How To Uncover Personal Qualities For Career Success

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per1For getting on at work, it’s not enough to have a multitude of skills and talents, you are also required to display and be judged on your character and personal qualities.

It sounds pretty harsh, until you think about that person who worked next to you for a year and never looked you in the eye, or the team leader who always found someone else to blame if anything went wrong, or the woman in accounts who moaned all the time…

It’s not just what you can do that counts, but what kind of person you are and how you will match your workplace’s needs and ethos.

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7 Ways to Boost Your Career with Positive Language

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speechbubble2jIt’s like flipping a coin. Instead of using the first expression that comes into your head, choose a form of words which basically gives the same response but which indicates a positive, can-do attitude.

A few little changes of language, and you begin to sound like a problem-solver, a team player, an energetic and confident colleague, a leader, a go-to person.

Who would have thought that a modicum of linguistic tweaking would help you to tick so many boxes? The power of language, my friends. Never underestimate it. Here are some ideas you can use to start sounding positive.

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How To Uncover Your Hidden Career Skills

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maze1Some of us are good at blagging and bigging ourselves up. You know, the kind of people who never seem to have a moment’s doubt about their ability to do — well, anything really.

Others of us are less confident and underplay our abilities, sometimes through a (misplaced) distaste for what we see as bragging, sometimes through not being able to recognise the nature and extent of our skills. Often, the jargon of the workplace, with its deadening acronyms and soulless terminology, can prevent us from identifying just what we have to offer.

Here’s a way of working out just what you do, what skills you have and what you’re good at.

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How to overcome influences that hold back your career

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circles1We kick off the new year with yet more evidence and discussion of the factors which hold back women’s progress at work.

This time, it’s a report to the House of Commons in the UK about Women in Scientific Careers, which gives lots of examples and statistics to illustrate women’s lack of advancement in STEM careers — that’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, in case you were wondering. Gosh, it’s hard to keep up when all you can think about is shoes, isn’t it?

The explanations for this are dismally familiar, and whatever your field of work and whatever your position, you will recognise some of the reasons given for this situation:

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How To Make New Year Resolutions That You Will Keep

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drawingpicture1Remember the slogan, A Dog Is For Life, Not Just For Christmas? It was coined 36 years ago by the then National Canine Defence League in the UK to remind us that a dog is a living, life-long responsibility and should not be an impulse buy inspired by seasonal sentiment and a cute waggly tail.

We make resolutions at the dawn of a new year, inspired by…what? A knee-jerk reaction? Convention? An awareness of all our faults and weaknesses?

These and similar motivations help to explain why our resolutions are usually abandoned, like the adorable puppies who turned out to be inconvenient and expensive appendages (it’s okay, pooch lovers young and old — they were ALL found loving new homes).

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The Perfectionist’s Guide To A Stress-Free Christmas

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womanwithgift1It’s so difficult for perfectionists at this time of year. Whether you are the provider or the partaker of Christmas jollity, or as applies to many of us, a mixture of both, your head is crammed full with images and ideas about the ideal way to celebrate.

You want the meal or party to be perfect, you want the exchange of gifts to tick every conceivable box, you want the day to be just right with everyone getting on well and no rows. You put pressure on yourself to achieve the unachievable, and blame yourself when people and events don’t live up to your expectations.

This year, put less stress on yourself and on others by making a few adjustments to the way you deal with the festive season.

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How to Survive When You Can’t Stand Christmas

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copingwithchristmas1There are many reasons for approaching the Christmas season with trepidation rather than relish.

This time of year may have sad associations for you. You may be involved in painful decisions and compromises about visiting arrangements. You might worry about the expense involved. You may hate the pressure to be sociable.

It could be that you dislike the prolonged break in your usual routine and being unable to access the patterns and habits which normally sustain you. Eating food you wouldn’t eat at any other time, spending time, maybe a lot of time, with people you wouldn’t normally want to see, spending money, maybe a lot of money, that you don’t have…oh, come on, we’re all in there somewhere, aren’t we, just a little bit?

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