Dad of Divas

One Dad's Quest to Regain Control of his Kingdom

Resources to Help Work-from-Home Parents Maintain Work-Life Balance

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Work from home

Working from home can be a great way for parents to balance career and family. However, managing both a full-time job and child care isn’t always easy. This is especially true for parents of kids with extra needs, such as those with autism. Today, Dad of Divas shares some tips and tools that can help you achieve that ever-elusive work-life balance.

 

Set Up a Career That Accommodates Parenthood

Some jobs are more child-friendly than others.

 

Optimize Your Home for Professional and Personal Purposes

Setting up a comfortable home to accommodate work and parenting is essential.

 

Invest in Technology to Make Your Business Low-Maintenance

These cutting-edge tools can make your day-to-day work life easier.

 

Find Support Where You Can

You don’t have to go it alone. Trust others to help at work and at home.

 

Working from home while raising kids allows you to maintain a career while still spending time with your little ones. However, it presents challenges. Finding your community can help. For example, if you have a child with autism, connect with other parents of autistic kids online. The above guide offers some resources to help things go a little smoother.

 

Dad of Divas is dedicated to chronicling the challenges of being a father as well as providing some food for thought to other dads. Please feel free to click on our posts and leave a reply!

What Is a Pharmacy Technician? A Complete Career Information Guide

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Do pharmacy technicians make a lot of money? Is it a tough job? What certifications are needed? Here’s your complete guide to what is a pharmacy technician.

pharmacy tech

You have an interest in medicine. You know you want a career that helps others, and you know you want a job with good employment availability.

Could a career in pharmacy be for you?

It sure could be. If you’ve ever caught yourself wondering, “What is a pharmacy technician?” you’ll want to know some key factors. If a career in pharmacy interests you, check out the information guide below.

What is a Pharmacy Technician?

A pharmacy technician assists a licensed pharmacist in filling prescription medications. They measure out the prescriptions and provide correct packaging and labeling.

What Makes Pharmacy Tech a Good Career Choice?

There are several reasons to consider becoming a pharmacy technician.

Stable Career

There are ample opportunities and increasing demand in the job market. The aging population and increase in certain diseases ensure there will always be a need for pharmacy technicians. New medications and treatment programs are always developing. With every advancement, there is more need for technicians.

Most occupations have a growth rate of about 7% every ten years. When it comes to pharmacy technicians, the growth rate doubles. Over the next ten years, there will be more than 14% more opportunities as a pharmacy technician.

There is also an abundance of openings across the nation. Therefore, if you are thinking of relocating, chances are you’ll be able to find a job no matter where you move.

Minimal Education

If you’re going through a career change later in life, you can get your education in as quickly as four months. It’s also a quick road to a job if you’re an ambitious college student.

Typically, you only need a high school diploma with on-the-job training. But, most places look to hire someone with formal education. You can get that education through a vocational school or community college.

Well-Paid Job

As a pharmacy technician, you can get paid up to $25 an hour. Though, how much you’ll make exactly depends on your expertise, experience, and education. Where you live and any certifications also come into play.

Job Responsibilities:

Pharmacy technicians fall directly under a pharmacist. They assist the pharmacist in dispensing medications to both individuals and professionals.

However, they also have a list of other duties they may need to follow:

  • Measure the amount of medication
  • Mix or compound some medicines
  • Call doctors for refill authorization
  • Prepare intravenous medication
  • Package and label prescriptions
  • Collect patient information and payment
  • Process insurance claims
  • Take inventory and note supply shortages

Depending on where you may work as a pharmacy technician, you may also need to:

  • Run registers
  • Provide customer service
  • Field customer calls
  • Locate over-the-counter medicine

Skills And Competencies

As with any good career, you’ll need to refine certain work skills in pharmaceutical work. Pharmacy tech school can help craft many of these skills to better prepare you.

Consider your own personal qualities. Do they fit into this list?

