Why You Should Choose Volunteering Over A Summer Holiday: Tips For Graduates

Each year the number of  university applicants and starts is increasing.

Even more important, students securing high level qualifications is also on the increase, what this means for any academic is that competition is for any high level academic position is strong.

When recruiting graduates, employers do consider job hunters qualifications and positions such as finance, law and medical sectors all have specific entry requirements, which means all applicants will have the same qualification.

To secure your first paid job, you need to stand out at the job interview and one way to do this is through your experience. and a lack of experience is the number one reason why new graduates don’t secure employment within the first 6 months of graduating. During the summer holidays it is very tempting to gain any paid job to give yourself that all important income.
Students study hard and party hard, all this partying cost money. Students these days also have a passion for fashion. the fashion and partying is all part of the student life style and this life style needs funding. You need to look long term, not short term. you cna get a paid job in a fast food chain or retail outlet giving you a disposable income, but what if you didn’t?
Instead you could spend your summer holidays volunteering in a range of sector specific placements.  what you lack in funds, you will make up in experience.
And once graduated, this experience will come in to it’s own, because the employer can only be impressed by your commitment to your career. The employer will be blown away by the vast experiences you, as a graduate have already undertook and the skills you have learnt can add value to their team.
Who would you employ if you had the choice of two graduate, the one with the qualifications and a lack of experience, or the second applicant with both experience and qualifications?

Being a Nanny Can Be More Rewarding than Merely a Paycheck

This months guest post comes from Jack Meyers a regular contributor for www.nannybackgroundcheck.com

There is more to being a nanny than just monitoring a child to make sure he or she doesn’t get into the cookie jar nor does something to get injured. A nanny needs to be a role-model for the child that can provide a positive influence in his or her life. The position requires a deeper level of caring than simply watching over the house. This level of expertise, caring, and interaction are reasons why nannies are paid far better than simple babysitters.

1. Adaptation – Obviously, a nanny loves to work with children. If you are unable to handle any situation that arises while caring for a child, then you should seek a different career. This isn’t saying that you need to know everything that is going to happen, but you need to be able to adapt to situations quickly. Anything can happen inside of 30 seconds with a child, good or bad.

2. Experience – Having previous experience caring for children in various settings is always a good thing to have on your resume. Educational, therapeutic, or pediatric experience could quickly hurl you into the front of the line. For those who lack experience and are looking to start their career as a nanny, jobs like babysitting or daycare can help.

3. Caring – You need to be able to care on a deeper level as a nanny than most other positions. Although you’re not taking the place of a parental figure, the child needs nurturing from you in order to develop into a positive role-model themselves in life. You’ll need to be able to care for the child in a fashion that you would care for your own.

4. Background Skills – Experience in first aid and CPR for children is one of the most important skills to have. Although we try to protect the children as best we can, accidents do eventually happen. Parenting classes of any kind is a great way to add knowledge to your experience and looks great on a resume. Many of these classes are provided by your local family care clinic for free. While it may be beneficial to take childhood development courses in college or obtain a degree, successful nannies have been able to accomplish their goals without. Basically, the more knowledge you gain for the care of a child, the better off you’ll be in a career as a nanny.

5. Flexibility – Although many stations have a set schedule that you’ll be needed, it doesn’t hurt to be flexible in your hours. Especially if a child forms a bond with you, extra hours or irregular times may be necessary. For instance, a family may be more comfortable with you watching the child if an emergency happens in the middle of the night.

6. Confidentiality – A family’s privacy needs to remain just that. In no manner of speaking is it ever OK to talk about your employer’s habits or lifestyle. The only time that confidentiality should take a back-seat is if there is illegal activity in the house or situations that put the child at risk. It’s no one’s business what goes on within the home you are stationed.

It takes a special kind of person to be a great nanny. It’s not some laid-back position that you can milk for a paycheck. It requires a greater interpersonal connection with a child in order to assist in his or her development. You have to work with the child, not because of them.

