Benefits of volunteering

Benefits of volunteering by Michael Cheary Aside from the obvious feel-good factor from giving your time to a worthy cause, volunteering has a number of key benefits for you career which make it well worth considering  Not only is it a great way to gain practical experience, volunteering can also help you stand out from the crowd and learn practical skills which will make you more desirable for prospective employers.Weve already covered how to find volunteer work and how to volunteer abroad, but here are just a few of the key benefits of volunteering:Work in an industry that interests youCharities and not-for-profit organisations recruit hundreds of thousands of volunteers every year throughout the UK and, as a result, the range of opportunities on offer is endless. From sports coaching to fundraising, eBay trading to mentoring, volunteering is a great way to hone your career skills in an area that interests you.If you’re unsure of what sector will be the best fit for you, Local Volunteer Centres, Charity Advisors and online services (such as  do-it.org.uk) will help match your requirements with the opportunities on offer. And whilst you won’t get paid (apart from expenses), you will have the opportunity to get involved in activities you may later want to pursue as a career.Five surprising jobs in charity that you could be doing right nowWhat its really like to work in the charity sectorGain valuable skills experienceAs well as helping to equip you with the skills that many companies look for in staff, volunteering as part of a structured volunteer programme can expose you to a range of core workplace activities, including: communication, line management, teamwork and using your initiative.From writing newsletters to maintaining computer networks, the best way to get a new job is often through experience and the right volunteering opportunity is a rewarding way to achieve this. In fact, in certain sectors, such as health and social care or charities, volunteering may even be considered a pre-requisite.Voluntary organisations are well aware that many people volunteer to gain experience, and as long as you can show your commitment and dedication to the cause from the outset, don’t be afraid to be honest about your motives and use volunteering as a stepping stone to further your career.What are transferable skills?Five CV skills employers look for in every jobseeker  Improve your CV and become more successful at interviewsEstablishing what experience you want to add to your CV will help you identify the right voluntary opportunity. And, once your CV’s looking more complete, you’ll find it easier to reach the interview stage for the jobs you apply for.Once at the interview, you will have the perfect opportunity to impress recruiters with your experiences and passion for your interests. Employers are well aware of the benefits of volunteering and recognise the initiative and commitment that can be required by volunteers.Whilst qualifications are und oubtedly of importance, voluntary work can help you get the experience you need. And remember, the benefits don’t end there: you’ll meet new people, try new things and almost definitely have some fun at the same time.How to: Prepare for an interview  Common interview questions and answers  What the experts say“In a competitive job market, prospective employers want to see what makes you different from all the other candidates, and volunteering is a great way of standing out from the crowd. By demonstrating that you take part in meaningful activities in your spare time, you will show an employer that you are a well-rounded person with some interesting life experience.”Kate Edwards, Volunteer Services Manager,  The Abbeyfield SocietyThe Abbeyfield Society is a charity that provides housing, support and care for people at different stages of later life. Learn more about the Abbeyfield Society“We view the inclusion of any volunteering commitment on a CV as extremely positive a spect as a character reference. As a leading charity, we naturally find this attractive, but feel it would be equally important for a commercial organisation.”Peter Skeggs, Age UK Runnymede and SpelthorneAge UK help over 5 million people every year improve their living conditions in later life through advice, products training and research. Learn more about Age UK“Volunteering can enable you to learn new skills, meet new people and gain valuable experience that you can take into your future career. It also gives you the opportunity to explore an area of work that is of interest to you or try something completely different! All positive factors that we look for as employers when we are recruiting new staff.”Jo Johnson, Marketing Communications Manager,Deafblind UKDeafblind UK is a national charity providing support services to, and campaigning on behalf of, deafblind adults and their carers.Learn more about Deafblind UKIts an amazing experience. Not only do you get to see and take part in things that you wouldnt otherwise be able to, but you also get to work for a cause that you can truly be passionate about. And, aside from improving your career prospects, it can be a genuinely life-changing experience.Carolyn Barwick, Ethiopiaid volunteer  Ethiopiad is one of the UKs leading fundraising charities, working with local people in Ethiopia for over 23 years to end poverty, protect health and help promote self-sufficiency.Learn more about EhiopiaidInterested in volunteering? View all available volunteer jobsFind 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 volunteering

