From Programme to Product Management

From Programme to Product Management Success Story > From: Job To: Job From Programme to Product Management “Getting out of my comfort zone was really hard.” * From Programme to Product Management Alex had been thinking about a career change for a long time. When redundancy loomed, he decided to make his move and threw himself fully into the process. Here's how he retrained, built up a new community of friends and landed the job he'd been dreaming of. What work were you doing previously? I was Programme Manager for a large international telecommunications company. What are you doing now? I'm now Product Manager for a small, fast-growing internet company. Why did you change? It wasn't a huge shift, but it was a move that felt important. My old job was all about delivering products to market. I wanted to make more of an impact on the products we were putting out there, rather than just doing the delivery. When was the moment you decided to make the change? It had been on my mind for quite some time, but I never made the jump. Due to a reorganisation, the role I had was made redundant, so it was the best chance I had to make my shift. Are you happy with the change? Yes. 100%. What do you miss and what don't you miss? My old line of work was more structured. Product management is more 'in the jungle' â€" you have to make decisions through not-so-structured methods, and that's taking some getting used to. I also miss my previous colleagues, as I had made a good group of friends in the company I was working for. How did you go about making the shift? I prepared for some time beforehand by doing courses for the specific new role I wanted to do. I went to a ten-week course in Product Management, for example. I got to know some really great people there who had the same motivations as I did, and I still keep in touch and get inspired by them. I also went to product management meetups, read books and did online courses related to the field. How did you handle your finances to make your change possible? I put money aside for my further education. I also had income insurance. This is something I'd recommend to everyone, actually. It gave me peace of mind that finances would not be a problem if redundancy came along, and when it did happen, it really made a big difference. What was the most difficult thing about changing? Getting out of my comfort zone was really hard; by which I mean going out into the world and finding out about the new role I wanted to do. I had to make myself put money aside for courses, put time aside to learn the new skills needed for the role, and find opportunities to network with people that were in the field I wanted to move into. It's easy to get into a routine of complaint and not work for change to happen. I was really lucky that I was pushed outside of my comfort zone by my previous employer. It just forced me to make the change I was looking for. What help did you get? Family support definitely helped and was encouraging. Also, for me, outplacement services were really useful, as they taught me how to prepare my CV, present myself to the market, and network in a much better way; basically they taught me the tricks of the trade to find a new role. As I said before, I also did many courses, including a couple with Careershifters. The first one was the London evening workshop. After that, I was clear that my values were not aligned with my previous employment and that I was only still there because I valued the financial stability. Then I moved on to take part in the Career Change Launch Pad. That made me re-evaluate my career to date, and also helped me realise that making a career change was not that difficult! What have you learned in the process? I've learned that change, although scary, is very positive in many cases. Realising that I could add value to other organisations, not just my old company, has been really valuable. I also learned the importance of continuous education, how important it is to never stop learning. Although it's hard to study while working, it always pays dividends. Finally, I've got to grips with the power of networking, and how asking for help can lead you to a job you really love. What do you wish you'd done differently? I waited too long to make the change. I wasn't enjoying my previous role any more and already had the capacity to be Product Manager long before I finally made the change. I also wished I followed my gut more. Too many times, I was full of analysis-paralysis. I think following my instincts and believing in myself would have been more productive. What would you advise others to do in the same situation? If you're not happy in your current role, take financial precautions by putting money aside and getting income insurance, and start looking for new opportunities. Go to courses related to the area you want to move to and talk to people in the field you would like to work in. Try to embrace the whole situation as an opportunity to do something you love, rather than just complaining about your current role. Life is too short to do something you don't like and change is easier than it looks! What resources would you recommend to others? If you might be made redundant, I would really recommend an outplacement service. Updating my CV, learning how to network, having the opportunity to do mock interviews and gain other basic skills that are useful in looking for a new role helped me get back on my feet. I also met great people during the process. Everything was so useful, and the lessons and new network contacts are still there for me to use in the future. The second recommendation would be some of the courses from Careershifters. They helped me figure out my next career path. The short London workshop put my values into the picture of career development, and Career Change Launch Pad put some challenges in front of me to help me realise change wasn't as difficult as I'd imagined. The courses helped me understand myself better in relation to work, gain more confidence in myself and get into action. Thirdly, I've learned so much from MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and resources. Sites like Coursera, or Udacity have improved my professional skills, for virtually no cost, which have proved fundamental to my current role. What lessons could you take from Alex's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

