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So many people have found themselves out of work or working from home over the past 18 months. The job that they were used to doing may of changed significantly or may simply not be there anymore. As restrictions are starting to be lifted this month, it is likely that many people will go back in to the work place to resume their job. It is likely that even after they have returned there will be some changes to the position that may be here to stay. Many businesses have implemented procedures in place to avoid or reduce the amount of physical contact they employees have with customers and also with other members of staff. These types of regulations may be around for some time as the less contact we have the less likely there is to be a Covid outbreak at work which could force everywhere to shut down again.

If you are worried about returning to work it is important to talk to your boss before you are due to go back. Ask them to explain what your job role will be like and if there are going to be any major differences that you need to be aware of. Often being prepared is enough to take the worry and concern away.

The job of a TA (teaching assistant) can be very rewarding. You do not have to have any formal qualifications but many schools will favour those that do. You will need GCSE’s as a minimum and A qualification in nursery work, childcare, play work or youth work will give you an advantage.

Even if you have the formal qualifications you need to ensure that you also have the right personal skills and attributes to be a TA. One of the most important qualities you need is patients. You need to be able to listen and work well with others whether that be teachers, children or parents. You may not get to choose what age group you work with so you will need to be prepared to work with reception children right up to year 6. The role may be quite different depending on what age you are working with and also which teacher you work with. Some teachers rely on their TA’s a lot and will call upon them to work closely with them throughout the day others may just delegate jobs to them such as making displays etc.

The wage for a TA is not great but you can go on to become a higher level TA which often comes with a pay rise.

Many job opportunities favour candidates that have got experience in that field or within one that is very similar.

Some courses within the medical industry will ask that you have some sort of experience before you start. This may be the case for nurses, midwives or doctors, but how are you able to get experience? Often no one will give you work if you don’t have experience but without a job you have no way of gaining the experience you need – this can leave you in a very difficult situation.  

If you need to gain experience but cannot get a job that fits in with your learning then you may need to take time out of education and find work for 6 months to a year. If the issue is that no one will offer you the work without experience or qualifications then you may need to look in to doing volunteering work in a similar industry. It may be that you can help out in a hospital or a hospice or even a care home for a few months to get some experience to take you forward.

When looking for voluntary work in the medical industry you may find there are very few jobs you can do often due to patient confidentiality and patient care. Asking the advice of a careers advisors is always a good place to start if you find that you are coming up against barriers.

So many of us have had our jobs disrupted over the past 12 months. For some, not only have they suffered disruption but they may of even found themselves without a job following on from cut backs due to the lockdown restrictions. IF you have been lucky enough to keep your job, you may of missed out on a year of experience and possibly training, especially if you have only recently started the job. Often the first few years of a new job are spent gaining experience and knowledge about the role and the business. If you only recently started the job lats year, you may of found it difficult to receive any training as the business you work for may have had to shut or you may have had to work from home. Some companies were still able to offer training remotely but often the companies had so much work on trying to adapt to allow them to continue to trade during these times that training was put on hold. If you were due a pay rise during this time that may also of been put on hold. Many companies have not been able to complete the annual reviews that they normally do which means you may of missed out on the opportunity to ask for a pay rise or to discuss one that was in the pipeline. As the UK slowly starts to come out of lockdown and restrictions start to ease, more and more businesses can get back to some sort of normality. Some office workers are being asked to return to their desks and those who have been furloughed, may start to work some shifts again.

IT is likely as this starts to happen that training will resume although it may be slightly different to what you were expecting. Covid has certainly delayed many things for people but that doesn’t mean to say they won’t happen; it just may be a little further along than you had first thought. If you are a teacher then you may have missed out on some of your placement time. This will hopefully be fitted in during the next few months as schools run at full capacity again. If you are worried that you are not able to do your job correctly because of lack of training then it is important that you flag this as soon as possible with your manage as they will then be able to see what they can offer you to help.

