Career Funda

When it comes to a business’s reputation, professionalism is fundamental. Simply appearing sloppy and amateurish with regard to spelling and grammar can damage how the public perceives your organisation. A council in England has discovered just how important proofreading services are, after a blunder left the local authority red-faced.

A road sign in a suburb in Leeds that was misspelled attracted the attention of the national press after local residents reported the mistake. Inhabitants on Pudsey Road in the town were left puzzled when a sign was erected on the roundabout naming the place ‘Pudesy’. It was only after media reports were published that the council corrected the fault, eight months later.

Residents who lived in the area around the junction were astounded and embarrassed at the gaffe. The town lends its name to the BBC’s famous Children in Need mascot Pudsey Bear, so there were plenty of laughs at the wrong spelling of such a well-known word. But such an obvious mistake on a massive road sign could have easily been noted by expert editing services.

Leeds City Council has now finally corrected the sign after being contacted by the Yorkshire Evening Post. A spokesman admitted that there was an error made by the sign manufacturer but that they were made aware of it and had put it right. However, they didn’t explain why no one had checked the spelling before the sign went up. The professionals at Oxbridge Editing thoroughly examine all copy to ensure that it is error-free and all typographical mistakes are eliminated. The specialists offer an invaluable proofreading service if you need help with spelling, grammar and punctuation as well as the general layout of your work. So don’t tarnish your reputation by printing a slipup, contact Oxbridge Editing today.

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Being your own boss is a marvelous feeling. You won’t have to answer to anyone for anything. You can make your decisions and work at your own will. This sense of freedom is driving more and more youngsters towards setting up their own business. Taking first step is difficult. Leaving your job and the security of the monthly salary can be frightening. The most fearsome aspect is some fail to make this work. The horror tales of bankruptcy and losing everything can do lot of damages to the aspiring business persons.

There are certain qualities a business person should have. He/she should have certain intellect to begin with. The ability to say no can be a helpful trait. You will have to work hard to make it to the world of business. There should be some competitive spirit within also.

Some are born with these qualities and some need help to build these. For those who need to polish their potentialities there are training sessions. You may find talking to a business coach helpful. To rectify your errors, you will have to be aware of these errors first. You coach will tell you what you lack and make you overcome the setback. A coach will unleash the hidden qualities and help you flourish in your chosen mode of profession.

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This article was provided on behalf of Patient News

Referral cards sent with newsletters can be an effective way to get dental marketing tools into the homes of existing patients and motivate them to take action. Since most dentists depend heavily on referrals to grow their businesses, nothing is more important to a dental office than making it easy for satisfied customers to refer their friends and family.

As much as 70 percent of a dental office’s business can come from referrals, according to some statistics, but receptionists and cashiers often have too many other tasks on their minds to remember to ask patients to make referrals.

When patients are asked, they often simply brush off a request to refer their friends, never giving it a second thought once they leave the office and return to their busy lives. Even those who are willing to take a card or two often forget about them.

Inserting a professionally designed referral card into an equally well-designed and enticing newsletter can be an effective dental marketing tool for many providers, however.

A good newsletter brings the dental practice to the minds of patients, reminds them of the things they like about the office and the professionals with whom they have established relationships and creates a good feeling about the dental office. When they see a referral card inside the newsletter, they may be willing to pass it on.

Even more importantly, mailing cards in newsletters gets the cards into people’s homes where they can be seen by family members and left around for friends to see. Because these referral cards include complete contact information, they can be passed along without much explanation.

While online newsletters may not be quite as effective for distributing referral cards, they can also increase good feelings about a dental office and can be forwarded to others if the text encourages readers to do that. Customized online referral cards can also be used by practices that don’t send print newsletters to help spread the word.

When sent directly to existing patients rather than distributed at the office, referral cards can be an important part of a complete dental advertising plan.

While nothing will cause an unwilling or dissatisfied patient to spread goodwill about a dental practice, referral cards help customers who are so inclined easily provide referral information to their friends and family members who are looking for a new dental service provider.

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Teaching assistant jobs require no formal qualifications. This is very different to teaching, which requires a degree and further qualifications. There are a number of qualifications that can be taken to develop as a teaching assistant.

Before going onto the qualifications of a teaching assistant (TA), it’s worth noting the skills that are needed to get into the job initially. It’s essential to have good reading, writing and numeracy skills. Confidence is important to deal with challenging behaviour and manage the classroom. Organisation is important as you may be involved in school trips or pulling together resources for lessons. Experience working with the relevant age children is a plus when applying for these jobs, which are pretty competitive these days.

Once offered a TA job you’re more than likely to be sent on an induction program run by the local authority. These are nationally approved, and will complement any in-house training the school offers.

Experienced TAs have a number of options to further their career. A Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) is trusted with extra responsibilities compared to the normal TA, such as teaching a class when qualified teachers are unavailable. To get an HLTA the school head must put forward their staff, by signing their application form. An assessor then spends half the day in the school with the TA and will decide whether they are qualified or not for this standing.

Not all TA qualifications require that you’re already working in a school. The Level 2 and Level 3 Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools is a good stepping stone into the career. Additional levels, the Certificate or Diploma in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools require a job in a school to be accepted. There’s also a Teaching Assistant foundation degree, with many different titles across different institutions. UCAS gives more information on these.

Although the entry level isn’t as high as a qualified teacher, as with many education jobs there are great prospects for career development and qualifications illustrate this. It’s an important job in schools, providing much needed support for pupils and teachers, thereby improving the educational experience for children.

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Have you always wanted to serve your community and still earn your living? Do you want to make a difference in the quality of people’s lives? If you do, then a career in public administration would be just right for you.

Public administration is when the policies made by governments and other organisations are put into action. It gives you the opportunity to shape the future of cities through planning, development and management.

The Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) prepares you to take up managerial positions in the state and national governments. There is a growing need for qualified professionals in this field both in India and abroad. The course curriculum of an MPA programme consists of key subjects such as policy analysis, research methodologies, public finance, economics and management.

The degree in Public Administration provides interdisciplinary study as it draws from different fields such as political science, law, economics, sociology and regional planning. This makes the course very broad based and provides you with transferable knowledge and skill sets that can be applied in a variety of scenarios and sectors. Based on your area of interest, you can choose to specialise or focus on a particular area like emergency management, public health, environmental policy or urban planning.

Apart from the MPA degree, you can also opt for an MBA in public administration which is offered by select universities abroad.

Career opportunities are plenty for graduates in public administration.  You will find yourself qualified for jobs in the government, non-profit organisations/NGOs, or in any other organisations where there is scope for interaction between public and private sectors.

It is important that you choose an accredited programme at a leading university. The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration or NASPAA accredits graduate degree programs in public administration. The objective of their accreditation is to promote and maintain the quality of all professional public service degrees.

Some of the universities in the U.S which offer NASPAA accredited graduate programmes in public administration are:

• University of Southern California
• University of Central Florida
• Syracuse University
• The University of Illinois at Chicago
• Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
• Kansas State University
• Iowa State University
• Kentucky State University
• Carnegie Mellon University
• University of Pittsburgh
• Texas A&M University
• West Virginia University

You can view the best public affairs schools in the U.S by clicking here.

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