Looking for a job when you are over 50: Links: Thank you to everyone who has given me a link on their sites.....please take a look and see if you find a useful service !!
Free Website Monitoring 24x7x365 Comprehensive website moniting feat...
Friday, 31 August 2012
On the move !!..more job hunting tips and advice on Facebook
The subject of benefit entitlements is very, very important to older people with health issues having to look for work, indeed the loss of benefits, problems with claims can lead to a level of debt and poverty that impacts hugely on the ability to concentrate on looking for work...so, as not to clash or distract with the job search resources which will become available as the site develops and grows..the benefit information is on the move !!!.....to Facebook !! Looking for a job when you are over 50.....at Facebook.....Also lots of tips and job hinting resources....looking for a job when you are over 50.... at Facebook
photo credit: cackhanded via photo pin cc
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Job hunting tips
http://www.magportal.com/c/bus/job/
http://uk.askmen.com/money/career/job-hunting-tips.html
Valerie
http://uk.askmen.com/money/career/job-hunting-tips.html
Job Hunting Tips
7 Job-Hunting Tips For New Graduates..(and everybody else too !! )
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
140 Online Business Niches | SEO BlackHat: Black Hat SEO Blog
140 Online Business Niches | SEO BlackHat: Black Hat SEO Blog
“Where are people making money online right now?”
Here’s a list of some of the online business sectors that are profitable right now:.....
“Where are people making money online right now?”
Here’s a list of some of the online business sectors that are profitable right now:.....
Monday, 27 August 2012
But here comes another.....a blog not to miss...
I previously wrote a piece recommending the blog The Bloggers bulletin, and just like buses..good blogs , websites, helpful links etc all come together.... !!
Here is .....http://www.business-opportunities.bizhttp://www.business-opportunities.biz/ links to Dane Carlson 's business Opportunities....
A favourite link that made me smile (and boy don't we need it when job hunting or trying to start a business) is http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2012/08/24/200-best-entrepreneurship-quotes-ever
200 Best Entrepreneurship quotes ever.....eg....The secret of getting ahead is getting started. – Agatha Christie....
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. – Albert Einstein...and I have discovered that both logic and imagination are great helpers ..... so I agree here with Einstein....!!
After the post follow loads more links eg Related Businesses in the Directory.....although a lot of those are currently in Beta mode but coming later I expect....many directories do not allow you to list a site which is not complete but in that case I wonder how any site would ever get listed anywhere as they are all works in progress and people lose interest in sites with no updates or new news..... If you don't keep your site updated other people in your niche will update theirs. There is a place for static sites of course but it certainly tends to not be the case with blogs which are intended to be updated and interactive....But this site has masses of great content and is a work in progress with regular useful resources added....
Under Related posts I found a seasonal article....http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2011/06/14/summer-to-do-list-for-entrepreneurs/ and another http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2006/03/16/carnival-of-entrepreneurship-4/ ...going back to 2006 ( I think this could be one of those sites where you never get to the end of it and read it all but it is a great pick and mix of resources) .....eg http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2012/08/23/top-50-books-entrepreneurs/ which is some book suggestions for entrepreneurs.....here are some of my own suggestions available on my site....via Amazon..for further ideas go to....my looking for a job shop page.....
The blog you must not miss !!!
Now I am sure every blogger must wish they got their blog commented on and recommended with a heading like I have given this....The blog you must not miss !!!.... this is a blog everyone in the niche of business/ recruitment blog would aspire to...although of course every blog is going to be different . The character of the blog author, and the platform they use, plus what they are trying to put across, choose to share and publish will see to that.....but this is a really good blog.... thebloggersbulletin.com
Unfortunately the blog is copyright and it seems has no sharing buttons for its articles but examples include.....
http://www.thebloggersbulletin.com/2012/08/15/tips-to-make-your-online-job-application-powerful/
How to make your online job application powerful....
http://www.thebloggersbulletin.com/2012/07/27/how-to-cope-with-unemployment/
How to cope with unemployment....
There are archives of articles going back to August 2009, which include
http://www.thebloggersbulletin.com/2009/08/28/blogging-way-new-job/
sadly, many of the archived articles are still very relevant, certainly useful.... so there are no out of date links...
Blogging my way to a new job or not ?? A question that I'm sure many bloggers ask themselves....
There is also a directory style list of other blogs which are in the network of this one,,these blogs are those written by authors and contributors to www.thebloggersbulletin.com, so they got a mention and link...this looks like being one of the best and most helpful relevant blogs I have seen to recommend....
Valerie
Unfortunately the blog is copyright and it seems has no sharing buttons for its articles but examples include.....
http://www.thebloggersbulletin.com/2012/08/15/tips-to-make-your-online-job-application-powerful/
How to make your online job application powerful....
http://www.thebloggersbulletin.com/2012/07/27/how-to-cope-with-unemployment/
How to cope with unemployment....