5 Tips to Land a Job Youll Love by the New Year - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

5 Tips to Land a Job You’ll Love by the New Year - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career As the year comes to a close, both hiring managers’ and job seekers’ attention will begin to turn away from the hiring process and on to the holidays. And who can blame them? While you might be tempted to press “pause” on your job search during the holiday season, if you want to make your New Year’s resolution to find a job come true, you have to keep the job search alive between the turkey dinner and holiday caroling. Full-time, permanent hiring this holiday season is projected to be the most robust since 2006, with 34 percent of U.S. employers planning to hire full-time employees in the fourth quarter, according to a recent CareerBuilder study all the more reason to continue your search. To land a job you love by the new year, here are five things to start doing today: 1. Put together a wish list. It’s time to put together your holiday wish list for jobs, that is. With only a few months left in 2015, blindly applying to job posts isn’t going to do you much good. The first step in any successful job search is to develop a solid game plan. Decide what companies you’d like to work for and what job openings interest you the most. What kind of job or company do you see yourself in? Where do you want to end up by January? Don’t be afraid to add a few “hopefuls” to the list it is a wish list, after all. 2. Make a realistic timeline. Keyword: realistic. In order to land a job you’ll love by 2016, you need to set goals that are achievable between now and the new year. Start by outlining what you’d like to accomplish each week. For instance, maybe you devote this week to creating your wish list and tailoring your resumeand cover letter to each item on the list. You can focus on applying next week, following up the week after that, and so on. Consider creating a calendar specifically for your job search. This way, you can keep track of the companies you’ve applied to and followed up with, networking events, and interviewsall in one place. 3. Reach out to your connections… To stay in line with your job search timeline, it can help to reach out to any (and every) professional connection you might have. These connections can inform you of job opportunities that aren’t yet being advertised, which can give you a leg up on the competition. What’s more, your professional connections can also serve as references when it comes time to interview. It’s a win-win. 4. …and make new ones. The holiday season means corporate holiday parties and events (i.e., new networking opportunities). Take advantage of any holiday events, fundraisers, and parties that are open to the public, and use them to make new professional connections. Attending and networking at these events gives you an opportunity to meet and speak with the company’s employees, learn about the company culture and current job openings, as well as helps employees put a face to the name on your application. 5. Be open to seasonal work. While the forecast for full-time, permanent hiring this holiday season looks merry and bright, the holiday season also calls for seasonal employees. If there’s a seasonal opportunity with a company on your wish list, don’t cross it off just yet. According to the aforementioned CareerBuilder survey, an encouraging 57 percent of employers expect to transition some seasonal staff into full-time, permanent roles up from 42 percent last year. Who knows? The key to landing the job of your dreams may be to start off in a seasonal position. What are some other tips for landing a job before the new year?

Unexpected But Useful Career Advice from the Gym

Unexpected â€" But Useful â€" Career Advice from the Gym What’s at your neighborhood gym? Treadmills, free weights, Zumba classes. And Trainers who provide  guidance on nutrition, fitness, and….careers? Career Advice In Spin Class You betcha.  Meet Tom, my spin instructor. And while he may not intend to provide career advice,  I recently realized that the verbal boosts Tom uses to kick his spin classes into high gear can also help you create great results in your career. Here are just 6 phrases of encouragement he shares with us: Get your money’s worth! Metaphorically speaking, of course. He means that although we put our time and effort into things, sometimes we’re just going through the motions. But unless we can enthusiastically participate in spin class, Tom would rather see us pop in our earbuds and just hit the treadmill. Same goes at work. Sure, we all have down periods, but if day after day we’re just going through the motions on the job, are we really getting our “money’s” worth? Instead, consider something that makes you want to get out of bed each morning. One minute down, one minute to go! During the most intense point in a virtual hill climb, Tom always tells us where we are. And where we’ve been. While I might grumble or worry about getting through the next minute of hill-climb, I’m grateful to know I’m halfway there. In your career, sometimes staying motivated means looking back at what you’ve accomplished, in order to make progress on what’s ahead. In many fast-paced work environments, big accomplishments can get forgotten within just a couple months. Keeping track of them in a file, notebook, or your LinkedIn profile â€" along with ‘fan mail’ you receive from peers or leaders at work â€" can give you a boost when you need it. Push, push, push! Some days at the gym, I’m merely showing up. Which is better than not showing up, right? Well, that’s when Tom’s reminder to take it to the next level hits me hardest. So I groan loudly â€" to ensure he hears me hear him and then I push just a little more. And you know what happens? I get better results. Heck, you should see my…calves. So I adopted that same approach at work. I’m asked for one idea and I submit three. We need to courier something to a client? It’s on my way home. Sort of. And guess what? Better results have ensued. Sometimes I even have more fun in the process. I said 95RPMs, that doesn’t mean 94 or 93…. So when Tom says to shoot for 95-100RPMs on the bike, my natural inclination is to focus on 95. And â€" not surprisingly I hit 95. But because it’s hard to keep the bike on an exact RPM setting, I often drop a few notches below it. 94, 93, maybe even 90, if we’re near the end of the workout. At which point I feel like a slacker, because I’m the one choosing the speed. But it’s hard to make myself work harder when I don’t really have to. In the workplace, having some autonomy can be a good thing. But allowing yourself to slack within that range of autonomy does you a disservice. Even if your team or employer is oblivious to your slacking, YOU aren’t. Trust me: focus instead on 100RPMs. You’ll feel better. In more ways than one. You’re stronger than you think you are! When I hear Tom say another of his favorites, “You can do it,” I’m initially resistant. But he follows it up by telling me I’m stronger than I think I am. And he’s right. It’s only when he increases the speed or the resistance during a workout that I try harder. And prove that I can do it. And it’s the same in our workplace. The key to an always-advancing career is to put yourself in situations where you have to push past what you think you can accomplish. Beyond what you think you can actually do. That’s when you prove youre stronger than you think you are. To yourself, and to everyone else. High-five your neighbor, they’re working hard, too! So I do what he says and I congratulate her, even if she is barely breaking a sweat while I’m about to puke. And yes, I’m a bit resentful of what appears effortless for her, especially when she was exceeding both my speed AND resistance settings the entire class. But the reality is that she’s been coming to this class 3 times a week for the past year, and I’m a newbie. So here’s the takeaway: just because your co-workers make their day-to-day look easy, while you’re floundering under a giant load, it doesn’t mean they haven’t put in long hours of training before you came along. They likely need that high-five just as much as you do. So be a team player and slap it high. Someday you’ll need a boost from a newbie, too. Just try not to mind if she’s sweaty and gasping for oxygen, like me. Have you ever received career advice from the strangest of sources? Tell us all about it in the comments!

