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Is your career stuck in a rut? Are you struggling to fulfill the potential that you know you hold? Well, then you have come to the right place! Indeed, in the post below you can get some clever ideas on how to push your career to the next level. Keep reading to find out what they are.
Eat the frog First of all, the well-known business concept of eating the frog can help here. No, it's not about throwing your hand up in the air and heading to the nearest French eatery! Instead, in this scenario, eating the frog represents the thing that you don't want to do, the idea being that by getting this done first the rest of your day is all downhill from there. Indeed, there is some good evidence to show that the sense of achievement we feel by completing difficult tasks, is enough to propel us through the rest of the day with ease. Not to mention the fact that dealing with the hardest thing first obliterators procrastination, which is only good news for your career trajectory. Stay up to date with the news in your field There are many benefits to staying abreast of the trends in your industry, including being privy to cutting-edge information first, and ensuring that you gain expert status in the eyes of your customers and colleagues. Indeed, by regularly reading articles about the area in which you work you can gain all sorts of valuable information that may have a direct impact on the way you go about your day-to-day tasks and even the future of your career. With that in mind, favoriting industry experts on social media, and setting google alerts for specific key terms related to your field can be a very helpful way to boost your career prospects. Study for new qualifications It may seem like a no-brainer, but learning new skills and qualifications is one of the best things you can do to enhance your career. Of course, the education that you choose needs to be as relevant to your industry as possible to be most effective. For instance, if you are an IT professional looking to focus on creating a service management system, then taking a qualification such as the ITIL foundation exam, is a great way to begin. However, if you find yourself in a different type of industry such as HR, then choosing a foundation CIPD exam is a better choice. Email someone in your network All too often people expect their network of contacts to do all the heavy lifting in terms of their career, finding them suitable placements, and putting them in touch with the right people. However, what anyone hoping to progress in their career needs to understand is that networks function based on exchange. What this means is, if you want something from a network contact, you will need to have built up a certain amount of capital first. This capital can often be secured by offering to help them with something they need complete. Indeed, if you can identify the people you are most likely to need help from and focus on providing value to them, you will be all set when it comes time to call those favours back in.
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 Image credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay It is important to make sure you have career goals as much as possible, and there are a number of factors to consider when you are looking at a new career path this year. The coronavirus pandemic is something that has impacted all of us in so many ways, and there is a lot to keep in mind here. Try to make the most of this, and use the uncertainty in the world right now as a chance to take charge of your future and set career goals for 2021.
It might be time to consider a change of career this year, and there are a lot of options you can consider that will help you to make the most of this right now. Try to come up with ideas that will allow you to achieve the best possible career path this year, but it is also important to make sure you have realistic goals in order to make sure they’re easier to achieve. And these are some of the key factors that you need to consider when it comes to making the most of this. Think About Your Interests Thinking about what you are interested in is really important, and there are a lot of elements that play a role in helping you to develop a career path you can be proud of. Make sure you think about some of the best ways of achieving this right now, and there are so many factors that you should be making the most of right now. If you can pursue a career path that links or relates to things you are interested in, then this is one of the best options for you. So many people wish they could do a job they really love, and it makes it so much easier to get out of bed in the morning if you are going to a job you love. Improve Your Experience There are a lot of things that you should be looking to make the most of, and it is vital that you look at being able to focus on this as much as possible. Try to come up with ideas that will allow you to boost and improve your experience, and this is something that you should be looking to make the most of right now. There are plenty of online courses or qualifications you could be taking in order to improve and boost your experience and help you to be more qualified for the job at hand. Start Looking for the Right Kinds of Jobs You need to make sure you start looking for the right kinds of jobs that will help you to improve the way you look at being able to do things like this. There are a lot of ideas that will play a role in helping you here, and it depends on what sort of thing you’d like to do. For instance, there are so many opportunities if you are looking at getting a job in the public sector. These are some of the things you need to be considering when it comes to looking at some of the best ways of improving your career prospects. You have to make sure you focus on being able to improve your ideas when it comes to assessing this right now. Choosing the right career prospects and making the right kinds of changes is something you need to make the most of right now.  Image credit: Rodnae Productions from Pexels It is now been just over one year since the UK government announced a total lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s been a funny year. The world has felt like it has both sped up and slowed down at the same time. Everything looks different now.