There are archives of articles going back to August 2009, which include
http://www.thebloggersbulletin.com/2009/08/28/blogging-way-new-job/
sadly, many of the archived articles are still very relevant, certainly useful.... so there are no out of date links...
Blogging my way to a new job or not ?? A question that I'm sure many bloggers ask themselves....
There is also a directory style list of other blogs which are in the network of this one,,these blogs are those written by authors and contributors to www.thebloggersbulletin.com, so they got a mention and link...this looks like being one of the best and most helpful relevant blogs I have seen to recommend....
Valerie
Sunday, 26 August 2012
I could not have put it better...reCareered !!!
Everyone trying to get a job should be sure to visit this site..I do not quite know where to begin with the fantastic resources available but here is a taste of what is on offer.....http://www.recareered.com/blog/2012/08/01/the-easy-way-to-job-search-vs-the-effective-way/
http://www.recareered.com/blog/2012/08/20/job-search-checklist-item-5-resume-response-rate/
The category list is really helpful eg....http://www.recareered.com/blog/category/job-search/
..... job search/career change and http://www.recareered.com/blog/category/job-search/cover-letters/....
.....cover letters. There are also years of archived articles where there is sure to be helpful and informative advice . Again, like many sites it is written originally from an American perspective....as seen by http://www.recareered.com/blog/2012/03/19/a-simple-guide-to-finding-companies-that-hire-working-moms/.....A guide to companies that hire working moms......although there are useful ideas in how to look for work and further links to advice...a great site and I shall be using it myself !!!
Valerie
http://www.recareered.com/blog/2012/08/20/job-search-checklist-item-5-resume-response-rate/
The category list is really helpful eg....http://www.recareered.com/blog/category/job-search/
..... job search/career change and http://www.recareered.com/blog/category/job-search/cover-letters/....
.....cover letters. There are also years of archived articles where there is sure to be helpful and informative advice . Again, like many sites it is written originally from an American perspective....as seen by http://www.recareered.com/blog/2012/03/19/a-simple-guide-to-finding-companies-that-hire-working-moms/.....A guide to companies that hire working moms......although there are useful ideas in how to look for work and further links to advice...a great site and I shall be using it myself !!!
Valerie
Sunday, 19 August 2012
A little something for a Sunday afternoon
Some time back I published an article around the song .....
The Times they Are A Changin'.... by Bob Dylan....
Looking for a job for over 50's The Times They Are A Changin' so sang Bob Dylan in the 1960's, and they are certainly very changed from what we expected our futures to be when we as the so called 'baby boomers' were at school. We went to work and then expected to get our pensions at 60 or 65, and it was not unusual to have been in the same job since leaving school.
Some of us will choose to work for longer because of the contacts and friendships work and the benefits a routine of going to work gives to us, but many more will be in the position of having no
choice but to work, indeed to even be looking for a job when they are well past 50, and would have been thinking not of starting a new job, but looking forward to retirement a few years off. Often, because we are older this means looking for work while coping with health problems too, but the governments crackdown on sickness related benefits again means that many in such a position are forced ,as indeed I have been, to look for work....
The Times They Are A changin'
Gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown
And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone If your time to you Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'
Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen Keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again
Don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's namin'
For the loser now Will be later to win For the times they, they are a-changin'
Come senators, Congressmen Please heed the call Don't block at the doorway Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it's ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'
Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land Don't criticize What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one If you can't lend a hand For your times they are a-changin'
The line it is drawn And the curse it is cast The slow one now Will later be fast
As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'
It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'
Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land Don't criticize What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one If you can't lend a hand For your times they are a-changin'
The line it is drawn And the curse it is cast The slow one now Will later be fast
As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'
More recently I expressed on my personal blog http://valerieehedges.blogspot.co.uk
For a reason or a season come to valerie's place...
my love of the 60's Australian group the Seekers, fronted by Judith Durham, still going strong , especially the solo work by Judith who is now 69 and this year performed in Australia with INXS !!..the song was a great Seekers favourite of mine..Georgy Girl, which from childhood has felt like a personal anthem, not only for me but for many.....and has a bit of a cult around it in the nicest possible way....Judith Durham herself has said that the song is better known in America than even the Seekers themselves !! what I didn't know , or rather had forgotten since I do now recall it, is that the Seekers also recorded The times they are a changin'
But...please do share and enjoy with me..... http://youtu.be/sXprfBmEpUI Judith Durham with Inxs singing her hit Georgy Girl ....still working, still enjoying her career and adapting with the times in fact saying that her range is better than ever as she has got older....quite an inspiration for older job hunting ladies to follow !!
