The 20-Hour Rule

July 18th, 2016 by

We all want to become better at something. After all, learning new skills is necessary to give yourself an edge as you develop your career. For many years the 10,000 hour rule popularized by Malcolm Gladwell has been the standard for mastering skills. If you do the math, 10,000 hours equates to about 90 minutes of practice every day for 20 years!

6-Ways-to-Learn-New-Skills-OnlineThe truth is, to reach a reasonable and useful level of skill proficiency, you only need to commit yourself to 20 hours, not 20 years. Whether you want to become better at public speaking or learn HTML, you can develop the new skill by dedicating yourself to just 40 minutes of practice each day for one month.

So how exactly do you learn a new skill with the 20 hour rule?

  • 1. First, you need to decide what skills will help you on your career path. Then, you need to pre-commit to 20 hours of dedicated practice. The 20 hour rule is a good way to gauge interest in the skill. If you aren’t willing to schedule 40 minutes a day to learn a particular skill, then you should consider learning something else.

 

  • 2. Once you’ve committed to learning a new skill, break it down into smaller more manageable sub-skills. This eliminates the tendency to feel overwhelmed, making it easier to get started. You can break down a skill like HTML into first learning how to place tags, then how to manipulate text, then how to create links, and so on.

 

  • 3. After you’ve broken up a skill into sub-skills, decide which sub-skills are most important and focus on those first. By dedicating your early practice to the fundamental sub-skills you’ll notice a significant increase in your performance after just a few hours of commitment.


Need ideas for a new skill to develop? Check out one of Next Step Academy’s job skills courses.

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Careers in Sports Management

June 22nd, 2016 by

Students pursuing a business degree have a wide range of options available to them as they work towards finding their career niche. For the sports enthusiast, a career in sports management could be the perfect path that combines business and sports. You don’t have to be athletic — you just need to be a strategic thinker and have a passion for sports and people.

EducationSportsManagement

A career in sports management starts with a bachelor’s degree in business. Look for a program that offers a minor in sports management or event planning. Some schools offer a specific sports management degree, but these programs still focus heavily on business fundamentals and are difficult to find.

Upon completing your degree you’ll have a strong understanding of sports marketing, economics, professional communication, business ethics and event management.

Career

Many graduates will go on to work with professional institutions such as the NFL or with non-professional sport leagues. You may also choose to work for a college or high school athletic department, or for a recreational center such as the YMCA.

Sports management allows you to work within every aspect of the industry. You have all the possibilities of a business degree, but with the focus of a booming industry you’re passionate about. You can work directly with sports teams, facilities and stores, but you also have the opportunity to work with sports focused non-profit groups such as the Special Olympics. The possibilities are endless.

If sports management sounds like a career path you’re interested in, then check out Next Step Academy’s “Careers in Sports Management” course to learn more about this exciting field and find out if it’s the right fit for you.

 

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Careers in Communications

March 1st, 2016 by

 

AdobeStock_81220856 [Converted]Students looking to study communications are often faced with one of two dreaded questions: “what are you going to do with that degree?” and “doesn’t everyone already know how to communicate?” Yes, it’s true, most of us have been developing communication skills since infancy, but it takes practice, creativity and a strong command of language to turn those skills into a profitable art.

The study of communications is ultimately about understanding people and how they create, send and receive any type of message (verbal, non-verbal, visual, written, body language, etc.). It also studies how the medium (social media, television, radio etc.) affects the overall message and how mediums are best suited for sharing specific types of information. There are several major fields within communications each with their own array of subfields. If you’re an outside-the-box thinker with superb communication skills, rest assured, you will find your place within communications industry.

Public relations (PR) is a communications field concerned with organizations’ public personas and brands. PR professionals take a holistic approach to developing plans for organizations to craft and share their messages with the public. A PR professional may craft a message that portrays the organization’s image and personality, while another message could be about a campaign promoting special event or initiative. As a PR professional, you may choose to focus your career on any number of specialities such as: branding, crisis management, or event promotion. Many PR firms also offer marketing and advertising services under their public relations umbrella because these fields are closely related.

Marketing is similar to PR, but there are specific skills as a marketer you’ll want to master. For instance, writing in both short and long forms, being able to make sense of analytical information and thinking creatively in a “big picture” way. Marketing professionals tend to focus on target audiences, building brand recognition and developing two-way conversations with the organization’s audience. In this career field you may also be responsible for developing new personalities or “re-branding” organizations entirely. There is quite a bit over overlap between marketing and PR, so be prepared to wear many hats in the workplace.

Advertising, while similar to marketing, focuses more on the power of persuasion with the ultimate goal of selling a specific product or service. Advertising professionals use the research of their marketing counterparts to create advertisements for print, television, radio, billboards, and many other unique “guerilla” style tactics. The advertising professional’s responsibilities may resemble or even cross-over into marketing roles.