You can’t go shopping unless it’s for essentials, lots of people haven’t been able to spend time with their friends and family, and when you do go to places you have to sanitise everything and wear a mask as protection. The saddest thing of all is that people have lost loved ones and their jobs as a result. Lots of people are feeling incredibly hopeless right now, and when there may not seem as though there’s a light at the end of this long, dark, tunnel--it is still worth thinking of planning towards your future- especially if you have lost work. Look at Your CV There’s going to be a lot of competition for people applying for work right now. Recruiters will be busier than ever making their way through all of the CVs that come to their inbox supporting an application for a job that they have advertised. You don’t want yours to be at the bottom of that big pile. Find someone to look at your CV and ask them to tell you honestly what it says about you as a potential employee. Would they employ you based on your CV? Chances are that this interview ticket is selling you short. If necessary, hire a professional CV writer to write yours for you to help you to put your best foot forward and get you that interview. Consider Changing Career Path If you’ve lost a job then the first thing you’re going to do is to start looking for jobs with the same title. However, why should that always be the case? If you’ve had several years of experience in one industry, the chances are that you’ve developed some pretty impressive transferable skills that can be used all over the place. Changing career path is not an easy thing to consider, especially in the current market--but now is as good a time as any to do just that. Discuss your previous experience with recruiters and let them do some of the hard work employment matching for you. Use This as an Opportunity to Upskill During the first lockdown, lots of course providers started to provide their content online. This is great news as it means that there’s plenty of opportunities for you to learn more skills to make you more employable. One of the benefits of this is that you can complete the work in your own time and at your own pace. So whether you’re interested in doing either coding, business administration or health and social care courses, there are plenty of options for you. The best news is that being out of work is the perfect opportunity for you to reassess and take the time to figure out exactly where you want to be in life.  Image credit: Photo by David Rangel from Unsplash Finding a job is not an easy task in today’s saturated markets. Unemployment has been on the rise for years and it seems to be slowly sinking into the red zone because of Covid-19. However, there is still a way to achieve your career goals. When finding a job, you have probably already looked at all the websites that promise to offer the best jobs in your city. Perhaps you have joined groups and social media sites that help you find suitable positions. What else can you do to assist yourself?
Don’t limit yourself When applying to a job searching company, do not necessarily give a limited job definition that you can perform. If you have a wealth of skills, apply even for jobs that may be quite different from each other. Also, do not hesitate to challenge yourself and ask for job offers as well that seem to be less likely to be accepted. Be sure to emphasize your benefits and abilities and what you are willing to give and invest. Tell employers how you can benefit, and what your contribution will be to their business. And always, do preliminary (not necessarily long) research on the intended employer. Find out what the corporate culture is, what characterizes the company. When you come to an interview with prior knowledge and with clear answers to questions, the chances of finding a job even faster rises miraculously. In addition, learn to use the smart tools that can be found within job search sites. With these tools, you can better focus on the jobs that interest you. By job definitions, by geographical areas, by the type of flexibility you want. Using these tools will allow you to spend less time searching because you will find a job much easier - even in these turbulent times. Look at your current skills and see what may need to be improved on. If you want to work in technology then perhaps you should consider a course in computer technology or a niche area. If you want to move into garden landscaping, you should consider looking at ways to learn how to become a tree surgeon. Once you have these skills in black and white, you will have the confidence to talk openly to the employer about what you can offer them in return. Stay on top of opportunities by receiving email notifications about suitable jobs. This will cut down the time you spend trolling through every page. It is very important to be updated on a daily basis on the site as the supply of jobs varies from day to day and you will not want to miss the opportunity when interesting and new jobs emerge in your region. The use of social media sites helps prospective employers look at your track record which is why you should use LinkedIn and other sites to cultivate a great image. Keep information professional, including your email address. Show you’re serious and willing to find a great position and you will surely stumble upon the ideal job.  Image credit: Melanie Sophie from Unsplash It makes information more digestible
Learning skills is in human nature. We need to learn skills to grow, develop and adjust from a young age. However, it seems counterintuitive to learn all your skills from a set of books. Indeed, young children learn through practice and copying the adults around them. It would be foolish to assume that people change their approach when they grow older. Mimicking gestures and processes is an innate mechanism. Consequently, compiling information in a format that focuses on the copying part of the learning process can facilitate skills acquisition. The adult education sector can partner with a professional video production company to turn reading materials into videos. Concepts are more easily digestible and approachable when they are shown rather than read, which can speed up learning for adults. Similarly, when showing isn’t an option, telling remains a valuable tool. Let’s not forget that people grew up in a storytelling environment before books existed. As such, podcasts are a suitable alternative to videos. It brings new incentives Modern classrooms have been using gamification with their students of all ages. For children, gamification used to be in the form of a physical reward, such as a star or a small present, to mark successes. Nowadays, teachers rely on virtual rewards, using apps to allocate points, badges, and creative avatars. Gamification apps can be equally effective for adults, as they provide a new sense of motivation. Don’t we all want to win? Earning badges and points can encourage adults to prolong learning sessions and memorise new knowledge quicker and better. Knowledge is always available How did school go for you? As a child, you needed to revise your book-based lessons before a test. As an adult, the same principle may not be suitable for your day-to-day life. Ultimately, it’s hard to make time for learning when you’ve got to manage work and a household. Consequently, digital tech makes knowledge accessible whenever and wherever you need it, whether you want to listen to the latest school podcasts during your commute or use the app to refresh your memory. Digitalising knowledge adds flexibility. In a world where remote teaching has become the new normal, it’s essential to maintain the technology even after turning the covid page. Digital technology makes learning more manageable for millions of adults who need to upskill. Whether they want to integrate into a new culture or boost their career progression, digital teaching makes their goal possible.  Image credit: Alex Knight on Unsplash When people think of Artificial Intelligence (AI), they tend to think of movies where AI goes wrong and threatens the universe. Thankfully, the reality is far more boring.
