Paper on Career Skills Essay Example for Free

Paper on Career Skills Essay 1. Career direction It starts with five articles which help you think about career direction. These tools help you uncover what you do best and identify the types of work that you’ll enjoy doing most. From this, you can figure out how to make the most of your skills and preferences, whether in your current role or in a new one. a. Personal SWOT Analysis shows you how you can apply the well-known SWOT strategy tool to your life and career, helping you identify your strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities open to you and the threats you face. This leads naturally into the idea of job crafting. This is something that many of us do subconsciously to some extent, but our article gives you a rigorous approach that you can use to craft your ideal job. b. Develop your career in various ways. We show you what you can be doing now to future proof your career and to get ready for promotion. And if you’re frustrated because your hard work and abilities are going unnoticed, find out how to get the recognition you deserve. we show you how to live with a lack of job security and how to cope with life after job loss. Yet even when the economy’s booming, you can still face challenging career situations such as hitting a â€Å"glass ceiling†. We round off this section with two articles that will help you transition through significant events in your career. First, we look at what you can do when you get a new boss, and then we see how to wrap up in one role before moving on. Finding Career Direction Discover Yourself and Your Purpose How long has it been since you asked yourself what you want to be when you grow up? If you havent considered the idea since high school, then you may have settled into a job that is not fulfilling your professional aspirations, or your purpose. Each of us has particular talents that, when expressed or exercised, make the world a better place. Most likely you enjoy doing these things, and you find that people respond well to you when you do them. Perhaps theyre things you gravitate towards during out-of-hours activities, and that people respect you for. When you develop these talents as far as you can, you can make your greatest possible contribution to the world, and enjoy personal and professional satisfaction that goes along with this. Your Career Direction Journey The process of uncovering what you are meant to do, that is finding career direction, is a journey. It starts with discovering the essential you: the person who truly resides behind the facades, defenses, and stresses of everyday life. Once unmasked, your journey continues with specific career exploration and identification of a career that allows you to make good use of your talents. And it moves on with a focused job or career move, in which you identify the jobs you want and put yourself in the best possible position to get them. In fact, this journey never really ends because work itself is all about change, growth, development, and reinvention. By taking a talent-based approach to your career search right from the start, you keep yourself heading toward the right career even when the actual direction shifts over time. This approach consists of sequentially answering three questions: 1. Who Am I? 2. What Do I Want to Do? 3. How Do I Get Hired? 1. Discovering Who You Really Are The first question to answer is Who am I? Well take two approaches to answering this firstly asking you to explore your talents, and secondly using psychometric tests to explore your preferences. Exploring Your Talents First of all, consider your answers to the following questions: * When have you been most committed, passionate and enthusiastic? * When have you been most creative? * When have you been most sure of yourself and your decisions? * What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment? * When have other people considered you to be most successful? * When have you enjoyed your work most? * What talents were you relying on, and using, in these situations? * For what would you take a very strong stand? * What about the world puzzles or disturbs you that you could make an impact on? * What jobs do you like to do at work when you have a choice? * What activities are you drawn towards out of work? * If money were no concern, what would you be doing? Brainstorm each of these questions, and then use your answers to identify the top three talents that you most use when youre successful. Rank these in order. Tip:If youre having problems choosing, use a technique like paired comparison analysis to rank things in order. | Personality Inventories Next, well look at using personality inventories as a way of looking at your preferred way of working relative to other people. There are many typologies available including Myers-Briggs, DISC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness) and the strength finder evaluation in Now Discover Your Strengths. Tip 1: Some of these cost quite a lot of money, however considering the importance of what youre doing, it is probably