Category: Charting Your Career for Success

Education requirements vary. The requirements vary by the job type. Additionally, education requirements vary from job sector and from one employer to the next. This article shows you how to prepare for presenting your education to get the maximum interviews.

Understanding Education Requirements

Knowing the education requirements of any job is important. Before going to a job interview, attempt to get a job description. Here are some places to find job descriptions.

1. Job boards and job search engines
2. Recruiters
3. Hiring company websites
4. Direct contact with the company’s human resources department or from the hiring manager
5. A jobs search with your favorite search engine

Do You Need a College Degree?

In some companies, college degrees are not a requirement.  Some of the most successful company founders don’t have a degree. In the tech sector, airlines sector, construction and home repair sector, sales positions, and other roles often don’t require a college degree.

On the other hand, many companies require a college degree. In some professions, a college degree plus college credentials or advanced degrees are requirements. College requirements are important in many fields. Additionally, credentials or certifications may be required.

Some organizations have specific training for their new hires. Furthermore, these companies train you in specific skills that last you throughout your career. In working for a company that is well known throughout your industry as a training company makes you more marketable.

However, a college degree may prove helpful to move into leadership roles for these positions. Please do your own research through job listings to find the education requirements.

How Important is Your College Major?

The importance of a college major depends on the industry. Accounting, finance, chemistry, engineering, physics, biology, and other majors often qualify a person immediately useful for specific jobs.

On the other hand, some positions do not require a specific college major.

I majored in English. Then I entered Naval Officers Candidate School. The math and science I studied in college were sufficient to give me a basis to study Navy navigation and tactics. When I went aboard the ship, I continued to receive training on the operations of the ship. A year into my service, I qualified as a Navy bridge officer (Officer of the Deck). Additionally, I was promoted to a position as a public affairs officer. My studies in journalism and English gave me the groundwork to develop the skills to manage the shipboard radio and television station, the ship’s newspaper and cruise book, to write daily press releases Additionally, I was able to develop the skills to coordinate and escort VIPs like the Bob Hope and his troupe of performers and technicians.

Should You Get a Degree?

For students who are making a decision whether to go through devote four or more years and spend thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars to get a degree, I want to share my thoughts.  Graduating from college did two things for my career. I got a key to let me through doors marked, “Degree required.” I gained acceptance into business circles and social circles where having a college degree meant credibility.

Career Strategy: Where do you start in creating a strategic plan that is tailored for you? What do you need to know about adjusting your plan to an ever-changing job market?

Check-off List

A career plan creates a check-off list. Through this check-off list, you will create focus and direction. Your intuition can emerge to see options that might somehow never have come to you.

Career Options

Identify your career options. Develop a refined list of options by examining your interests, skills, and values through self-assessment. researching companies, and talking to professionals in the field. You can further narrow your list when you take part in experiences such as shadowing or working alongside a company employee, volunteering, or internships.
Next, list all the things you need to do to accomplish your career goals.

Here are questions to ask to create a strategy for you career.

1. 1. Location: Where Do You Want to Live?
   2. Type of Job or Industry: What Do You Want to Do?
   3. How Well Do You Work with Other People?
   4. Opportunities for Promotion: Do You Want to Lead People?
   5. Money: How Important is Income?
   6. Risk: How Well Do You Tolerate Risk?
   7. Do You have a Mentor or Advisor?
   8. Job Security: What are the Risks of Playing It Safe?
   9. What Education Do You Need?
   10. What Experience Do You Need?
   11. Should You Take an Aptitude Test?
   12. Who Hires People with Your Goals and Qualifications?

   Organize by Your Priorities.

   It’s not enough to list options. You must prioritize them. What are your top skills? What interests you the most? What’s most important to you? Whether it’s intellectually challenging work, security and benefits, the right location, or a big paycheck, you must know your priorities.

   Compare one answer against the other in terms of importance. Reshuffle the order to match your priorities. Additionally, notice how your limits on any priority affects opportunities on your other priorities. Preferences on location can range from your home to one neighborhood to one city or to anywhere across the country. If you are open to living anywhere, your opportunities will increase for other priorities. For example, if you are open to relocation, your potential for promotions will increase to locations where a company has needs for managers. Additionally, your opportunities for security may increase with your willingness to change location.

Career Plan Benefits: a great career plan is an opportunity map. As your career advances, industry will change. Your career plan must be flexible to adjust to changes in industry. With an updated plan, you will discover new roads for opportunities to success.

Great career plans not only define where you want to go. The plan helps you identify the tools, skills, and network you need to get there. ~ www.jaywren.com

The Benefits of a Career Plan

A Check-off List

A Career Plan Creates a Check-off List of What You Need as Your Career Progresses.

Part of creating a career plan includes writing a check-off list. Through this check-off list, you will create focus and direction. Your intuition can emerge to see options that might somehow never have come to you.

Here is a summary of things you might consider including in your career plan check-off list:

1. The job you are in now
2. The jobs you want
3. People you will need to help you
4. Things you want to achieve
5. Places you want to live
6. The amount of money you want to make

The Psychological Advantages of a Career Plan

A Career Plan Gives You a Sense of Purpose and Direction.

Have you ever found yourself in a meeting, working on a project, or in any situation where the question came to mind, “What am I doing here?” or “Why am I doing this?”

