drbexl.co.uk » Career

Transferable Skills: Media Studies

drbexl — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:18:53 +0000

Degrees in media/communications studies cover a broad range of subjects from the highly practical to the theoretical. You can develop a variety of skills that are extremely useful in many employment areas. These skills include:

critical analysis;
research;
a broad commercial and cultural awareness of the media and creative industries;
teamwork;
initiation and development of creative work in writing, audio-visual or other electronic media;
a flexible, creative and independent approach to tasks;
the ability to work to a brief and meet deadlines.

All courses focus on the communication of information across a variety of mediums. Graduates with the ability to communicate information clearly and effectively will be beneficial to any organisation

Taken from Prospects Careers. See also QAA Subject Benchmarks.

Transferable Skills: History

drbexl — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:17:05 +0000

What do employers think of graduates with a history degree, a subject that is ordinarily viewed as non-vocational? Employers widely respect history graduates as having a valuable combination of skills. Broadly speaking, history skills include:

research skills, including the use of information and communications technology;
excellent communication and writing skills;
independent work skills of self-motivation and time-management;
high-level analysis and evaluation skills.

Studying history improves the depth and range of your personal transferable skills including:

critical reasoning and analytical skills, including the ability to solve problems and think creatively, often through doing extensive reading;
intellectual rigour and independence, including the ability to conduct research using different types of tools and sources, gathering, sifting, interpreting, analysing and organising information;
marshalling an argument, including evaluating, selecting and ordering relevant evidence and formally communicating findings in a structured, coherent, clear and persuasive manner, both orally and in writing;
self-motivation and self-reliance, with the ability to work without direct supervision and manage time effectively, but also the ability to discuss ideas in groups.

Taken from Prospects Careers. See also QAA History Benchmarks.

Voluntary Tour Leader, Oak Hall

drbexl — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:15:45 +0000

I LOVED tour leading for Oak Hall. I had taken 3-4 holidays as a guest (always ski holidays, I’d never done a summer trip), and got in touch with the intention of doing a ski season. Having visited “The Manor” for a week, I offered to stay another week, but then found myself zooming home for my passport, and the next day in Switzerland, cleaning Chalet Jungfrau (130 guests!). One of the most exhausting weeks of my life (part 2), but also exhilerating!

2007

As my plans for my Round the World trip kept changing, I returned for some summer trips:

Cooking in Obergesteln in Switzerland (Photos 1; Photos 2)
Cookin in Pineda de Mar in Spain (whilst being hit by a – literal- tornado) (Photos 1; Photos 2; Photos 3)
Leading at Hotel Edelweiss in Austria (Photos 1; Photos 2; Photos 3; Photos 4)

2008

Venice (Photos 1; Photos 2)
Europe Tour
Venice (Photos 1; Photos 2)
Eastern Europe Tour
Andorra (Photos 1; Photos 2)
Italian Tour (Photos 1 (?!); Photos 2; Photos 3; Photos 4; Photos 5)
Spain (Photos 1; Photos 2)
Fireworks/Reunion (Photos)

2009

Cooking, Loire Valley / Spain
Cooking, Hotel Staubbach (Christmas Week)

I am planning on taking a rest from Oak Hall for 2010 as I concentrate on finding work, combined with setting up my own business: Digital Fingerprint.

Marcus Buckingham ‘Now, Discover Your Strengths’

drbexl — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:45:27 +0000

I found this book very helpful in focusing more on what I AM GOOD AT, and developing those skills further, rather than always trying to improve at my ‘weaknesses’.

The following are my five top strengths:

Achiever

Has a great deal of stamina
Works hard
Takes great satisfaction from being busy and productive
Driven to achieve
MUST achieve something tangiable by the end of the day, needs to measure cumulative production.
“Every day” includes weekends/holidays – feels driven to achieve
Has to learn to live with the ‘whisper of discontent’ which accompanies the relentless need for achievement – it drives you, it gives you stamina for long hours, inspires you to start new challenges, keeps you moving.
Likes recognition for past achievement and the setting of new goals.