  • Active Listening: Technicians need to understand doctors’ orders as well as customers’ requests.
  • Speaking: They need to convey information to pharmacists. They also need to communicate effectively with doctors and customers
  • Attention to detail: Pharmacy technicians need to pay careful attention to details. Mistakes when filling prescriptions or preparing labels can be deadly.
  • Highly organized: Great organization skills help avoid costly and dangerous mistakes.
  • Reading comprehension: Technicians need to understand a large amount of written documentation.

Where Can I Work As a Pharmacy Technician?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 52% of pharmacy technicians work in pharmacies or drug stores. This means most technicians are in retail or grocery stores.

However, there are also opportunities in a variety of other places. Hospitals and other health care facilities employ pharmacy technicians. With the proper education, you could also work within pharmaceutical production or sales.

A few other places technicians can work are:

  • Prisons
  • Primary care organizations
  • Education and training
  • Military
  • Veterinary pharmacy
  • Pharmacy organizations
  • Nursing homes
  • Assisted living centers
  • Mental health institutions
  • Mail-order pharmacies

What Other Jobs Can a Technician Do?

As a pharmacy technician, you can choose to work on a career path that suits you. You can climb the ladder internally, becoming a full-blown technician. Or, you could pursue something a little different.

You could find yourself working at a pharmaceutical company, research lab, the sales force, or more.

How Do I Get a Job as a Pharmacy Technician?

Before you apply to a job opening, clean up your resume and highlight the skills mentioned above. Look for openings online on the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board’s career center. You might also find some listings on general job-search boards.

Volunteer

You might find a volunteer opportunity that will give you experience an employer wants. Look for these opportunities with local pharmacies. If you’re earning a certification, ask around within your program or school.

Internship

Another way to break into your new career is to shadow an experienced technician. This is another great way to get those skills polished for a new full-time career.

Here are some tips to land an internship:

  • Talk with someone you know in the industry for professional insight.
  • Ask your technician program or school about any open opportunities
  • Research internships early on.
  • Update your resume.
  • Make a list of places you’d like to work at. Apply to these places. Remember, there are a variety of places you could work. An internship at a hospital will give you a different outlook than one at a retail shop.

Now What?

Now you know what is a pharmacy technician, it’s time to take your first steps. Take a look at your own resume and find what’s missing. Do some research on local pharmacy programs or online certifications.

Before you know it, you’ll find yourself landing your new, fulfilling career. Check out our blog for more advice on careers and everything else that makes you tick.

 

 

How to Get Your Policing Career Back on Track

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There may come a time when you realize that what you’ve worked so hard to achieve over the years is slowly slipping away. Instead of panicking or getting down on yourself, focus on what you can do to fix the problem and change the path you’re currently heading down.

Rest assured that there are practical ways to get your policing career back on track. It’s important to make sure others start to view you as trustworthy and that you strive to enhance your reputation if you want to get ahead in law enforcement. Avoid worrying about all the mistakes you’ve made in the past and focus on what you can do today to create a better tomorrow for yourself.

Self-Reflect

When your career has gone off track, taking time to self-reflect is the most critical and necessary step in the mending and healing process. Having setbacks is normal, so it’s in your best interest to not be too hard on yourself as you figure out what to do differently in the future. Think about what actions you’ve taken or any errors you’ve made that have created this obstacle for you. Be sure to spend quiet time truly meditating on these thoughts so that you can learn from your mishaps and begin to map out new beginnings for yourself. It’s good to consider not only what went wrong with your career, but why these instances occurred.

It’s also not a good idea to blame others or external circumstances, but to instead turn inward and discover more about what’s in your power and control so you can take responsibility for your future. Once you have this information, you can use it to propel you into creating a new chapter in your career as a police officer.

Gain New Knowledge & Skills

It’s also a wise idea to continue to be the best worker and police officer you can be while on the job. Therefore, aim to continue gaining new knowledge and skills so that you can prove to others and yourself that you have what it takes to be successful working in law enforcement. Get your policing career back on track by signing up for a police studies program that will help you develop your leadership skills further and allow you to gain a new perspective on how you can approach your job each day. After completing the coursework, no one will be able to deny the fact that you have the knowledge and information it takes to get ahead in your profession. You may be able to get your career back on track quickly after graduating by applying for positions that have different levels of responsibility and that might end up as more suitable roles for you.