Have you noticed that associated with those questions is an unpleasant feeling that you are wasting your time? You have no sense of purpose for your activities.

Going to work every day with a sense of purpose is a lot more fun than going to work every day and wondering why you are doing what you are doing.

Also, it seems logical that going to work every day with a sense of purpose increases your likelihood of being more successful.

1. Your interest in your work will increase.
2. You will be focused on your work.
3. Spontaneously, you will be more willing to invest energy and time in your work.

Preparation

Creating a career plan is preparation for each step of your career. You will more effectively gather the tools and develop the skills that you need. Furthermore, you will better understand which people to add to your network for success.

Mental Clarity

Whether you are working in front of other people or working alone at your desk, as you take advantage of creating a career plan, you will have more mental clarity and feel less stress.

Summary of Career Plan Benefits

In summary, you will have the following benefits from your career plan.

1. Increased creativity and confidence
2. Clear direction
3. Less stress through simplifying a planned process
4. Great habits for success
5. The great feelings of a sense of purpose
6. Spontaneity in handling the inevitable turns and redirections
7. Creating a vision for success

In closing, you will have empowered your mind with a conscious and unconscious mindset to create a path for your success.

Unemployed Job Seekers: How unemployed job seekers become more competitive against the employed job seekers.

Unemployed Job Seekers

People without a job face additional pressure. Loss of income during unemployment can create anxiety.  To an employer, a person being unemployed creates the perception of instability. This perception can weaken an applicant’s ability to get interviews. During interviews, unemployed people are under the pressure to explain why they are unemployed. The issue of unemployment is a distraction. When you want to focus on your qualifications, you must first overcome the issue of your job status.

Your Employed Competitors

People who have a job are in a more competitive position than people who are unemployed. Leaving a company for a better opportunity when you are doing a great job at your current company makes you especially competitive. Therefore, the best time to get a job is when you have a job.

Solutions for Unemployed Job Seekers

I have helped dozens of applicants prepare to handle unemployment during an interview. Moreover, I have helped these people get jobs. Here are some steps that will help.

Resume

Step one, create a personal brand of success. Structure your resume to focus on your career success. Target your resume to the hiring company.

Some people think that your resume should not show that you are unemployed. These people recommend that you leave the dates off your resume. Others recommend that you write your resume to show that you are still employed: 2013 – Present. However, from my experience, a resume that does not include dates raises questions about what a person is hiding. As a corporate recruiter, the two key points I required from a candidate were a list of employers and the dates of employment. The list of companies told me whether I was working with an applicant who was in the correct industry for my job search. The dates told how quickly the person progressed in levels of experience. Moreover, misrepresenting your information can lead to problems even after you are employed.

Social Media: Likewise, your LinkedIn account should match your resume.

Your Interview 

You must be able to handle the issue of unemployment in your interviews. To prepare, write your answer. Then rehearse your answer so that you can give a short, clear reply. Test your answer with people you trust. Get comfortable with your answer so that it makes you look confident in your ability to go forward with success in your next job. Show the power of your qualifications. State how you are seeking the type of job the company offers. Give details of why the job appeals to you. Additionally, talk about the positives of the hiring company.

Conclusion

In conducting your job search, the solution is not to focus on why you are unemployed.  Rather the solution is to focus on the steps to getting interviews and getting job offers from those interviews.

Interview Pitfalls: If you are unemployed, the reason you left your last job may be important to the hiring company. The interview pitfalls are creating impressions that you have done something wrong.

Your answers can help the interviewer learn several important things about you. Therefore, create your answers based on what you believe the interviewer wants to know. Here are some examples.

1. Know what type of job you are seeking
2. Help the interviewer evaluate your employment stability
3. Give the interviewer information on your integrity
4. May simply give the interviewer see how well you deal with difficult questions
5. Help the interviewer understand more about your judgement in making big decisions

Reasons People Leave a Job

Remember that there are valid reasons for people leaving a job. Creating presentations on how your company conditions and changes adversely affect your career and life will help the interview understand your situation.

• Safety issues can make jobs undesirable.
• Commute costs or commute distance are sometimes overwhelming.
• Job stress can create the necessity for finding a different job.
• A change in a person’s home life can force a person to find a new job.
• A challenging work relationship with your supervisor or co-workers can make you want to find a new place to work.
• Companies run into difficulty.
• Automation is reducing career opportunities.
• Companies move offices, retail locations, or manufacturing facilities to less desirable locations.

Avoiding the Interview Pitfall

The main issue is that you have a presentation that shows that your leaving your job in no way makes you less a great hire for their company.  Your accomplishments alone may allow the interviewer to move past the issue. A good response can make the pitfall disappear. Write out a solid, brief answer. The items above may help you prepare for a powerful, effective response.

Test Your Presentation for Feedback

To test how well your answer will avoid interview pitfalls, try giving your response to different people. Their feedback will help you evaluate the effectiveness of your response. Additionally, different people will have different views on how to answer the question. You may find that these people help you with additional information about your response. Their questions may help you think more deeply in creating a credible response.

Interview Pitfalls

In the end, you will need to select an answer that works best for you. Thoroughly rehearse your answer. And don’t worry. How you answer the question may be more important than your reason for leaving your last company. Don’t let this interview pitfall cost you a career opportunity.