Finding Strategy Jobs in London

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article | Finding Strategy Jobs in LondonAs you may know, a career in strategy or strategic planning implies you helping a corporation design their road to profitability and growth while overcoming competition and constant change.

Moreover, as a corporate strategist, you have the opportunity to analyze everything that makes a company run properly. Naturally, most of your responsibilities will deal with making the company run!

If you know what a business needs to operate properly and think that you have the analytical skills, instinct, and natural feel for a strategy job, then you should consider applying for one with recruitment agencies like The Barton Partnership who specialise in offering London based strategy jobs here https://www.thebartonpartnership.com/strategy-jobs-in-london.

It is worth noting that corporate strategists have a long-term career ahead of them, as they can easily become Senior Directors, independent consultants, or even CEOs of London-based companies. You can start your career in strategy at!

The Most Popular Roles

Browsing job openings on various platforms or locally, in your own city, will show you the most popular non-technical jobs/roles area in strategy.

Most of these roles do require a notable level of analytics, but it goes without saying that each job opening is different. For example, a certain job vacancy may require you to know some programming languages, while another one may require experience in operations and financial planning.

The point here is that, even if the role of strategy jobs is widely popular, you must find the one that suits your expertise, experience, and knowledge. You may want to be a strategist, but you can’t be one in an IT company if you’ve studied only marketing.

The Most Important Skill

Corporate strategists will state that you require a plethora of skills in order to be fit for such a job. However, a few of them will tell you what the most important one is – namely, focus!

This very field comes with a lot of challenges, as well as with a lot of opportunities that you must focus on properly. You will have to deal with potential partners, competitors, product development, and so on. In this respect, the focus will soon be your best friend!

Finding Strategy Jobs

If you want to become a corporate strategist in London, then you have to know and research the top sectors for this particular field.

Even if a certain course or training session won’t make you perfect for a job, you can use that as a boost to your strategy career. In short, even if you don’t have the required knowledge for the job, you can get your hands on it, if you are motivated enough.

At the moment, some of the top sectors that are actively looking for strategists are:

  • Finance
  • Financial Services
  • Public Sector
  • Private Equity
  • Business Development
  • Digital
  • Operations
  • Marketing
  • Advertising
  • Brand

With so many sectors, finding the corporate strategy role fit for you won’t be that hard to do.

The Bottom Line

The last thing you should know about finding strategy jobs (in London) is how to get the job – obviously. Basically, you have to know what is expected from the role that you are applying for.

Keep in mind that every role can be very different, as well as the salary and job description. This is why it is highly recommended that, before you apply for a job, you should thoroughly research the role and the company!

26 Things You Can Do To Become The Ideal Job Candidate

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Job Interview|26 Things You Can Do To Become The Ideal Job CandidateIf there’s a job you really want, then you need to take your time preparing and becoming the ideal job candidate. This means that when your interview rolls around, you’ll feel ready to handle whatever the process throws at you, and feel confident that you did your very best once you’ve left. Below, you’ll find 26 job interview tips you can do to become the ideal job candidate:

Be Candid

Candid individuals often make great communicators, and these people are essential for the office. You need a direct, clear way of speaking, and this will help to eliminate crossed wires and anything else that could cause problems. You’ll also engage more people in conversation and encourage faster action this way.

Be Friendly

You should be friendly. You might be a straight-talking fierce and competitive person who wants to land the job, but you should still be friendly to everyone you meet.

Be Ambitious

Ambitious employees tend to always want to come up with an improved way of doing things. They tend to overcome hurdles, and are never satisfied, always working for better solutions. This is what most organizations will want to see.

Be Adaptable

You must be able to change with the business environment, and this goes for any job you get. Having a comfort zone can be nice sometimes, but those who love familiarity and hate change won’t get very far in the workplace.

Show Your Creativity

Many companies want creative employees who can increase innovation. You should be able to both work autonomously and come up with new ways of completing old tasks.

Be Decisive

Making tough decisions is, well, tough. But companies love to be able to see that candidates feel confident doing that. People who can quickly and efficiently analyze the options and potential outcomes of a situation will always be more likely to get hired. Nobody wants a wishy washy employee who struggles to make even basic decisions. Remember, decisiveness is a skill you can practice.

Be Team Oriented

When recruiting, many people will look for those who buy into the system and can work in a team. You should be able to work by cooperating with others, fitting into the company’s culture.