For lyrics and a link to Judith Durhams website with updates, messages and news from her go to my personal blog (where the fun stuff is !!)
For a reason or a season come to valerie's place
http://valerieehedges.blogspot.co.ukvalerie
My profits from sales of this book via my site will be passed to the Motor Neurone charity as Judith Durham's husband died with this condition....Ms. Durham and the Seekers have given the world wonderful , inspirational music for many years and in respect of that I would not wish to personally profit from advertising her book....
Saturday, 11 August 2012
Looking for a job when you are over 50: 50 Creative, Cheap Ways to Have Fun...Something fo...
Looking for a job when you are over 50: 50 Creative, Cheap Ways to Have Fun...Something fo...: photo credit: Glamhag via photo pin cc 50 Creative, Cheap Ways to Have Fun This is a repeat of one of my earlier postings , but ...
Friday, 10 August 2012
Looking for a job when you are over 50: Learning through sport and leisure
Looking for a job when you are over 50: Learning through sport and leisure:
Learning through sport and leisure Taking up a sport or interest that you are good at is not just about being good for your physical a...
A repost from Adult learner week 2012
photo credit: gdudg via photo pin cc
Looking for a job when you are over 50: How to Play Up Sports On Your Resume
Looking for a job when you are over 50: How to Play Up Sports On Your Resume:
How to Play Up Sports On Your Resume....A seasonal repost....
Link : http://www.wetfeet.com/advice-tools/resume-cover-letter/how-to-play-up-sports-on-your-resume#.T7a-HD2pR8I.blogger
photo credit: jeremy.wilburn via photo pin cc photo credit: familymwr via p...
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Options for older job hunters
Options
for older job hunters.....
Well....
today its time for something more optimistic and positive..since
with the raising of the pension age and the cuts to benefits for
the sick and disabled, we have little or no option but to put up with
it, and to try to make the best of it that we can...this blog post is
going to look at where to begin..what are the possible options for
older job hunters....Where to begin is certainly about looking at
your skills and experience to see what you have to offer, taking an
inventory of the things you have done both in your work life and out
of work activities....As is often the case , many of the good
websites which look at this issue are from an American perspective,
however, the theory is still relevant and the sites really
helpful....
(There
are several free PDF readers available online, I tend to use Adobe
which is the standard reader...seeming to work with everything in PDF
format )
Job and Career Resources for Mature and Older Job-Seekers -- Including the Baby Boomers, Third-Agers
Approaches and Tactics for Older Workers Who Can't Find a Job
including
articles such as.....your online friends can help you find a job
5 ways to
prove your worth
50 jobs for a
second career
There
is no doubt and many of us know from experience that it is not easy
to even be considered for a vacancy if your age is known and you are
older e.g. over 40....there are considerations about whether it is
best to shape a CV that keeps your age unclear, in the hope that you
might be considered and get an interview, or be upfront and honest
because you might end up with an employer thinking you are both over
the hill and dishonest..but the skills and experience
assessment is the place to start because it helps you put together or
improve your CV..and lets you indeed think about your possible
options including do you have skills and experience which could lead
to self-employment ? a route many older people are taking to get an
income, especially as there is no recession on the internet and many
opportunities there to earn money....
Valerie
Hedges
Sunday, 5 August 2012
The benefits of benefits
The
benefits of benefits
I am not I firmly state , a person who would claim that we have a lifestyle choice , entitled to claim benefits as a career. However, I recently read an article and saw in several other media sources, the suggestion that there might be a human right for the jobless to claim benefits. I repeat, I am not saying that we have a human right to make a lifestyle choice not to work, but I do believe that any government in the 21st century has a legal obligation to guarantee the jobless a decent standard of living..especially if they are sick...
I am not I firmly state , a person who would claim that we have a lifestyle choice , entitled to claim benefits as a career. However, I recently read an article and saw in several other media sources, the suggestion that there might be a human right for the jobless to claim benefits. I repeat, I am not saying that we have a human right to make a lifestyle choice not to work, but I do believe that any government in the 21st century has a legal obligation to guarantee the jobless a decent standard of living..especially if they are sick...
I
do not believe that it is the right of any government to set up a
body which overrules the opinion of a persons GP, and declares them
fit to work, often resulting in as we increasingly hear, deaths due
to the worry and stress and fear this brings..and even deaths by
suicide from people just unable to cope with the loss of their their
only income..benefits...
I
myself am 52, partially sighted with joint and bone conditions,
including arthritis and a severe bone vitamin D deficiency. I suffer
from the effects of fractures, hypertension and a heart condition and
anxiety and depression. However, I have always been considered by the
DWP as at best borderline , even fit for work. I did claim
Incapacity benefit for several years and at one point was declared
exempt from medicals but have now been forced on to job seekers
allowance and my income is less than £400 per month....
