Golden Job

It's all about Job and Career!

Even if you’re still engaged in studies and haven’t thought much about searching for a job after university, it’s never too soon to seek out graduate career advice. It can provide a wealth of information about potential employment opportunities and help you steer your final year of school in the right direction, and give your education a real world focus that it may not have had up until now.

Why Do I Need Graduate Career Advice?

Graduate career advice helps you formulate a clear, objective assessment of your career options and provides assistance and direction so you can reach your goals. Most graduate career advice centres offer a range of options to help you develop and achieve your professional goals. If you seek graduate career advice while you’re still in university, you will learn how to make the most of your degree, and you’ll have time to acquire the additional knowledge and skills that will help you land that dream job.

While graduate career advice services may differ in their specific offerings, below are some of the key services usually offered under graduate career advice.

Personality / Aptitude Tests

Graduate career advisors often provide free and confidential psychometric tests to assess candidates’ aptitudes and interests. These tests typically identify your strengths and help you focus on making appropriate career choices. Personality tests can reveal your preferred communication style and key motivators, which in turn can provide pointers toward the career that suits you best.

Career Guidance

Graduate career advice is often centred on helping you explore a range of fields and job types so you can better understand your options. Not only do you get graduate career advice about specific industries, but you’ll also get typical job profiles and practical information on what it’s like to work in a particular field. Some services will also provide you with contact information for experts in the field you are interested in so those experts can give you graduate career advice from a real world perspective.

Application Assistance

Graduate career advice services can help you when preparing applications for part-time jobs and, internships, as well as full-time job placements. Most graduate career advice centres can provide direction on how to identify job listings that are right for you and help you follow up with applications. More specifically, a graduate career advice service can help you interpret the finer points of a job advertisement or description, answer questions on application forms, and ensure that your application package is complete and professional.

Interviewing Tips

A key benefit of getting graduate career advice is that it prepares you to face tough interview situations. Working with experts at a graduate career advice centre before that all-important interview means you’ll be ready to impress the recruiter / potential employer with your skills, knowledge, and presentation abilities. Graduate career The advice will helps you focus on your core strengths in a positive, professional manner and can also include coaching on how to handle potentially stressful telephone interviews.

How to Write a CV

Graduate career advice sometimes includes CV writing assistance to ensure your CV is in line with your career objectives. Most graduate career advice careers services recommend that those who are job searching maintain a dynamic, online CV, which enables you to easily tailor your CV template to a specific job and gets you noticed by thousands of recruiters and employers throughout the UK. It’s a good idea to have ask your graduate career advice service them to review your CV before you distribute it, which could give you an edge over other candidates.

In summary, graduate career advice can make the difference between a lengthy and unproductive job search and securing a coveted position in the field of your choice. Besides providing a wealth of information on the career planning process, graduate career advisors can introduce you to experts and professionals in your area of interest.

By: Peter Whitehead

About the Author:

If you’ve been working for any length of time in any capacity or industry, you have likely faced stressful points that make you want to scream. But as you’ve been working for any length of time, you know that a “pillow” is the only one who can take those screams, in a calm and supportive way.

What we get from these experiences is a chance to step back and reflect on what’s happening and how much we really control what’s happening. No, I’m not speaking in riddles; but I am making a point.

It’s unlikely that this is the first or last time that we will experience challenges in our workday, workplace or work life. It’s how we rise to the occasion and use those challenges, which enable us to grow and do more. You’ve heard the saying, “the best revenge is living well?” Well the best response to the challenge is “using it to make you stronger, more agile and successful.” How can you get to this point without investing a small fortune in pillows?

Take the time to look at the challenge, outside of its occurrence and when you’ve had a glass of wine, cup of tea, playtime with your children or pet. You’ll know when you’ve released the resistance and emotion attached to the challenge. Then you can apply some personal reflection to it.

Look back at the other times when you’ve experienced this kind of stress or challenge. What was happening? How did you feel through it? What did you learn from it? How are you different as a result? Let me give you a personal example to clarify how this can work.

I worked for a tough, tough manager. She was someone no one wanted to deal with. She has a very sharp mind and if you don’t keep up with her, she eats you for lunch. I finally (through lots of tears and headaches) learned to go with her flow. I learned it wasn’t going to get me anywhere otherwise. When I moved to a new job, she fully supported my promotion. Later, she asked me to come back to work for her again. Well, this is something no one had ever done! Now she was an executive and even tougher! I liked her and I KNEW her so I decided, “heck yeah I’ll work for you again.” I had many, new, challenging moments with her. But she pointed out that I was now a different person than in the past and had grown to “manage” her well. What was it?

I reflected on previous challenges with her and how I got through it; and who I was as a result. I also realized it was the meaning that I was attaching to her challenges. When I realized it had nothing to do with who I was or how talented I was, it no longer bothered me, personally. That was the growth she saw in me. It turned out to be the best manager-employee relationship I’ve had. (And yes, I would work for her, now a Vice President, again!)

So don’t discount the challenges that you face. Use them! Here are some tips to help!