Be Goal Oriented

Escalating your goals is a great trait to have – and you should enjoy the journey along the way, too. If you can show this to an employer, they will be more likely to hire you. They want to see people who can set their own goals and have a passion for the job and industry that they are in.

Be Intelligent

Intelligence is an important part of success. Of course there are variables, but you should be willing to show both your intelligence as well as your willingness to learn new things when going for a job. You may show that you’re intelligent by talking about your PMP Exam Prep or a recent course/study you took part in. Self directed learning and study is a great trait to have.

Make Sure You’re A Cultural Fit

If you’re not a cultural fit, then you should probably give up on the job now. Pretending to be a cultural fit may work, but the truth will come out in the end and you will hate working in this environment. Will you truly enjoy working here on a daily basis?

Be Upbeat

Showing that you can be energetic and upbeat each day is important. This can help others to build momentum, too, and employers love optimistic employees.

Be Confident

Having confidence is not egotistical or wrong. The best companies want to hire people who have confidence in themselves. This spawns a culture of improvement.

Show That You Are Internationally Aware

A global mindset is essential for growing businesses. You should be aware and sensitive to other cultures, customs, events, and perspectives if you’re going to succeed.

Groom Yourself

You may have all of the skills, but if you don’t take care of your hygiene and appearance then employers will think twice about hiring you. Make sure you dress appropriately and that you’re always clean and smelling fresh. Just because you can’t smell your coffee breath doesn’t mean it’s not there!

Prepare For The Questions

Make sure you carefully prepare for questions before you attend the interview. Have answers for questions such as ‘why do you want this job?’ and ‘tell us about yourself’. Make sure you relate everything back to the job and the company!

Research the Company

Having a decent knowledge of the company before you attend your interview is essential, so do your research. If you don’t bother to do this, hiring managers may well eliminate you from the hiring pool. Do your homework on the company’s website, blog, social channels, Glassdoor, and Wikipedia. Make sure you know who their competitors are and why they are different, too.

Find Out Who You’re Interviewing With and Research Them

As well as finding out what you can about the company, make sure you do your research on the person you’ll be having your interview with.

Ask Your Own Questions

Always make your interest clear by asking your own genuine questions. Let them ask you questions first, and have yours prepared at the end of the interview. Write the answers down!

Dress For The Job

How you dress will depend on the job you’re going for. Dress for the job you want, as if you have it already. Show them how you will be arriving into work. Don’t try to be too trendy or fashionable here.

Bring Two Extra Copies of Your Résumé

If you show up to your interview with no copies of your resume, you’re making a huge mistake. Don’t assume that the person you’ll be speaking with has one already. They may know nothing about you. If you have spare copies on you, you’ll never be caught off guard.

Turn Your Phone Off and Arrive Five to 10 Minutes Early

You shouldn’t be tempted to check your phone, and you definitely don’t want it buzzing away while you’re trying to answer a pressing question. Get there 10 minutes early (not too early), and turn your phone off. If you arrive too early then you might mess up the interviewer’s schedule if they feel they must accommodate you. Turning up too early can be just as rude as turning up late. 5-10 minutes before your interview time is a good time to aim for. Find somewhere else to wait if you arrive at the location even earlier.

Stay Engaged During Conversation

Make sure you don’t get eliminated from the process by not showing you are actively listening. Smile, nod, and make eye contact. You will make an impression by showing you are a good listener.

Get the Email Address of Everyone You Speak With

This will be helpful when the interview is over and you’ll be able to easily follow up.

Ask When to Expect a Decision and With Whom to Follow-Up

You shouldn’t leave the interview feeling confused about when you’re going to hear back. Don’t be too pushy, but make sure you have an idea of when you should know by and who you should speak to about it. Pay close attention to how they respond at the end of the interview and you should get a good idea of how it went, too.

Tell Them You Want The Job

If you’re feeling excited at the prospect of having this job by the end of the interview, make sure you tell them so. Let it be known how excited this opportunity makes you and allow your passion for the role to shine through.

Send a Follow-Up Thank You Email

Sending a quick, personalized email saying thank you to everybody you met with earlier on in the day will stand you in good stead. Mention a small detail or topic you discussed to personalize it, and make an even better impression on them even once the interview process is over. A handwritten thank you card could go down really well, too.

If you don’t hear back within 5 business days, it’s ok to follow up again. Make sure you know the point of contact and send a message that is short – you don’t want to come across as pushy or as if you’re nudging them into making a decision. You should seek to provide some value, however.

