Career Change Success

Career change is a big step, but one that is becoming increasingly necessary. Unemployment figures are skyrocketing and so many people have lost their pensions or seen them drastically reduced that retirement is no longer an option.

Career Change Success

So when you have to make a career change, how can you make sure that your choice of  career is the right one?

Nothing is one hundred percent certain and jobs are no longer for life, but understanding what you enjoy, developing your transferable skills and being open to new ways of working will give you the best chance of making your career change a successful one.

If you start out with where you are now, you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses and also your preferred activities. Add to this new skills and knowledge that you would like to acquire and take a look at where all of this information and ability could be put to use in the current job market.

Assessing Your Skills for Career Change

Make a list of your skills,  starting with:

 Job Specific Skills

These skills are directly related to your career or job, for example, if you are a nurse, ,they are practical nursing skills. Depending on your  experience,  you may have several lists, covering general nurisng skills, and skills gained in one or more area in which you have specialized.

You will also have Transferable Skills

Transferable skills are used in a great many different career areas and jobs. These days computers are used in almost all lines of work and so computer skills are needed just about everywhere.

 Developing New Skills to Help You Find Career Change Success

The ability to learn new skills is important because change is happening so quickly. This is particularly true of technology, but just about every aspect of life and work seems to be speeding up.

If you want to keep up to date, you need to be learning constantly. So if you want to make a successful career change, make a list of all the skills you would like to learn.

The world is getting smaller and international business can be carried out over the internet in minutes. So learning a language or internet marketing skills will also boost your employability.

Look at Current Problems

Consider the problems which are facing people these days and ask if you have or could learn any skills to help them overcome these challenges. For example, people can.t find work – could you help them set up their own business, improve their work skills or help them find a job?

People are also living longer – could you work in an industry which helps them to stay fit and healthy and make good use of their retirement years?

Make Sure You Enjoy Your Career Change

Don’t approach your search for career change by simply looking at what is in demand, choosing something and retraining. While demand is undeniably important, make sure you find something you enjoy doing. For more information, go to :  Career Change Ideas

Finding Career Change Ideas

Choosing the right career change ideas can be difficult, because there are so many options out there. Yet it’s an important decision, because your future depends will be defined in many ways by your choice.

Here are a few questions to help you decide what is right for you.

What do you enjoy doing? Both from your work life and your private life.

Let’s start with jobs

 Career Change Ideas from Previous Jobs

One of my jobs including training mentors to work with homeless people and that really stands out as something that I loved to do. What did I enjoy about that aspect of the job? It included working with two particular groups of people, understanding the needs of homeless people, creating and delivering a training programme and developing it as it went along. It was also very satisfying to see the results.

Take a look at what you have enjoyed in the workplace and identify the verbs associated with it. I’ll give you a few more examples:

Problem solving, managing, organizing, writing, assisting, treating, teaching, repairing, building, programming.

Which aspect of your present and or previous jobs did you hate so much you never want to do it again? This is probably a lot easier and may be the reason you left particular jobs. It could be actual tasks or more general factors such as working with difficult colleagues or having to work in a cubicle all day.

Once you’ve made a list of the negatives, see if there are an opposites which could go on the positive list. If you hate working in an office, where would you rather work? Outside,on a farm, in a school or hospital?

Career Change Ideas from Hobbies

Some hobbies lend themselves to careers, for example, if you love going to the gym, or are very good at a particular sport, you could become a personal trainer or coach.

Many hobbies can make money for you, but this often means setting up your own business. However, you can try it out in your spare time before giving up your day job. Setting up your own business isn’t always easy, but being self employed can be very rewarding and you get to be your own boss, which is an advantage for most people.

 Inspired Career Change Ideas

There are many ways in which you can find inspiration for career change ideas – reading about someone’s experience, watching a TV show or finding a solution to a problem you are experiencing in your own life or the life of someone close to you.

Read more about self employment on the main website:http://www.coolercareers.com

September – it’s Back to School 2011

It’s hard to  to believe that the summer is over, not that we had much summer in the UK, and that it’s back to school soon for thousands of children and young people.

