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Going digital – The future of working in marketing… March 22, 2012

Posted by Kirsti Burton in : Marketing, The Careers Group Blogs , add a comment

Originally posted at QM Jobs Blog

Are you interested in working in marketing? Marketing has moved far beyond billboards, magazine ads and radio and television commercials. Like everything else the marketing industry is getting increasingly digital and data-driven.  Marketing is all about finding the target audience and increasingly, like you reading this now,  marketing has moved online. Advertisements can be found cleverly woven into blogs, social media sites, emails and text messages.

What does this mean for your future jobs?
As marketing becomes more and more focused on digital content, the marketing industry is looking to recruit people who have experience and a clear understanding of the potential of digital marketing. Being able to understand and target your particular demographic via Facebook, blogs, and Google searches is now a crucial skill for many marketing roles. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a fancy name for where your website ranks in Google searches. Companies of all sizes are spending a lot of money to ensure their website ranks high and grabs visitors.

Digital marketing also gives marketers endless data to analyse and use in order to target their key audiences. Google Analytics for example,  can tell a business who looks at their website, what they looked at, for how long and when (among many other details). Marketers use these details to target their campaigns like never before.

How do I get digital marketing experience?
The plus side of digital marketing is it’s not just for the big brand names. Companies of all sizes are using Google Adwords or Facebook ad campaigns to get their businesses recognised. Google Analytics is free for any website. Any organisation or person can create a Facebook, Twitter or blog. Employers will be impressed if you’ve done any online marketing for clubs, societies or events. If you are working part-time at a shop or restaurant you can always ask them if you can help with their social media or website.

Book review: Refuse to choose July 26, 2011

Posted by Andrew Falconer in : Uncategorized , 2comments

I’m not one for self-help books and have tried to read several that aim to either streamline, focus, motivate or in some other way enhance my life. Barbara Sher has achieved something remarkable in her “Refuse to Choose” by writing a book that I feel I can relate to! The reason why the career choice and life development book market is so large is because of the diversity of its readers – many of the books that haven’t worked for me have been inspirational to others. Now it’s my turn.

I am a careers adviser. I haven’t always been one. Previous jobs have included civil servant, Funeral Director, factory administrator, campaigns co-ordinator, market researcher, political assistant and print room officer. My interests are even more extensive – writing, entrepreneurship, politics, marketing, international development.

So with only one life, how do you choose what to do? Barbara Sher says it’s ok to refuse to choose. Her book liberates the reader from what can become a panic about narrowing down career and life choices. She describes two different approaches to careers. The first, “deep divers” is those who delve into one particular career, potentially becoming experts in their field.

The other approach she describes as “scanners”. Scanners tend to have diverse careers because they do not focus on one specialism but constantly scan the horizon for other interests and opportunities. Sher suggests that there are different types of scanners resulting in different types of career choice. Deep divers can of course have diverse careers where they remain within a profession but focusing on different aspects throughout their lives. Both approaches are valid and I suspect we can all think of people who would fit one or the other.

I think I’ve often been put off books that are written in a “folksy / best mate” style. Refuse to choose is a bit folksy but perhaps not as much as others. I’ve found it approachable and some of the exercises have been useful to get me thinking about my own career to date and what the future could bring. But perhaps for me this book has been useful in recognising that a perceived lack of focus isn’t negative and that I don’t have to pour all my energies into one particular career path.

Barbara Sher blogs about scanners and refusing to choose. According to her publicity:

Barbara Sher is a business owner, career counselor and best-selling author of six books, each of which provides a unique step-by-step method to uncover talent, pinpoint goals and make dreams come true. She has been called the “godmother of life coaching”. Barbara has presented seminars and workshops around the world to universities, professional organizations, Fortune 100 corporations and federal and state government agencies. She also consults with clients in her New York office.

The book is available in some of our careers services but can be bought online at around £6.

What to read: career change September 15, 2010

Posted by Helen Curry in : Uncategorized , add a comment

The internet is increasingly a popular first stop for careers information - it is quick, has broad coverage and is freely available. However when it comes down to detailed preparation for your chosen career, you can’t beat a good book for depth of analysis and authority.

Of course how do you know which books are worth investing your time in? As this is a library blog, I thought I would start a new series of posts called ‘What to read’ to highlight recommendations for a range of career sectors and topics. In the spirit of new beginnings, here is the first, on changing career.

Changing career

If you don’t know what to do

There are plenty of self-help style career change books, many interspersing words of wisdom with workbook-style exercises to help you identify your skills and career motivations. Sounds pretty patronising? Yes, some of them are, and I wouldn’t have much patience with them. However I would use this book.

What Color is Your Parachute provides more explanation than your average self-help guide, the exercises are clearly useful, and each section provides links for practical action. It helps.

