Moving Without Shaking - Book Review

I must admit I was a little intrigued when I was asked if I wanted to review Yelena Parker’s excellent book, Moving Without Shaking: TheGuide to Expat Life Success (from women to women). It wasn’t that I have no interest in the area (I do!), or didn’t think that it would be of interest to readers of this blog (it most certainly should be), but as a 34 year old man who is well rooted in the UK and no realistic aspirations of taking my family overseas, I couldn’t feel any further from the target audience of the author.

To ensure I was reading Parker’s book with an open mind, I decided to take it with me on short trip abroad over the Easter period, so that I would approach it without the shackles of the daily routine and with that little bit of overseas adventure in my blood. While my kids napped between morning and afternoon sessions at Disneyland Paris, I tucked into the pages of Moving Without Shaking to see what I could learn.  I needn't have worried though, as it became abundantly clear from the early pages that this book is accessible for all and while its goal is to provide peer support from women to women, I didn’t at any point feel detached on the basis of my y chromosome.

What Parker provides in a little over 250 pages is pearls of wisdom based on her own experiences, and those of other women who have been successful in working overseas. In 10 concise chapters, we learn about the factors that have gone into helping the author and her friends in their journey across the globe. A lot of this isn’t rocket science. If you want to work at a high level, a strong educational background is vital. If you want to live in another country, you may get by with speaking English in the workplace, but becoming proficient to conversational level in the local language is going to be important when you need to speak to local tradesman or have to ask for directions in a strange city. There are chapters dedicated to Networking, Attitude and even Relationships. Whatever your reasons for wanting to work abroad, or whichever factors are holding you back from taking that leap right now, they more than likely have been covered by Parker and her associates, and documented in the pages of Moving Without Shaking.

Of particular interest to students for whom working internationally may seem a long way off, are the pages dedicated to studying abroad. If it is an option for part of an existing course or something that you may wish to consider for future study, there is some really useful information contained within the pages of this book which you can adapt from the idea of working overseas. 

As somebody who works with a lot of female students, I will be encouraging them to put this book on their reading list. In recent years I have seen a surge in events aimed at encouraging women into business, from the likes of the ITs Not Just For The Boys, to the PWC Aspire to Lead series. While I have been keen to promote these opportunities, I have often been taken aback at the relatively small uptake of the students on my courses who want to get involved. I can’t quite put my finger on why that may be the case. There could be cultural factors at play, or maybe a lack in confidence to attend such an event. Whatever the reason may be, Moving Without Shaking provides the reader with strong role models to see what can be achieved by women who wish to pursue an international career.  If a young Yelena Parker can make her way from a small town in Soviet era Ukraine to work in over 20 countries, why can’t a Sonya from Slough or Hamila from Hemel Hempstead follow a similar career path?

Moving Without Shaking is available to buy from Amazon and other online retailers.

Yelena Parker is on Twitter @yelenaparker and @movingwtshaking

www.movingwithoutshaking.com 

6 Seconds To Secure A Placement

As regular readers of this blog will know, I'm a big fan of social media and an even bigger advocate of using it to support job searches. A few years ago, I was very excited to see a student securing a placement with RateMyPlacement, having gained a spot at their assessment centre through a single tweet. This week, I couldn't help but notice an opportunity for students to gain a summer internship, through submitting a #6SecondCV.

The role in question is a 10 week joint internship programme between Nestle and Twitter. Any budding marketing students or social media whizz should check it out, as the focus 'is to understand how Twitter and social listening can be used within Nestlé to help support and drive key business priorities. You'll also work with Twitter to develop a better understanding of user behaviours and other audience metrics.'

That all sounds pretty cool to me, but not only is the role catching my eye, the application process is something very different from your typical online form. Interested candidates are being asked to pitch themselves for the role using Vine, a social media platform that has grown in popularity in recent times, which allows users to upload short video content and share with friends via Twitter and Facebook.

So rather than spend hours slaving over a CV, checking cover letters for grammatical errors or tapping away at endless competency based questions, one lucky applicant will find themselves at an assessment centre next month, on the strength of a single 6 second video clip. The big question is, how does one go about scaling back all the words and detail from a traditional CV, and manage to sell themselves in a such a limited timeframe?

I'd love to be able to answer that, but as my feeble attempt at a #6SecondCV below demonstrates, I'm clearly not going to be the creative marketing guru that Nestle will be looking for!




So my future does not lie in creative marketing, but perhaps yours does. If you want to find out more about the role, check out the job description. You need to apply by 24 March and when posting your Vine on Twitter make sure to include the hashtag #6SecondCV

Here is a little bit more info

Applicants have the opportunity to impress and demonstrate their digital skills by creating a six second video through the Twitter platform Vine outlining why they are the best person for the position. The Vine entries, which will be judged on their level of creativity, will be considered when the applicants tweet their creations using the hashtag #6secondCV. The best Vine entry will secure a spot at the assessment centre, which will take place on 14^th April.

Time to get creative and who knows, this could be the most productive 6 seconds of your life.

I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again

God bless the BRIT Awards. Something memorable always seems to happen at them and usually not for which artists have won. Last night we had Kanye West putting in a potty-mouthed performance entirely at odds with the TV audience for the event, which was then almost entirely overshadowed by what can be politely described as a costume change fail for Madonna. If you've missed it, see here for yourself.

Even with all the best preparation in the world, things can go wrong. Here we have a global superstar who has been performing for over 30 years and in the midst of a high profile gig experienced what it is like when things go wrong. Being the pro that she is, Madge picked herself up, dusted herself down and the show went on. Full credit to her for doing so, but this performance will only be remembered for the cape and tumble.

There is something to be learned here for students in their approach for interviews and assessment centres. Even with the most meticulous planning and attention to detail, things may happen which can throw you off course. It could be a broken down train on the journey, a sickness bug, an overbearing candidate determined to have the last word during a group exercise. To share a personal anecdote, once upon a time in the days before my involvement with placements, I was on my way to a conference to deliver a presentation to a group of science teachers. Getting into a taxi my trousers split in a pretty catastrophic manner. A quick diversion to Marks and Spencer and finding a pair that vaguely matched my suit jacket later, I delivered my presentation, albeit slightly red faced from the shame of walking into a shop with my underwear on display for all to see.

Clearly I'm not AC Slater from Saved by the Bell but this is a pretty good representation of the wardrobe malfunction

The point is careful planning is all well and good, but adaptability in the face of the adversity is a valuable skill to hone. If you can regain composure and show to an employer that you will not be tripped up by a stumbling block, that can work to your advantage. And if things don't result in a happy ending, there is a lesson to be learned for the next time. I very much doubt Madonna will opt for the stairs/cape combo in the live performances any time soon. I learned that in a 50/50 decision, the wiser choice is to opt for the looser pair of trousers! Learn from negative experience to minimize risk for the future.

The next time you go for an interview, all the pieces could fall into place and you nail it. However, with so many variables, many of which are outside your control, things don't always go according to plan. Take things in your stride and you can still achieve the positive outcome you are looking for.

In the immortal words of the band Chumbawamba, who caused another infamous BRIT Awards moment, I get knocked down but I get up again, you're never going to keep me down. Motivational words that students would do well to keep in mind when encountering hard knocks in their search for a placement.