Can You Afford To Go To University?

Going to university is one of the biggest decisions you will make.

For me, as a careers advisor, I highly recommend being sure about your career choice, as there are over 2000 potential career choices, but most people pick the general job roles (or university course) for bizarre reasons such as “their parents told them to pick that career” or “because my friend has picked that course”

Remember you spend over a third of your life in employment and you need to be happy about your career choice.

Some courses cost up to £9000, you don’t want to be spending that type of money only to leave halfway through the course, or to graduate only to decide that you want to do something different.

Discussing and planning your career goals, can not only save you money in the long term but can also make you feel excited about your future.

Once you have decided on the university and course that you are interested in, you need to know some key facts about university finances, because many believe, due to the rise in tuition fees that they can’t afford to go to university.

No one has to pay fees upfront. You can apply for loans to pay for your university fees, and once you graduate you don’t have to pay the loan back until you earn over £27295 a year. If you never earn this amount, you won’t have to pay your loan back.
Some eligible students can also apply for maintenance loans to help pay for rent, food, bills, etc.
After 30 years whatever is left to pay off your student loan is wiped out – you won’t owe any more money.
If you have the money to pay for your course upfront, you can do it. This way once you leave university the money you earn is yours. Remember though depending on your salary depends on how much you pay back. For some people, they may have only paid 50% of their loan back before the 30 years is up and they automatically have their debt wiped out.
Also, look for extra funding. In some instances, students may be given a Bursary or Scholarship (from a business or charity)
You back around 9% of your loan. So if in your first job you earn £2310 per month you only pay back £3 per month.
The money automatically comes out of your pay packet, under the heading ‘payroll deductions’ the same way tax is deducted from your pay. Which, as the employee, means you don’t need to worry about paying anything back, it’s all automatic.
You will be charged interest on your loan (at the rate of inflation). Depending on what you earn depends on what you pay. If you earn £21,000 you will pay interest at the rate of inflation, when you earn over £41,000 you will pay interest at the rate of inflation plus 3%
The interest rate is only paid at the end of your loan, so if you don’t pay your whole loan (IE after the 30 years is up) you won’t pay any interest.
If you ever lose your job as an example due to redundancies, your repayments will stop

April 9, 2013December 12, 2020

Job Search Tips For Over 50’s

There are many myths surrounding job searchers who are 50+, with the most common myth being that employers always prefer to recruit younger candidates.

The truth is, that most employers just don’t care about your age they are more interested in your skills and experiences, in short, the only question a potential employer ask is what added value can you bring to our team?

These days 50 isn’t that old, especially as the retirement age increases.

Years gone by, when many of the jobs were in the manual labour of some short, the older generation were discriminated against as they could work as fast or for as long as a younger and much fitter employee.

Nowadays, many jobs are the form of communication, information and innovation. The over 50’s aren’t worn out, they fighting fit, and your key selling point IS YOUR AGE, you have vast experience, you have made mistakes and had great successes, this is what the employer and employee who can get on with the job, an employee that can use their experience to create bigger profit margins, the employer wants an employee who will add value to the team.

If you are still worried about being to old, you can follow these few “Don’t” remember age discrimination is illegal, by following these rules the employer will only see your experience not your age.

1. Don’t record your DOB on your resume or CV

2. Don’t record the year you were born on your e-mail

3. Don’t add all your previous jobs to your CV – just the last 5 years

4. Don’t make your social media pages accessible to anyone

5. Don’t apologise for your age, your age is a selling point, don’t even mention how old you are, as many people can’t guess it when they meet you at the job interview,

April 9, 2013November 19, 2020

Solo Jobs The Old and The New

3 Solo Careers

Teamwork is often a key skill on many job specifications, but for those employees who want to work in a job sector where you can work on your own initiative, you will need to pick a career where the key criterion is single working.

These 3 careers require people who can work on their own initiative

The Man Scientist

you may think that this career is only available in cartoon or cheap comedy movies, but with the increase in STEM positions and a worldwide growth in green careers, innovators, designers and scientists are now in demand. You could be paid thousands if you designed a car that could run on potato peelings or even millions for the innovator who designed and created a new way to capture energy from natural resources, such as the experiments in the North Sea where scientist have created technology to turn the power of waves into electricity.

