The C2 library will be closed on the morning of the 5th of February until 2pm for staff training.

There will also not be any one-to-one sessions available during this time.

A combination of the New Year, resolutions and the January blues tends to get a lot of people thinking about their career at this time of year.

Typically this kind of thinking leads many to evaluate their career and decide they need a change. However, whilst you might be desperate to get out of your current job it is crucial to do some serious consideration of your options before you take the big plunge. First of all you need to assess why you don’t like your current job. Is it because you don’t like your team or you have a bad manager? Is it your position that you’re fed up with? Why? Or are you fed up with your entire sector?

It is essential to evaluate what you dislike about your current job as this may help you to determine what you would like to do instead. When clients come to C2 and they are interested in changing career then we often ask them to think about what they disliked about their job and also what they found most satisfying. This often helps in the process of trying to help them to think about which career path might suit them better.

When trying to decide on a new career people often think about what they could do. This is fine, but instead why not try to focus on what you want to do. Then you can work on the ‘how’ part.

In a recent publication by NatWest they wrote an article entitled “Retrain to Gain” this article stresses that before leaving your current employment to retrain for another career, it is essential to do adequate research on your next step. A great way to do this is to get some work experience. This may seem time consuming but in the long run it is better to have a good idea of your chosen profession so that you don’t end up in another job that you dislike.

Once you have decided on your next move you need to work out how to do it. Is it necessary to retrain? Sometimes this is essential- for example if you wanted to become a teacher in the UK then you would have to do a PGCE. However it’s not always necessary. By highlighting your transferable skills you may be able to market yourself effectively to potential employers in your new career path. Networking may help you to gain contacts that may well help you to get a foot in the door. Read more about this skill in this previous post.

If you’re not sure whether you need to retrain or not then the article in NatWest Sense suggests you talk to speak to someone in HR. They’re at ground level and know first hand what skills and qualifications companies are looking for in your chosen career path.

If you do decide to change career then be sure to assess the financial impact of your choice before you take the plunge. Retraining can be expensive you may have to accept a lower-level job, take time out work to retrain, or even do voluntary work.

Many people find career coaching an invaluable tool when they are considering changing their careers. A career coach can act as an informed yet impartial listener, help you to create action points and generally support you as you navigate into your new career path.

Finally, if you are deciding to change careers, or are in the process of doing so- good luck!

Reach is an online community designed for University of London students who feel they face barriers to reaching their potential. These may include social background, disability, age, gender and sexual orientation – it all depends on the individual and the career they are aiming for.

Whether you are a current student or a graduate there may be aspects of this website that are relevant to you. Visit the site here:

http://reach.thecareersgroup.co.uk/

C2 will be going to The Postgraduate Study & MBA Fair which is taking place next Wednesday (20th January) in the Business Design Centre in Islington.

At the Fair you can:

• Find out about the postgraduate courses on offer at up to 100 institutions in the UK and around the world
• Meet staff from global universities, business schools and vocational training colleges and get information you won’t find on a website
• Network with representatives from top course providers at leading MBA institutions in the MBA Zone

There will also be an opportunity to meet with a C2 adviser. You can discuss your options and they can help to evaluate which course would be best for you and your career. If you have already decided what you want to apply for then we can review your application form.

You can book a 25 minute advice session for a special reduced rate of £25 at the fair – email fairs@careers.lon.ac.uk to reserve a place.

Please note that C2 will be closed from the 23rd of December at 5pm. We will reopen on the 4th of January. There will be no appointments during this period and we also won’t be able to respond to any requests for e-advice.

Are you an end of the year student or a recent graduate? Do you feel you have barriers to access to employment?

Reach is an online community designed for University of London students who feel they face barriers to reaching their potential. These may include social background, disability, age, gender and sexual orientation – it all depends on the individual and the career they are aiming for. Visit the site here: http://reach.thecareersgroup.co.uk/

The Society of Biology have created a new jobs board. It lists a wide range of careers related to Biological Sciences. There is a great range of jobs listed from Curator  of Natural Life at a museum, to sales person to Senior Toxicologist.

In order to see the full job details you will need to register with the society of Biology (which is free). 

Visit the site here: http://www.societyofbiology.org/jobs?page=2

Sorry for the long period of time that has somehow flown by since the last post. C2 has been really busy in the last couple of months with individuals trying to get their career back on track before Christmas, and organisations trying to fit training sessions in before the year-end. Busy times!  But enough excuses…

Today I have been researching professional mentorship. I have recently been matched with a mentor at work, and in preparing for our first meeting several questions occured to me: fundamentally, what exactly is a professional mentor, how will having one help me, and how I could help them? I thought the answers that I found to some of these questions might be useful to some C2 blog readers who are considering finding their own mentors.

What is a professional Mentor?

I found this article on Business Blogs: What Makes a Good Business Mentor Basically it summarises a mentor as someone you can trust and confide in. Someone who will give you good advice and constructive criticism. Someone who will fill the gaps in your knowledge.

