Month: May 2021

Being in good work is better for your health than being out of work. ‘Good work’ is defined as having a safe and secure job with good working hours and conditions, supportive management and opportunities for training and development.

As adults in employment spend a large proportion of their time in work, our jobs and our workplaces can have a big impact on our health and wellbeing. In fact, employment can impact both directly and indirectly on the individual, their families and communities. Therefore, work and health-related worklessness are important public health issues, both at local and national level. There is clear evidence that good work improves health and wellbeing across people’s lives, not only from an economic standpoint but also in terms of quality of life. ‘Good work’ means having not only a work environment that is safe, but also having a sense of security, autonomy, good line management and communication within an organisation. Creating healthy workplaces entails supporting disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.

Being in good employment reduces the risk of mental health conditions such as depression and psychological distress but, for some people, can also be a cause of stress and common mental health problems.

Work is important to most of us on many levels. Doing a job we enjoy and find satisfying can provide a meaningful focus for our lives, as well as bringing in an income. Our standard of living hinges on the money we make, while employment often contributes to our self-image and self-esteem.

One of the most difficult parts in writing a resume is composing the descriptions of your jobs, volunteer work, projects, and other relevant experiences. Each description of your work history and volunteer experience should be clear and concise, yet descriptive. After reading your description, a prospective employer should know exactly what your responsibilities were, what skills you have developed, where your strengths lie, and what you have achieved.

Here are some tips to help you write a concise and informative description:

• Begin each item by stating the name of the place, location, dates, and job title (e.g. manager, volunteer) List experiences in reverse chronological order (most current experience first).
• Describe your responsibilities in concise statements led by strong verbs. Focus on those skills and strengths that you possess and that you have identified as being important to your field. Try to incorporate industry specific key words. Show potential employers exactly how you will fit their position and their company.
• Be sure to vary your action words. You do not want all your descriptions to sound the same. Use present tense for those activities which are ongoing and past tense for those with which you are no longer involved.
• Avoid using “I,” “and,” “the,” and the use of any pronouns and prepositions.
• Whenever possible, quantify your accomplishments and responsibilities.
• Avoid summarizing or describing what a company or organization you worked with did or does. Describe your responsibilities and accomplishments in relationship to the job/organization, not the job/organization itself.
• Limit your description to the three or four most important points.
  

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, it quickly disrupted every aspect of work. Offices shut down. Those lucky enough to keep their jobs found themselves working from home, clicking into video meeting after video meeting, some while caring for kids and overseeing remote school. Millions were furloughed or laid off. Industries hit particularly hard continued to suffer as recovery felt increasingly out of reach. But at the same time, the demand for some jobs grew at a swift pace. If you’re career planning or job searching in 2021—whether you want to get ahead in your own field, make a career change, or prepare for graduation and the “real world”—you already know there are a lot of unknowns.

But here’s what we do know right now: There’s plenty of opportunity in these 15 job areas, according to LinkedIn’s analysis. See the list below:

1.Business Development and Sales

Organizations always need employees who can bring in revenue; develop new relationships with clients, customers, and other partners; and find and pursue opportunities to grow the business in different directions. But these folks are crucial as companies try to survive and thrive during difficult times.

2. Workplace Diversity

It remains to be seen whether the racial justice and other diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments companies made in the wake of police violence and protests in the spring and summer of 2020 will yield long-term changes in the workplace. But with 90% growth in open roles related to workplace diversity, there’s an opportunity for folks to try to do this important work.

3. Digital Marketing

Digital marketers were already in demand pre-pandemic, and hiring for these professionals accelerated in 2020, according to LinkedIn’s analysis. So if you have or can develop digital marketing skills—from data analysis to copywriting—you’re in luck.

4. Digital Content

Writers may not be used to the notion that there’s plenty of demand for their work, but at a time when live performances, social gatherings, and a slew of other activities are extremely limited, jobs for writers and other content creators—from bloggers to podcasters—are on the rise.

5. Education

Just as the workplace changed dramatically and unexpectedly in 2020, so too did education. As schools, edtech startups, and other organizations adapt, there’s a rise in the number of available jobs in the education space.

6. Professional and Personal Coaching

If you’re a coach who helps businesses or individuals, your services are much needed during a tumultuous time.

7. Mental Health

One of the many devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic has been the mental health toll, with more than 40% of Americans suffering from anxiety, depression, increased substance use, suicidal thoughts, or other issues related to the stresses of this time. It’s not too surprising, then, that mental health professionals are in high demand.

