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. Read More »

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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

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One important reason for choosing to make a midlife career change is that you feel you really haven’t reached your potential, that there is much more you can do.

The disadvantage of making career decisions at 18 or 21 is that you don’t know much about the labour market and so you often have to rely on other people’s advise or opinions.

In addition to which, most schools don’t give very detailed or individually tailored careers guidance and so it is hardly surprising that most of us make our decisions based on limitation and lack of information.

So it’s not surprising that after 10 or 20 years in the workforce you begin to feel that life might have been very different. Your current career is not providing much in the way of job satisfaction. If only you had followed your dream or studied what you wanted to learn, rather than gearing your efforts towards “getting a real job”? Where might you be now?

Midlife career change might be scary, but it’s also an adventure. You know a lot more about work, you have a much better idea of what you really want from work and perhaps more importantly, what you don’t want. You understand just how big a role your job plays in your life and you want to get it right this time.

So it’s time to reassess your career and create a future which is more fun, and also more fulfilling, allowing you to express your talents and use your skills.

But it isn’t easy to make big changes – there are quite a few risks involved. It’s often easy enough to decide what you’d rather like to do, but if you need to retrain, without the promise of a job at the end, it can be tough.

One way to approach this situation , is to look beyond the traditional work patterns we are used to and think about self employment and the possibility of a portfolio career.

A portfolio career can be a great choice as a midlife career change, because it gives you the opprotunity to make change slowly and it gives you the chance to work in more than one area, which in turn allows you to use different skills. This is a big advantage, especially if you have several very different ideas that you would like to pursue. One of the worst drawbacks of a normal job is that it can be impossible to find all that you want in one job. So a variety of different jobs, incorporating self employment, will give you a much better chance of finding fulfillment at work.

As with any career change, changing direction in midlife is something which takes time, thought and preparation. Luckily, this is much easier these days with the internet which will enable you to get information,, find contacts and even set up one or more income streams without leaving home!

Discover how to set up your own portfolio career at http://www.coolercareers.com/portfolio-careers.html and get started on our 6 Step Guide to Midlife Career Change today.

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I’ve been busy with the book project

but here is a new video for you:

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Writing a career change resume can be challenging. After all, you don’t want to list a load of jobs which have absolutely nothing to do with the one you are applying for. Here is a video to give you some tips:

Learn more about writing a career change resume

Popularity: 25% [?]

It’s been a while since I posted and there have been several reasons. First of all, I managed to hurt my arm quite badly before Christmas – getting a bit too impatient with the weights that has slowed me down quite a bit. I’m finally seeing a bit of an improvement after some Feldenkreis treatment.

Work is continuing on the software project – my video editing skills are not the greatest, and of course, I need to make lots of videos to show what the software is capable of. But I’m getting there and should soon be ready to send out some test copies. If you are interested, keep an eye on the blog. Now for the Something New . . . Read More »

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I have finally completed the software and am now working on the videos and user manual. Once those are ready, I’ll be looking for a few people to test the software.

Trying to create something which is automated, yet allows you to create targeted resumes and CVs, was quite a challenge, but I’m pleased with the results.  You will also be able to create cover letters.

There are quite a few additional features too.

If you’d like a sneak peek, here is the first instructional video

http://www.coolercareers.com/VideoOne/VideoOne.html

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