So far this description sounds good, if somewhat vague.  I found this interesting post about how to find a mentor: Should you ask for a Mentorship? This article discusses whether you should ask someone to be you mentor, or allow it to develop naturally. This article further helped me to understand what a mentor is- someone you can turn to for advice or guidance. A follow-up comment to the above post quotes: “The hardest part of having mentors is not finding people who will do it. It’s finding the right questions to forge the relationship.”

So what can you ask a mentor?

I googled: “How do you find a mentor? And once you find one, what do you do next?”

Which is how I came to this article in the Guardian: If you do one thing this week… find a mentor

It states a mentor can help you with “Thinking in new ways, optimising performance, [gaining] networking contacts and understanding how to get things done outside of the formal processes and systems, which don’t always work.”

In order to achieve this you need to attend meetings with questions ready. Have a purpose and a goal of what you want to get out of sessions. The guardian advises: 

“Be specific and be realistic. For example, suggest that over the next six months you have a conversation once a month for an hour. Perhaps the first meeting is face to face, with [subsequent meetings] over the phone.”

If you do set up regular meetings, be prepared for each one. Have questions ready, bring relevant documents, and always make sure you have a purpose.”

Is having a mentor beneficial?

So overall, it seems as though a mentor can be really beneficial to your career and professional development. But it’s not a passive thing- you need to be prepared to put some effort in. When it works well a mentor can help you to gain new skills and perhaps a broader perspective- but it requires work on both parts.

Increasingly frequently as a part of an interview process you may be required to to prepare, and deliver, a presentation as part of the interview process.

The employer will want to assess your oral communication skills. Can you present your case in a way that your audience will understand and find interesting?

 Setting the scene

The employer may ask you to prepare your presentation before the day of your interview, or you may be given a limited time for preparation once you have arrived at the interviewer’s premises. Sometimes you can choose the subject of your talk, possibly from a list of suggested titles. Otherwise, you will be given the topic. You will normally be told the maximum duration of your presentation, for example three minutes or fifteen minutes. Audio-visual equipment such as a lap-top with PowerPoint, whiteboard, overhead projector, or flipchart may or may not be available. Your audience will consist of your interviewers and possibly the other candidates. Expect the interviewers to make notes as they assess your performance.                                                                

EXAMPLES OF PRESENTATIONS REQUESTED BY EMPLOYERS

• Tell us about yourself and what you can offer this organisation (5 minutes, a very open subject).
• Why I enjoy Latin-American dancing (10 minutes, chosen by the employer from information given on the application form).
• Choose a science topic, currently in the news, of interest to pupils aged 11 years (15 minutes, interview for teacher training course).

 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE

• If you have a choice, choose a subject about which you feel confident to speak.
• Who is your audience? Pitch your message to their level of understanding.
• Do not overwhelm with too many details and figures.
• Be explicit about the outline of your content. State what you are going to talk about, outline your main points and summarise your conclusions. This is known as signposting.
• Personal stories, anecdotes and examples are often interesting and memorable. However, telling jokes can be risky. The audience may not share your sense of humour.
• Practise delivering your talk in front of a trusted friend or the mirror.
• Ensure that the audience at the back of the room can             see and hear you.
• Remember that the audience wants you to succeed.  They also want you to recover from any disaster.
• Time yourself – it is better to end a little early than to overrun but be aware that you may speak more quickly in front of an audience.

 YOUR NOTES

Reading your presentation aloud can sound stilted and you will not be able to look at your audience. Use brief notes consisting of key words on note cards. Make sure you number the cards and use large writing and a highlighter pen so that you can follow them when under pressure.

 YOUR BODY LANGUAGE

Be aware of your body language:

• Smile, show enthusiasm and the audience should respond more enthusiastically.
• Maintain a relaxed but confident posture.
• Make eye contact with individuals in the audience. They will feel more involved.
• Avoid talking too quickly or too slowly and try not to talk in monotone.
• Don’t fidget; the audience may find this distracting.

 USING VISUAL AIDS

You may be allowed to use visual aids to help the audience to understand the point you wish to make. Visual aids can make your presentation more effective. People retain 10% of what they hear, but retain 50% of what they hear and see.

• Keep it short and simple; use bullet points not sentences. Too many words become a jumble.
• Use large print and bold images.
• If possible, use a variety of colours but keep a consistent ‘brand’.
• It can be harder to write neatly when using an OHP or whiteboard, so check that what you have written is clear and spelled correctly.
• Do not block the audience’s view by standing between them and your visual aid.
• Do not talk to the screen. Talk to the group.

 WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW?

Many people are afraid of speaking publicly but the more you practise, the more your performance will improve. Learn to use PowerPoint or an overhead projector. There is a knack to using them confidently. Take opportunities to give presentations to your fellow students.

Finally: GOOD LUCK!

 

This info is from a resource sheet provided by The Careers Group. You can see the original here: http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/output/page482.asp

Have you ever wondered about the theory behind career coaching? A couple of C2 advisers have set up a new blog called Careers in Theory. This makes an interesting read for anyone interested in careers theory or theory in general.

It’s also a great source of information for aspiring or current careers advisers. Find out more here:

http://careersintheory.wordpress.com/