Archive for the ‘Parents - their role in Career Advice’ Category

Realisations from China

Friday, January 15th, 2010

I’ve spent all of this week in Hong Kong and China discussing the launch of www.mytalentplace.cn. My business partners and I are convinced that the Chinese mindset together with the single child policy and massive market size makes this a great place for a business offering careers advice to students. It’s my first trip to China and I thought I’d share some of my impressions with you. Seeing and experiencing something first hand is always much more powerful than reading about it.

Career competition

Career competition

Firstly, in this week it was announced that China is now the world’s biggest car market. Last year, the growth in new car sales was 46% at a time when all the Western car markets were dead! China also recently overtook Germany to become the world’s biggest exporter. Get the idea? The momentum here is unstoppable. This new wealth and prosperity is creating a thriving market for  luxury brands too.

Everyone I spoke to (students as well as parents) gave us one message. The message is that Chinese parents will do everything they can to further the prospects of their child. There’s only one child to lavish attention and resources on and having experienced hard times under communism, parents know that their children have great prospects, particularly if they can gain an international qualification and experience. Of course, most parents in the UK will say that they want their kids to have the best and to do well, but I don’t think there’s that same level of intensity that exists in China.  Western life is comfortable and fairly predictable. A UK student who screws up his exams this year knows that there is likely to be another chance. We need to be prepared to see lots more Chinese students at our UK universities. As universities struggle financially, so more and more Chinese parents will pay for their child to get the best education.

So, not only will new graduates be competing with their Chinese equivalents for jobs, but they’ll be competing with more Chinese students while they’re studying. While these foreign students might lack in certain areas, they certainly won’t be out on the lash every night! From March 2010 Chinese students will also be benefitting from the career advice provided by MyTalentplace

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Accounting - the best career foundation available?

Monday, January 4th, 2010

I never thought I’d say this, but I am now convinced that the header of this post is correct. When I studied my first degree - the extremely useful, practical and commercial BA majoring in Psychology, I looked at Commercial degrees, particularly those with an emphasis on Accounting as being dry, boring and for nerds. I was wrong about 2 of the 3 points.  A sample of a typical Accounting class will probably show a higher than average nerd factor, but this is not a terminal problem. Nerds can be interesting and who knows, they might be good to stay in touch with so they’ll take your call when they’re Managing Director and you’re looking for a job!

Be his friend! Let’s forget the stereotypes for now though. The one thing that stands out among the Accountants I know is how they all have a great grasp of business principles and have used this to real benefit during their careers. A big part of the training often involved auditing of different companies. This is a great way of getting exposure to all sorts of different sectors and business types. By the time your average nerd (sorry accountant) is 25, they have been exposed to more types of businesses than most of us will come across in our working lives. Cogitate on that for a mo!

OK, some accountants will stay accountants and that’s fine for all concerned. A large number though use the knowledge they have of how businesses work either to create their own businesses, rise to senior positions in the corporate ranks or in professional firms. There is a myth that Accountants don’t become entrepreneurs. That’s bollocks. Certainly the ability to identify risks accurately may mean that accountants don’t get involved in some of the more zany schemes or ideas, but I’ve met enough who have their own successful businesses to know that this view is a myth.

So, if I were starting all over again I would study accountancy first without any doubt. With a business grounding like this, I would then have the flexibility to take my career almost anywhere I wanted to go (both geographically and job wise)

Want to find out more? Click here to to find out more about Accounting as a Career choice

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Know who you are before you “Brand” yourself

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Susan Guarneri recently wrote a great post on personal branding and that prompted me to think. I need prompting to think on most days!

Susan’s a big fan of psychometric assessment and I think we all know where I stand on that one! I do feel though that if the results of assessments are presented in a simple and understandable format, that makes a big difference.

The first challenge with developing a personal brand is to have a decent understanding of who you are. Obviously this is a little more difficult if you’re a student who hasn’t had much experience yet. A very useful way of quickly ramping up your self insight and career focus is to get some 360 degree feedback from your friends and network. 360 what? This is a common tool in business and enables colleagues to provide feedback on one another as a way of improving performance.

personal-branding
What you need to do is to ask a few trusted people in your network some pertinent questions. Give them some time to think through this before answering. Better still, send them the questions in an email.

1) What do you think I’m particularly good at?
2) What words best describe me as a person?
3) What careers could you see me being successful in and why?

If you get 5 friends and family members to complete these, you’ll be in a good position to start thinking about what makes you unique. You can then get going with personal branding - more about that later.

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The new model for Career Advice

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

As many of you will know, www.mytalentplace.co.uk provides a range of career advice - both free and paid to students. I recently worked through the Career Foundation programme online with a student at Wellington. Talking to her afterwards and asking for her feedback - a couple of things struck me …

Firstly, she rated us a 10 out of 10. Her sister gave us a 9.5. When last did you hear of students being so positive about career advice? Not since Pontius was a pupil pilot. I thought you may find it interesting to listen to what she had to say about the benefits of our online

One of the things that seems to be going down well is spending sufficient time with students. The traditional approach to career advice is all about psychometric tests - don’t get me going on those!! Our student (customers) really seem to appreciate the fact that we spend time getting to know them, so that we are best placed to guide them in the right direction. They make their own decisions and our advisors challenge them every step of the way.