5 tips for business travel

5 tips for business travel In the airport a fight attendant said to my six-year-old son, “Where are you going today?” He said, “California.” She said, “You’re a lucky boy!” He said, “Actually, I’m really tired of going to airports with my mom.” This is because Ive been taking him on all my business trips. And he is learning something important about business travel: Its really, really hard to do a lot of it, and you need a strategy. To be sure, there are people who travel almost every day of the year. I think theyre nuts. They dont have a life. Im talking about people who travel two or three times a month, which Ive done, on and off, for a long time. Those trips take a toll, and you need a plan to keep yourself sane. 1. No sightseeing. Forget museums and other tourist hotspots. If you travel once a year, sightseeing is exciting. If you travel enough to wonder if your home is really your home, then you need to keep a semblance of routine so you feel like you do have some sort of life outside of work. The trick, when youre traveling a lot for business, is to stay sane in the midst of constant new surroundings, not to pile new stuff on top of new. I try to stay on one time zone the whole trip, eat the same foods each day, wake up the same time each morning, and go to the gym. I book hotels according to how good the gym is. I used to book private Pilates lessons if I was missing my Pilates lesson at home. Now I book cello lessons for my son if we are gone for one or more lessons. 2. Buy two of everything.   Duplicate sets of clothes means that you can stay packed all the time. Packing and unpacking constantly is really annoying if you travel for business. Its just sort of a way to extend the trip even longer because the transition times are longer. And forgetting stuff on the trip makes the trip hell.  If you have duplicates you avoid all these problems. Bonus: the second set of this stuff is usually tax deductible because you wouldnt have bought it if you werent traveling for work. (But check with your accountant or tax software to make sure youre incorporated.) Another thing you can do with the duplicate stuff is leave it in a place you go to a lot. I go to NYC a lot, so my son keeps a skateboard, helmet and pads at my friends apartment. That way he can maintain his skating routine without having to schlep the equipment back and forth. 3. Meet a friend. Im going to tell you about the time I spoke at the Natural Products Expo. First, you should always look at the list of people who will be at the show and figure out who you want to meet. You should contact those people beforehand to ensure that you get to meet them. I did not do this. But my friend, Heather Stouffer, did, and she texted me. I said to my son, “Let’s go visit my friend!” Heather is the CEO of Mom Made Foods. She is the person who gave me tons of coaching on how to launch a food business, when I was going to sell goat cheese. In fact, she was so generous with her time and information that I decided Id rather die than deal with the shipping issues surrounding perishable food. My son did taste tests while we talked. Its draining to meet all new people all the time, and Im always careful to limit interactions with people I dont know. But seeing a friend is different. Tom Raths research at Gallup shows that if we have a friend at the office, its almost impossible to hate our work. I have found that when traveling, if I have a friend in that city to meet up with, its almost impossible to hate that day of travel. 4. Be a tyrant about your hotel choice. When you travel, the fewer surprises the better. So you should pick a hotel chain and stick with it. When I had really well funded companies, I stayed at a Westin hotel wherever I went. The beds were so fluffy and cozy. Staying at a high-end hotel can make you feel a little better about missing out on your whole life back home. Which is why companies are often willing to spring for the higher hotel rate. When I travel for speaking engagements, I have less control over the hotel, but I always end up in a good one because its where the conference is. When I stayed in Las Vegas, I was at the Cosmopolitan. With my son, of course. A nice hotel in Vegas means naked women all over the walls, condoms all over our room, and casinos at breakfast. Which reminds me that fun stuff you dont usually do, you should save for home. Stuff is fun when its a break from your routine. Stuff is not fun if its adding to the already unpredictable and tenuous life of a constant traveler. That includes shopping, movies, and even gambling. You dont need to gamble at a casino. You can do it at sites like this. So dont pick a hotel because its fun. Pick a hotel because it allows you to create more stability during your travel life. 5. Avoid the Red Eye at all costs. Its so enticing to book a Red Eye. When you look at the landing time it looks like you almost won a free day. And on top of that, companies will almost always upgrade you to first class if you take the Red Eye. But theres a reason for that: The Red Eye is impossible to sleep on without drugging yourself, and you are basically losing a night of sleep in order to gain a day of work. So its a great bargain for your worklife at a terrible cost for your personal life. Every time I get home from  the Red Eye Im a grouch, and I have to sleep in the middle of the day, and I vow to never do it again. But of course, I do book the Red Eye again. And heres what happened last time I booked the Red Eye, and we were standing in line to board a plane at 11:50 pm:

