Tag Archives: Careers

How To Appear Successful In A Business Environment

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Creating a successful image of yourself is a big part of excelling in the business environment. 

When you look the part, you’re more inclined to feel the part. You’ll have the appearance of someone who knows what they’re doing, coming across as being confident and sure of yourself. Even during tense negotiations or important client meetings, you will still appear as if you are in control.  

Some workers have even found a way to look busy and successful without actually doing anything useful at their place of work. There is a power in a look, and one would be foolish to underestimate it. Of course, we are not recommending putting style over substance; only to fuse the two together in a mutually complimentary fashion.

Therefore, here are a few tips suggested by UtilitySavingExpert.com that will help you appear more successful in a business environment. 

Practice Good Hygiene

A successful image starts at basic hygiene. 

It might seem obvious, but no amount of fancy clothes or bottled odours can mask what is undoubtedly poor personal hygiene. Cleanliness is the starting point from which you can create your perfect persona, from which you can add more touches of character to polish up your air of success. 

Successful people have money, and money buys showers and soaps. Use them both well, because if you skip the wash, then every other effort you make to look successful will fall decidedly flat. Floss your teeth, trim your nose hairs, clean your hair with shampoos and conditioners, and keep your nails trimmed or clipped to a presentable standard too. 

If you can’t perform the basics of day-to-day life, then who can say that you can represent the interests of a company? The essentials can’t be missed, so commit yourself to them for the best results possible. 

Wear Luxury Accessories

It’s the extras that communicate real success, showing your ability to go the extra mile with your money. 

Desiring a quality timepiece? Certified Nomos watches sold by Chronext are all brand-new, backed up by a flurry of great reviews. Fast delivery times are also available, and you can search for over 7,000 excellent watches until you have found one that speaks to you. Such a range of choice is not only to be commended but utilised to the full also. These watches are a fresh update in the industry, being incredibly elegant thanks to their minimalist design, all of which is the will of a younger company. 

Accessories always lend extra dynamics to an ensemble, and the more depth your look has in the business environment, the better. It tells people that you pay attention to details, that you have an appreciation for tradition, and that you’re familiar with making good decisions. 

It’s not crass to celebrate the fruits of your labours, either. There’s a fine line between showing off and enjoying your success, and most accessories can help communicate the latter. Additions such as the watch have practicality as well as style, as do things like glasses, headbands, and bags, all of which have incredibly stylish variations if you search hard enough. Flaunt your success – you’ve earned it! 

Develop Your Body Language

Anyone can wear a fancy suit and flashy accessories. The real question is – will your demeanour help or hinder you in wearing them well?

A suit can only ‘suit’ you if you have the charisma and swagger to pull it off. One glance at the models who adorn them in the broadsheets will tell you that their attitude sells it. The character comes through the clothes, not from them. Adopting your body language when you’re wearing your business attire is what lets people know that you’re not only stylish, but serious about being so. 

Your success shines through in every movement you make. Great body language may include: 

  • Keeping Your Head Up: Averting your gaze to the floor might be perceived as a sign of weakness. Look everybody in the eye, and face everything in your working day head on. 
  • Holding Your Shoulders Back: Slumped shoulders will drag down the rest of your posture with them, likely stooping your back also. Keep them back to a degree, so that they can better accentuate a confidently bold pose. 
  • Uncrossing Your Arms: Many people interpret crossed arms as a sign of tension or confrontation. Keep your arms at your side, and you will have an air of openness about you, which is attractive to all your colleagues in clients for business-related enquires. 
  • Maintaining Handshakes: Much can be communicated in something as simple as a handshake. Early withdrawal can indicate nerves, too late an end might flag an overbearing nature. A strong grip and 2-3 shakes is the best way to land a positive first impression. 
  • Controlling Your Facial Expressions: Business can often be like a game of poker, whereby you don’t want to give away your true feelings on matters so easily. Maintain a pleasant demeanour, smile and schmooze, and master suppressing frowns or contorted expressions. Successful people are never broken. 

There’s a great deal of subtly in body language that can influence what direction things take in business. Some of the tips above may not be particularly revolutionary, but they can be reasons why people fail job interviews or land a bad impression with potential clients. Textbook ideas are textbook for a reason, so keep them in mind. 

Practice Your Speaking

You might think you have been able to speak since you were a small toddler, but business environments require something a little extra in the speech department. 

Clear diction, pronunciation, and a wide vocabulary are all incredibly useful assets. The ability to articulate yourself properly is vital in circumstances such as presentations, performance reviews, or any important series of meetings. Not only are you discussing the topic at hand, but you’re also using persuasion to subtly demonstrate your worth to the clients and colleagues around you. 

Short, minimal responses won’t impress anybody, neither will long-winded speeches that lead to nowhere. Try to land your own speech patterns somewhere in the middle, where you use every sentence to full effect. An aptitude for crisp storytelling and charming turns of phrase could serve you well also. 