Changing up

I couldn’t choose between these two titles about getting promoted, so the choice is now up to you.

How to get the perfect promotion by John Lees is a great general guide to developing your career, raising your profile, and getting recognition for your results. Includes some good tips on salary negotiation.

From new recruit to high flyer by Hugh Karseras has a more specifically executive slant. For the business-focussed careerist, this gives higher-level tips on how to act, think, talk and demonstrate your fit for promotion.

Struggling to make a change?

Switch – this is quite a general recommendation about making change happen – it is not specifically a careers advice book. It would be most relevant if you feel dissatisfied with your current job because of a lack of innovation or development – this book would give you the tools to make change happen within your organisation. However as the book also discusses what motivates people to actually change – breaking change down into manageable steps, engaging others with your ideas – it could be a useful read to apply to your job applications and presentations.

What not to buy…

I hovered over the careers directories – those comprehensive books that give about a page each to hundreds of careers. They can be useful for ideas if you are really lost, but then I thought, why not just use Prospects job profiles or Prospects Planner? If there is one thing the internet is good for, it is browsing. Unless your career plan was to open a page at random and pursue that career. In which case you really need a lot more help than a book recommendation…

What do you think?

Do you have any recommendations or favourites you’d like to share?

What happens next, when you start your graduate job? Grad Expectations – book review April 29, 2010

Posted by Helen Curry in : Uncategorized , add a comment

Just got in an unusual new careers book – Grad Expectations by Rob Cross. Why unusual? Well I was most struck by the writing style – it reads a bit like a play at times, a bit like a novel. The book follows a group of new graduates from their first day at World-Corp PLC, their expectations, their experiences of fitting in, and their career choice crises. The whole book is comprised of their conversations and thoughts, giving this careers guide a much more personal, intimate feel (if at times sounding like a soap!).

Yet underlying this superficially chatty style, there is still a good foundation of careers theory and personal development guidance. There are exercises to complete, which the graduates explore along with the reader. Key principles for each chapter are highlighted and embedded in practical situations, principles like:

Always make conscious choices. You may not be able to choose your circumstances, but you can always choose how you respond.

It might not suit everyone, some might find the device artificial, and if you dislike buzzy personal development catchphrases, well… there are plenty of those. But if you find most career choice books too theoretical and abstract, if you want a fresh approach, this could be the one to hold your attention.

Drop by The Careers Group library if you want to give it a try – all University of London students can access the resources for free.

TARGETjobs career guides October 20, 2008

Posted by TCG Info in : Uncategorized , add a comment

The 2009 TARGETjobs guides are out now, and I would recommend them to all students whether you are just exploring some ideas or preparing for an interview. Each provides detailed information on the jobs available in that area, how to improve your application, profiles of graduates who went into different sectors,  postgraduate courses, and employer profiles. The articles clarify how that industry works, what skills they are looking for, and what you need to know to apply. Free copies are available at your university careers service.

We stock the following guides:

Also, check our their website at http://targetjobs.co.uk/graduate-jobs/: you can search for graduate jobs, and find more careers information in a wider range of sectors.

But what's it really like? October 15, 2008

Posted by TCG Info in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so far

The latest Inside Careers Guides have arrived. Each guide contains sections introducing that career, examples of recent graduates and career paths, information about qualifications, and lots of employer profiles. The guides will provide you with all the information to get you started in understanding and researching  a career.

The following guides are available:

Pick up a free copy from your university careers service, or download a pdf version from their website.

* Inside Careers, in partnership with the UK’s leading professional bodies, publishes the most authoritative source of independent, in depth career information available to graduates. Research your chosen profession and find the latest graduate vacancies with the official career guides – http://www.insidecareers.co.uk

Environmentally Friendly Careers.. September 1, 2008

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Rooting for a career in ecology or environmental management?  is the  fourth edition of the careers booklet from the BES.  It has been produced in collaboration with the Institute of Ecological and Environmental Management (IEEM).  Written to help people explore the careers possibilities available in ecology and environmental management, it features profiles of people doing a whole range of jobs from ecological consultant to working in the media and PR. Also includes hints and tips for finding and applying for jobs in this highly competitive sector.

If you are exploring the environmental sector as a career option then you might be interested in Environmental Futures, a premier careers event being run by The Careers Group, University of London.  If you are already committed to issues of environmentalism and sustainability and are looking to find work within these areas professionally, then don’t miss this prime networking and learning opportunity which involves key players within the sector.

Join us on Facebook, where you’ll receive updates, can take part in discussions, ask us your questions and share the event with your friends and anyone who you think will be interested in applying to this course: www.careers.lon.ac.uk/facebook/ef