Be a Team Player

Another way to get your policing career back on track after a setback is to step up and commit to being a team player. Instead of playing the victim and retreating from your job duties, take the opposite approach and begin to pitch in and help more. Others will see you’re trying and will likely give you another chance to prove yourself. Recognize just how important being a team player is to you and your colleagues being able to thrive at work. In addition, be an advocate for making sure that others know the benefits too. This approach will likely open up new doors for you because others will see your eagerness to want to learn and develop as a professional.

Maintain a Positive Attitude

Additionally, it’s critical that you maintain a positive attitude throughout your journey to getting your policing career back on track. You need to keep yourself motivated to want to change your ways and not let negative self-talk get you down. Be enthusiastic about the fact that you’re willing to start again and not let naysayers or past mistakes stand in the way of you getting ahead in your career. Spend time around people who share your energy and are there to support you and lift you up. Arrive to work early and with a smile on your face and make it obvious to others that you’re serious about becoming a better police officer. Increasing your likability factor will go a long way within the police force and it’ll allow you to begin building stronger relationships with others who can help you succeed.

Work Hard

Your best plan of action when trying to get your policing career back on track is to commit to working hard each and every day. Go above and beyond no matter what role or job duties are assigned to you by your boss. Show those you work with that you’re capable of taking on challenging situations and responsibilities through your actions.

If you can focus on doing your job extremely well, then others won’t be able to question your talent or whether or not policing is what you truly want to be doing. Get your career back on track by being proactive and don’t wait around for orders to be given to you. Be an inventor and creator of your own destiny by being a reliable employee and getting the job done right the first time around.

Conclusion

The reality is there are no promises when it comes to having a career in law enforcement. You need to be the one who works hard and is dedicated to changing for the better. If you put these tips into action, you’ll likely start to excel at your job and others will take note of your improvements. You no longer have to wonder what it would be like to experience a greater level of success as a police officer because you’ll be living it. The toughest part is sometimes being able to get going on these items when you’re feeling defeated and frustrated. Therefore, take it one day at a time and continue to build upon the achievements you start to reach throughout your self-improvement journey.

10 Reasons Why Becoming a Nurse is an Ideal Career Path for Dads

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Traditionally, the nursing sector has been overwhelmingly populated by females, as even in today’s world of equal opportunity employment, more than 90% of nurses are women. Although only about 9% of nurses are males, that doesn’t mean that there’s anything that disqualifies a dad from becoming a nurse. In fact, any man who is willing to go against the societal stereotype could easily become a highly favorable candidate because hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities are always looking to hire male nurses in an industry-wide effort to level the undeniable gender inequality that clearly still exists within the profession by any statistical measure. With that said, here are ten reasons why becoming a nurse is actually a great career path for dads:

1. The Ability to Study Online in Your Spare Time

The very phrase “spare time” brings joy to dads who have their hands full between their family and work lives. The idea of working on your education amidst all of that can seem impossible, but online nursing degree programs can be completed from anywhere and at your own pace. You can take the slow approach and work on it 1-3 hours per day, or put in long hours on the weekend to accelerate towards graduation. Plus, once you’ve earned a degree, you can continue to advance your career into other areas of expertise to make yourself eligible for higher-paying nursing jobs. For example, you could work towards becoming a family nurse practitioner to earn a salary of $100k-$150k+ by completing RN to NP programs online.

2. Additional Parenting Skills

Some of the skills and techniques that you’ll learn on your way to becoming a nurse could also come in handy in your role as a dad, as many of the same methodologies that apply to patient care also applying to parenting. All kids face mishaps and injuries from time to time, so having a nurse in the home can always be a benefit for the wellbeing of the family. There aren’t that many jobs that directly improve your parenting skills, but nursing is one of them.

