Much has been written about the need for changes that employers should make in order to attract and retain Millennials and now Gen Z. We have seen a veritable outbreak of company Facebook pages, inter-active web sites, Twitter , TikTok and Instagram accounts, mentoring  programmes and the like. But as one client mentioned recently after a less than effective graduate recruitment job fair, an additional challenge…

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Mad Men meets Stepford Wives in outdated Economist poll Named Editor of the Year in 2012, Mr John Micklethwait is Editor-in Chief of the Economist. Given his background, as a leading figure in global intellectual and business media, one would assume that he is a pretty smart and savvy gentleman. The Economist is normally associated with balanced,…

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A Portfolio Career “a tapestry of a variety of eclectic employment experiences; employment in a series of short-contract or part-time positions“ Not new but on the increase The term Portfolio Career is being used in current business  vernacular with the same type of smug and superior “in the know -ness,”  as we might have seen when the atom was split or  the wheel invented. I…

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For anyone embarking on a job search related to career change and developing a personal brand for the first time, I outline the steps and possibilities involved. As I do so I am always aware of one thing. Their faces turning ashen as they mentally try to calculate how much time this is going to take out of their already busy day. There is a reason it’s called net “working ” ( not net “vacationing” ). It is indeed a lot of work, takes time and much of it is new.

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Creating an effective USP ( Unique Selling Proposition ) is key for any job seeker or career  changer. It a major, invaluable tool in the job search tool box and will serve as a basis for: One sentence bio either written or oral Your online professional profile tagline (120 characters with spacse on LinkedIn) Any introduction…

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Drowning in the Google pool and sinking into oblivion  Modern connectivity There was a time probably no more than 5 years ago, when I could do my job very effectively by going into my contact data base and simply picking up the phone. Those days are gone. In 2008, as world markets crashed taking many…

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Fixing your job search visibility I have spent the past week with two different women, of two different ages. Their backgrounds could not be further apart. One is a young graduate, seeking entry-level employment, the other a woman in her 40s, with extensive supply chain and procurement experience, as well as an MBA. She has…

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Bringing down the wall of rejection. Is the end of candidate cloning my pipedream? As a coach I insist that all candidates fully understand their transferable skills and can share their success stories in any situation whether it's on a CV , in an online professional profile, in a formal interview, at a networking event…

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It’s quite common to think of Plan B as a compromise. But nothing could be further from the truth. In reality it’s about keeping our options open and not confining ourselves to a narrow set of specific goals. Times change I tell anyone who I coach and both my daughter and son, to always have…

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Challenges for Career Changers 50% of my coaching clients are career changers aspiring to move out of their existing sectors, some perhaps that have been hard hit by the recession (automotive, logistics, manufacturing, financial services) and into hot  predicted growth areas for 2010 such as  Clean Tech, IT, renewable energy, healthcare, personal development education and re-cycling. Many job seekers complain bitterly of…

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