Public speaking is now required in many fields. In 2016, Jeannette Nelson who serves as head of voice at The National Theatre, said that “your voice […] carries your history as much as anything”, and that people tend to become more self-conscious when told such a thing. If you embrace that side of things openly, though, you can appear more successful as your confidence radiates through your speech patterns. 

Help Your Colleagues 

It might seem like a rather cheesy point to make but making time for others can be a great way to signpost your success. 

There has been an increase in schemes whereby colleagues can tip each other in “peer-to-peer micro-bonuses”, with small cash rewards being used to build team dynamics and boost performance. Therefore, it could be a good idea to recommend the scheme to your employers or participate in it if it exists in your firm already. 

Using your success for the betterment of others speaks volumes of your character. It shows that you’re a team-player, and that you value the performance of the business more than covering your own back and going home early. If you can sprinkle some of your own good fortune on those around you, you’ll be looked to as a leader, and that’s true success. 

 

Collaborative post with our partner.

 

Quitting My £60k Job Was the Best Decision I Ever Made. Karen Holden Interview

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businesswomen , succeeding in businessKaren Holden is one impressive woman. She was a solicitor at an international practice but saw how female colleagues were ostracised during pregnancy. It made her fear for her career.  Karen also knew that the big corporate firm, would not support her need for a healthy work/life balance and Karen is a woman who wants it all.
Taking matters into her own hands, Karen launched A City Law Firm in 2008, when the UK economy was on its knees and lived off credit cards to survive.
Despite almost going bust in the first year, Karen is now celebrating 10 years in business, has an army of high profile clients and £1m plus turnover.

What was the catalyst that made you quit your job and start your own business?

Three things

  1. I wanted a family at some point in the future and I realised that a women in this sector , having a baby and family, would be difficult. I saw women passed over and treated differently and yet I knew I could still do everything as I have now proven
  2. Clients were becoming numbers and bottom line figures , whereas I still believed in delivering personal service and results
  3. So in short I was becoming disillusioned with the industry and wanted to see if I could do it differently

How do you make it a success?

I deliver what I genuinely believe in and aim to ensure all my team are on board and do the same. We are personal, supportive, specialist and experienced, but friendly and approachable service

I embrace change, disrupt the old fashion traditions, work hard and at the same time enjoy my family time

What have you learned along the way?

To never let anyone or anything stand in your way, learn from your mistakes and be proud of your battle scars.  Having good advisors, mentors and people around you is essential to success – you can never do it alone.

What advice can you give other women?

If you work hard and pick yourself up if a door closes in your face, you can have it all and succeed.  You can earn far more, have quality family life, a nice team to work with and achievable goals if you persist.

How important do you think work/life balance is?

This is fundamental and for me there is no point doing what I do if I cant have quality time with my family and friends.

I work late some week nights, so those nights I can get home early, I spend reading to my son and weekends are precious for us spending time together. Running my own business means I am fortunate to work the hours that suit my family.  If I leave early I can always pick up the work when my son is in bed as flexible working enables me to have it all

Do you think women who want families are still discriminated against? How could we fix this?

Its actually just as bad for men, trying to take paternity leave or time off for their families – we need as a society to embrace family life far more than we currently do in the UK. Likewise though, those with children do need to prove they can work just as well as those without so they don’t put on their colleagues or disillusion employers making it harder for others next in line. Working together employer and employees can often find a good balance that energises both of you which in turn is good for business.

What is your biggest tip for becoming successful?

Never take no for an answer , find another route to where you want to get and fight onwards – BUT always know you will make mistakes and learning from them is essential

1/3 of Females Put Off STEM Careers

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Photo of the Week- Women in STEM Introducing Girls to Engineering Credit-wikimediaA THIRD OF UK FEMALES INTERESTED IN STEM CAREERS ARE PUT OFF BEFORE LEAVING SECONDARY SCHOOL

 

  • 46% OF UK FEMALES AGED 16-24 HAVE CONSIDERED A CAREER IN A STEM INDUSTRY, BUT ONLY 13% ARE IN STEM ROLES TODAY*

 

  • 31% OF FEMALES AGED 16-24 BLAME LACK OF ‘REAL-LIFE’ CAREERS EDUCATION FOR THE LACK OF FEMALES IN STEM CAREERS

 

  • 23% OF FEMALES AGED 16-24 SAY THE WAY STEM SUBJECTS ARE TAUGHT AT SECONDARY SCHOOL PUT THEM OFF A STEM CAREER

 

  • 13% THINK STEM INDUSTRY WORK EXPERIENCE SHOULD BE MANDATORY

 

Debut, the student and graduate careers app has today published a report that reveals the reason why females aged 16-24 are not pursuing career aspirations in STEM industries. The report reveals that despite almost half (46%) of all females considering a STEM career while at school, only 13 percent make it through to fulfilling their plans.

