Developing Work and Study Skills 1e

Linda Lee-Davies, University of Northampton
ISBN-13: 9781844802258
ISBN: 1844802256

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Developing Study and Work Skills is the first text to unite the fragmented study skills/work skills/personal development skills market by focusing on the key basic skills that students need in order to make them practically as well as academically prepared for the world of work.Chapters take students through the core personal, interpersonal, written, verbal, technical and numerical skills that HE courses and employers are looking for. This book is the first text to integrate study and management skills in such a way as to encourage a continuous pattern of self-analysis in the student, more thoroughly preparing the student for the transition from study to the world of work than any other text in the market. Students on modules such as Personal Development and Effectiveness, Study Skills, Management Skills, Business Skills, Business Communication, Business Awareness, Managing Oneself and Others at - for example - BABS/BABA, HND/HNC, DMS, MBA levels will all find this a hugely valuable text through study and working life.

Chapter Abstracts

• Ch. 1 Defining, Planning and Taking Direction  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter One covers the student's strengths and weaknesses; opportunities, threats and action plan for development; areas for development to improve current performance in work or to gain a job or promotion; dedicated action plan to achieve this; the action plan and how to regularly renew its content and how to know yourself and direct your plan most effectively towards your own goals
• Ch. 2 Learning  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Two covers the different ways in which we learn; how to appreciate the differences in others; how to understand one's own learning ability and how to understand barriers to learning
• Ch. 3 Studying  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Three covers the best times and environment for study; how to use study time most effectively and productively; how to refine reading skills appropriate to purpose and how to learn how to engineer and channel thinking and creativity
• Ch. 4 The Communication Process  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Four covers how to understand the repercussions of bad communication; how to understand the benefits of good communication; how to diagnose where communication may break down and how to learn and practise the steps for good communication
• Ch. 5 Letter writing  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Five covers the principles of writing effective letters in general, how to write effective job application letters and to fill in application forms properly
• Ch. 6 The Curriculum Vitae  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Six covers how to write an effective CV, how to present your own strengths in the most effective way and to increase promotion and employment opportunities
• Ch. 7 Report and Essay writing  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Seven covers the structure and content of reports and essays for academia and for business, how to ensure that the best and most effective content is used within both formats and how to understand the differences of report, essay writing and portfolio work and the writing styles required
• Ch. 8 General writing skills   [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Eight covers how to write in a readable style to impress, how to develop your own method for creative writing skills and how to form a discipline for checking the quality of work produced
• Ch. 9 Interviewing skills as an interviewee  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Nine covers how to be prepared for interviews whether internal or external, improve performance at interview, maximise interview time, prepare for assessment centres and prepare for panel interviews
• Ch. 10 Interviewing skills as an interviewer  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Ten covers how to maximise use of interview time as an employer, recruit the best candidates for the role, plan the interview time effectively, direct questions to gain maximum information in the minimum time, review your own interviewing performance and increase staff retention through more effective recruitment
• Ch. 11 Questioning and listening skills  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Eleven covers how to focus questioning in the right direction to suit the purpose, obtain the maximum information in the minimum time, attract the widest variety of information from which to choose a direction for discussion, control the direction of an interview or appraisal situation, look at listening from a different perspective, examine the depth to which we listen and emphasise the positive outcome of good listening
• Ch. 12 Body language and assertiveness  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Twelve covers how to gain an overview of the effect of clusters of body language, observe body language traits in self and others, differentiate assertiveness from aggression and submission and develop the habit of assertiveness by knowing what to aim for
• Ch. 13 Presentations  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Thirteen covers how to develop presentation skills, build confidence in ways of addressing others, predict and prevent mistakes and embarrassment and use up to date tools with confidence
• Ch. 14 Working in teams  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Fourteen covers how to understand how teams develop, cultivate synergy, appreciate differences in others and use those differences in the most effective way and reduce negative conflict and encourage wider thinking
• Ch. 15 Leading and managing meetings  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Fifteen covers how to effectively prepare and organise a meeting, whether you are holding or participating in it, achieve the meeting's purpose during the event, save company time, be aware of all delegates and encourage their full input and refine own chairing skills for the future
• Ch. 16 Manners  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Sixteen covers how to promote an interest in appropriate manners in the business world and ensure positive communication through good manners
• Ch. 17 Time management  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Seventeen covers how to analyse current use of time and identify the strengths and weaknesses of time management practices, recognise the implications of the use of time on subordinates and colleagues, identify priorities, plan ahead and anticipate time needs, adopt behaviours essential for effective time management: assertiveness, prioritisation, saying 'no', dealing with interruptions, getting out of meetings, ending conversations, dealing with the phone and e-mails
• Ch. 18 Stress management  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Eighteen covers how to define and recognise the symptoms of stress in self and others, isolate the causes of stress and cope with and minimise stress in everyday life
• Ch. 19 Workplace attitude  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Nineteen covers how to recognise the importance of workplace attitude in workplace communications and performance, appreciate what individuals need in the workplace environment to work at their best and examine the workplace in terms of its physical and psychological environment
• Ch. 20 Management and Leadership  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Twenty covers how to define the concepts of management and leadership, differentiate between the two sets of skills with a view to using study to develop skills for a future role or refine skills in an existing one and appreciate the importance and impact of management and leadership styles and skills on the workplace
• Ch. 21 Electronic organisation  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Twenty One covers how to understand how to have access to and engage with electronic support materials, create an independent e-mail address and deal with electronic forms, maximise the use of on-line facilities and the Internet and facilitate the organisation of electronic files
• Ch. 22 Dynamic documents  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Twenty Two covers how to establish a working environment supportive of efficient and effective document production, select a range of techniques to enhance report documents and create a table of contents for a report
• Ch. 23 Data and mail merge  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Twenty Three covers how to recognise the importance of accurate data and create a mail merged document using a spreadsheet as database
• Ch. 24 Graphs and charts  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Twenty Four covers how to identify the key attributes of meaningful input and output and produce clearly labelled and impressive graphs and charts
• Ch. 25 Figures, facts and statistics  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Twenty Five covers how to employ formatting techniques, apply simple formula to a range of diverse data and utilise statistical functions and comprehend their relevance
• Ch. 26 Database challenges  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Twenty Six covers how to recognise the principles behind data gathering, understand how databases function, recognise the key terms associated with databases, evaluate validation techniques, explain how and why tables of data are linked together in a relational database, understand how a database form is created and used, appreciate the principles of and need for data queries, comprehend how reports are constructed and output and be aware of current legislation relating to the handling and storage of data
• Ch. 27 Powerful presentations  [Purchase this echapter]
  Chapter Twenty Seven covers how to create a simple, but effective, presentation, experiment with additional timesaving features and manipulate slides to create a slick delivery