Quo Vadis Opinions

Recently I was working with a group of Irish people and as part of the session we looked at what changes they had experienced during their working lives. Usually in this part of the session the group come to the conclusion that change in working life is constant and this is going to continue.
In this particular group though, many people complained that it just was not fair, change was happening because too many immigrants were coming in and they were “too flexible” which meant they were taking Irish people’s jobs. So it was not a complaint about immigrants as such but a complaint about flexibility, their job requirements kept changing.

Blaming others and reducing your own skills
Then over Christmas I was chatting to an Irish clinical nurse manager (average salary €50,000) and when I asked her about her job, she told me that the biggest part of her job was rostering between 30 to 40 nurses. She spent most of her time assigning nurses to different departments which in this particular area worked five days a week from 9am to 5pm.
I expressed surprise that a highly paid medical professional was doing administrative work which could be done by a properly trained school leaver. (HSE average salary €30,000). Simply develop a chart which lists the nurses and their specialities down one column and the departments at a row at the top. If you wanted to get very efficient an excel spreadsheet would do the job.
However this nurse was adamant only someone with her skills  could do this job. She said when the nurses strike took place, administrators took over and it was a disaster. Though she did accept that people had not been properly trained, she could not see that it was  misusing her skills by spending so much time doing administrative work.

“Clerical staff did not have the motivation to get it right, they could not be trusted”

She’s reducing her own skills in medical care by spending so much time in administration and when inevitably the hospital management get round to recognising this, she will be less employable elsewhere. Maybe she might be at retirement age given the speed at which hospital managements move, when that change actually happens. However this hospital is facing severe cutbacks so the chance of saving €20,000 might mean they will move faster.

Only the flexible survive 
We live in high-change times. As Charles Darwin said,

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.

It’s  human nature to resist change and to blame others, whether it’s immigrants or administrators.
However successful career managers take responsibility for their own careers and making sure their skills stay up to date. This means being constantly open to change and being flexible.

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 Irish people are great talkers, but often we are not great listeners.  As this well known very funny video clip  shows, Captain Hancock could have avoided appearing rather stupid if he’d asked a few open ended questions. Instead he made an assumption which proved to be incorrect.

So don’t make assumptions about the other person, unless we’ve clarified all angles. We can do this  using active listening, which improves working relationships and thus improve  our career prospects. Some tips follow.

We have two ears and one nose for a reason!
Your listening and talking time should be in the same proportion.

Pay attention.
 Recognise that what is not said also speaks loudly.
o Look directly. at the person speaking
o Put aside distracting thoughts. Don’t mentally prepare a rebuttal!
o Avoid being distracted by what’s going on  around you
o Look at  the speaker’s body language, is it angry, relaxed etc
o Refrain from side conversations when listening in a group setting.

Show that you are paying attention
o Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.
o Nod occasionally.
o Smile and use other facial expressions.
o Note your posture and make sure it is open and inviting.
o Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like yes, and uh huh

Show you understand
As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said. This may require you to reflect what is being said and ask questions.
o Reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. “What I’m hearing  you saying is…” and “Sounds like you are saying…” are great ways to reflect back.
This is also a good way to give yourself time before you respond to a particular issue.
o Ask questions to clarify certain points. “What do you mean when you say…” “Is this what you mean?”
o Summarise the speaker’s comments periodically.  “In summary, what I heard you say was…

Respond Appropriately.
Active listening is a model for respect and understanding. You are gaining information and perspective. You add nothing by attacking the speaker or otherwise putting him or her down.
o Be candid, open, and honest in your response
o If you need time to consider your own response, use statements like
You’ve given me  something to think about, I’ll come back to you on that  or
That’s very interesting. I’ll need time to consider it.
o Assert your opinions respectfully.
o Treat the other person as he or she would want to be treated

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Creative Careers Back Online
Ireland’s jobs and opportunities website for the arts/creative sector is re-launching with an extended service including an Careers Chat Forum, Training | Seminar section, Classifieds section and an RSS feed for the latest jobs and opportunities. 
 Go to creative careers website

National Learning Network: FAS funded courses
National Learning Network is Ireland’s largest non-government training organisation. It provides a wide range of certified Vocational Training Courses throughout the Country. They provide the following FAS funded courses.

The Advance Program is designed to provide participants with the necessary Skills Knowledge and Attitude to make realistic vocational choices for training and employment, based on a clear understanding of their strengths and needs, relevant to the availability and appropriateness of training and employment.

