George – Page 2 – VA Success Group

July 23, 2024 George Post in Career Development

Starting A Career Strongly Enough To Needing Development

For there to be any form of career development, there has to be a strong element of career in the first place. When a student finishes their early stage of upper school, be that in the private or state sector, by years 11 & 12 they are being badgered to start thinking about career options. The schools want their students to select the right academic or vocational courses for their final examinations and any route through to university. There are careers tutors designated to guide and encourage the choice of subjects without forcing issues. This can be very challenging when a young person has absolutely no idea what they want to do when they eventually leave the school system. This is where the career stutor can help, by asking them to really think hard about role models in their family or life; is there anyone, apart from endless celebrities, who stands out as a sterling example of a happily employed and engaged adult - what job does this person do and is that something that could be of interest to the student going forward. Knowing in advance that they might fancy becoming a nurse, midwife, engineer, sales engineer . . . . it helps to formulate an education plan which translates to getting on the right course and in the direction they need to be to get that career. Once the career is underway, then steps can be put in place to keep developing that career - via agencies and companies who are trained and operate for that purpose.

May 18, 2024 George Post in Career Development

Personal Improvement Plan For Recording Career Development Goals

One thing about being a 'junior' civil servant at a later stage in life, as opposed to being a younger college leaver, is that our career has been blossoming for some years and it is usually a case of being in the right place at the right time that has got us that raise or promotion. However this is not necessarily the case when you become a public servant. All ministeries and departments have a hierarchical management. You generally get the foot soldiers who stay at the basic grade for their working life, quite unable to move out of that lowly sphere because of a lack of openings to move up into, allied with the lack of 'get up and go' to push through the ceiling. Once the first promotion or mini raise has been achieved, it becomes a personal goal to see how far it is possible to climb within the very rigid development regime. However there has been a sea change in the system over the last twenty years so that now all grades have to keep up their own records on career development. It was a very hot topic over my last years of service. Every year we had the dreaded personal improvement plan that had to be addressed to give an idea of where we thought we were at in year one and where we wanted to e by year 5 and how we planned to achieve that. Thought provoking and sometimes challenging but stopped most folk getting too stuck in the ruck.

April 21, 2024 George Post in Career Development

How Does One Start On The Path To Full Career Development

There are various ways of getting to the top in any industrial or commercial post but the career development process can be quite baffling, complex and at times, totally overwhelming. This is whether you are just a beginner on that first step or at the point of wanting to stretch your horizons and make a change. To simplify the process there are generally five steps to achieve top career development and these can be started in the very first phase of the working life. They begin with self assessment, moving on through identify and research options with goal setting; action planning utilising evaluation and prioritise; implementation and refinemement which can mean take action and try your options. There has to be some reflection and re-evaluation along the way. There should of course be a sixth - for if any of the previous five have proven to work and thus been successful, no. six would be step up to that top job. The start of this long road inevitably requires planning and research - to discover if where we think we want to be in five years, ten years, fifteen etc is still on track and achieveable. In todays job market, career development is one of the first items the interview panel will be considering. One's poor effort or entire lack of it will indicate no push through or determination to succeed. A red flag one might say.

March 18, 2024 George Post in Career Development

Career Development For Junior Travel Agent Brught Serious Perks

Ahh career development . . . in my early days, that title was kept for the brightest of a cohort at senior school level. One was naturally expected to go into particular industries and make a certain amount of progress by set and recognised time periods. These days it definitely covers the widest possible range of workers, designers, creators, artists and artistes. Where once one would think, I work in this bank, and have better paid holidays and other in house perks than Jo Bloggs who joined this firm or that outfit receives. I left school to become a junior travel agent in the same firm my parents were share holders. I didn't get a light run in either - I had to buckle down and learn the ropes just like any other office junior. All my chums were going into industry or banks etc. I was the only one of my group that had a truly interesting role and very much public facing. Learning to deal with Mr or Mrs Angry at that young age definitely taught me a vast amount about my own capabilities and the fickleness of the line manager above me. Yes, career development was indicated by the better and more choice reps' feebies that came my way!