What can you do with a degree in English?

This is the first in a series of posts looking at jobs you can do with degrees which are not directly vocational. It’s great to study a subject you love, but a lot of people end up thinking their degree hasn’t qualified them for a career. However, that isn’t the case, as every degree teaches you a lot more than subject specific knowledge.

So what can you gain from studying English, apart from use of language and knowledge of literature? Studying English will give you a great many skills which are useful in the job market. Read More »

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Hi Folks,

This weekend I finally managed to make my first video using Camtasia. (don’t think I’ll be winning any awards ) However, it is now online and gives you a “rough guide” or tour of the Jobseekers’ Success Kit and I’ve also included a few tips on resume writing, interview technique and how to find a job.  As my video-making skills improve, I’m sure I’ll come up with a much improved version

Here’s the link Video Tour

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In the winter months it’s often hard to motivate yourself to gain a new skill. But if you are thinking of moving jobs or changing careers, it could be the right time to get your brain in gear. Lots of us make a new year’s resolutions to change careers, but interestingly, January is actually the month in which people are least likely to make a career change. Perhaps this is because of the cold weather in the northern hemisphere, with grim, grey days which make us just want to curl up in front of the TV when we get home in the evening. Read More »

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Work experience or a degree – which should you opt for? Many people face this choice every year, whether they are school leavers or changing career in midlife. How can you make the best decision?

First of all, it’s your decision and that means you need to weigh up the two options from the point of view of your current situation. Do you need academic qualifications to reach your career goal? Or is it possible to train on the job? Can you afford college tuition fees and support yourself through three or four years of study, or perhaps, more importantly, do you want to graduate with a hug debt to repay? Now that almost half the population in many western countries goes to university, do degrees really have that much value? Read More »

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How many of you are looking for new jobs, planning to escape once and for all from the rut you’ve been in for years? A surprisingly high number of people of working age are unhappy in their current jobs and the beginning of the year is one of the times when this dissatisfaction tends to bubble up. If you are really serious about making a career change, it’s critical that you don’t just dash off and apply for a new job because you made a New Year’s Resolution to do so.

The decision itself is just the first step – it might take weeks or even years to get to your final destination. So give yourself a pat on the back for having made having taken the initial decision, but don’t chastise yourself just because you can’t see a major transformation on the last day of January.

It’s critical that you come up with a career plan, which includes realistic short and long term goals. This strategy will enable you to remain both focused and motivated. Sometimes those long term goals feel incredibly remote and so you end up thinking they are impossible, but if you plan the way forward in small, manageable chunks, you’ll find they become surprisingly achievable.

Imagine that your ideal career is working in alternative medicine and that you’d really like to become an acupuncturist, osteopath or homoeopath, careers which now demand degree level study. Right now this feels as if it is an impossible dream. But by looking at it more closely, you’ll see that you are dealing with two main issues: time and money – and this applies to any career that you might be considering.

If you study both of these aspects of career change , you will soon see that there is more than one way forward. Take studying, many colleges offer part-time course, either on-site or by distance learning. You can pay for studies in any of the following ways, or perhaps using a combination of them: student loans, scholarships, grants, savings, borrowing from family, downsizing and selling off possessions you don’t want. If you are returning to study after the kids have left home, you might be in a position to sell your home and move to a smaller one.

If you don’t have much money, you could start by taking one or two modules and building credits. Or you could think about starting out in a related career which doesn’t need so much training. Learning skills like Reiki or massage is usually in the form of intensive courses and although these can be quite expensive, the advantage is that you can keep your full-time job. Once qualified, you can set yourself up as a practitioner and if you decide that the first goal is still for you, you can still get your degree, once you’ve set aside a little cash and have experience, both of working in complementary medicine and in self employment, both of which will be huge advantages.

Start out by looking at the overall picture and examine different routes to your ultimate goal, choosing the one which is best for your present situation in life.

You should be able to identify some goals which can be achieved quickly. Here are a couple of examples you could complete in the next months or two, depending on your present commitments: get in touch with local practitioners and ask if you can have a chat over lunch or coffee (you pay!)This will give you an inside view of the career, including insights into how to reach your goal more quickly.

A goal for the next six months might be completing a short course, such as an intro to anatomy and physiology or the basics of setting up a small business, either of which would give you great career information, and even help you decide if you’ve made the right decision before you go ahead and invest more time and money.

Once you are convinced the decision is the right one, you can go ahead and make longer term goals.

Starting with the final goal in mind and moving back towards the present will help you to judge which steps you should take in order to progress at the pace which is right for you. If you are determined to succeed in changing jobs, planning is important if you want to achieve long term job satisfaction.

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Many people think about a new career at the beginning of the year, with career change the main New Year Resolution for those who are bored or unhappy with their existing job. However, as with most resolutions, this one is often put on the back burner

Most of us have incredibly busy lives and as soon as the festivities have ended, we are swept back into the daily grind and taken over by commitments and responsibilities. On the rare occasions we get some free time, we’re usually too exhausted to think about looking for a new career. So more often than not, another year goes by and we’re still stuck in the same rut. How can you avoid this trap?

One of the main problems is that most of us aren’t aware of the best ways in which to find a job. So even those who do take steps towards change, often end up filling in application form after form or posting endless resumes or CVs and seeing no results.

Unlike many resolutions, for example losing weight or giving up smoking, career change requires a lot of thought. Career decisions are not straightforward, as there is so much choice and in addition, there are so many factors to take into consideration – should you retrain to learn practical skills or should you go back to college and get an academic qualification? Have you got a partner and children or a mortgage, which need to be considered? Read More »

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