How to boost your career with a sideways move- Hays careers advice Viewpoint careers advice blog

How to boost your career with a sideways move- Hays careers advice You know that feeling: you’ve been in the same job for so long, you could probably do it in your sleep. Panic starts to set in and you start thinking you’ll probably be doing the same thing, day-in-day-out for the rest of your career. Stop. It doesn’t have to be that way. Now is the time to take back control and consider your options, including whether a lateral move is a good idea. In our last blog, we spoke about the three different career paths that are typically open to developers. If you haven’t read that piece, then I recommend you bookmark this one, and read that first. Understandably for some, spending years relentlessly climbing a steep career ladder, while actually spending less and less time coding isn’t appealing in the slightest. But it’s important to realise that reaching for the dizzy heights of CIO isn’t the only way you can progress your development career. Having said that, many do wonder how they can move forward if they aren’t moving upward. The answer is simple â€" by exploring a sideways, or lateral career move. Working as a developer in the finance team and then moving to do a similar role in marketing, for example, increases your value to the organisation as you will learn how the departments connect and the ways in which they use technology. So, if this sounds like this might be the right option for you, the below will help you clarify the decision in your mind, and importantly, provide advice on how you can put the wheels in motion. Is a sideways move really right for you? A lateral move â€" if done right â€" no longer puts your career on pause. In fact, quite the opposite can be true. Possible benefits include: Improved promotion prospects: A lateral move demonstrates your value to a new department. By increasing your visibility across the organisation, it could secure you a managerial role in the future if, and when, you feel it is the right time to do so. The recent DNA of a CIO report identified the importance of working across different departments and industries for building technical and business acumen. You’ll be able to get a better idea of which direction you want to take your career: This is particularly useful for those in the initial stages of their career. By experiencing different areas of expertise, you will limit the risk that you will be pigeon-holed further down the line. You’ll be able to radically broaden your skillset: By making a sideways move, you’ll get more exposure to different technologies which could complement and future-proof your existing skillset. For example: Data analysts will have worked with tools such as MapReduce, Hadoop and Cloudera, which are relevant for cloud engineers too QA engineer and UX designer are complementary roles as both involve focusing on the user experience Software developers and software testers will also have a good working knowledge of each other’s roles as these disciplines work closely together â€" and working with the testing department improves code writing (and vice versa). You’ll be showcasing your commitment to your own development: you’ll be publicly demonstrating your willingness to learn and develop new skills (to both your existing and prospective employers), plus your commitment to your sector and organisation. You’ll increase your employability: As a result, you’ll be broadening your skillsets, making you a more attractive proposition for both internal and external positions in the future. You’ll get a fresh perspective: You’ll work with new people and see how different teams operate. This in turn will help you more easily see the bigger picture, making you more well-rounded, and thus more employable. Nonetheless, you need to be aware of the perceived downsides of this kind of career move: You’ll probably be paid the same salary: a lateral move isn’t usually accompanied by a major pay rise but do research the market value of your new proposed role as, in some cases, you could negotiate a rise. There’s a chance you might fail: lateral moves are a risk. You may think the grass is greener in another department, only to discover later that you were better off in your previous position. But, this is a risk with any career shift, and your employer might be willing to let you return to your old role if things don’t work out. I’d say that the benefits of making a sideways move definitely outweigh the negatives. However, before you make any kind of decision, it’s important to ensure you are making the move for the right reasons. A sideways move is by no means a quick fix.   We all know that, particularly if you’re desperately unhappy in your current role, it can be easy to make snap decisions â€" don’t fall into this trap. Preparing to make the move Now that you’ve decided that yes, you would like to explore a sideways move, you must ensure you are fully prepared to make the move. Here are the next steps I would recommend you take: Research your desired role: It’s a good idea to discover as much as you can about your desired role before you pursue it. Research what you’ll be doing daily, the amount of training you’ll need to get up to speed, and the wider benefits the job will offer. Some roles may give you the opportunity to work from home or travel internationally. You may want to (discreetly) talk to colleagues working in a similar role to the one you seek to get an insider’s perspective on the realities of the job. Audit your current skillset: Global skills shortages are forcing employers to reassess the criteria by which they evaluate employees, which has encouraged workers to offer previously hidden talents as part of their skillset. Work out what transferrable skills you already have. If you are a data analyst who wants to become a data scientist, the most obvious transferable skills will be your abilities to solve problems and communicate, which are skills that most developers have in abundance. Proactively fill any skills gaps: Once you’ve audited your skills, you should have an idea which are missing. While you are waiting for the right lateral move to become available, take advantage of every learning opportunity to build your knowledge, and don’t rely on your employer and your usual work day for development and education. Go to events, participate in online forums, complete online tutorials and research your chosen topic thoroughly. A hackathon, for example, can be a great entry point into a new technical specialism to test your knowledge and expand your network. Your communication skills, problem-solving capabilities and technical knowledge are all desired attributes no matter what career you want to pursue. Internal or external move? Now, the next decision â€" should you try to move internally, within your current organisation, or look for opportunities elsewhere? If you think an internal move might be the best option for you, approach your line manager for an open conversation about possible opportunities. Most managers should be receptive to your ideas on career progression. Ensure you convey to them that you want to stay with the company and progress your career using a lateral move. Explain how diversifying will have a positive impact on the organisation and remember to offer suggestions for the benefits your internal move could bring. As a first step, you could suggest that you shadow existing roles to determine which path you find most interesting. If an internal sideways move isn’t possible, accept it is time to move on. Fortunately, there are a huge range of options for external lateral moves within development. One-third of developers want to work in a different or more specialised technical role in the next five years, according to the 2018 Stack Overflow Global Developer Hiring Landscape report. A well thought out lateral move is a good thing I hope this blog has gone some way to challenging misconceptions that a sideways career move is not a good idea.  The last message I’d like to leave you with is that this, as with all career decisions, should be properly thought out, and you should be confident you are making this move for the right reasons. If you are, and you are open in your discussions with your organisation, it will help to enhance your employability in the years ahead. Read more careers advice and industry insights to develop your career:   3 developer career paths and how to hack them Want a new job? How to plan your attack How the best developers overcome their dev demons How can you get the board’s buy-in for a digital change? How to develop the right strategy and find the right people for your cloud migration

