WHAT IS CAREER GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING?

At a young age, people find it difficult to know what they really want to become in future. Today you find out that many youths engage in occupations on the basis of fate, and this often leads to dissatisfaction at work. That is why it is always advisable for parents and secondary schools to enroll their children and students respectively, for career guidance and counseling and this is what this article is about; career guidance and counseling. It is necessary that you know what career guidance and counseling is  as well as it’s benefits to students and parents alike.

WHAT IS CAREER GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING?                                 

Guidance and counseling can be seen as the processes and techniques of assisting individuals to cope with the problems in different areas of their life, so that they can become useful and contribute to the society in which they live in. So therefore, career guidance and counseling is the process of offering advice to students/individuals on how to discover and plan their career. All students/individuals have the right to shape their career destiny and it is the responsibility of society hence (guidance counselors) to help them do this. Now, let us consider the importance of guidance and counseling for yourself/children through its benefits.

                                                                                                   

BENEFITS OF CAREER GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING  

The following are the importance of career guidance and counseling:

1.    It gives comprehensive advice and counsel to students on careers, courses and jobs which enable them to have an informed choice on what to do after school.

2.    Students have an increased number of information on the educational and vocational sector needed for them to make their choices.

3.    It helps to build self confidence and courage in students, making it possible for them to do a lot of things.

4.    It helps students to build their potentials and acquire the knowledge needed to build a profession.

5.    It helps to direct students to take careers that are in line with their personality and beneficial to them.

6.    It helps to specify the job qualification of the jobs they have chosen.

What is career guidance and counseling to you, and what are its other benefits, if any?

HOW CAN EDUCATIONAL TRAINING PROVIDERS IDENTIFY THE SERVICE THAT THEY OFFER THEIR CUSTOMERS?

Just as we said earlier, given the competition in the educational market, educational training providers; universities, vocational training, and certification bodies need a detailed explanation of how to advertise and market effectively in order to satisfy the educational needs of your target audience who are students, parents and companies.

Having talked about the benefits of creating a marketing plan in our earlier discussion on this topic, I would like to discuss how best to create a marketing plan and discuss the different facets involved in creating a marketing plan which includes;

1.     identifying the product or service you are offering,

2.     identify and know your target audience and their needs,

3.     know about your competitors by creating a competitor analysis,

4.     developing a unique selling proposition (USP) and

5.     consider potential marketing methods.

I will go on to discuss about how well to identify the product or service your are offering for now and discuss the other facets at a later date (Wednesday, April 1 (April fools day) ).

IDENTIFY the product or service you are offering?

Customers always trust people who have confidence in what they sell, and building this confidence requires full knowledge of your products and services so as to market them effectively. To build this knowledge, you should make use of creative information which includes;

1.     Your own experiences using the products

2.     Product literature such as brochures and catalog

3.     Online forums

4.     Feedback from customers

5.     Training publications

6.     Your team members

7.      training programs

The services of a university, vocational training or certification body are the development of a particular skill which is effectively useful to the students and the companies who need those skills in the performance of its daily business.  So it is imperative to know the needs of the end user; the employer and the student. So your curriculum should be in line with the job description of trade requiring that skill,  so that your students can serve the exact needs of that trade, and represent your facility well. According to Sir John Hegarty; ‘It's the people you produce that act as a draw for future students.

Just as said earlier, I will give detailed explanations of other processes or facets involved in creating a marketing plan next week (1st April).  

Remember, you can advertise your training facility to your audience; Unskilled Jobseekers, Secondary school students, and companies through our website; http://www.careergong.com/postcoursereg.

How else can university, vocational training or professional certifications identify the service that they offer their customers?

HOW DOES ONE RECRUIT IN A CHEAP, EFFICIENT AND SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE WAY?

Here is the detailed step by step process of how to recruit in a socially responsible, cheap and efficient way. it is quite similar to the the recruitment process we are all familiar with but with a little twist; advertising your jobs in a socially responsible way on careergong.com, it not only gets you skilled workers but informs the unskilled job Applicant of their skill deficiencies and where to develop them.

IDENTIFY AND EVALUATE THE NEED FOR A VACANCY

In order to identify and determine the value or need for filling a vacancy in a company, the vacancy has to be evaluated. Vacancies arise for different reasons, it could be to create a new position or maybe because an existing staff was either promoted or retired. You should evaluate the vacancy by considering the importance of the vacancy, how much the position contributes to your establishment and if your company can pay the new employee. With these considerations put together, you should be able to specify your need for and the use of the vacancy.

                                                                   

WRITE A VACANCY DESCRIPTION

Given the evaluation of the vacancy, you will be able to know whether you should write a new description for the vacancy or update the old description. Vacancy descriptions are a detailed account; put together by management or the particular department, of the entire duties, responsibilities and qualifications of that particular vacancy you are recruiting for. And this needs to be communicated clearly and concisely. Below are the things that make up a well-written job description: http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/JOBdesc.htm

1.     Title of the position

2.     Department

3.     Reports to (to whom the person directly reports)

4.     Overall responsibility

5.     Key areas of responsibility

6.     Consults with (those who the person works with on a regular basis)

7.     Term of employment

8.     Qualifications (necessary skills and experience required)

NOTE: CAREERGONG.COM HAS A DATABASE OF ALL POSSIBLE JOB DESCRIPTIONS WHICH IT USES TO AUTO FILL JOB FORMS ONLINE WHICH IS EDITABLE, THEREBY CREATING EASE OF USE.

