The truth about finding a career mentor - Hays careers advice Viewpoint careers advice blog

The truth about finding a career mentor - Hays careers advice Everyone with ambition needs a good career mentor. It’s as simple as that. Your career mentor is that confidential advisor who can objectively help you to overcome your professional hurdles in order to meet your goals. And yet you still don’t have one. Why not? Perhaps it’s because career mentoring is prone to the following myths: 1. Mentoring is reserved for the most senior and well-connected professionals within a business 2. You have to be working somewhere with an official mentoring scheme in place 3. This mentor has to be somebody senior to you who works at your company, and 4. You have to commit to structured, consistent meetings of a certain duration with your career mentor, time which neither of you may have. With all of these assumed provisos in place, it’s no wonder you haven’t found anyone yet! The truth is, to find a career mentor, all you need is a vision of where you at least think you want to be in your career, the drive to get there, and the confidence to seek counsel from whomever you deem inspirational and credible enough to help you. With that in mind, how can you find a career mentor? Step 1: Ask yourself what is it that you need help with? It is important that you start the process of finding a mentor by assessing your vision for your career. Ideally, where would you be in one year, three year and five years’ time? And which obstacles are standing in your way? Don’t narrow yourself just to the skills you are yet to learn, or the feedback you were given during your last performance appraisal. Think bigger picture. Do you have a tricky relationship with a colleague or client, and is this hindering your progress? Is fear or a lack of confidence holding you back? Remember, your chosen career mentor will be someone you trust, therefore they will keep everything you say confidential, so don’t limit your thinking at this stage. To give you an example, quite a few years ago I was at a turning point in my career. I knew that I wanted to reach that next level, but there was something that was going to stand in my way I dreaded giving presentations, and it showed. I knew that if I wanted to achieve my career goals, something would have to change. I would need to find a credible mentor to help me build my confidence and master public speaking which brings me onto my next step. Step 2: Assess your network â€" and think outside the box Once you have identified what it is you need help with, it’s time to find the right person to help you. Who in your life has overcome the obstacles that you are now facing? Are they where you aspire to be now? Who do you know who is just really good at the skill you want to develop or perhaps the job role you would like to do in the future? As I alluded to in the beginning, don’t narrow your search too much. What’s to say this mentor has to be somebody who is part of an official mentoring scheme, more senior than you, or even somebody you work with? When searching for your career mentor, consider former and current colleagues, your friends and family as well as your other social and professional circles. To continue the story of my own search for a mentor â€" upon realising what I had to do next, I thought about who I knew that could help me. In this instance it was a senior colleague who I decided to approach. This person consistently gave some of the most engaging presentations I had ever seen, and was, without a shadow of a doubt, the right person to be my mentor. The next step was speaking up and asking them for help. Step 3: Take an authentic and humble approach The way you approach your potential career mentor will depend on the nature of your relationship. If they are a contact from your professional network, I would suggest sending them a message first explaining how they have inspired you, what specifically you think they could help you with, and politely asking if they could spare some time to sit down and chat. Let them know the best number to call you on, and that you hope they would like to talk further. If this person is at your current organisation, I would also recommend that you run this by your line manager beforehand. They may be more familiar with your potential mentor, or have experience in mentoring themselves, and able to give you some pointers on your approach. The point is, your mentor needs to be outside of your direct line manager wherever possible. Whoever your mentor may be, the key is to be humble and human. In my situation I simply approached the person and said, “I would like your help please. I want to be able to deliver presentations as strongly as you can, if you could spare an hour or so and give me some initial guidance that would be hugely appreciated.” At the time neither of us knew how much or little time this was going to take but as it turned out, it was not a huge ask in terms of time commitment â€" and it really helped me. Many years on, we meet on an ad hoc basis when I need their help and they are available to help me.  But establishing and maintaining this mentor mentee relationship took work, which brings me onto my fourth and final step. Step 4: Nurture the mentor â€" mentee relationship Remember, your career mentor is going out of their way to help you, therefore gratitude and respect is key to both establishing and maintaining this relationship. Before your first meeting, and every meeting from thereon, be punctual and well prepared. Note down the specific challenges you are facing, what it is you want to learn from them from this session and how you think they could help you. You should also share the progress you have made from previous sessions, and examples of this progress in practice. For instance, every time you meet your mentor maybe buy them coffee as a small token of your gratitude. I always thank my mentor profusely for their time, and relay any positive feedback from my presentations, moreover, how their previous advice helped me achieve this result. To this day my unofficial mentor is great at giving me two minute feedback after any presentation if they happen to be part of the audience. One good element, and one to improve. As I say, you don’t have to tick a certain box before being eligible for a career mentor. You simply need to have a vision for your career, and a methodical, tactful, yet authentic approach to seeking out this guiding voice. Personally speaking, finding a career mentor was one of the best decisions I ever made, and is something every driven professional should pursue on their path to career success.  And remember, bear all of this in mind the next time someone asks you for help too! Want to progress in your career? Our career progression tips will help you get to where you want to be: Is it too early to ask for a promotion? To #PressForProgress, we must thaw the frozen middle 6 lessons that shaped my career How to prepare for the most important meeting of your life