3. Knowledge of First Aid Application

Of course, one of the reasons why nurses are such great parents is because they know how to apply all of the components of a first aid kit. Obviously, such a skill could come in handy during an emergency and in rare scenarios could even mean the difference between life or death; all healthcare professionals are required to learn CPR – a resuscitative technique that can save lives in the event of a near-drowning incident, car accident, or other form of trauma. Likewise, you’ll know the Heimlich maneuver well enough to reliably prevent children from choking, and the list goes on.

4. Stable and Steady Employment

Being able to provide a financially stable and comfortable lifestyle for your children is always going to be one of your top duties as a dad. Becoming a nurse puts you in an ideal position to do that because you’ll never have to worry about finding a job due to the incredibly low unemployment rate in the industry – approximately 98% of qualified nurses are employed.

5. Appealing Salaries

Nursing salaries are typically quite desirable when you consider the relative lack of challenging physical labor involved. As a standard registered nurse (RN), you could start out making anywhere from $47k-$90k, and as you gain experience or advance into other specialties like FNP, that figure can increase to $150k+.

6. The Option to Relocate

The ability to travel and move to other parts of the country or world is always a great advantage for a dad to have because it lets you give your kids a cultured and interesting upbringing. Even if you don’t opt for the nomad-friendly field of travel nursing, you can almost always relocate as any kind of nurse and have a very good chance of finding gainful employment in your new home town.

7. Plenty of Room for Income Improvement

Many careers have very straightforward salary limits and a small amount of job positions that can be pursued after graduation. Nursing, on the other hand, does not have such rigid limitations because there are so many fields that you can expand your skill set into, each with increasingly higher salaries. At the top of the ladder, you’ll find high-paying nursing jobs like Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) which pays up to $240k+ per year.

8. Helping to Alleviate the Nursing Shortage

The healthcare industry not only has a shortage of male nurses, it’s facing a widespread shortage of nurses in general. Thus, dads who become nurses have the chance to help correct the profession’s gender inequality and fill the overall gap that is being left by waves of retiring baby boomers who are leaving thousands of nursing positions open every year.

9. Optimal Job Benefits

Of course, whenever you work for a healthcare facility, you’re going to have access to top-notch benefits like various forms of insurance, vacation days, rewards card programs, and desirable overtime pay rates. Nurses who work for hospitals and clinics often report having better benefits than the perks offered by their previous jobs in other industries.

10. Building Experience in the Medical Field

Finally, pursuing any kind of training or certification in the medical profession is always a wise career path to take because it qualifies you as an eligible job candidate wherever healthcare services are provided. In general, the industry as a whole has one of the lowest industry-wide unemployment rates, so whether you decide to stay a nurse or eventually become a physician, you should always have a great job waiting on you.

A Relatively Quick Educational Path

As an extra consideration in closing, when you compare the 2-year path to graduation that an entry level nursing degree program provides, it becomes a much more appealing option than many other fields that can require anywhere form 4-8 years of education before you can get your first real pay check.

Guiding Your Child onto the Right Career Path

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Guiding Your Child onto the Right Career Path

As a parent, you invest a considerable amount of time into your children’s education in the hopes that they’ll enter a rewarding and financially secure career. Unfortunately, kids have to choose what they want to do with their lives at a time when they’re going through some seismic personal changes that can make even the most stable child irrational.

If you’re lucky, your son or daughter will have known since they could walk that they wanted to be a doctor, paleontologist, or submariner, and they have a clear career path ahead of them. Not all parents are so fortunate, though, so how do you help your child find the right career path when it’s not all clear cut? You have two main options:

Watchful waiting

You could adopt a kind of laissez-faire attitude and just let them work it out on their own. That doesn’t mean abdicating responsibility, but for some families avoiding constant conflict or nagging is the option that works best. You’re still there when your kids need you, offering advice and providing information, counseling them and giving them your thoughts; however, you don’t try and push them into making decisions before they’re ready or force them to follow the path you think is best for them.

