| Career Development And Change Advice Blog |
| Career Advice, Job Search, Redundancy and Career Change |
You’ve got to hand it to Richard Branson. He keeps on coming up with new ideas. The latest, Virgin Galactic, will send paying passengers into space. In an era in which high oil prices and a shrinking consumer economy are squeezing the conventional holiday industry, Sir Richard has his eye on government support for the space industry to create a whole new concept in tourism. Read the rest of this entry »
I was talking yesterday to a lecturer at Central St Martins, possibly the leadings Arts College in the country. She was telling me how proud she felt working there, of the tremendous wealth of talented students that that were coming through and how she felt we were producing an astonishing new wave of creativity in British Art, Design and Fashion. And yet, she was frustrated. Because on graduation there was nowhere for this talent to go; no jobs sufficiently demanding of their skills, no challenges that could fully engage their creativity. As an economy we are not making any real use at all of the creative and hence commercial opportunities we have. Read the rest of this entry »
The news that staff at the AA will be conducting a strike ballot will come as a surprise. After all, the AA is thought of as one of the great philanthropic organisations; a helpful, friendly team of people always willing to solve whatever technical problem our vehicles may throw at us, irrespective of any personal inconvenience. Of course the AA is no longer really like that, but that is how we perceive it, and perceptions are important. Read the rest of this entry »
A business is a business is a business. That seems to be the thinking behind the appointments of Archie Norman as Chairman of ITV and Adam Crozier as Chief Executive. Archie Norman has previously headed up Asda and Energis, and enjoyed a spell as Tory MP and shadow minister. Adam Crozier has run Royal Mail, the Football Association and Saatchi & Saatchi. Two very successful businessmen with impressive track records. Neither has any experience of TV. But does this matter? After all, a business is a business is a business. It seems not to matter what it does, what matters is how it is run. Read the rest of this entry »
We have just published the Career Energy Guide to the top 10 choices for Career Changers in 2010. I hope you will find it valuable. Read the rest of this entry »
A friend of mine runs a commercial printing company. He took me into his production room yesterday. It is the size of a car mechanic’s workshop, humming with machinery, peoples bustling everywhere, piles of printing on every surface. Situated in the heart of London and with a small dedicated team of workers it is hardly the image that comes to mind when we speak of factories or manufacturing. But it is a factory and that’s what makes it important. Read the rest of this entry »
The 1980s play Six Degrees Of Separation is undergoing a revival at the Old Vic in London. In the play a New York couple believe that they are going to be given parts in a film directed by the actor Sidney Poitier. Their paths and his have crossed, or so they believe, through an unlikely series of connections. Read the rest of this entry »
The Learning and Skills Council has been roundly criticised by opposition parties for its Train To Gain scheme. The scheme was accused of being unrealistically ambitious, of setting wild targets and failing to meet predicted success rates. Government has of course defended the scheme- what else could they do- but in fact the criticism did not go far enough. Read the rest of this entry »
So Cadbury have finally agreed to be sold to Kraft and another British company falls into foreign hands. At least that is how many of the media are presenting the story. And of course, as facts go, it is true. Car manufacturers, utility companies, football teams, banks and now chocolate makers, the list goes on, all under new, non-British ownership. But is it as black a day for Britain and our economy as some commentators suggest? Read the rest of this entry »
For many years the British economy has relied on consumer spending for its growth. However, a study by leading accountancy firm Ernst and Young notes that consumers- ordinary people like you and me- are ‘cashed out’; we have spent too much money and we are tired of being in debt. The study predicts that over the next decade the British economy will be driven by exports, with sales to China being of particular importance. If this is the case, how will it affect the jobs we do, and who will benefit the most? Read the rest of this entry »