How to land a job even if you have no experience

It is the Catch-22 situation that has been frustrating jobseekers for ages: positions requiring experience from applicants, while applicants can’t gain any experience without first having had a job. But there are ways to make oneself employable and gain experience without having landed a position in formal employment first, an education expert says.

7 Principles of negotiating it your way

Here are seven principles for negotiating from “Shake Hands with the Devil” by Frank L. Acuff

1. Do your homework.
   • in order not to be blindsided,

What matters?

When I left home my mother advised me to get a good job with a big company, letting my boss look after me.  This, she promised, would lead to a fulfilled life.  As a student she was told she was South Africa’s next great concert pianist.  Instead she chose to teach.  Growing up, I watched her being ground down in an unsympathetic, unimaginative and bigoted education system.  Still the dream lived on.  I remember often going to sleep to the sound of Chopin’s Fantasie-Impromptu.  Then she stopped playing.  How long can we hold onto a dream?

Dealing with Criticism

The human condition includes blind spots.  Therefore we need feedback.  This means criticism.  Criticism is a core process in delivering quality.  In healthy environments people who create new products invite criticism to ensure that all the bugs and wrinkles...

Break the Code

In the early days of independence in Namibia, President Nujoma travelled in a cavalcade with guards armed to the teeth and quick to protect.  I am not sure how true they were, but there were stories of people having their tyres shot out at road blocks. Everyone knew this.  One day on the road North of Swakopmund, the presidential cavalcade, came up behind some fishermen in a Landrover.  The guards motioned them off the road.  Instead of pulling over and stopping, the fishermen continued to drive, in the rough, next to the president’s car.  The guards shot up the Landrover.

Coaching the Brain

“Seeing is believing” has been well used since it was first recorded in 1639.  However, what we see will probably be different from what someone else sees and the ‘facts’ are not easily interpreted.  Wikipedia, where I found the above nugget, refers to this as a ‘sophistry’.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  Believing is seeing.  And this is confirmed by neuroscience.  The latest thinking on the relationship between neuroscience and coaching is bringing a welcome level of science and empirical research to this issue.

So how does what we know about the brain relate to coaching?

Shades of dependence

One of the most common rules for workshops is “Candour”.  “Speak your mind!”  But this is often the most difficult to practice.  To understand this reticence let’s consider our growth process and development from dependence.

We grow in cycles.

• On entry into the world we see ourselves as part of our mother, “me and mom are one”.
• From five to ten months of age, we learn to manipulate our environment.  We realise we are separate and stretch out for learning.

Renault’s graduate programme excels as springboard for employment opportunities

Renault South Africa’s robust graduate programme is proving a successful bridge for young South Africans making the transition from university to a working career. The automotive company - which invests around R3.4 million annually on non-technical training and development across its head office and dealer network - currently has 19 interns on its graduate programme. The graduate programme is one thrust of the company’s overall training and development strategy which encompasses career development, succession planning and work-readiness.

Maritime Sector ready to meet Govt plan for Job Creation

South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) officially launches its Maritime Skills Development Study.  This critical initiative by SAMSA done in partnership with the Human Resource Development Council South Africa (HRDCSA)  and supported by the Department of Transport (DoT), will be key in the process of skills development and empowerment.

The ongoing issue of unemployment and skills shortage in South Africa has prompted the urgent attention of both public and private sector entities.

Immersed into doing interesting things

Are you actually doing the things that you hold close to your heart? Are you getting good at it and making it happen? Although we have a natural tendency to continually invest ourselves into doing the things we love, we unfortunately sometimes may feel unable or unwilling to immerse ourselves into doing the things that we are passionate about...