From Management Consultancy to Social Impact

From Management Consultancy to Social Impact Success Story > From: Job To: Job From Management Consultancy to Social Impact “I wanted to do something which aligned with my personal values.” * From Management Consultancy to Social Impact Matt Cooper wanted his work to have more of an impact in the world. He left his role without a clear idea of next steps, instead joining a structured programme which helped him work it out. Here's how he made the leap, and managed his finances to make it possible. What work were you doing previously? I was working as a management consultant, advising businesses on their strategies and helping them implement new technologies. The work was often focused on bringing about more efficient work practices or transforming old technologies to digital, mobile ones. Most of my time was spent on what consultants call change management â€" designing and delivering the right communications and training packages to ensure staff in the businesses understood and were ready to accept new ways of working. What are you doing now? I now work for a social enterprise called Arrival Education. Arrival help businesses recruit, retain and develop socially and ethnically diverse young people, and in doing so help the young people achieve their career and life aspirations. I'm a programme manager, which involves designing and running the programmes we use to bring businesses and talented young people together. These programmes range from skills sessions, to one-to-one coaching, to simulated professional experiences. They offer the employees of our partner businesses real-world experiences which enable them to become more diverse recruiters and better performing businesses, whilst at the same time opening doors for young people who would not otherwise have these opportunities. Why did you change? I found it was easy to get comfortable in consulting, going from one whistle-stop project to the next without ever taking stock. I decided I wanted to do something which aligned with my personal values, with a greater societal impact than I could achieve with management consulting. When was the moment you decided to make the change? There was a moment in one of my personal development reviews, when I was told to improve how I sell myself to clients. I was told to display an interest in and dedication to work projects and clients even if I wasn't personally impassioned by them. That stayed with me. I didn't think I could change myself to be that person, so I resolved to look elsewhere and find something attuned to my values. How did you choose your new career? I weighed up a number of potential routes, all of which were in the social impact or environmental space, before deciding to go where I did. I looked at roles in sustainability and healthcare amongst others, before focusing on where I am now, which can broadly be defined as enhancing social mobility. Are you happy with the change? Absolutely! I feel revitalised by the change. I've found a job for which I enjoy getting out of bed on a Monday morning, or on that first day back after the Christmas and New Year break! It feels great to be doing something which makes an impact on the world, whilst at the same time drawing on and enhancing the skills I've learnt during my time as a consultant. What do you miss and what don't you miss? I do miss the perks that come with consulting: the chance to work internationally and the lifestyle that comes with that. At first it was tough to stomach the pay reduction that came with the change, but I've now adjusted to that and it doesn't greatly affect me. I don't miss the limited control that I had on the projects I worked on and ultimately the direction of my career. Nor the unpredictable working hours wreaking havoc on my social life. How did you go about making the shift? It was a two-stage process. Upon leaving consulting I participated in a year-long career change programme called On Purpose. It's a leadership programme for like-minded professionals looking to transition into social or environmental impact businesses. The programme gave me two paid six-month placements in purpose-led organisations, which helped me gain a foothold and experience in the sector, as well as training, executive coaching and mentoring, and access to a great network. Through someone in that network I was introduced to the founders of Arrival Education, who happened to be looking for a programme manager â€" and here I am today! What didn't go well? What wrong turns did you take? I wouldn't say I took any wrong turns as such. I definitely took a bit of a blind turn, shutting the door on consulting without really knowing what my next job would be or what my direction of travel was. There was plenty of risk involved. How did you handle your finances to make your shift possible? Certain things have been easier to cut out than others (I am still handling it and have yet to balance completely!). I've cut down the amount of money I spend on eating out, and buying processed food, by cooking a lot more. I still eat out, but I value it more now. I've also generally reined in spending on clothes and technology. For example, I've reduced my monthly mobile phone spend by about 70% by going on a SIM-only deal. It feels quite refreshing to even now be in a mindset of justifying what I'm spending and whether it's worth buying, instead of freewheeling. I feel it helps my broader decision-making skills. What was the most difficult thing about changing? I would say it was the uncertainty, both when I left consulting, and again at the end of the On Purpose year. It just added that additional level of stress, where I could never really switch off. I did feel hopeful and confident that things would turn out well in the end, but as you're going through it, it's tricky. Another challenge is knowing in what direction specifically you want to turn your career. Once you bring your head out of the water, you see a range of fantastic organisations out there. Settling on where you want to place your bet is difficult. However, one thing I thought would be hard but did not prove so was understanding just what's out there. Once you research and network properly you find there are myriad roles and options available. What help did you get? The whole infrastructure made available through the On Purpose programme. Of this, the most helpful elements were my coach and the network. Having a coach gives you a mirror to your thoughts, helping you reflect and ask yourself what it is you want. I found the network that came from being part of On Purpose crucial. What have you learnt in the process? Building on the previous question, I would say the importance of building and nurturing a network. This has helped me not just in the obvious way (growing my knowledge and contacts in the sector) â€" it's allowed me to increase my confidence too. Also, the importance of backing yourself, and of seeing the change through, however daunting things seem at certain stages of it. What do you wish you'd done differently? I wish I'd started making the change earlier! In all seriousness I think it is useful to try one or two career paths out properly before reassessing things. Five years into my career was about the right time to start. But I believe you should always be questioning yourself, and whether you enjoy what you do, as it constitutes more of your life than any hobby, pursuit or other commitment. What would you advise others to do in the same situation? Firstly, talk to others, and seek support and guidance from your ex-colleagues, friends and family. It's useful to have others to bring along with you. Plus there's a good chance they will know someone who can help, either directly or indirectly. Secondly, stop putting it off. The time will never be perfect to make that first step to bringing about change. It's important to be proactive. On Purpose recruits twice a year for their Associate Programme. To find out more, visit www.onpurpose.org. What lessons could you take from Matt's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

