SA Career Focus is aimed at all those in need of career advice and guidance, from Grade 9 learners, to those making a mid-life career change! Read on to find out what that job is really like, expected salary, where to study and so much more!
Q: The primary will of the world, based on polling done by the Gallup Organisation, is no longer about peace, freedom or even democracy; it’s not about having a family, and it’s neither about God nor owning a home or land. The will of the world is first and foremost to have a good job. Everything else comes after that. A good job is a social value. In fact, Gallup has found through extensive, worldwide polling that it’s the number one social value in the world.
The current world of work offers a vast array of career options and job possibilities. The increasing prevalence of more flexible work arrangements, individualised workplace experiences, multinational teams and corporate lattices (which have replaced corporate ladders) are all expected to increase these options further. In this environment, it’s more important than ever to learn the skills and mindsets required to navigate your career.
This increased choice and complexity may cause you to become confused about what new steps to take in your career, which job option to choose, and how to find or create meaningful work. A person facing any of these troubles may feel overwhelmed, fearful, indecisive or despairing. These problems, relating to a person’s career and workplace, are what we call “career dilemmas”.
“My job” defines “my identity” more than ever before, leading to an unprecedented number of career dilemmas. The world of work has never been as difficult or complicated as it is right now yet there have never been as many opportunities. This leads to further career dilemmas.
Our book Navigating your Career guides those facing career dilemmas:
- to treat your career as a journey to be navigated
- to adopt radical new mindsets
- to follow five steps for lifelong job satisfaction
This is not a quick-fix solution. It requires hard work and focus to become a successful career navigator.
If you know what you’re looking for, and are sure of how to position yourself in a competitive job market, there are ways for you to find your dream job and not only for the short term: you can actually spend every day of your life doing something that you love and which contributes to the world. Start your journey today down a fulfilling and rewarding path.
A:
Whatdo you need to join in?
- “Like” my Facebook page for ideas on navigating your career (Kerry Dawkins –Patwork).
- Read the book.
- Create a profile on www.navigatingyourcareer.com and use the available FREE career resources. Also have a look at examples of other career navigators as they follow the five steps in the career navigation process.
- Ask for us to review your CV or completed Self Q tool (for a small fee). ï®
Kerry Dawkins is a Career Advisor for Potential At Work. She holds an MBA, is a trained career coach and has tons of experience in helping people just like you to choose a suitable career. If you’d like to book a consultation with Kerry, give her a call on 011 465 4727.
WIN
A copy of Navigating your Career by Kerry Dawkins & Graeme Codrington.
SMS “Navigating,” your name and full postal address to 32545.
• Only one entry per cellphone number
• SMS charged at R1 per SMS
• Lucky draw will take place on 12 December 2012
• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will beentered into
Q: What do I do if I am not good at anything and I am also not good at sport?
A:
Maybe some days you also feel like asking this question.
The good news is that every one of us is good in some way and most often in more than one way.
But you need to STOP looking at what you are not.
STOP looking at what you do badly
STOP listening to your parents and teachers about what you do badly and what they don’t like about you
STOP wishing you were different
STOP blaming everyone around you
STOP being a victim
DO look for what is good about you
DO look for what comes naturally
DO look for the activities that make you feel good (not only music and lying on the couch)
DO notice where you are reliable
DO accept what you see in yourself
DO ask others what they notice in you
DO take responsibility for yourself and your career
Your thing may be as simple as being able to speak calmly to a very angry person. This would make you ideal for a customer service role. You may be empathetic, making you very good at a job that involves caring for the sick or for children. You may be good at resolving problems, making you suitable for a large number of roles including an IT technician or plumber. You may be good at speaking in front of a group of people, making you a good candidate for a role in sales, marketing or communications.
The sooner you find your thing, the better as you can start to obtain the necessary skill and knowledge to build your thing into a strength that you can use to add value in the workplace.
It takes courage to accept who you are and start to become more of you rather than trying to be someone you are not.
Kerry Dawkins is a Career Advisor for Potential At Work. She holds an MBA, is a trained career coach and has tons of experience in helping people just like you to choose a suitable career. If you’d like to book a consultation with Kerry, give her a call on 011 465 4727.
Q: Dear Kerry, my friends have told me that the dropout rate at university is very high. This makes me very scared. Do you know why the student dropout is so high and how can I avoid it?
A:
Thank you for this very interesting question.
Many students do drop out and a variety of reasons are given by the students for this including:
Financial reasons
Common problems
- Students budget and arrange finances for tuition only. This is not sufficient for university as you still require money for accommodation, food and transport which are all expensive.
- Students secure second jobs in an effort to finance their studies and end up spending too much time on the job and insufficient time studying.
- Financial aid payments may only be made later in the year and the student is required to pay for living costs, transport and food before the payments are made.
- Families pressurise the student to contribute towards the family expenses, forcing the student to stop studying.
Poor academic performance
Common problems
- Students don’t take control or plan their workload and have to do everything at the last minute or miss the deadlines.
- Students miss lectures and are not aware of what’s important in the reading or course materials.
