From Iconic Brand to Own Label

From Iconic Brand to Own Label Success Story > From: Job To: Portfolio career From Iconic Brand to Own Label “Life is for living. I'd always wanted to have my own business... so what was I waiting for?” * From Iconic Brand to Own Label After a difficult year and a painful redundancy, Laura Bonnell was forced to re-evaluate. Now she says she's never been happier â€" but the journey to her new career wasn't easy. This is her story. What work were you doing previously? I've been working as a fashion designer for the past 17 years. I've mostly designed womenswear, but also some childrenswear and accessories, for heritage brands like Ralph Lauren, Barbour and Jack Wills. I lived in New York for six years while working for Ralph Lauren â€" that's where I really found myself as a designer. Working for such an iconic brand really trained my creative eye, and taught me how to be inspired by all things authentic and vintage. It taught me a taste level that I've carried with me since. What are you doing now? I am working as a freelance design consultant and also running my childrenswear brand, Muklet, which I launched last year. Why did you change? I'd had a pretty rubbish year. When I was five months pregnant with my second little boy, I discovered a malignant melanoma. I had to go through surgery when he was just a couple of weeks old. That was my first wake up call â€" life is short, and we have to appreciate what is truly important in this life. We can't control what life throws at us sometimes, but we can choose how to deal with it. I returned to work when my youngest was about eight months old. Not long after that my dad suddenly got very poorly very quickly. He was eventually rushed to hospital where they discovered he had pancreatic cancer. Two weeks later he passed away. And then the icing on the cake â€" there had been some management changes at work, and I was made redundant. I lost a little faith in humanity that day. I just couldn't quite understand how it was somehow OK to put someone out of a job shortly after they'd been through one of the toughest experiences of their life. When was the moment you decided to make the change? After a bit of a cry at the pub with my gorgeous husband, I decided to dust myself off, get back up and get going. There was no point in wallowing in self-pity. Life is for living. I'd always wanted to have my own business, and my dad always said I should, so what was I waiting for? I guess the security of a regular income, and needing to provide financially for the family had stopped me taking the leap before. Are you happy with the change? This is the happiest I have ever been work wise. I truly believe this is what I am meant to do. I feel like life has led me to this point, and everything has happened for a reason. That said, I am really tired if I'm honest! I'm pretty much always working, every spare second I get. I've started to build traction with Muklet, and there are some great opportunities coming up, so I'm going to see what happens in the next 12 months. I get so much satisfaction from seeing a photo from a happy little person wearing my clothes, or hearing stories from my customers. One of my favorites is a lady who had two girls, and was pregnant with number three. She didn't know the sex until he was born, and was delighted to have a boy because she could now buy lots of boy things! She had a special request for what she wanted made, and I was able to do that, because I'm small and can make bespoke items. I love that Muklet is now a part of that little person's story! What do you miss and what don't you miss? It's difficult switching your brain off from it. And I miss the regular income. How did you go about making the shift? I worked on the concept for the business and took it along to a local networking group to get some feedback. It was all positive, so I then decided to go for it, and made my first few t-shirts and cushions which I then took to a local school fair to see if people then wanted to actually buy what I had designed and made. What didn't go well? What 'wrong turns' did you take? I haven't spent enough time planning. I've reacted to opportunities as they've arisen. And I've probably overstocked. How did you handle your finances to make your change possible? I managed eventually to secure some regular freelance work a couple of days a week which paid the basic bills, and covered childcare. I then invested some of my own money to get the business started. I've grown the business slowly and organically reinvesting every penny I make. What was the most difficult thing about changing? Worrying about needing to financially support my family. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of being able to survive on one income. We have a young family, two boys aged five and two. The cost of childcare is crushing, being self-employed I don't have access to childcare vouchers which can take a bite out of the bill. So I'm constantly juggling looking after the boys, and trying to find child-free time to work on things. Fortunately, there are a lot of things I can do with them, like meeting other small business owners with kids in the park, or doing photo shoots with them. I've found some great child-friendly networking groups too. And I love that they can be a part of it; they can see Mummy happy, and they can be involved. My goal is to build Muklet so I can then work on it while they are both in school in a few years' time. What help did you get? I talk to anyone and everyone I meet. I started off connecting with other local small businesses I met at networking events. This then led me to other groups, workshops, events where I met more people doing similar things. I met a bunch of people through social media, and fostering those friendships has helped me with so many things and provided a consistent source of advice, support, and recommendations. What resources would you recommend to others? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Find and connect with your 'tribes' â€" people who are doing what you're doing, people you aspire to be like, people that can advise you. Social media is all about building a community and building collaborations. Try to find things that are tailored to your area of expertise. I try to focus any workshops or networking opportunities on people offering a 'tribe' that I connect to, whether that's mums, dads, bloggers, childrenswear businesses, etc. What have you learnt in the process? You have to be prepared to work really hard. Luckily, I'm a grafter. I like getting stuck in; I like learning. I realise now I'd kind of got stuck in a work Groundhog Day, doing the same thing just for a different company. I've always loved my jobs, but some of them just didn't love me back! What would you advise others to do in the same situation? Just go for it! Get an idea, talk to your friends, talk to people you don't know about it. If they think it's a good idea, give it a try. Set parameters on how much you want to invest, and how much time you are going to spend on it, then do it! What lessons could you take from Laura's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

