National College of Ireland Career Bootcamp

National College of Ireland present a week long series of *free events,
seminars and workshops to give you practical help in the current
employment market and real skills and insights to cope with the new rules
of job search.

For further information download our information brochure or visit http://www.ncirl.ie

Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

Johnny Bunko - The Last Career Guide you'll ever need

Meet Johnny Bunko. He's probably a lot like you. Well maybe not so if you are currently in worksearch! Johnny is stuck in a dead end job, he's begun to suspect that what he thought he knew is just plain wrong. We pick up the story written in the Japanese comic format known as manga, when he meets Diana his soon to be personal career advisor. She brings Johnny on a journey through six essential lessons for thriving in the world of work. These lessons can also be followed by anyone in the world of worksearch. It might help not ending up in a dead end job.

So here are the lessons


1) There is no plan!
NO PLAN I hear you cry, well according to Diana we can't sit there at 21, 31 or 41 and map it all out, she talks about doing things for fundamental reasons, not instrumental!!
2) Think strengths, not weaknesses
I am not very good at writing, spelling or grammar, however I can come up some good ideas and source good material - I use that to my advantage in writing this blog (every now and then)
3) It's not about you!
It's about your client, potential employer, your customer, use your strengths, you're there to serve not to self actualise. According to Diana most successful people improve their lives by improving others' lives.
4) Persistence trumps talent
Think compound interest - it builds on itself overtime
5) Make excellent mistakes



6) Leave an IMPRINT

Dan Pink's excellent book which looks like an average novel, maybe 3/4 hours reading, you will have this cobbled up in 30 minutes and six valuable lessons to boot!

http://short.ie/see/r9c3b5

Using negative thinking to gain positive action!!

DREAM: WORK WITH GOOD PAY

Negatives:

1. Skills: Shortages or Over skilled
2. Fear of Rejection – Disillusion
3. Our Efforts may not be fruitful
4. Limited Thinking
5. Dropping Salaries in the Market
6. Jobs not openly advertised
7. Financial pressure to take the wrong job
8. No Jobs

ACTION

Negative: 1. Skills:Shortages or Over Skilled

Action: Under skilled

• Up skill for 1 to 2 years to be ready for a good job in the recovery
• Make sure courses pursued are appropriate to the industry
• Make ourselves more marketable by having extra qualifications
• Gain Work Experience with courses (to get foot in the door)

Over Skilled

• Widen Category
• Tailor CV to suit job
• Use skills to create a new, potential work

Negative:2. Fear of Rejection – Disillusion

Action:

• Use all of the above
• Keep up Activities
• Put together a daily Job Plan (Business Development Plan) to make our job seeking our own personal ‘business’
• Read widely
• Ensure rejections make us more determined to get that work
• Count our blessings
• Create a positive list
• Create new Questions

Negative:3. Our efforts may not be fruitful

Action:

• Change our attitude: questions: manner
• Change how we do things – change the venues where we seek work, the type of work we seek, the market, etc
• Post on the Blog
• Contribute to the Blog
• Ask ‘Why’ at interviews, where we are not successful and learn from the responses

Negative:4. Limited Thinking

Action:

• Talk to Others
• Network
• Create a Plan/Vision
• Set Goals and test weekly where we are achieving on these goals
• Brainstorm
• Avoid negative influences
• Create a new language to develop our new thinking

Negative:5. Dropping Salaries in the market

Action:

• Accept this reality
• Acknowledge that costs are dropping also
• Work out a budget
• Find new providers for our bill paying
• Think Long Term Prospects
• Look at government grants:
• Enterprise Ireland
• Enterprise Boards
• Negotiate renumeration according to excellent performance (be creative)

Negative:6. Jobs not openly advertised/not real

Action:

• Eliminate wrong searches
• Target (only) the business we require
• Join Linked-in or other social media groups
• Create a Real Plan to Target Real Jobs

Negative:7. Financial Pressure to take the wrong job

Action:

• Control financial outgoings
• Change Lifestyle – do simple stuff with no or low cost
• Be Creative with finances
• Barter with other professions for needs
• Use all facilities – source and resource

Negative:8. No Jobs

Action:

NO NEED

The Group feels that if all the actions cited above are carried through, then the most difficult negative to overcome – NO JOBS – will not exist.

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Well done everyone and I hope you will use these ideas and many more.

Best of luck

Valerie

Footnote:

These are the notes of a facilitation with Valerie Pierce, Director of Clear & Critical Thinking Ltd, using her training technique to change negative thinking into positive action.

To contact Valerie, please visit her website www.clearcriticalthinking.com

Obama on the West! Lessons from the East

"My shortcomings caused mistrust from the public and I apologize from my heart for this"

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso made this comment on a live TV broadcast having dissolved the lower house of the Japanese Parliament.

A country facing an uphill recessionary battle, stymied policy implementation, internal party fighting and a public lacking confidence in their leaders.

Recognising that the Japanese people have a role to play in the country's future, parliament was dissolved with elections to be held on August 30th, with the hopes of ushering in a new era of energetic fresh thinking and a mandate to make change happen.

http://short.ie/ixxkp6

Are you watching Leinster House (sorry you are on holidays)

Image courtesy of Andres Ojeda

Clear and Critical Thinking

Valerie Pierce, described by the Irish Times as a `modern philosopher in the market place`, began her career as a training consultant in 1990 whilst carrying out postgraduate research in Bristol University. At that time she devised the first Clear and Critical Thinking Courses for Managers in both the public sector and private industry. Clear Thinking based courses are different from other `Skills Development` and `Personal Training` Courses. They do not attempt to motivate behavior. Better work practices are brought about through better thinking.

Aim

The aim of a Clear Thinking course is to strengthen thinking techniques and so improve work productivity. Whether developing projects, writing reports, training personnel, leading presentations, all output is only as good as the thinking applied to it. A greater awareness and ability to `think critically` and `persuade with confidence` will improve any of the above tasks, as well as developing the skills in the discussion of problem solving decision making.

The courses are "practical" always tackling real issues that affect organisations. They are "thought provoking" - candidates enjoy the intellectual stimulation that Clear & Critical Thinking provides, and finally they are "results driven" providing a positive outcome for those who invest energy, time and money.

Worksearch 2.0 - Creative Brief

A Creative Brief is a strategic document used by designers to understand a clients objectives in the design of a brand, logo or advertising campaign. One of the key things we discuss each week and regulary on this blog is how important promoting brand you, getting pubicilty for your skills and talents, generating good PR amongst your network, personal selling and creating resonance are the key activities in a successful worksearch programme.

Here I have set out a template for a Worksearch 2.0 creative brief, a document when completed designed to promote publicity, public relations, personal selling and create resonance!

Background

What is the background to the organisation, what are they trying to achieve, why will they want my skills and services.

Target audience

What do they already think about this challenge, problem? Is there anything that should be avoided? Who do I need to be dealing with?

Objectives

What is to be accomplished? How will this be measured and success understood?

Single message

What is the one thing to tell the audience? What is the single thing they should remember about me and what I have to offer? How will they believe what I say?

Mandatory elements

What are the mandatory elements I need to include, what are the negotiable and non negotiable constraints to my solution?

Deliverables

What is to be used to give the audience the message? What is the best way or place to reach this audience?

Timeline

How soon do they need to move on this? When is it expected to be done? How many rounds (revisions) will this project undergo? If they do not act now what are the consequences?

Budget

How much do they need to spend to get the problem solved? Is there any budget needed to ensure success of the project?

Approvals

Who needs to give the "okay"?

Image: Pitor Bizior http://www.bizor.com