Resume Writing Service - Why Do I Need One?

Resume Writing Service - Why Do I Need One?You will need to write a resume, answer an employment questionnaire and submit your resume for review in order to find out if you are a suitable candidate for employment. This is often the most daunting part of the process, because writing a good resume is the most difficult part of the job. It is necessary to understand that there are many ways to do it, and many people who will have access to your information. You need to choose the right ones.The first thing you need to decide on is whether you are going to hire a professional or write it yourself. If you can afford to write your own resume, it will be best. However, you will find that hiring a professional writing service will give you the best opportunity to ensure that your resume is written correctly.If you can afford to hire a professional to write your resume, then you should hire one. The services of an experienced resume writer will be invaluable to your job search, because they w ill know what questions to ask to find out if you are a suitable candidate for employment. The reason you should hire a professional is that they will know how to use the information that you provide for their own benefit.Resume writing services are the ones who will use this information to help you find your dream job. The questionnaires that they will ask you to complete are designed to weed out all the unsuitable candidates. These questionnaires are different for different types of employment positions. However, in most cases you will only be asked to complete a generic questionnaire that will ask you about your education, work experience and information on the skills you may have.In this way, the resume writing service will not need to read over your resume very carefully. There will be no need to look for information that is not relevant to the position. Your resume is generally the only source of information about you and your abilities, so you should take care to make sure th at the information that you supply your professional writing service with is accurate. You will be able to save time by completing the questionnaires yourself.However, it is important to remember that it is the job of the professional service to find the best candidates for you. They will be better able to use the information supplied to help them with their own research. For example, they will be able to ask relevant questions to identify what your personal qualities are that make you a suitable candidate for employment. So even though you are able to answer your own personal questions, the service will be able to go further afield and get a much better understanding of the skills you have and the ways you may be able to apply these to your new job.Even if you want to see the work of the company whose questionnaire you are required to answer, it will be your duty to check the accuracy of the answers you provide. You need to be confident that all the information you provide is corre ct.Remember that successful resume writing service questionnaire writers will do everything they can to help you find your dream job. However, you should not rely entirely on them. You still need to have complete confidence in your ability to find the perfect job.