I know this has been a bit “salesy”. When we get this kind of feedback (and we’re getting it consistently), we’d like to share it with you. If you’d like to find out more about our online career advice programmes, check them out at

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Job Seeking - the Jewish Way

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

So, we ‘ve taken some learnings from the protestant approach to work, now let’s see what we can learn from the Jewish community. As it turns out, when it comes to the world of work - loads! We’re obviously making some sweeping generalisations here, so don’t get caught up in that - focus on what we can learn.

Networking at it's best

Networking at it's best

When it comes to work and being prepared for a career, the Jewish community does a lot of things well. Here are 2 of them:-

1. You’ll find that families talk about careers a lot at home. Mum and/or Dad will openly discuss what’s going on at work, the deals they’re involved in, the challenges they’re facing etc. So for the kids and teenagers, work and careers are not some kind of unknown monster lurking in the dark. All of the family members are encouraged to have their say - it’s not a monologue from a parent.
2. Networking - no-one does it better. When it comes to David making career decisions and looking for his first job, the community will be tapped into in a big way. Requests among parents for time, info and access are expected and reciprocated. So, a young adult from the community has a lot of resources available to him/her. That’s a great asset for anyone to have.

Not sure which religion we’re going to pick on next, but we’ll find one!

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Helicopter Parents - Buzz Off!

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Talking to the Head of Graduate Recruitment in a major bank recently, she used the term “Helicopter Parents” - something I’d come across but not given a lot of thought to. What do helicopters do? Well, they hover around and make a loud buzzing noise. That’s what helicopter parents do too! Helicopter parents are an increasing phenomenon - it seems that a lot of parents are taking flying lessons. This is how it looks….

Little Johnnie applies for the graduate scheme with company A. Mom or Dad put a call through to the recruitment department at the company to follow up and to find how good Johnnie’s chances are. Here’s another one - little Jane has an interview for the same graduate scheme. The big day comes around and who arrives to the interview - Janie and her Dad/Mum!

Call me simple, but is there anybody reading this who thinks this is a good idea? If so, please go and have your head examined immediately! There’s a big difference between being an involved parent and an over - involved parent. The biggest issue though is in the message this action gives to the recruitment team. What it says is “MY SON/DAUGHTER IS NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE THIS ON THEIR OWN, SO I’M HERE TO HELP”!

Don’t do it - you’re hindering and not helping! A suggestion to all helicopter parents? Buzz off!

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Help - my son won’t get out of bed!!

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

This is not about a medical emergency or even a bad hangover - this is a career advice emergency! It’s about your teenage son/daughter not being able to get out of bed before 11:00 every day of the week! I often hear parents complaining about this and underneath the complaint is a real worry - will he ever be able to hold down or even get a job if this is his level of motivation?   Let’s be clear, it’s the lack of motivation that is probably most concerning to parents.  If this is a phase, how long is it going to last? You get the picture.

In most cases the problem can’t be solved by parents. The more a parent pushes, the more the walls come up. My view is that many teenagers are aware of how important career choices and planning are, but these topics are daunting for them. Unless we can find a way to help them to engage with these issues, they remain part of another world. Most teenagers are struggling to find the difference between sh”!t and peanut butter, so careers is a bit of a stretch!

I think a big part of the solution is for the student to have a personal vision and some objectives. Sounds a bit airy fairy right? Call it what you like, but unless the student has an objective, there’s nothing to drive behaviour and bed is the most comfortable place to be. Parents need help to show students how to put a plan together, how to aim for something worthwhile and how to commit to that. My work with students has convinced me that they are more than capable of putting a plan together as long as they have the tools and the inclination.

If you imagine the kind of discussion you might have with an underperforming or demotivated team member at work, what language would you use and what questions would you ask? I suggest you consider taking a similar approach with your sleepy teenager. It could just be the start of the process to a personal vision and a plan that they create and commit to. Check this link out, it may give you more ideas ….

http://www.sparkplugging.com/home-office-organizer/motivation-one-little-cue-at-a-time/

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How to avoid sticking pins in your eyes!

Monday, July 20th, 2009

If I asked the average 14 - 20 year old how they feel about discussing their career choices and planning with their parents, most of them are going to be at the “I’d rather stick pins in my eyes” (both of them) end of the spectrum. Yes, there are some ideal parent - child relationships out there and Snow White did find her Prince, although the story doesn’t go on for long enough for us to find out if he turned into a wife beater or not. We’ll keep that for another post! Where was I? Ok, so most teenagers for lots of reasons, some of them good, do not find the prospect of sitting down and talking to their parents about career choices and getting their advice appealing.

Why not? Well - unless there’s a lot of mutual respect, listening uncritically to a parent is not easy. Particularly if the parent  is pushing their own point of view. Let’s face it, how many parents want to live their unfulfilled dreams through their kids? Understandable but one of the biggest crimes one can commit as a parent in my view.  So Dad, who has been an Engineer throughout his career advises daughter to be a Doctor.  Based on…? Probably based on the fact that he wishes that he had studied medicine and that it’s a respected career. Of course, the flipside of this also happens. Mum’s in advertising so I want to be in advertising (because it’s the only career option I’ve been exposed to and it sound OK). Even when the intentions are good on both sides, it’s difficult to achieve a positive result without some external help.

What about a group of parents with a diverse range of skills talking to their collective group of kids and giving them a 10 minute summary of what they do, the decisions they take, the goals they have to achieve, challenges they need to face in their roles and so on? I bet that the combination of a different context, wider range of topics and seeing one’s own parent contribute will work wonders. Give it a go and let me know if we can throw the box of pins away.

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