Author Bio:

 Jack Meyers is a regular contributor for www.nannybackgroundcheck.com. As a detective he wants to spread the knowledge of terrible things that can happen when people don’t fully verify the credentials of a caregiver or any employee. He also writes for various law enforcement blogs and sites.

Solo Jobs The Old and The New

3 Solo Careers

Teamwork is often a key skill on many job specifications, but for those employees who want to work in a job sector where you can work on your own initiative, you will need to pick a career where the key criterion is single working.

These 3 careers require people who can work on their own initiative

Time Management

The Man Scientist

you may think that this career is only available in cartoon or cheap comedy movies, but with the increase in STEM positions and a worldwide growth in green careers, innovators, designers and scientists are now in demand.  You could be paid thousands if you designed a car that could run on potato peelings or even millions for the innovator who designed and created a new way to capture energy from natural resources, such as the experiments in the North Sea where scientist have created technology to turn the power of waves into electricity.  

The sole working “mad scientist” has a vast opportunity to make a financially successful career turning their own ideas into working models that can be sold to industry leaders.

Cyber Security Officer

The internet has changed the world, and technology has developed quickly with millions of people using their internet phone to make payments, to pay bills and to access their bank statements. The growth of internet banking has been met by a growth in cybercrime. To combat this illegal activity which can potentially cost the financial sector billions of dollars, banks, financial companies and governments are recruiting cybersecurity officers to monitor and combat cybercrime. Companies will also commission hackers to try and hack their new systems before making them live. For the computer geek, well computer expert this role demands expertise, concentration and the ability to work alone  

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

150 years ago you would find whole villages working on a farm to produce a crop ready to sell across the world. This multi-skilled task took hundreds of people, but starting with the industrial revolution, the horticultural sector has developed using new technology and machines to produce faster and move profitable results. As the number of machines on farms increased the number of employees decreased, now in 2013 producing a crop is a person job an ideal job for the introverted employee, motivated to work alone.

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3 Strategies for Coping with a Job You Hate

Sometime you will find yourself in a job you hate, in these situations don’t be rash and hand in your resignation before finding a career you love, first follow these 3 strategies for coping with a job you hate.

careers manchester

1. Job Planning

– by starting to plan for a new career you will feel you have a way out of the current job you hate, but it’s not good enough to just say I’m looking for a new job, you need to have a plan of action “I will see a career advisor on 12/12/25, I will apply for 5 jobs a week, etc. By having a plan of actions with dates you are much more likely to commit to them, as you start to see your success you will feel less stressed in your current position. 

2. Reframe the Problem

– when looking to get a new job because you don’t like your current role there is always a reason. Maybe there are rumours of redundancies, your manager may be lazy and never does any work or maybe you asked by your boss to do extra work. This negative thinking can make you stressed and ill, which is not a good place to be in when your applying for new jobs.

First, write down what you don’t like about your job “lazy manager”, I’m asked to do all the work”, “I will have no income if I get made redundant” and then look at the positive to all these situations, by looking at the positives or by looking at the problems from a new perceptive will make you feel more positive and in control, and remember because your job hunting you not going to be there that long.

Example reframes “the potential redundancies have given me to the push I need, I have already found 3 jobs I could apply for which pay a higher salary” “Being asked to take on more work shows me that my employer values my work” “my boss not doing any work is a sign that he doesn’t know what he is doing”

 3. Killer Reference

– Knowing you are going to leave is a great feeling, now you have made that decision you can go out with a bang. Pick a new project or task and put your all into it, make it a real success. Your line manager is now highly impressed with your work ethic and skills. Once you hand in your notice, you will know that they gutted that you are leaving especially when they hear that a competitor has recruited you because you have been seen through your last project as a valuable employee. After trying to get you to stay, the only thing they can do now to show their appreciation for your hard work is to offer you a killer reference.

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The 2 main reasons why doing something between jobs is so important

When between jobs it is easy to fall into a negative routine off staying up late watching a late-night movie, waking up past dinner time, which leads to a late breakfast and by the time you have finished watching the afternoon talk show the time for job searching is over.