Science Resume - A Great Way to Get Your Name Back in the Workforce

Science Resume - A Great Way to Get Your Name Back in the WorkforceYou may have heard about science resumes and not really understood what they were or why they were important. Well, if you are one of the many who has a background in science then you may want to consider a science resume as a way to get your name back into the science world.Having a science resume can be very beneficial in the event that you find yourself with a science job. When you are applying for jobs, it is extremely easy to get caught up in the details of job-hunting. While it is important to focus on all the important details, including details about your education, experience, and skill sets, it is equally important to keep in mind the details about your research and education. Without an excellent science resume, you may not get hired at all.When you are applying for a job and get turned down based on your previous experience, it's hard to let the experience go that you've had over the years go to waste beca use of it. Even if you do not use it now, you will still have the experience to have to do it again, and it can ruin your chances at the next job as well.If you are planning on applying for a science job that is outside of your discipline, it is even more important to make sure that you have a strong science resume. After all, if you apply for a position where the work is tedious and technical, you will stand a much better chance of being hired if you have the skills and experience to do it.Another reason that it is important to keep your science resume up to date is that if you already have a job, your skills may already be obsolete. As the research and education evolve, so does the education that people need to get jobs that can support their lives.It also helps to keep your skills current for future doctorate candidates who may be looking for you as a reference. If you have worked in a field that no longer exists, you can use your experience and get that experience to the extent where it's relevant.Of course, if you have been working in the field for quite some time and you have developed great skills, you will have lots of experience. By keeping this in mind, you can actually cover as much ground as possible when you are applying for positions in the future.Keeping a good science resume will help you be more competitive for a job, as well as keep you relevant. Not having a science resume can mean that you will be overlooked for a job that you may have won for a more experienced candidate.

Could you make a career of public engagement University of Manchester Careers Blog

Could you make a career of public engagement University of Manchester Careers Blog If youre passionate about communicating to the public, whether thats about your academic subject or you just want to tell the world what you think, could you make a career of it? Our Insight into Broadcasting and Journalism course is your chance to test yourself and figure out if you could really make it as a broadcast or journalism professional. Monday 25th March 2013 which Costs £15, which includes catering and access to professional equipment and advice More details and application form  here. We only run this once a year and its your  chance to work with professionals from the BBC, the Guardian, the Independent (and more) to produce some real news content within tight timescales. Cant say wholl be there this year but in previous years, broadcasting legends have been spotted (for 6Music and NW Tonight devotees, Mr The Chain Burns himself, no less). If you want to be inspired and convinced that postgrads really can make it in the world of broadcasting, heres a great short video of a former PhD biomedical scientist who loves her job as a radio producer: All Postgrad-highlighted Postgraduate media

Does Gamification Work in Recruiting You Bet!

