The Careerconnect blog is now closed.
The Careers Service provides news and information for online distance learners on their blog Inform.ed.
For further information on careers support for online distance learners go to the Careers Service website.
The Future of Work
When you are thinking about the direction of your career in the future it’s always worth considering your options in the context of a changing world. There has been a lot of research, and many reports written, on the future of work. If you haven’t read anything on this topic then why not get started by dipping in to the information below? As you would expect there is a lot on the impact of technology on the type of jobs that will be available, and those that are likely to disappear.
McKinsey Global Institute podcast on the future of work
Identifying professional development opportunities
If you are looking for opportunities to support your personal, professional or academic development we have a new online platform that can help – MyDevelopmentHub. It brings many of the opportunities available across the University together into one searchable platform. Whether you want to improve your influencing skills or are interested in learning how you can work more effectively in a team, there are resources to support you. Although it also lists on campus opportunities to develop, many of the resources are available online so can be accessed by students studying by distance learning.
At the moment we’ve launched a beta version so we’re still developing the platform but it’s already a really useful tool. Have a look and do tell us what you think!
Effective group working
There was an interesting article in the Times Higher Education journal this week. It talked about research Google did a few years ago on what the main characteristic was for a successful team. It concluded:
The crucial feature of successful teams was kindness: members of the outstanding teams were vigilant in taking care of each other, and those groups were the most innovative, productive and happy.
The article went on to talk about how universities can support students to develop approaches to group working that will help them to be more effective. Not only can this help with success during your studies, but as Google’s research has shown it is valued by employers. In particular, for online students from countries across the world, building compassion into group working approaches can help build connections and encourage critical thinking – a key skill for successful postgraduate study.
I’ll let you read the article and research yourself and encourage you to consider how you could modify your approach to aid success.
Welcome to new online students
A warm welcome to our new online postgraduate students at the University of Edinburgh. We hope you are looking forward to getting started with your course. As an online student you will be juggling your studies with other commitments so this is a brief outline of how the Careers Service can support you during your time with the University of Edinburgh.
For help with academic study and planning your future career use the resources we have developed with the Institute of Academic Development.
Succeeding at postgraduate study and preparing for your career
The Careers Service website has advice and information on making career decisions; exploring different occupations and what you need to enter specific career areas; job hunting techniques; how to be successful at applications and interviews; and more.
If you have specific questions please ask a member of Careers Service staff by posting your question on MyCareerhub.
Appointments to speak to a careers consultant are available by Skype or telephone. You can book on MyCareerhub.
We look forward to supporting you during your time as a postgraduate student at the University.
Planning your next vacation?
The academic year is coming to an end here at Edinburgh with students busy handing in final assignments for their courses, studying for exams, and then the final exam period. For those of you studying online, who may be juggling study with other commitments, it may also be a time when the pressure on your time begins to ease for a while and you think of taking a vacation.
You often read that people spend more time planning for a vacation than they do planning a career. Think of the amount of time you spend checking out flights or making other travel plans, finding the right hotel or accommodation, reading about all the places you’d like to visit when you get there…wherever that may be. And that’s just for a two week vacation! Compare that to the amount of time you spend thinking about your career development considering you may spend 35 hours a week at work (or more) possibly over the course of 40 years!
So if you’re taking a break from academic commitments in the next few months maybe this is a good time to reflect on your studies and consider how they could influence the direction you take in your future career. To help you, check out our Supporting taught postgraduate students resource. There is information to help you to reflect on your studies, consider what you want to achieve, encourage you to set goals, and to think about the next step once you complete your postgraduate degree. Most of us don’t hesitate to make the time to plan a good vacation. Take a similar approach to ensure you make satisfying career choices.
Supporting taught postgraduate students
Sponsors versus Mentors for Career Development
I’m a big fan of mentoring for individuals to help them with their career development. Mentors tend to be someone you can talk to about your plans, set goals with, and get ideas and encouragement from on how to achieve those goals. Often mentors come from within your organisation (if you are employed) and they’re usually more senior than you, although occasionally people may seek out a mentor from outside their organisation (maybe from a sector they are keen to move into). Mentors can be motivating, supportive, help clarify ideas, and give you a different (and helpful!) perspective on the issues you may be facing in your job or in progressing your career.
But I recently came across a really interesting blog post from a few years ago that I wanted to share with you. It suggests enlisting the help of a ‘sponsor’ to support your career development, someone who will actively promote your career development within an organisation. I’ve copied a quote from the post below.
But what’s the difference between a mentor and a sponsor? Heather Foust-Cummings, a vice president with Catalyst Research Center for Equity in Business Leadership, explained it this way: “A mentor will talk with you, but a sponsor will talk about you.”
The blog talks about what you can do to enlist the support of a sponsor and why it’s a good thing to do. I’d recommend it as a really interesting read if you want to progress your career with your current employer.