The vacancy description is particularly important to screen skilled job applicants online easily and also to identify the skill deficiencies of the unskilled applicants and advice them on the deficiency and where to develop it.

ADVERTISE VACANCIES

When you are through with writing the vacancy description, you advertise it either internally, externally or both to prospective job seekers. The job description should be circulated through different possible mediums that you are sure would get to the job seekers (your target audience). The mediums include; http://www.careergong.com/regjobposting (free), social media, job fairs, magazines, TV, radio, newspapers, recruitment agents, CV banks, career websites, etc. It is advisable to use more than one of the mediums so as to reach a wide range of job seekers who have access to internet and those who don’t.

You could also directly outsource for job seekers who are not actively searching for work, contact them.

It is important to note that you are not only advertising vacancies, but marketing your company’s prospect so you should make sure that your company is viewed in the best possible light on the advert. THIS COULD BE DONE BY ADVERTISING YOUR JOBS IN A SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE WAY ON CAREERGONG.COM. IT NOT ONLY GETS YOU SKILLED WORKERS BUT INFORMS THE UNSKILLED JOB APPLICANT OF THEIR SKILL DEFICIENCIES AND WHERE TO DEVELOP THEM, WHILE SHOWCASING YOUR COMPANY LOGO ON THE ADVERT, VISIT http://www.careergong.com/regjobposting.

MANAGE APPLICATIONS

Once the job description has been advertised and applications have begun to roll in, you move on to reviewing, screen and managing the applications. Application management is all about selecting the best from all the applications that were submitted in the course of recruitment. Although the internet isn't used by a lot of Nigerians; most vacancies today require applicants to apply for them electronically by emailing their CVs or filling out application forms online. CAREERGONG.COM OFFERS A FREE APPLICATION MANAGEMENT SERVICE THAT RANKS THE APPLICANTS FROM MOST QUALIFIED TO LEAST QUALIFIED THEREBY ENABLING YOU TO PICK THE TOP MOST QUALIFIED PEOPLE.

The goal is to ensure that the highest quality applications are relevant to the vacancy advertised. Once the top best; top 10, top 20, e.t.c., are picked, you could conduct phone interviews to get information such as availability, salary requirements, special position requirements (e.g. ability to perform shift work) so as to ascertain the validity of those top best. It is possible to screen out applicants given information obtained during this subsequent screening. Electronic screening helps to reduce time and work load. CAREERGONG.COM OFFERS JOB APPLICATION MANAGEMENT FOR FREE, VISIT http://www.careergong.com/regjobposting.   

SEARCH FOR CV IN CV DATABASE

However, you could opt for advertising jobs and managing applications by just searching for CV on a CV databank online. Searching for CVs online helps you get CVs faster. You can search for CVs mainly on job website databases, although some of these databases require payment before assessing them. HOWEVER CAREERGONG.COM ALLOWS YOU TO ADVERTISE JOBS AND REFERS CVs TO YOU BASED ON THE VACANCY POSTED FREE, VISIT http://www.careergong.com/regjobposting.

Are these processes enough to call this cheap, efficient and Socially responsible Recruitment, if not what more could be done to make the recruitment process more socially responsible, cheaper, and more efficient?

WHICH PROFESSIONAL CV FORMAT IS BEST?

Choosing  a CV format is a choice a lot of people have to make as they seek for work. As far as writing is concerned, there is no specific or best way to format  a CV; it is your personal document and you should put it any way you wish as far as it gets you the job interview or job position you are looking for. If you are confused about how to format your CV, you can start by understanding what the employer is looking for by researching the company and its requirements and in so doing you would chose a format based on what you understand that the  recruiter wants.

                   

However CVs are generally formatted based on how much experiences on has; which makes it easier to know the format to use to write one's CV. There are three general formats for CV Writing which are;

FUNCTIONAL CV is a skill based CV which focuses on your professional skills as well as the target job you seek. This CV is used by those who are returning to the work after a long time, professionals, career changers, and entry level people. Work experience and education is subordinate.

                                           
CHRONOLOGICAL CV is the easiest CV to prepare. It demonstrates your growth in one profession only, as well as gives detailed biography of your education and experiences starting from the most recent ones. People who have not suffered long unemployment time and those with practical work experience are able to use this.                                                                                   

THE COMBINATION OF THE FUNCTIONAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL CV combines the two other types. It is a more detailed form of CV and can be flexible and strong as both if written well.

TO GET A GREAT CV AT A LOW PRICE CLICK HERE: http://careergong.com/cvwriting

Out of all these CV writing formats  which do you think is best for you, and are there any other CV writing formats not mentioned here?

DO EDUCATIONAL TRAINING PROVIDERS NEED TO MARKET/ADVERTISE THEIR SERVICES?

