Career Change Goal Setting – Part 2 of 2

In part 2 of the article series Career Change – Goal Setting, we will go over how to format your goals into a five year plan. We will also discuss how obstacles may come up, but that they can be dealt with accordingly when you prepare for them.

Out of all the occupations you explored, at some point in the process you narrowed your choices down to one occupation. That is the one you plan to pursue. You may even have two occupations — one to pursue in the short term and one to pursue in the long term.

They should be related, the second being one that is a step up from the first. For example, you can say you want to first become a nurse’s aide, and then after you get some experience you will pursue a career as a registered nurse.

You should break your career plan down into goals you can reach in a year or less and goals you want to reach in five years or less. You can use increments of one or two years in this five year plan as well. This breakdown will make your plan easier for you to follow.

You should also include your goals for education and training. Your occupational goals and your educational goals should correspond to one another, since reaching your occupational goals will usually be dependent upon reaching your educational goals.

If your long term occupational goal is to be a lawyer, here’s what your short and long term plans might look like:

- Year One: Complete my bachelor’s degree (12 credits left to go), apply to law school, get accepted to law school (a positive attitude is a good thing)
- Year Two through Year Four: Enter law school, study hard and earn good grades, graduate from law school with many job offers
- Year Five: Begin working in a law firm

You are likely to encounter barriers along the way to realizing your goals. This is normal and to be expected. You will have a better chance of overcoming those barriers and obstacles if you try to ascertain what they might be and then come up with a plan to defeat them if they do arise.

For example you may be the primary caregiver for your children or elderly parents. This may interfere with your ability to complete your degree. You can deal with this barrier by enlisting the help of your spouse or another relative. Perhaps you can arrange for child or adult day-care.

Some might say that going through so many steps just to choose a career is wasting time and doesn’t serve any purpose, but nothing could be further from the truth. A well-thought-out career action plan will prove to be a very useful tool.

You’ve gone through the career planning process carefully choosing a suitable occupation. Setting goals and planning what you need to do to realize them will insure that you reach your career destination.

So you’ve got a career action plan and it’s time for you to quit your present job. You’ll want to do this in the right way. Look for further articles on this subject, coming soon!

5 Celebrities Exposed For Having Fake Qualifications

by Gail Kenny

There’s a reason that inventing fake qualifications is advised against. Aside from the obvious ethical issues, if you’re caught, you’re in real trouble and could face sacking and a reputation of lying that will never pass. My experience of this is all from senior travel recruitment though, and it would be far worse if you were in the public eye. All the following have faced the accusation of lying on a CV to reach their celebrity position…

5. Paul McKenna – Celebrity Hypnotist

Paul McKenna, the former radio DJ and TV hypnotist now runs a self help empire with an estimated £10,000,000 is somewhat unique in this list as he was completely unaware of the fake qualification he held. He took legal action against the Mirror for their comments that the entry requirement for his doctorate at La Selle University, Louisiana, was answering the question “Do you have $2,615, sir?” and won, with the judge accepting that McKenna was unaware that the degree was a scam, and had not tried to deceive the public with his fake qualifications.

The worth of the case is questionable though, with McKenna racking up £1,500,000 legal fees for a settlement believed to be between £20,000 and £50,000 – as well as highlighting his qualifications as bogus. McKenna has since earned what he calls a “proper” doctorate from a UK business school, which will pass the scrutiny of any qualification checks.

4. Marilee Jones – Author and Former Dean of Admissions at MIT

Marilee Jones was the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and co-wrote ‘Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond’ before it emerged that she herself had cheated the admission process in getting a job at MIT in the first place. In 2007, it became public knowledge that she had lied on her CV with fake qualifications when she first joined MIT in 1979 as an entry-level admissions officer.

When she resigned her position with a statement on the college’s website, she wrote: “I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago, and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since.” It just goes to show that lying on your CV can catch you up at any time – in this case, nearly 3 decades later.

3. Robert Irvine – Celebrity Chef

It’s surprising that this British chef was better known in America than the UK, but perhaps his lies would have been easily picked up over here. After working on the hugely popular ‘Dinner Impossible’ programme on America’s Food Network, the St. Petersburg Times exposed a series of tall tales he had spread both anecdotally and by lying on his CV. Amongst the most damning was the claim he had a degree in food and nutrition from the University of Leeds, refuted by the academic establishment after a qualifications check. He also claimed he worked on the wedding cake for Princess Diana and Prince Charles – which turned out to be a massive exaggeration: “They made the cake at the school where I was.” Irvine’s involvement? “Picking fruit and things like that.”

