Starting a new job can bring about a whirlwind of emotions; excitement, anticipation, and perhaps a hint of nervousness. As you embark on this new chapter in your career, it's vital to prepare yourself for the journey ahead. In this article, we will provide you with a comprehensive guide on how to join a new workplace successfully. Read more

Do you feel stuck in your current position? Do you find yourself daydreaming of a more fulfilling career path? Making a change and starting anew through career transitions is always possible. Career transitions can be frightening, but with the right support, you can transition smoothly and resume enjoying your work. In this blog, we’ll look at the steps you can take to career transitions successfully and begin the next phase of your professional life. So let’s get started and learn how you can confidently change careers! Read more

It is because of digitization that today remote work is being touted as the future of work. During such times it is vital to consider the impact that over utilisation of technology can have on an employee’s physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing. According to industry experts, both remote workers and on-site workers are experiencing burnout or facing mental health issues as a result of the pandemic and working virtually. They urge that leaders must realise that if someone is suffering at a personal level, their work will suffer too. Read more

As we continue adjusting to COVID-19, social distancing and working from home, we may struggle to sustain a balanced daily routine. Our habits with technology go to the heart of creating a routine which enables us to achieve important work, enjoy the work we do and be able to switch off at the end of the day. The same digital device that enables us to work from home, can draw us into compulsively checking the news and this increases our anxiety. The device that connects us to our loved ones, can distract us when we are trying to focus. Include some of these digital wellbeing tips in your working-from-home routine to create more balance and focus in your day: Read more

In the kaleidoscope of modern work, the seismic shift toward remote arrangements has sparked a captivating narrative—Is Work from Home (WFH) truly a balm for mental well-being, or does it harbor clandestine challenges? As the digital frontier continues to redefine the contours of the professional landscape, the spotlight intensifies on the advantages and pitfalls of remote work. Yet, amidst this discourse, a rising star emerges: the Hybrid work model. In the kaleidoscope of modern work, the seismic shift toward remote arrangements has sparked a captivating narrative—Is Work from Home (WFH) truly a balm for mental well-being, or does it harbor clandestine challenges? As the digital frontier continues to redefine the contours of the professional landscape, the spotlight intensifies on the advantages and pitfalls of remote work. Yet, amidst this discourse, a rising star emerges: the Hybrid work model. Read more

Working from home allows people to eat more healthily, feel less stressed and have lower blood pressure, according to a large-scale review of academic literature on post-pandemic workplaces. Yet remote workers are also more likely to eat snacks, drink more, smoke more and put on weight, the study found. And employers who believe that people working from home are lazy should think again – they are less likely to take time off sick, tend to work longer hours and to work evenings and weekends. The review, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit in Emergency Preparedness and Response – a partnership between the UK Health Security Agency, King’s College London, and the University of East Anglia – considered 1,930 academic papers on home working, teleworking and other types of hybrid and home working in an effort to distil the often contradictory research. Read more

Digital wellness is important because it enables employees to be more engaged and productive, as well as lead healthier lives during and outside of work. Adopting digital wellness practices can enable employees to focus on their work and cause less exhaustion and distraction. For example, employees who check their mobile device three or four times a day is more productive than those who check their smartphone once every 10 minutes. Employees who don't pay attention to digital wellness may see negative effects from overuse of technology. This dependency can also increase employees' anxiety and stress levels. If employees suffer from burnout, they're less likely to produce quality work and more likely to see declines in their mental and physical health. Focusing on digital wellbeing enables workers to lessen these risks. Read more

Grab your curiosity hats as we embark on a thrilling journey into the world of unpaid internships. Are they the secret sauce to unlocking your dream job, or are they more like a tricky maze designed by companies for free labor? Let's unravel the mysteries together and discover the pros and cons that make unpaid internships a hot topic. Read more

Many people, at some stage in their search for a career, have worked for free in return for some much valued experience. But it’s surprisingly hard to find exact numbers. A 2016 national survey of 3,800 Australians found more than half (58%) of respondents aged 18 to 29 and more than a quarter (26%) aged 30 to 64 had done unpaid work at least once in the previous five years. There is also data suggesting more than a third (37.4%) of Australia’s university students are doing courses which involve real work as part of their tertiary studies. In 2017 that amounted to 451,263 work-related learning experiences. This is not uniquely Australian. In 2013 an EU survey of 12,921 people found 46% aged from 18 to 35 had done at least one internship, with more than half of those being unpaid. Read more

Internships can be defined as short-time work experience offered by various organizations and companies to students.[1] These experiences not only help the students in learning about the professional work environment but also enrich them with knowledge relevant to the sector that they are working for. In return for their time and effort invested in the company or organization, interns are either compensated with cash or letters of recommendation and in some cases offered a full-time job experience. Internships are important from the career point of view. In today’s time with high competition and less availability of jobs, internships equip one with the relevant skills so as to stand apart from others. Internships are generally not seen as equivalent to full-time office jobs and thus, interns are not placed equal to the regular employees. Interns are not seen as contributors by the organizations. They are rather seen as the beneficiaries of the process of undertaking an internship, through their exposure to mentors. Read more

Internships are now widely promoted as a valuable means of enhancing graduate employability. However, little is known about student perceptions of internships. Drawing on data from a pre-1992 university, two types of graduate are identified: engagers and disengagers. The engagers valued internship opportunities while the disengagers perceived these roles as exploitative and worthless. Few were able to distinguish paid, structured internship opportunities from unpaid, exploitative roles. We conclude that higher education institutes need to be more proactive in extolling the value of paid internships to all students and not just those most likely to engage with their services. Read more

By day, he was mostly an unpaid intern, getting a glimpse of day-to-day life in university research as he networked with potential employers. Nightfall would often send him rushing to his second shift; this time, at a library in the suburbs of Paris as he strives to pay his bills. “You work for your internship and then you work for money,” said Lucas, 27, after wrapping up a string of internships that stretched across five months. The internships, one unpaid and the other providing a token €400 (£344) a month, chipped away at his savings from summer jobs and forced him to keep a constant watch on his spending. “I buy a lot of rice,” he said, laughing. “They say you’re lucky to have an internship – but you’re paying for that luck and prestige because you cut back on food or other things.” What we see is that, many times, they [internships] are actually replacing entry-level jobsTea Jarc, of the European Trade Union Confederation It’s a reality that has become increasingly common for young people as unpaid internships boom across much of the world. But in the EU – where the parliament has repeatedly described unpaid internships as a “form of exploitation of young workers and a violation of their rights” – relief may soon be on the way. Read more