Taking the lead

Alternatively, you could adopt a more proactive stance by making suggestions and recommendations, organizing attendance at college open days, and supporting any positive activities that could help your child make a decision about their future. You probably have a good grasp of the kinds of things that interest them and what they’re good at, and you may have some great ideas about how they can turn their talents and interests into a career. With this knowledge, you may be able to direct them towards opportunities they were unaware of or hadn’t considered.

In both of the above scenarios, you as the parent are supporting your child without putting them under undue pressure on the one hand, or leaving them entirely to their own devices on the other. If they’re stuck because they can’t find a course that fits with what they want to do, help them look for other opportunities such as completing a degree online or studying abroad.

You can also suggest alternative routes to a rewarding career, for example, if your child is interested in architecture and design, they might be considering taking a higher qualification in the subject. Courses such as the IPAL (Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure) combine everything your child needs to qualify for professional architectural licensure into a single, accredited program, including the Master of Architecture degree, Architectural Experience Program (AXP) hours, and the Architect Registration Examination (ARE). This might sound like a much better way of achieving their goals and will give them a real confidence boost.

Kids are like snowflakes – every one of them is different, and they respond to different forms of motivation. Some are better left alone, some need a bit of pushing, but there are many different approaches to achieving career success, and with the right kind of help from you, your child will find theirs.

Prepping for a career in medicine + supporting your kids

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Prepping for a career in medicine + supporting your kids

Preparing for a career in medicine is always worthwhile, if this is something that you are particularly interested in and if it intrigues you. The question is, what steps do you need to take in order to enter the healthcare industry, to begin with?

 

Alternatively, does your career allow you to properly support yourself and your kids? If you have a family, or if you want to start one down the line, these questions are critical to consider. Therefore, here are a few tips to keep in mind that will both prepare you and put your mind at ease that you will be financially well off throughout your life.

 

Deciding if it’s right for you

Is a career in medicine right for you? Take some time to imagine yourself in the role of a nurse, a physiotherapist, a pharmacist, or some other healthcare job. You could even opt to speak to a professional that works in one of these fields, and better determine whether or not this is something that you can also imagine yourself doing and would want to do.

 

Knowing that you will have enough money

There are plenty of medical jobs that are incredibly high paying, and by knowing this, you can also rest easier at night knowing that you will be able to support your loved ones, whether that is your kids, your significant others, or any other family member.

 

In other words, you are picking a career path that you know will result in you being financially stable. Who doesn’t want that, after all? Being unable to make ends meet only causes you and everyone else a lot of stress.

 

Completing an undergraduate degree

To go into healthcare, you always need to choose an undergraduate degree, and sometimes this will require additional certifications and specializations after you are done. In the meantime, it’s best to choose a degree that you know will set the groundwork for the type of work that you want to do, so a science-related degree is often advised.

 

Preparing for the MCAT

If you want to become a doctor, you should take the MCAT class to help you get into medical school. In order to pass it and be eligible to attend medical school, however, it’s important that you put in as much practice beforehand and take advantage of any resources provided for you.

 

Work and life balance

Another consideration to keep in mind is what you can do to maintain your work and life balance. After all, you will want to spend time with your family and work at the same time. Make sure that you always choose a job that will let you live the life that you want and imagine for yourself.

 

The most important thing to keep in mind when you want to embark on any new career path is whether or not this is something that suits you. Even if obtaining a job in healthcare is known to provide you with a good salary, that shouldn’t be enough to tempt you to work at a job that you do not like. If you feel that this perfectly aligns with your personality, then this is exactly what you should do.

Starting a new career

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Starting a new career

There comes a time in life when reflecting on your past decisions becomes a pastime. Perhaps its because you suddenly become aware of your own mortality and so you begin to question about how you can make the second half of your life more fulfilling than the first half.

This period of unrest and reflection, however, is often the motivation to start a new career. You have the maturity to know what makes you happy, your likes, and dislikes without the need to satisfy anyone else’s expectations. So, how do you go about starting a new career?

