Tag Archives: career management

We all want different things from a career / job. Some people want to earn lots of money, some to have a good life-work balance, some to feel they are making a difference to society, some to be constantly challenged, and others may want all of those things and more. Reflecting on what’s important to you in a job and how this fits into the rest of your life can help you to make good career decisions and find job satisfaction.

Many of you will be working alongside your studies but may be hoping further study will help you to progress in your career. The Wheel of Life is a tool which can help you to take stock of where you are now in your career and where you want to be. Think about the significant factors for you in career. In the illustration below we’ve chosen doing something worthwhile, finding challenge in a job, the status a job role gives you, the amount of travel you do for work, using the knowledge gained through study, and achieving work-life balance. Some of these things may be important to you but you’ll come up with your own list.

Draw your own Wheel of Life. For each factor that is significant for you, plot on the wheel from 1 – 10 (where 1 is low and 10 is high) how far you are expending energy current role (as a student or as an employee) is satisfying these needs. Then do it again to show where you would like the relative levels to be for each factor. Remember that sometimes you need to make choices in a career so choosing 10 for each of your key factors is probably not going to be realistic; you need to consider how important each factor is and where you are willing to compromise. Once you have a visual representation of this you should start to see where you would like to make changes in your life / career. Then it’s up to you to consider how you can make those changes!

If you’d like to discuss any of this with a careers consultant please make an appointment via the link below.

Talk to a careers consultant

Communicating effectively

September 30, 2015

smaguire

Career Management No Comments

There are many different theories or tools which can help us to understand the way in which we communicate and the impact this may have on others. Obviously effective communication can be a key feature of good career management. Some of the ways in which good communication can have a positive impact on career are:

communicating what you are gaining from postgraduate study to a current employer (or at interview for a new job)
making sure a manager is aware of the contribution you are making to the goals of the organisation you work for
building a strong network who can keep you up to date with news and information relevant to your field or link you in to interesting experiences

and there are many more!

I came across something called Wilson Learning’s Social Style model recently which states that there are four main communication styles. The types are:

Expressive – strengths are open, friendly, enthusiastic, and imaginative. Communicate with them by:

Supporting their views
Socialising
Talking about people issues
Asking for opinions
Offering personal incentives
Supporting their ideas

Amiable – strengths are supportive, patient, and diplomatic. Communicate with them by:

Beginning with a personal compliment
Highlighting people issues
Finding common ground
Being open and candid
Asking “why?” questions

Analytical – strengths are thinking, thorough, and disciplined. Communicate with them by:

Being prepared
Acknowledging their expertise
Giving credentials
Discussing pros and cons
Sticking to business
Giving more specific evidence

Driver – strengths are independent, decisive, and determined. Communicate with them by:

Being clear, specific and brief
Presenting facts
Being logical
Providing alternatives
Focusing on results
Asking “what?” questions

The theory says that individuals are much more likely to communicate effectively with people who have the same style. However, understanding how different people like to communicate, and making changes to your approach accordingly, may help increase the impact of your communication. You may not recognise which of these four types you, or others, are but that doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate some of the ideas into your communication. It’s something to think about!

If you’d like to find out more, and decide if you agree with the model, go to the Wilson Learning website.

Marketing Your Masters

September 5, 2013

smaguire

If you would like to consider how best to market the skills and experience you are gaining from your distance learning course then sign up for our online workshop, Marketing Your Masters. It will give you the opportunity to identify and assess the skills and experience you have developed through your distance learning masters course and reflect on what aspects you need to develop to move forward in your career (whether within academia or industry). It will also ensure you understand how you can market this experience most effectively in your CV.

The seminar will be run on Friday 20th September from 13:00 GMT until approximately 14.:15 To access it go to this link in good time for the start of the seminar.

If you can’t make this time then the seminar will be available to view afterwards on Career Connect.

Making it easier to have confident conversations

August 28, 2013

smaguire

Career Management No Comments

In a previous post my colleague Darcey talked about the importance of learning from conversations. While we know this is important for good career management sometimes it can be difficult to have constructive conversations with others. For many (but not all) of you as distance learners, conversations with a current employer could be an important part of successful career management.

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