Building Black Professional Leaders for the Future

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Mentoring: An Elegant Career Growth Strategy – Part 1

“A mentor empowers a person to see a possible future, and believe it can be obtained.” Shawn Hitchcock Many people struggle and stagnate in their career for this one simple reason – lack of mentoring. If you check most top level executives, you will find that at one point or the other they have or had a mentor. So what or rather, who is a mentor? A mentor is someone who has walked the path you are just about to journey down. A mentor will be able to draw on his or her experience of how the goal you have set for yourself can be achieved. A mentor is like a guardian, showing you the way and giving you insider information that will enable you to reach your desired destination. A mentor is usually someone who has actually done that job before and who can give you the mentee inside knowledge on how to progress and prosper on that job. Most organisations, assign a mentor to their new intakes, just to show them the ropes and help them map their route to success. A mentor will guide the mentee to the right direction and will help the mentee develop solutions to issues that may arise at work. Due to the fact that a mentor has been down that road before the mentor has empathy with the mentee and has a better understanding of the kind of issues that may face the mentee Another definition of mentoring which I find very useful is from www.aaps.org/uploadedfiles/content/career_center/…/what_is_mentoring.pdf “Mentoring is a relationship between two individuals based on a mutual desire for development towards career goals and objectives”. The mentoring relationship can be for any length of time. It is mainly dependent on what the parties agree and the goals they set out to achieve. It often develops to focus on particular issues but may expand in scope and lasts for years covering a range of issues. Attend the Meet your Mentor Event:  Using my contacts and connections, I have recruited a number of business and career executives who are specialists in their fields and have volunteered their time and resources to mentor you. They will serve as guide, guardian and adviser in your specific fiel of interest and there may also be oportunities for work experience and internships. Get the details and register here:    

“Hire me!”: How A Graduate Can Be A Cut Above The Rest

Without a doubt, thousands of students graduate from universities yearly with the hope of landing a job. Unfortunately things do not always turn out the way a graduate expects; dreams of a 25K job in the city doesn’t come around so easily. The job market is quite competitive and in order for you to be hired, you must be able to have that wow factor – what makes you stand out from other graduates. The reality is that jobs are hard to find. In fact, a study published in 2011 by Metro reveals that nearly half of university graduates are either unemployed or under-employed. Let’s face it, all university graduates have one thing in common – a degree. Therefore, you need to ensure that you can distinguish yourself. When you see a job advertisement, bear in mind that many others applying for the same job. Within this context, you have to consider this question “why should the employer choose me?”   So Here are some Nuggets to make you stand out to an employer: Be Organised According to Adzuna, the keyword ‘organised’ appears in 99,862 job advertisements and the average salary for jobs requiring this skill is approximately £34,479. This is actually one of the most frequent qualities in the list. Moreover, Cary Cooper, a professor at Lancaster University says that, “You’re going to have a lot thrown at you, and you’d better be able to prioritise.” This means that you will have to be organised even when under pressure. Thus your CV must reflect that you are a hard worker, organised and able to handle more than you may have bargained for. Demonstrate Flexibility Within the context of a stagnant economy, employers want to know that their staff is flexible – able to take on other jobs in the event of a shortfall in employees. Good Communication Skills Being able to communicate effectively on a job is second to none. This skill appears in about 68,064 job advertisements in the UK. Additionally the average salary for jobs which require this skill is about £31,923. It is within the context of giving confident presentations, and having good social skills. Kirwan Hack, a career management consultant of Fairplace Cedar says “I think there has to be a degree of emotional intelligence”. But whatever the case, employers consider it important and graduates must do well to sharpen their communication skills so as to apply it in diverse contexts when needed. Be Intrinsically Motivated Indeed motivation can come in two forms, intrinsic or extrinsic. In this case, though it may be quite strange, employers prefer when their employees are intrinsically motivated. This is simply the ability to work independently by motivating yourself. Unless you work for Google that has fun days every so often, you may need to learn to have your own ‘fun’ within your job. Especially in a monotonous job there is the tendency to get bored of doing the same thing. If you’re not sure how to keep yourself motivated? Try this: Keep up to date with news on your organization’s industry Apply for higher roles and work towards securing this role Eat snacks at your desk (don’t overdo it before lunch time!) Speak to colleagues around you (not excessively as some employers don’t like this) How do you keep yourself motivated – we would love to know! Tweet us.

