Category Archives: careers

careers, Uncategorized

What Path Should You Take For an Investment Career?

 

college applicationsInvestment careers, although challenging, can nevertheless be very rewarding and fulfilling. The investment industry is quite a dynamic industry which is ever changing. If you wish to make a career in the sector, you need to be willing to work hard and put in long hours, but the rewards are well worth it.

A wide variety of investment careers

There are various investment careers that one can embark on in the investment industry. They include:

  • Investment managers, who handle the clients’ money and invest it in equities and bonds. Their role also involves providing sound investment advice and options to their clients.
  • Research analysts, who undertake fundamental investment research as well as valuation. Their main role is to determine the growth potential as well as the future outlook of the investment in question.
  • Investment bankers, who assist in the sale of stock by businesses and governments to members of the public. They can also assist these entities in floating their shares in the stock market.
  • Client account managers, whose main role is to maintain good and fruitful relationships with clients by communicating regularly with them about ongoing investments.

A mathematics degree, while not essential, would help you get into an investment career since number crunching is an important skill to have. A finance degree or an MBA would be even better to have. You should also not expect to enter into investment management straight after graduating, but should aim to start off as an investment research analyst first then build up from there.

Wesley Edens: an investment management success story

Wesley Edens is a successful investment manager who serves as a good example of just how much you can achieve in the investment world if you work hard and diligently. Mr Edens is a principal as well as the Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fortress Investment Group LLC. He is in charge of the company’s private equity business as well as a wide variety of publicly and privately traded portfolio companies. In the past Mr Edens has also worked for BlackRock Financial Management Inc. and Lehman Brothers as a managing director in both companies.

Investment careers require you to put in a lot of work and grueling long hours, the compensation can be extremely high. The nature of the work is also not only demanding but also unpredictable. All the same, it remains an exciting and very rewarding way to make a living.

career colleges, careers, college guidance, college planning, Uncategorized

Stay Employed With These College Majors

 

college majorsLook to the future and what do you see? Flying cars? Steampunk kids riding hoverboards? Downtrodden dystopias with Harrison Ford-alikes running around in long brown overcoats?

Well, while these visions of the future might never happen, one thing is certain – some jobs will be obsolete, so you have to make your education count.

It’s a tough call to make. But some jobs will always be vital, no matter what era we live in.

So here are a few future-proof college majors for you to study, whether we move into a glistening or a downbeat future.

The children are our future

Despite declining birth rates in the western world, the need to look after and understand the needs of children is greater than ever.

But that doesn’t exclusively lead you towards childcare. For high wages and the chance to work out your brainbox, try studying for a degree in child psychology. Relative to other medical fields, psychology itself is in its relative infancy, making the possibilities for unique advancement high.

Knowing the inner workings of a child’s mind will never go out of style.

Digital love

You can see the impact of the internet on businesses already. As high street stores close their doors and indie retailers struggle to stay afloat, internet giants like Amazon dominate the marketplace.

The future is now in the digital world. As the tech for the internet unfurls before us, the reality is clear – the net is going nowhere.

As such, there are now countless avenues of study for a life in the digital world. Web development, computer programming, app design, game design – the list goes on. Some colleges even offer the chance to study the cultural impact of the web on society.

Not only is the world of the web putting convenience at our fingertips – it’s giving us the jobs of the future.

Get arty

We’ve all dreamed of it in some form or another – wearing a beret on the south bank of the Seine, Paris, you pen your latest novel, pursing a cigarette between your lips and living the life of the moody artiste.

But the successful artist – be they pretentious poet, literary heavyweight, beard-stroking filmmaker or agent provocateur raconteur – is usually one in a million. Yet however precarious a career as an artist might be, it will never go out of date. While the modes of distribution might change, the need for art won’t.

A degree in fine art, illustration or any other creative subject, won’t guarantee you a job straight off the bat. However, many people learn to combine a side job with their artistic aspirations. Creation may not pay amazingly – but it’ll never age away.

careers

Preparing For a Career in Finance

 

career in financeAs a parent, you obviously want your children to achieve success in their education and careers. It is often easy to guide your children when they follow your example, but when they show aptitude in subjects and topics in which you are unfamiliar, then it can be difficult to know how to help.