Fresh Start Offers support to participants in deciding what kind of career they are interested in, finding out what kind of job they would be good at and finding out about educational and further training options

Employer Based Training Programmes are provided through employers in the workplace and conducted by Host Company Trainers, with the objective of preparing trainees for employment of their choice.
National Learning network

The Institute of Chartered Accountants has introduced a new entry route aimed at mature students. This is called the Elevation Programme. There will be an  Evening Briefing - 30th July at the  ICAI Dublin office
ICAI representatives will be available to answer any queries on the Elevation Programme on 30th July, 6pm to 7:30pm in ICAI Dublin office, Burlington Road. See Further details on event website

Update from Aontas on the reintroduction of fees.
“Minister for Education & Science, Batt O’ Keefe TD circulated his report on the reintroduction of third level fees to cabinet last week. While the 110-page report lists five possible options for a new system of student contributions, the Minister has signalled his support for an Australian-style student loan scheme.
According to media reports, the loans advanced to student to pay fees could be repayable – possibly through the taxation system – once they have reached an income threshold after graduation. Sources stress that the income threshold may be higher than the €18,300 used for illustrative purposes in the report.
Other features of the report include:
• The loan scheme, while costing €75 million per year initially, could yield up to €380 million in revenue once fully operational;
• Discussions have already taken place with the National Treasury Management Agency and Revenue about their possible role in the operation of the student loan scheme;
• The student registration charge – currently averaging about €1,500 – could be absorbed into the loan, leaving students with no “up front” payments; higher education would become “free” at the point of use for the individual student.
• Part-time students, who currently pay full fees, could secure the student loans;
• Discounts would be given to student who pay off the debt before it is due and possibly for those who pay fee charges up front;
• An interest rate of 3 per cent could apply to the debt;
• Increased emigration will increase the risk that “some element of student loans will not be repaid”.

Update from  Aontas  on new college places
“The provision of 2,500 new places on part-time undergraduate and postgraduate courses for people who are unemployed is part of the Government’s efforts to retrain and upskill the labour force. 1,500 (announced in the April Supplementary Budget) of the new places will be on a range of undergraduate certificate and degree-level programmes at levels 6 to 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). The remaining 1,000 places will be available for unemployed graduates to undertake part-time postgraduate diplomas or conversion programmes at levels 8 to 9 on the NFQ. All 2,500 places will be on courses that support the goals of the Government’s “Smart Economy” plan and particularly those relating to specific skills needs of exporting sectors identified by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs.

Details of the third level institutions providing these places and information on how to apply for a place will be announced in the coming weeks. The information will also be made available through local FÁS and Department of Social and Family Affairs offices.

The scheme will be open to people who have been on the Live Register for at least six months on 1 September 2009, or who have been awarded Statutory redundancy and have an entitlement to a relevant social welfare payment. One of the conditions for people participating on these new part-time places is that they continue to be available and seeking work. Once they satisfy these conditions they will be entitled to retain their social welfare payments. Where they receive an offer of full-time work they must take up this offer of employment. Tuition fees will not be charged for these courses, though postgraduate students may be required to pay a small charge. (The max is €500 – see HEA for more information) Students will not be required to pay the €1,500 registration fee. “

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Nearly another  month later and the FAS client I talked about here, is still waiting to hear when the course is going to be run. He ’s waiting 9 months now. I can see he’s now’s heading for mental health problems as his self esteem goes down every day he remains unemployed.

The Goverment talk about reducing the ranks of the unemployed, but their actions indicate they’re not really serious about this.

For example to avail of the community enterprise scheme you must be unemployed for a year. Why do you have to draw benefits for a year to become eligible?

Then the back to work education allowance which allows you to go back to college and retain benefits,  is also only available if you’ve been unemployed for a year. Full time college you currently get your fees paid, part time college you pay your own fees, which many people can’t afford to work and retrain.
So we put serious obstacles in the way of people who want to upskill and in the meantime Trinity College are unable to recruit highly skilled people. Full story here

A recent client who needs to retrain is unable to avail of this because “I’d go mad if I’d nothing to do”.  Yet he  earns little more than the dole!  Fortunately, due to his area of interest, I was able to suggest some low cost options, which he is now following up on.

There’s a firm body of research which indicates forced  unemployment is bad for your health- both physical and mental. So we’re going to see more spent on health care  because FAS is inefficient and nobody cares.

After all if you’re unemployed,  your time is worth nothing to anyone who can make a difference.

