“No, I’m not the networking type.”

16 12 2011

The idea of networking is not something that turns most of us on. And for some people, the idea of going somewhere to speak to people they don’t know is something to avoid at all cost. After all, you are “not the networking type”, am I right? So why do people do it? And how can it help your career?

The Networking podcast lasts 8 minutes. Earlier in the year I gave a presentation on career networking to scientists attending the Nature Jobs Career Expo in London. They were looking for ways to develop their professional profile and to learn about new opportunities that they might not otherwise come across.

After the session, Nature Jobs interviewed me and I answered a few questions about showing up in person – and showing up online too. I hope you like it.


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Categories : networking, technology

A true story

27 02 2011

A freelance supplier gets a call from a researcher. A telephone interview with a Producer at a video production company takes place within 30 minutes. At the end of the interview…

Supplier: “So, how did you find me?”

Producer: “We found your website on Google, read the client testimonials, looked you up on LinkedIn, checked you out on Twitter and saw you were a Career Coach.”

Supplier: “So tell me more. Shall we meet up?”

Here is a clip from the resulting video… The DVD, Leaving The Public Sector, is out soon. Social media really does work for professional people. We all need to look after our personal brand – especially if we are looking for new opportunities!

You can pre-order the DVD at a discounted price (and get discounts on other DVDs in the series) if you contact us direct.


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Categories : business coaching, redundancy, technology, training

Word clouds

25 04 2009

Wordle: Symmetry Coaching websiteWord clouds are visual depictions of the word content of a document or website, automatically created.

The learning word cloud you see here is derived from the words used in this website – and indicates the focus of my own work.

The client self word cloud is derived from an essay I wrote at Leeds Business School titled The use of self in coaching. Wordle: My Coaching essayIt will be interesting to compare that essay with the first one that I write when I start studying the Open University course, Creativity, Innovation and Change in May. If you’d like to create a word cloud, try Wordle. Whether you are writing a report, reading a document or analysing a website, wordclouds provide interesting and sometimes surprising results…


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Courseware and Curriculum award

9 04 2009

On the course, you travel through rooms, meet people and engage with diverse political ideasI am delighted to hear that the new OU course, Living Political Ideas, won the Courseware & Curriculum Award at the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC) Learning On Screen Awards last night. The awards celebrate and reward excellence in the use of moving image, sound and related media in learning, teaching and research. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : e-learning, education sector, technology

Making professional connections

1 04 2009

hydrogen producing bioreactorsI am working on an engineering project at the moment, supporting a team that is looking to create distance learning materials. This type of work is always as much about sharing new ideas about learning and teaching as it is about the ‘e’ bit of e-learning, so I was looking for relevant examples of engineers/engineering academics using ‘microblogging‘ to raise their professional profile.

I wake up this morning to find that an engineer I found on Twitter has just mailed me the Twitter names of people working in a specific engineering field. Must check them out, but I can connect with them and ask them questions.

Now tell me that Twitter is a waste of time for professional people. It’s not about following Britney Spears (or even Stephen Fry!).


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Categories : blog, business news, e-learning, education sector, technology

Innovative learning and teaching

27 03 2009

far more learning and teaching options are available than ever before

Learning and teaching methods are changing rapidly. Students (for students, read all of us) are learning in innovative ways, in unexpected places, with technology that opens up the possibility of new connections – with experts, with like-minded communities and with up-to-the-second content.

As they always have, tutors are exploring innovative ways of teaching, seeking out content to re-use and new methods to stimulate real engagement (while also handling the demands of the day job).

I’ve recently started doing a piece of work with a university that is looking to move one of its courses to a more flexible distance delivery format, reaching out to international students and people seeking professional development in the workplace. It’s a fascinating exercise, a practical development project and sits neatly alongside my coaching work.


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Innovation and the environment

9 03 2009

“Better to save a unit of energy than create a new one, however you create it” (Rt. Hon. John Denham, MP)

John Denham and Debra Humphris with two students from SIFE A great afternoon at the University of Southampton on Friday. Who was there?

  • The Rt. Hon. John Denham, Secretary of State for for Innovation, Universities & Skills and MP for Southampton Itchen
  • Professor Debra Humphris, Pro Vice-Chancellor Education
  • Academics, business people, support agencies and students
  • Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) which challenges students to develop projects that create economic opportunities for others, bringing together Universities, business and the community. Current University of Southampton SIFE projects include micro lending to enterprising farmers in Madagascar; rice growing in Sierra Leone and local education projects. These activities are funded through student consultancy work, including website health checks; Facebook consultancy; and an environmental management project, Green and Clever, that launched last week.

John Denham spoke persuasively of the need to:

  • reduce the carbon footprint by 2020
  • drive innovation through the purchasing power of public procurement, government regulation and behavioural change Read the rest of this entry »

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1,500 hits

28 01 2009

1,500 visits to this site in its first 5 months.

Created December 2008. Launched 7 January 2009 (the busiest day to date with 56 hits). 1,000 users by 5 April. 1,400 hits by 19 May.  1,500 hits by 10 June.


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Your own Social Networking site?

27 01 2009

Create your own social networking site, like Facebook, for free. Designed for collaborations, workgroups and social groups all kinds, you can create a private social network (you approve membership) or a public one that’s open to all. Once people have joined your network, members can share their blogs, message, post, share media and so on. Educators are increasingly using Ning for collaborations and its use is spreading rapidly. You get 10GB free webspace free and  can upgrade (£).

Craete your own social networking site

Read the rest of this entry »


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New OU vice chancellor (from Microsoft)

19 01 2009

Martin Bean, Open University (OU) Vice Chancellor designate, gave a talk at the OU Milton Keynes on Monday. On appointment he had said:

martin-beanIt is an honour to have been selected as the next Vice-Chancellor of The Open University. It is a unique and amazing institution that has changed the lives of millions through its commitment to furthering social justice and to making higher education and educational opportunity accessible to all. I look forward to combining my passion for education and technology to lead The Open University over the coming years, as we continue to provide innovative and high quality distance education solutions to meet the needs of the 21st Century.

His speech on Monday was inspiring, self-deprecating and (judging by reactions in the hall and afterwards) a successful Hello to all the people he’ll be working with when he starts. Key points for me and quotes (in no particular order) were:

  • economic prosperity is underpinned by education at all levels
  • the recession will put incredible pressure on governments to look at the skill-levels we have
  • in an increasingly flat world, the skills agenda will be on every policy agenda
  • 21st century skills need to be modelled and developed
  • Read the rest of this entry »

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