This guide provides you with practical advice to ensure your son or daughter will be fully prepared to enter the competitive and rewarding world of finance.

Why should you help?

Some parents take the attitude that once their children reach higher education it is time to stand back and allow them to find their own paths. However, many young adults in school have little idea about how the working world operates, and while colleges and universities provide some career advice, it usually comes from scholars who have spent most of their working lives in academia.

By taking an active role in preparing your children for their careers, you will greatly increase the chances of them landing a role that will offer excellent prospects for the future.

How you can help

There are many ways to prepare your children for a career in finance, such as understanding more about their education and interests and how this may fit opportunities. Start by talking about what their main interests are in finance. The financial industry requires more than just accountants and investment managers. Firms require business development managers, client service executives, data analysts, human resource managers, IT systems support, and marketing officers.

After gathering details from your children, begin researching the career paths that will allow them to reach their goals. To achieve the best positions in finance, they will need to obtain financial certificates and further qualifications. Students who begin studying for these qualifications as soon as they graduate will give an excellent impression to prospective employers.

The best way to determine which courses are required is to review job listings and read the qualifications. Many websites will list the latest opportunities, and the qualifications and experience required for each role.

Many roles ask for candidates to have knowledge and practical experience with specific computer packages; many of these can be studied online and courses can provide a good foundation in using them.

Although your child will not beat out somebody with several years of experience, in the recruitment process, they may well come across as the best of all graduates, if they can demonstrate they are familiar with the computer systems used.

Teach interview skills

Interview skills are possibly the most important part of landing a good career. How a person performs in 30 minutes in a room with two total strangers can determine his or her entire career.

What many students do not appreciate is that an interview is an opportunity to sell themselves; this is where you can help. Encourage your children to list all of their most positive aspects, their best skills, and their educational strengths and get them to talk candidly about these.

People who can casually talk about their best aspects come across as being confident, articulate, and professional. An interview is not the time to highlight to an employer all the things that you do not know; it is a time to sell yourself as an asset they cannot afford to lose to a competitor.

What companies are the best?

This is one of the most common questions asked by parents. Many people assume the best companies must be the huge financial organizations that are in the news every week. Although J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America Corp, and Citigroup are the largest in America, they do not necessarily offer the best career prospects; competition within the banking industry is extremely tough and they all take on hundreds of graduates each year.

It is often better to look to the smaller investment companies that provide a more bespoke and personal approach. In a smaller company, it is often easier to impress and rise through the ranks to board level, which is ultimately most people’s ambition.

Some excellent local opportunities that are an ideal match for your child may be available, so research the local area. Small regional offices can often be a great place to start a rewarding career in finance.

Supporting your children during this time is a challenge, but with a little information and some research, you can help guide them and hopefully they will land the career they have been dreaming of, or at least, the one they would have been dreaming of, had they known what opportunities were out there.

careers, social networks

Using Social Media to Find a Job

 

job searchThese days the recruitment process has moved online, which includes a shift to social media. Not only do employers browse social profiles when deciding who to interview, they’ll also use social channels to advertise opportunities. This media can help you or it can hinder you when trying to land that dream job, whether it’s for a learning mentor or a care worker, marketing professional or a skill tradesperson. Here’s how:

Private versus Public

There’s a strong chance employers will try to learn more about you via your social media profiles. For this reason, your public profile should convey the right impression. If anyone and everyone can view your Facebook or Twitter profile pictures, make sure they’re professional. Pictures that reveal aspects of your private life show you drinking excessive amounts of alcohol or generally just clowning around are best reserved for friends only. This also applies to the information you choose to publicly display on your social profiles. Do you want potential employers to be able to see your relationship status, the bands you like or even your birthday? If there’s any information you don’t feel entirely comfortable with employers seeing, switch your settings to private.

An opportunity to network

Many companies use social media to head hunt as well as recruit. Setting up a professional profile can get you noticed. At the same time, you don’t have to wait for employers to approach you. LinkedIn is an excellent networking tool and there’s no harm in trying to connect with companies or organisations you might like to work for in the future.