 

Be honest

Be honest about why you want a change in career. You need to invest some time to understand why you want such a dramatic change. You might want more money, or it could be that you are not challenged enough in your new role. Understand why you want to make the changes and have a conversation with your employers to ask for a pay rise or ask if there are any opportunities for promotion. It may be that the company is no longer a good fit for you.

Starting a new career is a big commitment and comes with risk, so understanding what you don’t want to do is as important as knowing what you do want to do. Think about your current role. What aspects do you like? Leading a team? Working alone? Problem-solving? Your answers will help to shape the direction that your new career should take.

 

Research the new industry and role

When you are not in an industry, you don’t have a true picture of what it’s like to work in it. It’s vital that you don’t jump ship into a career that has the same pitfalls as your current one. LinkedIn is a great resource for seeing the positives and negatives of a role, and posters give valuable and often candid insights into their working lives.

Research will open your eyes to new opportunities that may not have been on your radar. For example, accounting practices for sale in Canada will give you a new country of residence as well as a new career. Open your mind to the possibilities that you have not yet thought about!

 

Understand that your skills are transferable

If you have identified a career that you would like to pursue but are hesitating because you don’t have the experience or qualifications that many employers list, relax. The skills that you have picked up throughout your current career are likely to be transferable and positively looked upon by potential employers. You will be able to bring a fresh perspective to the role, and qualifications can be gained at a later stage. Online degrees with Emerson in marketing analytics will give you a step up if you’re interested in this industry. There is growing demand for data scientists and business analysts, so this may be a new career path worth exploring. It is so important to remember that a degree in an up and coming field of work will open up numerous opportunities for you.

 

Is College Always The Right Choice For Your Kids?

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If you asked most parents whether they should encourage their child to go to college or not, most people would say definitely yes. Education is so important and everybody wants their kids to have good job prospects so they can earn good money, nobody wants to see their child in a bad financial position when they’re older. But is college always the best choice? In the last decade or so, more people than ever have started going to college which is great, but there are downsides. A degree isn’t worth quite as much as it used to be because more people have them and there are also a lot of people that go to college because that’s what’s expected, not because it’s the best thing for them. Then there’s the cost to consider because college is so expensive these days and if your kids are taking out loans, they’re going to be paying them off for a long time to come. Some parents might be able to afford to help their kids out but a lot of people can’t, and even if you can, it’s going to put you in a very difficult financial position later in life. That’s why it’s important that you speak to your kids and let them know that they should think about it carefully before they decide to go to college.

 

Choose The Right Direction Career Direction Direction

 

Most people don’t know what they want to do when they finish high school but they may have some idea about their future career. If they have a career in mind and it requires a degree, then college is the obvious choice. But a lot of career paths don’t require you to have a degree and you might be better off taking a different route which isn’t going to cost as much and might not take as long. If your kids are starting to make decisions about their future and they’re not sure whether college is the right choice for them, here are some of their other options.

 

Online College

For a lot of people, the college lifestyle is a big part of the experience and moving to a different city and living on their own for the first time is just as valuable as the degree they get at the end of it. But some people don’t like the idea of it at all so, even though they want to get a degree to further their career prospects, they’re put off by the idea of college. If your child feels the same way, it might be worth thinking about online college instead. Online colleges have become a lot more popular in recent years and they offer a wide range of courses. If they study online @ Aston and other similar online colleges, it’s a lot more flexible. Your kids can continue to live at home if that’s what they want to do, so they’ll save themselves a lot of money. They can also complete the courses in their own time which means they’re free to work more hours alongside their studies to help pay for it. It’s a great option for people that aren’t interested in the college lifestyle and want a more flexible and affordable way of getting a degree.

 

Community College

So many people don’t even consider the idea of community college because it doesn’t have the same prestige as a traditional 4 year college but there are actually a lot of benefits and for some people, it’s a far better choice. The most obvious benefit of a community college is the cost. On average, you’re paying $300 for every hour of teaching at a normal college, at a community college, it’s only around $60. A lot of community colleges will offer free tuition to high school graduates with a good GPA so your kids might not have to pay at all if they perform well enough. It’s also good for people that don’t want to leave home yet because they can just attend a local community college.