Tips for Writing a Resume For Counselor Position

Tips for Writing a Resume For Counselor PositionWriting a resume for a counselor position is a major part of any counselor job search. If you are a recent graduate from college and are seeking a job as a counselor, there are several tips that you can use to make your application stand out among the rest.One important tip for writing a resume for a counselor position is to always put your best foot forward. While the job profile is a representation of the traits of the counselor applicant, it also tells something about your personality. So if you are an introvert, you should make sure that you add that trait to your application to give you an edge over other applicants.The other key to having a resume that is well-written and is visible to potential employers is to be honest about your current level of education. You should never say that you have an associate's degree when you have only a high school diploma. This can be a huge red flag to employers that you do not have the proper pr ofessional experience.Another tip to writing a resume for a counselor position is to always state what you have done professionally rather than saying all the things that you have done personally. For example, say that you were a member of a national study group or that you served on a committee in high school. This is going to give you a distinct advantage over other applicants, especially if the position that you are applying for is in a counseling service.A counselor's resume is also going to need to contain information about your accomplishments in the field of counseling. This includes your experience in leadership, professional development, mental health counseling, substance abuse counseling, etc.Many people make the mistake of filling their counselor position with the words 'advisor'student counseling coordinator.' This is a very common mistake. While this might be true to the extent that it gives a person an edge over an applicant who has no experience in that specific posi tion, it should not be used as a cover letter.Writing a resume for a counselor position should contain a brief description of the work that you do. It is better to go over this aspect in detail when you sit down with your prospective employer. This will allow you to explain your abilities and build your credibility for a potential employer.In summary, writing a resume for a counselor position should include the required traits that are required for a successful counselor. If you don't have experience working with vulnerable teenagers, for example, do not leave this part out. It is very important that you give your prospective employer a clear sense of who you are and why you are the right person for the job.

Navigating Through The Job Search, Ideally Remaining Sane...

Navigating Through The Job Search, Ideally Remaining Sane... CVs: Writing and editing one is possibly the most narcissistic exercise you will encounter during the great job search. The awfulness of such is trumped only by the embarrassing spiels that are required at the interview stage, or possibly ‘training’ tasks once you’ve actually been accepted. In one such case we were all handed out oranges which we were asked to peel. This (obviously) was to demonstrate how customers can be bitter ‘on the outside’ but sweet ‘in the middle’.  My inherent cynicism flared and I could barely stop myself from walking out of the room. Especially when 5 minutes later, 15 peeled or half peeled oranges were collected up and thrown in the bin. Returning to the CV well, they are no longer worth anything. Yes, at school you did have CV master classes, and yes, current pupils still do. However, a large proportion of employers now totally disregard them, as everything’s online now. Application forms are 12 pages long for a part-time retail position. Application forms which ask for the EXACT SAME information that is on your CV. Before you could just fire off CVs with appropriate cover letters, or really old school go and hand them out in person. Now you have to spend literally hours filling out form after form, over and over.   And don’t even get me started on trying to ‘tick’ boxes. I am not very computer literate, to say the least. Yet at least I have plenty of time, a laptop and internet access, all of which I am very grateful for (please refer to the link at the bottom of the page regarding the impact not having computer and internet access has on education). There have been times during my job search when I have not had a PC at all, or have been waiting to get a property connected to the Internet.  In these times I have used the library as my connection point. I don’t know if you have recently tried to use a computer in a library, but here’s my experience: Firstly you have to find a library that hasn’t been closed down, preferably within walking distance, as you don’t have money to travel.  Then you have to ask/find/wait for a free computer. Log in this will take anywhere between 1 to 5 minutes, depending on the speed of the computer slow, or really slow.  This is eating into your allotted half hour. By the time you get the Internet loaded and actually begin searching for work in your area, you are in a race against time (as you are constantly reminded by the bottom right hand of the screen). You begin an application form. You are logged off before you can complete it. You traipse home, rehearsing a speech in your head about free access to the Internet for all. The next day you get up and repeat the whole sorry affair again, out of guilt that you at least have to  try, right? The other option is the jobcentre. They have machines where you can search for jobs and print out details of suitable vacancies. This is great, but really no more helpful than an old-fashioned newspaper, as with all likeliness you will still have to apply online. The whole process is long and demotivating, whichever way you go about it. Sometimes you feel like screaming EMPLOY ME DARN IT! I can do this; I would be totally BRILLIANT in this job! Sometimes you get excited at a particularly good vacancy and imagine that you have pretty much NAILED the application, only to hear nothing back at all. A lot of the time, it’s difficult to even understand what the job is exactly. It feels like trying to decipher an ancient code. I usually take this as a sign that I am not qualified and move on. I am truly beginning to wonder how on earth anyone navigates through all of this, ideally remaining sane and preferably coming out with a job at the end of it all. Please excuse me; I have a whole virtual pile of forms to fill in.