To RPO or Not to RPO

To RPO or Not to RPO To RPO or not to RPO? (Recruitment Process Outsourcing that means of course.) Frankly, that headline scans better when I’m writing about TUPE, but I’ll leave that for my ER blog. About three years ago, I headed back into the world of recruitment. The recruitment team at the organisation in question was outsourced and the first thing that I did in my new role was in-source it back again. Well, not literally the first thing, I had a cup of tea and thought it over. But it was the best decision I could have made. The rule of three When it comes to outsourcing in general, I am a big believer in the rule of three. You should only outsource in one of the following three circumstances: Someone else can do it significantly better or significantly cheaper It’s just not core It’s broken and you don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to fixing it On the first point, the word significantly, is well, significant. Outsourcing isn’t that straightforward. You have TUPE to consider for a start if you currently undertake the activity yourself. Added to this an additional supplier relationship to manage, not least the thorny issue of deciding who is the best supplier in the first place. That’s why if you are only saving a fiver I’d question whether it is the right thing to do. If you genuinely don’t have the internal knowledge, skills or experience to make improvements then consider outsourcing, but you need to be totally clear on the business benefits that the outsource arrangement is going to deliver before starting down this path, as there is guarantee of success, just a set of contractual KPIs and SLAs. Why not recruitment? It’s a personal decision for every company whether outsourcing is right for them. I just believe it’s hard for any business serious about attracting the best talent for their organisation to say that recruitment isn’t a core business activity. If you outsource recruitment you are trusting a third party with your brand. They also have a vested interest in retaining your business which doesn’t necessarily mean they are focused on the things that matter to you. Can a third party really understand your business as well as you do? Can they help you find the elusive ‘culture fit’ if they are not part of your culture? To make sure that they can, those outsourced individuals providing your recruitment service will need to be so imbedded within your organisation, that they might as well be working for your organisation. I do think that there are aspects of recruitment that aren’t necessarily core, and can and should be outsourced. A good example is the recruitment might be temps or contractors, depending on your business model. I have outsourced this and jolly well it works too. This ticks point number two on my rule of three list; it’s not core. I believe that an in-house recruitment team can add more value focusing on hiring people who will be with us for the long term rather than on shorter term requirements, so it makes sense to outsource these requirements. There can be benefits to an RPO arrangement. Some claim it can save you money, although this isn’t my own experience. If your agreement is sufficiently flexible you can make some of your fixed costs variable if you have fluctuating recruitment volume. And…….. that’s my full list. I know some people won’t agree with these views. They think that the employer brand / core argument is trite. Ultimately it depends on your business model. If I worked in a high turnover, high volume environment then maybe I would consider RPO again. But right now, the only people that I want to recruit for us, is us. Related: What is the Point of a Recruitment PSL?