True,
there was a time when we put the unemployed and those who had fallen
on hard times in the workhouse or the debtors prison, illustrated in
so many Dickens novels..Dickens own father had been in the Marshalsea
prison, and this and the experience of poverty reflected in his
novels, but just as we don't really still expect to see buses pulled
by horses , or watch TV in black and white, we have moved on since
the days of the Marshalsea...
I
have long come to the conclusion that if a G P with knowledge of
your medical conditions and the effect they have on your daily life,
including fluctuations in your condition declares as mine has that
you are not fit for work, or/and after realistic consideration of
your actual employment chances if perhaps you are on JSA, you are
still unemployed, but prepared to look for work, then benefits should
actually be paid at a higher rate than they are...
The
evidence that has brought me to this conclusion is that the theory
put forward by the government that cutting benefits and forcing
people to live in poverty encourages them to to get a job does not
work and can be counter productive that it can even hinder the
chances of that happening.
The
obvious knock on effect of living on the breadline, and for many
living well below it. is debt problems with unpaid bills , this leads
to court cases , requiring legal help, advice and representation.
This demand on the country's legal aid budget has resulted in savage
cuts leaving very vulnerable people without help and advice for
serious matters such as benefit appeals, debt ..often involving
bailiffs and the threat of prison and repossession of property
resulting in homelessness.
One
of the biggest effects of being forced to exist on an income well
below your even basic needs is being unable to finance your rent or
mortgage...when I did a course around supported housing and
vulnerable tenancies I learned to understand that there are many
definitions of 'hidden homelessness' including being unable to
actually afford the home you live in,Again, this results in huge
demands on what increasingly limited legal help is available, while
people in this position try to cope with the mounting debts. What no
government including Labour ,who in fact were the government who
introduced ATOS assessments for those on incapacity benefit has
recognised ( or admitted) is that to force people to live in poverty
actually holds up their chances of obtaining work rather than helping
it....
People
of no fixed abode, perhaps sleeping on friends sofas... or on the
streets...do not appeal to employers and I know from experience that
you can be so busy trying to sort out your debt , financial and
housing issues or jumping desperately at every get rich quick scheme
that you miss the deadline for many job opportunities.
Another
huge effect of poverty is the effect on our personal relationships
and ultimately our mental health. I am considered to own my own home
( just, in spite of several trips to court with the building society
seeking repossession), and ironically it is cheaper for me to try to
stay here rather than to leave, even though I do not have enough
income to officially be able to afford the property and the costs
associated with it..like many, I pay the vital bills and ignore the
others, i.e. pay who shouts the loudest....
My
credit rating is so badly damaged that I am unable to rent and so I
live in a property which has deteriorated to such an extent that if I
was renting and went to court no landlord would get away with
it..indeed the association which owns the leases of my home are
bringing the properties of renting tenants up to a certain required
legal standard, with tenants having new front doors, kitchens and
bathrooms. Leaseholders can of course have these improvements if they
are able to pay..while I live in appalling unhygienic conditions
including damp ...my kitchen being an unhygienic health hazard due to
a previous flood ..the buildings insurance invalidated by my arrears
on the service charges. I have always suspected that the serious
ankle fracture I suffered resulting in a permanent metal plate and
pins was due to my slipping on a patch of worn stair carpet..shredded
by my cats who I had before my difficulties began and that I cannot
get any animal charity to accept ...they say that they will only take
animals if they are abandoned or in danger of being so and that I
sound like a nice lady who won't abandon them..meanwhile they are
covered in fleas and so are my carpets...one cat has a skin complaint
and the other a cough but I cannot even take them top the Blue Cross
as it is a myth that they treat pets for free....what happens at my
local branch is they give you the full price bill and when you try
to pay what you can afford, the minimum you can try to get away with,
they look at you and hint 'can't you pay more....?
Light
fittings are broken, which is not ideal as I am partially sighted,
yes I could use the handyman services for as small a fee as £10 per
hour but I do not have a spare £10 or the money for the light
fittings to be fitted....benefits do not pay for home repairs and I
do not have enough income to be able to afford to pay back a crisis
loan even if I got one.
Although
it is the elderly that the media focuses on I can assure readers
that you do not have to be a pensioner in the winter to make a choice
between eating or heating..I have gone to bed at 7pm , convincing
myself that I fancy an early night ,,it isn't so easy though to
convince yourself that it is normal to sit indoors in a scarf and
gloves...
Not
surprisingly, the condition of the place has resulted in my not
letting people in, neither neighbours or friends. Many of my
neighbours identify me as 'That mad woman with the cats'..several
friends have been lost while I understandably try to keep them away
from the true state of my living conditions..and to save them from
getting bitten by fleas....