Interview tips, from media consultants. And results, from me.

Interview tips, from media consultants. And results, from me. As part of my book promotion tour, my publisher sent me to media training with Clarity Media Group. I thought the media trainer would talk with me about being on television how to sit, where to put my hands, what to wear. Instead, he focused on how to not be a loose cannon. I know this about myself that I have a sub-standard edit button. It is not uncommon that our biggest strength is also our biggest weakness. In my case, Im good at saying what I really think, but in some situations I need to be better at saying the second thing that comes to mind instead of the first. A good example of this problem is my sex analogies. I dont know why, but sex seems like an appropriate analogy for almost every point Ive wanted to make, ever. My editor at Business 2.0 told me early on that I need to stop writing references to sex in my column, and when I didnt, he just deleted them without asking me. Five years later, when I had not gotten much better about it, Marci Alboher, a woman I trust, told me I should stop talking about sex because I risk offending people. Actually, she specified a sex act. Which I reference a lot, but need to stop referencing, and will not say here to prove that I am not too old a dog to learn new tricks. So, anyway, the media trainer spent a lot of time teaching me how to edit myself better as Im talking out loud. Luckily, most of his advice was about preparing beforehand. Knowing what answer youre going to give way before you have to field a question. This is very similar to advice I have given about getting a job, so you should pay attention whether you are being interviewed by the press or by a potential employer. Heres a quote from the material my media trainer gave me. Dont try to prepare for every possible question that could arise. Determine the 6-8 topics that are likely to come up during your interview and then: a. Hone a key message for each topic. b. Identify anecdotes you can tell that illustrate each message. c. Prepare specific examples or compelling data to prove your point. d. Think of clever analogies if appropriate. Think of these interviews as the equivalent of a good movie trailer, in which your quest is to independently drive to the very best scenes, anecdotes and newsworthy revelations in the book. Heres an example of me putting all that training into action: Peter Clayton interviewed me for Total Picture Radio. He is a total pro. I am not quite there. You will notice that after all that training, I still made a reference to sex.

Bank Teller Resumes No Experience - How To Find the Information You Need to Get Noticed

Bank Teller Resumes No Experience - How To Find the Information You Need to Get NoticedYou've already done your research, and you've decided to post a bank teller resume no experience. What next? How do you get it noticed by the first company you apply to?The good news is that this isn't difficult at all. Many people think this is difficult and will give up on it and just hire anyone they see, even if they have absolutely no experience. This isn't true, but they have an excuse: they had no idea how easy it was.The reason I am writing this article is because there are many individuals who are seeking an accountant or other financial career and have not taken the time to post a bank teller resume no experience. I know how it feels when I didn't know how to start a business. It was extremely hard, and I don't think I'll ever feel the same way again.Don't let this happen to you. In order to avoid all of the problems I've faced, here are a few simple ways you can post a bank teller resume no experience. You're going to be amazed by what you'll find.First, start a business. There are thousands of new entrepreneurs out there who can help you with your business. No experience? That's no problem!Second, you need to contact local banks. They aren't going to hire you if you only have one or two applications. It's always best to contact several, so that you can be picky.Third, you need to contact the Small Business Administration and start your business. They have grants available that you can get your business started on, without having to hire anyone. Again, not hard at all, but it will take a little research to find these grants.All in all, you should be very excited right now because you just learned how to post a bank teller resume no experience. You now have the knowledge to use for the rest of your life!