worth investing in them if you havent already done so. Tip 2: It can be hard initially to see how to apply these tests. One trick is to turn things around, and as you identify possible careers, think about what personality type is most likely to be successful in these careers. Is there a match or a mismatch? Well do this later. Tip 3: Treat these tests as advisory only you cant capture the whole complexity of your personality and experience with only a few questions. That said, youll probably find the tests quite insightful! | With personality testing you learn what you have in common with other people. You also discover potential points of friction with people of other personality types. While no personality type is good or bad, it does help you discover what motivates and energizes you. This in turn empowers you to seek those elements in the work you choose to do, and avoid the things that frustrate and demotivate you. As you explore your personality you come to realize that who you are is really determined by the choices you make. You choose to react one way over another, or to prefer one thing to another. You can take this self-awareness one step further by examining why you make the choices you do. In psychological terms, what is your payoff for making the choices you make? When you know the why it is easier to see how you can become fulfilled through the work you do. Write a Who I Am Statement Now draw this together into a simple written statement of who you are. This is an important step toward self-discovery and defining your purpose. Use it to answer the following questions: * What your talents and strengths are. * The talents you achieve most with. * The activities you get most satisfaction from. * The type of activity the psychometrics youve completed guide you towards. Tip: When youre doing this, be careful not just to look back nostalgically at simple jobs where you performed well after all, many different people could perform well in these situations, and this gives you little information. Focus instead on more difficult areas where you made a positive difference, and where others didnt. 2. Finding Out What You Want to Do Now that you know who you are, the next stage is to think about what you want to do. For your life to be balanced and fulfilled, your career must be aligned with who you are: Otherwise youll be unhappy with work, and youll probably underachieve. After all, ill-fitting jobs demand different talents from the ones that you have. If you try to pursue a career path that is at odds with your values, your beliefs, and your way of seeing the world, then youll struggle constantly and be under a great deal of stress and pressure. The starting point is to do some brainstorming on the jobs that you think would suit who you are. Well then confirm this with some different psychometric tests, and then extend this list with some more brainstorming. You then need to spend some time researching the top careers youve identified. i. Exploring the Options You Know About Starting with your Who I Am statement, start thinking about all of the jobs you can see that would suit you someone with the talents and interests in that statement (by depersonalizing it in this way, you help to avoid being too close to the issue.) Starting here is particularly important if youre already established in a career: Its important to capitalize where you can on the experience and contacts youve already built up, compared with ditching everything and starting completely afresh (while this sounds glamorous and enticing, it puts you in the position of competing equally with other career starters, who may be much younger than you. On the other hand, if youre profoundly unhappy with your company, industry and profession, a radical career change may be the best thing) So start by asking yourself if your current role can be adapted to suit you much better; if there are other roles within your existing company that would be worth trying; or whether similar roles in other organizations might be more rewarding. Once youve done this, extend out and brainstorm the other options available. ii. Using Career Tests The next stage is to use online career tests to explore options that you might have missed. Useful ones are: Free, but limited career selection advice: Princeton Review Career Quiz Chargeable (but inexpensive, and with good selections of possible careers): http://www.self-directed-search.com http://www.assessment.com iii. Thinking Further The unavoidable flaw with these career tests is that theyre based on backward-looking data, and can only cope with the major career types. Because of this, they cant recommend new careers, nor do they know about less well-known careers. Using the test results as a starting point, do some brainstorming to see if there are new technology careers which demand similar personality types, or if there are more obscure careers that may also be open. iv. Pulling This Together. Youll now have identifies a wide range of possible careers open to you. Nows the time to cut these down and prioritize them. Were not asking you to