A funny recruitment video poking fun at people who overuse big words! (from recruitment view)
Click here to go to website

I wrote previously about video CV’s.  In America, college students are using them as part of their college applications. UGH! 
Now a new Irish website allows you to upload your own video CV. Currently it’s aimed at graduates. Wonder will it catch on?
Click here to go to website

Another recruitment company specialising in high skilled part time or contract  work.
Click here to go to website

Sigmar recrutiment are now moving into provision of interim managers. A sign of the times? Can’t find anything on their website though.
See previous blog on interim management here

Listening on the radio to people who have been made redundant, some  talk about emigrating as if they’ve no other choices.
Sometime it appears they’ve made the choice to emigrate rather than retrain. Yet retraining is often a very viable option.
For example, many electricians being made redundant could consider taking up the FAS Loughlinstown course on intelligent wiring. Intelligent wiring is where you wire up a building as it’s being built, so you can put electrical appliances or  computer equipment anywhere. Does away with the need for trailing cables. There’s not many people in this line of business and there’s a huge demand for buildings which are “intelligently wired”.

Early in 2009, all residential buildings being sold will  require an energy assessment.  Again not many people are trained as energy assessors, so this is a good opportunity for any one with a building background or DIY  interest to retrain for a new career.

Employers and employees need to realise constant training is now needed. Compared to other countries we’re quite poor in our approach to training.  According to a recent report the ratio of hours spent in job related training and workplace initiatives in Ireland was just 12% compared to the OECD average of 25%.  This attitude shows, for example, many companies are failing to fully exploit information technology according to a recent PWC report. (Can’t find the link on the PWC web site)

Working with some clients recently, I was surprised to realise their computer skills were quite limited.  This is making their working lives difficult as they are unable to access job related information quickly and must keep searching through paper files even though the information is on a computer system.

I needed to get a job done quickly, but when I rang potential suppliers, they had no voicemail- simply a “please ring back later message” or worse the phone simply rang out.  And no, I did not ring back later, simply went to the next supplier. 

These days not being able to use  technology in the workplace  is like not being able  to drive. You can get by without driving, but it makes life a lot more difficult and frustrating.

The same applies to technology such as computers and phones. From personal use, such as paying your motor tax on the internet,  to getting the work done faster,  the ability to use technology are essential. Obviously if you’re reading this your’re probably internet savvy but are you able to

1. Use all the basic functions of  a word processor
2. Use all the basic functions of a spreadsheet
3. Understand about saving documents in  directories and sub directories
4. Use the search function in all the programs you use
5. Confidently figure out how to solve a problem when you get stuck on a computer task
6. Set up and change the voicemail on your phone
7. Use teleconferencing(meetings held over the phone)
8. If you’re job hunting, able to put your profile up on  www.linkedin.com or job boards

If you can’t do all the above, then you may be limiting your productivity in the job. Even on building sites, I’ve noticed they’ve started using handheld scanners so it’s not just office based jobs where PC literacy is required.

The European Computer Driving licence (ECDL) is the driving licence of computer proficiency, whilst this is not essential, being able to use a computer confidently is.  So consider taking  a course if you’re not confident on a computer, or just spend time playing around on the computer.

If you don’t have a computer at home, your local library provides free access usually for an hour at a time. Or you can win your own notebook PC by taking just  takes just a few minutes to complete am Aontas, the Irish adult education  survey on your attitude to adult education, here
or on nightcourses  from the 10th to the 27th October. 
All entrants to the survey will be entered for a free draw for a notebook computer once they leave their details.

So have you started thinking about training, if you’re worried about job security?

If you found this post interesting you might also like these posts.
Redundancy is not the end
Padraig Harrington as a role model
Facing redundancy

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Was at an interesting talk by Mick  Rock of ACT now. 
He was talking about the power of beliefs and how important it is to understand our own beliefs.
He cited the example of the lotto winner who thought he was unlucky because the day he won €4 million some else picked the exact same number- he felt he should have got €8 million !
This was contrasted with the person with a broken leg. He felt he was lucky, because he only broke his leg falling down the stairs not his neck! Guess which guy was happier?

Henry Ford made the following comment
“if you believe you can, you’re right, if you believe you can’t, you’re right”

This does not mean that if you follow your dreams or set targets, you won’t experience failure, what it means is you won’t let failure stop you.
Reading the “The new Alchemists”  by Charles Handy which is all  about people who create something out of nothing shows that.  All of the people interviewed had experienced failure, whether it was failing exams, or even not sitting them, going bankrupt,  being made redundant.  What they all had in common was they used that failure to learn and keep going. They believed  they could.
Do you believe in your self, or do you hold beliefs which hold you back?

