Don’t worry Carry on Learning isn’t the next in the “Carry On” series of films which many in the UK will be familiar with. It’s rather a suggestion that if, like me (at the time of writing), you are searching for a new job then now is the perfect time to also look at gaining some new skills. I know that when I talk to other people who have been made redundant and are looking for a new role one of the comments I hear a lot is around how tedious they find constant scouring for a new job.
So rather than let that tedium get you down why not think about some things that you have always wanted to learn and set to it. So many effective and affordable online courses are available and some of them include a form of certification which you can then add to your CV. As an example I have enrolled on a couple of Coaching and Mentoring courses which will enable me to refresh my knowledge of current ideas and techniques which I know will be invaluable when I return to full time employment.
Or why not learn to use a piece of software that you have kept meaning to take a look at? I want to suggest one that I think you will find invaluable and which can also let you showcase your skills on many different levels. That piece of software is Prezi! If you haven’t yet come across Prezi then I think you are going to be impressed.
If you work in Learning and Development or have attended a training course then you will no doubt be familiar with PowerPoint. Indeed it has become the default presentation tool for many presenters in many organisations. Powerpoint is a great tool, however it has become boring and I am sure that you have heard the phrase “Death by PowerPoint” to describe the experience of sitting through slide after slide of a presentation. However, there is still a place for sharing information through slides, and that’s why I think you might want to take some time to learn how to use Prezi.
It is a web-based tool that has both free and paid for options. It provides much more flexibility, and it veers away from the usual slide-by-slide, linear way of presenting information. Prezi gives you the opportunity to create more dynamic presentations which will better capture your audience’s interest and attention.
A short while ago I suggested that you should learn something to add to your CV and that also enables you to showcase your newly learnt skills. That was what I had in mind when I decided that as part of my commitment to Carry on Learning I would learn how to use Prezi. Having read that people were creating Prezumes (Resumes or as we call them in the UK CVs) using Prezi I decided that was the route I would take in terms of applying my learning.
Having created it I shared it with a number of recruitment agencies and asked for their feedback. They acknowledged that as a standalone CV submission it could struggle in the context of the standard recruitment practices – which is a whole other discussion(!) their feedback was:
“super innovative & would make for a memorable candidate!” from Oasis HR and “a really eye catching method!” from Ashley Kate HR.
I will share some of the other benefits of using Prezi in another post and how to go about creating your first Prezi but for now here’s what I created: Paul Duxbury Learning and Development Professional CV. If you are not familiar with Prezi simply click on “Start Prezi” and then use the arrows at the bottom of the presentation screen to navigate through it. As I said at the outset now is a great opportunity to Carry On Learning!