To combat this negative routine job hunters need to fill their time between job searching and a second activity IE training, volunteering, etc.

There two main reasons to fill your time:

Reason One: from the employers point of view, when reading your CV a gap in your employment can look negative, with some employers generalising that gap means your lazy or you have served a short term prison sentence.

As with all generalisations this conclusion has no evidence, but once an employer has a negative thought about you it is hard to  have a change of mind. So the first reason is, by volunteering or training you will have a gap-free CV

Reason Two: a job is more then just an income it is an identify, when being between jobs you can easily become down beat or depressed falling into that negative routine we discussed before.

By undertaking a training course or by volunteering, you will create a purpose, a positive routines and a new identity, in short you will feel good about yourself keeping you motivated during your new job applications and interviews.

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Outplacement Service

Outplacement Service in Manchester

 At Employment King we offer tailor made outplacement services.

Company redundancies, merges and restructuring can be mentally hard on employees at all levels. Using an impartial outplacement service can make this transaction easier and more motivational.

Employment King Career Coaches are experienced, trained and qualified in a mixture of IAG (information. Advice and Guidance) NLP Life Coaching and Personality Type Assessments.

We offer Group and One-to-One sessions, delivered in your workplace:

Outplacement Services  

CV Writing Service

The ability to design and write interview winning CVs is the key tool for any job hunter no matter how many years experience you posses, the level of your qualifications or the seniority of your position.

CV writing session will be tailored to your needs and can cover:

  • 10 Mistakes that Kill CVs
  • How to target a CV to each application
  • CV that win job interviews

CV Writing Service

  • Each CV will be tailored made
  • Each CV will come with a FREE Cover Letter Template Pack
  • You will also receive a FREE copy of The Secrets of Employment E-Book

Psychometric Assessments   

 We use Myers Briggs Personality Type Assessments to help you choose your next career role based on your personality, motivational traits and potential stress indicators

  • Each participant will be sent a FREE 12 page personality type profile e-book
  • We will match career choices to your personality

Advance Interview Training

 As a specialist in Interview Coaching we offer a variety of interview coaching session for promotional opportunities and redundancies.

  • Influencing the Interview – using psychology and NLP to pass job interviews
  • Interviewer Rapport Building Techniques
  • Answering Tricky Interview Questions
  • How to come across as  an expert
  • Beating the competition
  • Preparation, Planning and Passing Interview  

Career Coaching

 With a background in careers advice and coaching, we can work with your employees to help them understand their strengths and key skills, supporting them to gain promotions and new career ideas.

  • Career Advice
  • Career Values and Dislikes – what would be your ideal role?
  • Understanding Job Profiles and How to Gain Job Offers
  • Matching Skills to career ideas and promotional opportunities
  • Understanding the local labour market (LMI) and re-training

Motivational and Confidence Building Training

 For many redundancies and restructures can be demoralising, employment king specialise in motivation and confidence building. We offer a wide range of services using a mixture of NLP and Life Coaching:

  • Life Coaching Sessions
  • Motivational Training
  • Confidence Building

Job Shops and Surgeries

 We design industry specific job shops and surgeries which can cover all aspects of the job application process:

  • Where can I find work?
  • Influencing the Interview
  • Internet Job Hunting
  • Career Planning
  • How to Sell Yourself

Career E-Products

 We have a wide range of career e-products that you can purchase; we will often give e-products away depending on which of the above services you want to purchase

  • Secrets of Employment E-Book and FREE CV Template Pack – a guide to securing more job offers covering the whole job application process from job searching to passing job interviews.
  • Tricky Questions, Killer Answers – over 60 Interview questions and answers. Learn what answers employers are looking for and why they ask each individual question, with example answers for all interview questions.
  • CV Secrets – a FREE e-book designed to help you gain more interviews by writing amazing CVs
  • Additional: We have a wide range of e-products from job logs to CV Templates, many are FREE

Remember we will tailor make group and one-to-one interview and career coaching sessions for your staff; we also offer ongoing e-mail support and additional follow careers session if required. For more information use the contact form below:

    Interview Coaching and Advice in Manchester

    Employment King has helped thousands of job seekers to gain career success with our highly successful career and interview coaching progamme.