Does Gamification Work in Recruiting You Bet! Gamification:  the art (and sometimes science) of attracting users and keeping  them. Gamification works by encouraging users to engage in game-like behaviours, in non-game contexts. Having heard a lot about it this year I predict gamification’s role  in the industry will act as a game changer (pun intended), so if you’re not already  thinking about how you can apply it to your recruitment strategy, then perhaps  it’s time to start! Now that the concept of social recruiting has established itself and is no longer  considered a passing phase, it’s now constantly offering us new and innovative ways  to crowdsource. The use of social networks is evidently a successful route and the  new ways in which recruiters are interacting with candidates is allowing for  more enjoyable brand experiences.  Brands that are choosing to use gamification are obtaining higher levels of  retention and building bigger online communities. It’s serving the common  purpose of engagement and generating better user experiences. Information technology research firm Gartner has already predicted that over 70% of Forbes Global 2000 organisations will  have at least one gamified application by 2014, with a belief that 25% of day-to-day business processes will be using aspects of gamification.  Brian Burke, research vice president at Gartner, explains: Gamification aims to inspire deeper, more engaged relationships and  to change behavior, but it needs to be implemented thoughtfully. Most  attempts at gamification currently miss the mark, but successful and  sustainable gamification can convert customers into fans, turn work into  fun, or make learning a joy. The potential is enormous. What role is gamification starting to play in recruitment? So what role is gamification starting to play in recruitment an industry that  is using social media now more than ever? One of the key advantages of using  gamification in recruitment relies on the fact that not only will candidates be  coming back regularly to interact with your brand, but they will be acting as advocates for your brand. A good gamification strategy has users encouraging  friends and family to engage too, so they are essentially acting as recruiters  themselves.  Surely this is the recruiters dream! Gamification provides users with a sense of belonging and encourages, what  Matthew Jeffery of Autodesk described as, “stickiness to sites” he also points out the potential for monetisation that comes with  using gamification in your business strategy. Marriott, Nike LinkedIn Marriott created an excellent recruitment campaign to attract potential  employees using an online game entitled My Marriott Hotel. It was created with the intent to encourage  young people to take an interest in hospitality as a career path. The virtual game  is much like Farmville or The Sims, requiring candidates to demonstrate their  skills in a fun, online environment. It was a social media success that drove traffic  to their Facebook career page (which currently has 113,000 likes). However, the benefits of gamification are not solely about attracting candidates  or consumers, it’s also being used to engage clients too. Take for example Global  Corporate Challenge a business that attracts some of the world’s biggest  corporations as their clients every year, purely on the merit of what is essentially  gamification which gets the world moving.  They are the world’s leading and largest corporate health initiative and users  devotedly engage in the game-like experience. They have highly refined  expertise in behavioural change and that is key to their success. Although gamification is a relatively new concept for the recruitment industry,  it has been implemented to great success in the advertising world for a few  years now. Gamification is being integrated into advertising campaigns, globally;  encouraging brand engagement and facilitating great results. Another example is Nike and their Nike+ campaign. A campaign which gamified  running, with a seamless integration of their brand into the consumers’ everyday  lives. They created a Nike+ tag running app, which links running directly with  social gaming. Essentially anyone using the app is in a game of virtual ‘tag’ and  must keep running to avoid being ‘it’. So if you run the shortest distance among  the group you are playing with, you are ‘it’.  It’s a smart use of gamification because it took something that people find hard  to get motivated for and offered a direct incentive. Whether this is social like in  this case or through a reward based system. Foursquare, Klout, Kred, and PeerIndex are all good examples of successful  reward and high score systems. They appeal to an individual’s sense of  achievement and create an appeal to return. Although LinkedIn’s Endorsements features have been received with mixed reviews, it’s a prime example of clever  gamification suited to their audience. The number of endorsements people have on their profile almost work as a badge system, and will be used to highlight  thought-leaders and also show up in searches. Place your bets Gamification doesn’t have to be expensive and, like with most things, simplicity  is the key! I would use it to increase brand awareness, build a community,  integrate it in as part of a mobile strategy, with the end result leading to more  applications. Have you tried gamification in your company? Let us know your  success  stories in the comments below!

