to attract the best people, keep them in the workplace and help them perform optimally. The problem is that they?re doing all the wrong things, e.g. wellness programs, bonuses, pay raises, promotions, etc. While there?s nothing wring with any of this, it simply isn?t what makes employees happy at work ? at most it makes them satisfied. In my speech, I tried to focus on what really does make people happy at work ? and therefore more likely to stay in the workplace, more likely to do their best work and more likely to try to convince acquaintances, friends and family to also work there. And it seemed to really ring a bell. Heres some sample feedback from my keynote: ?Your presentation was the best I?ve seen in 20 years in HR.? ?It was really great listening to your talk. I have implemented a lot of it in my life and I can already feel a huge difference.? ?Alexander Kjerulf was the rock star in the World HRD congress this year. He mesmerized participants from 79 countries with a simple yet powerful approach to create a happy work place.? Your take What is your opinion of Indian workplaces? Are people there happy and fulfilled or just going through the motions? Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

When I Grow Up The Workshop (The Sequel)!

When I Grow Up The Workshop (The Sequel)! It’s official: I’ll be doing my Workshop in NYC on Saturday, October 29th! I’m so excited to take what worked about the first workshop and build on it (that’s what we life coaches are known for, after all) that registration now includes  a free copy of my illustrated, rhyming career change workbook, Operation: Creative Career Cheer! for everyone who registers, right when they register! We’ll be spending 5.5 hours together dreaming and scheming, with some drawing and coaching thrown on in. If you don’t know what you wanna be when you grow up but are looking to delve on in, dig around and discover it â€" with the support of me and other likeminded creatives â€"then you gotta join us. You can learn more and register right here (spots are limited and registration will close on 10/24, FYI). And please, if you know someone in the NYC-area (or would be able to travel here â€" a trip to NYC is always a good time!) who you think would benefit from When I Grow Up: The Workshop!, please pass the link along. I’d super appreciate it, and I’m positive that they’d thank you for it!

The Battle Over Resume Writing List Computer Skills and How to Win It

The Battle Over Resume Writing List Computer Skills and How to Win It All About Resume Writing List Computer Skills Hardware skills enable you to physically operate a computer. Plus, it is going to help you show off your very best PC skills effortlessly! Review their About Us page and see whether your soft abilities or attributes are aligned with the business's core values. In uncommon circumstances, if you've limited language capability generally, but language experience in a specialized sector (computer, for example). Read through it a couple of occasions and you'll probably spot three or four vital skills mentioned repeatedly throughout the document. This computer skills are astoundingly valuable at this time across a wide variety of industrieswhich means having them on your resume will cause you to be a more attractive job candidate. Double-check if you're utilizing the perfect abilities and experience keywords. Key skills are work-related skills that you want to do a job. Hard skills aren't skills that are tough to learn. They are quantifiable and often learned from school or on the job. They are the tangible skills that you can quantify in a job. The Debate Over Resume Writing List Computer Skills If you're trying hard to think of any, you can attempt employing the job descriptions of ads inside your industry, in addition to looking at LinkedIn profiles of folks working in similar roles. The sorts of computer skills employers expect will vary depending upon your career or industry. There are quite a few other computer skills, however, that are usually used across all industries which are important for most job applicants to know. Alongside basic understanding of spreadsheets, having data visualization skills might also be useful in a data-heavy function. Details of Resume Writing List Computer Skills It is possible to find below a list of the greatest skills you may put on your resume based on the sort of job that you are applying fo r. In reality, there are particular jobs in which it's important to set a skill section at or close to the top of the resume. Carefully reread the work description and choose which skills are unquestionably essential for the job. Thus when writing down your job skills take some time to strategize and find out the very best approach to organize them in your resume. The list you're likely to be reading now is what's sought for mostly when it regards the abilities and abilities for a resume. To begin with, if you're seeing a great deal of hard skills that you just don't have, it can be far better move on to the next position. If it comes to IT, a great deal of the hard skills are technical.