AdobeStock_71209553 [Converted]Journalism is not all breaking news reporting, and it is certainly not all television broadcasting. Those jobs make up only a fraction of this career field. There are as many beats (specialties) in journalism as there are topics of conversation: politics, money, food, arts, crime, science, technology, the list goes on. Journalists may work for television news networks, magazines, newspapers, or for themselves as freelance writers. No matter their beat or medium, journalists tell real-life stories from your hometown, to the other side of the world. This career path may offer unique opportunities to travel, interview different people and investigate stories.

Media is one of the larger fields within communications. The three biggest media subfields are radio, television and film. Each of these three media subfields have countless job positions to choose from: writing, producing, directing, media buying and more.

So, the next time someone asks “what are you going to do with a communications degree?”, kindly explain that a career in communications offers opportunities in multiple fields, and every other industry requires some type of communication specialist. Once you’ve made your point, send them to Next Step Academy’s “Careers in Communication” course. A career in communications could be right for them, too!

 

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Passion leads to purpose

September 10th, 2015 by

passion-purpose

For those of you who found Next Step Academy because you are looking online for that one career choice that fulfills your purpose, this graphic explains it all. Sometimes finding that thing that will fulfill you each day while also delivering you a paycheck can seem fleeting. How does anyone ever align their work life with the things they are passionate about? It must be rare, right?

Not for those who do the legwork! If you spend some time exploring career options and take time to investigate the jobs available in those career fields, then you are sure to find both passion and purpose in your day-to-day life.

Don’t ignore your gut. Follow your heart — the dollars will come.

Source: Pinterest

Exploring careers and majors? Take a few Next Step Academy online courses to get you started!

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Best and worst entry-level jobs

May 7th, 2015 by

Business TalksWith graduation season nearly upon us, the personal finance website WalletHub recently released its 2015 Entry-Level Jobs Report, which takes stock of the first-timer employment landscape by comparing 109 different types of entry-level positions based on 11 key metrics ranging from starting salaries to industry growth rate.

Here are the best and worst jobs according to the report:

Best Entry-Level Jobs
1. Training Specialist
2. Web Applications Developer
3. Network Engineer
4. Attorney
5. Environmental Engineer
6. Software Engineer
7. Designer – Web
8. Information Security Analyst
9. Financial Analyst
10. Programmer

Worst Entry-Level Jobs
100. Welder
101. Building Inspector
102. Policy Processing Clerk
103. Electronics Assembler
104. Boilermaker
105. Claims Processing Clerk
106. Consumer Loan Servicing Clerk
107. Refinery Operator
108. Sheetmetal Mechanic
109. Floor Assembler

Some of the highlights from the survey:

• Certified occupational therapist assistants are expected to see the most job growth by 2022 (42.6%).

• While web application developers, web designers, software and network engineers, and programmers are all among the 10 Best Entry-Level Jobs, computer operators have the grimmest outlook, interestingly enough – with 17% of jobs in the field projected to be cut by 2022.

For the full report, please visit Wallet Hub.

> To explore career options, visit Next Step Academy’s free online career courses.

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So you got rejected from a job — now what?

February 19th, 2015 by

Most people get rejected from a job at least once in their lives. Career setbacks happen to everyone — even Madonna, Andy Warhol and U2 faced rejection at some point in their careers.

But after you’re told no, you are often left to wonder how and why it happened. Rejection letters have a history of being vague about why you were passed over for the job and instead leave you only with a thanks for your interest. After all the time and effort put into applying to the job, you deserve some feedback.

So what can you do to learn from your setback? Here are three ways to handle your rejection and gain some insight in the process.

Keep negative emotions in check
Paul Freiberger, president of Shimmering Resumes, a career counseling and resume writing firm explains, “Even though being rejected leaves you bitter, angry and defeated, this is not the time to show those emotions.” Instead, send them a note of thanks for the consideration and well-wishes for the right person. “This is the mark of a grownup,” says Freiberger, “this could make you someone they’d keep in mind for the future.”

Don’t expect a lengthy explanation
Employers tend to be tight-lipped when it comes to responding to rejected candidates because giving you an explanation can cause problems surrounding litigation, Freiberger explains. While getting feedback may be something that is helpful for you, don’t come across like you are demanding an answer for why you were passed over. If you get feedback — great! But if not, don’t push the issue.

Be specific
When responding to a rejection letter, your note doesn’t need to go to everyone involved. “Write to the person who seemed the most involved, or if not them, the hiring manager,” explains Freiberger. Also, make sure you include something company-specific in your letter to avoid sounding like you are “sending these notes in bulk,” according to Freiberger.

Don’t burn any bridges
Even after receiving a rejection, anything can happen. You could have left such a great impression that they considered you for a different position or even passed your name to another company. Venting about your rejection or demanding an explanation will not help so make sure you always come across professional and willing to be reconsidered if the opportunity ever arises.

No matter what, rejection is hard to take. The further you get in the hiring process, the bigger the sting. But making it this far has a benefit — you now know small changes can make a big difference. You know what needs work.

The rejection is harsh, but it gives you an idea of what needs to be worked on. Because of this, Freiberger says there is reason to send thanks, even if you’re not feeling very thankful.

> Check out these Life Skills Courses that are sure to help you land that perfect job!

 

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