 

The other major benefit of community college is that it’s possible to earn an associate’s degree in just 2 years. This is important because a lot of employers are starting to focus more on potential than qualifications and most of the fastest growing jobs only require an associate’s degree rather than a bachelor’s degree. That means that 2 years of community college might be enough for your kids to pursue the career that they’re interested in, and the financial burden will be tiny compared to what it would be if they spent 4 years at a traditional college.

 

Trade Schools

Blue collar jobs have a bit of a bad name because we’re pushing more kids into college and telling them that it’s the only way to get a good job, but that simply isn’t true. There are plenty of people that work in the trades and earn a good living doing something that they enjoy. Some people are well suited to office jobs, but other people are far more comfortable doing something more practical. The other benefit of working a job in the trades like welding, carpentry or painting is that you can’t easily have your job outsourced. If you work in an office, it’s easy for a company to pay somebody halfway around the world to do it for half the price, but you can’t outsource practical jobs. Learning a trade also gives your kids the opportunity to start their own business in the future when they’ve got a bit more experience so they can be more independent and make more money than a lot of people that went to a 4 year college.

 

Learning a trade is also a lot quicker and easier than doing 4 years of college. Some vocations will require them to do a 2 year associates degree at a community college but a lot of them don’t even require that. Instead, it just takes a single year at a trade school to get qualified. In recent years, people have lost interest in these jobs because we have a misguided view of people that work in the trades and consider them successful, which means there are a lot of positions out there for people that have the right training.

 

Entry Level Jobs

Education isn’t always the best route for everybody and sometimes, it’s best to just get an entry level job. If your child is undecided about what they want to do, they don’t have to make these decisions right away. There’s no sense in going to college for the sake of it because they don’t know what they want to do. A lot of people benefit from working for a year or two while they decide what they want to do long term. They can earn a bit of money and get some work experience while they think about whether college is right for them or not. If they do eventually decide that they want to go to college, they can have a bit of money saved up

 

In some industries, there is a lot of upward movement within companies. If your child wants to pursue a career in one of these industries, there might not be any need to go to college at all. If they start out with an entry level job instead and prove themselves, they could quickly get promoted and move towards their eventual career goals. In the 4 years that they would have spent at college, they can progress a long way and they’ll be earning a good wage without having to deal with the financial burden of college.

 

Creative Careers

If your child is interested in a creative career like writing or music, college might not always be the best way to go. While there are some great courses out there that will help them to develop their skills, it’s very difficult to break into a creative career and sometimes, it just doesn’t work out. It’s important that they think about whether they’re willing to spend 4 years at college and put themselves in a lot of debt without knowing whether they’ll definitely have a career at the end of it.

 

There are other routes into creative careers and they don’t necessarily need to get a formal college education to be a success, a lot of people don’t. Instead, they might be better off finding a job that can support them while they pursue their creative passion in their own spare time. They may also be able to find jobs that are somewhat related to their creative field which will allow them to network with people in the industry and improve their chances of a successful career.

 

For some people, college is the right choice because they’re looking at a career that requires them to have a degree. But there are a lot of career paths where a degree isn’t necessary and there are alternatives that are cheaper and won’t take as long. Before you advise your kids to go to college, it’s important that you think about their other options.

Dad, I Want To Catch The Bad Guys…

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Dad, I Want To Catch The Bad Guys…

As a parent, one of the important jobs we need to do is help our children figure out what they want to do with their lives and help them plot the route to be successful. With that being said, in this blog post, we are going to take a look at becoming a detective. If your child has the ambition to catch the bad guys in life, here is what you both need to know…

 

Basic details

A detective is an accredited police officer who will work on specialist investigations and complex crime investigations. They are responsible for handling the most serious of crimes, including counter-terrorism, homicide, cyber crime, company fraud, child and public protection, domestic violence, drugs, and robbery. Such a role is suitable for someone who has a strong desire to keep people safe, is effective at solving problems, and thrives on challenges. While any dad may be worried about their child going down this career path, you are bound to be proud too!

