From Corporate Finance to Social Finance

From Corporate Finance to Social Finance Success Story > From: Job To: Job From Corporate Finance to Social Finance “I just couldn't picture myself wanting to be any of my bosses.” * From Corporate Finance to Social Finance David Puttergill longed to join a company that stood for something. Now, with the help of a social enterprise programme, he's done just that. Here's his story. What work were you doing previously? I started out as an accountant at PwC, then tried out corporate finance for a while. What are you doing now? I'm now Head of Operations at Fair Finance, a social business tackling financial exclusion, based in East London. Why did you change? I didn't care enough about what I was doing. I'd studied Geography, and always known that there were a lot of things I wantedto change about the world. And yet there I was, working on things that had started to seem a bit pointless. I also just couldn't picture myself wanting to be any of my bosses, which was a bit depressing. When was the moment you decided to make the change? I'd been thinking of making the jump to social enterprise from PwC, but I played safe instead and moved to a small corporate finance firm. A friend forwarded me a job ad three months after I moved. It was a social investment role and I was instantly curious. The company worked with such interesting social enterprises and charities. And they stood for something; they had opinions that they were fighting to realise. The contrast between how interested I was in that and how I felt about the role I was in made it obvious to me that I needed to make the leap. Are you happy with the change? Most of the time, yes! There are moments when I ask why I work harder than before for less money, but usually something good comes along to remind me pretty quickly. What do you miss and what don't you miss? Social enterprises are obviously a lot less well resourced than big professional services firms. I miss all the luxuries â€" nice offices, print rooms, facilities managers â€" and sometimes the comfort that comes from so much structure. I don't miss being a MS PowerPoint production machine; everything I do now has a purpose! How did you go about making the shift? I started a serious Google hunt, which was easy, but pretty ineffective. Eventually, a friend who knew what I was looking for introduced me to a programme called On Purpose. The programme was set up to help people transition into the social enterprise world. It was perfectly made for me. It was a tough application process, harder than any I'd done before, actually. But I made it. On Purpose set me up with two six-month, paid placements in social enterprises. One was a start-up student loans company, and the other the UK's leading venture-philanthropy organisation. It also had a great package of training on social enterprise, and a mini MBA-style training programme. However, the most important element was being with a group of seventeen other people on the programme going through the same transition at the same time. Having a group of like-minded people to share my doubts, hopes and thoughts with made it much more doable for me. What didn't go well? What 'wrong turns' did you take? I got impatient a few times. I nearly jumped into the wrong job just because it was there, because I was getting frustrated with where I was, or because I was nervous I wouldn't find anywhere better. Luckily, none of these came through for me, and I ended up somewhere that fits me really well. How did you handle your finances to make your change possible? I'd saved up a bit while working beforehand, but the great thing about On Purpose is that while you take quite a pay cut you still get enough to cover most of your costs. It also re-teaches you how to do London on the cheap! What was the most difficult thing about changing? Letting go of a lot of the certainty that comes from big stable organisations, and a purely financial motive. What help did you get? So much from the cohort I was on in On Purpose. They were fantastic, a really interesting international bunch who could make the toughest week make sense. What have you learnt in the process? I learnt a lot about what I was really looking for in a job, and that I was happy to accept some of the less flattering bits. I also learned that I need way less money to live on than I thought I did. What would you advise others to do in the same situation? Go for it. The worst-case scenario is that you'll pick up a bunch of new skills and go back to where you were as a more interesting person. What resources would you recommend to others? Your friends. They're probably much more useful than Google. To find out more about On Purpose, visit www.onpurpose.uk.com What lessons could you take from David's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

Do You Use Page Numbers When Writing a Resume?