Top 10 Donts For Resume Writing

Top 10 Don'ts For Resume WritingWhen it comes to writing a resume, the top 10 don'ts for resume writing are easy to spot. The list can be considered as a minimum requirement to have the job interview you want. The do's on the other hand, do not need much thought or reflection to implement them. Here are some do's and don't for resume writing:Don't lie about your age to get the job interview you want. It will show up on your resume as a lie. It will appear that you're not dedicated to the job. There are certain cases when your honest answer may lead to an unexpected reply like 'Sorry I am not aware of such a position', which will show that you are not truly willing to work for the company.Don't do the following in your resume: In it. This is what your recruiter wants to see. This practice is an indirect form of lying. If you are a health freak and your resume says that you are not then there is no way you can claim that you have the essential requirements for the job. They will usuall y regard this as an excuse for not interviewing you.Don't exaggerate the capabilities of your qualifications. Employers will suspect that you are making up some of your strengths. An example of exaggeration is mentioning that you have a technical degree for a medical officer job without having the qualification. Be truthful with the company.Don't write as if you are writing for a magazine. Resumes should portray the true image of the candidate in order to project a professional image. Writing like a magazine will make the recruiter feel uneasy and make him more wary about hiring you.Don't tell them what you can do. Instead, answer questions about what you can do for them by giving examples of your work in real life. Of course, this will always entail some amount of responsibility. These will also be the parts of your interview that you will be able to boast about. Employers will feel reassured about hiring you because they would know that you can actually accomplish their needs.Don' t exaggerate your achievements. This means, do not exaggerate your achievements. There is nothing more to say about this one. If you cannot actually back it up, you will lose the job you want.Do not rely on white space. The recruiter is looking for information, not a blank space. If you fill your resume with a lot of unnecessary information, he will make sure you won't get hired. He will then consider you to be overqualified.

Survey 14% of Millennials say bad credit is the reason they have roommates

Study 14% of Millennials state 'awful credit' is the explanation they have flat mates Study 14% of Millennials state 'awful credit' is the explanation they have flat mates Examination has discovered that the normal Millennial hopes to turn into a tycoon sooner or later and to resign at age 56, however new information shows that individuals in this age bunch experience likewise run into difficulty as a result of their credit scores. Recent research from OppLoans.com shows that 14% of Millennials state their awful credit is the motivation behind why they have flat mates, and 25% state that something very similar neutralized their odds of getting a condo or a house.But there's a significantly all the more glaring finding that shows exactly how seriously this age feels about their FICO assessments - an incredible 46% accept that the one they have is holding them back.OnePoll completed the study of 2,000 American grown-ups for OppLoans â€" 1,000 of them were Millennials (ages 18 to 34).Millennials feel like their obligation is hindering lifeIn certainty, 15% of the individuals who own charge cards state the measure of obligation they have is unmanageable an d that they consistently neglect to pay on schedule, while 27% concede that they can't get another vehicle due to a poor credit score.Millennials additionally figure they don't know as much monetarily as they should, with 24% saying that they think they were inadequately arranged on the correct procedures to assemble great credit, and 26% saying they've been dismissed for another advance or line of credit.OppLoans CEO Jared Kaplan remarked on the exploration in a statement.There are numerous simple ways that youngsters can abstain from harming their credit. … For example, our review found that 36 percent of Millennials who missed a Visa installment basically disregarded it. Practically all charge card organizations permit clients to set up programmed installment plans, and these can be customized to cover just the base sum due if somebody's on a limited spending plan. This is a regular hack that can help Millennials maintain a strategic distance from credit harm and late expenses, he said.But albeit 27% of Millennials conceded that they neglect to apply for a charge card since they hope to be dismissed, you at last have power over where your FICO rating falls on the scale.