Why you should go to an interview prepared to fail - Debut

Why you should go to an interview prepared to fail - Debut This piece was written by our resident writer Alex Ekong. Read on for his thoughts on how  how we should reasess our interview expectations: Success. A lot is made of success and successful people. Every profile of a self-made multi-millionaire is a rose-tinted picture of having a dream and making it reality in the face of adversity. And that  adversity is only ever mentioned in passing. It’s cute, sure. But hackneyed stories about how Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were college dropouts and how Steve Jobs was once fired from the company he founded simply aren’t going to blanket-motivate us  any more. We all have different influences. We all have different heroes. When I need to make sense of the world, I turn to my lord and saviour Hollywood. A large part of my personality is based on my ability to flawlessly recite Simpsons quotes, grime lyrics and cult films. Here’s a quote by  Fight Clubs  Tyler Durden that struck me: Image via Giphy This really resonated with me. Particularly as I was transitioning from the relative frying pan of final year at university to the proverbial flame grill of the job hunt gulp. Here was Tyler Durden, the roguish anti-hero at the center of David Fincher’s 1999 cult hit Fight Club (a  strangely useful film for careers.) Hes a degenerate thief and domestic terrorist living in a dilapidated house in the toxic waste part of a major American city. By all rights,  Tyler is an abject failure (albeit ably portrayed by a young, impossibly chiseled Brad Pitt.) Image via 20th Century Fox Although both hallmarks of the go-go 1990s, suffice to say Tyler Durden seems  a very different beast to Bill Gates. But in truth, they’re two sides of the same coin. Tyler  applied his anti-success rhetoric  to blowing up your worldly possessions, peeing in soups and burning people’s hands with lye. But he inadvertently taught us an important lesson. If I may bastardise another Durden-ism: it’s important to know not fear know that you’re going to make mistakes. Two things happens when you do: You make better plans Image via Giphy Even the best of us mess up. It’s human and we can’t help it. Master manipulator Tyler, however, always knew what was next for Project Mayhem even if no-one else did. This is the key. The sooner you embrace the inevitability of messing up, the sooner you can plan for it. You line up your interviews, careers events, networking opportunities and keep your options open. You aim to do something every day that gets you to where you want to go. Organising all of this doesn’t even have to take all that long. In fact, the Muse says you can do it in 10 hours. That way, you never blow your interview without having something in the pipeline that keeps you moving. And even if you do  blow it, remember Robert Allen’s sage words. ‘There is no failure, only feedback’. You either win or you learn and if you don’t win, your plans become sharper the next time around. You get a newfound confidence Let’s be real here. The people that think they’re crazy enough to change the world are usually the ones that do, whether it’s making a splash in the careers world or destroying a financial district to restore the world to a primitive hunter-gatherer society. Image via Giphy Being prepared to fail means approaching careers challenges with the kind of unabashed bravery that comes with having nothing to lose. You definitely start  believing that nothing is too big or too small, too far or too near for you to try. In fact, the Guardian’s Graham Snowdon believes that casting your net wide and applying to unconventional places is the tonic for long, arduous job search. What better way to test your fledgling sense of fearlessness? If youre still hitting walls, American entrepreneur Bill Ellermeyer recommends you to take time out to reassess. “Don’t take your downers to the outside world,” he advises. In that time, you can round out your personality with some hobbies. Firms, after all, love to hire people as opposed to drones. Be more than a worker, be a resource.   It’s just like Tyler said: You’re not your job. Image via Giphy So basically That’s why you should go to an interview prepared to fail. Because with every setback comes experience and you don’t want to die without any scars. If you’ve just graduated, you’re at a point where there’s endless possibilities laid out in front of you. At this point, failure doesn’t lead to a dead end but another path, another glowing opportunity. With the right codes and keys, there’s nothing to stop you seizing that opportunity. There’s your epiphany. You didn’t even have to get knocked out in a basement to get it. Featured image   © 20th Century Fox Download the Debut app and you could totally grab yourself a summer internship  way before anyone else. Follow Alex on Twitter @AndThenAlexSaid Connect with Debut on Facebook and Twitter

