Category Archives: social tools
The Path to a Dream Career starts early
Posted by alunbaker
Case Study: Cate Sevilla – BitchBuzz Editor talks about achieving her dream..
There is some fantastic material coming through from a 1000 Heads to raise awareness of WYGU.
The site has been running through its paces for the last month with nearly 400 users. We have had amazingly positive and constructive feedback. So to prove we are listening we will upload a series of upgrades over the next week or so that demonstrates we have taken on board what you have said.
This will be done in preparation for an open Beta stage and a drive to raise awareness and encourage a full spectrum of users to WYGU through the 2nd half of September.
Why should you be interested in this latest phenomena ( I might be getting ahead of myself here, but we believe this is such a critically important area this should become a phenomena )
If you are 14 or over you will be starting to plan GCSE choices and, whether you realised this or not, you, as a young student or your sons or daughters are already making choices that will effect their careers.
By the time you reach 16 you are looking at work, training, or A’levels and now every choice you make has an impact. If you enter the work place we want you to have understood your choices and helped you find something that matches your interest or something you can be passionate about.
If you have done your A’levels and are moving onto University, a poorly informed or considered choice here could have a massive impact on the rest of your life. With such high youth unemployment, with or without degrees, genric course choices need to be considered in the context of what implications or restrictions this may impose.
You have to make yourself competitive and give yourself the best chance of choosing and obtaining your career goals , as the online marketing guru Seth Godin so aptly puts it without the right passion and commitments we are in danger of becoming ‘Wandering generalities instead of a meaningful specifics’
As you live your full social and academic lives at University understand that with such a competitive marketplace for Graduates, you will need to have done your homework, made connections, tried to get work experience, ideally relevant to you careers.
It is no surprise that over 8% of you will drop out in your first year, in debt, and having become disillusioned with your subject/College or potential career choices.
Many of you will be starting on your career path, will want to know how to progress, reaching out to mentors or simply wanting to get the heck out of the misery of a job you hate, having understood as little about it as you did your course choices.
There are others of you who will be established in careers who want to branch out , start on your own or even make a complete career change.
Whichever stage you are at you need help, information and connections to people who can guide you through those choices and tools and information to help you find your passions and interests and how they translate into a meaningful career.
Just as importantly if you are a parent, or guardian, or you have just completed a course, or started work or have been in your career, or company for many years and are happy as Larry ( who is Larry anyway ) then it is so important you ‘give something back.’ Help others make the right choices, or avoid mistakes, or simply learn from your lessons without the need for the scars and abrasions. After all you have been there and have the ‘T shirt’ so now impart some of those pearls of wisdom that in a few minutes a week could change the lives, for the better, for an awful lot of people.
Like all things in life, you should ask the expert or, at the very least, a person who knows ‘what they are talking about’. You would not ask a mechanic to pull your teeth or a Doctor to repair your leaking pipes ( well perhaps) or a policeman to design you a new wardrobe. So why do we expect to get meaningful information and advice about our suitability for roles from people who have not done a course, attended a college or experienced the job role you are interested in. This is something we at WYGU have understood and by using the principles of social networking have spent the last 18 months building a platform that is all about preparing you and supporting you in those difficult and critical choices. This is something you simply can no longer leave to chance if you have any hope of finding a career that you will enjoy, thrive in and that will ultimately make you happy.
A special thanks to Cate Sevilla at BitchBuzz and all the other previous contributers; Sherin Malik at Hi Fashion and an aspiring Politician; Holly Hunt at YummyMummysBeautyBlog and Simon Majumdar at SimonMajumdar.com. These are all making a real contribution, so can you
So if this message applies, resonates, intrigues or even slightly tweaks your interest take a look at wygu.com and get involved with a a truly meaningful cause and a worthwhile social platform that will hopefully have a positive impact on the lives of millions of people, of all ages, around the globe.
Alun Baker 