All this came to light in late 2007, and by New Year, the Food Network had announced that they would not be renewing the contract of the chef, but would continue to show re-runs and the new series which had already been filmed.

2. Gillian McKeith – Celebrity Dietician

Gillian McKeith had a wildly popular television show in which she forced overweight people to reassess their lifestyles and diet. She also has a multi-million pound selection of health products and books, but after an expose by various websites, and a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority, she is no longer allowed to call herself “Doctor” on any of her promotional materials, thanks to obtaining the doctorate via a correspondence course from a non-accredited American college, according to The Guardian’s Bad Science section.

1. Claire Verity – Celebrity Nanny

The celebrity nanny on ‘Bringing up Baby’ – Channel 4′s childcare programme was found to have methods 100 years out of date, no children of her own and a series of fake qualifications, following an investigation by The Times. Her controversial childcare tips included leaving babies to cry, limiting cuddling time to 10 minutes a day, and leaving babies outside to air – advice the NSPCC have stated is “outdated and potentially harmful.” Her advice that babies sleep alone in separate rooms is also said to contradict guidance on preventing cot death.

With this advice dismissed as damaging from so many sources, it’s no surprise to learn that the professional bodies she claimed to have obtained qualifications from were keen to wash their hands of her. ASET, where she claimed to have diplomas in child daycare and preschool practice said there was no trace of her in their database, Goal who supposedly provided her diploma in childcare denied any knowledge of her and her agent admitted she had not taken the postnatal depression or care of multiple baby qualifications that Channel 4 had said she had. Maternity Nurse Training – where she claimed to have certificates in maternity practice, sleep training and paediatrics stated she was never enrolled with them, and went as far as to comment that they “do not in any way endorse the methods employed by Ms Verity in her work.”

After asking her to prove her qualifications, and none forthcoming 12 weeks after the claims were made, Channel 4 announced it assumed Verity had lied on her CV and would no longer be working with her, but claimed that only one series of the show was ever planned anyway.

So for God’s sake if you insist on using fake qualifications, just make sure you don’t get famous! Lying on your CV will always catch up with you, even if the initial qualification checks are lax, whether you’re looking for travel recruitment or if you’re a world famous TV personality…

Job hunting tips

Hunting for a new job can be a daunting experience. There is no flawless formula for finding the perfect job, but by taking some basic steps and remembering a few important principles, you can greatly enhance your chances of success…

Know thyself

If you are about to start searching online for a job, ask yourself a few simple questions first. What skills and experience do you have? What kind of work do you want to do? What parts of your previous jobs have you enjoyed and been good at, and where have you struggled? When you are hunting for jobs online, life will be a lot easier if you have a better understanding of what you like and what you are good at.

Do your research

Once you’ve built an accurate picture of your skills and experience, it’s time to do some online job research. Take a look in the print and online job listings of major newspapers and relevant trade publications to get an idea of what kind of jobs are out there, and find out how much experience or what specific qualifications you’ll need for the ones that interest you.

If you are lucky enough to have any contacts in an industry that interests you, talk to them about the details of their job. Online forums, blogs and message boards are also good places to learn more about an industry, potential employer or a specific kind of work.

Get some help!

There’s nothing like the advice of a professional to help you on your way, especially if you are heading into an industry about which you know very little. If you’ve recently graduated from university, you can still contact their careers service for advice. You should also consider contacting a recruitment consultancy. Recruitment consultancies are usually knowledgeable and specialised in specific areas, from travel jobs to publishing and PR, and they will have the experience and contacts to help you find employment. They may also be able to advise you on writing your CV and preparing for an interview.

Get some experience

Many companies like to see relevant experience before they will consider hiring you. Work experience and internships look good on your CV and can be a shortcut to employment – if you are impressive enough in an unpaid position, many companies will hire you full time.

Craft your CV

Don’t send out the same CV for different jobs – it’s easy to spot when a CV is generic and when it has been given a little thought. Focus on the skills on those that are relevant for the position you are applying to, and when writing about your previous jobs, emphasise the experiences they gave you that have prepared you for the job you are applying for.

That personal touch…

Try and find a way to stand out from the crowd with your application. Call the company to enquire about the position and/or follow up your application with a phone call (but don’t be pushy!) Try to speak to the same person each time you call the company so that you can develop a contact there. Consider submitting a paper CV and covering letter rather than applying for the job online. But don’t try anything to quirky when trying to add that personal touch – fancy fonts and a list of strange interests on your CV can make you seem unprofessional.