choose one now, but to cut down to your top 5 or 6 choices (the reason being that when you start researching these careers, some of them may turn out to be quite bad!) Again, if youre having trouble prioritizing, use paired comparison analysis to rank your choices. v. Perform Career Research Armed with a solid understanding of how you can participate in fulfilling work, you now need to research the various options you have to make money doing so. Career research is not something many people relish, but it is necessary in order to eliminate choices that seem to be great fits on the surface but really wont align with your mission and purpose. Yes, this is quite tedious. But think about the consequences of getting things wrong! Surely its worth spending time exploring your options, rather than a lifetime kicking yourself for making a bad choice! Methods for researching careers include: * Researching the career using sites like Acinet.org, so that you can understand industry trends, job pay levels, qualifications needed, job availability, etc. * Conducting your own PEST Analysis to confirm your own view of likely career trends. * Reading industry/career magazines and get a sense of how happy the industry is, who the major players in it are, and what the issues and problems within it are. Also, looking at job vacancies to see if the career is in demand. * Understanding what talents and personalities make people successful in the career, and mapping these back against your own talents and personality. * Attending professional and trade shows. * Participating in job fairs; * Visiting company websites, and keep an eye on how companies are talked about in the press. * Understanding where organizations are based, and deciding if youre prepared to travel to interviews, and perhaps to move. * Volunteering. * Working part time and/or seasonally in the industry. Tip: Be careful when using career trends to identify career possibilities: The desire to pursue an up and coming career may overshadow your mission and purpose. This will only lead to dissatisfaction down the road. Also be aware that theres a natural desire from people within an industry to inflate its prospects (to ensure a good supply of new recruits in the future.) Take official figures with a pinch of salt! | By the end of all of this research, you may have rejected several possible careers. Nows the time to narrow down to one! Again, Paired Comparison Analysis may be useful here, however so can Grid Analysis which helps you make comparisons where many variables are involved. 3. Answering How do I Get Hired? In this last phase you answer, What am I going to do to get hired? With your Who I Am statement and your research as your compass, now you need to actually map your progress. Many people tend to move from their purpose right into job search mode. This is a mistake because unless you have a plan, it is far too easy to get derailed by a lucrative job offer, an opening that Uncle Vinny has, a job that sounds really glamorous, or a whole host of other distractions. Develop your plan first and youre more likely to get where you want to go, faster. * Start by writing down the career you want. What is your long-term vision for yourself in terms of your career? * Write down the steps you need to take or the things you need to accomplish, in order to get there. What qualifications should you get? What experience should you build? Which organization will give you the best start? * For each of these steps create a detailed implementation plan. * These are your short term goals. * Be sure to express as SMART objectives. * Go back and identify contingency plans * Do a what if analysis on your goals If you dont get accepted to grad school this year, what will you do? Tip: The more contingency plans you have the more likely you will be able to survive the inevitable setbacks. You will also have much more confidence in yourself despite the bumps in the road. Tip 2: Recognize that the more opportunities you have, the better the job that youll be able to choose. Concentrate on creating as many opportunities as possible! | Now you are free to pursue your dream career with confidence. There are certainly no guarantees but with the right amount of planning and a sufficient dose of reality, the career that you are meant for will materialize. Signs a career direction evaluation may be in order: * Your job lacks challenge and excitement for you. * You are feeling unappreciated. * Your promotional and/or development opportunities are limited. * You are no longer having fun. * Learning is replaced with routine. * You sense that your skills and talents are being wasted. * You are suffering from stress or depression. Finding career direction is a process. The more effort you put into the planning stages the better your results. Uncovering your true self and your purpose is heavy, emotional work and you may have to go through this process a few times in the span of your working life. The effort however, is certainly worth it when you end up with a clear sense of the direction your career should be taking.

