Case study Why work experience and qualifications dont have to be mutually exclusive

Case study Why work experience and qualifications don’t have to be mutually exclusive by Michael Cheary ‘We’re looking for someone with a little more experience’ â€" a phrase more and more accounting companies are using.For some industries like accountancy, the key to finding the right role is all about experience. You could be armed with all the right qualifications, but without a previous position within the field, your application may still fall short. The problem is, how do you gain some experience, if no-one’s there to give you a chance?Luckily, there are some ways to pro-actively gain both the experience and qualifications you need to help set you apart and find your right role.Who are Janet Richard? Janet Richard is a course provider, with a specialist focus on accountancy courses.They aim to make candidates more prepared than any other course provider when it comes to finding their first role in accounting, by providing real-life work experience alongside their qualifications.Janet and Richard’s offer of guaranteed accounting work experienc e and referencing provides you with the platform to get into accounting.Who their courses are for Their courses are aimed at anyone looking to work within the accountancy sector, who are having trouble finding the right role due to lack of experience.Many of those who complete the course have previously studied accountancy, or have been in the industry for some time and are looking to brush up their skills.However, there are no formal qualifications needed to get started although a basic knowledge of accounting will be essential.What you’ll get Students will be provided with a quality training program, teaching all the fundamental knowledge needed to get your first role in the accountancy industry. Units include double-entry bookkeeping, supplying invoices and processing ledger transactions.Aside from the course, you’ll receive dedicated work experience, allowing you to put your knowledge to the test. Once completed, you’ll be able to update your CV and start applying for acc ountancy roles with confidence.You’ll also be provided with references from the companies you’ve been working for, helping to back up your skills to potential recruiters.Why should you study with Janet Richard?Their courses are tailored to you, and set up to suit your knowledge, expectations and previous experienceThey’re passionate about training, and bring that passion through to the services and support they provideThey have a proven track record of helping their students find employment, and a dedicated list of clients ready to offer work experience placements right awayThe work experience they provide will help you get real experience in your industryTheir dedicated support team will improve your CV and help you get the most out of your new-found experienceWhat their students are sayingI was frustrated when I graduated, and was looking for a job in accounting since I graduated 2 years ago. I then came across Janet and Richard who offer training with work experience, so I got in touch. All training was provided online, making it convenient for me to fit around my schedule. Once I brushed up my skills, I was set up with some work experience, which they sent to my home address. I covered various bookkeeping duties, and started applying for accounting roles soon after. After about 3 months, I found work as a Trainee Accountant, and haven’t looked back.(Andrew Bower)Want to see how Janet Richard courses could help your career? Find out now.Find a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the Work experience volunteeringfeatured

How To Turn Your Resume and Internship Into Your Dream Job [Interview]