Writing Awards Without Numbers

Writing Awards Without NumbersWriting achievements without numbers in resume examples is easy. It involves using the word achievement, words and numbers together to create a simple example. This works with almost any kind of document you are going to send out to an employer. This means if you are being interviewed for a position or if you have been hired for an interview.However, you are most likely going to encounter this challenge when you are trying to write achievements for your resume. Because most of us don't know how to write them properly. When we are learning how to apply these tips it will be much easier to produce the winning written example.Now that you know how to write achievements without numbers in resume examples, what do you want to do next? Well, you want to start by learning how to apply them. The more effectively you can apply them the better results you will receive. You can start doing this by getting some practice in the correct application of them.Another rea son you want to get some practice is because these examples will help you put in the right amount of details without being too detailed. Of course they also should not be too short. Getting a sense of how to write them and then applying them is something that must be done over again.To make sure you get good results when applying these examples for your resume you want to make sure you choose samples with accurate spelling and grammar. You should also use proper punctuation and readability rules to keep your example from being disqualified. You also want to make sure that your examples are following some standard workplace standards and guidelines.If you want to know how to write achievements without numbers in resume examples, then here are some more tips to consider. First of all you want to write them in your own voice. Don'twrite them in a way that sounds formal or professional. Also make sure that you are clear about exactly what it is you are trying to communicate.Finally you want to make sure that you do not just throw them in and then throw away. Be sure that you will put some thought into them. Make sure you will include the proper spellings and punctuations and make sure that you have chosen a sample that accurately represents your work style. Once you put these points into practice you will begin to see results.It's very easy to write achievements without numbers in resume examples. But the more you learn about the rules of writing and about what to put in a resume, the better results you will receive. It takes practice and some time but it is definitely worth it.

LinkedIn User Interface New Versus Old - CareerEnlightenment.com

or reach out to me on LinkedIn: www.LinkedIn.com/in/LinkedInexpertAbout the author:  Viveka is author of LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day and is known internationally as the “LinkedIn Expert”. CEO of Linked Into Business, she also hosts the biggest LinkedIn chat on Twitter.  Forbes has listed her as a top social media influencer for three years running, and she has been cited in Ragan, CNN, Forbes, Mashable, Simple Living, Bloomberg, LinkedIns Small Business Site and The Sophisticated Marketers Guide to LinkedIn, The Miami Herald, Social Media Today and The Social Media Examiner!

Getting Back Into Work Successfully After Having A Baby - CareerAlley

Getting Back Into Work Successfully After Having A Baby - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. If you a developing career, and a great job before you left to start a family; you might have thought about the returning process for a while now. If it was always your plan to get back to work after youve had a baby or spent some years out of the office to raise your kids; you might be feeling apprehensive about getting back into the swing of things. Back to Work After Baby: How to Plan and Navigate a Mindful Return from Maternity Leave Price: $16.95 Buy Now from Amazon We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Last Updated: February 28, 2020 Whether youre going to head back to your previous employer, or are looking to secure a new role elsewhere; youll need to plan and prepare so that your working life routine can get back on track and fit with your new family situation. Youll face some challenges and teething issues, but as long as youre prepared for what to expect; you can begin working and earning as you did before, just with a different approach. Whether youre going to head back to your previous employer, or are looking to secure a new role elsewhere; youll need to plan and prepare so that your working life routine can get back on track and fit with your new family situation. Tweet This Its worth planning your return to a work environment as soon as youre able, even during pregnancy so that you can budget and work around your new circumstances. You can always change your mind regarding if and when you want to go back to work and get back on the career ladder, but its worth giving yourself the best chance for when the time is right. The following are some tips, suggestions, and ideas, for parents who have been out of the office to have their child, and are feeling ready to head back and get to work again. Know Your Rights If you are planning to return somewhere that youve previously been employed; you may well have set up an agreement or contract as to when you were returning, and your job will be waiting for you when you go back. This is often the best and most straightforward way to get back into the office environment. However, if there are disputes overpay or timing or the new hours you wish to work; its worth consulting an employment law attorney who can help you to understand your rights and resolve any issues that arise. Youll want your transition back into work to be as smooth as possible, so sometimes ensuring that everything is sorted out utilizing a third party is the best way to keep things fair and most importantly; legal. Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay Be Prepared For Change Life will be different when you have a child to consider; therefore, youll need to be prepared to change how you approach your job and the hours that you work. You may need to take into account childcare and dropping off or collecting your family from various locations; think about combining more working hours into fewer days so that you have time to spare on other days, or going back on a part-time basis in the beginning. Your employer should do what they can to help you ease back into your work environment, so set up a meeting with them regarding your workload and hours so that you can come to a mutually beneficial solution. Things may get back to normal sooner than you think, but its worth expecting things to be different from the get-go, and planning how youre going to work productively around any changes and challenges you may face. What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to find the opportunities that help you grow your best career. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search