How to Write a Memorable Post-Interview Thank You Note

Instructions to Write a Memorable Post-Interview Thank You Note Instructions to Write a Memorable Post-Interview Thank You Note Envision you've quite recently left a prospective employee meeting. You established an incredible connection and truly like your odds. Presently, take it to the following level by composing a card to say thanks that strengthens why you are the correct applicant. Here are a few hints for making the ideal follow-up note: Email â€" when all is said in done, email is most likely the best decision. Most employing administrators browse their email in any event once every day and presumably hope to get cards to say thanks along these lines. Written by hand notes â€" These are as yet common, yet you are facing the planning of snail mail. Employing directors are finishing their decision in the time it takes to create, send, and get a written by hand card. Also, you don't have the foggiest idea how frequently they are checking their post box â€" since it's utilized so once in a while any longer, a few workplaces just convey mail once every week. Be that as it may, written by hand notes can be incredible on the off chance that you can guarantee brisk conveyance â€", for example, applying for a job at your present organization or in an office nearby to yours. To keep away from cumbersomeness, simply drop the note under their entryway or in their mail space. LinkedIn direct messages â€" This is anything but an awful strategy, however once more, timing may not be your ally. Recollect that employing chiefs might be on LinkedIn not exactly their business email, particularly on the off chance that they've wrapped up meeting and are finished searching for competitors. On the off chance that you do pick this technique, try to keep the tone proficient and build the note the manner in which you would any business correspondence. In the event that you will pick a written by hand note, ensure you utilize quality fixed or a clear note to say thanks. Also, it ought to be in accordance with your industry â€" splendid hues and a cool structure may function admirably for online life jobs, however flawless lines and straightforward examples are best for something like money. What's more, ensure your email mark and address are proficient. An extraordinary method to stand apart is to customize the note with something explicit you examined during the meeting. As applicants, we love an individual touch to the employing experience thus will the recruiting chief! Here's a model: Much obliged to you for meeting with me to talk about the Financial Analyst job. I adored finding out about your group's goals for the year and examining how we both offer an energy for process improvement. Our discussion strengthened my enthusiasm for the job and I anticipate got notification from you with respect to this position. From that point, you can wrap up with a warm shutting. As you accumulate your note, make it conversational. To smooth out the procedure in the event that you're meeting for different positions, make a general layout, at that point fill in the particular pieces for each different job. Send the note ASAP, however put some idea into it. Probably the most bizarre thing candidates do is hand the questioner a card to say thanks during the meeting. How might you compose a card to say thanks on the off chance that you haven't experienced the experience yet? This can feel pretentious and surged. You need to pass on that this job is imperative to you and you are eager to set aside the effort to genuinely speak with the recruiting group. A typical inquiry is, would it be a good idea for you to ever not send a card to say thanks? 99% of the time, you ought to totally send a card to say thanks. Regardless of whether you no longer have an enthusiasm for the job or organization, felt the meeting was especially exceptional, or the questioner wasn't actually benevolent, despite everything send the note. While you don't have to share that input, you despite everything need to pass on your gratefulness for their time and stress that you delighted in meeting them. No one can tell when somebody may impart your name to a partner and you need to establish the best connection you can. Devon Miller, Talent Branding and Recruitment Marketing at Vanguard, is an essayist gaining practical experience in marking and showcasing themes that make legitimacy and commitment by means of web based life channels. Vanguard is one of the world's biggest speculation organizations, offering an enormous determination of top notch ease common assets, ETFs, exhortation, and related administrations.

