7 Reasons

Tag: Employment

  • Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Kick-Start Your Career By Being A Volunteer

    Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Kick-Start Your Career By Being A Volunteer

    If you are finding it hard to break into a new field, maybe you should be looking a little further out. Most employers demand relevant experience and proven skills, which those looking to start a career just do not have. A quick stint of volunteering overseas could give you the experience you need and help your CV stand out from the pack.

    7 Reasons To Kick-Start Your Career By Being A Volunteer

    1.  Thrills. So you need to build up skills for a new career? Well, you could just grab a lowly position locally and push papers waiting to be noticed or you could get some real-life experience and some real thrills by volunteering in exotic locations around the globe.

    The only papers you will need to get in order are your travel visas as you get the chance to see beyond the tourist trail in Thailand, Fiji, China or the majestic landscapes of Africa. Escape the daily drill and get a real thrill in stunning locations all over the world.

    2.  Skills. Of course volunteering is not all about the thrill. Employers demand evidence of real skills, and volunteer organisations such as Projects Abroad (http://www.projects-abroad.ca) can give you the chance to gain these in fields as varied as journalism, care, medicine, archaeology, teaching, development, human rights, conservation, marketing and many more.

    These are skills learnt in real situations and practiced in difficult circumstances: they prove you can cut it when the going gets tough.

    3.  Put yourself on the map (1). Volunteering overseas will reveal your commitment to a profession so much more than a 10-week training course can. It makes your intentions and dedication crystal clear and helps your CV to stand out from the pile. After all, a couple of months in Tanzania are a talking point – a training course is just another bullet point.

    7 Reasons To Kick-Start Your Career By Being A Volunteer

    4.  Put yourself on the map (2). You will be placing yourself on the map in more ways than one, however. Volunteering overseas is an intense experience shared with a team of international volunteers. You will bond quickly with other volunteers and be coming home with cheap holiday opportunities with new-found friends all over the world.

    5.  Take a hip trip. With the advent of voluntourism – that is, volunteering on projects to travel the world – volunteering is sexy. Many say it is the best way to travel – letting you really get to know the places you visit while you gain new skills and meaningful experiences.

    Recent celebrity volunteers helping make it the ultimate hip trip include George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Bono, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron.

    6.  Try before you buy. Volunteering overseas is a great way to try before you buy, or look before you leap. If you are thinking of applying for overseas work, it is the ideal way to test the waters before taking the plunge.

    Similarly, if you are thinking of entering a new field, it offers a great way to see if the grass really is greener. There are organisations that offer short projects to make this possible – care and community and sports programs for 16-19-year-olds, for instance. Here you can find additional information on this project. Volunteering is a great way to not believe the hype and see for yourself.

    7.  Budge the drudge and catch the buzz. Sitting behind the computer conducting online job searches and firing off endless CVs is a bore. It can sap your energy, motivation and enthusiasm. Volunteering overseas lets you gain the skills you need to get those interviews and will gives you a buzz that will help you impress at those interviews.

    Stop waiting for an opportunity and start doing something that will create it. See you on the next rung of the career ladder!

  • 7 Reasons To Be Self-Employed

    7 Reasons To Be Self-Employed

    Reasons To Be Self Employed

    1.  It’s 00:00 to 23:59, not 9:00 to 17:00. You can choose when you work. If you want to work at 3am on a Sunday morning then that is fine. You answer to no one but yourself. Unless you live with your partner and your computer is in your bedroom. They probably don’t want to hear you bashing one out in the middle of the night. An email I mean.

    2.  Social Media. To a normal boss in a normal company, the likes of twittering and facebooking are seen as distractions. To the self-employed though, they are vital tools of the trade. All self-employed people have a streak of the entrepreneur about them. They are always on the look out for ideas. Which is why conversation about ‘imaginary friends’ on twitter is classed as research.

    3.  Sport. A whole lot of sport happens during the day. Cricket, tennis, golf, baseball, The Olympics (all forms), various World Cups and World Championships. That is a heck of a lot of sport you are missing while working for some major conglomerate. Or the Co-Op. Not only do the self-employed watch all this sport, they all use it to their advantage. Watching Stuart Broad knock over Ricky Ponting’s poles doesn’t half motivate you. Okay, it motivates you to keep watching, but when the day’s play is over, then you are pumped to do some work. Or you will be after dinner. And the highlights. Actually, you’ll be ready at the end of the Test. But you will be ready. Just a shame the deadline has passed really.

    4.  Chores. They can be done at anytime you like. Cleaning the bathroom can be Monday at 10am. Food shopping can be Tuesday at 2pm. Having your haircut can be Wednesday at 11am. And if you are really lucky you’ll get the OAP rate.

    5.  The IT Department. Everyone in IT is a muppet. It’s official. They think you should know what SMPT means and how to locate the back-gate entrance for Microsoft Outlook. No one knows that stuff. I don’t even think there is a back-gate entrance for Microsoft Outlook. I think he was trying to make himself sound clever. The thing about working for yourself is that if something goes wrong you don’t have to phone someone up to ask them how to fix it. You can press reset and blow all the dust away from the back of the PC. And more times than not it works. Within minutes you are flying through the front door of Microsoft Outlook. In your face Sam in IT.

    6.  Tea-bags. You don’t have to share them and no one is going to steal them. They are yours. You can also have the brand and flavour you want. None of this value stuff, you can have proper tea from a proper tea plantation. Imported directly to you if you like. I get mine from Sainsburys.

    7.  Your Fee. It can be what you want it to be. If you want to charge £300 an hour, you can. You won’t get much work unless you are Pete Doherty’s solicitor, but that’s irrelevant. You can go around saying, ‘I charge £300 an hour’. Though when you end up working in the local pub you should probably stop. It makes you sound like a prat.