4 Lucrative Jobs in Real Estate - CareerAlley

4 Lucrative Jobs in Real Estate - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Indeed, there are many benefits to pursuing a career in real estate including a flexible work schedule, independence, and personal satisfaction. In addition, careers in real estate usually offer good financial rewards, but the actual amount of money typically varies from one career to another. That said, here are four of the most lucrative jobs in real estate. source Appraisal Manager The main responsibility of a real estate appraisal manager is to oversee the process of assessing the value as well as the condition of both residential and commercial properties. To fulfill this responsibility, an appraisal manager has to investigate the market value of different types of properties, inspect them, and discharge appraisal duties to his or her junior assessors. An appraisal manager may also oversee all real estate business operations and manage the property portfolio of a real estate firm. Other duties of an appraisal manager include hiring and developing and evaluating employees. There are many benefits to pursuing a career in real estate including a flexible work schedule, independence, and personal satisfaction. Tweet This A homebuyer can hire a real estate appraisal manager when he or she wants to determine the market value of his or her target home for the purpose of taxation. However, one can also hire the services of a commercial appraisal manager to get guidance on how to meet various government-housing regulations. In order for one to work as an appraisal manager, a Bachelors degree is required in a related field and several years of experience in other real estate careers. The average salary for an appraisal manager is around $100,000 annually. Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash Commercial Leasing Manager For one to get a job as a commercial leasing manager, he or she must have worked in various positions in real estate for several years. In addition, one must also be familiar with the legal procedures of leasing different types of commercial properties and demonstrate an ability to sell property and manage staff effectively. The main responsibility of a commercial leasing manager is to recruit and retain leaseholders for the various properties owned or managed by a real estate firm. For one to have a successful career in commercial leasing management, one should also be able to fulfill the needs of tenants who lease various properties as stipulated in their lease agreements. Other duties of such a manager include overseeing the preparation, review and evaluation of lease agreements for different properties, and negotiating lease transactions with clients. Some commercial lease managers also adjudicate disputes between different leaseholders. On average, these managers earn $90,000 per year. Property Acquisitions Manager Holders of this job title are responsible for ensuring that real estate companies meet their sales goals and targets. In order to fulfill this responsibility, property acquisition managers normally create and implement strategies to acquire new clients in order to increase revenue streams. They may also be in charge of determining the type of lease (short or long term) that a real estate company uses for different properties in order to meet its revenue targets. These managers are also in charge of determining if the company needs to put up new real estate properties and if so, they evaluate the suitability of buying land or property in different locations. Individuals who have a career in property acquisition management earn between $85,000 and $98,000 per year. source Real Estate Trust Manager A real estate trust manager is normally in charge of managing all operations connected to trust accounts set up by different clients. To fulfill this obligation, these managers design and develop policies that increase the revenue generated through trust accounts. These policies must reflect current real estate trends in trust account management. In most cases, one needs to have worked in real estate management for a number of years in order to qualify for this job. Certain careers match certain personality traits and types of people. In the case of the real estate industry, you need to be two things. You have to be clever, and you need to be charismatic. We can look at why each of these traits in turn before examining what your job will be like working to sell houses for a living. Clever And Charismatic? Welcome To The Estate Agent Industry In addition to this, applicants for this job must have a good understanding of different accounting methods and have extensive experience in financial management. The average salary for real estate trust managers to be between $100,000 and $108,000 annually. Overall, even though most jobs in real estate pay quite well in comparison to other industries, not all individuals who have careers get financial rewards that are in the range of the yearly salary ranges discussed herein. The four jobs above are among the best paying in the industry. For one to qualify for these jobs, their academic and career experience qualifications must be higher than that of other real estate professionals. What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to find the opportunities that help you grow your best career. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search

Choose Your Own (Career) Adventure! - When I Grow Up

Choose Your Own (Career) Adventure! - When I Grow Up Playroom Sign by Signs of Vintage Didnt you loooooove those Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid? I realized that Ive been so all over the Interwebs lately that you can Choose Your Own (Career) Adventure as to what you wanna read, watch or do. Youve been sobbing in your company bathroom, again. Do you want: * a  checklist to change your career * a list of  10 other things to do instead   * some  tough love Youre in the exploratory stages of discovering and/or creating your passionate, grown up career. Do you want to: * hear about  why Play and And are such important concepts   * get a  career change workbook  thats beautifully illustrated, rhymes (!), and is totally $0 *  join me live  in the small studio audience for  Create Your Dream Career The choice is yours, traveler! Choose wisely.