The People Who Can Open More Career Doors Than You Ever Thought Possible
Get comfortable with giving feedback
My colleague Jo Fairweather has written this post on how to give effective feedback. Giving feedback is an important part of being a good colleague or line manager, and this post will also help you to reflect on what you want when you are asking others to give you feedback on your work.
We regularly give feedback in our lives. It could be writing a review on TripAdvisor, commenting on a colleague’s email or giving feedback on someone’s essay.
Considering your approach to giving feedback can help make you and the person who receives feedback feel more comfortable.
Reflect on your current approach to giving feedback. Are you on target, go in with a sledgehammer or avoid the issue for fear of upsetting the individual? The purpose of providing feedback is for the recipient to benefit from that new knowledge. Giving feedback is not about trying to change that person, be judgemental, or make them like you. Being aware of your natural response can help you analyse how you view feedback.
Be clear on what the feedback relates to. Be descriptive not interpretative. Feedback is like holding up a mirror to someone else. Try to keep personal opinions and concerns out of the message. Emphasise the “what” and “how” rather than the “why.”
Present a balanced view. Pay attention to giving both positive and negative feedback. Most people listen out for and remember negative feedback received first so a good balance is important.
Put yourself in the other person’s place. Assess the readiness of the other person to make use of what you say. Pick your time and place. Consider if the feedback will be given face to face. Receiving feedback via text, email, or phone can affect the tone and lead to misinterpretation.
Be specific rather than general. Stick to concrete examples you have noticed and be aware of getting side tracked by unrelated matters. For example, if you are being asked to comment on the tone of an email don’t start commenting on the spelling too.
Be direct and courageous. You may feel uncomfortable saying something unpleasant to the person. Remember your intention is to be helpful. Keeping information from the person can be more harmful than telling them.
Say your information and let it go. It is up to the person what they do with your feedback, don’t be offended if they don’t take it.
By following the above principles you will become more comfortable in giving feedback.
Going Global – researching employers outside the UK
One of my colleagues recently gave a short demo on a resource we’ve had at the Careers Service for a while. It’s called Going Global and it provides a way of finding out about living and working in different parts of the world. I was amazed at all the different things you can use the resource for so I thought I’d mention some of them here.
- It has career and employment information for over 30 countries.
- Has detailed information on the USA where it covers 50 cities.
- Use the employer directory to search for employers in a specific industry sector in a particular country
- Find out which websites are good for finding advertised jobs, again in a particular country
- Good section on working in non-profit and voluntary organisations in different countries
- Gives details of professional bodies or business organisations which can be a useful source of information and provide networking opportunities
- Advice on what’s expected in a CV or resume for that country
There’s lots more of interest on there but I’d suggest you explore if you are interested in working outside the UK, or indeed if you’re already located outside the UK. If you want to get the best out of Going Global I suggest you watch the training video which you can access from the left hand menu when you’re in the resource.
And how do you access Going Global? You’ll find it under ‘Careers Service Resources‘ on MyEd.
Annual reviews in employment: how to get the most of out them
Annual review, performance review, appraisal, or some other name. Whatever they are called, they are typically a yearly meeting, usually between an employee and their line manager, to reflect on the employee’s progress within their job within the previous year and to set objectives for the following year. Many of our distance learning students are working full-time while studying so will probably encounter annual reviews.
In many organisations the annual review is performance-related and linked to salary so there’s some pressure to do well. But for everyone, the review is an opportunity to reflect on what’s gone well over the year, what hasn’t gone well and why, to consider where you want to go with your role in the future, and what training or development support would help you succeed in your role. The review can be used to support your long term career development goals if you prepare for it well and approach it properly.
- Set your work objectives for the year but ask for opportunities to gain experience in areas that interest you. Think about skills you want to develop or improve and what work opportunities may give you a chance to do this. Think about how this could help meet specific business objectives as well as your own interests as you will present a more persuasive argument.
- Is your current course of study related in any way to your job? If yes, make sure you talk about what you are learning and how it has influenced (positively I hope!) your work. Have you developed new knowledge or skills that you could share with your reviewer and suggest ways you could use them in your current role, to broaden your experience and benefit your employer at the same time.
- Be open to constructive feedback on your performance. Ask for suggestions about what you could do better, and what support may be available to help you do this. Discuss possible solutions to barriers you have faced in your role. Use this as an opportunity to get guidance rather than being defensive about any negative comments or work issues.
- What training could be useful to help you do your job and progress? It’s worth identifying suitable training opportunities before your review and discussing them with your reviewer, again thinking about how this training could help you contribute more effectively to set objectives.
If you prepare effectively for your review, and engage positively with the process you will hopefully have a productive, developmental conversation which will help you move forward in your career.