Younger Workers Need a Career Narrative
"In recent years, much has been written about the importance of career narratives for mid-career and senior professionals, particularly those making a career transition. But, we'd argue, they're even more important for younger professionals who don't yet have a multipage CV or a high-powered headhunter in their corner. What, then, makes for an effective narrative?
First, it should be easy to remember and retell. The whole point is to give your colleagues a narrative that quickly comes to mind whenever they're asked about you, preventing them from making assumptions and drawing conclusions on their own. Two or four sentences, maximum.
Second, it should meaningfully link your past successes to your near and long-term development needs and suggest the kinds of assignments that would help to achieve those objectives. Those goals might certainly be developmental (to test a particular skill; gain experience with a certain tool or methodology; explore a specific industry). But they can also be more personal (limit travel to spend time with family, for instance).Think of it as a 'sound-bite resume' - on hearing it, senior professionals should have two reactions. First, they should be interested in working with you. Second, they should know if it makes sense for you to work with them.
Third, your narrative needs to hang together with the right combination of honesty, humility, and personal flavor. Doing so creates an authentic and compelling career narrative. Narratives that just articulate a string of successes are not credible and are not likely to be repeated. Similarly, boilerplate chronicles without any personal flair rarely get traction."
(Heidi K. Gardner and Adam Zalisk, 15 February 2013, Harvard Business Review)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Individual learning plans: a route map for success
"Individual learning plans form a 'route map' of how a learner will get from their starting point on a learning journey to the desired end point. They may be for one course and include the acquisition of qualifications and skills, or may link several courses that give progression to different levels (from level 1 to 3, or from level 2 to Higher Education). They should be individual for each learner to reflect aspirations, aptitude and needs.
Although there may be common learning goals and methods of delivery for all learners on a particular course, it is unlikely that all learners have exactly the same learning styles, abilities, support needs, access to assessment in the workplace (if applicable), previous qualifications or experience. Too many vocationally-based courses have identical individual learning plans where only the names of learners are different. Some will struggle to achieve them while others will find them too easy and lose interest by not being sufficiently challenged.
Individual learning plans should start from a common format, listing general outcomes, and then develop as initial assessment and circumstances impact. They should be live documents that are useful to the learner, delivery staff and possibly employers and parents/guardians."
(Learning and Skills Improvement Service, UK)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Republic of Rwanda Vision 2020: transforming from an agrarian to a knowledge-based economy
"How do Rwandan envisage their future? What kind of society do they want to become? How can they construct a united and inclusive Rwandan identity? What are the transformations needed to emerge from a deeply unsatisfactory social and economic situation? These are the main questions Rwanda Vision 2020 addresses.
This Vision is a result of a national consultative process that took place in Village Urugwiro in 1998-99. There was broad consensus on the necessity for Rwandans to clearly define the future of the country. This process provided the basis upon which this Vision was developed. ...
Even if Rwanda's agriculture is transformed into a high value/high productivity sector, it will not, on its own, become a satisfactory engine of growth. There has to be an exit strategy from reliance on agriculture into secondary and tertiary sectors. The issue, however, is not simply one of a strategy based on agriculture, industry or services, but rather, identifying Rwanda's comparative advantage and concentrating strategies towards it. For instance there is a plentiful supply of cheap labour, a large multi-lingual population, a strategic location as the gateway between East and Central Africa as well as its small size, making it easy to build infrastructure (resources permitting). The industries established would need to address basic needs, for which there is a readily available market, as these products can satisfy local demand and even move towards export."
(Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for The Republic of Rwanda)
Fig.1 vvkatievv, 15 July 2009, 'OLPCorps Kenema, Sierra Leone 2009', Flickr.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Kea New Zealand: Nation Branding Through Networking
"Kea is New Zealand's global network. Our mission is to connect New Zealand with the rest of the world by building a network of global citizens who take an active interest in the future of our country.
Kea's ultimate goal is for the home of the world's greatest travellers to become the world's leading nation without borders - for New Zealand to think, act, and engage more globally by utilising our offshore population of expatriates and honorary citizens.
While founded as the Kiwi Expat Association in 2001, Kea's activities are relevant to more than just 'Kiwi expats'. We are building a truly global network for New Zealand, which is equally important to New Zealand based organisations and individuals who are pursuing global opportunities, as well as citizens of other countries who have an affinity and interest in connecting with New Zealand.
Kea is especially committed to supporting organisations and individuals who help grow the New Zealand economy through international trade and investment, or help build New Zealand's brand and reputation on the world stage."
(Stephen Tindall)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Scrapbooks Were A 'coping' Strategy For Old Media
Matt Locke from TEST
Scrapbooks were a 'coping' strategy for old media at a time when distribution via railroads and cheap printing processes led to an overwhelming surplus of popular magazines and newspapers. [Ellen Gruber] Garvey describes them as "a new subcategory of media - the cheap, the disposable, and yet somehow tantalizingly valuable, if only their value could be seperated from their ephemerality". Scrapbooks were one just one strategy for indexing and archiving cuttings, including commercial clipping services, but scrapbooks represented a private, vernacular response to this information revolution. This remaking of popular media is clearly a precursor of the current blogging phenomenon, and Garvey's analysis of scrapbook making introduces some concepts that are useful in discussing blogging as part of our contemporary media culture.
Emile Berliner and the Birth of the Recording Industry
CONTRIBUTOR
The Constellations ProjectSHARE