Back to School 2011 – Last Chance for Lower Fees

For those about to go to university, it’s the last chance to get started before the fees go up dramatically, meaning that many young people have had to give up on the idea of a gap year. Fees in the UK are currently around £3000 per year, but set to double and in some cases triple. In fact, many more universities have decided to opt for the highest fees of £9000 per year than were expected to do so.

So for those young people sitting A level exams this year and next, the prospect of a university career is not so bright. Many are having to really think about whether or not a degree is worth the expense, especially in the current economic climate.

Back to School 2011- if not university, what?

If you won’t be able to afford a college education or don’t want to be weighed down by debt for the rest of your life, what are the alternatives?

Many young people are now opting for apprenticeships, which offer training in a profession or trade without the accompanying debt. However, it really depends on your career goals and for some careers there is no choice but to get a degree.

However, many degrees can now be completed via distance learning and done in your own time, at your own pace, allowing students to work while they are studying. A growing number of young people are choosing this option to avoid accumulating large debts, but this path does have a number of drawbacks.

Meanwhile, many of the youngsters still at school are studying more traditional subjects in the hope of getting an English baccalaureate  or Ebacc

In order to receive an EBacc, school children  have to get at least a C grade in the following GCSE subjects:   maths, science, English,  foreign language and history or geography. It is thought that many schools will encourage  pupils to take  these subjects, while unions feel this move will alienate many young people.

What are your thoughts on back to school 2011 and the changes in education?

Career Change Resume

When you need or want to change careers. it’s important to create the right type of resume. It can be difficult to know how to set out your career history if you have no experience which is directly related to the new direction in which you plan to take your career.

So you need to be able to identify your transferable skills in a way that shows the skills you have gained in your working life so far will be relevant to your career change.

Career Change Resume Format

The best format for your career change resume will usually be skill based or will focus on keywords. A traditional chronological CV or resume is generally not appropriate because you will be drawing attention to your earlier career in a different field.

It is important to focus on what you can offer in your new career area and the best way to do this in most cases is by highlighting skills and experiences which are relevant. You might have developed skills during your time as a student or in your first job or holiday jobs and not used them afterwards. However, they may come in useful in your new career and so need to stand out.

 Include Transferable Skills in Your Career Change Resume

These skills may not have been gained in your job, but can be very useful in your new career and so should be prominent in your career change resume or CV.  So make sure you look at every part of your life when assessing your skills – include voluntary work, sports, committees, participation in your local community, hobbies and family life.

You can buy 9 Steps to Resume and CV Success for only $17 – make sure your career change resume is on target to get you the right interview for the right job.

Top Paying Jobs

Who doesn’t want to be able to get one of the top paying jobs?

Check out this video to learn more

For more information go to top paying jobs without qualifications

Jobs for School Leavers

Jobs for school leavers haven’t been the most popular option for young people in recent years, especially with so much pressure to go to college or university.

However, with graduate employment down and approximately 70 applicants for each job, degrees are looking less attractive. And of course, there is also the question of student debt, which is predicted to reach an average of £25,000 in the near future.

And university places are down too, with many young people missing out on a place this year.

So what is the situation with jobs for school leavers?

Apprenticeships are the main area in which school leaver vacancies can be found and these are now available in a huge range of subjects. So it’s not just the traditional apprenticeships such as plumbing, carpentry or hairdressing that are open to today’s school leavers.

But what exactly is an Apprenticeship?

Apprenticeships are really jobs for school leavers which include training. They allow young people between the ages of 16 and 24 to learn a trade while being paid a wage. So they consist of a combination of work with a company and training, usually for NVQ qualifications in a further education college. The amount an apprentice is paid varies from between about £95 – over £200 per week and the average is £170. So that makes this option a lot more inviting than 3 or 4 years chalking up debt!

Some apprenticeships will have to pay their own college fees, but they are earning money and as with most jobs for school leavers, won’t necessarily expect this to be high to start with. At least it is better than accumulating a load of student debt,with no guaranteed job at the end of a university course.

Depending on the subject and level, apprenticeships last between one and three years

There are approximately 180 different apprenticeships in 80 different industries . so there is plenty to choose from. Some of the more recent additions to the list of areas in which apprentices can receive training are Creative and Digital Media, Information and Library Services and Design.