    A female applicant attending a panel job interview.

    We believe that everyone deserves to receive a job offer in a sector they are passionate about and skilled in. 

    Job interview coaching can help you achieve your career dreams. Available in Manchester.

    Career advice and interview coaching sessions are delivered by a trained coach.

    Interview Coaching Sessions.

    Choose one of three programmes:

    Manchester Interview Coaching Session: Upgrade Your Interview Skills.

    1 Session

    • Attend a mock job interview with an interview coach.
    • Professional feedback focusing on the strength of your interview answers.
    • Gain personalised interview advice and tips to take your job interview to the next level.

    The upgrade session is best suited for career professionals who know they should be gaining job offers but, due to their interview skills, fail to secure offers of employment.

    One session lasting 60 minutes, delivered online.

    Manchester Interview Coaching Session: Interview Boost.

    Two interview coaching sessions:

    Session 1 – focuses on sector-related interview questions and how to deliver high-scoring interview answers.

    Session 2 – increases job interview confidence through techniques to help overcome job interview anxiety.

    The boost package is two interview coaching sessions that focus on improving the overall performance of an interviewee. Ideal for applicants who fear the job interview process.

    Each interview coaching session last 60 minutes per session.

    Manchester Interview Coaching Session: Interview Reboot.

    3 interview coaching sessions that will take your interview skills to a professional level:

    Session 1 – Job interview analyst to breakdown an interviewee’s strengths and areas of development, including the structure of the interview answer, confidence level when answering questions and delivering interview presentations, and the likelihood of receiving a job offer.

    Session 2 – A focus on creating high-scoring interview answers that reference the job criteria which increases the likelihood of receiving a job offer. Learn about the structure of an interveiw answer, embedding storytelling into job interview answers and how to be seen as highly valuable.

    Session 3 – Improve communication in terms of confidence and delivery. This session can be focused on overcoming job interview anxiety, improving confident communication, and how to feel relaxed during the job interview.

    Each interview coaching session last 60 minutes per session.

    Career Coaching Sessions in Manchester.

    Specialised career by a trained career guidance officer.

    Each session will be tailored to the needs and circumstances of the career professional.

    Choose 1, 2 or 3 career coaching sessions.

    • Review your workplace values and understand your workplace motivators.
    • Match careers to your personality type. Gain new career ideas.
    • Discuss career and higher educational pathways, job duties and entry routes. Plan your career route.

    Each career coaching session last 60 minutes per session.

    BOOK YOUR ONLINE CAREER ADVICE AND/OR INTERVIEW COACHING SESSION TODAY

    Price Plan – no payment required until an agreed date and time for your career advice or interview coaching session has been confirmed.

    To book your career advice and interview coaching session, please complete the coaching inquiry form below.

    Session Cost

    1 x Session Was £299.99

    Now Only £149.99

    2 X Sessions was £369.99

    Now Only £249.99

    3 x Sessions was £499.99

    Now Only £299.99

      Careers Advice in Manchester

      Careers Advice in Manchester

      Employment King has helped thousands of job seekers to gain career success with our highly successful career and interview coaching progamme.

      We believe that everyone deserves to receive a job offer in a sector they are passionate about and skilled in. Career Advice  can help you achieve your career dreams.

      Career advice and interview coaching sessions are delivered virtually by a trained coach.

      Interview Coaching Sessions.

      Choose one of three programmes:

      Interview Coaching Session: Upgrade Your Interview Skills.

      1 Session

      • Attend a mock job interview with an interview coach.
      • Professional feedback focusing on the strength of your interview answers.
      • Gain personalised interview advice and tips to take your job interview to the next level.

      The upgrade session is best suited for career professionals who know they should be gaining job offers but, due to their interview skills, fail to secure offers of employment.

      One session lasting 60 minutes, delivered online.