Becoming the ideal job candidate may take a little time and practice, depending on the role. The more you practice for this, the better the interview process will likely go. Ask somebody you trust to run through questions with you as if you were in a real interview. Don’t leave anything to chance and make sure you feel well prepared. You may never feel 100% ready, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t or that you’re not right for the role. Be positive – you might be just the kind of person that they are looking for!

Nine Signs It’s Time For A Career Change

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Career Change|Nine Signs It's Time For A Career ChangeIt’s never too late to make a career change, but choosing when to make the jump isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. If you’re not happy in your current line of work, you need to think about whether you just need a new job or whether it’s time to take your career in a new direction altogether.

  • Do you find yourself complaining about your job all the time? Do you find yourself unhappy at work, regardless of which company you work for? If your family are fed up of listening to you complain about why your job is terrible and you find yourself searching for truck driving jobs instead of working, it’s a clear sign that all is not well and it might be time for a new challenge.
  • Are you more stressed than usual? All jobs have some amount of stress occasionally, but if you’re stressed most days at work, this isn’t good. If you find yourself taking your stress home with you and you’re struggling to shake it throughout the evening, a change is probably a good idea.
  • Are you bored at work? If you’re struggling to find any motivation to get any work done and are procrastinating in order to put off large tasks, there’s probably a problem. Your job might not always be fun, but if you’re bored all the time, make a jump to something new.
  • Have you been in the same job for a long time? Most jobs naturally change and grow over time, or your career should progress. If you’ve been stuck in the same position for a long time and have no real idea of where you want or should try to go upwards to, you might have exhausted your interest in your career path. If you’re struggling to make a plan for progression that interests you, this is a good sign that its time to move on to something new.
  • Do you dread going to work? If when you wake up in the morning, you immediately start dreading getting to work, this is a clear sign that you should be moving on. If this dread is creeping into your Sunday nights too, don’t hang on any longer than you have to and instead try to make a switch to something that keeps you excited and interested.
  • Do you think about quitting a lot of the time? If you’re forever drafting your resignation letter or fantasizing about how you’ll tell your boss you’re quitting, then you should start seriously looking for something else. We all have bad days at work, but if everyday you think about when you can quit, you shouldn’t stay.
  • Are you feeling burned out and tired? If you’re tired out all the time, it could be fatigue caused by work stress. If you’re overworked, you could easily end up becoming burned out. Burn out can occur when your job has become too demanding for you, or you can’t shake off work based stress. Burn out can become very nasty, so if you feel this coming on, it’s time to step out and move on to something else.
  • Are you under-performing at work? If you’ve lost interest in your job, it can be very hard to motivate yourself, meaning your performance might slip. If you’re struggling to concentrate at work, this won’t help your job performance either. You can also guarantee that if you’re away that your job performance is sliding, then your boss is probably noticing that something is wrong too. It might be better to take the step to leave your job and do something before you get pushed out for poor performance. It will be much easier to find something new if you left your last job on good terms instead of being fired.
  • Are you finding excuses not to go to work? If work is the last place you want to be, you’re probably finding all kinds of excuses to do anything else. Perhaps you’re taking more sick days than usual, or have booked a lot more vacation days than you normally take, or are asking to work from home more often, this is a clear sign that you’re unhappy in your current job.

Making a career change is a big leap, but you can do it. If your career isn’t fulfilling anymore, then a change of job might not be enough to help. A new line of work can push you to develop new skills, leaving you a lot happier in the long run.

Mentors and the Self-Made Individual

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article | Mentors and the Self-Made IndividualSome people like to claim they are self-made when they finally make their dream come true, but the reality is that no one on earth can claim to be a self-made individual. The brain is like a sponge that absorbs the data from televisions, advertisements, parents, and teachers throughout a lifetime. With so many different opinions wending their way into your brain about every issue you can possibly imagine, it is easy to see how confusing life can become. That is why mentors are so important to the self-made individual.

Encouragement Goes a Long Way

Everyone that has started a project, begun a business, or created a charity knows that no matter how hard you work to make that dream a reality, there are times when you feel like you hit a brick wall. When that happens, your mentor can help you discover what the problem is and encourage you to try a different approach to the challenge.

Creativity Can Be Its Own Problem

As an experienced mentor, Eyal Gutentag knows the importance of working with creative people. However, creativity can be explosive, and when that happens your mentor can help you create boundaries that you don’t realize you need. Establishing self-discipline can be challenging but solidifying your focus can help you recharge your drive.