8. Engineering

Software engineering roles were already growing at a much faster rate than average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and LinkedIn’s analysis found especially strong growth in hiring for specialized engineers—such as web developers, full-stack engineers, and front-end developers—in 2020.

9. User Experience

Professionals responsible for the way we interact with websites, apps, and other products fall into this category, which saw 20% growth in hiring.

10. Data Science

Data science is another field that was growing even before the pandemic, given the ubiquity of data at companies across industries and of all sizes and the need to understand and leverage it to drive performance. According to LinkedIn’s analysis, which found a 46% growth in data science roles, that trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

11. Artificial Intelligence

Closely related to data science professionals are folks who work on artificial intelligence, such as machine learning researchers and engineers. In a software-focused world where companies are developing and honing complex algorithms—from speech recognition to recommendation algorithms—these roles are in high demand. (Growth: 32%)

12. Loans and Mortgaging

Hiring for professionals who work on loans and mortgaging grew 59%, perhaps not surprising at a time when home sales are booming, interest rates are low, and the government rolled out its Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses.

13. Frontline E-Commerce

This category shouldn’t surprise you if you’ve taken to ordering everything from groceries to clothes to furniture online, or if you’ve read about the many impacts of the pandemic on supply chains across the country and around the world.

14. Nursing

As we navigate a global public health crisis, nurses and nursing assistants working across different settings are in high demand, with 30% growth in hiring, according to LinkedIn’s analysis.

15. Healthcare Support

Similarly, professionals who support doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers—including pharmacy technicians, dental assistants, and home health aides—are sorely needed as we navigate the continuing effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Workplace stress touches most of us at one time or another. Restructuring means anxiety over job security. Although stressors may be an inherent part of work life, buckling under the pressure doesn’t have to be.

There are plenty of reasons to manage your workplace stress rather than accepting it as part and parcel of having a busy career. For starters, stress takes a heavy physical toll. It can cause headaches, stomach upset, irritability, depression, and even elevated blood pressure. Stress doesn’t exactly make you more productive on the job, either. It can strip away your ability to concentrate and process complex thoughts. Stress can make it difficult to find the motivation to complete tasks, which creates a negative feedback loop when you’re under pressure to perform. Here are some ways how to manage stress at work:

1.Know what stressed you out.

Sure, you’re stressed. But do you actually know why? Let’s say you often struggle to meet deadlines. Maybe a chatty coworker distracts you more frequently than you thought, or you’re lured away from your tasks by social media. Now that you’ve identified the root of the issue, you can work on regaining your focus.

2.Respond to stress in positive ways.

Try to combat stress in good ways like: Get plenty of exercise,eat a healthy diet,make time to get plenty of rest,schedule social time and connect with people regularly,meditate or practice yoga daily etc.

3.Don’t skip vacation.

It’s tempting, especially when job stress is high, to push onward and be a martyr. We all like to come across as committed to our work. Trust us. You need a vacation. Taking time off to rejuvenate ultimately makes workers more productive. Return to work relaxed and refreshed and you’ll be better equipped to get things done.

4.Act on what you can control,accept what you can’t.

Mindfulness, and a practice called radical acceptance, can help.Radical acceptance encourages you to look at distressing events as though you’re a casual observer with no stakes in the game. You begin by simply describing what happened, and your role in it, in the most objective terms possible. Then you assess what you had control over in that particular situation, and what you didn’t.Mindfulness challenges you to accept the things outside of your control. Why stress over things you’re powerless to change? It also helps you shift your emotional response from negative to neutral, or even productive, by teaching you to channel your energies toward acting (taking ownership of the things you do have control over) rather than simply reacting.

5.Ask for help when you need it.

Don’t be afraid to admit when you’re in the weeds. Everyone gets overwhelmed from time to time, and there’s no shame in asking for help when you truly need it. There are a few caveats to asking for help. First, make certain you’ve put in your best effort before you seek out assistance. Second, prepare any questions you have in advance. If you simply go to your boss with a complaint without offering any solutions, you’ll sound like you’re whining rather than being proactive about solving a problem.

6.Remember what you love about your job.

When you’re stressed out, it helps to take a few deep breaths and remember what you love about your job. Maybe the work is fulfilling, or you have great coworkers, or you’re actually living the dream of being what you always wanted to be when you grew up. It’s impossible to feel both grateful and fearful or angry at the same time, so remind yourself from time to time that there are good things about your job even when the stressors are mounting.