Whats Your Type

Whats Your Type Let us get vain here for a minute? Do you mind? I hope not. Cause it is happening. As much as we all want to fall in love with the personality of a guy, we all know that the first thing you see with a potential interest is their looks. For me, Im always attracted to the same type of guy. I have a very particular type. What is my type you might ask? The lumberjack. Yes. I like a beefy guy with a solid five oclock shadow who could be featured in a Brawny ad, an Old Spice commercial, or somewhere in the woods. They are always taller than me where I could wear heels and still be shorter and they always look strong enough to take a flirtatious stronger than I think I am slap on the arm from me. While personalities have varied, Ive rarely stray from my type. It is actually pretty ridiculous how every guy Ive dated falls so easily into the mold. Dont think you have a type? I bet you do. Maybe yours is more personality based (you lucky girl you) or maybe like me, you go for a certain look. If you dont know your type, ask your friends. My friends called me out on my type to a T. And then I called them out right back. But now that I am so blatantly aware of my type, Ive run into a problem. While trying online dating, you are matched based on fit with your personality questions. Somehow, no lumberjacks fit as part of my matches! OkCupid is not letting me date my type. I did find one guy that was my type- literally he was carrying a tree and had a red and black plaid shirt on. But we were only a 20% match, (we can really get into if this percentage matters in a later post). As a bit of a social experiment, I messaged him. He messaged me back. He seemed okay, but then he started texting me. Lets just say- FAIL. There were a lot of typos. So what do you think? If you know what you like, should you stick with it?   Or should you try to go beyond the type? As much as you want to date the person for what is inside, doesnt the outside play into how you feel about them? Okay. Laurens brief moment of vain-ness over, but sure to be re-hatched when I hear what you think! Lets talk. Happy Thursday Yall!