Tip #1 – Nothing has meaning, save the meaning you give it. We always want the best for ourselves; however in our minds we make things worse than they really are. How? We give it a negative meaning vs. trying to create something positive instead. We do this, mostly, so that we’re not disappointed. So why not try a different approach and by giving it a positive meaning. Decide your own meaning and you’ll be more than surprised with the result! What do you have to lose since you’re thinking anyway? smile

Tip #2 – What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger. This is a mantra for a lot of people today. But we don’t have to be this dramatic to realize that we are much stronger than we think. Using just a tiny bit of reflection, you’ll see you’ve been down this road before and it’s always worked out for you! (or you wouldn’t be reading these words…you’d be…well, you know…)

Tip #3 – Declare, this will be for my benefit! What if we just made the declaration, right here, right now, that no matter what, I will take more from this event than it could possibly take from me! This stirs your energy and gets you focused in a powerful new direction.

Using these three tips will help you return to basics when you’re in the throes of a challenge, in your career and life. But let’s not kid ourselves; you can’t do this while you’re screaming into that pillow! After, while you’re re-fluffing it!

Think back to when we were in school. If we got bored with the teacher, we’d notice the hair, the glasses, the shoes, the gestures, etc. Even in the business world, when we’re bored we begin looking for holes to poke through an argument and how this person is presenting their point or case, vs. what they’re truly trying to say.

So when you feel the distraction to boredom coming on and you start to focus on the impression they’re making vs. the content or information they have to share, here are a couple of tips to help you pay attention for the good stuff!

Tip #1 – Remember the reason you’re there

Simple, right? Think about why you invested your time, money, emotion or learning right here and now, this will help to shift your focus quickly. Your time and attention are valuable. Remembering why you even engaged in this meeting or gathering to gain something to serve you, will ensure it’s not a waste of your time. So re-focus and remind yourself why you’re there and it will not only help you get back to the good stuff, but naturally lead you to the second tip!

Tip #2 – Identify the 1-3 key points you want to take away

What was really great about my workshop is that the leader asked each person to identify their intention at the outset. We were to think about what we intended to take away from our 3 days together. When you do this, it gives you an anchor to return to when your mind and attention start to wander. In those moments when you’re shifting in your chair and wonder what goodies you’ll find on the next break, your ears will pick up on important points that are related to your intention. And good stuff happens…

Long meetings, 2 or 3 day workshops, let’s face it, you’re going to have some dull and boring moments during your time there. So don’t beat yourself up, just recognize that these two tips – simplistic in their approach, yet powerful in the result, can help you ensure that you can shift back and pay attention and still get the good stuff!

A career in financial planning does not mean sitting down and auditing income and expenditure, it involves much more. In case you are keen on a career in financial planning, then you could be employed with a number of financial institutions like bank, credit union, investment company, stock exchange or government. For a career in Financial Planning you need a keen head for figures as also deep knowledge of the financial world. College or University training is very essential to a financial planning and some superior levels need lot of knowledge and understanding along with specific training. In case you are keen to take up financial planning as a career then knowledge of law may also prove to be beneficial. There are lawyers who are experts in world of finance too.

Many young people taking up a career in financial planning feel Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to be a very good training plane. The SEC supervises the working of the securities industry and enforces the Congress laws to protect the public investments.

In the world of finances the job market is expanding except may be in banks where bank mergers and automation have reduced the job market for bank officers formerly known as tellers. More and more people bank on line thus giving rise to more positions in computer and information technology. Because of severe competition in the Banking industry, they look for people with good sales and marketing background. American banks have become global, they are looking for U.S. educated Latin and Asian Americans who can take over the overseas positions in financial careers. The same applies to investment and securities organizations that are going global.

Millions of Americans are retiring who need somebody to guide them in investments and planning and for this they are depending on institutions offering financial planning services. A care in this area has a very great potential. More information on learning about this field can be obtained from American Bankers Association, the Bank Administration Institute, the Centre for futures Education, The Financial Women International, and the National Association of Credit Management.

Ø What do you feel about your professional future?

Ø Where would you start?

Ø What kind of work do you want to do?

Ø What kind of professional environment do you want?

Ø What location and commute should you expect?

Ø Do you want to be a self-employed professional?

Things should be a lot simpler for you if you went ahead with your job search after you identify the answers to these questions. But, the answers are not readily available with anyone you know. Research, talking with friends or seniors can only yield limited information. This is where a career guidance test can help.

You could use this as a tool for the assessment and development of your career. First of all, you will learn which careers are suitable for you and which aren’t; this saves you lots of time and helps you avoid unpleasant experiences are otherwise inevitable. Then, the accuracy of the career guidance test allows you to better focus on set objectives, and thus prevent costly professional mistakes. Plenty of such tests are completely free of charge as they are organized by national or regional employment agencies. A career guidance test is highly reliable and takes only a few minutes to complete. It is a set of questions that you can take online, and the results are available immediately.

When you take a career guidance test, you answer some questions that are afterwards analyzed according to the pre-established response patterns. Results will help you pinpoint the perfect job as related to the present day workforce. The accuracy of a good career guidance test relies on complex algorithms. It is a psychometric test developed to help you spot the best occupation.

Probably one of the most interesting and appealing elements of a career guidance test is the salary estimates. Of course, the figures may not be exact, but you get a definite range. The other results of a good career guidance test are comprehensive enough to give you details on the cost-of-living allowances, incentive pay, base rates and duty pay, which are normally included in your wages. Moreover, for the careers identified as the right ones for you, there will be a special section with various estimates, like the terms you can expect in case of injuries, overtime pay, special bonuses, health insurance profits and shift differentials.