George – VA Success Group

January 21, 2026 George Post in Career Development

Making Those Small Changes Can Bring Career Development

When you are in a job, that will be in what we would call an established career or simply a means of bringing in the salary to pay for everything. There can be many reasons why someone doesn't want to take steps to progress their career or opportunities open to them. Sometimes it is laziness, but often it is because they don't actually realise there are ways to move up the progress ladder which can be taken entirely by themselves without intervention by others. There are hundreds of suppliers and providers of training online courses in every topic imaginable. For a role focused course, some providers will concentrate on only that sort of role and the many permutations that might be open within it. We say nursing, but that now covers many different roles from community nurse or health visitor to midwife, to theatre nurse pre and post operative. In fact the list if probably inexhaustable and this is a good thing. However to reach the pinnacle in any one of them, a certain amount of self push is needed by a candidate and looking through the many and varied training or refresher courses availabe through their health service provider web site is a great start. If they work within a particular institute or hospital, they may become aware of openings which are not advertised as such - word gets around. To be in a good position to apply for a more responsible position, it is always necessary to be able to show a documented path from first training and early work in the unit to latter performance assessment reviews. To take additional training in one's own time is a step towards indepedently fending for themselves and showing that they do not need to be hand held all their working life. Selecting the right fource for the chosen career is a good point however and every job within a big organisation with have its own job description, clearly laying out the responsibilities and expectations of the finished outcome. It will also have a person description which has been carefully scripted to ensure that each applicant knows exactly what is expected of them and what they are required to bring to the role.

December 21, 2025 George Post in Business

Great Businesses Take A While to Develop With Leadership & Tools

It probably goes without saying that like every organisation, however long it has been in business, the leadership and way they manage their colleagues, is key to the most successful ones continuing. You can throw all sorts of money and incentives at a job but unless the folk are there on the ground, willing to put in that extra effort, that additonal hour or two, then it will always be a struggle to maintain standards at all times. A good leader is able to communicate clearly and enthusiastically - they galvanise their work colleagues and employees to want to improve their own performance and match the top notch one/s. These leaders will always be passionate about the business and the products. There is never any doubt about their loyalties to the product, the company and the entire body of staff. In fact, their aim is always to enjoy what they do and not sweat the small stuff. They will go all out to achieve the top position the company can reach and very often that will take as bit of strain. It is worth it though. Respect for each other is critical in every working environment. The positivity and encouragement cannot be over emphasised. This ability to build and maintain great relationships with all staff and colleagues makes them trusted and fully worthy of their employees respect.

November 25, 2025 George Post in Career Development

How To Roadmap One’s Career & Life Plan

You could say that the top dogs in our society have their personal lifespan mapped out from birth. They attend the top schools and often their families are connected to a particular career path over many generations - be that law, medicine, military, naval or perhaps the church. They just have to keep chugging along on their way, through school, choosing the right exam route for the career and then on up through university. It is probably rather sobering for a youngster with that start in life to discover how limited their choices are, but they don't ususally have to struggle to attain a position. Take the average joe though, small junor school, feeds into state secondary school, unless they have a really clear idea of what they want to do when they leave school, it is left to some talented careers advisers and teachers to inspire their brood. However, many young folk blossom when at upper school and in college - where they discover a talent or a calling in a particular direction. This is where the personal development strategies should be clocking in. If they think about their lifeplan then, they will know that the career choices are enhanced greatly by really looking carefully at the examination grades needed for their chosen career - if they want to study law and have a plan to become a barrister, do they know how to get that training contract and what routes are needed - do they know which university would be best for the task ahead. Being able to demonstrate this forward thinking approach in a well documented presentation when the time comes, will help any candidate stand out amongst many other 'also rans'. This is very important when spaces are at a premium.

October 27, 2025 George Post in Personal Development

Personal Development Means Better Results & Achievements

There are many phrases we hear in the media, on tv, amongst friends who are going places . . . . personal development is generally used in hushed tones when someone is talking abut a particularly bright student, or the failure of said bright star to secure the top job they've yearned for over the years. Actually personal development means a lifelong undertaking. Instead of taking life as it goes, calmly swimming along with the rest of the crowd and only succeeding in very limited spheres. In fact with a hefty dollop of personal development, it is amazing how succesful someone can become. If the self imposed development begins early enough, each job will be secured first time of trying; confidence in one's ability to sway the 'court of public opinion' when it comes to debating a point. Self improvement courses and activities are a continuous process and this enhances existing skills. Self reflection enables one to accept when something has not gone particularly well and in which way it could have been improved, what additional training may have made all the difference to an application for promotion perhaps. Being able to set goals for self achievement and to make progress stops on the way, looking back to see if we have moved along as far and as quickly as the personal life plan has allowed or required. Deliberate actions have to come into play, interactions socially and emotionally to know what bad experiences mean, as well as the good. Intellectual, physical and spiritual elements of life and a mark of personal development comes when each element comes into play.

July 12, 2025 George Post in Career Development

Job Retention and Capitalisation Are Key To Lifelong Career Path

In days of yore it was quite normal to apply for a job/vocational placement and expect to stay there for an entire working career, be that long or short. These days however, the general thought amongst the younger working masses is to work for say 3 years with one company and then move on to bigger & better, having cut our teeth on the first job. There is far less brand or firm loyalty nowadays as it is perceived to be lazyy and not at all strident or outward facing if we don't branch out and look for new experiences and challenges. There appears to be little feeling that the employers would benefit from some stability in the work market - all those recruitment campaigns and advertising costs, plus the time taken to train up each replacement is astronomical. However, in some specialised areas such as medicine or law, this 'do a turn then cut & run' wouldn't be in any way helpful, the expectation is to get to the top, annd make a name for oneself! For less specialised jobs, career development is more focusing on networking, strategic career planning. There is the national goverment career service agency that can identify skills and explore career options, taking into account academic achievement and using the skill set to formulate a career path to start with. If the candidiate has some idea of what they wish to do as a career, then the possibility of planning their dvlopmeent is made that much easier. Once the first post has been achieved, working at it with clear goals and timeline will give them something concrete to aim for in each working year.

April 7, 2025 George Post in Career Development

How Does Career Progression Work

When one first joins any job, be it the start of a hopefully life long career, or maybe that stepping stone on our way to finding a true vocation, we all need to show some personal commitment and stadfastness. Just going in to the office or place of work on a daily basis and doing the minimum is never goinbg to cut it in todays very busy and cut throat world. To prove that you have what your employers are looking for, are the one out of the pack who can give their best and achieve the most, then personal development should be a contiuous process. Professional excellence should be the aim and there are various ways to help achieve this. CPD, or continuous professional development is a strategy that most major employers use to encourage the employee to give of their very best at all times. It encourages individuals to develop and keep going, the knowledge and skill set requireed to excel in that respective profession and to comply with professional standards and regulations. Someone who participates in a CPD training course will oundubtedly benefit from networking with experts and peers in their particular fields. By tackling a CPD course, professionals remain relevant and better ready to take on challenges and generally growing and evolving in that work place.