How To Turn Your Resume and Internship Into Your Dream Job [Interview] Today in my networking challenge I am interviewing Kat Krull, the Associate Marketing Director at Resunate. She was recently an intern at the company, but was offered a full-time job, so congratulations Kat! I am excited to share what you learned about getting a job with Classy Career Girl readers! In case you are reading this at work and can’t watch the video, you can read all of the great advice below  about how to turn your internship into your dream job like Katherine did! How to Turn Your  Internship into Your Dream Job 1) You have an usual career path, how did you end up at your current job? I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with an industrial engineering degree. While I was in school, I did five separate internships.  By the time I graduated, I had a lot of knowledge about industrial engineering, and I found that wasnt a path I wanted to pursue any longer. I ended up volunteering for Americorps for a year and I tutored disadvantaged teenage boys. After I was done, I still didnt know that I wanted to do professionally.  I ended up doing a lot of research and going to a lot of networking events. Finally, I came across a product marketing engineer internship position for a startup company.  It appealed to me because I had taken a marketing class in college that I liked and thought it might something I would be interested in doing. Also, I had worked for a lot of non-profits but never for a company as small as a startup. 2)How did you get your current job as Associate Marketing Director? I was very interested, so when I found it, I immediately called up Careerimp offices and told them that I was very interested in this position and was wondering if it was still available. They told me it was and to email them my resume. So that is what I did, I was really excited about the opportunity, so I blindly sent in my resume without tailoring it. A couple of days later I was thinking about the job, and I realized I probably wasnt going to get the job because I didnt have any marketing experience on my resume. I knew I needed to think outside the box so I ended up researching the company a little more. I found that their main product is Resunate, an online resume and job application tool that allows you to tailor and optimize your resume for a specific job.  I knew this was a perfect opportunity for me to tailor my resume for this job using Resunate and hopefully I would have a better chance at getting a job. After I finished, I couldnt have just sent in a duplicate email, so I printed out my resume and went down to the CareerImp offices and went into an impromptu interview. I handed my resume to the marketing manager and told her that I used Resunate and loved it and was very interested in the position and why I thought I was a good fit for the position. After that, I got an email from the marketing manager who said she really liked my initiative and she asked me to come onboard as the intern.  That was in October, and in December they offered me a full-time job as Associate Marketing Manager. So, that is the story of how I turned my resume and internship into my dream job! 3) How did it go just walking into the company and handing them your resume, since so many people are nervous about doing that? In the past, I have tried it out and it hasnt worked because you just hand your resume to someone and they give it to someone else later on. But I do think it is really good because it does show initiative.  Because this was such a small startup company, I was able just to go in and speak to the marketing manager. If you can get that face-to-face interaction, I think that is huge and very helpful. 4) What are the steps that you took when researching different careers? I did a lot of research online. I also researched a lot of grad programs because I thought I might want to go back to grad school. I went to universities and talked to them about the grad programs. I also did a lot of networking and reached out to everyone that I could. I reached out to my family, friends, and acquaintances. I just tried to talk to them about their careers and what they did and also about open opportunities that they knew of to see if it was something that maybe I wanted to do.  I also did the Myers-Briggs assessment which was really helpful because it showed me what my personality strengths were so I could choose a career that had those strengths. You can actually take it on Resunate for only $19.95 but if you take the official version elsewhere, it is up to $100. I definitely recommend taking it because it was very helpful for me in deciding what I wanted to do. Finally, I really just self-reflected. I tried to figure out what I was really good at and what I am passionate about and how much money I want to make in my life because those are all very important considerations. 5) What is your favorite part about your job in the marketing field? I really like the fact that it is very creative. I am always doing different things and having to think outside the box which I really enjoy. I also really like the fact that I am always talking to people.  I am always brainstorming and coming up with ideas with my co-workers and creating strategies. 6) Did you know a lot about social media before you started? I didnt know a lot about social media. My sister was a social media consultant so she helped me a lot when I started the position. Now I feel like I know so much about it because I do so much with it. I do love social media. 7)  What do you wish you had known when you  first chose a career path? I wish I had done a little more research when I was selecting a major in school. I know I was very busy in high school just trying to get into college let alone picking a certain major or career I wanted to pursue. So I wish I would have done a little more research and shadowed more people and really just learned about more opportunities that were out there. A lot of people when you are trying to figure out what to do will tell you because of three things 1) stability 2) money 3) you are good at math so maybe accounting would be great for you. But, what I have learned is that work becomes such a big part of your life after college that you really want to be happy in your career. No matter what anyone else says, you really have to look within yourself and decide what is going to make you happy and what are you going to enjoy doing for the rest of your life. 8 ) What are your tips for young professionals who are currently in an internship that they want to turn into a full-time job? What should they do to make a great impression on an employer during an internship? Make sure you show them you can be responsible and get the work done on time. Also, show that you are willing to stay a little late at work. If you are still working on a project and you are supposed to go home, stay longer. Make sure that you have good time management skills and that you accomplish all of your deadlines on time and show that you know how to prioritize.  Also, show that you have really strong work ethic.  Go and take initiative and work really really hard. Go above and beyond. Do the best job possible on all of your tasks. This will really show that you are very valuable to the company which will make you indispensable at the end. Also, show that you are very passionate about what you are doing. If you dont show that you are passionate, they wont think that you care. Show that you are passionate about the company and the project or service that they provide. The last thing I recommend is to ask questions. I think a lot of interns and people starting out at an entry level job are afraid to ask questions because it seems like everyone else around them knows all of the answers all the time so they feel stupid for asking questions. But if you want to turn your internship into your dream job, you need to remember you are there to learn as much as you can. That will really help you decide at the end of your internship, if you want to continue doing that or if you want to move on to something else. 9) Where can people find you online? You can visit the Resunate website.  It is a great tool and definitely helped me land my job.  You can also find me on Twitter  and we have a twitter chat called #resuchat which is every other Tuesday at 8 PM EST. You can go there to learn about everything resumes. We always have a guest host who answers some of the most important job search questions. You can also find me on Facebook. Note: I am an affiliate for  Resunate  because I have used it and recommend it. If you purchase an account through my links I will earn a commission. When you order through my link, it helps me continue to offer you lots of free stuff, so thank you in advance for your support!

