Month: December 2010

Why I opted for internship jobs after finishing university

I always knew it was going to happen, but somehow it still surprised me when it did.  In my third year at university, talk turned to graduate jobs, and I realised that I was going to have to make some plans for my life.  Unlike some of my friends, who had spent their summers in internship jobs with a view to getting on a graduate scheme at a big organisation, I had decided to journey to far flung corners of the world during my breaks from university, teaching English in Asia and South America.  This left me feeling rather like a blank canvas, which I tried to see as a positive thing, and so I set about trying to think about what kind of positions might be fitting for me.

The first thing I did was to make an appointment at my university careers service.  The problem with this, though, was that they had a wealth of information about how to get graduate jobs in your chosen area, if you had worked out what that was.   The staff there seemed a little fed up of confused finalists expecting them to provide answers to all the tough questions in their lives. It was apparent that I was going to have to do a little more thinking by myself before I could enlist the help of somebody who didn’t know me.

I decided to start scanning all the job adverts printed in newspapers, to get a better idea of opportunities that were available.  Part of my job search involved expanding my outlook to get a better sense of potential career ideas, beyond the classic graduate scheme jobs and ‘professions’, which I didn’t think were for me.  From scanning a large number of these I managed to get a good grasp of the kind of roles that interested me and their requirements.

I could see that the kind of jobs I was interested in were mainly in the charity sector, but most of the jobs advertised required that applicants needed to have a demonstrable interest in the charity sector and some work experience.  I was concerned that this might be difficult for me to illustrate, so I decided to apply for internship jobs and work experience in the charities that I was interested in.  I was offered a couple of placements at medium sized UK charities.  After working as an assistant at both of these for a couple of weeks, I was convinced that this was the kind of thing I wanted to be doing. After a few weeks, I had a phone call from somebody I had worked with at one of the charities, saying that there was a vacancy that they would like me to fill. I was pleased that I hadn’t gone for a graduate scheme like most of my friends, and the graduate jobs market had not been quite as much of a nightmare as I had expected!

Please visit http://www.careerplayer.com/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.careerplayer.com/

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Glass louvres provide the ultimate in practicality with good looks

As awareness of environmentally sound architecture increases and government regulations pertaining to the energy output of buildings become increasingly strict, many architectural features such as the brise soleil and external louvres have become commonplace, even if many people are unaware of their function. Many may assume that the aluminium curtains, glass louvres and sails which are increasingly an element of modern buildings, are just a design feature whereas their impact is far more than just decorative.

Given the popularity of programmes such as Grand Designs, the concept of passive solar heating and the use of increased levels of insulation to reduce heating outlay is now quite familiar. On the other hand, the opposite effect, passive cooling, is rarely considered, even though it is a technique which was used by the Ancient Egyptians! Less thought is also given, outside design circles at least, to maximising the use of natural light in new buildings, thus reducing electrical costs. Solutions that work with the sun to provide maximum natural lighting without glare and overheating are also still a quite novel concept.

However, the odd metal protrusions that stick out of many new buildings these days looking oddly like an over-sized set of IKEA kitchen shelves can assist with both cooling and lighting problems and numerous other more discreet design features, for instance glass louvres, are also providing more than just a visual function.

The term ‘brise soleil’ which, roughly translated from the French means ‘sun break’, refers in architectural terms to any permanent external structure which helps to stop the sun shining directly into a building. A few avant-garde architects have even built such a function into the main fabric of the building, such as Le Corbusier who created distinctive simply patterned concrete walls. More often, a structure made of a different material is used, such as steel or aluminium louvres. These can be angled to enable a building with a sizeable glass façade to be protected from overheating during the summer when the sun is at a higher angle while allowing the intake of light and warmth from the sun during the winter months when the light comes in  from a much lower angle.

The best firms are able to create detailed analyses of either existing buildings or the plans for new projects. These map out the angle of the sun during different times of the year and make suggestions based on these calculations for appropriate sun-shading. Maple Sunscreening, for example, is a company which regularly advises architects and engineers on how to use features such as brise soleils and glass louvres to meet standards for CO2 emissions and combines advice on internal sun-screening with suggestions for outdoor screening such as external louvres to create an overall scheme which maximises long term reductions in the final building’s energy costs.

Please visit http://www.maplesunscreening.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.maplesunscreening.co.uk/

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Phono stage is important for good LP sound reproduction

For the committed audiophile, especially those dedicated to listening to recordings of early 20th century musicians whose recordings may solely be available on vinyl, the shiny silver micro CD system in the corner of most modern living-rooms, possibly purchased at an out of town supermarket, is an anathema. Suggesting they listen to CDs on an audio system without phono amp or phono preamp, is like asking Raymond Blanc to subsist on a diet of Pot Noodles. In pursuit of the perfect, most authentic sound, these connoisseurs will spend much time and money on the perfect phono stage while the rest of the world looks on bewildered at their use of a so-called obsolete technology.

Although these days only a minority of people under the age of thirty will have bought a record in their time, the ability to record and reproduce sound was so revolutionary that they remained in popular use in one form or another across a whole century from the 1890s right up to the early 1990s.  Once cheap CD players became as affordable as turntables, digital music reproduction became king, but the enthusiasm of those dedicated to ‘genuine’ music recordings is such that the technology behind and the market for turntables, phono stages and cartridges continues to develop at the top end of the audio system market.