 

The research, which involved 500 females aged 16-24 revealed that their interest in STEM careers ended before leaving secondary school. According to the females asked, the top five ways that secondary schools could fuel their interest in STEM careers more are as follows:

 

1)      Provide ‘real life’ STEM careers education, such as ‘a day in the life of’ videos (31%)

2)      Make STEM subjects more interesting to learn (23%)

3)      Make STEM industry work experience mandatory (13%)

4)      Promote the fact that STEM careers pay better salaries (10%)

5)      Promote the fact that career progression is better in STEM industries (9%)

 

The Debut app, which has been downloaded more than 50,000 times, has seen 88 percent of students register a profile, and from those registered, only 16 percent are females studying or graduating in STEM subjects, compared to 22 percent of males.

 

Since its launch 12 months ago, Debut has showcased 432 STEM roles on the app, however only 34 percent of all applications received were from females.

 

Debut has fast become the recruitment method used by most the UK’s leading graduate employers, includingEY, Microsoft, Barclays, Capgemini, Rolls-Royce, L’Oréal, and General Electric – they benefit from being able to ‘weight’ applications, especially in the STEM industries, to promote equal opportunities.

 

“It would be great to see more STEM employers going into primary and secondary schools, or better still, live streaming direct from their organisations into the classroom, to give young people an insight into what STEM careers involve. Companies would benefit from this time investment in the long-run.”

 

 

Leading Charity Highlights Work of Inspiring Female Researchers

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Leading charity highlights work of inspiring female researchers

International Day of Women and Girls in 2017

As the largest charitable funder dedicated to diabetes research in the UK, leading charity Diabetes UK is putting the spotlight on the organisation’s inspirational female researchers ahead of International Day of Women and Girls in Science* on 11 February.

Diabetes UK is dedicated to supporting the leaders of diabetes research. Currently 54 women scientists funded by the charity are working to change the lives of people with diabetes. Ground-breaking research funded by the charity for longer than 80 years has been instrumental in improving diabetes care and moving us closer to a cure.

Diabetes is a huge and growing problem in the UK which costs the NHS £10 billion every year. If not managed properly, it can lead to causes serious consequences for people living with the condition which can include sight loss, limb amputation and kidney failure.

In the UK, there are more than 4.5 million people who have diabetes of which more than 1 million people have Type 2 diabetes but don’t know they have it because they haven’t been diagnosed. Almost 12 million people are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes UK’s Research Communications Manager Dr Emily Burns said:
“All of our fantastic researchers play a vital role in helping us to know diabetes, and fight diabetes. This International Day of Women and Girls in Science we recognise the achievements of our amazing female researchers, who have had a huge impact on the treatment of diabetes. They will continue to be leaders in the world of diabetes research and care. There are of course many more people doing incredible work and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for everything they do.”

For more information about diabetes, visit www.diabetes.org.uk

femalescientists science careers stem

Medical Training: A Brilliant Career.

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Doctors may be striking all over the country but medicine is still a brilliant, fulfilling and secure profession to go into. You will go to work everyday knowing you are making a difference. Training may be expensive but it is the one profession were you will almost certainly find a job at the end of it. The NHS may be making cutbacks but there are still jobs to be found. From teaching medicine to working in management. People will always need doctors.

Even when you become a doctor your training should not stop. There are a lot of training courses on offer, from the consultant interview course to a medical teaching course the (medical) world is your oyster.

Just have a look at a medical training company and see how you can broaden your horizons. You may also want or need to move into another field. If you would rather move into management then you can do a medical management course or if you want to teach do the teach the teacher course. Knowledge is power and if you want to work in other medical areas all you really need is a training course, hard work and perseverance. Though, if you are already a doctor you will already know that. Let us know how you get on.

First mother and daughter to engineer a double act

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Two female family members from Ayrshire in Scotland are believed to be the first ever mother and daughter to both gain a qualification in a profession dominated by male engineers.

Suzanne Flynn became a Chartered Engineer 35 years ago and her daughter Emily has recently gained the same status. Chartered Engineer is one of the most recognisable international engineering qualifications. Of the 191,224 Chartered Engineers in the UK, only 8,154 (four per cent) are female.

An electrical engineer, Suzanne, 64, is Principal Consultant at Cygnet Solutions Ltd, a professional IT services provider. Daughter Emily, 32, is an RAF Squadron Leader Engineering Officer, who has served in Afghanistan.

Suzanne said: “I am delighted that Emily has gained this prestigious professional qualification. Engineering is one of the most rewarding and varied professions and I am pleased that Emily can look forward to many years of career enjoyment.”

