From Journalist to Not-for-profit Founder

From Journalist to Not-for-profit Founder Success Story > From: Job To: Startup From Journalist to Not-for-profit Founder “The work I was producing felt pointless and, to some extent, self-indulgent.” * From Journalist to Not-for-profit Founder Giovanni Fontana spent years holding out for his 'dream career', job-hopping between many different roles in the process. But when he took some much-needed time out to reflect, he finally discovered what was most important to him, and how touse itto get unstuck. Here's how he did it. What work were you doing previously? I've done a lot of different types of work. Most recently, I was a journalist, and I've also worked in a political think tank, and as a research assistant for several university professors. What are you doing now? I'm one of the founders of Second Tree, a not-for-profit organisation that works with refugee camps in Greece. Why did you change? While the work I was doing wasinteresting and absorbing for me personally, the actual work I was producing felt pointless and, to some extent, self-indulgent. I felt there was a disconnection between the work I liked and found interesting, and work that would make a positive impact on the wider world. When was the moment you decided to make the change? Ironically, I didn't realise at the time. Iwanted to discover the Holy Grail: work that I liked, was good at, and that was also meaningful. Not finding it contributed to aperiod of unhappiness. But it turned out to be instrumental: I needed a change, and decided to try something I'd wanted to do for a long time. I had no idea it was a career change at the time, it felt much more like a break. How did you choose your new career? I spent many years frequently changing my mind about what kind of work would be best for me. The result was that I did a lot of job-hopping! At university, I studied romance philology, Middle Age linguistics andliterature. Studying and researching was something I enjoyed a lot. People in the department thought I would pursue an academic career, and frankly I did as well. The more time I spent delving into that one topic, the more I realised I wouldn't be happy doing that for my whole life.I started to worry that I would reach my grandparents’ age, and realise my contribution to the world wouldn't have been as meaningful as I wanted it to be.Yet, I didn't know how to find a job that was not only meaningful, but that I was good at and liked doing. I started a personalblog, which turned into a job writing for a few national newspapers, magazines and outlets. I also wanted to understand more about what meaningful work was, which led to somevolunteer placements I undertook around the world. To do that volunteer work better I went back to university, this time studying International Relations. But after I got my degree, instead of going back into the humanitarian field, I went back to journalism, politics and different sorts of intellectual work. From a superficial point of view, some of it was high profile, like writing a couple of minor speechesfor the Prime Minister;some of it wasn't at all, like translating stuff or writing for sports magazines. I knew what I didn't want to do, but not what I did want to do. Volunteering my time to good causes felt like a practical solution while I figured it all out. What I was gaining along the way was anawareness of the importance of fulfilment, which, I realised, was more important to methanmoney, or prestige, or even liking what I did. In practical terms, making the shift was quite simple: I saw the pictures of what was at the time the worst refugee camp in Greece. One month later, I filled my car with much needed aid for the camp, and drove there. I reckoned I would work there for only three or fourmonths. Fouryears have passed now, and I’m still here. It took me a week to understand that this was a life-changing experience. It's taken much longer than that to understand â€" and maybe I still haven't understood it fullyâ€" how much of a life-changing experience it's been. Are you happy with the change? I'm exhausted. And happy. What started as a group of independent volunteers trying to organise activities in a deserted refugee camp, has gradually progressed into starting a small organisation that provides extra help and support to different camps throughout Greece. This itself has progressed into creating and applying a new model of community engagement and dealing with vulnerable groups for grassroots NGOs. We call it the Second Tree model, and it's something that we continue to develop, discuss, challenge and try to improve. I’m proud of what Second Tree has achieved, and the real differences we have made to so many people’s lives. We’ve gone a long way from how we started, just a group of committed people trying to make the life of the 1300 people living in that horrible refugee camp a little better. We’ve been here for four years now, and it’s the longest I’ve ever stayed in a role â€" that fact alone definitely tells me something! How did you handle your finances to make your shift possible? I used my personal blog to tell my story and set up a crowdfunding campaign. It generated so much support that I decided to thank everyone andclose it down! Within two weeks, it had raised 6,000euros ( £5,000 / $6,500). I’m lucky to have been able to source funding for the organisation so far, not just through the campaign, but also from meetings with people who want to offer help, whether in the form of money, skills, time, or ideas. From a personal point of view, while I’m not particularly well-off, I know that I’m privileged inlots of ways. For example, I haven’t got a family to worry about, which means I can take more financial risks. What was the most difficult thing about changing? I worried at first that I might change my mind again, then find it hard to get back into journalism and politics, or any other field,if I wanted to. I can’t see that happening now, but even if it did, I’m much more laid-back about the idea of ‘going back’. If I ever decided to, I know I could make it happen. What help did you get? When I started setting up my organisation, I was surprised by how much people wanted to help. All I needed to do was ask. Reaching out to ask my network for advice â€" not to mention financial support for the crowdfunding campaign! â€" felt daunting at first. But I was grateful (and, stupidly, a little surprised) that many people fell over themselves to help with whatever I asked for. What have you learnt in the process? I’ve learnt that what you like to do, what you are good at, and what is good for the world are three different things. It’s so difficult to find work that fits all three of those requirements â€" real life is not like the movies! I realised that finding my ‘ideal’ work was all about making a choice. I had to decide which of those three things was the most important. For me, this was work that is good for the world. What do you wish you'd done differently? I wish I hadn’t stressed so much about finding my ‘dream’ job. I thought that if I couldn’t enjoy and feel completely fulfilled by my work every single day, I had failed in some way. If I had learned to compromise earlier on, it might not have taken me so long to get to where I am now. What would you advise others to do in the same situation? ‘Follow your instincts’ is a popular piece of career change advice. But I think that can be dangerous, because your instincts can stop you from taking risks you need to take. Don’t hold out for work that fulfils every single need you have, because you’ll only end up disappointed. Instead, try to discover what aspects of a career are the most important to you, then look for work that speaks to them. If that means taking some ‘wasted’ time out to reflect, try not to feel guilty! That time could be exactly what you need to clarify the direction you need to take with your career. To find out more about Giovanni's work, visit secondtree.org What lessons could you take from Giovanni's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