Things to Consider When Looking for Jobs for School leavers

If you aren’t able to take up an apprenticeship, you can think about going straight into the workplace. Progressive employers,who understand that learning on the job can be more valuable than a degree, will be offering jobs for school leavers.

When applying for a job, you want to consider your own interests and your long term goals. These days it is much more common to change jobs and even careers several times over the course of your working life. So you don’t have to worry about committing yourself to a career path for the rest of your life.

However, before taking a job, make sure that you will gain the sort of experience and training that you will need for your long term goals. So be sure you will be able to improve skills in computing, communication and team work, as well as any specialist skills related to the industry or career.

Entry level jobs for school leavers should help prepare you to take the next step in your career, whether in the same company or elsewhere.

Finding an Alternative to University

If you have failed to gain a university place this year and are looking for an alternative to university, what can you do?

There are many paths which offer an alternative to university, including apprenticeships, vocational qualifications gained at Further Education Colleges, entry level jobs, taking a gap year and resitting exams.

Which Alternative to University is the Right One For You?

If you haven’t got the grades you need, the first step is to re-assess your career goals. If you want to follow a career which requires a degree and are not prepared to budge on that, you will need to consider re-applying next year and that probably means knuckling down to some hard work and re-taking your exams.

However, many graduates are finding it tough to get a job and so a degree isn’t the be all and end all. Obviously, for careers like medicine and law you need a degree, but there are plenty of careers where you can progress well by taking a froute which is an alternative to university.

So take a long hard look at where you would like to be in 5 or 10 years’ time. Look in more general terms at what you would like to be doing eg working in computing, in the medical field, with children or animals and so on. Work out exactly which skills you want to use and which skills you want to learn. Even if your initial career choice involved a degree, there are alternatives to university which can take you in the same direction, perhaps getting you a good job more quickly than the graduate route.

For example, apprenticeships are now offered in areas such as Creative and Digital Media, leading to careers in

Interactive Media, Production, Editing,  Camerawork, Set Design and Audiovisual Journalism, making them a much more attractive alternative to university for many young people.

Think about the type of location you want to work in, both in terms of home/abroad or city/countryside and the type of building – school/hospital/office.

Think about what excites you and what you think will give you job satisfaction. Do you want to be challenged or do you prefer routine? Do you want to have opportunities for travel and if so where would you like to go?

What sort of people do you want to work with, both as clients or service or product users  and as co-workers?

Look at everything that you want in a career, from salary, promotion, on the job or sponsored learning in your own time to the small day to day aspects of the job.

No job is going to be perfect, but if you really think about what you want, rather than a single job title, you are much more likely to find something which you actually enjoy.

You can then start to research careers. By starting with broader concepts you will find that there are many more careers than you might have considered.  Take your time with this. The internet is a great starting point, but try to talk to people already doing the job or in the industry, for example by visiting job fairs, contacting local companies and asking friends if they know anyone who works n a specific career or industry.

If you take your time, you will have a good chance of finding a really worthwhile alternative to university.

Going to University? How to Finance Your Studies

As students await exam results which will determine whether or not they get a university place, how to finance your studies is high on the agenda with student debt is projected to increase dramatically over the next few years

According to research, students are now accumulating £5,600 debt for each year at college and the total for students starting their degrees in 2010 is predicted as £25,000.

With more young people applying for university places, more applicants than ever will miss out if they don’t get the required grades, but with the prospect of so much debt, this might not be such a bad thing.

Repayment of loans kicks in when graduates start to earn £15,000 or more, but just how many graduates can expect to walk into a top paying job?

The bad news is that graduate unemployment has risen by 25%, with many of last year’s graduates who were hit by the recession still looking for work.

So what does this mean for would be students? If you have already applied to university, check out all the funding options available to you. You can finance your studies through free money ie grants and bursaries which don’t have to be paid back, student loans which are paid back but at favourable rates and of course, part-time work.

Learn to budget and to cook – this will save you money! You’ll need to work out how much you need to live on, how much you are entitled to in grants and/or bursaries and how much you can borrow.

Work out how you much you will have to spend each month and set aside money for rent etc. There is enough pressure being a student these days without squandering all your money and ending up with nowhere to live.

For more information, go to Finance Your Studies

Click the link for information on student loan and consolidation

For more information on budgeting go to budgeting for students

News Sources http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10952303