Heres how to defeat the most common workplace fears

Here's the way to crush the most widely recognized working environment fears Here's the way to crush the most widely recognized working environment fears It might be Halloween season, however you don't need to fear demons and trolls to encounter dread at work. Here's the way to conquer the things that panic you the most about your job.Coming into deal with Day 1Sometimes, the hardest piece of a position is beginning it.From pre-first-day butterflies spent stressing in the event that you'll make it there on schedule, to how well you'll fit in with your colleagues, it's entirely expected to feel unsure about what's ahead.Plus, when you at last endure the workplace entryway, your environmental factors are new, you may not remember anybody aside from the HR administrator you met with, and there's a ton of new language to get utilized to.Doing things like planning however much as could be expected in advance - from mapping out your drive, to selecting your garments and finding out about your new duties, to recollecting your achievements - can assist you with adapting to first-day anxiety.Giving that introduction to your group - in addition to your bossIn this case, practice truly makes perfect.There's no real way to anticipate what could occur during an introduction, or how responsive the gathering will be to your perspective, but being set up by throughly knowing your introduction material and having different, brisk answers for potential specialized issues can help keep a top on your nerves.Journalist, computerized media expert, and speculator John Boitnott writes in Entrepreneur about how to use exercises during a presentation.Sometimes a basic movement is sufficient to effectively express your idea. It could be something as basic as having your chief or group record their objectives and afterward having meeting to generate new ideas on the most proficient method to achieve those objectives. You could likewise pass out tests and request that your crowd think about what your next slide will be. You can even separate the gathering by having 20 percent of them move aside of the space to show what your objective of 20 percent development will resemble, rather than utilizing a slide with a chart, Boitnott writes.Getting individuals out of their seats and out of their own personalities may work well for you, contingent upon the idea of your presentation.Worrying that every other person will discover that you're an impostorInstead of agonizing over approaching contemplations that individuals will find that you just landed your position through karma - and that you have no genuine ability - remind yourself of all the achievement you've just had in your life to assist you with pushing through impostor syndrome.Think about your achievements and esteem the way that you had numerous beneficial things going for you before this activity went along, and you will in any case have them a few situations into the future.Also don't take a stab at flawlessness - do as well as can be expected with what you have. Be that as it may, offset this with search for approaches to improve without getting too off track.Ask ing for a raiseWhile you ought to never accomplish something like take steps to stop in the event that you don't get a raise, there are key things you ought to do instead.After expounding on how you ought to have the option to plainly discuss your achievements when requesting a raise in Fortune, Citi Cards CEO Jud Linville subtleties how you should move toward your manager during the gathering, among other points.Set up a gathering and present yourself with conviction, confidence, and demonstrable skill. Convey your initial explanation, bolster it with your realities, and emphatically demand precisely what you need. At that point, be tranquil and anticipate the reaction. Try not to contend. You need to utilize rationale and thinking while at the same time abstaining from causing your manager to feel condemned or protective. Keep the feeling out of it and attempt to utilize 'I' articulations to talk about your point of view and needs. Use stating, for example, 'When I consider my ach ievements up until now and contrast my pay with others in my field' Linville writes.You don't need to be a novice at work to get anxious about pieces of your work, however whatever you do, don't neglect to possess what alarms you the most.