 

Work options

There are a number of different types of detective work, and most people will specialize in a certain area. This includes the likes of…

 

 

  • Special Branch – Investigates incidents with regards to international terrorism and national security.
  • Child Protection Department – Deals with offences against children.
  • Firm Arms Squad – Investigates any offences in relation to firearms, for example, potential hostage situations.
  • Drugs Squad – Deals with investigations regarding drug trafficking.
  • Fraud Squad – Deals with financial and company fraud.
  • Criminal Investigations Department (CID) – Handles incidents including racist abuse, domestic abuse, thefts, robbery, serious assaults, and suspicious deaths.

 

 

If you are to work in any of these specialist units, your standard police course is needed as a basis and the you will need to do further professional training too, so this is something your child needs to keep in mind when plotting their career path.

 

Responsibilities

There are a number of different responsibilities your child will have if they become a detective. This includes…

 

  • Managing and leading police staff teams.
  • Keeping up to date with the latest laws and legislation.
  • Working as part of a team.
  • Liasing with external and internal agencies that are relevant to your area of specialism, for example, schools or courts.
  • Assessing and reporting the potential for recruiting informants
  • Identifying witnesses that are appropriate and getting their statements
  • Conducting and participating in arrests, searches, and raids
  • Conducting interrogations and interviews
  • Dealing with forensic material
  • Handling and documenting exhibits
  • Preparing, completing and submitting accurate case papers
  • Analysing and interpreting data, examining records and documents
  • Using cutting-edge technology to aid investigations
  • Developing and evaluating strategies for investigation management
  • Gathering, verifying, and assessing all information
  • Managing and conducting a range of complicated investigations in your specialism

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding regarding the steps that need to be taken in order for your child to become a detective. Hopefully, the information that has been provided above will help to solidify that this is the perfect job role for your child.

Returning To The Fore: Picking Your Career Up Where You Left Off Before Your Children Came Onto The Scene

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In life, you are, as a parent, dedicated to nurturing your children to follow their dreams. Whether you are helping your children stick to their guns, forging their own path in life, and generally encouraging them to do what they want, as far as their career is concerned, we could learn a lot from our own advice. When we are dedicated to our children, we can easily neglect our own needs, especially in a professional sense. Before you had children, you might have been on your own path to career fulfillment, but this had to go on the backburner as you had kids on the way. But as they get older, they don’t need this as much. As such, what’s the best way to pick up where you left off before you had children?

 

Throwing Yourself Into Your Old Career

As you may already be working a job, your options are to start all over again or to throw yourself into your current career. You may have been holding off on applying for those high powered jobs because you didn’t know if you could feasibly do them based on your parental duties. But now, taking an opportunity to go back into your career with new enthusiasm can reinvigorate you. You actually have the time in which to pursue your professional goals. Of course, it’s not as easy as that. And if you are planning your return to the fore after so many years of “coasting”, it’s all about planning your return. It can take a while for you to build up your profile again, but also think about how many years it could take for you to acquire new skills. This is where the next point is integral.

 

Starting Again

Starting all over again can feel like a very intimidating prospect. After all, if you don’t have the experience in a certain sector, and you feel that you are past it, you’ve got a lot of competition up against you. But this is where we can take advantage of being a parent, and spending a lot of time at home because there are so many resources online that we can make the most of. Even in the medical profession, there are DNP FNP programs but you can take while being at home, meaning that you are acquiring the necessary knowledge. As a result, when you start to apply for these roles, you won’t find yourself facing rejection after rejection. Starting again is intimidating, but if you want to do a complete 180-degree turn on your career, you’ve got to acquire the skills necessary. This is, at the very least, an essential.

 

As a parent, we can feel like our children are the priority, especially for the first few years of their life. But, there comes a point where we have to think about our needs as well. We need to pick a career that is fulfilling, makes us feel like we’ve done something at the end of the day, and as such, this will make our life outside of work all the better.


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