Career Funda

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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So you’re looking marketing jobs? Of course, if you’ve some kind of higher qualification in the bag already, such as a business-related degree or diploma, that’s a good start. But now what? It’ll help if you know what sort of personal skills prospective employers might be looking for. Then you’ll know if a marketing career is even right for you. However, in measuring your suitability, or otherwise, honesty is key.

If there’s one skill employers perhaps consider more important than any other then it has to be good communication skills. And it’s not simply the ability to chat away to your boss, client, neighbour or whoever. It’s about communicating effectively ideas, concepts, strategies and the like in a clear, concise and meaningful manner. After all, if you can’t convince your colleagues your latest idea is the best thing since sliced bread, how are you going to persuade the client?

Can you think out of the box? Do you tend to see angles or points of view others miss? If the answer to both questions is yes, then perhaps you’ve the kind of creative flair capable of transforming mediocre thinking into advertising campaigns capturing the national imagination. Compare The Meerkat character Aleksandr Orlov is a case in point. Simples!

Other skills vital for a successful marketing career include the ability to organise, plan and prioritise not only campaigns, but also day-to-day time. Often it’ll mean delivering campaigns and projects within an extremely tight time frame. And that usually means pressure piled on pressure. Some people thrive within such an environment. Others simply wilt. How would you do?

The internet has transformed marketing in so many ways. Now with Facebook, Twitter, Google and other search engine advertising and marketing, it is possible to communicate and to build relationships with customers in an instant. So are you up to speed with the constantly changing face of the World Wide Web? More and more marketing companies are opening their doors to people who are.

You’ve got the skills, you’re certain a professional marketing career is for you, so where do you find the jobs? Personal contacts, for starters, maybe even family, certainly friends – including those you made at university or college. Don’t forget lecturers, because they may have direct contacts within the industry which they’ve built up over the years. Try the jobs section of national newspapers, such as the Guardian, or subscribe to specialist magazines like MarketingWeek. Then there are the hundreds of online job sites advertising thousands of marketing positions both in the UK and across the world.

You’ll need a first class professional CV and a great covering letter just to get in front of a prospective employer. Remember, this is the moment when you really have to sell yourself! After all, if you can’t market you, how will you ever market one of the company’s clients? Don’t, however, come across as too cocksure at the interview. A meek and mild-mannered attitude will win you no favours either. But a relaxed and balanced approach will certainly help you get a job in marketing.

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Outplacement can be provided by an employer as part of a redundancy package. Many companies offer outplacement services to employees as a way of helping them through a difficult time and supporting them re-enter the job market. Employees can either work with a career coach over a number of face to face meetings or be provided with job search workshops. These help establish what next in their career, put together a structured career plan and also help through the job search process itself. Working with a professional career coach will provide employees with the confidence, focus and resources to help move into a new role as quickly as possible.

Outplacement support can include:

1.       Putting together a well-structured CV, cover letters and application forms – ensuring you are short listed

2.       How to perform at interview – tips and presentation training using video

3.       How to network effectively

4.       Where are the jobs?  Online job resources  – advertised and unadvertised market

5.       Moving into self-employment – help in setting up own business/consultancy

6.       Successfully manage recruitment agencies and headhunters.

Outplacement providers such as Personal Career Management can talk you through how outplacement can help and what the benefits are, as an individual needing support and as a company going through restructuring. All outplacement providers should offer a free initial meeting to discuss their services to make sure both parties are comfortable before the work begins. You should also check out 2/3 outplacement companies so that you can draw comparisons and work with a company who you feel you would get the most from.

If you are an individual facing redundancy and are being offered a compromise agreement, then outplacement support has many tax advantages when included on the agreement. For advice on compromise agreements and how they should be handled we recommend reading the following article on compromise agreements.

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