Creating the right impression

There are, of course, social profiles you might want potential employers to see. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you’re likely to use it to network and hunt for jobs. This makes it essential for your profile to create the right impression. Choose a professional-looking photo. If in doubt, ask a (trusted) friend or family member which photo to use. You should also update your profile regularly, ensuring it showcases your talents and experience. List all of your skills and try to get LinkedIn references from past employers. Your social profile could be your first impression—and you won’t get the chance to make another one.

Employers advertise through social media

Advertising positions online is commonplace nowadays. As well as updating their website with job details, many employers add vacancies to their social media feeds. If you want to be amongst the first to know when new jobs come up, connect with employers you might like to work for via their primary social channels. LinkedIn is particularly useful because you can receive email updates of jobs in your sector. Some sites are even area-specific, such as S1Jobs, and following their social feeds you can plan your next career move within a particular part of the country. Perhaps you’d like to work with children and young people by becoming a learning mentor. You could use social media to showcase your experience to potential employers and hunt for jobs.

Whatever career path you want to follow, social media can help you land that dream job if you use it wisely. Make sure all the public information you display gives the best impression.

careers

Adding Up–Career Paths for People Who Work Well With Numbers

 

mathDo you have a head for figures? With a decline in people enrolling on maths-oriented courses and the decided increase in demand for mathematicians, you don’t have to be Einstein to work out that your future employment prospects look bright. It’s tricky to reconcile something as conceptually abstract as mathematics with notions of a career path, but your skills qualify you for a range of stimulating and rewarding jobs. Read on for some career options worthy of your talents.

Surveyor

Surveying is well-paid, specialized work, which can unlock opportunities for you to travel the world and see the great outdoors. It can take a commitment of up to eight years to gain the necessary qualifications, but once accredited with a reputable firm, it’s likely you’ll be in demand.

Accountancy

Wherever there’s business, there’s a need for accountancy and people skilled with numbers. Accountancy jobs open doors and those who have qualified as an accountant will have the grounding needed to join a firm and work towards partnership, pursue a career in finance or even start their own company. Although often ridiculed and stereotyped, accountancy is an inherently stable, well-paid and enjoyable way to make a living.

Teaching

If you have the passion and the patience, teaching is a highly rewarding, varied career option. Whether in secondary or higher education, passing on your unique grasp of a concept, inspiring young minds to blossom and articulating theories could be a perfect fit. What’s more, if you choose to pursue a professorship in Higher Education, it goes hand in hand with contributing your own research and theories towards your department, and being surrounded by stimulating and intelligent people.

Actuarial

Do you find life to be one big game of calculated risk? If so, your next throw of the dice might just come up with actuarial work. Analyzing statistics, solving problems and having a numerical mind are all prerequisites in your bid to provide companies with the stats and advice they need to make game-changing decisions. Although becoming an actuary will require you to immerse yourself in risk on paper, it’s a dependable choice.

Physicist

If you’re inspired by super-minds like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Steven Hawking to unveil the wonders of the universe, you may wish to become a career as an apex predator of mathematics: a physicist. Whether you’re seeking work in a hi-tech industry, research and development or astrophysics, you’ll have to be able to rise to a challenge, and nurture a highly inquisitive outlook.

Architecture

If you want to balance your mathematical skill with technical prowess and a dose of creativity, make plans to be an architect. This is one career path that requires passion by the truckload, taking up to ten years to qualify for and demanding long working hours. Competition is fierce, and you will have to relish teamwork to drive a project to its completion but you won’t get bored, and your work will be written on the skyline for generations to come.

Crunching numbers isn’t everyone’s thing, and that’s exactly what creates such demand for people who are skilled with numbers. It’s definitely the way to a successful and rewarding career.

careers, parenting

Helping Your Child Choose the Right Degree

 

degree
Image by Kevin Dooley,

It’s an important time when your child is just about to finish high school and is working out where he or she would like to go next. You want to let him or her make their own decisions and follow their heart, but you also want to ensure he or she is making the best decisions for future life and career. For example, when looking at degrees to study, maybe you want her to choose the chemical engineering degree, but she wants to complete an arts degree. It’s a real minefield: deciding whether to interfere or to let her make her own decisions unaided to choose the right degree.