Are You Ready to be Interviewed for the First Time - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Are You Ready to be Interviewed for the First Time - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Getting ready to be interviewed should play an important role in your personal branding success.   As your online visibility and your personal brand grows, theres an increased likelihood youll be contacted for media and other interviews. Being prepared for last-minute interviews puts you in charge and helps you successfully communicate your personal branding message. Its never too early to begin preparing to be interviewed by the media, experts in your field, your peers, or potential employers. Preparing for unexpected interviews There are two ways to prepare for unexpected last-minute interviews: Basic facts. Start by preparing answers for the background questions most likely to be asked. These softball questions are often formalities, asked to establish your credentials, create rapport with the interviewer, and set the stage for the more important questions to follow. By anticipating these questions, and being comfortable responding to them, you can get through them faster, increasing the time you can spend on the more important questions to follow. Opinions and perspectives. Its a little harder to anticipate the types of opinion and perspective questions youre likely to be asked, but knowing that hardball questions are likely to follow the background questions can help you prepare responses that will reflect your personal brand. Getting the background questions out of the way Start by making making a list of the questions you would ask if you were interviewing yourself, and preparing answers that reinforce the key characteristics of your personal brand. Each of your responses should reinforce your personal brand and relate to the key message, or position, you want remembered after the interview. This is not to say, however, that you should script, or memorize, your responses to the basic questions about your education, interests, and employment (or self-employment), history. Instead, you should prepare a fact sheet containing the typical questions youre likely to be asked, along with the key ideas and connections between the facts of your background and the main components your personal brand. Never read your answers! Instead, review them before the interview, and have them handy for quick a quick glance during the interview. Hint: dont be afraid to repeat the key connections between your responses to different background questions and your personal brand. Youll probably be asked more questions than will appear during the interview, and you you simply cant predict which questions and answers will appear in the final interview. If youre worried about not being able to recall important ideas, try copying your list of anticipated questions and responses in longhand. Writing ideas out by hand often enhances you ability to recall the key ideas at a later date. Anticipating opinion and perspective questions The best way you can be prepared for unexpected, last-minute interviews is to constantly monitor the news and trends that affect your corner of the world, i.e., those who are interested in the area where you are building your expertise, and prepare appropriate responses ahead of time. Ask yourself questions like these: What are the latest challenges trends? Whats happening in my field? What are the implications of these changes? What types of businesses and associations are most effected? What are the political, economic, or social changes that you recommend your clients and prospects monitor? Which of these challenges and trends are most important, and what do you recommend your clients and prospects do? How are you preparing to make changes in the way you do business? What type of positive changes are taking place in your field? What does the latest research indicate? What progress, or research, shows the most promise? How do you recommend others in your field prepare to leverage their changes? What are you doing to help others in your field? As you discuss positive changes, be sure to include the efforts you are doing to improve the overall state of affairs. What are the steps youre taking, and what steps do you wish others were taking, that would benefit everyone concerned? Look for ways to position yourself as an activist leader in your field, on the cutting edge of solutions. How you say versus what you say Its not just your message that improves when you anticipate and prepare to be interviewed; the more you prepare, the more comfortable youll be when youre interviewedand that comfort instantly communicates itself to your interviewer as well as those who will read, view, or listen to your interview. With anticipation and preparation, your responses to the interview questions youre asked will not only be on-point and relevant, but your delivery will also communicate your confidence, likability, and enthusiasm for your topic. With a little anticipation and preparation, youll emerge as not only as expert, but as a likeable expert! Its never too early to prepare to be interviewed No matter young or old you are, or where you are in building your personal brand, its never too early to prepare for your first interview. Spend a few minutes each day anticipating the questions youre likely to be asked, and jotting down the key ideas you want to communicate in your answers. When the time comes to be interviewed, youll be able to respond with the words and the attitude that communicates your expertise and your personal brand. Author: Roger C. Parker shares ideas for planning, writing, promoting, profiting ideas and strategies in his daily writing tips blog. His latest book is #BOOK TITLE Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Compelling Article, Book, Event Titles.