How Great Leaders Develop Their Employees - Classy Career Girl

How Great Leaders Develop Their Employees It’s easy to neglect your staff when you are a manager. You don’t do it by choice. It’s easy to get busy and assume that your employees are happy, enjoying their jobs and doing their best work. In many cases, though, there are all sorts of things you could be doing to improve your communication and leadership of your staff. The better your staff perform and the happier they are, there will be a greater level of productivity and improved performance for your company. 1. Great leaders  match employees to their vision. The first thing that should be considered is whether you’ve got the staff to unleash your vision and your company’s potential. While you might have hired a select few employees in the early days to get the job done, now you should focus on future growth. Are your current employees in a position to grow with the company, or will they struggle to do so? At this point,  it may be time to have some important talks with each of your staff members. It may also be time to let that anyone on your team go that you have been putting up with. If its not working, they are only going to bring you down further.  Now is the time. 2. Great leaders focus on training their staff. If you’re at a point where your staff isn’t performing as well as you wanted them to, it’s could very well be because you aren’t training them well enough. Training should always be implemented within your current business environment, as it helps everyone to improve in their roles. It’s also important for crucial matters such as health and safety and proper IT usage. If you’re concerned that your employees are struggling in some areas, start developing a training program or spending a certain time each week specifically on training. You can host in-house if you want to, or you could even outsource the responsibility to another company. Be careful not to clamp down too hard on your employees because of their performance. If they aren’t working hard enough, that’s one thing, but most of them may not possess the right knowledge. You can turn this annoyance into a positive relationship by enrolling them into a training course that they want to attend. Thats the most important part. Make sure its not forced. You want to make sure that your training is something that they are excited to learn about as well. 3.  Great leaders hire  the right people. In addition, great leaders dont wait until it is urgent to hire a staff member. You have to hire before you are ready and when its not urgent. If you need to hire someone urgently, most likely you wont be able to spend the right amount of time to ensure you have the right new employee on your team. The other alternative is to hire new staff that can fill the roles you need them to. No amount of training is going to help in some circumstances, where experience and qualifications reign supreme. Make sure you have identified whether hiring is a necessity and be aware of whether you can afford to do it. You obviously need to think about the quality of people you’re hiring, too. If you’re hiring for positions that require a certain amount of expertise, you’ve got to hire the right people. It can be beneficial in this case to seek the help of staffing agencies to narrow down the right candidate. In fact, the more options you undertake in terms of recruitment; the better chance you’ve got of finding the best employees. Budget management is very important when it comes to hiring employees. They are costly, and you don’t want to be in a position where you have to get rid of them soon after hiring. Think about the long-term effects on the company and whether it’s beneficial to hire right now. Improving your staff is important, whether you seek to train them or hire new people with new skills. Don’t forget that you must treat them in the proper fashion, too, or they might become disillusioned. Always be the best boss you can and they will respond by producing their best work.