Ideation

Fascinated by ideas, able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena
An idea is a a new perspective on a familiar challenge, or a concept, which offers the best explanation of MOST events. It is delightful to find below a complex surface a simple explanation for WHY things are the way they are.
The mind is always looking for connections, however obscure.
Revels in taking the world we know, turning it around and viewing it from a strange or enlightening angle.
Others label you as creative, original, conceptual or smart, you are particularly effective as a designer.
All ideas are thrilling, for whatever reason. Need these ideas to be valued.
Uses ideas already written within focus of the organisation to generate new insights and discoveries.
Enjoys words – especially when they perfectly capture a concept/idea/pattern.
Needs to understand how things fit togehter, and any exceptions pointed out.

Learner

Thrives on learning and continual self-development, this keeps the motivation going – wants to continuously improve.
The PROCESS of learning, rather than the outcome is exciting. Enjoys developing a growing confidence as skills are mastered.
Engages in adult-learning experiences. Subject matter of interest depends upon other themes (listed here) and past experiences.
Energised by the steady/deliberate journey from ignorance to competence.
Learns by teaching others, through presentations, etc.
Thrives in a dynamic work environment, where are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the subject matter in a short period of time, then move onto the next one. Generally not seeking to become an expert – the outcome is less significant than ‘getting there’.
Good to work with someone who will push you to achieve more.
Needs to have learning recognised through certificates, etc.
Needs to celebrate milestones, which have been pre-identified.
Needs to stay current in a fast-changing field.

Arranger

Can organise, but this organisation is accompanied by a flexibility.
Likes to figure out how all the pieces/resources can be arranged for maxiumu productivity.
Enjoys managing the variables – aligning/re-aligning until are sure has the best configuration possible. See this as nothing special, just the best way of getting things done. Is very resourceful.
Effectively flexible – changes quickly for a better deal; mulling over the combination of people/resources to accomplish a project.
Thrives with many things going on at the same time.
At best in dynamic situations – the unexpected has you diving in, devising new options, looking for the path of least resistence because there MIGHT be a better way.
Thrives on responsibility, like to make a good manager, seeing how the team works together, especially through trust & relationships.

WOO

Loves the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. A good person to be the contact for the outside world, needs to refine a system for remembering names, etc.
Derives satisfaction from breaking the ice, making a connection with the other.
Strangers are not intimidating to you, you want to learn about them, ask questions, find common ground so can strike up a conversation/build a rapport.
Rarely at a loss for words.
Once the connection is made, are happy to wrap it up and move onto the next connection. Not so good at building close relationships, prefers to meet & move on.
In the world, there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet.
A good person to build good will in your community.

Still Not Sure “What to Be When You Grow Up?”

drbexl — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:52:55 +0000

“Do you have so many different interests and passions the concept of settling into one career always felt awful to you?

If so, do you recognize yourself in these descriptions?

You are…

…Afraid you’ll either have to settle into a career and stick with it for life (boring!). Or, pursue your many, unrelated passions that will leave you penniless and unable to support your family.

…Well beyond your college years but still clueless about what you want to be when you grow up. You feel like something is wrong with you.

…Often described as a Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. You are quickly excited about many, completely unrelated topics, but you may lose interest just as quickly.

…Someone with a zest for life and a love of new experiences and learning for the sake of learning.

…Very successful in your field, but bored to death and looking to change directions – again. To the horror and disbelief of those around you.

If this sounds like you, chances are, you are frustrated. Or worse; you are desperate because you can’t seem to “get it together.” It’s even possible, in your attempt to keep your options open in order to satisfy all your different interests, you make no choices at all. You know you have all this potential but lots of it is going unused.

If you’ve ever felt as if something was wrong with you for your inability to stick with a passion, a hobby, an interest, or job, or even a career; take heart. You are completely normal!”