Be prepared!

If you make it through to an interview, preparation is the key to success. Read up on the details of the job and travel to the interview early – being late always makes a bad impression! Dress smart and simple, prepare a list of relevant questions, learn more about the company and the industry it is in, and so on. The more you prepare, the calmer you’ll be, the more you’ll know and the better you’ll do. Good luck

Get your first IT position

The good news is that there are always plenty of opportunities out there for newcomers to the I.T. field even in bad economic times. The bad news is that newcomers to the market are up against a lot of competition – at one end you have wave after wave of new graduates and job seekers hitting the market every year and at the other end you have high-end I.T workers increasingly being asked to bring more skills to the table for the same pay – which has a tendency to force down lesser skilled I.T. workers toward lower paid/skilled jobs.

So how can you break that ‘inexperience’ cycle, particularly when economic times are tough and the economy is not doing so great? Well, while there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for everybody, there are some general hints and tips that anyone looking to break into I.T. should keep in mind.

Firstly, you need to realistically check your expectations. Be cautious of the career claims made by training institutions and certification vendors. They want you to take their courses and sign up for their certifications and so they spend large amounts of money on slick advertising and promises of high-paid careers. Know one thing – if you’re new to the world of I.T. you’re not going to complete a few weeks or months of classroom training and then walk into a high-paid I.T. job, no matter what the advertisements say.

Secondly, you need to be flexible in your approach and the types of jobs you’d be willing to take in order to get to your ultimate job. A help-desk role may not seem like the ideal stepping stone for a would-be programmer, but it sure helps to fill out some of the gaps on the C.V. and could be good from a networking point of view. Likewise, a clerical job might seem worlds away from your ideal I.T. position, but there might be numerous ways in which to use, and demonstrate, your I.T. skills in such a role which may then lead to something more to your liking. Think of it as short-term steps to reach long-term goals.

With that mindset you then need to study carefully the job market and identify the types of jobs that might be within your reach – both I.T. and non-I.T. Even if you have a particular I.T. career path in mind (e.g. Linux administrator) you should consider all types of entry-level I.T. jobs (even if I.T. only makes up a part of the overall job description) as it will help you get a foot in the door. It’s much easier to get a job when you already have one and it it’s much easier to change tracks within the I.T. industry than to break into I.T. in the first place.

If you decide that you want to enhance your C.V. with a certification or two bear one thing in mind – a certification alone will not land you your first I.T. job. Those days, if they ever existed at all, are long gone. Most employers are wary of ‘paper’ certified individuals and for good reason. What a certification can do for you however is to help your C.V. stand apart from the crowd and show that you have a willingness to learn and take responsibility for your future.

Application Unsuccessful – Reasons You Didn’t Get That Dream Job

By Gail Kenny

I’ve seen interview shortlists narrowed down until the company gets their candidate of choice, but what if you were amongst the rejected? It would be helpful to know just exactly what you’ve done wrong though, wouldn’t it? 9/10 times, an unsuccessful job application will just be that there was someone that bit more qualified, and there’s nothing that can be done in that instance, except to try again… but if this keeps happening, it may be worth considering some of the following, which are almost universally considered a bad thing on the recruitment circuit. Keep these tips for your job interview and you should do better next time!

Starting with the CV…

They Didn’t Know How To Get Hold Of You

This one’s simple enough – if your CV doesn’t contain your contact information (address, telephone number, e-mail) then they can’t contact you. Sure, you can argue that if you e-mailed your CV into them, then they could find your address, but you’d have to be exceptional for them to spend more than 5 minutes looking for you! This is all about ease of use…

You Didn’t Have The Experience

Unfortunately, this is a common one, and one that’s not an easy fix. If you don’t have enough experience (or more usually, someone else who applied has more), then the only cure is to keep plugging away until you do. If you work in a creative field, it is quite easy to get freelance/voluntary work to give you more a portfolio to augment your corporate experience – a tip to get a job interview next time around.

Your CV Was Littered With Mistakes

One of the easiest ways of wheedling down a stack of CVs into a more manageable pile is to take out the ones with mistakes. If you haven’t been careful enough to proofread thoroughly, the chances are you’re too careless to work for your dream company, and yours will go straight into the ‘unsuccessful application’ pile!