Why You Should Brag About Being a Gamer - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Why You Should Brag About Being a Gamer - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Not long ago, I heard a really interesting talk at the World Innovation Forum that completely changed my view on gamers.   One of my favorite parts about the World Innovation Forum besides all the creativity is that they always have at least one speaker who challenges the way we think.   This year, it was Jane McGonigal who was there to tell us why Gamers are changing the world, and why gaming actually enhances creative ability. And after hearing her, I wholeheartedly agree and Ill go so far as to say that if you play games (either on the computer or with a console), you should be telling people about it as your personal brand. Heres why: First, being a gamer is no longer an anomaly. Jane told us that there are now over  1 billion gamers on the planet who spend  an hour a day playing a connective game and that the number of gamers has doubled in the past 2 years. Doubt that? Gamers arent just teenage boys playing Call of Duty. Theyre moms playing Words with Friends, movie stars playing World of Warcraft, medical patients playing games that assist with their recovery and all your peers who keep sending you those darn requests in Farmville. (Or is that you?) Angry Birds itself has  over  1 billion players.   And in the US,  99% of boys under 18 and 94% of girls play over 8 hours of connective games  every  week. Nearly everyone is a gamer now. But most importantly, Gaming enhances creativity! In my last post, I wrote about how business leaders worldwide overwhelmingly rank creativity as the number one leadership competency of the future.   As a result, if youre not incorporating it into your brand, youre leaving opportunities  on the table. As Jane told us about at the World Innovation Forum, gaming is a powerful stimulant to creative ability.   When researchers studied the gamers, they discovered that among the top 10 emotions gamers feel while they play, creativity comes in at number one. (Also high-ranked are emotions such as excitement, curiosity, surprise and love all emotions that enhance the creative process!)   Researchers also found that the more children play connective games, the higher they score  in creativity  in the  Torrence Test of Creativity. (Which is among the tests my company, a leading innovation firm, uses to evaluate Creative Consumers) Why is this?   Its simple because gamers are constantly practicing how to come up with new solutions!   They are faced with a challenge theyve never seen before and they have to overcome it.   And, 80% of the time, they fail. As Jane writes on her Tumblr: People who spend a lot of time failing in game worlds are less put off by failure in the real world.   They’re more like to stick at it and get to a successful conclusion where other people would quit. Games give gamers the ability to take small risks over and over again and gives them a clear sign of victory when they come up with a creative solution that works.   So they are motivated to keep trying new solutions whenever they have a challenge. And that enhances their creative ability through practice and gives them the courage to be creative in other areas of their lives! Gamers are also adept at the collaboration needed in the workplace to solve creative challenges. Nearly two-thirds of the games played today are collaborative.   Which means that gamers are learning how to work with others to come up with new solutions and not just in the game.   It turns out that social gamers are three times more likely to help others in real life than nongamers. And, when  Gamers  play with  people they know in real life, they become better at working with those people (as they learn the strengths and weaknesses of each person and alter their collaboration styles accordingly. Fascinating, huh?   And not something Id ever have expected! So if youre branding yourself and you are a gamer,  its time to stop hiding that aspect of yourself. Stand tall and proclaim that you are someone who fails frequently, who tries new challenges constantly, who collaborates frequently with others and who is great at finding solutions to challenges.  Those are all positive attributes of being a gamer.   Own them! Author: Katie Konrath  blogs about creativity, innovation and “ideas so fresh… they should be slapped” at  www.getfreshminds.com.   She works for leading innovation company,  Ideas To Go.

Sharing is more than just Caring CareerMetis.com

Sharing is more than just Caring â€" CareerMetis.com Photo Credit â€" http://www.wpsuperstars.net/top-wordpress-social-sharing-plugins/How many of you are Chronic Social Media sharers? I mean, the type who likes shares just about anything â€" your favourite cat pictures, articles,memes,jokes,videos,etc.Technology has made it easier to share updates with our connections networks with a single-click.In this post , I want to cover the importance of Sharing relevant industry-related content. We are talking about Personal Branding here â€" the type of content that will make you look like a superstar.evalHere are some reasons why Social Sharing is important.KNOWLEDGEThere is a good chance you will only share relevant content that you think will resonate with your audience connections.This forces you to seek out knowledge in your field. You are not randomly sharing cat pictures â€" you are sharing the latest happenings in your field. You are sharing what you think your network will find useful and interesting. Right?As a result, you end u p spending more time reading and researching key news. As a result, your knowledge grows. And the more knowledgable you become, the more passionate you become about your field career ; the more your productivity improves ; and your results. The more your results improve â€" the more successful you become.2. STRATEGIC NETWORKINGWe are bombarded with information from multiple angles each and every day. At times, it becomes overwhelming and it becomes hard to filter out what is important and/or relevant.I have found out, that I am more likely to follow or connect with individuals or websites â€" that I can get value or learn something new. When I share strategically, it forces me to seek and share only information that is aligned with my personal brand. I am able to uncover sources I would have never known otherwise.evalAlso, people in my field Her comment caught me off-guard. Yes it was nice to be considered an authority or very knowledgable. But the reality is much different. I am a newbie If you are a recent Social Media graduate I have been constantly sharing updates on my social media profiles for few months . I have seen numerous benefits â€" job offers, sales opportunities, networking opportunities,etc.It will take some time daily to search, schedule and share content. However the results are totally worth it.I encourage you to incorporate Social Sharing to help enhance your Personal Branding. Your network and reach will grow many folds.What are your thoughts?Do you have examples where your social sharing efforts have paid off?