Read the full article by Ilona Vanderwoude, also on Twitter @careerbranches

Career Resources

drbexl — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:48:36 +0000

Buckingham, Marcus, Now Discover Your Strengths! Pocket Books, 2005
Graham, B., and Ali, L., Moving on in Your career: A Guide for Postgraduates and Academics, Routledge, 2000
Moses, Barbara, What Next: The Complete Guide to Taking Control of Your Working Life, 2003
Secrist, J., What Else You Can Do with a PhD, Sage Publications, 2000
Sher, Barbara., What do I do if I want to do Everything? Rodale Ltd, 2006
Isbister, Nick & Robinson, Martin., Who Do You Think You Are? Zondervan, 1999

Starting Monday off with a little Salsa

drbexl — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:07:00 +0000

The Weekend

Combination of a career support event at CCW (I have so much work to do on my CV!), and a great meal in the evening at The Forge, Otterbourne for Karen’s birthday (good company, good food, good service, good value-for-money) on the Saturday, and a shared event at Wesley Church for Wesley, St Barnabas and NWCC in the morning (including a free lunch, always good), and Christ Church in the evening on the Sunday.

Monday: Salsa y Sol

Monday evening, after working for around 8.5 hours on my web accessibility literature review, I decided I would give Salsa a try. After working out how to get into The Discovery Centre at night, had a really enjoyable evening provided by Max and Silvia of Salsa y Sol. The beginner session was well-paced, with probably around 60+ people there, the photo above is from the inter-mission (lots of free water provided!), and then I decided to give the intermediate session a go (why not!), and managed most of it… must be all that MoJive experience! By 9.30pm, the freestyle hour, I managed the first 2 dances, then headed home to be asleep for 10.30pm! Good day though!!!

You Only Have One Life: Live It Well

drbexl — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:26:00 +0000

It’s such a pain not having a functional (internet) computer at home, can take a little while to get around to these things, and fit them around the sheer volume of work that is currently coming in! Living by my mantra of if you’re going to do something, do it on time and do it well… keeps getting me more work! Just got to keep believing it’s going to keep coming, although am putting my best foot forward for a full-time post also!

One Life Live
A great event hosted over the weekend at Kensington Olympia! I’ve been looking forward to going to this for months, having pre-purchased my ticket via Psychologies magazine (and then getting special offers from several other RSS feeds I subscribe to – hey, you win some, you lose some!) ages ago!

The event was structured into a number of zones:

New careers & Learning
Free Time
Be Your Own Boss
Health & Wellbeing
Travel & Career Breaks
Sustainable Living
Life Change
Volunteering & Fundraising

Hmmmm
I LOVE learning, so I checked out a bit of that, wandered around the ‘be your own boss’, but I’m aware (but haven’t quite read) most of that literature, and of course was checking out the ‘Life Change’ areas, but as always, I gravitate towards the travel and volunteering sections… very inspiring to see the ways in which you can combine travel with so many other things… I may return with specifics of companies, but right now I need to learn how to use WordPress!

Sponsorship
As I said, interested in the volunteering section, so put my actions where my feet were, and signed up to do The Big Sleep Out at Winchester Cathedral on 15th May: http://www.justgiving.com/drbexl

Careers: General Sites

drbexl — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:54:00 +0000

So, New Year is over, companies should speed up those job adverts (although of course all those people who’ve reassessed things over Christmas will be back on the hunt too)… so let’s identify some of the good general job-hunting sites (most of these have been sending me job-search emails on a regular basis for the last couple of months, yielding some decent jobs):

Winchester
Whilst travelling, I was continually asked that question “where do you come from?”… well.. that can be complicated! I grew up in Sussex, I studied/lived in Winchester for 10.5 years (and consider it my adopted home), then I lived in Manchester for 1.5 years before redundancy gave the option of travelling, where I made my official base with parents who had now moved to Suffolk. Suffolk’s too remote for me, great for a retreat, but Winchester is definitely the place I’d still choose to make my home… so places to look for local jobs:

I’m sure there’s going to be more information to add to both categories!

Careers: Not for Profit Organisations

drbexl — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:31:00 +0000

Working has never been about earning money for me (although obviously we live in a world where things need to be paid for, and I would like to be appropriately recognised for the effort I have put into training with an appropriate wage), but more about making a difference in the world. Therefore, I am signing up with some of the following agencies:

As a Christian, I am also checking out agencies specialising in (advertising) that particular line of work, including:

I posted a new version of my personal website today: http://www.bex-lewis.co.uk. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to spend as long on it as I’d like, but it’s more focused than the previous version.