Whats Your Best Tip for Employer Brand Managers

What’s Your Best Tip for Employer Brand Managers In todays recruitment and employment climate, it is more important than ever to be viewed as a desirable place to work. But even more so, it is important to actually BE a desirable place to work for your employees. So we ask our  favorite employer branding managers around the world to give us their best tips so that for some of you  newcomers have all the ammunition you need to cultivate a genuine employer brand for your business. Hannah Fleishman Create an employer brand DIY (Do-It-Yourself) program for employees. At HubSpot, our Inbound Recruiting program is robust; we run global employer branding efforts including our jobs website, HubSpot Life social media channels, recruitment events, careers blogging and content, paid strategy, and more. This wouldn’t be possible without the help of our employees. That’s why we do our best to make it as easy as possible for employees to do an Instagram takeover on HubSpot Life, write a blog post for our careers blog, or host a recruitment event by creating kits and guides for how to do just that. Whether you have a full-funnel inbound recruiting program or are focused on one employer branding channel, make it easy for employees to get involved with DIY resources. Hannah Fleishman, Inbound Recruiting Manager, HubSpot Jennifer Johnston Focus more on employee advocacy, employee reviews and employer awards. These are the decision points that todays candidates use to determine where they want to work what their friends or people in their networks have to say about you as an employer, what the crowd has to say, and how you compare to other companies they might be considering on best place to work lists. Jennifer Johnston, Senior Director of Global Employer Branding, Salesforce Estela Vazquez Perez Not all companies are ready for employer branding, assess the job before taking it. Even though the role may be called employer branding, you have to figure out if they are talking only recruitment, which is most of the times. Maybe they are talking engagement, that is a bit more developed thinking so you need to find who is leading the conversation and how far your role is from that team. Very few companies are doing employer branding for culture transformation. This is the real deal and it needs a big sponsor to make it happen because it is ultimately owned by your c-suite. Our EVP was approved by our CHRO and heavily socialized internally. Dont get frustrated if you are in level I employer branding, you can still create change and set up the foundation for a bigger conversation in the future. Estela Vazquez Perez,  Global Employment Brand Director, Royal Bank of Canada Ton Rodenburg Create an alliance and core network that enables you to build and communicate the brand. This alliance, or team if you will, should have the leaders in business, HR and communication at its core. This team should surround itself with a ring of great ‘disciples’, enthusiasts, inspiring people, formal leaders, networked, that can help spread the brand gospel. This network of brand ambassadors, ‘fire starters’ (thanks Benoy) then can become the core team to spread the virus of the employer brand. Internally, and in that ‘contaminating’ also more colleagues and outsiders to spread the word! Ton Rodenburg, Employer Branding Strategy Director, ARA M/V Human Resource Communications Jaclyn Campbell Employees are your strongest asset, use them to your advantage. Meet with employees from all different departments, roles, levels, backgrounds, and locations and get to know them. Use employee stories to bring your employer brand to life â€" it brings a humanised approach that talent can relate to. Jaclyn Campbell, Employer Brand Consultant, Optus Audra Knight I think the challenge with this type of role is that you have to be very creative/innovative but also be great with data/metrics. I think people often excel at one or the other. If you know your weaknesses than you can partner with other people on your team or other departments that can help fill in any gaps. Audra Knight, Recruitment Operations Manager, Tenable Sarang Brahme Align yourself with employees, their experiences and be authentic. The idea is not to attract everyone but to focus on the top relevant talent for your company who understand your culture and what it’s like working for you. Focus on extracting the essence of company culture and put employees at the forefront of your campaign. Sarang Brahme, Global Social Recruiting   Talent Brand Manager, Capgemini Shaunda Zilich The best advice I can give to Employer Brand Managers is to be transparent.   No one expects any company to be perfect. At the end of the day no one wants to work with a perfect company… they want to have room to make a difference, an impact.   Be sure to be transparent, real, and interactive with those you are looking to engage. Shaunda Zilich, Global Employment Brand Leader, GE Jörgen Sundberg My tip would be to begin with the end in mind. What does success look like? How can we measure this? What will the bottom line impact be? Reverse engineer your activities from there. Jörgen Sundberg, Employer Brand Consultant CEO, Link Humans Carmen Collins Your best source of employer branding content is the employees. A little bit of “trust” goes a long way if you let them do the talking for you, and you become the megaphone to amplify what they organically say. Carmen Collins, Social Media Lead Talent Brand, Cisco

