Career Advice – Important Considerations When Changing Career

Careers Advice can take so many forms, ranging from advice from a close friend or relative to a full career assessment and a structured plan carried out by a qualified careers advisor. One of the problems is that almost anyone can set themselves up as a careers advice counsellor and the various certifications and qualifications are not clearly differentiated. Most careers advice is intended for and directed to college or school graduates. The quality of this advice varies tremendously and often it is the case that the advisor has little or no real experience in the market place within which careers are built and followed.

In the current climate of job insecurity, it is increasingly the case that careers advice needs to be sought by those who have already been engaged in the job market and who have a chosen profession or role already well established. Advising a college student or graduate is very different from advising a professional, already having several years of experience in their chosen career path. The starting point for any careers advice should be a detailed analysis of what it is that motivates inspires and rewards any particular individual. This can be wide ranging and almost infinitely variable from person to person.

Happily we all have our own desires, wants, and values and one person’s inspiration can be another’s total turn-off. In an already established career these wants and values can be influenced by past experience in previously held roles or jobs, where the particular values may or may not have been met.

Once you have identified your particular wants needs values and requirements, the next stage should be the identification of your own skills, talents and competencies. These will be used in preparing your resume or CV. The resume fulfills several objectives. It must first get you noticed. Anything beyond a two page resume is too much and will be likely overlooked by whoever is doing the recruiting.

Bear in mind that the recruiter would probably rather not have many resumes to choose from. For him or her, they just want the perfect candidate. It is up to you to be that perfect candidate and a resume that imparts sufficient information is the starting point. Avoid long winded explanations and confine yourself to laying out your past achievements, demonstrating as you do so, your suitability for the role you are seeking

The resume is the selling document for the product. The product is

Career Advice For Children Or Teenagers

In today’s society getting the right careers advice for children / kids and teenagers, is highly recommended. Many of the most successful adults today were fortunate enough to have been given some form of careers advice while they were still young. This gave them an advantage over many of their peers as they already knew and had a direction to head in when they had finished their secondary level of education.

When we are young we all dream of:

Becoming a scientist
Becoming a farmer
Working with the medical services
Working with the fire services
Working with the police services
Becoming a professional sports person
Becoming an architect
Becoming an astronaut
Owning a business
Becoming an actor

or one of the many other types of work that are available.

However, as we all know, there are hundreds, thousands if not millions of distractions that are available to take our attention away from the path that will lead us to that dream job or career that we always wanted.

Very often life turns out very differently from what we had originally expected and we end up accepting jobs or careers that are very distant from what we actually wanted to do when we became adults.

From an early age children should be encouraged to think about the following:

What do they enjoy doing?
What do they want to do when they are older?
Do they understand what their parents / carers do?
Do they understand how different jobs make up the society that they live in?
The importance of being a positive and constructive member of society.
The results of not being a positive and constructive member of society.
Enjoying childhood and teenage years while still remembering that they will one day become an adult.

Many people may think that these issues are too difficult for some children / kids to cope with. That is true. However, many children do have the mental capacity to identify with things that affect them but are not necessarily in front of them. Adults should encourage the children in their charge to think at the level most suited to that child. Careers advice for children can begin at any age. For example if a child shows an interest in art for example, it may be a good idea to take the child to an art gallery which could broaden the child’s thinking.

Or if a child shows interest in design, it might be possible to obtain some design equipment for them, or take them to a place where design is done at a professional level. They could even be taken to a trade or fashion show so they could see the end results of the design process.

Another important thing to remember:

Is the child or teenager naturally good at something?

This is often a major factor that is widely overlooked by parents and carers.

For example many children / kids and teenagers today want to be involved in the music industry. Adults usually think that this is a stage that the child or teenager will grow out of. However we also forget that it is usually ourselves that encourage them to learn musical instruments when they are young and we become upset or annoyed when they don’t pursue or wish to continue their musical education.

What could help in this kind of situation is to provide the necessary careers advice for children and teenagers about this and help them learn what is REALLY involved in becoming a professional musician. Once they have realised that it is not as easy as TV leads us to believe, they will either become serious about that intention or they will rethink their plans.

The most important thing to remember is to continually encourage the child to be successful at whatever they eventually choose to do. This will give them the self confidence necessary to achieve the best they can at their chosen career or profession.

Also remember that careers advice for children and teenagers could involve discussing further education. This is often looked at as a last resort for a youth who has not decided what s/he wants to do, when it is not. Further education can often provide the required foundation for youths that DO know what they want to do, and also for youths that Don’t. Either way it is an excellent subject to discuss with them.

Adults sometimes overburden children and teenagers with talk about ‘the future’. This could eventually have a negative effect on the childs’ or teenagers’ choice when choosing what to do.

Many people often have failed job or career dreams that they knowingly or unknowingly ‘dump’ onto youths. Adults often say things like

‘I wanted to be a… but… wouldn’t let me’
‘If I had been offered the chances that you have I’d be a… by now’
‘If I hadn’t had children, I could have been a… by now’.
‘There weren’t any opportunities when I was your age’
‘If I’d known what I know now I’d have become a… ‘

This MUST be avoided. Remember children and teenagers are very impressionable and can detect when there is resentment in what someone is saying. This could lead them to not want to talk about careers and jobs as they may think it upsets the adult.