Do You Use Page Numbers When Writing a Resume?If you're considering making a change in your career and need to create a resume, then you may be wondering if you use page numbers or not. Using numbers to describe resumes is becoming increasingly popular as the internet has changed the way people search for jobs. You have probably been using page numbers for years but when it comes to creating a resume you may be wondering if numbers are an effective way to represent your achievements and accomplishments on your resume.Numbers have many advantages for a resume. The biggest advantage that you will see from using numbers on your resume is that you can describe your job and experience more clearly. It is easier to see the numbers for the job and to understand the work you have done.Numbers allow you to create a resume in a variety of formats. Using numbers allows you to write in any format you wish. Numbers allow you to describe your job in a concise way. Numbers allow you to create a res ume in a number of different formats.Remember that when you create a resume you are looking for a simple, easy to read and understand resume. Using numbers on your resume can help you with this because you can easily describe the work you have done and the position you are looking for. It is possible to present your resume in more than one format so that your experience and job history will be easily readable.Before you create your resume, you will want to make sure that you read it over. This will help you make sure that you can get everything that you need to include on your resume. You will also want to consider what kind of format you would like to use.Numbers are generally used to describe the location or title of a job. They can be used to describe your job title and the location of the job. There are a variety of formats that numbers can be used in.Numbers can be used to describe the exact date you started a job. Using numbers is a good way to describe the start date. You can also use them to describe how long you have been working for the company or employee.If you are considering creating a resume, you will want to learn more about how numbers can be used. When you create a resume, it is important to remember that it can be used in more than one format. Make sure that you read over your resume and use the numbers to better describe your experience and accomplishments.

6 Steps to Engaging with Your Workforce

6 Steps to Engaging with Your Workforce Engaged employees demonstrate higher levels of performance, commitment, and loyalty. To build an engaged workforce, there are all sorts of things you can use to inspire employees. Watson Wyatt studies show that an organisation with highly engaged employees typically achieves a financial performance four times greater than a company with poor employee attitudes. It’s not rocket science it’s about leadership and values and optimising performance through investing in and developing your people. 10Eighty have some suggestions that any company can apply in their own workplace. 1. Get the hiring process right Employee engagement starts with the recruitment process. It’s better to find employees who are aligned with your organisational mission than it is to change their motivation and values once they have their feet under the table. Be on the lookout for candidates with a sense of purpose, interest, and passion, use the recruiting process to discovering a candidate’s interests and check their online profiles. 2. Measure employee engagement If you want to foster employee engagement you need a robust process to evaluate it. Use regular staff surveys and focus groups to check that employee wellbeing and engagement are at optimum levels. Engagement surveys consistently show that key drivers for employees are career opportunities closely followed by learning opportunities. Regular surveys are the best way to identify issues among your employees. Use what you learn to tailor benefits, tackle staff issues and improve communication with all employees, getting to know their concerns and problems. It will boost morale which should increase in productivity. 3. Share the ‘big picture Engaged employees are proud of their role within the organisation so communicate with the workforce about the organisational vision and strategy. It has a significant effect in improving engagement when everyone has an overall sense of the organisation’s goals and progress. Engaged employees are proud of their role with their organisation and this is facilitated because they have a line-of-sight to the organisation’s mission and goals. Effective communications help each worker connect with strategic organisational goals while making the most of their own potential. Demonstrate to all employees that their insights are important as this will build loyalty and engagement as well as effective collaboration. People thrive and perform to full potential in a culture that aligns with their own values and aspirations. 4. Build a culture of collaboration One of the pillars of employee engagement is collaboration. Encourage employees to share knowledge and ideas, use your talent to unleash latent creativity and help the organisation to foster innovation and growth while meeting customer needs. Some organisations lack the culture of openness and trust that enables effective engagement; organisational leaders tend to be more at ease discussing customer relationships rather than discussing relationships with employees. 5. Use feedback Facilitate career management by providing regular performance feedback. Ensure that employees feel a connection with the culture of the organisation, that new employees are welcomed in and feel part of the team quickly. It’s also important to recognise and celebrate success, achievements, progress and accomplishments. Train managers to use focused career conversations with staff for a deeper understanding of the team’s motivators, drivers and talents; effective career conversations mean employees work harder, stay longer and exceed expectations. 6. Build good workplace relationships Initiatives you might consider include: Coaching and mentoring, to help managers with ideas for engaging their employees Celebrate employee birthdays and employment anniversaries Help managers hold career conversations with their team members The relationship between employee and manager directly affects engagement levels. If you can improve this your employees will be more comfortable, effective and productive. Trust is the foundation of working relationships and facilitates communication and collaboration; it’s essential for creating an environment where innovation and creativity flourish.