A lot of competition exists in the educational market today, and this has made educational training providers; universities, vocational training, and professional certifications/associations, need a detailed explanation of how to advertise and market  their courses, degrees, and certifications effectively in order to satisfy the educational needs of their target audience who are students, parents and companies. Lets first define marketing and then discuss its need to  educational training providers

WHAT IS MARKETING?

Marketing is the management of products and services in order to identify, satisfy, and communicate the needs of customers for the purpose of selling that product/service profitably. According to Jay Conrad Levinson (Guerrilla Marketing) marketing is the act of getting your target audience to change their mind and do business with you or maintain their mindset if they are already inclined to do business with you.

IMPORTANCE OF A MARKETING PLAN

For your university, vocational training or certification body to grow, it must build strong customer relationship, which is where an effective marketing plan comes in. A comprehensive marketing plan effectively communicates your university’s, vocational training’s, or training facility’s mission, values and messages in ways that gets your customers to change their mind and to do business with you or maintain their mindset if they are already inclined to do business with you.

Below are the benefits of an effective marketing plan:A stronger, more consistent training facility image.

1.    Increased support from government.

2.    Greater loyalty among your stakeholders.

3.    A general public that is more aware of your training facility’s local and global impact.

4.    The ability to attract and retain the best employees, students and faculty.

5.    The ability to establish partnerships within the community.

6.    The ability to show supporters that your brand equity is a valuable commodity.

7.    Greater employee satisfaction including an increased sense of pride and loyalty.

NOTE: Careergong.com is a job website that informs job seekers of skill deficiencies in jobs they applied for. It also distributes a career guidance App to Nigerian secondary school students.  Visit http://www.careergong.com/postcoursereg to register.

CAN SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE RECRUITMENT HELP BRIGDE THE SKILLS GAP IN NIGERIA

Given the competition in the job market today; companies are finding it more difficult and expensive to recruit competent skilled workers, so therefore companies need a socially responsible, cheap and efficient way to always recruit skilled workers over time. 

WHAT IS SOCIAL RESPONSIBLE RECRUITMENT?

First let us define recruitment; it is the process of searching for and hiring the best candidates with required skills to fill vacancies in an organization either on a temporary or permanent basis. 

In the Nigerian labour market today, there are so many qualified and unqualified people seeking for work every day. Most of these people get employed through Godfatherism and nepotism and this has become the order of the day. Also some recruitment agents collect money from job seekers for vacancies to be made available to them, or for them to be referred to recruiters. Some of these job seekers are given work but these recruitment agents are obligated to find work for all paying applicants, thereby being biased towards the paying applicants; qualified or not. 

Given all these, how would companies hire efficient workers; through socially responsible recruitment. So what is socially responsible recruitment?

Socially responsible recruitment is the recruitment of staff in such a manner that hires the best people while making the unskilled applicants aware of their specific skill deficiencies and training facilities that develop them. in other words;

• Recruiters post jobs and screen applications free
• skilled and unskilled Job Seekers apply for said jobs
• skilled job seekers are hired
• Training facilities advertise relevant courses, degreed or certifications that develop the unskilled job seekers

So skilled job seekers are employed and unskilled job seekers are developed  

NOTE: VISIT CAREEGONG.COM AND START RECRUITING FREE IN A SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE WAY. VISIT http://www.careergong.com/regjobposting. 

Do you think socially responsible recruitment could help bridge the skills gap in Nigeria?

DO YOU REALLY NEED A CV?

In the society today, people keep looking for jobs everyday or wanting to upgrade their jobs. While some think that a good CV will help them to get the job, others do not. To know if a CV is important or not, you need to know what a CV really and why it is important.

WHAT IS A CURRICULUM VITAE (CV/RESUME)?                              

A CV is a brief account of one’s career. It is an outline of a person’s educational and professional history, usually prepared for job applications. A good CV is a justification for a job, so it has to be articulated in such a way that it shows both work related experiences as well as future expectations. It should show the amount of skills you have for that particular job, as you are marketing your skills.

BENEFITS OF GOOD CURRICULUM VITAE (CV/ RESUME)

John Yate, the author of the book 'ULTIMATE CV' says that your CV is the most financially important document you will ever own, when it works, doors of opportunity (jobs) will be opened and when it does not, they won’t. More than anything else, your CV determines your professional success. Here are some of the importance of a good CV;

1         1. Every kind of job requires a good CV before you are considered or employed.

2         2. Your CV is your identity and should represent you well. If it is not arranged, you will be regarded as a scattered person.

3        3. Your CV is your first contact with the potential employer, so it should be able to create a good impression for you.

4         4. You need a good CV to compete with the rising number of job seekers and emerge as a winner.

NOTE: CAREERGONG.COM WRITE PROFESSIONAL CVS, AND ALSO CONNECTS YOU TO YOUR DREAM JOB. TO GET A PROFESSIONALLY WRITTEN CV, VISIT http://www.careergong.com/cvwriting.

Having seen the benefits of a CV; Are there other benefits you know of? OR Do you think there are other ways, apart from, applying for jobs with a CV, that can get you a job?