Career Advice

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People Skill
· Working with other people in a co-ordinated or complementary way in order to meet an objective or complete a task 
· Holding discussions with people in order to reach a position of mutual satisfaction and agreement about a contentious topic 
· Convincing other people to agree with you, or do what you want
· Accurately understanding orally expressed views or information without mis-interpretation or distortion 
· Assessing and understanding the feelings, attitudes or temperament of other people 
· Changing or modifying your behaviour in response to the needs, wishes or demands of others 
· Establishing a good rapport with strangers, and feeling confident of your position in unfamiliar situations 

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Interests
· Working in an analytical, systematic and rational way 
· Influencing or encouraging people to accept an opinion or product or to behave in a particular way 
· Creating or designing challenging or aesthetically pleasing artefacts 
· Using initiative in a business context; taking an interest in profit and loss; taking responsibility for a business venture 
· Giving opinions or guidance to people by using expert knowledge 
· Directly helping people who are sick or disadvantaged in some way 
· Organising and motivating a working group; planning, controlling and evaluating and taking responsibility for their work 
· Passing on knowledge or expertise to people 
· Collecting, organising, disseminating data, facts or figures 
· Observing, monitoring and understanding physical or biological phenomena, processes and systems 
· Using written or spoken words in an elegant, descriptive or creative way 
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Motivation
· Being involved in work that benefits the well-being or welfare of others 
· Having control over your own work and taking full responsibility for your successes and mistakes 
· Seizing opportunities as they arise without being sure of the outcome 
· Inspiring and motivating people to do well 
· Working on many different problems and issues with frequent changes in work content or style or contacts or location 
· The potential for a high salary or other financial rewards 
· Working with others in order to reach a common goal by sharing ideas, decision making and responsibilities 
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Using Quality Words to get the right job

You may like to think that ideally you should have known about all this before now - so as to have had advance warning to gain the skills required and the relevant work experience. What you will do now is to carry out a review/self-assessment of what it is you have been doing, the skills you have acquired the benefits resulting from your vacation work in a way that will make it easier for you to demonstrate a match for the employers' requirements. Before attempting an application form or CV you should create a self-review, therefore, analysing every aspect of your life and experience in terms of the skills you possess. The process is made simpler if you consider the key events in your life so far.
· Academic achievements. 
· Responsibilities - past/present. 
· Course projects/dissertations. 
· Work experience. 
· Voluntary work. 
· Extra-curricular (clubs, societies). 
Consider each activity in terms of the skills developed and list them. What exactly did you have to do? Work in a team? Communicate on your feet or on paper? Head or manage a group or project? Deal with the public? Solve a problem? Adapt to another culture, perhaps using another language?
Once you have brainstormed your thoughts on paper you can develop and organise them into a clear profile of your skills and achievements. This will help you provide the necessary evidence of meeting the employer's requirements be it on an application form or through your CV.
If you find yourself short of ideas, try this list to start you off. Select from it, add to it and think of examples to illustrate your skills from your experience so far. 

Advising Individuals
Mediating between People
Arranging Social Events
Motivating Others
Calculating Numerical Data
Operating Equipment
Checking for Accuracy
Organising People and Work
Classifying Records
Persuading Others
Coaching Individuals
Planning Agendas
Compiling Fugures
Preparing Charts or Diagrams
Constructing Buildings
Programming Microcomputers
Co-ordinating Events
Promoting Events
Correspondence with Customers
Protecting Property
Counselling People
Raising Funds
Delegating Responsibility
Recording Data
Dispensing Information
Repairing Mechanical Equipment
Drafting Reports
Reviewing
Editing Documents
Running Meetings
Handling Customers' Complaints
Selling Products
Inspecting
Serving the Public
Interpreting Data
Setting up Demonstrations
Interviewing People
Speaking in Public
Managing Staff
Supervising Staff
Maintaining Records
Teaching
Using Computers

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Key Action Phrases And Words
· More than…years extensive and diverse experience in 
· Expertise and demonstrated skills in 
· Extensive and involved academic/practical background in 
· Experienced in all facets/phases/aspects of 
· Knowledge of/experienced as/in 
· Extensive training/involvement in 
· Proficient/competent at 
· Initially employed to/joined organisation to specialise in 
· Provided technical assistance to 
· Worked closely with 
· Constant interaction with 
· Promoted to 
· Succeeded in 
· Proven track record in 
· Experience involved/included 
· Successful in/at 
· Reported to 
· In charge of 
· Now involved in 
· Familiar with 
· Employed to 
· Assigned to 
· Edited 
· Established 
· Formulated 
· Initiated 
· Implemented 
· Managed 
· Instrumental 

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Words to Use

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