I cant pronounce my sons last name

I cant pronounce my sons last name The first time I had my own company, we ignored Martin Luther King Day. And it felt really bad, like I was not living my own values. Now I am careful each year to do something to mark the holiday. So today Im posting a piece I wrote a few years ago, before I had a blog My husband and I didnt argue about my sons first name. We argued about the last name. At first, I didnt have a strong opinion, so we gave my son my husbands name, Rodriguez, even though I cant roll the Rs, which drives my husband crazy. But then I got cold feet. I worried that our son would face discrimination for his name. My husband said, Dont worry, I get it all the time. Hell get used to it. I was surprised to hear that my husband experiences discrimination. Part of seeing someone as a minority is seeing him as other. So, because hes my husband, I dont think of him as a minority. But heres an example he gave me: He worked with a think tank that researched solutions to homelessness. Sometimes when he met with leaders of homeless shelters, the leaders mistook my husband for one of the homeless. This never happened to his counterpart, Jay Alexander . But my husband kept telling me it doesnt matter. He said that to me once a week for nine months until I believed him. What did I know? I have never had a name that identifies me as a minority, so I dont know what its like. My great-grandfather changed the family name so that it would not sound Jewish and his sons could get through the Ivy League quota system. (The change worked, they got in.) In the family tradition of changing ones name for ones politics, I changed my last name when I was in my early twenties because I didnt want to be part of a patriarchal naming structure. (In this case, Im not sure if the change did anything.) My husband always says, Its no big deal. But now I am sure that it is a big deal. A study conducted at the University of Chicago and MIT shows that people who have names that are typically from minorities are much less likely to get a job. In this study, hundreds of fake resumes with very similar qualifications were sent in response to entry-level job advertisements. A resume from a name like Amy Alexander was fifty percent more likely to get an interview than a resume from a name like Latoya Washington. This shouldnt surprise me of course people like to hire people who are like them. And minorities are not running the show in corporate America. In fact, I am guilty, also. Even though I know that diversity enhances workplace success, I also know that managing someone like myself is a lot easier than managing someone whos not like me; its so much easier to lead people who are already thinking in the same way that I am. So I can talk until Im blue in the face about race and discrimination, but I have to admit that I have preconceptions about someone with the last name of Rodriguez and someone whose last name is Alexander. I dont want to have preconceptions, but we cant always control those things. So I thought of changing my sons last name, but then I thought, thats a cop out. I want to believe that we can control how we approach resumes so that we mitigate our preconceptions by reading resumes without reading names. Each of us is more likely to interview more fairly if we do not read names. Its a simple process that will teach each of us something about our prejudices and ourselves. So give name-blind resumes a try. See what happens. And who knows? Maybe one day, that resume you might have skipped will be my sons. I cant pronounce my sons last name My husband and I didnt argue about my sons first name. We argued about the last name. At first, I didnt have a strong opinion, so we gave my son my husbands name: Rodriguez. But then I got cold feet. I worried that our son would face discrimination for his name. My husband said, Dont worry, I get it all the time. Hell get used to it. I was surprised to hear that my husband experiences discrimination. Part of seeing someone as a minority is seeing him as other. So, because hes my husband, I dont think of him as a minority. But heres an example he gave me: He works with a think tank that researches solutions to homelessness. Sometimes when he meets with leaders of homeless shelters, the leaders mistake my husband for one of the homeless. This never happens to his counterpart: Jay Alexander . But my husband kept telling me it doesnt matter. He said that to me once a week for nine months until I believed him. What did I know? I have never had a name that identifies me as a minority, so I dont know what its like. My great-grandfather changed the family name so that it would not sound Jewish and his sons could get through Harvards quota system. (The change worked, they got in.) In the family tradition of changing ones name for ones politics, I changed my last name when I was in my early twenties because I didnt want to be part of a patriarchal naming structure. (In this case, Im not sure if the change did anything.) My husband always says, Its no big deal. But now I am sure that it is a big deal. A recent study from the University of Chicago and MIT shows that people who have names that are typically from minorities are much less likely to get a job. In this study, hundreds of fake resumes with very similar qualifications were sent in response to entry-level job advertisements. A resume from a name like Amy Alexander was fifty percent more likely to get an interview than a resume from a name like Latoya Washington. This shouldnt surprise me of course people like to hire people who are like them. And minorities are not running the show in corporate America. In fact, I am guilty, also. Even though I know that diversity enhances workplace success, I also know that managing someone like myself is a lot easier than managing someone whos not like me; its so much easier to lead people who are already thinking in the same way that I am. So I can talk until Im blue in the face about diversity, but I have to admit that I have preconceptions about someone with the last name of Rodriguez and someone whose last name is Alexander. I dont want to have preconceptions, but we cant always control those things. So I thought of changing my sons last name, but then I thought, thats a cop out. I want to believe that we can control how we approach resumes so that we mitigate our preconceptions by reading resumes without reading names. Each of us is more likely to interview more minorities if we do not read names. Its a simple process that will teach each of us something about our prejudices and ourselves. While studies show that managing diversity improves ones career, people still resist hiring diverse teams. This means the issue of diversity is no longer convincing people its good for the office, the issue is convincing individual people that they are part of the problem. And each of us is. So give name-blind resumes a try. See what happens. And who knows? Maybe one day, that resume you might have skipped will be my sons.