QA with Tullio Orlandi, Interior Design Entrepreneur

QA with Tullio Orlandi, Interior Design Entrepreneur QA with Tullio Orlandi, Interior Design Entrepreneur Image Source: Tullio Orlandi DesignTULLIO  Orlandi is a young entrepreneur at the head of  an independent interior design company, Tullio Orlandi Design, based in Limerick, Ireland. The primary focus for Tullio Orlandi is the planning and furnishing of interiors across commercial and residential projects.He brings an imaginative, energetic approach to the design and dressing of any project, based on the client’s needs, whether the client is  the management of  high-grade hotels such as The Savoy in his native Limerick…Image Source: Tullio Orlandi design…or  the owners of households such as this brownstone residence  in Brooklyn, which he worked on while working with the  acclaimed  Manhattan-based commercial and residential interior design specialists Lily Z Design.Image Source:  lily z design / Tullio Orlandi design“Nothing comes easy… you have to work your ass off, and the rest will follow.”Tullio is a believer in hard graft. He comes from a business family, his parents Luigi and Una having run Limerick city’s  famous Luigi’s Traditional Fish Chips restaurant  (a favourite haunt of the late Limerick-born screen legend Richard Harris on his many visits to the city) for more than 30 years. Tullio knew that if he wanted to fulfil his passion for design, he would have to work for it, and so after graduation with an Honours BA degree in Interior Furniture Design, moved to the US to follow his dream.The hard work paid off, and within six months of being hired by Lily Z Design he had been promoted to senior designer at the firm. During his time working in Manhattan and Brooklyn, Tullio was blessed with a diverse and challenging working environment, where he was encouraged to develop his personal style.It’s a quirky yet understated style that is a distinctive signature in his work, and is evident across his completed projects. The man’s design voice, and how he uses it to inform the specific design requirements of his clients, can be sampled her e, on his website.Now a fully-fledged entrepreneur with his own interior design company, Tullio aims to bring the distinctive, bold, boundary-pushing design energy of New York City to his  own commercial and residential clients in Ireland and further afield.Tullio  took some time out of his  busy schedule to talk to AGENT about the story of his career in interior design so far, his own entrepreneurial and business goals, and his advice for those who aspire to a life and career in business. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 10 Questions for  Tullio Orlandi (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 1. How did you first get into business, and what are  your business goals?I run an interior design firm based in  Limerick, Ireland, with a focus on creating unique, exciting commercial and residential spaces. I started out by studying Interior Furniture Design at Dublin  Institute  of Technology and graduated with a BA in Interior Design. After finishing my deg ree I made the move to New York City, where I found my passion for creating unique, bold and over-the-top designs. When I moved back to Ireland, I wanted to push the boundaries with design and bring my NYC experience to Limerick. My goals for starting my own interior design  business  was, firstly, to do something I enjoy; and  secondly, to bring my passion for design to local  businesses  and home owners, and help them get the best from their  design goals.2. What age were you when you realised you wanted to run your own business?I only really decided to start my own business when I returned from New York City. I worked so closely with my boss over there that I thought to myself, “I could totally do that!”  So I was 26 years old. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 3. Who is your business inspiration?I would have to say my parents. They run a restaurant in Limerick and taught  me  everything  I know about hard work and pushing  yourself to the max to  achieve  t he goals you want. They have always drilled into me that nothing comes easy, and you have to  work your ass off and the rest will follow. I still apply that in  every  new project I take on. I always give it 150%. Other then my cliché answer of my parents, I would have to say another interior designer  â€" Abigail  Ahern. How she built her name and brand is so amazing to me. It just shows that putting the work in can build you into a household name.4. What has been your biggest challenge in business, and how did you surmount it?The biggest challenge for me was overcoming the fact that you’re not always right. I think  especially  in design, people tend to  think they’re right all the time, when in fact  sometimes  your clients  might have better  ideas than  you. It just means that you have to understand their  views and develop them. Listening and learning from the people around you is key to  achieving  the perfect end result. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({} ); 5. Work-Life balance: is it possible? How do you achieve it?NO!  It’s not possible!  Okay… that’s an  exaggeration! It can be a challenge for me to switch off, but when I know I  have a deadline and the work  has to be done I put  everything  on hold so I can  give 100% to my client. But saying all that, Ive  learnt that you do need to take a day or so to  switch  off and relax your brain,  because when you’re  tired, you’re not  as productive.6. What is the first thing you do every day?Check Instagram (@tullioorlandi), then emails, then shower… followed by emails 24/7! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 7. What screen saver picture is currently on your phone?Its the same image  Ive  had for the past two years, A black and white image that says ITS OK. It kind  of applies to  everything  in my  life. Take a minute and realise that ITS OK.8. What is the most important app on your mobile phone, and why?Instagram. I’m kind of  obsessed. I put a lot of work into curating my page with my work, and  I love  seeing people take inspiration  from it, and I love  getting my own inspiration from other interior designers from around the globe. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 9. What item do you never leave the house without,  and why?My phone. Im sure  everyone  says that, but it’s true. My life is in that piece of metal and  glass. But it keeps me connected to everything and  everyone.10. What advice would you give your younger self starting out in business?One thing I would tell my younger self is, stay focused on what’s important, set yourself goals and work towards them, and do not  get offended when you’re wrong. Embrace it and learn from it.image source: tullio orlandi design