Leo Blair: This will be your life

Career advice for an infant is difficult at the best of times, but Leo, you’re already off to a very fine start. Your problem will not be being loved too little and ignored. Or having a slightly unusual name – pity instead Brooklyn Beckham, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon (Madonna’s first child) and Lucas Morad Jagger

Continue Reading

Moving to the UK

Two Christmases ago Jeannine left her job in Melbourne to begin an adventure on the other side of the world. At 28 she realised there was more she wanted to do and struck out from her ‘comfort zone’ to discover Europe. Lying on a beach in Brisbane, she realised that ‘Brisbane wasn’t going to be

Continue Reading

Working in Singapore

‘It is people with the imagination, the drive, the willingness to think big and take risks…who will make the economy grow and themselves rich.’ Lee Kuan Yew, the ‘father of modern Singapore’, spoke these words at a Chinese New Year celebration in February 2000. Could this be you? Our correspondent Richard Willsher reports from Singapore.

Continue Reading

Leaving in style

Getting a new job may be cause for rejoicing, says Adeline Iziren, award winning journalist, but be careful how you handle your resignation – and not just for your boss’s sake You’ve just been offered a great new job. Congratulations! Naturally you’re fired up about starting the new one, but make sure you leave the

Continue Reading

How to become the Chief Executive

Adeline Iziren takes you straight to the top Is your dream to reach the top of your profession? Do you sometimes sit at your desk and visualise what it would be like to do your boss’s job or – even become CEO of a major company? Whether you want to make it to the top

Continue Reading

Workaholism

W.E. Oates claims to have invented the term workaholism in his 1971 book, Confessions of a Workaholic, when he defined it as an ‘addiction to work, the compulsion or the uncontrollable need to work incessantly’. But though it seems a recent phenomenon, brought about by the relentless pace of modern civilisation, in reality workaholics have

Continue Reading

Dealing with mistakes

So you’ve accidentally put salt in the client’s coffee. Or you’ve pressed the ‘delete everything’ button on your PC. In the words of the late, lamented Douglas Adams, Don’t Panic! Handling mistakes is as important an aspect of work experience as any. ‘Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new’, Albert

Continue Reading

Fighting for equal pay

Men and women now have equal rights in the workplace. But some, says Emma John, are still more equal than others An overwhelming 93% of employers are confident they offer women fair, unbiased pay systems, according to a new survey. Yet the poll, by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), is only one of a number

Continue Reading

Getting on with the boss

Want a super relationship with your boss? Then learn how to manage them properly, says award-winning writer Adeline Iziren Helen Sears has a great relationship with her boss Graham Lancaster. Key to its success is Helen’s ability to manage Graham. No, she doesn’t order him about, but rather than passively responding to his demands, she

Continue Reading

Figure-happy: the road to a better bonus

When Santa visits the City each Christmas, he leaves a bundle of slips of paper on the desks of each manager. These are the presents for the hardworking men and women of the square mile. Depending on whether they’ve been good or bad, the number on the slip will have more or less noughts. ‘Tis

Continue Reading

Dotcomming it: what are entrepreneurs looking for?

Graduates’ attraction to dotcoms is as much to do with the freedom and scope that the new economy offers, as it is to do with making money quickly. So, how can the big companies make their corporate cultures more attractive to budding entrepreneurs? Tony Vickers, an expert in organizational behavior, assesses which cultures attract entrepreneurs

Continue Reading

So You Want to be an Expat? How to Get a Job Abroad

At some point or another, almost everyone has fantasized about packing up and spending some time in another country. Maybe you’ve got the itch to live in a different climate, to try different foods or to become bilingual. Whatever the reason, if you’ve decided you’re ready to give things a try in another country, you likely have one major concern: employment.

Continue Reading