Goals Help Stimulate Personal Growth

You may believe in setting goals for yourself, but most people don’t realize they sometimes set goals they know they can accomplish. A mentor can make goals for you, explain why the goals are important, and then help you establish a plan to accomplish each goal. Not only can your mentor help you stretch your potential, but he or she can identify goals that stimulate your personal growth.

In this data driven world, having a mentor is not a weakness; it is a sign that you know where you are going and how to get there. Once you make your dream a reality, don’t forget to become a mentor to someone else that may be in need of a gentle push in the right direction.

Top management schools in USA

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |US Management Schools|Top management schools in USAA business school is a university level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. They offer subjects which are relevant to a business environment and those which help in laying the foundation of business studies such as accounting, business strategy, economics, finance, entrepreneurship, etc. Students are fostered in such a manner that they are able to find the coincidence in the past, current and future practices such that they could solve real life problems as well as enhance structures to obtain and retain the best results. USA is one such country which ensures the welfare of its students who have enrolled in the top business schools by providing them with world class facilities. There are also many schools under Ivy League Universities in USA for pursuing masters in the field of management or business. Let us have a look at top management schools in USA :

Top management schools in USA

  1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is the oldest business school established in USA. The school is known worldwide for its vast alumni network. Students, across departments, are subjected to week-long trips named Ventures, during their coursework where their leadership skills are put to test. Students also get on-campus hands-on experience through 25 research centres and 150 organizations to get involved in. Students also have opportunities to pursue joint degrees in conjunction with prestigious institutes like Penn Law School and Harvard School of Government. 83.6 percent of graduates of the full-time program are employed at reputed organizations. Program fees for the full-time program are $72,300 a year.
  2. Stanford University One of the most prestigious universities in the world, Stanford Business School offers graduate programs in various business concentrations. The school aims to encourage students to create ideas that deepen and advance their understanding of management and thus transform them into innovative, principled and insightful leaders who are dedicated towards changing the world. 68.7% of the graduates are placed at prestigious organizations. Program fees for the full-time program are $70,590 a year.
  3. Harvard University Harvard Business School has been renowned worldwide for educating leaders who make a difference in the world. Graduate students at Harvard Business School get a hands-on education through the case method, which poses true-to-life problems students must tackle in teams. The experiential learning extends to field study teams, in which small groups of students evaluate existing organizations, and immersion trips, intense weeks of study in another country over winter breaks. 79.10% of graduates of the program are employed. Program fees for the full-time program are $73,440 a year.
  4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) Graduate student organizations at MIT have a global focus, with business clubs for nations around the world. Though graduate students at the Sloan School of Management study at the campus facilities in Cambridge, Mass., their business education has a broader slant. The academic courses are inherently global in nature, and there are dozens of opportunities for students to travel and study abroad. The school also has Action Labs for students to tackle real problems in existing companies in the United States, China and India. 86% of graduates of the full-time program are employed. Program fees for the full-time program fees are $74,200.
  5. University of Chicago Chicago Booth offers the world’s most flexible full-time MBA program under the Booth School of Business. The university is focused upon building upon students’ existing academic and professional backgrounds, bringing them closer to their goals. The multidisciplinary approach to problem solving empowers students with frameworks for freethinking and sound decision making. The program includes only one required course—leadership effectiveness and development—which gives flexibility to students to design their own course depending on the requirements of potential employers. Experiential learning bridges theory and practice, and skills gained during the course are tested in real business settings. Booth’s academic culture emphasizes problem analysis and discovering innovative solutions through dialogue and debate with peers and professors. 98.4% of the graduates received job offers within 3 months of graduation. Program fees for the full-time program are $72,000 a year.

Conclusion

The art of doing business is both innate and acquired and in either case it needs a boost in the right direction. It is important to research, choose and apply for the postgraduate business school in order to receive a holistic environment that provides the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary. The reason why a balance between both is necessary is that it is not enough to enter the market and grow drastically for a limited time and then collapse. It is equally crucial to sustain in a competitive place after finding a niche for yourself. A prior simulation of such a situation helps aspirants land at the best positions.

About the Author
StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |US Management Schools|Top management schools in USAAbhyank Srinet holds a Masters in Management degree from ESCP Europe & has an engineering degree with a specialization in Instrumentation & Control. His interest in the digital landscape motivated him to create an online start up for Masters in Management application consulting (MiM-Essay.com), focused on spreading quality information about the MiM degree & performing application consulting services for clients. He is the chief consultant of the company and takes care of Business Development and Digital Marketing side of the company. He is very passionate about writing and marketing.