The NHS has been in the news a lot over the past 12 months and many people have come to appreciate what the NHS offers us and how lucky we are to have a system like it. Many NHS staff have been on the front line of the pandemic and have had to work long hours to copy with the increase in demand. IF you were considering changing careers or thinking about future job prospects, you may consider a position within the NHS. There are a huge number of jobs within the NHS from working on a reception desk in a department within the hospital to carrying out operations as a surgeon. All of these jobs are very important and obviously require a very different sort of training. There can be many perks to working within the NHS and recently lots of retailers have offered NHS workers discounts as a thank you for all their hard work, but often jobs in the NHS do require a lot of flexibility and may require you to work unsociable hours. The pay can vary a lot from job to job, but some of the lower skilled jobs tend to often only pay minimum wage or just above. Many people work for the NHS because they want to give something back, even if the wage is not great.

You want to ensure that you vet any prospective employees as much as possible before offering them a job, as once you have employed them, it can be hard to get rid of them if they are not suitable. Ideally when looking for a candidate you want to give yourself time to process applications and carry out in depth interviews. This is your opportunity to get to find out a bit more about the applicant.  You should always ask for references and make sure you follow them up. Lots of employers forget to contact references but then find out there is an issue that has occurred before, which they weren’t aware of. IT may be that the applicant has asked you not to contact their references prior to offering them the job, especially if their reference is their current employer. If this is the case then you could offer them a job on a conditional basis that will be confirmed once all references have been completed.

Some employers set mini tasks for people to complete at an interview so they can see their skill set. For example, it could be that they are asked to write 200 words in a certain time frame.

Many parents have again found themselves in a situation where they are having to work from home. With all the schools currently closed (apart from the key workers child who can still attend), parents are being expected to step up in to the role of teacher once more. During the first lockdown, all schools were closed but there wasn’t as much pressure out on the presents to ensure that work was being done from home. During the second lockdown, the schools remained open but this time the schools are closed and parents are expected to ensure that their child is completing all the work set for them.

If can be hard enough trying to get your child or children motivated and engaged in home learning but if you are also trying to work at the same time you may find it impossible. Ideally you need to try and set dedicated times as to when they need to work and when you can do yours. If you have older children, they may just be able to get ok with the work set for them but you get children will often need a lot of guidance and support as they go through the work that has been sent by the teacher.

So many of us have struggled with work this year. It may be that you have been on furlough for a long time or maybe you have lost your job altogether. In the run up to Christmas many retailers take on extra staff to cope with the increase in demand but this year as many shops have had close for long periods of time, there hasn’t been as many opportunities. There has however been increasing demand for delivery drives with more people taking to online shopping than ever before.

If you have been lucky enough to get a temporary job over Christmas and would love to have the opportunity to make it more permanent then you need to make sure you prove yourself from day one. Firstly you need to make an excellent impression. Be sure that you turn up on time every day and that you really give it your all. Try to get along with everyone you work with and do things that go above and beyond what they expect of you. It is also a good idea to make yourself available for any overtime that may come up as this will reaffirm your commitment.

If you have recently qualified as a teacher or are looking for work in a new school then you may well want to enlist the help of a teaching agency.

Teaching posts are sometimes not advertised like other job posts, you may not find them in the shop window or even in the local paper. They are normally shown on specialist websites such as TES and also on local authority websites.

It may be that you want to do supply work but don’t know how you go about getting yourself recognised by different schools. There are some recruitment agencies out there that specialise specifically in education recruitment. The posts available usually range from full time teaching posts to teaching assistances and office admin roles in schools. If you are looking for a job within the education industry then this would be a great place to start. Many of the recruitment agencies will also offer you other support. They may help you with interview techniques and if you get the job they may even have a portal which you can access to download work sheets or lesson planning ideas.

You will often have to either pay a monthly fee to register with these agencies or they may take a percentage of your salary when working through them instead.

Recruitment can be a nightmare for business owners. Recruitment costs can ver quickly spiral and you may find that you or members of your staff spend too much time checking CV’s, carrying out interviews and training a new recruit. This is why many businesses put of hiring someone new as you could got through the whole process for them to up and leave after a few weeks.

If you would rather take the stress and hassle out of recruitment then why not hire a recruitment agency.

If you are looking to employ a member for staff on a permanent basis then you will pay a fee often based on a percentage of their salary. This fee is usually a fixed fee that has been agreed upfront.

A recruitment agency may well be able to offer you a range of services from simply advertising the job and putting candidates forward to carrying out the initial interview processes too.  If you then decide to employ the member of staff that has come through the agency, you will need to pay the fee to the recruitment agency. Many agencies work on the policy of not charging you unless they find a suitable candidate.