Wednesday, 18 February 2015

Top 10 Tips To Impress In Your Next Interview

Are you feeling nervous about an upcoming job interview? Studies show that almost 92 per cent of all job seekers are apprehensive about the interview process. Hence it becomes imperative that you prepare yourself and brush up your communication skills and confidence before going for an interview.

Impressing The Interviewer

Rebecca Hersey, HR Coordinator for a Kent Law Firm, said “We want to see a commitment to achieving high standards, whatever level you’re at, for yourself and for the firm. That’s very important to us – a lot of our reputation is founded on our high standards and client service.”

The fact is one in every 3 hiring managers make the decision to hire or reject a candidate in the first 90 seconds. So make sure that you take all the right steps to create the right first impression. One of the main mistakes that 67 per cent interviewees do is fail to maintain eye contact, which depicts lack of confidence. Moreover, 38 per cent of candidates do not smile and remain too serious during the interviewing. So it’s important that you master the right interview skills and land your dream job.

So here we are going to share the top 10 tips which will help you make a strong impression on your interviewer-
  • Be Confident
Being confident is key to creating the right impression during an interview. No company will want to recruit a candidate who lacks confidence as it will affect his/her performance. One of the best ways to boost your confidence is to prepare for the event. Do some research about the company and practice the most probable interview questions beforehand. However make sure that you do not over-rehearse.
  • Be Serious
Having a casual approach for the initial round of an interview may result in sealing your fate, particularly with an interviewer from the HR department. You need to consider every interview as the most important one for your career.
  • Improve Your Handshake
When you meet your potential interviewer or employer, make sure that you offer a nice and firm handshake. A sweaty hand or a flimsy handshake can certainly ruin the deal. The right handshake will show that you are confident and give you a head start for the interview.
  • Have A Positive Attitude
Being enthusiastic about an interview can help you start the process in the right way. If you have a negative attitude, then your interviewer will not give your candidature a second thought. Having a positive approach can take you a long way.
  • Ask The Right Questions
Asking a few questions to your interviewer or prospective employer can actually help you to get the job. By asking the right question you will have better clarity about the company, your job role and how you can help. Moreover it will show the interviewer that you are enthusiastic about the job.
  • Make Eye Contact
Maintaining eye contact during job interviews is highly important. Make sure to look directly into the eyes of your interviewer when you meet for the first time. However, you need to do this in a non-threatening yet a confident way.
  • Be Happy
Going to the interview with a bad mood or being upset or too serious can create the wrong impression on the interviewer. It is best to take deep breaths, think positively and have a good mood when going for an interview. Your smile can make a bid difference to the outcome.
  • Have Good Communication Skills
Being nervous can lead you to talk fast. Hence take some time and think through what you want to say when asked a question. You also need to control your body language and speak in more conversational manner, instead of sounding rehearsed.
  • Be Outstanding
Let’s face it, you are certainly not the only one applying for the job position. Hence you need to create such an impression that you will become memorable for the interview panel and HR team. This will help the management to recall your candidature when finalising the top candidates.
  • Openly Ask For The Job
Frankly and confidently tell the interviewer that you want the job. It is simple and effective. Informing your prospective employer that you wish to work with their company is surely a great idea.

Do you have some more ideas that can help to impress the interviewer? Then feel free to share your views and opinions with us by commenting below.

How You Can Impress In Your Interview

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Serious Shortage Of Trained Healthcare Professionals, Says Who Report



Do you wish to build a thriving career in the healthcare industry? But do you have the necessary skills and knowledge? With growing costs of college education, it is now becoming increasingly difficult for most young people to pursue undergraduate degrees, especially in health professional education. So what other academic options do you have?

The Smartest Solution

Online learning or eLearning is one of the best ways that can help you to develop the necessary skills required to become a healthcare professional. In fact, according to a new research, online education can enable millions of learners to pursue a career in the healthcare sector worldwide. The study, conducted by Imperial College London (ICL) and commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO), focused on analyzing the efficiency and value of online learning for undergraduate healthcare education.