Breaking Into The Marketplace: A Guide For Graduate Jobseekers

  Congratulations! You have finished your 3-4 years degree course and have become a graduate! Now you are faced with another exciting life venture, finding a job. Brace yourself dear readers, because the reality is that for every 100 resumes you send out, the most replies you will receive are 2 or 3 call backs. But do not worry, here is a guide that will help you get a job quicker than the average and we are confident it is fairly easy to apply.   Internships Are A Quick Win Once you finish your course, you will need to gain experience in your related field. You can do this by signing up for internships whether it is paid or ‘free’. Most job sites have Internships listings but for a more focused search visit Internships. If you wish you to volunteer yourself you can refer to Student Job which has internships that provide some expense allowance. The reasons why an internship is advisable is you can get hands on experience, widen your networking and it is possible that the place where you intern will be your future permanent workplace.   Search For a Job Using Social Media Do you spend a lot of your time on your mobile phone or other similar gadgets? It is time to put it to good use. Networking plays a very important role if you wish to enter the marketplace. Social media is your best friend, follow the companies you shortlisted or you have heard great reviews on social media. Businesses usually hire marketing managers to update their Twitter, Facebook, Google+. LinkedIn is especially recommended to use to interact with the real decision makers – CEO’s, Directors alike. Use Linkedin and you may be able to cut the ‘admin gateman’ and send your CV directly to the top. Try to complete and add a lot of information on your LinkedIn account. Similarly, many companies use LinkedIn to find employees to join them. In addition to that, you can follow influential people and try to follow their career footsteps. Freelancing Can Gain You Valuable Work Experience This next suggestion is especially for creatives who wish to pursue self-employment. You can sign up for some freelance sites. Upwork is one of the best free freelancing websites because it is a partnership between Odesk and Elance, two of the oldest freelancing websites that have been running quite effectively. There’s a wide variety of things you can do in Upwork. You can ‘bid’ for jobs online if you are good in writing, creating graphics, computer programming, accounting, legal and so on. You should watch some videos to help you out on how to start your work as a full time freelancer or you could do it as a side business as it is also a means of earning money.   Attend Career Fairs When there is career fair in your city do your best to attend. That is where you will get the most companies looking to hire under the same roof! A good tip is for you to always be ready. Decide which industry you want to target; you may even go as far as researching which companies will attend and targeting a chosen company. Have your resume and CV written to cater as closely as possible to the company you are targeting. Some related experience which is similar to the company is a bonus, It shows that you are the ‘perfect’ match with that organisation. For example, let’s say Company A is a business that has strong relationship with a non-profit organization and you did volunteer work during your course, it can be included in your CV. Do not put everything in your CV/resume just the main points as it is supposed to be brief and straight to the point.   Then Lastly… Nearly all employers will agree it’s important to stand out amongst a sea of CV’s. Be Innovative and creative; think out of the box in your job search and be unique. Bear in mind that when you are in the working field, it is very different from studies. Working requirements are not solely on the job descriptions as stated in the post, it requires dedication, commitment, hard work, sometimes long hours, patience in your current position and monotony. On the other hand, finding the right placement can be life changing and ultimately fulfilling. We hope you have been inspired to break into your desired Career!   At Career Nuggets we run a series of programmes and webinars to help take your career aspiration to another level. Sign-up and join the individuals that have taken advantage of our Free CV reviews, Webinars and Mentoring programmes.   Follow us: Twitter – Twitter.com/CareerNuggets Facebook – Facebook.com/CareerNuggets Instagram – @CareerNuggets LinkedIn – Morenike Ajayi SaveSave SaveSave

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