JOB SEARCH
Career Planning & Career Prospects
When thinking about a career and career planning, and eventually a Job Search, there are three directions in which you can head; three questions that you need to answer.
1. What do you most enjoy doing?
2. What are you really good at – what are your strongest talents?
3. In what field of work are the best career prospects; job prospects that promise secure and well-paid employment?
You are very lucky indeed if the answer to all three turns out to be the same. Generally there has to be a compromise. Sometimes you may be fortunate enough to turn what you enjoy doing most into a ‘hobby’ that is then supported by the career you choose.
If you live in Australia, and the same probably applies to students in other countries, the answer to question three is not as clear-cut as it may seem. I have already indicated in the Study Guide that today’s student will probably have a number of job changes, even career changes, throughout their working life: consequently they should always stay on top of the learning and study methods provided by the Study Guide (page 3).
Many, if not most students, may be unaware of what is happening in the overall market place that produces jobs. One ‘futurist’ who also likes to call himself a ‘strategist’, Paul Ruthven, says, that twenty years from now half the jobs that will be available then have not yet been invented; that you must accept from an early age that you are going to have to reinvent yourself all the way through your life. It will come as a shock that sometimes your career will come to an abrupt end – your corporation will say goodbye.
Globalisation is in the process of radically restructuring the job market, and career prospects. Looking into the future, the Free Trade Agreements being negotiated by the Federal Government will have a significant bearing on many jobs and careers on offer in Australia. The following comments were included in Management Today (The Australian Institute of Management Journal), as it explored the effect of a FTA with China. China will be taking more and more of our raw materials, and converting them into manufactured goods and selling them back to Australia under a FTA. Ross Adler, Chairman of Austrade says, ‘If you spot an Aussie Manufacturer in 10 years’ time, you’ll be lucky, except in specialised areas where we can compete’.
Use your imagination to visualise a future when much of our manufacturing, significantly more than at present, has moved off shore – what do you see remaining? Careers should centre on those activities and goods that can’t be imported – health care for instance, particularly with an aging population – medicine, dentistry, nursing, alternative therapies, aged care etc. Education is another field – teaching will always be required locally, at various levels. Transport has to be a local occupation even though the equipment may be imported. Tourism will grow, as will hospitality. The raw material producers and exporters will require local expertise, alongside imported skills. Communications and entertainment, while relying on imports, will always have a local content if it is competitive in cost and quality. Agriculture will continue to be in demand, because food will remain in demand – although a growing range of packaged and canned goods will be imported, as we see already. The same applies to clothing, where most of it is already made overseas – even if it is designed in Australia. Sport is also likely to remain a large local industry. So there will still be plenty of career opportunities to choose from, although the emphasis will be on service rather than manufacturing.
It has been suggested that for many of today’s students career planning may mean becoming entrepreneurs who hunt down opportunities they can exploit, and then develop their own business. This will require on-going study in such things as planning, business and financial skills. Specialized support services, such as Business Enterprise Centres, can provide useful guidance and help.
In career planning you need to become sensitive to what is happening to jobs, and the trends. In an article from the Harvard Business Review, ‘Competing for the Future’, the authors recommend looking for companies in your selected field that are planning and re-engineering themselves for the long term future – not just meeting today’s challenges. These offer the best prospects for a successful career. I remind students, nothing ever stays the same; a company’s solution to its problems today, even though successful, is not necessarily a guarantee of its long-term success in the future.
When choosing your career path keep these constraints in mind, and also realise, like I did many years ago, that your studying days do not stop when you leave University, or College. Learning is a lifelong process, so keep building on your knowledge and skills, with your career and the market both in mind.
Updated Feb 2010
Professor John Reynolds has cautioned high school students about being unrealistic in their ambitions. He suggests matching your ambitions to your academic abilities. He says, for example, 'Planning to become a medical doctor while making poor grades in high school means that preparation for other more probable (and suitable) vocations is likely to be postponed.'
Scroll to the bottom of this page for the index and link to all the other pages in this web.
Preparing Resumes for Job Applications:
http://www.1-2-3-resumes.com
-- Resumes for 150+ occupations for
you to copy, as well as free resume writing tips and resume critiques.
In cyberspace, new rules for your résumé
In the age of email, résumés flow as quickly as electricity across the Internet. Don't be afraid to send emails, one per company. You can now send thousands just to get a few replies, but you must do it correctly. The following suggestions are from a couple of experts:
* Quality is more important than quantity.
* Emphasize not just the positions held and your experience, but the successes you have achieved. * Include key words throughout your résumé because companies can use their own search engines to look for candidates by key word.
* Don't bother with a cover letter.
* Cut and paste changes to suit different companies.
* Make sure, if you use the company's name, that you haven't inadvertently copied it to a letter intended for another company.
* Do not apply for jobs above your skills level or qualifications.
*
Finally, do not use weird email addresses - 'yourname@' is probably the best
approach.
How to Learn Faster, and Remember More. Energy, Pattern, and Resonance are the Keys to Memory, and Accelerated Learning.
The Accelerated Learning Study Guide.
Find out about the author of this program of Accelerated Learning.
Page Five:
Order your copy of the
Guide to Accelerated Learning.
Page Six:
Should you listen to
music while
you study?
Page
Seven:
The
sleep
you get each night is important for your brain development, and
memory – see what medical experts have to say.
Page
Eight:
Making
use of
the knowledge you memorize
is part of the learning and understanding process. See what the Nobel Prize
winning Physicist, Professor Richard Feynman, has to say about his experience.
Page Nine:
Some students have
trouble working with numbers, which are the basis of
mathematics.
The numbers game, NUMERO, has proved a winner worldwide in
helping people think faster with numbers.
Page Ten:
Want a
photographic memory?. This page explains
photographic memory, and how you can improve yours.
Page Eleven:
Memory Pill? Food for Thought -
dietary supplements that can boost brain power and memory.
Page Twelve:
READING -
Fluent reading is essential for Accelerated Learning
Education - Poor Reading explained with - exercises to overcome the
Problem.
Page Thirteen:
STRESS -
Its affect on Memory: How stress helps or hinders memory and
examinations.
Page Fourteen:
JOB SEARCH - CAREER PLANNING -
What to consider when planning a career and its future prospects.
A Look inside the Study Guide:
Pages – 15 to 20 – are
six ‘windows’ into the Study
Guide, how and why it works.
: Window One: Memory driven by Energy & Resonance
Page
Sixteen:
Window Two: Brain, Mind & Memory – a
‘Learning Machine’
: Window Three: Mind Maps & Memory Patterns
Page
Eighteen:
Window
Four:
Parents
–
Family Learning
: Window Five: Intuition – a hidden source of learning.
: Window Six: Aging Memory? – You can retrain your memory.
Twenty One:
News Archive
Page
Twenty Two:
Training within Industry –
Workplace Training –
Vocational Training
Page Twenty Three:
Truth
& Memory - treat
everything you see and hear with a healthy scepticism.
Page Twenty Four:
Drugs
& Memory - Prescription & recreational drugs.
Page Twenty Five:
Violence:
A growing problem in schools. Violence is Learned Behaviour. Video games and TV
can teach violence.
Page Twenty
Six:
The
Evolution of Scientific Thought:
Page Twenty Seven: An e-book on Understanding & Managing Stress
Links Page:
Shared links between websites that
have common goals and