The sole working “mad scientist” has a vast opportunity to make a financially successful career turning their own ideas into working models that can be sold to industry leaders.

Cyber Security Officer

The internet has changed the world, and technology has developed quickly with millions of people using their internet phone to make payments, to pay bills and to access their bank statements. The growth of internet banking has been met by a growth in cybercrime. To combat this illegal activity which can potentially cost the financial sector billions of dollars, banks, financial companies and governments are recruiting cybersecurity officers to monitor and combat cybercrime. Companies will also commission hackers to try and hack their new systems before making them live. For the computer geek, well computer expert this role demands expertise, concentration and the ability to work alone

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

150 years ago you would find whole villages working on a farm to produce a crop ready to sell across the world. This multi-skilled task took hundreds of people, but starting with the industrial revolution, the horticultural sector has developed using new technology and machines to produce faster and move profitable results. As the number of machines on farms increased the number of employees decreased, now in 2013 producing a crop is a person job an ideal job for the introverted employee, motivated to work alone.

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April 9, 2013December 12, 2020

The Secret to Working With People You Don’t Like

First, you need to know why you don’t like that person, are they a “yes” person who never follow through, or a know it all – the person who always knows best, or is it a mannerism or value that rubs you up the wrong way?

Once you know why you don’t get on with someone that you can take action. Before taking action, ask yourself is it possible to just avoid this person? I don’t mean running away, but if you hot desk you could plan that you’re not sat next to this person.

If you have no choice but to work with the person you dislike, you will need to learn to laugh at the situation, otherwise, you become stressed in work. Think about how this situation benefits you, the yes person will soon be found out by managers, which in comparison will make you look good. If you have to work on a project together, ensure you are given different time-bound tasks, which means at review meetings your boss will see that you have achieved your task while the yes man hasn’t.

Whatever the issue is, you need to turn it to your advantage. Ask how can I benefit from this situation? If you let someone who rubs you up the wrong way continue with it, you will only become ill, stressed and extremely depressed.

April 9, 2013December 12, 2020

Is An Interview Thank You Letter Really Worth it?

Is An Interview Thank You Letter Really Worth It?

The key to passing the job interview is to ensure the employer remembers that you meet the essential criteria for the position you are applying for. A great technique which is vastly underused is to summaries your interview success in a post interview thank you letter.

Most candidates don’t send thank you letters, and those that do only thank the employer for their time. They are both missing out on a great opportunity to get one last selling point across to the interviewer, as well as thanking the employer, also summaries the interview mentioning your unique selling point, the key criteria the interviewer was most impressed with this.

After interviewing all day it is easy for the interviewer to forget information discussed or even to confuse applicant’s answers, by summarising your selling points in a thank you letter the interviewer is in no doubt that it is you who has the correct skills for this position

April 9, 2013December 12, 2020

Odd Ball Interview Questions

“How do you get an elephant to fit inside a mini car?”

For oddball questions, as with all the interview questions, you need to practice and prepare your answers.

The only way to prepare for unknown and often quite random questions is by asking someone to through random questions at you.

Not all interviewers ask these questions.

Interviewers ask questions that are relevant to the position you are applying for, the question “How do you get an elephant to fit inside a mini car?” can be answered from the perspective of an engineer or from a creative perspective.

Employers want to check if you can think outside the box, problem solves, creatively think or analyse information which is why they ask these, which often seem random but are in fact skilled based interview questions

· Why are manhole cover round?

· If you were shrunk to the size of a pea and put in a jug how would you escape?

· Given the numbers 1 to 100, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number when playing “higher” or “lower”

April 4, 2013

The 3 Rules for Completing Job Application Forms and Personal Profiles

For each position you apply for you will receive a job specification, to secure a job offer you need evidence that you possess the essential criteria required for this job role.