Writing a Simple Resume For Free

Writing a Simple Resume For FreeIf you are like most people, you need to write a simple resume for every job opening that comes along. While it is fine to have a 'Long Form' version, if you want to make the most of your resume, you need to know how to write a simple resume. Here are some things you can use to make it easier for yourself.The first thing you need to do is think about what information your resume needs to have. You should have all of your previous jobs, any certifications that you have received, any awards or degrees you may have received, and any awards you may have won for your achievements. Take a look at your personal life and see if you have any accomplishments that need to be mentioned on your resume.Every resume needs to have your contact information. This is usually your name, address, phone number, and email address. You can make it even more professional by including a company logo as well. Even if you do not have an internet connection at your current job, yo u should still include this information.Employers are always looking for someone to interview and they may be eager to hear about any personal stories that you may have had. Use this space to relay what it was like to work for your current employer. You should also relay on your accomplishments that are good in general. You should remember that you will not be given any free reign with this section of your resume so be sure to convey the exact point that you would like to make.Do not forget to include a personal touch to your cover letter as well. This is where you list all of your achievements and tell the hiring manager why you are an ideal candidate for the job.Lastly, be sure to give your interviewer a professional manner. It is best to use a format that is easy to read and understand. Be sure to use plain black font, use the same font style for your background, headings, and subheadings.There are many websites that will allow you to write your resume online for free. They may e ven allow you to get a professional resume writer to make the final version for you. You can write the letter as if you were reading it out loud to give it that professional look.Writing a simple resume for free is not hard, but it can be time consuming. With a little practice and some trial and error, you should be able to create one that is as good as the resume that you are going to send to the hiring manager. In fact, if you are not very good at writing, you can always hire a professional to help you.

Protecting Your Small Business Against Financial Disaster

Protecting Your Small Business Against Financial Disaster When you have a small business, you will invest a whole lot of time, effort, and money into your venture. So, it’s not all too surprising that you want to prevent things from taking a turn for the worst and to keep things on track for the foreseeable future. Here are just a few different steps that you might like to take in order to protect your small business from potential financial disaster! Take Out Business Insurance When you want to protect yourself against financial disaster, it’s generally a good idea to take out some form of insurance. We take out home insurance to protect our properties, gadget insurance to protect our gadgets, and life insurance to provide dependents with a payout should the worst happen. So why not consider taking out business insurance? A business insurance policy will help to financially safeguard your company against potential disaster that may come upon it. Install CCTV While CCTV may not directly prevent disasters from occurring, it can prove extremely valuable when it comes to protecting your business from financial disaster along the line. Here are just a few ways it can help you. Preventing Theft Theft is a major cause of financial problems in many businesses. Members of the public may steal from your store. Employees are also often culprits of theft in the workplace. Installing CCTV can significantly reduce loss through stolen stock. The presence of cameras is generally enough to put people off stealing. However, if someone goes ahead, you will generally be able to identify the culprit and ban them from your store, which can prevent them from stealing from you again. Evidence for Insurance Claims As we have previously mentioned, there are various ways that your business can be damaged in unforeseen or unpreventable circumstances. But if you have business insurance, you can receive a payout that will help you to put wrongs back to rights. CCTV footage can serve as evidence that will help claims to be processed much more quickly, allowing you to get things back on track at a much faster pace. Evidence Against Fraudulent Claims Increasing numbers of people are filing personal injury claims. As a small business owner, you gain responsibility over the wellbeing of people working for you and members of the public who enter your commercial property. If someone is injured or becomes ill as a direct result of negligence or malpractice on your part, they are entitled to file a claim and receive compensation. However, as you can imagine, some people out there will attempt to file a claim when you haven’t actually done anything done. CCTV can help to prove your innocence should an unfair claim be raised against you. By following the above steps, you should be able to keep your business on the straight and narrow and protect your company against financial disaster!