You Want to Work in Accounting or Finance. Great. Now What

You Want to Work in Accounting or Finance. Great. Now What I remember the last time I attended a job fair at my college. I forced myself into a pair of heels, printed out an optimistically large stack of resumes to hand out, and biked over to the sweaty smelling athletic building armed with my best smileand only the vaguest of ideas what I would want my future career to look like. You see, I was an English majorgood at writing, reading critically, and communicating, and I wanted a job that allowed me to do that. You know somehow. Dont ask me why I went to a job fair without a particular job title in mind. Nevertheless, it seemed like at every single booth, I heard more or less the same thing. Were really looking to fill positions in Accounting But Ill hold on to that resume for you, my coffee was starting to leave a ring on the table.  Work In Accounting? I questioned (not for the first or last time) why I had chosen a field that was so open-ended, so poorly defined, as opposed to a field of study that pointed itself nicely into a specific career, like Finance. Imagine my surprise, then, when a conversation with my housemate over coffee revealed that she didnt know what to do with her impending Accounting degree, either. Sorry, did I hear that correctly? I must not have heard you over the wailing of my internal litany of self pity and doubt. How could you not know what you want to do if youre lucky enough to be good with numbers? The possibilities are endless! Turns out, thats exactly the problem. If you dont actually know what you want to do for a living, then you arent going to have any easier time job hunting, no matter what your field is. If youre looking for the latest opportunities in Finance, then a good place to start is to define what that actually means. Do you want to work as an accountant, payroll specialist, medical billing specialist,   financial planner, insurance saleswoman, or investment banker? They all fall under that category. Just the same way that a bloggers job does not even closely resemble that of a technical writer or a journalist, it turns out that I want to work in writing somehow wasnt a good career plan for me, and it probably hasnt been working out for you either. On the other side of that coin, (Preferably not the Job Hunting Sucks Im Just Gonna Flip a Coin coin,) maybe youre hitting a rut in your job hunt because your search is too narrowly defined. For example, you want to be an Accountant. Why? Because you see yourself balancing books at an important firm, in a smart suit jacket, pencil balanced delicately behind one ear? Or because you know where you want to live, how much youll need to make to afford to live there, what youre qualified for, and which of your skills are most marketable and in demand in that area? (Oops.. you have done that research, right? ) The point is, dont be like me. Dont make your job hunting decisions based on an idea of what you think your future job is going to look like, what you want your lifestyle to be, and the narrow roles and titles that youve decided fit that image. Do. Your. Research. Start here. Finance jobs are out there, and its not a bad industry to hang your hat on. As long as businesses continue to operate for the purpose of making money, its a safe bet that they are going to need people to balance, save, invest, manage, and direct that money. Define your goal, and go get it.