Indeed, many purists continue to use vinyl only, maintaining that digital music systems – CDs, and MP3 downloads – give a clinical and processed sound that is inferior to the records of times gone by. Others may want to continue listening to their record collection without shelling out large amounts of money to purchase duplicates in digital format – and, in any case, many albums may simply not be available on CD. The evolution of music storage has also seen an evolution in marketing and corporate strategy, and smaller parties are not economically worth updating. Consequently, vinyl editions of these artists are unique and irreplaceable.

This does not mean that vinyl cannot be combined with state-of-the-art modern sound equipment, though. You can keep the best of both worlds, linking your turntable to amplifier and speakers via a phono stage. The job of a phono pre-amp is to amplify the signal from your turntable to make it useful to the main amp; thus a phono amp is an indispensable component of listening to your old LPs on modern equipment, helping to keep the past alive without sanitising it with the vagaries of the new digital technology.

Please visit http://www.whestaudio.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

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Allied health jobs – it’s all about working together

It is easy to think of health care professionals as coming in just two guises – doctors or nurses. But, today’s healthcare requires levels of specialisation in so many varying) fields that patient care is now provided by a whole raft of different specialists, often known as allied health professionals. Commonly, the allied health professions cover all those diagnostic, technical and therapeutic roles which are not performed by doctors or nurses. allied health jobs can be found in fields as varied as dentistry and cardiology, elderly care and music therapy. Jobs in radiography, jobs in occupational therapy; the list is extensive, with each person playing a vital part in a multidisciplinary team.

It is also a misconception that allied health professionals only undertake work delegated by medical consultants. In fact AHPs have their own case-loads, decide on their own professional diagnoses and assessments of the patient’s needs and often meet with patients alone, making it of the utmost importance that they possess exemplary patient care skills.

Some AHPs will spend almost all of their time in a highly medicalised environment, for example theatre practitioners or those with jobs in radiography. Many other allied health jobs, for example music or play therapists are in a very different setting, showing the scope of opportunities in the allied health professions.

Given the broad range of specialisms in healthcare, it is unsurprising that different levels of qualification are needed for each role and different levels of specialisation and responsibility are also an option in most areas. With seniority, many allied health positions provide the additional opportunity of managing a team of specialist practitioners.

It is a well-known fact that the NHS is Britain’s biggest employer and AHPs make up around 60% of that work force. As well as looking for permanent jobs by the traditional method, AHPs also have a range of other options open to them. An entire industry has grown up around the recruitment of these indispensable members of the health care team. Agencies specialising in the allied health professions can locate locum positions and temporary cover options as well as finding permanent opportunities in both the NHS and private practice.  Agencies can be a valuable way of saving time when looking for allied health jobs, especially when considering work with a number of Primary Care Trusts as they gather a number of opportunities in one place. Their web-sites usually provide search options making job-hunting much simpler, so for instance, if a candidate is looking for jobs in radiography in East London, they are not obliged to trawl through jobs in occupational therapy or jobs in Glasgow. Some agencies will also know of openings which are not being publicised anywhere else so it can be worth contacting them, even if you are fairly sure of where you wish to work.

Please visit http://www.abouthealthprofessionals.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.abouthealthprofessionals.co.uk/

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Rugged PC can be the only option for those working in demanding environments

Largely, computers cannot withstand any conditions beyond the ambient air conditioned atmosphere of the average office.  Spill a drop of water on your computer or subject it to excessive heat, and the chances are you will be staring at a blank screen and swearing at your machine fairly swiftly.  Those who expect their computers to stand up to more testing conditions will need to look for a rugged pc or a rugged transport PC.  These are specifically designed to be operated in harsh environments such as extreme temperatures or wet and dusty conditions.  The alternative to using a rugged embedded PC is to use a regular machine that has been upgraded for this kind of use.  However, these are usually inferior substitutes, as machines specifically designed to be put under pressure will always be stronger models.

There is sometimes confusion between rugged and ‘hardened’ computers, which share the same design robustness.  The two terms can be interchangeable, but the term hardened is often applied to computers which can withstand even harsher conditions than a rugged PC.  These computers are available in many different forms, from laptops and desktop units to specially designed models.  The kinds of design features that define a ruggedised pc would probably render a standard office system non-functional after a certain amount of time.

Vehicle environments such as utility trucks are particularly suitable for this kind of machine, as the vibration and jolts that are often unavoidable would cause certain failure in most portable computer systems.  Rugged laptops, notebooks and tablets are made of magnesium alloy metals which are designed to be 20 times stronger than the plastic which is used on commercial laptops.  The hard disk drive, which is usually particularly valuable to the user, are mounted with foam or reinforcing material to ensure that that will be able to withstand vibrations.
Those considering purchasing a rugged pc would be well advised to do some research first, as this is a fast-moving industry where new models are released frequently.  Trade magazines and websites will be able to advise you on which rugged embedded PC or rugged transport PC is worthy of your investment.  Durability is perhaps the most important consideration in this kind of purchase, as anyone investing in this kind of computer will be sorey disappointed if it fails to stand up to the kind of pressure it is expected to be able to cope with.

Please visit http://www.vision4ce.com/ for further information about this topic.

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