To highlight your skills you need to record real working examples of the essential criteria, (in the personal profile and employment history section). The applicant who possesses all the essential criteria is offered the job interview.

Rule One – Stand Out

Most applicants will have the required qualifications and experiences which is why they have applied for this position, what you need to do is stand out from the crowd. To stand out you need to highlight on the application form what unique value you can offer IE what skill or quality do you possess that will increase company profit, turnover or production, etc?

By having a unique skill or selling point, will add value to the organisation you are applying to, as an example if you have a gift for turning underperforming companies on the brink of bankruptcy into a profitable business, then a company in this situation can’t afford to lose you.

Rule Two – Personal Information

The first section on the job application is simple; add your contact details, past employment history (give a brief summary only here of your role and duties, making them relevant to the job role) and your qualifications. Ensure you follow the application form rules and if required write using a black pen, etc. One important aspect of the application form is the position you are applying for and the job code boxes, because large businesses recruit hundreds of people a year and HR will only know the position you have applied for by this important code.

Rule Three – The Profile is King

The key to securing job interviews is the application form profile as this is the section that will confirm you have the required essential criteria, while you sell yourself through your unique selling point (making you stand out from the crowd)

The job specifications that accompany the job application form tells you in detail, what requirements the employer is looking to be evidenced on the job application form and the importance the employer places on each criteria.

The job criteria will be recorded under either desirable or essential criteria – it is a must that you have all the essential criteria and most or all of the desirable criteria. It’s even simpler then that, the employer on the job specification will also tell you where they will measure this criterion which either via the application form or the job interview.

If you need to add additional pages to the application form, add them and make a note (and give a reference number to each individual page) in the application form so an employer does not miss this vital information. But as more application forms become available online extra pages are not required as text box will in-large itself – just beware of any word count limits.

Use headings to split up your text on the profile; the essential criteria requirements make the best headings.
Start with an opening paragraph; a mini summary that can highlight your best strengths and skills in 4-5 lines, ensuring you highlight your unique selling point. The opening paragraph must intrigue the employer, encouraging them to read your statement in more detail.
At the end of the personal statement, write a brief summary why you have applied for this role, what has made you pick this particular role and/or organisation?

Additional Applications

To save time on future online application forms, keep a copy of your completed application form as a draft copy and use this as the basis of all your future job application forms. When writing a new application form, copy and paste the statement from your original application into your new one, edit each new application/profile to make it relevant to this new position and company, this will save you a large amount of time.

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April 1, 2013August 8, 2015

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You will learn how to start a coaching business with little or no overheads, you become an expert in internet marketing and I will give you my best coaching techniques to help you become the best coach you can be.

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Business Start Up E-Book Was £59.99

Understand how to turn Life Coaching in to a well paid Business
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Get a website that you can edit, make money on and monitor hits for vertically free
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Master the art of creating a ‘list’ that you can e-mail on a regular basis to sell more products
Understand the coaching regulations that govern this industry
How to take payments online securely and cheaply

Google Destroyer E-Book Was £79.99

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A successful Life armed with a list of techniques and an in-depth understanding of internet marketing can make hundreds, even thousands of pounds a day. Coaches often charged between £50-£180 per session. Expert coaches will often charge £300-£400 per session, and I will add this package will teach you how to become an expert coach quickly helping you increase your fees, making you more money and more successful.

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Most clients will book 4-5 coaching sessions with you ( X Sessions by Cost per Session = Profit)
Satisfied clients will often refer two friends, who once satisfied will also refer tow friends ( 3 Clients x 2 Referrals Each = 6 New Clients)
Coaches make 50% of their profits from selling becoming an affiliate or selling e-products on their websites, YES this means they make hundreds of pounds without having to lift a finger (by adding an affiliate banner to your website, you can earn 50% of a £2000 course)