How to write a good application 7 Hot Tips

How to write a good application 7 Hot Tips This is peak application season  and I get to read a number every week. Many people spend a huge amount of time thinking about what to write in applications. They research into employers, and have great ideas. Sometimes things can go a bit wrong in the execution though. Here are  the Autumn 2015  top tips to get your writing right! There arent many grad jobs where you wont need to write. Its not unreasonable for an employer to look  to you to demonstrate, throughout the recruitment process that youll be up to the task. Your application needs to be framed in clear business English. If you dont really understand what this is, a good starting point might be to read Chris Stoakes book, Get to the Point.  In the meantime here are my top tips! 1. Be formal without being obsequious In some countries it is normal to write in a very “flowery” style eg: “I would be a privilege to be  appointed to work for your prestigious company”. In the UK this is not necessary, or recommended. You should not set out overtly to praise an employer, or ever imply that you would be honoured to work for a particular company. An appropriate alternative to the example above would be: “I wish to apply for a post within your company”. The suggestion above is not impolite, it uses standard business English. 2. Don’t include unnecessary words Most job application forms in the UK have a strict word count. This is not just  for your general guidance. The word limit  will be  strict and as stated. Some application forms will simply cut off any words over the specified number. It is down to you to make the best use of  the word count that  you can. Avoid any unnecessary words and “fillers”,  such as  moreover, however, nonetheless, additionally etc. These words add nothing at all to the meaning and potentially stop you from saying something more important. 3. Use the word count as a general guide You do not have to use every single word available to you, but you should be relatively close to the word count. If, for example, you have 500 words to describe an event which made you proud then, “I was proud of passing my driving test first time” is unlikely to be regarded as an adequate answer. This is giving you a clear steer that you need to describe the event in some detail. It would be a good idea to use the CARE model in answering this, (Context, Action, Result, Evaluation), make sure that around 40% of your answer is on the Action section. 4. Answer the question Keep checking back to make sure that you are actually answering the question you have, rather than something you hoped to have been asked. For example “Why do you want to be a lawyer?” is not the same as “Why do you want to work for this firm?” The first is asking you to demonstrate an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer. The second is enquiring into the research you have done  regarding the firm. 5. Keep your sentences and your words short A job application is not the time to write sentences which run over several lines. Neither is it advisable to get out the thesaurus and experiment with  long words, when you are not familiar with them, or entirely sure of their meaning!Remember that your application is going to be one of a great many read by your target employer. Make it easy for graduate recruitment to understand what you are saying quickly. If someone has to read a section twice in order to understand It, then your syntax or vocabulary is too complex. If you use a word where you are not entirely sure of its meaning then you risk looking silly. You do not want your application to be the one which makes the whole graduate recruitment team laugh. 6. Get your spelling and grammar right This might not be easy for you if English is not your first language but be aware that some employers allow no leeway for errors in your writing. Get someone to help with the proofreading of the application, but do remember that what you produce at the end must be representative of what you can do and not of the standard of your friend’s English. Apostrophes can be a minefield for you so here are some really simple rules: You need an apostrophe if you have left out a word. If “do not” has become “don’t” the apostrophe marks the departed “o”. Ask yourself if theres a letter missing. If so, use an apostrophe (but generally when writing in formal applications it is good not to  use this colloquial style). Business English does not normally  abbreviate. Do you have a simple plural, “offices”, “buildings”? There is no apostrophe before or after the “S”. You do need an apostrophe when you have a possessive. If you are talking about the blanket belonging to the cat then it is “the cat’s blanket”. If you have several cats then you mark this by moving the position of the apostrophe “the cats’ blankets”. There are some really good books to help with this, try Lynne Truss “Eats, shoots and leaves.” 7. Do not repeat yourself Employers only want you to make each point once. If there are a number of different questions do not keep referring back to the same examples. You need to find something different to say for each question. If you feel that the questions are unduly similar and warrant the same answer, dont be tempted to give just the one. You need to assume that the graduate recruiters knew what they were doing when they set the questions and find different ways of answering each. Take your time over the writing of the applications just as you do over the researching. Good luck!

Use LinkedIn Wisely in Your Executive Job Search - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Use Wisely in Your Executive Job Search

The myth of management - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

The myth of management - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Youve gotta read this article by Matthew Stewart. Seriously! Go read it!! The money quote: After I left the consulting business, in a reversal of the usual order of things, I decided to check out the management literature As I plowed through tomes on competitive strategy, business process re-engineering, and the like, not once did I catch myself thinking, Damn! If only I had known this sooner! Instead, I found myself thinking things I never thought I?d think, like, I?d rather be reading Heidegger! It was a disturbing experience. It thickened the mystery around the question that had nagged me from the start of my business career: Why does management education exist? The article gives us the most thorough deconstruction of the whole field of management and the magical, unscientific thinking behind it. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

The Job Market - Do You Need A Resume Writing Service In Connecticut?

The Job Market - Do You Need A Resume Writing Service In Connecticut?When you hire a resume writing service in Connecticut, you are doing two things. You are helping yourself to get the job and you are building your future. Not only that, but a resume is also a very powerful tool when it comes to getting a new job.The job market is tight right now, and as such, hiring a resume writing service in Connecticut may be one of the smartest things you can do for yourself. Not only can they write the perfect resume for you, but they will help you get the interview and get the job.With the recession, you may find yourself without a job and unable to even put together a resume. The recession, even if it is over, is still in full force. This means that you will need to come up with something that is unique and that will stand out. Of course, you will want to make sure that it is strong enough to get you the interview.But how do you go about hiring a resume writing service in Connecticut? How do you find the perfect person to help you?It will take some research and possibly meeting with some individuals before you can find someone who is the right fit for you. A resume writing service in Connecticut can be found in your local Yellow Pages, or on the Internet by doing a search for companies that offer this service.Once you have chosen a company, you can then speak with them about what kind of resume you would like. You should feel free to ask any questions you may have regarding your situation and career goals. Remember, a resume is your first impression and when used effectively, can give you a great boost in your future.After you have chosen the services that are right for you, you can then find out what they can do for you. They should be able to write a resume that is targeted to the employer's requirements, but still allow you to show off your accomplishments in the process.Hiring a resume writing service in Connecticut will allow you to jumpstart your job search and g et your career on the path you want. Get started today!