For a limited time, Mick and the Institute of  Business Analysis and Consulting have provided a questionnaire to help you analyse some of your own self beliefs and an explanation of why these beliefs can cause trouble.
This is free, no registration required and you can download here
(PDF files at bottom of screen)

The higher your score, the more likely you are to have that particular  belief.

Hopefully if you do have beliefs which are not helpful to you , this can provide some insights.

The new Alchemists book is also worth a read if you need some inspiration. It’s not too heavy.
 
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Usual angst and noise in the media about the Leaving cert this week. Said I would n’t write about it, but then heard two stories about students being so anxious , they vomited with only one student  making it to the toilets. Oh dear.

The fact, is that if you’ve got to the stage of actually sitting the Leaving Cert, you’re already a winner. So keep this in mind.
Also  as the stop grade inflation website shows your chances of scoring high grades gets higher  and higher.

Colleges are now chasing students, as can be  seen from the amount of ads in the media.
If I hear that ad  about UCD  horizons again…
It’s not as flexible as they  would have you think, so do examine the modules and make sure you can actually choose the ones you want.
Personally, I think UCD  should spend some of this advertising money on setting up a private  bus service from west Dublin to UCD.  Had one client who dropped out because of a 4 hour commute from Tallaght!
Did suggest this to them. But no response so far.  But if Maynooth can do it, why not UCD?

Anyhow, if you don’t do as well as expected  in your Leaving Certificate, you can still access a variety of courses which can lead onto good qualifications.
For example DIT have a  electronic and computer systems certificate which accepts all qualified applicants  and subject to gaining a distinction you can progress to a degree.
There’s plenty of post leaving cert courses which can also allow you to progress to a degree.

Even in that pinnacle of high points,  medicine, all is about to change. Currently to do medicine directly requires  approximately 580 points. You can of course now do a post graduate in medicine in Limerick and Trinity (fees payable but given the good salaries of doctors you’ll have no problem getting a loan)

From next year (2009)  however, entry to medicine will require completing  a psychometric test and a minimum level of  480 points.
I’ll post separately on the details, as this is a major change.

So yes, the Leaving certificate is important, but it’s not a matter of life and death. There’s plenty of other options and your exam success or failure does not dictate how your life will proceed contrary to what you might hear.

Remember ,Richard Branson “pretty hopeless” in school. Voted most intelligent person in England, one year.  Julian Richer “not very clever” (despite having a Father who was a Fulbright scholar at Harvard) but now runs over twenty successful businesses with an entry in the Guinness Book of records.

Your reaction to your results is more important. Label yourself a “failure”, then yes you’ll probably will be.  Resolve to learn from the experience, keep believing in your self  and take some action towards goals you’ve decided on, and you’ll go far.

Other posts you might find relevant
Pick right CAO course for you
Look beneath surface - CAO trends
CAO under attack
CAO 1st March deadline
CAO 1st February deadline

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A really bad day at the office with Daniel Powter (video track)
Click here to go to external link

Travel lodge hotel are using  speed dating interviews in England.  Yes 3 minutes to make a good impression in your interview! That explains why some of their hotels are so bad!
(The link is on the CIPD website, but you need a subscription)

Regular readers will know I’ve warned you about putting your full details on job sites several times. (click here and here
for previous posts)
Irish Jobs admitted their web site was hacked and job seeker’s personal details stolen. At least they’ve emailed the people affected, so if you’re one of them, you should have got an email at this stage.
Full story click here to go to external link

  
Relaunchers is the new term for people coming back into the workforce. More men are doing this, but they face many barriers
Click here to go to external link

Intel and Maynooth join up to offer a Masters in Engineering for Intel staff.
Click here to go to external link
This is becoming more and more common, 3rd level institutions offering specific courses for employers. For example DIT do a retail degree for Musgroves (I think) with Dublin Business School doing a specific business studies degree for Lidl.  And  if you get on this you actually get paid whilst you study.  

Students offered opportunity to study at International Space University
Click here to go to external link
Don’t laugh Ireland actually has a good record in this area and it’s not just Colm Meeany as Myles O Brien in Star Trek. Yes, I used to be a closet Star Trek fan, but then the kids started slagging it off anytime I watch so I just ended up laughing at it. Another thing they don’t tell you about when you have kids. They ruin your childhood memories!

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