A final note: Always be positive and constructive when providing careers advice for children / kids and teenagers. It is a good thing to point out what could happen if they don’t do well at school, college, university, or don’t make good career choices, however don’t let this be the main topic or subject of your discussions.

They must be taught that receiving careers advice is a good thing and providing they listen and carefully consider what is being advised, they will have a better chance of leading a happier, more fulfilling, enjoyable and worthwhile life. Remember it is their life, NOT yours.

Harry F James has over 10 years experience of designing and deli

Career Advice Vs Career Development – Can You Spot the Difference?

Career advice these days comes in all shapes and sizes. It’s easy to get “lost in the lingo” but understanding some basic definitions can help ensure you get the right support for your needs. To put it simply, whether you need career advice or career development depends on where you are on your career journey.

Webster’s online dictionary defines career as, “a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling,” and advice as, “a recommendation regarding a decision or course of conduct.” Put the two together and you can see that career advice is usually something specific, a tangible piece of information given to meet an immediate need. It can answer questions such as, “How can I choose the right part-time job for me?” “What are the right clothes to wear to an interview?” or, “What professions utilise both art and technology?” There can be a sense of urgency when seeking career advice, as the answers that are sought are usually ones that require a timely response.

Career development, on the other hand, is often seen as more of a big picture view. While advice may be something you seek to meet an immediate need, career development is something that unfolds with time. The dictionary definition of development, as noted by Webster is, “the act, process, or result of developing.” It can be thought of as an evolution of one’s career path, and can occur both consciously and unconsciously (have any of you woken up and thought, “just how did I get to this place in my career?” It’s more common than you think!) Having a career development discussion usually means you are thinking about things that have a wider scope. You may be wondering about future decisions, you may be thinking about how you can develop your skills to ensure continued growth in your field, or thinking about upcoming changes in your life and the role your personal values have on your career. Answers to these sorts of questions are usually ones that take time to unfold.

Both career advice and career development are important components in your own personal career exploration. Understanding these foundational terms will ensure you get what you need, and at the right time. If you are confused or have any doubts as to what you want to discuss, meeting with a qualified careers adviser can help steer you in the right direction.

ENFP Careers Advice

ENFP personalities are one of the 16 personality types from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and are known for being fun, open and enthusiastic. Their career strengths are different to those of others personalities. This means there are some jobs and careers they are well suited for and others that they may find challenging and less enjoyable.

Everyone needs careers advice that’s specific to their own personality and situation rather than generic guidance and as a career coach, and an ENFP myself, I know the advice below is spot on!

1. Start with your heart
As opposed to diving straight in and examining your skills and qualifications, try first considering what you want to do. People with this personality need to enjoy their careers as for them work isn’t just somewhere they go or something they do. For them it is often an expression of who they are. This means that it needs to be meaningful and fulfilling.

So the first piece of careers advice I would give is ‘Start With Your Heart’. This isn’t the same as saying just follow your heart as there are certainly other factors to be taken into consideration, but first of all look inside and decide what you really want to do.

2. Career strengths – build on them
You might think it sounds obvious to build a career based on your strengths, but sadly it’s all too easy to follow a path better suited to someone else. This is usually because you aren’t aware of your strengths or possibly you’ve received inappropriate advice.

The career strengths people with this personality often have include great people skills, creativity, adaptability and the flexibility to turn your hand to many things if you want to.

There are many areas where you can use these including teaching, social work, counseling, psychology, marketing, design, event management and many creative areas.

3. Got weaker areas?
In the same way that they often have signature career strengths, there are usually areas they find more challenging. This often seems to include follow-through, the need for flexibility, attention to detail and impersonal environments or those they perceive to be critical.

It makes sense to avoid career paths which don’t need your strengths but instead demand skills in an area you are less talented in. This can include auditing, accounting, computer programming and other detail-oriented IT work, manufacturing, cold calling and admin work.

This doesn’t mean you need to look for work that doesn’t include any of these things as most jobs will have elements you are not as keen on, but you may find it easier to flourish in a role that doesn’t focus on one or more of your weaker areas.

4. Finding the right career – more than personality
Although your personality is undoubtedly important and can be a helpful guide when finding the right career, it shouldn’t be the only thing you consider.

Other factors to consider include: skills and skill level, qualifications, interest areas, which jobs and careers paths are available and growing in the area where you are looking.

5. Job hopping or undecided? Build variety into your career path
These folks love variety and have many interests, as do people with a scanner personality. This can result in a low boredom threshold and if their current job doesn’t offer them variety or challenge they may end up job hopping.

To avoid the many disadvantages of job hopping, try building variety and change into a job or career path. Ways to do this include working in environments with a lot of change, doing project-based work, having 2 different part-time jobs or working for a small company where you get to do many different roles.

If you’re an ENFP and have been following generic careers advice and found yourself miserable in your job, that may have been where you’ve been going wrong. There’s nothing wrong with you, you’ve just been following the wrong advice. Perhaps now you need to look at careers advice tailored to you.

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