Since
I try not to make a habit of telling people how I live they get the
impression that I am anti-social and do not want them. Some friends
have given what assistance they have been able to offer , like help
with heating bills last winter when put on to job seekers allowance
and considered to be fit and well I did not qualify for a cold
weather payment when the temperature fell below freezing, as I used
to on Incapacity benefit. Although actually it was when
the
temperature was three degrees that it was worse to endure...freezing
yes, but not freezing enough for help with heating costs....However,
everyone is required to give back something eventually...you just
cannot expect to live happily amongst others if all you do is take
what is offered...but what if it is just impossible for you to meet a
friends need even if they have met yours ? Every relationship will at
some time require you to make a small gesture, perhaps a bed for a
while, as happened to a now ex friend of mine who having helped me ,
quite rightly expected something in return when she was beaten by her
partner and I had to refuse because at the time I was fighting
repossession proceedings which had started while I was waiting for
Job seekers allowance. Naturally I felt that it was not the time to
put even more of my problems on to her and so I didn't put her in
the picture...it was the beginning of the end of a friendship with a
history of forty years....Even if I had not been in the process of
being repossessed, there are now just too many problems associated
with anyone even staying here, let alone as she suggested once she
knew the situation...moving in with me....I know what I have to put
up with but I cannot inflict living in a property where you try not
to answer the phone on to anyone else and bailiffs come at 6.30 in
the morning chasing council tax from periods of benefit appeals going
back ten years....after the council tax recovery office had assured
you that the matter was sorted as your benefit is reduced further to
pay it back...when I know that bailiffs are after me I cannot risk
leaving a window open....many a friendship does and will end in such
circumstances....
In
fact I have had two friends who were in a position to and prepared to
offer me many opportunities and open doors..one a published author,
gave me the opportunity to be her publicist ..sales had of course
slumped somewhat since publication but this is normal because to any
publisher they are only interested in promoting your book while it
is their new book...and the next week they have more new books.
Obviously, payment was to be on results but although I was full of
ideas and potential from internet marketing to book talks and
signings I couldn't really do what was necessary...give time to
actually arranging what I said I could do....I needed money urgently
and the only way I get money is to fulfil my Job seekers requirement
to look for a job. This proves my point...that keeping people on an
income which does not even cover their legal requirements means that
they can even end up having to pass on
employment
opportunities, because limited as it is, it is all they have coming
in so they look for a job while eyeing the quickest get rich quick
scheme. These two ex friends like many others had spotted my latent
intelligence but ended up stating that they would be prepared to help
me only if an official request was made to give a statement
concerning my mental health !!! since I am considered fit to work ,
the need for this and any benefit it might be to me is highly
unlikely. Friendship can only take so much and often cannot be
expected to survive the issues that arise in the life of a long term
benefits claimant.
I
have tried hard to turn my website ( see links), my experiences of
job hunting when you are older and not in good health and my ability
to write into a self employed opportunity, but have now been advised
by the Job centre that they cannot guarantee help with the mortgage
if I register for the governments enterprise schemes for new
businesses....therefore according to the Job centre I am to in
effect do as I am told and look for a job, and while claiming JSA I
have to follow the rules. My benefits are not enough to live on but I
do not have enough coming in to have anything at all in reserves to
be able to afford to give up the Job seekers allowance.....
Poverty,
debt and legal issues, plus the sheer loneliness and isolation of the
socio-economic factor in being on benefits can indeed drive a person
to the brink of recognised mental health issues , but as long
as people are increasingly forced on to JSA from health related
benefits, entitled to no support and then have to struggle with the
pittance at which it is paid, these problems will increase and people
will stay on benefit for longer than ever because they have no choice
but to pretend to be fit and well, to go along with the job seekers
allowance requirements to look for work, while trying to deal with
debt and other resulting legal issues... and whether or not they can
then sustain that work if they get it is another matter, because
benefits do not allow for a social life and believe me you can truly
end up with mental health issues even if you didn’t start off with
them. This is only one of my cases in point for paying benefits at a
higher level rather than cutting them...because to do so will in the
long term save money as people will be healthier and more likely to
get back to work sooner..rather than going mad with debt problems and
social isolation... I for one know that my own social interactions
and responses are not at all as reliable as they were and I am only
one of thousands left by successive governments who largely for the
want of a benefit level which would at least allow something of a
normal life have been left deteriorating to the point where ability
to get a job and sustain it gets more and more unlikely...poor diet
and shabby clothes, the need of a good haircut all have an effect on
morale and certainly what jobs you can realistically apply for and
get....I certainly do not look the part for a receptionists job
…..you don't see many of those in elastic wasted
trousers from peacocks which is now all I can afford and fits !! I
heard that the food allowance per day on benefits is calculated at
the point that you can get a ready meal for £1 per day and put it in
the microwave....so you can but would David Cameron eat it ?? I know
as does everyone on benefits, especially those like myself who living
alone have only one benefit income coming in what It is to choose
between milk and toilet rolls..nobody in the 21st
century should have to make that choice....