You Know Your Child

You’ve seen him or her grow up, you’ve watched them play with other children and develop into the young adult they are today. You know them inside out, probably better than they know themselves. Children do value their parents’ opinions, even if they won’t show it. You’re allowed to help.

 Find Resources

You can give your child the resources they need to think through their own decision making. Send them links to quizzes online which ask them about their interests and suggests routes for them based on their answers. Find websites aimed at school leavers which outline career paths and which courses are needed to get to where they want to go. And then let them soak up the information themselves.

Go With Them

Take your child to university open days, trial study days, and guided tours. You can walk around with them, let them soak up the atmosphere and imagine what attending these places might be like. There will be talks about courses so your child can learn what their chosen course will be like, along with taster sessions.

Help Them Find Opportunities

If your child still isn’t certain, take a top-down approach: find out what career areas interest them, and then work out how they can get there. There are many work experience and internship opportunities available: even a couple of weeks in a role will give them a taste for whether they would enjoy a career in a certain sector. Do you have any friends who could offer them work experience or shadowing opportunities for a couple of weeks over the summer?

Ask Them Questions

Sometimes it’s helpful just to sit down with your child and talk. Ask them what makes them tick, what gets them excited about life, and where they see themselves in ten or twenty years? Bring along a pen and paper and make notes or draw a mind map: this is a great opportunity to be supportive and help them find a direction without forcing them where you think they shouldgo.

Support Them

It might be that your child wants to study a subject, and you don’t agree that this is the best decision for them. It’s okay to tell them how you feel, but ensure you’re thinking of their best interests: it is as important for them to study a subject about which they feel passionate, as it is important for them to study a subject with excellent career prospects.

Most of all: good luck to your child on their future career. With some guidance, they will make a decision which suits them and brings them to the place they want to go, wherever that is.

 

 

careers

Choosing the Right Career Path

 

Finding a job right after college can be particularly challenging for many individuals. After all, they have a degree but very little professional experience. In fact, the search for employment itself might seem like a full-time job thanks to the enormous amount of time and energy that it requires.

In today’s day and age, it is particularly important for recent graduates to choose the right career upon finishing college. But, how does one go about this effectively? Here are some strategies every recent grad should have on hand:

Choosing a field

eye doctorMany people start college without any idea of what they want to do when they graduate, but having some sort of idea before the job hunt begins is essential. While it may not be possible to have every moment of one’s personal and professional life mapped out, selecting a field in which to work is a good idea. Having a specific career in mind isn’t always necessary right away.

Often, it is the road less frequently traveled that reaps the most rewards, especially when it comes to one’s career. Being open to a number of different jobs within the preferred field also increases the chances of getting hired. This is particularly true when one wants to work within the healthcare industry. For example, working as an optician is a rewarding and respectable option. Check out Stanton Optical careers for some more information on this exciting sector.

 Do plenty of research

Just because college is over doesn’t mean the research and learning stops. Planning ahead and setting some concrete career goals are the essential first steps to landing the perfect job. One must understand his or her personal and professional strengths, weaknesses, interests, values, and personality. A self-assessment is critical in selecting the right professional path.

Network with others already in the preferred field

Networking plays an important role in the job search – it is actually the top job search strategy in every industry. Recent graduates should take advantage of every connection they have available, which means reaching out to friends, family, previous teachers, faculty, and employers in addition to utilizing their university’s Career Development Office. Connecting with professionals in the preferred field is also helpful, so attending job fairs, career seminars, and industry-specific events is a good idea.

Create an effective resume and cover letter

A good resume and an effective cover letter play an integral role in helping recruiters decide whom they will interview. Remember, these documents are the first impression most job hunters will get to make, so it had better be a good one! Cover letters must compliment the resume and highlight one’s talents and experience, but they should also be written with the specific employer and position in mind.

Look for job leads and start applying

There are a number of ways to look for a job. The traditional route of the newspaper’s classified ads works from time to time, but many college grads find work via online job postings, networking, and prospecting. It is important to widen the playing field and allow for as many opportunities for an interview as possible. Seeking jobs with large organizations and big corporations is acceptable, but applying with smaller employers may make getting started a lot easier.

On top of the above points, the key things to remember are, be persistent and don’t give up – with these thoughts in mind, a dream job will be gained in no time.