Summary Sunday Information To Make You A Smarter Job Seeker

Summary Sunday Information To Make You A Smarter Job Seeker Ready to up the job search game? Gain intel that will help you become a smarter job seeker. There are many moving parts to job search (and managing your career). To help you gain the competitive advantage and land your next job sooner, Ive rounded up this weeks most popular articles on interviewing, networking and using Twitter. INTERVIEWING 3 Of The Toughest Interview Questions And How To Answer Them by Lydia Dishman | Fast Company You cant prepare for every interview question, but you should understand the logic behind certain questions. Here are three types of questions you can anticipate and prepare for. If a coworker had an annoying habit, and it hindered your quality of work, how would you resolve it? Write an equation to optimize the marketing spend between Facebook and Twitter campaigns. How do you explain a vending machine to someone who hasn’t seen or used one before? TWITTER 10 Twitter SEO Tips to Attract Recruiters by Susan P. Joyce | Job-Hunt.org If you use Twitter (or plan to use it), you will want to give some thought to the keywords you use. FYI, your name is a keyword! Use these SEO tips to help ensure recruiters find you on Twitter! JOB SEARCH Ouch, 50% Of New Hires Fail! 6 Ugly Numbers Revealing Recruiting’s Dirty Little Secret by Dr. John Sullivan | ERE Media In order to successfully land a job, you either get lucky or you have a great strategy. Understanding the recruiting process will help you build a smarter strategy. Consider these 6 stats: Image via ERE Media NETWORKING Top 10 Secrets to Turn Networking Pain to Career Gain by Wendy Terwelp |  Rock Your Career ® Networking is THE best way to land your next job. Data proves the point as Terwelp states: Here are the facts: more than 70% of people land new jobs through networking. And, according to CareerXroads Source of Hire Study, 41% land through internal promotions or movement.   How to Make a Good First Impression: 11 Tips to Try by Jacqueline Zenn | HubSpot As the saying goes,  You never get a second chance to make a great first impression!  Review these 11 tips and take note of a tool mentioned to do some background intelligence gathering before you meet someone! Thanks for reading. And I hope you walk away with some fresh, fun new ideas to take you to the next level in your job search or career.

Writing Leadership On Resume - Learn How To Write Your Own Resume

Writing Leadership On Resume - Learn How To Write Your Own ResumeIn any field of endeavor, you can discover that there are many misconceptions regarding the writing of leadership on resume. However, in order to fully understand the value of your accomplishments, you should know how this form of resume helps. The reader of the resume would be able to derive vital information about you, such as your career goals, and the specific areas in which you will excel.Your resume should also highlight all your strengths and skills. As a resume writer, it is important to make it simple yet informative. You must make sure your resume has an impressive appearance and is easy to read. You must not use the word 'super' or similar to describe your achievements. Leaders of today have to be high-caliber individuals, so making them sound like a Superman will never work.When writing a resume, do not include a lot of unnecessary information. It is best to focus on skills and achievements that can directly benefit the job application. Check the summary section, if there is anything that you do not need to mention, then do not add it.Some job seekers spend a lot of time writing resumes. For these people, you must be aware that you may have already done the work, but the rest of the job application process is still waiting for you. For this reason, your resume must be concise. Focus on highlighting your strengths and skills first, then other necessary details and if needed, add them later.There are no longer many professionals who specialize in writing resumes. However, there are some guidelines that you can follow to ensure you get your resume to stand out from the crowd. Use language and punctuation that are consistent with your business profile. You can always emphasize your accomplishments and skills by including them in the body of the resume. Just remember to put emphasis on your strengths, or the reader will easily become confused as to how you are going to address your weakness es.To avoid a resume from being too much to read, make sure the font is large enough and the text is large enough. In general, business resumes are in upper case letterhead with thin, bold headings. The resume that is in lower case letters will be more readable.Writing a resume is not the most difficult or time-consuming task in the world. The only thing you have to do is to be sure you make it sound good and informative.