Freshly Social

The National Achievers Conference that is coming to London on the 2^nd – 4^th of July this year is a once in a lifetime opportunity that cannot be missed. Sir Richard Branson, Lord Alan Sugar, Tony Robbins and Kerwin Rae come to the Excel London Exhibition Centre to share the knowledge of their successes, and boy have they been successful.

Sir Richard Branson needs no introduction anyone attending the National Achievers Conference in London in 2011. One of the world’s all time great businessman and a man known for his complete humility and humbleness, Richard Branson started out as a small time businessman and transformed his small mail order record shop into the Virgin Empire that has taken the world by complete storm. Record labels, health clubs and an airline are just 3 of the industries in which virgin is a clear leader. If anyone can teach you about being a non exec Director it’s this guy.

Children of the 80s were born on the cusp of the information technology era, they can marvel at innovations and leaps in technology that anyone born post-1990 takes for granted but still keep pace with Gen Y and an increasingly IT-focused world. They have abandoned their expectation of future jobs with beeping machines and crinkly silver form-fitting jumpsuits, but there are still occupations that stretch their very flexible minds. Back in 2007, CNN Money.com had a look at some jobs with a futuristic feel but that are already in demand.

Disease Mapper is one of those jobs of the future that is easy to believe, in fact, you wonder why it didn’t come along sooner. At its most basic, disease mapping involves charting outbreaks of illness and epidemics across the world and cross-referencing them with seasonal data – weather patterns, crop growth – to try and predict how far a particular disease reach, how long an outbreak will last and when we can potentially expect a resurgence. In 2007, a disease mapper could expect to earn between $40,000 and $150,000 (£24,406 and £91,524) per year. Bearing in mind the current recession those figures are probably still pretty accurate.

The recession has left young people in the UK with fewer employment choices, less financial support and the need to work harder, smarter and be more inventive when they hit the job market. But the recession needs to lift at some stage, so what does the future hold for the UK employment sector?

The General Secretary of the UK Trade Union Congress (TUC), Brendan Barber commented on the latest employment data and said, “Economists may argue about whether we are now out of recession and into recovery, but in the real world of Britain’s workplaces people are still losing their jobs and finding it harder and harder to get new ones”.

In terms of fun, job interviews rank alongside dinner with the in-laws, doctor’s appointments and compulsory exercise. However, the process needn’t be as unpleasant as an injection in the nethers; all a successful job interview needs is preparation to boost your confidence and ensure that you sail through with head high and dignity intact.

One of the best ways to prepare for a job interview is to use a checklist for all the tasks that you need to complete so that you are absolutely ready when your name is called. You can personalise checklists to include the things that are important to you, such as buying a new outfit or getting a haircut. And while these factors help in creating a good first impression, there are other items that have a far more significant impact on the successful outcome of your job interview.