AI is a range of systems that can perform tasks that generally rely on human intelligence to complete. This can include things like analysis and problem-solving. Marketing Marketers are beginning to use AI for a range of marketing tasks. From automating PPC campaigns to curating content and running chatbots and online chatroom software to engage customers. Amazon is one of the leaders in utilizing AI and use it for a number of things, including product recommendations. Cybersecurity Some companies are using AI to continuously analyse their IT network and identify traffic that deviates from normal activity. When abnormal or suspicious activity if identified, it can then work to protect the network. Cybersecurity is a priority for organizations of all sizes and a successful attack can be devastating both in terms of reputation and financially. Automated Recruitment HR and recruitment can be a very labour intensive process. With unemployment rising in the wake of COVID-19, there are hundreds, even thousands of applicants for every job. AI automation can be used to find and analyse candidate applications. Market Conditions Predicting changing market conditions is extremely difficult. The sheer amount of information that needs to be processed is impossible for a human to do. Instead, large investment firms and hedge funds use AI to analyze and predict the market. Health Care Machine learning is being adopted in the healthcare sector. With it, doctors can detect if a patient with an existing condition is deteriorating and intervene before they need hospital care. The pace of machine learning in healthcare is also leading to the earlier detection of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. The sooner a condition is diagnosed, the more successful the treatment methods can be. This saves lives and saves money. Software Vulnerability Testing Software needs to be airtight when it comes to security. Any vulnerability can make it susceptible to attack. Companies are using AI models to detect vulnerabilities and predict attacks. Behavioural Analytics Using AI to identify negative behaviours is a controversial use of the technology, but nevertheless, some companies are finding it invaluable. It is used to identify bad behaviour within the workforce, it can even predict if someone is unhappy in their job and is thinking of leaving. Automated Accounting Today’s financial transactions take place online. The Fintech sector is incorporating AI into its products in order to automate things such as expense reporting, bookkeeping and data entry. Conclusion Businesses have barely scratched the surface when it comes to implementing AI. The sheer number of potential uses for it is difficult to imagine. As technology improves and the cost reduces, more and more industries are going to start using AI in many areas of their business.  When you apply for a job, you actually have two CV's out there. You may well submit one CV but its also your social media that acts as the second one so knowing exactly what's on it really helps especially as recruiters will find it too! The Muse has 8 easy ways to have a clean up!
 Photo credit: Englishfirst.com We've all had that moment in an interview where you are asked, what are your strengths and weaknesses, but how do you answer those questions without sounding too big headed or not good enough? The Muse have some great tips with examples!
 Photo credit: TechRepublic You want to make a big career for yourself but think you need to learn so much to make it happen! The Muse has four habits that you need to try to make that career big for you! You can see more here!
 Photo credit: JustJobs.com Going into an interview is nerve wrecking enough but having a few tricks up your sleeve could make or break it for you! Thrive Global have more on the tricks to your next gig!
 Photo credit: Firstlegal.com A good routine has been proven to provide a structure to your day no matter how much is 'going on' right now. Entrepreneur Europe has 14 hacks to boost your day!
 How do you approach an interview? How do you set yourself up to stand out in that interview? Do you try and sell the best version of yourself or do you try and show them just how you are? Forbes have some pointers to help steer you in the right direction!
 For some, working from home is the dream! People working in the retail world or hospitality industry really could actually only dream about being able to work from home! If you're lucky enough for this dream to come true for you or have a chance, inc.com could help with a convincing stat to the boss!
 Why do people really quit their job? There is a huge variety of reasons and several people from Facebook's own Human Resources team tried to find out some of the reasons! The Harvard Business Review has more!
 While this is an advert for some courses that Reed.co.uk run, it does give you an idea of some of the new things you might want to try! Here is the link...
 So many jobs with so many people applying! But what do the 'outstanding candidates' do when it comes to bagging the job they are chasing? Liz Ryan, writing for Forbes has ten big tips!
 The morning commute for some is the worst part of the day, you're going to work, the bus or the tube is crowded and you've spent the last 20 minutes with your face in the armpit of some bloke called Dave.. who doesn't believe in deodorant.. we've all been there! The recruitment people at reed.co.uk have a quick guide of how to best make use of your time on your travels!
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