When
forced to do so, as I know by experience blood pressure and other
health problems worsen due to the stress and that of other resulting
problems of inadequate income and unpaid bills ..and lets not forget
what people in my position cost the NHS in medical costs for blood
pressure pills...
A
panel set up b y the Prime Minister with hopes of scrapping Labours
Human Rights act said it wished to consider suggestions from
pro-human rights groups and believe it or not the public ..needless
to say the Prime Minister is said to not be happy... A point included
was the right to administrative justice, which must sit at odds with
the coalitions cuts to access to legal Aid denying many people help
with debt, benefit and other vital legal issues. Other points
considered were socio-economic rights which included suitable housing
and a right to a minimum standard of living. These points are to be
found in the bills of rights of many other countries while denied it
seems to the UK..I would imagine that an entitlement to a minimum
standard of living was somewhat in the minds of the government which
stopped putting people in the workhouse and it now appears that the
UK has in its human rights taken many backward steps....
Valerie
Hedges
Thursday, 2 August 2012
The advantages of sport on your CV
The
advantages of sport on your CV....of course a blog with an Olympic
theme-
Sport
has never really been my forte....although in principle I have the
utmost respect for the benefits it gives to our lives and character.
Wrongly
I believe, I was kept away from sports by my mother, although the
reasons for this are understandable . At the age of three I had been
diagnosed with Retinoblastoma, a malignant tumour of my right eye
and consequently lost the eye, having it replaced with a glass
prosthesis which had to be regularly replaced as I grew. My
understandably terrified mother, of a nervous disposition even before
this, convinced herself, with no given facts I am sure, that any bump
on my head would result in a further tumour. Of even greater anxiety
I suspect was the possibly more likely scenario of my falling over
and the glass eye being broken..which happened once at nursery, but
once in almost 50 years is pretty good odds....
And
so denied a bike, and so made the laughing stock of the
street,limited as to what PE activity I was allowed to take part in
at school and kept out of swimming lessons as my mother was convinced
that for some reason I must not put my head under water, by the time
I was seven I was shaped like a telly tubby..any one who found
themselves minding me in my mothers absence , the nursery owner, and
my very elderly Godmother who was our landlady, was so terrified of
the responsibility and so limited by what activity I could take part
in that I was sat in a chair and fed on biscuits and
chocolates....child abuse actually. As for the swimming, my father
who sensibly thought all this a load of nonsense and way over the top
who was a keen swimmer did take me swimming....and I did have a few
of the school lessons, but was unable to overcome my mothers
infectious terror, when she found me in the swimming pool at a
holiday camp with my father and he threw me to the deep end while she
stood on the side screaming....out of water I waddled rather than
walked and my mother made me crimpline dresses..which did wonders for
her ego as she was a skilled dressmaker, but better by far had I been
able to fit into what was available in the local shops....No child
likes looking different...
This
state of affairs went on until I was about ten, with secondary school
looming and the school nurse decided I must go to 'The Clinic' for my
flat feet and weight, the weight probably being a contributory
factor. To the flat feet...This involved a fortnightly trek up one of
the steepest hills in the Wandsworth area of South west London. My
mother , who now blamed me for being fat and flat footed since it had
proved to be such an inconvenience, had to take me from East Hill in
Wandsworth where I grew up, as far as the bus went through Wandsworth
High street and up West Hill...the rest of the way we had to walk
...with my mother clutching her chest and threatening to die on the
spot with her palpitations. Actually much of my childhood from the
age of seven , when my mother then aged 39, entered as she put it 'an
early change', my fault of course due to the worry I had given
her...with a contribution from my father, had been dominated by my
mothers palpitations and me terrified that my mother was indeed going
to drop dead as she several times a day insisted was imminent. This
was before the days of HRT, which would have denied my mother a great
deal of pleasure,since once she knew that she could possibly be
entering the menopause ( although she had in fact it could be said,
been in menopause since my birth as my father had not been allowed to
touch her since then..which I remember telling her was too much
information ) she had got out her medical book, which I gather was
the first book she had brought in readiness for grown up independence
( No DIY book for my mother) and read up on the menopause, making her
mind up to have every symptom in the book, to the worst of its
potential. And so my childhood was largely dominated by the Modern
Woman’s Medical guide of approximately 1944....and every other
Thursday for some time was dominated by Mrs Mackavinchie at the
clinic where I got weighed and walked along balancing beams for my
flat feet....and for the time in between until the next visit I
lived on Ryvita and slimming biscuits.... As for books, my father
took a keen interest in what girls should be reading and so I did
not miss out on such girlish reads as Little Women, What
Katy Did and what she did next....and Little House On the
Prairie being favourites, along
with the school series books by Enid Blyton.....St.