      Interview Coaching Session: Interview Boost.

      Two interview coaching sessions:

      Session 1 – focuses on sector-related interview questions and how to deliver high-scoring interview answers.

      Session 2 – increases job interview confidence through techniques to help overcome job interview anxiety.

      The boost package is two interview coaching sessions that focus on improving the overall performance of an interviewee. Ideal for applicants who fear the job interview process.

      Each interview coaching session last 60 minutes per session.

      Interview Coaching Session: Interview Reboot.

      3 interview coaching sessions that will take your interview skills to a professional level:

      Session 1 – Job interview analyst to breakdown an interviewee’s strengths and areas of development, including the structure of the interview answer, confidence level when answering questions and delivering interview presentations, and the likelihood of receiving a job offer.

      Session 2 – A focus on creating high-scoring interview answers that reference the job criteria which increases the likelihood of receiving a job offer. Learn about the structure of an interveiw answer, embedding storytelling into job interview answers and how to be seen as highly valuable.

      Session 3 – Improve communication in terms of confidence and delivery. This session can be focused on overcoming job interview anxiety, improving confident communication, and how to feel relaxed during the job interview.

      Each interview coaching session last 60 minutes per session.

      Career Advice Session.

      Specialised career by a trained career guidance officer.

      Each session will be tailored to the needs and circumstances of the career professional.

      Choose 1, 2 or 3 career coaching sessions.

      • Review your workplace values and understand your workplace motivators.
      • Match careers to your personality type. Gain new career ideas.
      • Discuss career and higher educational pathways, job duties and entry routes. Plan your career route.

      Each career advice session last 60 minutes per session.

      BOOK YOUR ONLINE CAREER ADVICE AND/OR INTERVIEW COACHING SESSION TODAY

      Price Plan – no payment required until an agreed date and time for your career advice or interview coaching session has been confirmed.

      To book your career advice and interview coaching session, please complete the coaching inquiry form below.

      Session Cost

      1 x Session Was £299.99

      Now Only £99.99

      2 X Sessions was £369.99

      Now Only £149.99

      3 x Sessions was £499.99

      Now Only £179.99

        How to Plan for your First Day at Work 10 Quick Tip’s

        First Day in a New Job – 10 Tips

        Congratulations – You passed your job interview and been offered a job.

        Often you’re excitement can quickly turn to nerves as the first day approaches. Does this sound like you?

        There are several things you can do to help prepare for your first day and a Career Coach can help you prepare. First try these 10 quick tip’s:

        First impressions count

        You need to make a good first impression; preparation is the key.

        1. First, thank your referees as you may need to call upon them again, hopefully not in the near future. It is often good to ask your referees for a written reference, as by the time you next need a reference your referee may have moved or change company.

        2. Check you know where you are going, in some cases the interview venue is different to that of your place of work, and turning up at the wrong venue will not give a very good first impression. Also check how long it will take you to travel to work, complete a mock run – you don’t want to be late.

        3. Prepare what you are going to wear (what is appropriate to the job role) wash, shave and brush your teeth – all obvious I know, but some people will need a little reminder

        4. Bring any documents, ID or bank details that the employer has requested and check you know who you are asking for on the first day.

        Understand the Industry you are working in.

        5. You will be asked about your experience and knowledge during the first week of your new job role by many of your new colleagues, as you know you will be asked this question you can prepare your answer, to help give a positive impression of yourself.

        6. Research the company, read the company annual report, press releases and website. You may be introduced to the MD or SEO, you can slip into the conversation your knowledge (only say positive things) of the company history and achievements.

        Be Positive and Feel Good

        7. Before you start your new job – Imagine yourself in your new job, doing well. If this image that you have just created in your mind, is a still picture, press play and turn the image into a movie;

        In this movie, picture everyone you talk to being really interested in you and really liking how you present yourself.  When you are asked a question you automatically know how to respond, you don’t know how you know, you just do and this creates a great feeling inside.