Tips For Choosing A First Time Resume Sample

Tips For Choosing A First Time Resume SampleWhen you're filling out your first time resume, you should be looking for some no experience samples so that you can fill it out correctly. The second time around could be even harder. Here are a few things that you can look for in the no experience samples that you will find on the internet.It is important to note that no experience samples on the internet are not reliable. You need to do your research and make sure that the information in them is valid. A first time resume could contain false information if you don't know what you're doing. Here are a few tips to help you.First of all, when you are looking for no experience samples, there are two options available to you. One of them is to use an online service or a website where they post samples for you to fill out. While this will cost you money, the money that you save will be well worth it. The other option is to find a sample for your resume at a bookstore, and then just do a sample for yourself, which will allow you to see how the information is formatted and which sections you might have questions about.Once you have gone over the no experience samples on the internet, there are some other things that you should be looking for. Firstly, the layout of the samples should be easy to read and understand. There should be plenty of room to write your information and a clear distinction between each section of the resume.When it comes to the formatting of the information in the no experience samples, it should be easy to follow. The sample should be easy to read and should not be hard to understand. If you can't understand what is being said, it is important to go back and double check your work.Along with the common formatting mistakes that you can make when filling out a resume, you should also check the font of the information. Many people will choose fonts that are bold and large. The font should be clear and readable and you should be able to easily tell what it is.No experience samples are not the best choice for you if you are filling out a resume for the first time. The chances are that you will make mistakes and misspell words. This can leave you stuck and not able to get a job as a result.Once you have checked out the no experience samples that you have on the internet, there are other things that you should look for when you are filling out your first time resume. These tips will allow you to ensure that you will not have any problems when you are trying to fill out your resume correctly.

Different salaries for different jobs - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Different salaries for different jobs The decisions you make now have a massive impact on your future. Of course, for a lot of people it is difficult to know what career you want to have when you are still at school. Nevertheless, this is why it is important to know about the different salaries for different job roles, as well as the demand for jobs at present and the likely demand in the future. This is a key part of ‘Connections between the world of work and future economic well-being’ in the PFEG module ‘Understanding the important role money plays in our lives.’ So, read on to find out more. What you like or what makes you the most? Unfortunately, not everyone has an interest in jobs that command the highest amount of money. Your interests and skills may be tailored to a job that earns a modest wage. So, what do you do? Spend your life doing something you hate? Certainly not! It’s all about finding the right balance. Some people would be quite happy doing something boring if it meant money was coming in. But, considering you’re going to be working the vast majority of your life, it’s important to be happy. Look for jobs that have a high salary and are related to what you enjoy and are good at. You’d be surprised by just how many job roles are out there. You may have to do the dirty work in the beginning, not everyone walks into the perfect role. Skill shortages A study conducted by the National Careers Service aimed to find out the skills that are hardest to find. 87,000 businesses took place, making it the biggest UK-wide employer skills survey. The survey received that skilled trades occupations were the most difficult to find, for example, chefs, plumbers, and electricians. This has been the case for quite a few years now. There are also skill shortages in business services jobs, namely, those qualified marketing professionals, solicitors, and accountants. How much can you earn? Well the answer to this is that the sky is the limit! You can earn as much as you want if you apply yourself. After all, you can always start your own business! But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Below you will find the average salary for some of the most popular sectors. But, remember, there are many jobs within each sector, so you do need to keep this in mind, as not all jobs will be around the salary stated. And, you’ll certainly not start on that amount!      Customer Service £22,396      Secretarial Admin £22,948      Social Care £24,258      Accountancy £27,826      Tourism £28,458      Education £34,345      Engineering £35,232      Media £35,629      Estate Agency £35,994      Sales £36,503      Legal £37,210      Marketing £37,814      Health Medicine £37,951      Financial Services £44,508      Energy £44,878      IT £45,413      Banking £49,817      Accountancy (Qualified) £50,761      Consultancy Strategy £57,591 What’s demand like? Knowing the salary is one thing, but demand is just as important. You want to make sure you are going to have a chance of getting a job. For example, the average salary in the energy industry looks great right? But, there have only been 798 jobs in this industry since 2015, representing a 195 decrease. Education represents the biggest number of vacancies, with more than 20,000, representing a 3,326 increase from 2015. Other industries with a high and growing number of vacancies include IT telecoms, admin secretarial, health medicine, construction, and accountancy (qualified). So taking an online degree in social work, accounting, or IT would be a good move. Summary When thinking about the future, it is important to recognise that different jobs command different salaries. You need to consider this carefully when deciding what path to go down. You also need to think about the level of demand in the industry, as well as the opportunity to grow. You don’t want to be stuck in dead end job earning the same amount of money year on year do you?