- Students attend lectures (or in some cases don’t) but can’t hear, see or end up sleeping through lectures.
- Students are not aware that they are not keeping up with the workload until it is too late.
Three tips to help you avoid these problems
Budget realistically
Ask a second-year student to help you to create a realistic budget and plan how you are going to finance all the costs associated with university including tuition, accommodation, transport costs and food.
Be alive in lectures
Be in all lectures, listen, write notes, participate and notice what areas are being highlighted.
Weekly up-to-date
Create a workload planner and at the end of each week, make sure you are up-to-date with your work including all your readings, lecture notes and assignments.
Good luck!
Kerry Dawkins is a Career Advisor for Potential At Work. She holds an MBA, is a trained career coach and has tons of experience in helping people just like you to choose a suitable career. For more information visit www.patwork.co.za. If you’d like to book a consultation with Kerry, give her a call on 011 465 4727.
Q: Hi guys and gals
We receive so many letters from readers that are struggling to find a job they enjoy and in some cases to find any job. Below we have highlighted the six main reasons why you may not be securing the job of your dreams (based on a recent article from Brazen Careerist). You may want to identify where you are falling short.
A:
1 Your idea of “job searching” is applying online… and only that
Your strategy for securing a job needs to be a multi-pronged approach of applying online, reaching out to your network, making new connections, doing informational interviews, using social media in your job search, and more.
2 No one knows you’re job searching
When you’re looking for a job, the majority of your close contacts in your network should know it. You may want to be careful about letting your current employer know but you do need to use your network to secure a job.
3 You’re looking for the wrong job
Are you looking for a job that motivates and interests you? Maybe you are looking for a job that is actually rather boring to you and you are battling to motivate yourself to put much effort into the search.
4 Your résumé is boring
Give life to yourself! Use both words and design to create a great impression. Does your résumé entice a person to meet you? It needs to be more than a series of job descriptions. Does your résumé show that you can add value to a potential employer? Be imaginative and attract attention.
5 You have no social media presence - or a horrible one
It’s critical that you don’t allow your social media presence to drag you down. Review your social media presence regularly. Go about building a social media presence that supports your efforts to attract attention and secure a job.
6 You don’t know how to use an informational interview to your advantage
An informational interview is an informal chat with a person who has a similar job to the one you want, works at a company you want to work for, or simply has great connections in your industry.
Informational interviews are a great way to obtain information, make contacts and spread the word that you are looking for an opportunity. Make them work for you!
Kerry Dawkins is a Career Advisor for Potential At Work. She holds an MBA, is a trained career coach and has tons of experience in helping people just like you to choose a suitable career. For more information visit www.patwork.co.za. If you’d like to book a consultation with Kerry, give her a call on 011 465 4727.
- A person who is ahead of you in your chosen career preferably two to five years. They will still recall their emotions and challenges when they were in your situation and may have quality contacts OR
- A wise, loyal advisor or coach
Seek a mentor. It is a great way to gain knowledge and LEARN about your environment. The mentor can help you to get ahead.
Q: My June exam results were not as good as they should have been. My parents are mad with me. They have said to me that I have to pass at the end of the year. I am feeling very anxious and I am SO scared I will fail again. Please can you assist me?
A:
This is a difficult situation which many of us have faced, here are some tips to manage your anxiety and get your studies done.
1 Stop procrastinating
When a person gets anxious, they tend to procrastinate and make excuses for not getting their work done. The work pile gets larger and larger causing more anxiety and doubts.
Stop procrastinating and start taking little steps forward. We recommend that you start by making “little wins” often and build up your confidence and momentum. Do a quick and easy task and tick it off your list. Do the next quick and easy task and tick it off your list. Then move on to a slightly more complex task. And then more complex. Do some, often.
You can do it.
2 Manage the tunes in your head
Each of us have a favourite tune that plays in our heads. Often the tune is not based on anything in reality but rather our favourite thought pattern or fear at that time. In your situation, the tune is probably something like “I am going to fail”. The more you allow the tune to play in your head, the more likely it is that you will fail. Our thoughts can be self-fulfilling. So change the tune to “I am going to pass”. Play the new tune often and loudly until you start to believe that tune. You will notice as you play the new tune, it will require you to act and this action is what is needed to pass.
“I am going to pass”
3 Commit to doing what it takes
Make the decision to do what it takes to pass. Find out what that is, ask your friends for help, ask your lecturer, find more examples to practise, adopt new study strategies and habits, do the reading, do the research, actively listen in lectures, ask questions, attend double tutorials, take better notes and review your notes within 24 hours of attending the lecture.
Action, action, action…
Less talking about the problem and more action, action, action!
Kerry Dawkins is a Career Advisor for Potential At Work. She holds an MBA, is a trained career coach and has tons of experience in helping people just like you to choose a suitable career. If you’d like to book a consultation with Kerry, give her a call on 011 465 4727.
Q: Suffering from a little career ‘fatigue’? That is, tossing out the ‘your future’ messages because it can get a little bit, well, overwhelming? Fret not. The person with all the answers is here to help you figure out your next move. Send your woes to kerry@sacareerfocus.co.za
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HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR WHEN YOU ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE SUBJECT CHOICES AT SCHOOL LEVEL.