Claire's, Mallory Towers and the
adventures of The Famous Five...
Reader..it
worked !!!..at least to some degree, I went to secondary school a
size twelve, but not before my primary school leaving report had
stated 'Further work on the physical side of her education would be
helpful....'
Secondary
school provided a wealth of sporty activities, with at least
something which surely should be within the capabilities of a young
girl..there was the opportunity to at least hold your own in
something....sadly my greatest love in sport, something in which I
would have loved to be good rather than just do it..was tennis.
However, I am right handed, and having no sight in my right eye, the
ball had often passed me down the court before I worked out where it
was going to land....Rounders was OK, I had long legs and as I was no
longer as wide as I was long I could run.... Netball,
volleyball....both OK,... Hockey I loved.....
Sports,
especially team sports, teaches rules,discipline and team work, team
spirit....it teaches you to win and lose graciously, how to
be competitive, make and reach a goal..both personal and team goals
and it teaches you to cooperate with your team ..all good lessons for
the world of work....
Realistically,
the averages are against most people becoming professional
athletes..it isn’t the first or most suitable career choice for
everyone, ..even if they do wish differently and have dreams of
Olympic gold, most people will end up with a 'job'....but many of the
characteristics of good sportsmanship are relevant to the workforce
too, such as being dedicated, turning up on time and communicating
well, listening and being a quick learner. It looks very good on your
CV or at an interview if you can say that you played in a
team....were perhaps team captain.... which shows leadership skills
and perhaps ability in conflict management.
If
you have an active involvement in sports, you can find ways to use it
to illustrate your time management skills e.g. if you had to fit in
practice and matches along with academic study at Uni. You can use
your sports experience to show that you can learn things. A sporty
activity on your CV can make you look a good well rounded
employee....
Sports
teaches confidence and as we know from the wonderful example of the
Para Olympians everyone can take part and find something they can do.
Sports , even if you do have a disability can help you to maintain as
much fitness as you can for as long as possible and I agree
wholeheartedly with Mr. Grayson who wrote on my primary school
leaving report...'More work on the physical side of her education
would be helpful....'
Valerie
Hedges
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
The Childood Entrepreneur
Actually,
the ability and confidence to be an entrepreneur seems to come more
naturally to children than to adults. This I believe, may have
something to do with the confidence and to some extent innocence of
youth as children are not so aware of the possibility of failure and
its results..they do not personally have to worry about paying the
mortgage or rent.
Children
can be very confident about getting some form of paid work, coming
as it does from the desire to have their own money to spend. At about
the age of eight I discovered that I could make 'perfume' ( well, in
reality it was scented water), by crushing rose petals, and before
long I had laid claim to empty glass jars from both my mother and
Grandmother ( no recycling in those days ) for my bottling
plant..next came the confidence with which a teenager would go to
local shops and ask for a Saturday job. Much of the success of this
came from peer pressure. Oddly enough, today’s peer pressure can
often appear to b e a reversal of that put on myself growing up in
the 1970's .Today's peer pressure often works in the opposite way ,
at least in how the media portrays it, compared to that of my teenage
years.
Today,
we hear so much in the media about young boys being part of gang
culture and how they have never worked, assuming that they never will
and young girls with no hope or intention of a job, ending up in a
'career 'of pregnancy, having babies and spending the day in the
local shopping centre with their mates. Some girls have had babies
because their mates do and they feel left out and boys (and girls)
join a gang because their mates are in it and so such life choices
become a 'career'.
As
a teenager in the 70's ,I remember a competitive atmosphere,
especially amongst young girls, to get a Saturday job, and who had
the best one. We had to have a work permit signed by school giving
permission to work, but this was usually given without a problem.
Wanting something different, I got on the number 19 bus, a rather
iconic route in its day, at Wandsworth Common and went to the King's
Road, where I got a job in Sidney Smith, almost next door to Peter
Jones. I was full of myself and felt so grown up when the manager had
to cut my hours in the school holidays, otherwise I would have had to
be put on the pay roll and I was under age . I was offered the chance
to train as a fashion buyer, but sadly, the college part would have
been unfunded.