Swirl of Colors :: essays papers

Swirl of Colors Sandra Cisneros has spent a lifetime trying to discover her own literary voice, only to be drowned out by the mostly white and mostly white voices that she imitated but never identified with. The only daughter in a family with six sons, Cisneros was often the "odd-woman-out-forever" (Ganz 21) early on in life. It was not until she was enrolled in the Iowa Writers Workshop that she finally discovered that her experience as a woman and a Chicana in a male dominated world was the voice that was uniquely hers. Cisneros was influenced by her family's constant travels between Mexico and Chicago. Cisneros never had the opportunity to make friends since she was seldom in one place for very long, nor did she have any sisters to confide and identify with. When her family finally settled in a small red house in Chicago, Cisneros had a home and a sense of permanence that she had previously never known. But it was not the house she had dreamed of nor been promised by her father. She had always thought of a house with a green lawn, white picket fence, and a bathroom for every person. Instead she got a dilapidated bungalow in an impoverished inner-city neighborhood. Cisneros described the house as "an ugly little house, bright red as if holding its breath" (Ganz 22). It was this house that inspired her first and most successful novel, The House on Mango Street. Cisneros' writing has been shaped by her experiences, which have given her a perspective and voice very different from traditional American writers, such as Poe, Thoreau, and Emerson. These are the writers that have helped comprise the literary cannon of the United States for nearly two hundred years. She has something to say that they do not know about. The House on Mango Street is an elegant literary piece, somewhere between fiction and poetry, that explores issues that are important to her: feminism, love, oppression, and religion (Mathias 4). In addition to addressing these issues, Cisneros is also propelling Chicana literature into the larger macrocosmic white male club that governs the United States (Lucero-Trujillo 621). One of the tools utilized by Cisneros to achieve these goals is the use of symbolism in her writing. The House on Mango Street reads more as poetry than as a narrative. This is accomplished through the liberal use of color throughout the vignettes. Nearly every passage in this book contains reference to color. Specifically then, it is the symbolic use of color that defines this novel. Even the title of the book brings to mind the

Plato V/S Aristotle Philosophies

The questions that were posed: Plato or Aristotle, What are the differences in the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle? Which philosophy might have been the better one to live by in the era? Give examples and details to support your argument. Plato, who was the most famous student of Socrates, thought like Socrates and was not happy with the Athenian society as it was. Plato was even more upset with the Athenian society because they had his teacher put to death; even though it was reported that many of the Athenians were sorry for having done this. Hunt et al, 88) Both Socrates and Plato were republicans. He called democracy â€Å"a charming form of government†. In his dialogue â€Å"The Republic†, Plato is said to be a blue print for a perfect society. In it he talks about justice, statesmanship, ethics and politics. He did not believe that justice could be achieved through democracy. It is democracy that he blamed for the death of his teacher. (90) He wanted the †Å"Republic† to warn the people of Athens that they needed a good education, respect for the law and leaders of their society. He felt there should be a stronger community base; like it was before the wars and the arrival of this democracy. The way people were able to understand what he called â€Å"the truth of the Forms† was how he would rank people in his perfect society. Plato felt that women could rank as high as men since they had the same virtues. He felt that these people could live together in the same barracks area and could have sex to make more enlightened children. Plato felt that society should be run by someone from this communal area. The ones who were the highest in enlightenment would be the ones to govern over the people. They would be called philosopher-kings. In his school that he named the Academy, after Academus or Hecademus, a mythical hero who had a cult following, Plato taught that people are born with knowledge. He said it was not learned after birth. It was only recalled. He said that knowledge is only in the mind. There is supposed to be a higher level that people are supposed to experience over and above that of the senses. This is needed because the senses have a tendency to deceive. There is a need for a higher plane of existence called Forms. These Forms allow the person to better understand the ultimate truth. Aristotle, even though he was taught by Plato had different ideas about how things should go. Aristotle was said to have been the tutor for Alexander the Great. He was also a biologist that was called a polymath, which means he knew much about everything. He too started his own school. It was called Lyceum. He did not believe that there was an Essence or Form. He believed in nothing but the facts. Where Plato said that knowledge was born inside everyone, Aristotle said that knowledge comes from experience. The thought is that Rationalism knowledge comes from