You Got A Bad Reference

A bad reference will most likely kill your employment chances stone dead, and many recruiters will call them at this point in the proceedings, if you’ve included a contact on your CV. Of course, you could put that references are “available on request” in the hope that you can charm them enough that they either won’t check, or will not believe the referee, but the best bet of all is to work hard enough that your contacts will have nothing but good things to say about you!

In the Interview

You Didn’t Look the Part

Increasingly, the idea that workplaces are 100% formal has been greatly corroded, but the chances are that you won’t know until you visit. As for advice on job interview dress code, without a doubt it is best to be overdressed rather than underdressed, so if in doubt, wear a suit – or at least go smart/casual.

You should also make sure you are looking your best – it shouldn’t come down to judging on appearances, but the interview panel are only human, and it’s natural to take in these things, even if it’s subconscious. Don’t take any chances, or risk adding to your list of unsuccessful job applications.

You Not Expressed Words Well

You need to present your ideas clearly to be in with a good shot of getting the post. Work on speaking slowly and articulately, to ensure your interviewers don’t have to second guess what you’re saying.

One bit of job interview advice here: It’s perfectly acceptable to be nervous in an interview, so there will be a little leeway for this, but at the same time it will put you at a disadvantage against someone who takes these events in their stride. Relax, take your time and see the meeting as a conversation rather than an assessment.

You Asked Too Many Questions?

The one thing worse than asking no questions in the interview is to do the complete opposite and ask hundreds! They do have other candidates to interview, and if you ask them about every little detail then you’re going to annoy them eventually. If you have a tendency to do this, there are two job interview tips to counter this: the first is to be articulate with you questions so that you can ask one that covers a few of your points, rather than taking them one at a time, and the other is…

Pay Attention!

If you follow everything the interviewers say, you can be sure you won’t ask a question of something they’ve already explained… and you can ask them to clarify – much nicer! This is a simple piece of courtesy – they listen to you, you listen to them. Just think, would you employ someone who looks bored and distracted during your job interview?

You Were Late To The Party

Turning up late may be okay when meeting friends, but for something you’re supposed to be that enthused about, you really should be on time. Unless you’re very late, it would be harsh to not give you the job over this, but then if the other person was identical to you, but was early, then it would be a clear cut choice. A solid piece of job interview advice: call ‘early’ on time and ‘on time’ late – that way you’re sure not to lose points for this.

You Knew Nothing About The Company

Sure, if it’s a small company you’re applying to work at, then they may not expect you to know about them instantly, but they’d expect you to be enthused enough to have done a little research! Spend a little time digging around their website, to make sure you have a good handle on who they are, what they do and what your position in the company would be. You may not get a chance to show off this knowledge, but if you do, then it’s really impressive, and would easily put you ahead of a candidate who has turned up completely unprepared.

You Promised Too Much/Sounded Arrogant

With so many applications overselling people, it’s no wonder than employers are a little on the cynical side, so when it comes to selling yourself, don’t overdo it. Arrogance does not play well, and even if it is true, try and be a little humble about your achievements. If you rub the interviewers up the wrong way, then your application will be unsuccessful!

You Badmouthed Your Current Boss/Workplace

Sure, nobody has only positives to say about their workplace, but this really isn’t the kind of thing you should be sharing with your potential future employers. If you’re speaking this candidly about your past employers, why wouldn’t you be this rude about them? Simple job interview tip: if you want to complain about your work, go out socially with friends, if you want a job, keep this under your hat and be diplomatic!

Too Much Enthusiasm Was A Turn Off!

Enthusiasm’s great… in moderation. If you sound overly excited by everything, one of two things is going to happen: either they’re going to think you’re completely insincere, or they’re going to find you a little too creepy/annoying to be able to work with Monday-Friday every week! This is of course tampered by the fact that sounding completely disinterested is, if anything, worse, but it’s all a case of finding that perfect balance…

You Acted Like You Needed The Job

You and I know that this was the dream job, and that you were banking on it, but you shouldn’t let them know that! The last thing you want to do in a job interview situation is to appear desperate – that’s a major turn off for the interviewer. Again, this is a balancing act, because you want to look positive and that you are interested just don’t cross that fine line between motivated and needy, and you should be fine.

But of course the best way of finding out why your application was unsuccessful is to ask! Most places will happily give you a response to this, although it won’t always be truthful… The best thing to do is to match up the feedback given by the interview panel against conventional job interview advice, and soon you should be on to a winner!