How to set up a Wordpress Blog October 10, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentHere are a few video tutorials that might help you get started setting up your Wordpress Blog. These might be a bit simplistic but could be helpful if you are unsure of what’s possible?
How to create your own template for Wordpress.
How to design a Wordpress Theme - starting in Photosho
How to embed a Youtube video into Wordpress.
Writing a Curriculum Vitae October 10, 2008
Posted by admin in : C.V. , add a commentTo obtain maximum visibility in the job market you need a marketing document that presents your skills, achievements and experience in such a way that it will get you into the ‘yes for interview’ file. A curriculum vitae (CV), like an application form, has this objective. Maximum impact is therefore essential. Most recruiters do not have a lot of time; the average time spent reading a CV is 1.5 minutes.
Uses and Purposes
A CV might be used to:
* reply to advertised jobs.
* make speculative applications.
* develop contacts.
* contact recruitment agencies.
A CV should:
* say clearly who you are, what you are, and what you are offering a potential employer.
* do justice to your achievements and skills.
* say more about your recent experience than your early life.
* be honest and positive, containing nothing negative about you.
* look attractive, be well laid out and easy to read.
* focus on your achievements and not just the tasks you have performed.
Organising a CV
In its final form your CV should:
* be word processed on good quality paper in a clear typeface.
* be concise. Aim for no more than two A4 pages.
* not have any chronological gaps. An employer will regard them with suspicion.
* present education and work experience in reverse chronological order.
* emphasise relevant skills, achievements and experience.
* be truthful; do not be tempted to fabricate, you could come unstuck at interview.
* use descriptive language. Do not make lists.
* use power words, e.g., achieved, produced, established, implemented, formulated, etc.
* be thoroughly checked for accuracy. Show your CV to a tutor, colleague or a Careers Counsellor, and have it checked for spelling, grammar and typing errors.
Skills Identification
Employers recruiting staff will have analysed the skills required to carry out the tasks involved in the job concerned. The key skills required are often identified in job advertisements, job descriptions, or in graduate recruitment brochures. It is essential to be aware of these key skills prior to writing your CV.
Use your Careers Information Room; employers spend time and money preparing information for your benefit, if you do not use this resource it is likely to be evident in your CV and could lose you the chance of an interview.
Prior to compiling your CV you need to identify those skills that you have developed, both within and outside the education system, which could be relevant to the type of work which you are seeking. If you find it difficult to identify your skills a simple way of doing this is to list your education, work experience (full-time and part-time), and your other activities, e.g. interests, significant events in your life, etc. From this list draw out the skills you obtained, for example:
* presenting a paper to course colleagues may indicate communication skills.
* acting as course representative may indicate negotiating and organisational skills.
* working in a pub or shop may indicate the ability to communicate with tact and diplomacy.
Be positive, but be truthful, recruiters will need back-up evidence of skills not just a bland, “I am good at…” statement.
If you are sending a speculative letter and a copy of your CV to a company do try to find out the name of the department head or director. It is rarely productive to send such letters to the Personnel Department.
Remember to keep a copy of your letters and CV or application form, so that you can remember exactly what you wrote and avoid being caught out at interview! If you find that you are not being invited for interviews, review your CV and covering letters (perhaps with the help of a Careers Counsellor - see below) to ensure that you are presenting yourself as well as you can.
Sending your CV by email
If you are applying speculatively to an employer telephone them first to find out whether they prefer a CV in paper form or by email, and if by email as an attachment or as part of the text. Note: their email system may not be able to handle your attachment, or a formatted document. It may be safer to send a well structured, well thought out, plain text version of your CV. Look at www.resumix.com which includes general information on producing a scannable CV.
Visit the www.businessballs.com web site for further extensive information.
Progress Files An Introduction October 10, 2008
Posted by admin in : Progress Files , add a commentWhat is a Progress File?
It is a file, which will serve as a vital tool in the development of your learning throughout your time at Arts Institute at Bournemouth.
Increasingly, employers look for specific examples which provide evidence of the skills and qualities they are seeking, which may be specific to the specialist subject you are studying, or they may be more generic, such as time-management or team work and may include personal attributes such as self-awareness. The Progress File will provide an invaluable record of, and reflection on, your achievements, skills and attributes, and will serve as a resource for future applications.
You may already have had experience of action planning and self-evaluation at school, college or work and you may already possess a Record of Achievement.
The Progress File is intended to build upon this. The file and its contents are yours to add to and keep and will belong solely to you, and your course tutors will provide support towards its completion at points throughout your course. It will help you in your quest to become an independent learner whilst at the Institute, engaging in planning, reflecting on and recording your achievements.
What does the file look like?