If you are able, take subjects that open doors for future opportunities. You really don’t want to limit yourself and your opportunities. So for example, if you’re able it would be wise to take Mathematics and the Sciences.
However, avoid taking a subject if you are just going to scrape through or if it’s going to take all your time and effort and negatively impact the results of other subjects. You want to maximise the points you score in your final Grade 12 exams.
For example, for some degrees both Mathematics or Maths Lit are acceptable and you may decide to do Maths Lit so you can ensure you get better marks in other subjects and overall.
Ask the opinion of teachers that know you and that you respect. They may have spotted something in you which you have failed to see.
Subjects that you enjoy are easier to work at and you are more likely to pass and get higher marks.
If you want to go to university, it would be wise to take a credit re-cognised subject or also known as a “designated subject” which has been highlighted as being more suitable for tertiary studying (see the North-West University’s designated subject list - http://www.nwu.ac.za/af/webfm_send/45081 as an example).
It would also be wise to review the compulsory requirements for your desired tertiary education (see University of Witwatersrand requirements -http://web.wits.ac.za/Prospective/Undergraduate/AdmissionRequirements/MatricNSC.htm).
Also think about what subjects may make your future studying easier.
For example, you may not be required to take Life Sciences to be accepted into your chosen degree but it could possibly make passing your first year a lot easier.
Consider the standard of teaching in that subject in your school. Teachers do make a difference.
It may seem that there’s nothing you can do about your stress level. The assignments aren’t going to stop coming, there will never be more hours in the day for all the studying you need to do and you still have to make money for petrol.
We would all love to be rowing on a flat pond and feel like we have everything under control. However, we all go through periods of turbulent waters, especially in the new world of work, and we need strategies to manage our stress in these times.
Managing your stress
Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment and the way you deal with problems.
Steps:
1. Identify your current sources of stress. Be very specific as you want to be managing the real issue.
2. Notice how you normally deal with this stress and the impact it has on you and your studies.
3. Create new strategies for dealing with stressful situations.
Consider some of the suggestions listed below:
- Avoid unnecessary stress by learning to say “no” or avoiding people who stress you out
- Take control of your environment so you can study and complete your assignments
- Create a reasonable to-do list and prioritise your studies
- Have realistic expectations of what you can achieve in the time you have
- Manage your time better
- Stop procrastinating and start your work
- Accept what is and don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Move on and deal with what you can.
- Reframe problems:
For example: Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective. Rather than fuming about a traffic jam, look at it as an opportunity to pause and regroup, listen to your favourite radio station, or enjoy some alone time.
- Connect with others in a similar situation
- Keep your sense of humour
- Look at the bigger picture to see that your current stress will be outweighed by the longer term benefit
- Set aside relaxation time and adopt a healthy lifestyle by exercising, eating a healthy diet and minimising intake of alcohol and caffeine.
- GET ENOUGH SLEEP. Don’t get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs. Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury.
Q: I just don’t know what to do. I am thinking about doing a diploma in marketing but I’m not sure if this will help me. I am also thinking about getting a job as I really need the money. I have thought about it so much and I still don’t know. Please can you help me?
A:
I suggest to students facing career dilemmas to follow a simple strategy:
1 Look inward and see if the answers are there
You have said that you have thought about this decision and you don’t know what to do. Stop thinking for now as it’s only causing you stress and move on to point two.
2 Look outward and see what appeals to you
You have looked outward and found that a diploma in marketing is one option for you. You need to look for more options.
PUT IN SOME EFFORT AND GOOGLE. READ SA CAREER FOCUS. COME UP WITH MORE OPTIONS.
I notice that students spend more time and effort on their social schedule or planning their next holiday than they do on their career choice. Finding career success takes time and effort from you.
Now once you have more options, you need to go and get a feel for each of these options and find out more information about each option.
ACTION, ACTION, ACTION
- Find someone who has completed their studies in this chosen field (or who is still studying) and review their books and courses and see if it interests you.
- Find a job shadow opportunity even if it is only for an afternoon to feel what it feels like to work, for example, in marketing.
- Apply and secure an internship or learnership to get some work experience as you study.
- Speak to your friends and your friends’ friends to hear what options they are taking and see if any of them appeal to you.
- Secure a part-time job to provide you with money while you obtain the skills you need.
- Look at www.nsfas.co.za and see if you qualify for financial aid.
3 Make a commitment
Your objective is simple, you need to acquire SKILLS. There are many ways to achieve career success but the starting point for all ways is to acquire skills either through on-the-job experience or studying. Make a commitment to an initial small step based on skill acquisition to help you move forward.
Q: What is the difference between a formal and an informal mentorship?
A:
Some mentor relationships are formally established, for example, where a mentor is allocated to a mentee in a corporate development programme or in a buddy system in a school. Many mentor relationships are never formalised (and you don’t even refer to the person as a mentor). However the more experienced person shares knowledge, experience and contacts with you for the purposes of your growth. The mentoring relationship doesn’t have to be formalised to be effective.
