When You Are Ready to Quit Your Job Without a Parachute
We have all been there. The moment when job stress, office politics, lousy management, lack of promotion, overwork, and boredom all gets too much. The perceived wisdom is that you should never quit your job until you have something definite to move on to. The advice is that no matter how much you need to resign – stick it out until you have something in the bag.
Mistakes at Work Happen – It Is How You React that Counts
It is OK to make mistakes. From James Joyce, who called mistakes “the portals of discovery”, to Mahatma Gandhi, who said freedom was not worth having if it did not include the freedom to make mistakes, successful people the world over agree blunders can be a good thing.
“Well, that’s easy for them to say”, you might think. Once you have revolutionised the Western novel or liberated the Indian subcontinent, you can make mistakes all day long if you like. But if you are at the bottom of the career ladder with everything to play for, things look rather different. Making mistakes at work can be acutely embarrassing. Such failures can bring severe consequences. Learning from them quickly can save you future pain.
There are certain strategies that you need to adopt in order to take your career to the next level. Whether you are still in the early stages of your professional journey or you are looking at progressing into senior management, the same principles can be applied to help you get ahead.
By now, it is no secret that more and more companies are utilising technology to help them assess the increasing number of job applications for advertised roles. But should you be worried about Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)?
You may have heard the term ‘sales and marketing’ used to describe how a company promotes itself to its desired audience. However, sales and marketing are not simply for the business world. Creating a clear value proposition for yourself can help you to better market yourself to employers. Your personal value proposition needs proper sales and marketing to highlight your worth to a potential employer.
Here’s a scenario – you’re in a job that offers you maximum job satisfaction. The commute is short, the work you do makes a positive difference, and you’re very good at what you do. Your colleagues are great. The salary could be better, but you love what you do.
Suddenly a job offer comes up. It’s across town, the responsibilities of the job are enormous, and the position will be highly pressurised. But the money is astronomical. Do you take it?
Workplace insecurities are a thing – even for those who would not normally consider themselves insecure. For many of us, feeling somehow ‘less than’ on the job is a constant struggle – and usually, the feelings are not even warranted.
You have probably had times at work when you have been told to suck it up, put on a happy face and get on with it. A little faking it to get through the work week is normal, but if you are constantly putting being in a position of putting on an act with the sole intention of appearing confident, then that is a problem that needs fixing.
Deciding on a career change – or having one thrust upon you for various reasons – can be both terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure. A ton of emotions will be rushing through you – the liberating thrill of a fresh start, the culmination of years or studying a new skill, the fear of suddenly having a role replaced by technology, etc.
So, you have landed that all-important interview. But you need to prepare, and you need to know there are questions interviewers can’t ask. There are in fact, several questions that interviewers can’t ask you.
The questions put to you are only to be regarding your facility to carry out the advertised role. And yes, your character traits are pertinent to your ability to perform that role. However, there is a line an interviewer can’t cross, and you need to be aware of them.
So, you have reached the end of your nursing education, and now your focus has shifted toward the bewildering amount of job applications and their specific requirements. Healthcare jobs are one of the most in-demand positions. However, there are more and more people targeting the very positions that you have spent the past years studying for. Whether you have decided to aim for a graduate program, or to work as an enrolled or registered nurse, you will quickly discover that having a professionally produced nursing resume and cover letter at the ready is your surest bet to securing the position you want.