How to Use Twitter For Job Search

How to Use Twitter For Job Search Consider this your starting point for how to use Twitter for job search. Can you really use Twitter to help your job search? Absolutely! If I were a job seeker (and I am, because we all should be looking for our next job), this is how I would use Twitter. IDENTIFY YOUR STRATEGY Before you even create your Twitter log-in, define what your mission is for using Twitter.   Hint, to meet new people.   So who are the people you would want to meet? The movers and shakers in your industry. People who share a common interest or passion People in your city/town Recruiters Target company employees Next, think about what you will include in your profile that will help people know what you do and want to follow you or investigate your tweets. Start thinking about your personal brand and keywords people would search for to find you. If you need some help writing a long bio, check this post. How To Write A Better Bio. LOG IN AND GET STARTED Use your name for your Twitter account. You want to be remembered and found. Complete your Bio. In 2-3 sentences, how will you brand your message? It is OK to have fragmented sentences in your bio. TWEET SOMETHING RELEVANT Before you go any further, share one or two tweets. You can share an article you think is important to your next career move, you can share a link to your LinkedIn profile or something youve written on LinkedIn. Whatever you do, make sure you give people a reason to want to follow you. FIND PEOPLE TO FOLLOW Remember the list from above go follow these folks on Twitter. The movers and shakers in your industry. People who share a common interest or passion People in your city/town Recruiters Target company employees You can search Twitter for your favorite news sources and industry movers and shakers. Once youve done this, look at Twitters recommendations of people to follow. Chances are, youll see people who are in the same industry. To find people in your city, you can use Twitters Advanced Search and search by Places. If you are relocating, use your new destination. To find recruiters, you can search for that job title in their bio. In order to search bios you need to use a separate tool. Try Mozs FollowerWonk. Once you begin to find people to follow, be sure you add them to a list. This will help you see what they share more easily. You can follow this list of 50 Job Search Pros to get advice and help with your job search. CREATE LISTS Keep organized and create lists. You may want to use the list categories from above or create your own. To create a list, click on your profile picture and youll see a pulldown menu. Select Lists. You can make your list public or private. If you add people to a public list, they will receive a notification from Twitter. You can also add a description to your list. This could be helpful if you want to share your list publically. If you want to see how lists can organize the flow of tweets, go read 1 Hour A Day Marketing Strategies for Job Seekers. START RT (Retweeting) The nicest way to begin is by RTing the tweets of people you just followed.   They will usually thank you.   Consider what your response tweet will be, something complementary to warm up the connection. KEEP YOUR FOCUS It is easy to get sidetracked by posting too personal or unrelated Tweets.   Keep it professional.   Nobody really cares what you are making for dinner.   However, if youve had a great customer service experience or a really great dinner, do give credit to the store/person/establishment.   Positive nets positive! Never, ever complain. ON-GOING STRATEGY Each time you log into Twitter, consider it a challenge to Tweet, RT and Thank anyone who has RTed you. Add new people to your following every time you log in When you read an article or blog you like, see who wrote it and follow them on Twitter. You are now ready to read 11 Beginner Twitter Tips You may also want to learn about Twitter chat an open online discussion.    Twitter Chat Do You Participate? JOB SEARCH? So are you wondering where the jobs are on Twitter? Focusing on job opportunities is putting the emphasis on the wrong part of your mission in my opinion.   Your mission is to expand your network and build awareness of your talent, first and foremost. If you still want to know how to use Twitter for job search by finding posted jobs, read this: Finding Jobs On Twitter