        In the movie, you’re looking good, you look confident – you feel confident. Imagine yourself really excited about this new adventure, how does it feel to feel confident and excited? Where does this feeling start in your body? Imagine this feeling running quickly through your body; make this image large and colourful. As you feel the full emotion of this visualisation, squeeze your thumb and finger together creating a positive anchor and repeat the exercise 3 times for a fuller effect.

        How does this work? If you imagine yourself being happy and confident, you will feel happy and confident, other people who imagine everything going wrong often end up having a bad first day. To be confident, you need to feel confident. An NLP Life Coach can help you improve your confidence and motivation.

        8. Write a list of all your skills and qualities, record everything you know your good at, keep going until you can’t think of any more., then add one more to the list!

        Write a second list of all the nice things past colleagues and employers have said about you, this can be in formal reviews and appraisals or  just as a passing comment –remember how it felt at the time this was said to you.

        And finally write a third list of what you can bring to this new company, what value will you add, how will your past experience help improve the company to help them achieve their goals?

        9. Smile, you have been picked from (on average) over 300 other candidates. A smile goes a long way and creates a good first impression, also shake hands with everyone your introduced to.

        10. On average the first day is spent being introduced to many people; mangers and colleagues, be prepared to answer repeated questions. You will be asked to sign a large amount of company documents and to read many of their procedures. Have a snack in your suitcase to help keep your energy up.

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        Recruitment Agencies – A bit Tricky

        Get the upper hand with a job recruitment agency

        Job hunters will often turn to recruitment agencies to help secure employment and why not, recruitment agencies will search for vacancies on your behalf, give advice on your CV and facilitate between you and the employer, your start date.

        There are many good agencies you should sign up to and many agencies that give the recruitment agency sector a bad name and should be avoided, below are some of the reasons why.

        Tricks Recruitment Agencies:

        Advertise False Vacancies

        This is a well-known recruitment trick, by advertising false vacancies, job seekers will register with the agency, and this allows the agency to boast to employers about the high level of potential employees and CVs they have on their database.

        Asking for References

        The agency will ask for a reference for the “false” vacancy. Remember there is no job, the agency is looking to gain new employer contact details.

        Gaining Contact Details

        When you supply the agency with the company name you previously worked for, they will ask “who was your line manager, was it Mr “False Name” and the common response is “No, it was Mr “Real Name” The agency now have a new contact for a new business that they will approach.

        Finding Employers

        Recruitment agencies need to find companies that are recruiting, they will offer the recruitment service and make money by charging a percentage off the employee’s wage. Agencies will often ask you to tell them which companies you have applied to; they now have new companies to contact. Once these companies’ sign up to the recruitment service you will quickly have double the competition for the position, that until you told the recruitment agency they didn’t know about.

        The Perfect Job

        The phone rings and the agency tell you “I have the perfect job for you but you need to start immediately!” If your working you may be advised to take this perfect job (remember when you take a job the agency gain a percentage of your wage, the more people who take jobs the more money they earn) even when you are employed, they may even tell that this job is so good you should walk out of your present job – burning your bridges and chances of a good reference.

        Wage Decrease

        Once you are offered a job, you may be told they were not able to secure the rate that you wanted. This is rubbish as they have already had discussions with the company regarding the rate of pay.

        They may also tell you “there aren’t many of these jobs about I would take it if I was you” only take the job if you are happy with the wage, the recruitment agency wants you to take the job so they can earn more money, they are not interested in you as a person.

        Time is Money

        If you fail one or two interviews, the agency will tell you that they will keep looking for work for you, they won’t they will just drop you. They don’t want to spend time looking for work for someone who can’t pass interviews. Really they should give you interview advice to help you pass future job interviews, but they feel …time is money.

        Introduction Fee

        We all get excited at a prospect of a £500 introduction fee, recruitment agencies will offer you this fee if you introduce them to an employer which leads to a job. You will only receive this payment if you find out about the job and after you continue to ask for your fee.

        Like we said at the beginning not all recruitment agencies are like this, just be aware and look for these tell tale signs.