One Stop Jobs

If you have been in a job for a while and are finding as you get older that you are no longer able to cope with either the physical or mental demands of the role you may want to explore the different options that are open to you. This is quite a common issue, and some companies are accommodating and may be able to move you into a different role within the company however if this is not the case it may be that you need to look for different employment to protect your health and wellbeing.

The first thing to do is to honestly look at the skills you have and whether they are transferable to another role. For instance, if you worked in a customer facing role in a bank and enjoyed this aspect of the role you may be able to use those skills to work in retail or as an outreach worker for a charity. Good organisational skills are valuable in lots of roles and are easily transferred to different jobs.

If you are in receipt of your pension and so do not need to bring in a regular income from employment it is worth looking at the voluntary sector as they are always desperate for skilled people to offer their services. This can be tremendously rewarding and working in a team brings with it the friendship and camaraderie that we often value in our senior years.

Over the next couple of weeks more and more businesses will be looking to take on extra staff to cope with the Christmas period. It is not only shops and retail industries that look to employer extra help around this time of year. Delivery companies, manufacturing business and the hospitality industry all need additional staff members to help cope with demand.

If you have not already then you should try and ensure that you have an up to date CV ready that you can send off as soon as a vacancy becomes available.

When a job is advertised, they may be inundated with applications, so it is important that you get yours in soon to allow you to be considered for the position. It is also very important that your CV is correct and professional.  If they do have a large number of applicants, then they may have a very strict process in order to eliminate a large number of candidates quickly. Making a simple spelling mistake could be all that is needed to get your removed from the process and not even have the opportunity to attend an interview to show the employer what you could offer and how well suited you would be. 

When you start a new job it’s totally normal to feel out of your depth in the first few weeks. Some people call this ‘imposter syndrome’ as you may feel like you don’t belong. It always takes time to adjust both in your new environment and in your new role so it’s important to give yourself time.

When you start a new role it’s best to try to shadow someone else and take lots of notes about the procedures you’ll be doing. This will make you look enthusiastic and eager to learn.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and when your unsure get someone to check your work for you.

Most of us feel a bit overwhelmed with taking on all the pressure a new job presents but if you take it in your stride, you will find that you find your feet in no time.

If you are finding things difficult after the first couple of months have passed then you may want to discuss things with your manager to see if the role is really the right one for you, but more often than not it just takes time to settle in. You have to believe you can do it and give it all you’ve got.

For many of us we have gotten used to the new normal of working from home every day, however, with many offices now re-opening the dreaded work commute is looming over us.

The average person in the UK spends up to 60 minutes commuting daily so how can we really make the most of this time. If you travel by train, you may decide to start doing bits of work once onboard, like prepping for the day ahead or checking through emails. However, this isn’t possible if you drive to work. Instead, you may want to use this time to relax and mentally prep for the day ahead. You may want to have a coffee to drink during your journey and play some of your favourite music or listen to an interesting podcast.

It’s not advisable to take phone calls during your commute, even if you have a hands-free setup, as it can be very distracting and mean that you aren’t giving your full focus to the road.    

Joining a car-pool group can be nice to as by sharing the commute to work you can add a bit more of a social interaction to your day.  Getting stressed out with your commute will only make you have a bad day so take a deep breath, try to relax and enjoy the time-out a daily commute gives you.

Many people are still working from home currently as the benefits of reduced travel costs to the employee and the need for less office space for the company make it a good thing all round. If you are working from home it is important to organise your workspace and time so that you can be as efficient as possible.

Separating your workspace from your living space is the first step to take. Even if it is just a desk in a corner of the living room where anything to do with work is kept. This will help you to switch off from work when you move away from that area. Some people have been very inventive and have used under the stair’s spaces for a desk and others have built a shed or summer house in the garden to use.

The next thing to consider is giving yourself a timetable to work to so that it gives your day some structure. Starting work promptly in the morning and having a definite finish time will help you to work more efficiently knowing that you have a certain time in which to complete particular tasks.

Finally, it is essential that you stop for a lunch break each day and possibly go for a short walk or just sit outside for half an hour. It is tempting to just work straight through the day but health wise it is important to eat and drink regularly to keep blood sugar levels constant and to enable you to carry out tasks well.

Getting on in a career can be challenging especially if you are in experienced so what are the best ways to move forward along your chosen career path?

Transferable skills such as communication and organisation rather than specific qualifications seem to be in demand at the moment which is a bonus for those wanting to work in a particular field who do not have the qualifications normally associated with that role. Making sure that these transferable skills are exemplified in your application form is essential to getting that promotion or new role. Networking with others in the same field can open up huge possibilities for future prospects with social media making this ever easier.

Learning whilst earning is a popular way to get ahead as it removes the financial limitations suffered by some candidates. Apprenticeship schemes are an ideal way of doing this and can often lead to an offer of employment at the end of the course.

Being flexible is an essential factor when looking for employment and as more and more people are finding that working from home has advantages, both financial and social, the ability to be able to work in this way and still be productive is much sought after by employers.

Teachers have been amazing throughout this pandemic. When most people were sent to work from home, they had to continue going in to school to teach keyworker students. They also may have had to teacher children that were being home schooled as well as having to make plans for their own children. Not many teachers were given any extra pay or incentives to do this, they just had to accept that it was part fo their job. A job that is already very stressful became even more stressful over night and many schools were simply not set up for this way of working.

Teachers are needed more than ever at the moment and the government are even hinting about asking some retired teachers to come back, so is teaching a good career to get in to? Teaching can be extremely rewarding and there are some really great perks but it is also very often high pressured, long hours and sometimes very challenging. If you like a challenge and do not mind putting in extra hours after the school day then teaching may be the perfect career for you. If you like to have a job that you can completely walk away from when your day finishes then it may not be the right choice.

If you are looking for a temporary job or just need to find any work fast, then now may be the perfect time. During the run up to Christmas many retailers start to take on extra staff to cope with the increased number of customers that come through their doors. Often these placements become available around October time and may last until January. Some of these positions will only be temporary but often they can lead to a more permanent position.

If you are looking for a permanent position, then you may decide to take a temporary one to start with. This doesn’t mean you cannot continue to look for a permanent placement in the meantime. It is always worth asking if there may be the opportunity of a permanent placement in the near future as even if they do not have anything available immediately, they may be happy to put you on a list and contact you should something come up that they feel you may be suited to. This is why it is important to prove yourself and give it your all even in a temporary job as you never know where it may lead in the future.

Being able to keep yourself motivated when looking for work is something that is important but very often hard to do. If you have been on the search for a job for some time now, you may start to feel like giving up and that the search is pointless. It may eb that you have no choice but to work so although you may feel like giving in, it is simply not an option.

There are many websites out there dedicated to helping people find jobs. They may sometimes have the same job advertisements, where the recruiter has posted to various sites, but many will only be available through one site. It’s therefore worth checking them all every day. If you are applying ofr lots of different vacancies then you may start to struggle to stay on top of them all. To help you manage which jobs you have applied for, why not create a spreadsheet to add the details on to. You can make a list of the websites that you wish to check for the job post then below list all the jobs you have applied for, the date you applied and if you have sent them your CV. You can also update this if you get invited to job interviews etc.