I
already knew that my mother planned to leave my father as soon as I
could leave school at sixteen ( I was the first year affected by
ROSLA, the raising of the school leaving age to sixteen ), so I knew
that I would not fulfil my early teenage dream of A levels,
University and a career as a teacher. Before leaving school, I had
been enrolled by my mother, who saw it advertised at the Job centre,
where she was telephonist, on a course with the (in)famous
GLC,
based at County Hall, to train as a nursery nurse, sponsored while I
trained on a grant of approximately as I remember £3000 a year, out
of which I would be paying £40 a week for a bedsit. This makes me
think very much of the current situation of the coalition government
taking housing benefit away from young people under 25, as I was only
17 when I was away from home with no option of continuing to live
with my parents, my father was shortly to be in a nursing home....my
first weeks shopping cost £8.00 at Putney Sainsbury's and included
dusters and washing powder …
I
remember my Saturday job being a huge wake up call and reality check
when I discovered that while I was still at home my mother was to
take some of my £4 a week from my Saturday job for 'my keep' but
seen in the context that my mother had been born in 1927, and from
the time she had to go to work at 14 in London, with bombs dropping
around her, which was actually what she felt was needed in my case to
as she put it give me a backbone....my mother had been the only child
in her family to pass the eleven plus but had to give up her chance
for Grammar school as her mother, my Grandmother was unable to afford
to buy her uniform, perhaps it was not so incredible. My mother was
from an age and background where the children were to be got out to
work at the earliest opportunity to help the family income,and she
bitterly resented my increased years of education, even though it was
law and not my fault, but to her any time in school more than
absolutely necessary to teach the basics needed to get a job, was as
she in no uncertain terms expressed, producing a daughter who was a
'lily livered lizard' nothing to be proud of but hiding from the
real world behind the school gates and getting ideas above her
station. My mother went to work in London aged just 14, travelling
in the blitz and frequently having to dive in the shelter, and on
pay day on Friday, she handed over her wages to her mother, who then
gave her a small amount back for her own needs...this was the norm
for many families of the thirties and forties, my mothers early
years....
For
many generations children had a strong work ethic...after all for
many years,
they had been in the workforce since childhood and many, many
children like my mother knew that they would not be able to take up
the education they were capable of because they were needed to go to
work, and in fact many did this gladly with little or no resentment,
seeing it as duty to their mothers and the family budget.
For
many years boys in the Scout movement once a year came knocking on
the door for 'Bob a job week', this eventually stopped under concerns
for health and safety but this year was brought back,albeit in more
of a community based approach, as part of the big society and its
focus on volunteering -rather than knocking on doors the Scouts ( who
for some years have included girls who wish to join) took part in
community activities. I am sure that many of us can tell stories of
the most unlikely young
entrepreneur
, usually reluctant to get out of bed but who one day has an idea
like something out of the apprentice, for making money....washing
cars, cleaning windows and gardening being examples.
Children
as entrepreneurs produces some interesting results on Google, hardly
surprising considering that it would be hard to find a parent who
would not have hopes of passing on a family business to the next
generation.
When
we think of young people who even with a university degree do not get
jobs, perhaps there is something to be said for encouraging the
entrepreneur spirit in children who have it. After all, if housing
benefit is to be denied to young people under the age of 25, and it
is as good as impossible for many people under 35 to see any chance
of buying their own first home, the chance to get on the employment
ladder and put some money in the bank can only be a good thing.
Many
children are not academic at all, but might well show an early
entrepreneur spirit..being competitive, creative, enjoying a
challenge, good at setting and meeting own goals, vital for future
success,and showing signs of being able to manage their money, saving
up for something they want, selling stuff that they don't. Early
entrepreneurship is to be encouraged and gives opportunities for
children to learn about such things as team building, leadership,
cooperation with friends...finding a product and a market..even
failure....
Learning
how to spot an opportunity is a great lesson for children, teaching
them to see a solution rather than the problem encourages a budding
business man /woman, so discussing with children how to solve a
problem is great and will encourage them to develop ideas.
Buying
and selling is something that goes on every day seen and unseen, the
economy depends on it, and starting with things such as selling old
toys and books..or selling something that a child has learned how to
make such as friendship bracelets, while donating the toys and books
to charity teaches lessons in income and expenditure, profit and
loss, as indeed does managing a pocket money allowance, with some set
aside for spending and some for saving...and hopefully learning that
all good businesses give to charity and the community...
Encouraging
children to think up ways that they can earn the money they want for
toys encourages independence and entrepreneurship..it would be great
to set young children off on a path where they never have to think
about going to the job centre...or at least that they can think of
ways to earn a living to fall back on in times of unemployment....and
are confident people able to spot and utilise their talents and
opportunity....
Valerie
Hedges
photo credit: jwinfred via photo pin cc
<a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/11/08/think-different-teaching-kids-to-be-entrepreneurs/">http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/11/08/think-different-teaching-kids-to-be-entrepreneurs/</a>
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