Need For Healthcare Training

As per another recent report published by WHO there is a global shortage of almost 7.2 million healthcare professionals and the finding estimate that the number is set to rise further in future. The team of researchers at Imperial College London considered online education as a feasible solution to train more professionals as learners only require a reliable internet connection to pursue an undergraduate programme. Moreover, the course content can be accessed easily online as well as offline through USB flash drives and CD-ROM.

The findings, which were collected from over 108 studies, revealed that learners can develop the necessary knowledge and skills through online learning, both online and offline, in an affordable, convenient and flexible way. In fact, the study suggests that students can learn just as effectively as or even better than traditional learning methods.

Taking A Blended Approach


However, it was recommended that a mix of traditional education and online learning, similar to the blended learning approach, will prove to be the most advantageous solution for training aspiring healthcare professionals like doctors and nurses. Simply pursuing E-learning programmes might not prove to be as useful as trainees need to develop practical skills as well.

Dr. Josip Car of the School of Public Health at Imperial College London commented “E-learning programmes could potentially help address the shortage of healthcare workers by enabling greater access to education, especially in the developing world where the need for more health professionals is greatest.”

Expanding The Reach Of Education

He added that there are certainly many challenges which we need to overcome, like quick and easy access to computers, fast and reliable internet connections, offering high quality content and learning resources. Dr. Car requested universities and colleges to offer online programmes and other online resources on a wide scale so that students from around the globe can easily access them.

We hope that online education provides the necessary solution to train and teach aspiring healthcare workers on a global scale.

Article Source: bit.ly/1CIpsvr

Monday, 9 February 2015

Reducing Gap In Poor And Rich Students In Universities Across The UK

In the past few years, the number of poor and rich students applying for a university programme has reduced significantly with more and more underprivileged teens planning to enrol than ever before.

More “Poor” Students Applying To University



Recent data published by UCAS reveals that the application rates of students in the age of 18, who reside in poor communities in the 4 nations of the UK, has risen to the highest recorded levels. However, although the gap between wealthy aspiring students and their less affluent peers is narrowing, the rich kids still are twice as more likely to enrol. The gap between male and female learners aspiring to pursue a degree is increasing as well. Overall around 100,000 more female students have applied to study a university programme than men this year. It has been observed that now 36 per cent of young women are more likely to apply than their male counterparts.

Mary Curnock Cook, chief of UCAS, had earlier notified that a “disquieting” gap exists between women and men applying for university. This has been increasing since the early 1990s and further worsened. The recent figures show that the numbers of individuals in the United Kingdom and other countries who submitted their applications by the closing date of 15th January 2015.

Growing Demand For University Degree


In general, a 2 per cent increase in applications was observed, as compared to the previous year with more than 592,290 students applying. A 1 per cent increase was seen among the applicants from UK, according to UCAS. Moreover in England, the number of students applying for university also rose by 1 per cent. Cook of UCAS believes that the growing demand for university seats will keep on increasing. However, she thinks that the rate of growth has somewhat reduced this year. She said “Demand for UK higher education, notably from younger people and from EU countries, has continued to rise in 2015. It is heartening to see the gap between rich and poor continue to narrow. Nevertheless, demand has grown more slowly this year and has fallen for mature students. This perhaps reflects improved employment prospects in the UK.”

An analysis of the data reveals that almost 21 per cent of disadvantaged students in England, who are 18 years old, applied for university in 2015, with 3 per cent in this group more likely to apply than last year. UCAS commented “Differences in application rates between advantaged and disadvantaged areas have reduced over the past decade, reduced further in 2015 and were at the lowest level recorded.”

Narrowing The Gap



The fact is now the wealthiest 18 year old students in the United Kingdom are 2.4 times higher probability of aspiring to attend university than the most underprivileged ones. Back in 2006, these students were 3.7 times more likely to send an application. Chairman of Social Mobility Charity at the Sutton Trust, Sir Peter Lampl, said “The continuing growth in disadvantaged applicants is welcome, and will narrow the access gap. Nevertheless, there is still a significant gap, particularly to the most selective universities, and a worrying dip this year in mature applicants.”

He added “There were many who said the reform of student finance would discourage young people from going to university. The opposite has occurred; numbers have grown, in particular those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our reforms now also mean universities are well funded for the future. At the same time, we have expanded vocational training, particularly apprenticeships, which have reached two million. This is a record to be celebrated.”