Depending on the stage of your coaching business you can Buy one of 3 packages

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Full Breakdown

Content	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Business Start Up E-book	Y	Y	Y
Google Destroyer E-book	Y	Y	Y
The Expert Coach E-book	Y	Y	Y
101 Coaching Sessions	Y	Y	Y
101 Coaching Questions	Y	Y	Y
12 Skype Coaching Sessions with Chris Delaney			Y
A word press coaching website URL		Y	Y
Website Content			Y
12 month Unlimited e-mail with Chris Delaney		Y	Y
5 Coaching Blog Articles		Y	Y
Coaching E-book that you can sell to your customers			Y
Paypal Embedded into Your Site			Y
Total Cost	£199	£699	£2499
Today’s Price	£99	£349	£1249
You Have Saved	£100	£350	£1250

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March 28, 2013

Does Your On-line Story Affect Your Interview

Your online story creates your personal brand. We are all aware that the interview is designed for the interviewee to sell your unique selling point, but in this digital age the employer has the advantage of checking your story online.

You may at the interview create a professional persona, impressing the interviewer. The interviewer, ready to offer you the position, makes one final online check only to fine your face book page full of photos of you out drinking and partying and your status updates recording how you feel to hung-over to go into work today.

With this in mind the digital job hunter can support their cause by creating an online brand. Your online brand can be the difference between a high salary job offer and the unemployment line, imagine your unique selling point is writing winning tenders on a contractual basis.

The employer investigating you online, finds your linked-in profile recording the extensive list of recognised employers you have successfully worked for, twitter updates stating the bids and tenders you have won, showing a timeline of your work and your face book wall creates a professional image of you with updates about your charity work and online references from happy customers and employers.

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March 28, 2013December 18, 2020

How to Answer The Interview Question Do You Consider Yourself Successful

A number of employers ask interview questions based on ‘success.’

Success is ambiguous, as each person views success differently. A young career professional may feel successful as they were the first in their family to attend higher education, but a second candidate who grew up in a household where education was deemed as the norm, may not view attending university as a success.

The underpinning objective for the ‘do you consider yourself successful? interview question is more about achievement and the journey to that achievement.

The frame of the interview answer should be one of a hardship the candidate has overcome.

Therefore, the interviewee, to score a high scoring interview answer needs to set out a problem, show planning and how they overcome difficulties and what it was they achieved.

A single parent, as an example, may talk about balancing a family, and a job while studying for a master’s with an open university course. The parent could then go on to discuss additional difficulties; maybe the child became ill or the employer had to make staff cuts.

The ‘difficulties’ is one way to show personality, work ethic and determination. Did the difficulties allow the parent to give up? Or did they grit their teeth determined to be a success?

How to answer the ‘success’ job interview question.

As everyone succeeded in something, this could be finishing school to climbing Everest, the initial answer should be a responding ‘Yes I have been successful….’

Next, state ‘…one example is…’ The ‘one’ example infers there are many other successes.

To answer the question follow these 4 steps:

Set the goal – to finish a master’s, become a world champion, to set up a part-time business.
Explain the current barriers; being a single parent, stating a disability, how everyone said you current achieve this goal
Through in additional difficulties – talk about the journey, how you were on track to be successful and then…a ‘difficulty’ happened.
Conclude. End the story by stating the success, but more importantly, what you learned about yourself along the way

Example Interview Answer.

“Yes, I would say I am successful. One example of being successful was when I set myself a goal to move into this job sector.

I had left school with no GCSEs and came from a family that didn’t encourage attending higher education – they believed that instead of spending money on education, everyone should find work.

Once I had committed to this career goal I created a careers plan, stating what qualification I needed to gain and enrolled in nigh school, initially gaining my GCSEs and then an access course for nursing.

It was half-way through my access to the nursing course when my father became ill. As an only child whose mother had passed away many years previously, it came down to me to be the carer for my father.

This took up a large amount of time, and my initial thought was that I should quit the course. But, because I am passionate about the profession I knew I had to plan better and manage my time to ensure I could be there for my father while having enough time to spend on my course.

Some of my friends were nurses and they use to tell me how busy they always were, having to do extra shifts and work long hours. So I imagine that caring for my father while studying was my job. This helped me frame it in the right way to stay motivated.

What I learned about myself is that I have self-determination. even when there is a problem I can knuckle down and get the job done.”