How To Maintain Your Focus While Hunting For Full-Time Jobs - Work It Daily

How To Maintain Your Focus While Hunting For Full-Time Jobs - Work It Daily At a time when so many are out of work at home and around the globe, the daily job hunt grind can get frustrating very quickly. Whether you’re looking for sales jobs, media jobs, social worker or engineer jobs, it’s essential that you maintain your focus during your job search. Some say that finding full-time jobs or part-time jobs is as much a job as having one, only you’re not getting paid for the work, effort or time that you put into the process. Nonetheless, the hunt is essential to eventual success in securing a new role for yourself and making a decent livelihood, so it’s critical that you’re able to maintain your focus and steadily work at getting that illusive new gig no matter how long it may take. Finding a new job can take quite some time in even the best economic environments, but finding a new job when unemployment is high, as it is right now, can take months. There are some who have been out of work for a year or more who are still plugging away at the job hunt each and every day, because they have no other choice, and neither do you! You need that new position and must find ways to keep yourself motivated and moving in a positive direction, regardless of how long the process takes. Here are a few ways to maintain your focus when hunting for full-time jobs in a down economy. Vary Your Job Hunting Activities It’s centrally important when you search for jobs, especially when you’re hunting for a new position for months on end, to vary your activities. One of the fastest ways to lose hope in a job search, especially during a down economy, is to only look at a single source or investigate job openings in just one location. If you get up every morning and immediately log on to the same Internet job site, you’ll exhaust your search in less than an hour or two. No matter how many new jobs may have been posted, you’ll plow through those listings in no time flat and likely feel as though your world is coming to an end when you find the last position in your career field posted to the site since the last time you visited. Shake up your search activities by consulting new resources each and every day. While you may visit the major job websites, remember that thousands of other job hunters are doing the same every day. Increase your chances of finding a new position by spreading your efforts around. Consult the smaller and less obvious locations in which jobs may be advertised. Tap into the listings with career-focused or industry-specific sources like professional organizations and trade or industrial societies. Don’t forget job openings are commonly listed on college and university career office websites and the job boards hosted by your home state workforce development department or local unemployment office. Remember to check out print media publications and corresponding websites. Look at the sites for trade magazines and other publications in your field as well. Remember that in many cases, the printed copies of newspapers and magazines may contain different job listings than the Internet versions do, and vice versa, so it can be helpful to search in both locations. Tap Into Your Social Networks Take advantage of your real world and virtual social networks by putting the feelers out there periodically among your contacts about new work leads. Friend, family and even acquaintances, like your pharmacist, social worker, or vet are often more than happy to keep their eyes peeled and ears to the ground for you. They can even offer you part-time jobs when you’re still looking for full-time employment. Get Out Of The House Being stuck in the house all the time when unemployed is a death sentence for job hunting motivation. While you may be able to maintain that lifestyle for awhile, where you get up every day and look for work on the Internet, you’ll eventually get stir crazy and feel like you’re never going to punch that time clock again. Get out of the house at least a couple times a week. While it may be for non-job hunting related activities, it is still essential. Also keep in mind that there are plenty of ways in which to incorporate outings into your job hunting activities. Go to the library to do your daily job searching and resume or CV submission processes. It’s an excellent place for thumbing through professional journals, trade magazines and other print sources for job ads, as well. Spend one day a week dropping off resumes at various businesses and visiting employment agencies or job fairs in your vicinity. There are several media jobs offered in your local advertising agency, TV station, and publication. Engineer jobs are also available in construction firms while sales jobs are just about everywhere from fast food chains to supermarkets. If you’re worried about spending money when you search for jobs, remember that under current tax law you can deduct many job search expenses on your income tax return. Take Time Off From The Job Of Job Hunting Just like avoiding burn out on the job means taking time off for weekends, holidays and the occasional vacation, give yourself a break from the job hunt too. It will do wonders for keeping you motivated and focused when you return to the search. Enjoy this article? You've got time for another! Check out these related articles: 3 Great Activities To Keep Your Job Search Moving 4 De-Stressing Tips For Your Job Search 5 Tips For Job Searching While You’re Pregnant Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!