Titanic struggles with revision

As winter has turned to spring, so 16-18 year olds the length and breadth of the land have turned their attention towards finding ways of not revising for their looming (think iceberg - titanic) exams, GCSEs and A-levels.

The day of reckoning is nearly upon us, with the first written papers in a couple of weeks, and time running out like, well, the sands of time, in an egg timer.

Now I can tell you, because there are two 16/18 year olds in my house, so I know, that there are differing approaches to this issue.

However, there is one thing that all approaches to revision need: fuel, energy, food, etc.

Food for Thought in fact, as The Guardian pointed out this week:

It's important to find the ideal exam diet for you, and not rely on takeaways, wine gums and energy tablets. The Guardian quotes Fiona Cassells, a lecturer in mental health nursing at the University of Cumbria:

"Most people are familiar with the physical consequences of a poor diet, but the mental health implications are largely ignored. The types of food we eat have a direct effect on the performance of the brain, and, in a learning environment, levels of concentration, memory and the overall efficiency of the brain are critical."

She points out that, "It is vital that [students] understand the mental health benefits [of good diet] and risks associated with poor diet."

"There's good evidence that eating correctly can improve concentration," says Sara Stanner, science programme manager at the British Nutrition Foundation and the Nutrition Society's spokeswoman.

"It's more important to think long term and get into the habit of eating three meals a day. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive to eat healthily - a bowl of pasta with fresh vegetables is still nutritional, so are beans on toast. Simply eating breakfast is really important - if you don't, your concentration levels will dip. Superfoods are packed full of particular nutrients, but so too are other fruit and veg, and there's no real benefit in picking one fruit over another.

"Variety is key to getting all the nutrients you need. If you eat healthily, you will have the energy you need to get through long days."

"Too much chocolate is a bad thing - replacing snacks with nuts, fruit, dried fruit and yoghurt is far better," says Stanner. "Or if you don't want to have fruit, have something like a scone which has dried fruit in it, or a bagel instead. Young people are often lacking nutrients, and if you're constantly eating crisps and chocolate, it's not going to be good for you."

Chill, Wind, No Good!

Yes, indeed, there is some good to come out of the current crunch, namely that if you can make yourself sufficiently career-agile, more flexible than your friendly neighbour, and better prepared in terms of career-planning than the scene and not heard, then you can escape the cold clutches of the Dread known as Crunchie!

They key to opening a door to a new future is being able to step with confidence from the wreckage of a company which is closing down, or an organisation which is shrinking, via a career guidance intervention & ongoing individual career-planning support...

Looking 4 a Job

LOOKING FOR A JOB

The number of people out of work in the UK rose to 1.79 million and the unemployment rate to 5.7% by August 08. There have been further large numbers of jobs lost since then. But Jobcentre Plus says there are still 600,000 job vacancies in the UK at any time. (BBC News)

Some people argue that most of us are only out of work for a short amount of time, and the Department for Work and Pensions says that four out of five people who make a new claim for jobseekers' allowance are off it within six months. If you know what you want to do, people looking for a job can start with a database of jobs held by Jobcentre Plus.

If you need advice, guidance or counselling about what to do, individual and group career-planning advice is available, from this blog, and via the new website career-planning.co.uk (Launching January 09), as is advice and guidance on training or learning new skills.

A Shrinking Job Market

As we are told, almost daily it seems, by TV, radio & internet (and that guy next door) the economy is in a bad way, credit has been crunched, and the centre cannot hold. All of which means that the job market is shrinking rapidly, as jobs are shed by the er, shed load, and more bad news appears over the horizon every day.

The BBC reports, Sunday, that:

UK childrenswear retailer Adams has applied to go into administration, the BBC has learned. The firm has applied to the administrators' court but has yet to be officially placed in administration. Adams, which has 260 outlets in its nationwide chain and 166 outside the UK, employs about 2,000 people. It joins a growing list of well-known chains going to the wall as retailers struggle, including Zavvi, MFI, Whittard and Woolworths.

PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) are likely to be appointed administrators and take over the running of Adams until a new owner can be found. A spokeswoman for PWC could not tell for sure when it would be formally appointed. "They put the thing into court on Christmas Eve but I cannot really say much more than that," she said.

career planning in the uk

Here in South Wales it is cold and grey, and a chill wind is blowing off the mountain, a bit like the state of the shrinking UK economy at the moment.

All around the world, from America to Australia, from the UK and Europe to the Pacific rim, is the echo of an economy that is slowing, stalling, or coming to a grinding halt. This much we know.
What we don't know is what will happen next, although we can take an educated guess, or two, and most of them are not good.

The basics of career planning are well established, and become even more crucial in a recession, when career-agility is critical. We know that people can be taught the basics of career planning and with ongoing advice, guidance and counselling, can be helped to understand themselves and the process, and with coaching, make their own informed career decisions.

New Year New Job?

Just as people often start new diets, or join a gym in January each year, ( & most will fall by the wayside before Valentine's Day), so to do people make plans to get a new job in the New Year; new job, new you, and so on, with people thinking that if they get a new job, then somehow, their life will be better; their relationship will improve; things will look up, and so on.

The trick with gyms and diets, is to start in December, before the twin evil axis of Christmas and New Year crushes all, and lays waste to good intentions. The same is true of career planning - you need to start now, and then refine your plan over the holidays, talk to people, discuss your ideas with a career planning expert, before putting it into action as soon as it seems coherent, and certainly by New Years Day Boxing Day, or January 2nd.

As Frazier used to say, Talk To Me Seattle...er, Pontypridd...well, anyone really, you get the idea. You send your questions in, via a post on this blog, and I answer them, and then someone else may chip in and so on. And lets be careful out there people.

career-planning questions

Post your career-planning questions here on the Blog