Your file may be paper or digitally based, or a combination of both – your course tutors will advise you on the most appropriate method to use.
You will be provided with an A4 folder for you to store the material you gather, but you may include examples of work (etc.) on CD-R(W)s and DVD±Rs as you see fit. It is recommended that you type out the more important aspects of your written notes – particularly the material you wish to discuss with tutors –but use whatever method you deem appropriate (i.e. brainstorms, sketches, photographs, clippings etc.), as it is important that you record the process of your interest in your specialist subject as well as the skills and achievements within it.
NEVER REMOVE ANYTHING FROM YOUR FOLDER (AS OLDER MATERIAL CAN BE REFERRED BACK TO, TO SEE HOW YOU HAVE PROGRESSED)!
In addition, consider a logical order for the contents, whether this is chronological or by subject area, so that information is easy to refer to – for both yourself and your tutors.
Your year tutor is your first point of contact for assistance, but use each other and other members of staff where necessary.
What do I include in my Progress File?
Each student’s Progress File will be unique, but there are some important elements that all should contain.
These are as follows:
• Evidence of skills gained through: study, work (paid or voluntary) other life experiences
• Evidence of self reflection (see the next page for a further explanation of this)
• Evidence of planning
• Evidence of inspiration
The evidence will be provided by the following, which will be gathered at various points during your course
• Assessment record sheets with tutor feedback
• Your own reflection and planning after assessment
• Self evaluations you complete as part of your course work
• Peer evaluation. This takes a variety of forms at AIB, it may be verbal (at crits or group tutorials) or it may be written. You will find it useful to record what your peer group says, or keep a record of what is written to inform your own self- reflection.
• References from employers, work experience or work placement providers (if appropriate)
• Action plans
• Curriculum Vitae (you will have to produce a CV at various points in your course, it is a good idea to keep a copy at each stage to help you see and reflect on progress)
• Your own end of year Reflection.
• Transcripts of your grades
You may wish to keep a record of your assignment briefs in your file to remind yourself of the projects you have done during your studies. You can then easily relate your assessment feedback and your own action planning to these.
What is self-reflection?
Self-reflection is a key part of your development as an undergraduate, and is a process that you will begin to focus on throughout your course.
Your progression into Higher Education (HE) means that you will critically assess your own skills and achievements in order to develop the necessary abilities that are expected once you graduate and continue on to postgraduate study or secure suitable career paths. A Progress File will allow you to record these specific areas of development, and therefore help you look back on what you have (and have not) achieved so far – in order to continue forward along a suitable path. This practice is called reflection, and often carries a considerable proportion of marks in assessed work.
The work that you undertake on the degree will help you fine-tune your reflective skills through critical analysis and evaluation of all the processes you will involve yourself in. Questioning your motives and intentions, and the expressive processes and language you use to define them, is a key part of reflection.
The application of reflective thought will become evident in how you re-appraise ideas, and support your own theories through contextualising them with research material you have generated. By continually testing your own judgement against suitable criteria, stronger outcomes in your work will be achieved.
Through this reflective activity, you will notice an increase in awareness of the world around you, as well as what skills you can bring to a situation and the affect it has on your work.
Why is my Progress File important?
It is designed to help you:
• Become more aware of skills you already have;
• Identify and develop those you will need in order to succeed with your academic studies and in future employment;
• Provide a useful source of information and evidence when applying for jobs or further study;
• Focus your thinking about career options and build a strong CV;
• Evaluate your abilities and aptitudes;
And most importantly:
Reflect upon your progress and your longer-term plans, at regular intervals. This will be achieved through:
• Reflection Good reflective practice means thinking about what you do, why you do it and how it can be done even better next time.
• Planning This follows on naturally from reflecting on your work and will involve thinking about how you can build and develop existing skills and develop new ones
• Recording As you complete your Progress File it will grow into a record of achievements and will serve to remind you of the progress you have made
When am I expected to complete my progress file?
The simple answer is you don’t complete it. A good progress file will evolve into a very powerful tool in your development, as it can be the basis for planning your entire career – acting like a personal CV. This type of document is often referred to as Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and these are used within large companies (such as the NHS) in order to allow staff to work towards personal targets and seek promotion opportunities. The Progress File you collate as a student here at the Institute will, therefore, begin to allow you to identify suitable career opportunities based on you own self-reflected study of your key strengths.
During the academic year, there will be key opportunities to add material to your progress file – particularly critiques (‘crits’), tutorials and assessment feedback. Tutors will remind you when these periods occur, and these may be timetabled in as tutors see fit. Also, when a new area of study that interests you (inside or outside of academic study), this is also worth recording, as a combination of personal and academic achievement will allow you to highlight potential avenues of work.