Emily said: “I am really pleased to have been awarded my CEng and proud that my mother and I are the first mother-daughter to do so. Mum has been an inspirational role model. The RAF has ensured that I have been given the opportunity to gain the competences required and is a fantastic place to be an engineer. Hopefully, we can also be the first mother-daughter Fellows as well!”

Both Suzanne and Emily are members of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Europe’s largest engineering professional body which awards Chartered Engineer to more recipients than any other institution.

Michelle Richmond, IET Director of Membership, and herself a Chartered Engineer, said: “Gaining Chartered Engineer status is a massive achievement in its own right. With engineering still a male-dominated industry, Suzanne and Emily join a very select group of females to have successfully achieved the qualification. We believe they are the first mother and daughter in the UK to both achieve this internationally recognised qualification and we are delighted for them.”

Outside of the engineering world, Suzanne’s interests include travel, opera, speaking Italian and beekeeping. Daughter Emily is a keen mountaineer and has been on two expeditions to the Himalayas. She is also Vice Chairman of the RAF Mountaineering Association and has represented the RAF, Combined Services and Scotland Under-18s in hockey.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR THE UK’S FIRST WIE SYMPOSIUM

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TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR THE UK’S FIRST WIE SYMPOSIUM
THE EVENT BRINGS TOGETHER POWERFUL THOUGHT LEADERS TO INSPIRE
AND EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATION

A host of prominent women from the worlds of business, politics, fashion and entertainment
will congregate at the Women Inspiration and Enterprise (WIE) Symposium to lead a series of
panels and workshops designed to equip women with the tools and confidence to succeed. WIE
first launched in New York in 2010, and over the years has featured a stellar lineup of speakers
including Donna Karen, Nancy Pelosi, Queen Rania of Jordan and Christy Turlington. The
UK conference takes place on International Women’s Day, March 8th 2012 and will feature hi-
fliers such as Jo Malone, Jo Elvin, Kathy Lette, Lynn de Rothschild, Lynne Franks, Julie
Meyer, Stella Creasy, Dr Linda Papadopoulos, Celia Walden, Baroness Scotland and
former BT President Julie Woods Moss.

The WIE Symposium will offer a full day of thought-provoking panels, inspirational master
classes and powerful keynote speakers. Tickets are on sale from 23rd January, available at
www.wienetwork.org at £150.00 per person. The day commences with the inaugural WIE50
Power Breakfast – an annual event that will honour 50 of the top female business trailblazers at
the iconic London Stock Exchange.

Subjects to be addressed at the conference include Tools for the Entrepreneur, Women and
Leadership, Women in Media, The Luxury Industry and Financial Tools for Success.
Additionally the Symposium will launch the WIE Mentorship Scheme – a program designed to
provide long term support and advice from leading businesswomen to young women about to
embark on their careers.

The WIE Symposium is the brainchild of television presenter June Sarpong and former film
executive Dee Poku, who conquered New York with an initiative designed to create a platform
for this generation’s women leaders to inspire and empower the next.

June Sarpong and Dee Poku said; “We are incredibly excited about launching WIE in the UK.
The UK is filled with incredible female thought leaders who are already doing their bit to
empower the next generation. Our goal is to harness the legendary creativity and innovation of
London to empower women and girls across the country and help them reach their full potential.”

Kiss offers Aspiring Presenters a once in a lifetime opportunity {Radio}

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Kiss and Blackberry are on the hunt for a new presenter and this time around, it’s not about who you know, but all about personality. The open auditions will tour shopping centres to find their “Chosen One”

Aspiring broadcasters will be given the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of current Kiss talent and former listeners Rickie, Melvin and Charlie, and get their voice heard by millions of listeners on the UK’s number one youth station.

Live auditions will be taking place in various shopping centres around London, kicking off at the Westfield complex on Saturday 15 January. It’s not about having DJ skills, a BRIT Award-winning singing voice or dance moves to put Diversity to shame to enter. All you need is the charisma and confidence to entertain the nation alongside some of the country’s leading radio personalities.

The Kiss Chosen One, Sponsored by BlackBerry will be the first time Kiss have held live, open auditions where members of the public will be able to win a hallowed spot on the award-winning Kiss presenting team.

Audition Dates:

Saturday 15 January: Westfield, White City
Saturday 22 January: Lakeside, Thurrock
Saturday 29 January: Whitgift Centre, Croydon
Saturday 5 February: Central London

As well as these live auditions, entrants will be able to upload their audition online, for the chance to be seen by the judges.

The judging panel will comprise of Kiss Group Programme Director Andy Roberts and a Kiss presenter at each event, including Manny Norté, Rickie, Melvin and Charlie who will shortlist the five best entrants from each heat. From there, a gauntlet of trials and challenges will be set, where the most successful contestant will be crowned The Kiss Chosen One.

Click this link for more information on The Kiss Chosen One, Sponsored by BlackBerry.

And the video below has some handy tips and advice for this competition…