To err is human - to forgive is divine. And profitable! - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

To err is human - to forgive is divine. And profitable! - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog A radio producer felt oppressed because her boss was constantly stealing her food ?- right off her desk. So she made some candy out of EX-Lax, the chocolate flavored laxative, and left it on her desk. As usual, he ate them without permission. When she told this thief what was in the candy, ?he was not happy.??? (Source). What do you do, when youre treated badly or unfairly at work? Do you go along to get along? Get even? Something else? More and more people seek revenge at work when slighted. The number of retaliation charges has nearly doubled over the last eight years and more than 27% of all harassment and discrimination claims currently filed contain a claim for retaliation (source). But while getting even may feel good for a moment, is it really a good idea? From a business perspective, the answer turns out to be no. I was recently at an international conference on positive psychology arranged by the Center for Applied Positive Psychology, and among the many fascinating people I met there was Sarah Warner. Sarah presented a research project that demonstrates that workplaces with a culture of forgiveness had: Lower levels of interpersonal conflict and stress Higher levels of productivity Apparently, revenge creates stress and lowers productivity, whereas a culture of forgiveness makes a company more efficient and more profitable. So forgiveness is good for business. Cool! Ive had a chance to interview Sarah about her fascinating project, and about why companies need to work on their ability to forgive peoples missteps. Sarah, please tell us a little about yourself I am an undergraduate student at Luther College, a university in the United States and I graduate this month! I have conducted research through my university on the topics of workplace forgiveness, interpersonal stress, productivity, and health. I recently presented a poster of my research at the First Applied Positive Psychology Conference, University of Warwick, UK. How did you come to choose workplace forgiveness as a topic for your study? Looking at the other side of the issue was interesting to me. By the other side I mean looking at forgiveness as opposed to revenge, which is emphasized most by many researchers. I wanted my study to be applicable to the real world, which is why I used a real, live workplace for my research. There is a misconception that forgiveness has no place in the business world and I wanted to show that this is far from the truth. What kind of workers participated in the study? The workers who participated in my research were employees at a manufacturing firm. Most of the employees at this workplace were in a factory environment, with the others in an office setting. How exactly does forgiveness affect interpersonal relationships? Interpersonal stress was found to mediate (act as the middleman) in the relationship between forgiveness and health/productivity outcomes. This means that forgiveness is related to health (both physical and mental) and productivity through the variable of interpersonal stress. In fact, the results of my study suggest that up to 40% of the relationship is accounted for by interpersonal stress. Also, forgiveness alone was strongly correlated to health and productivity. Did anything in your results surprise you? The strength of the results was the most surprising aspect of the study. I had predicted that this relationship would exist but the extent to which it exists was surprising. Forgiveness is related to many of the things that organizations are worried about today: Productivity problems, health insurance costs, etc. Organizations should think twice before they write-off forgiveness as having no importance in the workplace. Whats next? What are some of the questions we still need answers to? Because this study was one of the first to examine this relationship, more research would be helpful to confirm its strength. Looking at different types of workplaces and organizations in other countries would also be a great next step. The interesting question, especially in the business world, is how forgiveness can save an organization money (through increasing productivity, decreasing healthcare costs, etc.). When the discussion turns to saving money, organizations start to listen a bit more. Have you ever sought revenge on someone? Or are you the forgiving type? :o) Well, that is a fair question! I have to say that I am generally the forgiving type. Like most people, I have held grudges in the past against people who have hurt me. While it is hard at times, I try not to do to this anymore. It seems that when a person holds a grudge, it really ends up hurting them the most, not the person they are holding the grudge against. I believe this to be true, which is part of the reason I am so interested in this field of research. A great big thank you to Sarah. If you have any questions for her, write a comment, and shes promised to answer. 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