experience and Empiricism knowledge (posterior) comes after experience. Aristotle also had a great confidence in sense perception. He felt that there are principles that come from experience. His beliefs would not allow him to believe that there is a world of Forms that transcends time and space. He said that if there were Forms and absolutes they would have to be found in the thing itself. He is best known for his ideas that logic is the way to win an argument rather than being persuasive. To him, looking at things in their natural settings would allow one to find out more about it. Aristotle did not think that women could be equal to men because of his false idea about biology. And he felt that slavery was not a bad thing. Aristotle did not believe that all people had the â€Å"rational part that should rule in a human†. (91) He like Plato did not think it was a good idea for regular people to run the government. He also felt that â€Å"better† people were needed to handle this. (91) According to Aristotle people should be able to train their minds to overcome the impulses that people have. He was not telling people to not do what they felt good doing. He just wanted them to think things through before they did them. The intellect of the human mind should be able to outshine the human will. The mind to Aristotle was the â€Å"god-like† part of the human and it was the part that should and could find the balance needed to keep what you want from ruling your common sense. Plato put the person’s will and self-control in the hands of someone else. Aristotle on the other hand felt that man is in charge of his own destiny and makes the ultimate decision to do something or not. In our society today there is a basis for what Aristotle thought in the way of philosophy. Many in the West value the concept that self-control overrules wantonness. Since the basis for society prewar was in the form of deities and Plato’s school of thought is still seemingly based on a type of deity, maybe the best way for the people of that era to be was more along the lines of Aristotle. His was would cause the people to think more about what they were doing. This may have been the best way for the culture to retain its once prosperous status. This would afford the Athenians the opportunity to rule rather than be ruled. When one accepts the consequences for their own actions and think about what could happen if they do things a certain way, it is less likely that the situation will turn out badly. The parts, of his philosophy, that were not good for that time is the thoughts on slavery and women. This would not promote unity which is what was needed. Works cited http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Societies/Plato.html Hunt, Lynn, Thomas R. Martin, Barbara H. Rosenwein, Bonnie G. Smith. The Making of the West, Peoples and Culture, A Concise History. 3rd ed. Boston / New York. Bedford / Martin. 2013. Print

Juvenile Deliquency in Ibadan, Nigeria - 15127 Words

JUVENILE DELIQUENCY IN IBADAN, NIGERIA CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION In the 1990s, juvenile delinquency has become a major global problem. The rising incidence of juvenile delinquency in many countries may be caused by certain socio-economic problems often associated with development. These includes; poverty, rapid population growth, unemployment, urbanization, industrialization, inadequate shelter and housing, youth unemployment, and under employment, breakdown of the family unit, inadequate provision of social services and inability of the educational system to respond to new challenges. From the word â€Å"juvenile delinquency†, â€Å"juvenile† means young people while delinquency means young offenders that are guilty of minor crime or†¦show more content†¦In view of the above facts, Beere, the study area as one of the urban centre in the core area of the ancient city â€Å"Ibadan† is characterised by severe problem of juvenile delinquency and also the causes which may be as a result of socio-economic problem that grossly inhibit the development of the study area in many sectors of life. This implies that planning issues where not taken into cognizance in the development and growth of urban environment, for instance, Beere the study area is characterised by high rate of juvenile crime. Therefore, the research work will critically examine the types, causes and effect of juvenile delinquency on the resident in the study area with a view to proffer or recommend the possible ways of ameliorating the problem of juvenile delinquency in the study area. 1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY The aim of this study is to assess juvenile delinquency in Beere, Ibadan. OBJECTIVES In order to achieve the above aim, the following objectives are set for study. 1. To examine the different types of juvenile delinquency in the study area. 2. To determine the causes of juvenile delinquency in the study area. 3. To determine the effect of theShow MoreRelatedEffect of Broken Home19368 Words   |  78 Pagesmountain of scientific evidence showing that when families disintegrate, children often end up with intellectual, physical and emotional scars that persist for life i.e. the drug crisis, the education crisis, and the problem of teen pregnancy and juvenile crime. But all these ills trace back predominantly to one source: broken families. A broken family in this context is one that is not structurally intact for various reasons; death of a parent, divorce, separation, dissertation and illegitimacy