Why the theory behind SoulCycles newest workout should be applied to your career

Why the hypothesis behind SoulCycle's most up to date exercise ought to be applied to your vocation Why the hypothesis behind SoulCycle's most up to date exercise ought to be applied to your profession For the greater part of us, the speed of go-go-go is essentially the norm. It is valid grinding away and frequently the moment we leave the workplace. What's more, for the most part, it is valid for our exercises. All things considered, the ascent of boutique wellness was based on the idea that they get you in and out inside an hour and sweat and consume however many calories as could reasonably be expected so you can return to the following piece of your day.That is the reason it is fascinating to the point that the uber-famous turn exercise SoulCycle just propelled a class that is tied in with letting your pulse totally drop so you can recoup before you proceed onward to the following test (which for this situation is pushing against a great deal of opposition at a high speed).It is called SoulActivate and however you are still on the bicycle and tuning in to marvelous music, this is in reality altogether different from a run of the mill 45-minute exemplary SoulCycle class.Pushing yourself to recoveryIn the standard SoulCycle class, the objective is to keep your pulse up the whole time. In Activate, which is an entire hour, it consolidates the serious cycling with quality preparing using both light and overwhelming loads during numerous arm arrangement, planned pulse variety and afterward something else: Intentional recovery.This parcel is intended to work the body's different vitality frameworks and at last consume fat and construct perseverance. You are pushing incredibly hard however at that point permitting yourself to recuperate. You take a break.As somebody who attempted the class and is a standard SoulCycler (the word someone who is addicted has perhaps been utilized a couple of times), I can say that this felt essentially not quite the same as a normal class and it additionally felt amazing. In any case, it took some becoming acclimated to as running at top speed without any breaks is the thing that I am utilized to.Christina Phillips, a Senior SoulCy cle teacher and one of the educators for SoulActivate, said the new components that have been consolidated including high-power coordinated spans, heavier weight preparing and less spotlight on the mood with more spotlight on obstruction powers riders to burrow further, intellectually and truly, and push significantly harder, yet in addition deliberately recuperate and discover quality in the quiet moments.These recuperation minutes nearly become thoughtful among such requesting components of the class, Phillips included. This is likewise incredible practice for outside the studio dividers, discovering quality in your quiet and force when you need it the most.Taking breaks is beneficialIn a general public where more than half (54%) of Americans didn't take all their get-away days a year ago, pausing for a minute whether it is a stroll outside or not having lunch at your work area is unfamiliar to a few yet it can have genuine advantages. An investigation found that watching an engag ing video or in any event, taking a gander at nature for one moment can improve worker performance.Stephen Covey writes in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People about the honing the saw hypothesis in which if the woodcutter never enjoys a reprieve and just continues cutting wood his saw will just get more blunt. He needs to delay and hone the saw so he can get more done.Phillips stated, My expectation is that riders leave feeling grounded, more grounded and associated with their inward competitor, enabled by their endeavors and prepared to take on any test that comes their way.Sounds like a decent method to move toward your work also (simply leave the spandex at home.)