Modern Tools for Modern Job Search - CareerAlley

Modern Tools for Modern Job Search - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. A few years ago I was having some work done in my house by a carpenter. While he was in my house, my wife sent me out to get a new mailbox that I had to hang on the front of my house (which is brick). No problem (I thought), I removed the old mailbox only to find the the holes in the new mailbox did not match (why should it be easy). I realized that I didnt have the right tools to drill a new hole in the brick. So of course I asked the carpenter to drill anew hole for me. He didnt drill a hole in the brick, he drilled a new hole in the mailbox (which was a lot easier). Right tools and right approach, both are key to a successful job search (not to mention hanging a new mailbox). Todays post is a collection lists and tools you can use in your job search. 7 Handy New Twitter Timesavers Posted by Jacob Share on JobMob, this is a pretty neat list of tools that you can use to make your Twitter experience more productive (and spend less time on some tasks). The article provides a brief overview of each tool, along with a review and link to the tools website. At the end of the article, Jacob provides a strategy for using them all together. If you use Twitter (and you should), take a look at this post. 70+ Tools For Job Hunting 2.0 This list is from mashable.com and is an amazing list because it is diverse. From links to job search sites that are generic to industry or job specific sites (like seasonal jobs). Certainly not a list you want to spend all of your time on, but leverage one of the sites a day (as you also spend time on networking, recruiters, etc.). 7 Tips For The Job Search in a Transparent World: Maximum Exposure Also Brings Risk to Technology Pros in Financial Services A realllllly long title for this list of 7 tips, but it is worth the read. The tips range from working with reputable recruiters to when not to use job search boards and can be found on prweb.com. The Top 50 Best Job Search Sites BigInterview.com provides this long list of resources. Sounds like a lot, but unless you are really lucky in your job search, you may need them all. You name it and it is represented here. From the usual suspects to less known sites (like Salesgravy.com) they are all here. There are also links to related resources (like social media). Take a look through this list to find the resources that will work for you. 111 Smart Resume Section Headings and Titles Another great list from JobMob, this one is really useful in building (or rewriting) your resume. Starting with Objectives, followed by Employment, Education, Skills and so much more. This is a really good list to have handy. You can also use this for thank you letters or letters of introduction, a really good list for your job hunt. Dont forget to look at the bottom of the page for links to additional posts that will help in your search. We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+ Job Search job title, keywords, company, location jobs by

How Your Business Should Manage Resource Allocation

How Your Business Should Manage Resource Allocation A project containing multiple moving components can be difficult to organize. However, managers can lighten the burden through the use of resource allocation. Resource allocation helps team leaders ensure that a project has all of the proper resources to meet deadlines. Additionally, resource allocation gives managers an overview of what their teams are doing each day. Resource Allocation 101 The base of resource allocation contains three parts: people, time, and tools. People encompasses individuals who have the skills to get the project done. Time is determined by the deadline of the project and ranges from only a few days to several years. Teams need to delegate the proper amount of time to each task in order to meet an overall project deadline. Meanwhile, tools include the technology or resources that people will use to get a project accomplished. Groups might have to share these tools with other people within a company. Team managers and department heads need to rely on one another to effectively map out resource allocation. Managers need to work concurrently to determine which employees are suitable for specific tasks, as well as to plan a project’s timeline. How teammates are alerted or a project is tracked depends on the size of the company and the complexity of its projects. What Affects Resource Allocation As with other business practices, resource allocation can be affected by a variety of factors. These variables can be broken into two categories: project and team variables. Project Variables Changes to deadline: Some deadlines for a project can be pushed a few days. A team’s flexibility can help with ever-changing due dates. Project managers need to walk a fine line when choosing which projects to move around for a new deadline. Changes in scope: Clients can change their minds or add on more components to a project. If the project is too large for the current team, managers will have to redelegate people to help with the workload. Team Variables Resource availability: The best person for a job is not always available at the drop of a hat. Vacations or another project can often pull the selected individual away from the work at hand. Project managers will need to determine if the job needs to be outsourced or if other individuals can step in to fill the gap. Other projects in the works: The urgency of another project can pull people off of the selected project. A project’s ranking can be determined by the looming deadline or how quickly it can be completed among other factors that managers have to take into account. Software to Help with Resource Allocation Despite the hurdles that managers can face with resource allocation, there are software tools to help the process become simpler. Cloud-based technology tools can store talent profiles of employees to help managers with staffing projects. For example, the resource management aspects of a human capital management system can aid leaders in choosing the right team member for a job. Smaller businesses can use smaller-scale solutions to help them. Something as easy as a group chat area allows managers to check in on available team members. Successful resource allocation or different methods to meet project deadlines lead to improvements in business practices. Resource allocation is a process that helps managers with meeting deadlines. People, time, and tools have an impact on how a manager is able to distribute work and maintain a project deadline. Additionally, all three factors have their own set of variables that can impact their availability. However, software tools can help managers properly allocate resources. Overall, resource allocation helps managers know what their team members are working on daily and what projects will need their attention next.