Monday, 6 May 2013

Stay safe when out at sea with STCW 95 courses

It is important that if you are working on any large vessel that you have the necessary training and qualifications to ensure the safety of everyone aboard. If something happens whilst out at sea you need to know how to react – there is a course that can teach you this and more.

When you are out on the water safety is paramount, especially if you are on-board any large vessel. If you are working on a boat or have plans to work on one then you will need to ensure that you can identify hazards and threats, and you also will need to know how to react quickly so you can make sure that you and everyone else aboard stays safe. The best way in which you can do this is by taking a course designed to give you all of this training – many companies may refuse to hire you until you have completed this training.

The best courses for this are STCW 95 courses – on these courses you will learn personal safety techniques, fire fighting and fire prevention, elementary first aid and also personal safety and social responsibility. Once you have passed the course you will have the skills, techniques and confidence to identify hazards and react quickly and efficiently. At the end of the course you will complete a written examination and also have a practical assessment, and the completion of this should help you to get a job on board any large vessel.

This is basic safety training for anyone working on commercial boats or boats over 24 metres long, so if this applies to you then make sure you sign up for it. It will help you to feel safer and more confident aboard, and it also means that you will be able to help others if something ever happens whilst out at sea.

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Have You Got a Plan for the Rest of Your Career?

Many people drift through life with no thought of how well – or badly – their career will progress. Yet others plan ahead and achieve much better outcomes as a result. This article will ensure you fall into the second group and achieve more in your career.

Some people would say they are in a job rather than a career. This means they work day by day, earning a wage as they do so, with no thought about what the future might hold. Other people have a career plan – a plan that focuses on doing better in the future and hopefully earning more as a result.

There are plenty of reasons why it is better to fall into the second group of people. If you view your job as just that – nothing more than a job – you probably won’t achieve as much as you could do otherwise. This means you might be disappointed in years to come when you look back and see you haven’t advanced in life. However if you view your working life as a career that moves steadily from one position to another, earning you more as you progress, you can see the possibilities and advantages you get as a result.

So how can you plan your career in order to get the best results? It makes sense to sit back and think about what you want to achieve, so you can plan the best path ahead. For example this might involve taking management courses or even doing something more precise, such as the Prince 2 foundation course. Whatever you choose it needs to be something relevant to the path you intend to follow. Management courses are ideal if you want to excel in management roles in the future. However you might have something else in mind, such as starting your own business.

This is why it makes sense to write down your plan so you can review it at various stages. This means you can go back to it and see whether you are on target to achieve what you want to achieve. You may find this works well for you because you can look and see whether you are on course as well as adjusting course if necessary.

Needless to say, having a plan is far more sensible than not having one. Without one you might dream of what you want to achieve. You may decide to look into doing a Prince 2 foundation course for example. However if you don’t have it built into your plan you might forget all about it or think ‘oh I’ll do that later’. It’s easy to do which is why you need to start planning.