Negotiate Watertight Contracts With Our Procurement Courses

Negotiate Watertight Contracts With Our Procurement Courses

Procurement is essential to many industry sectors, from private enterprise to government departments. And because it revolves around valuable cost-saving measures, procurement professionals are in high demand!

In our Procurement Specialist Program you will study how to effectively manage the procurement, purchasing and contract management processes within departments or organisations — both big and small. You’ll explore how to navigate the procurement process, identify procurement requirements, conduct procurement activities, and assist with supplier selection and performance management.

Basically, you’ll learn to love the sound of ka-ching!

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking procurement courses include:

  • Learning about plan purchasing including how to prepare invitations and quotes or tenders
  • Exploring retail purchases and legislative requirements
  • Studying how to evaluate sources, identify suppliers and prepare invitations to offer
  • Gaining insights into policies and procedures
  • Understanding how to conduct briefings and prepare recommendations to purchase
  • Learning how to obtain specialist expertise and evaluate offers
  • Exploring purchasing performance, the evaluation process and purchasing criteria
  • Studying purchasing requirements and how to purchase goods and services
  • Understanding purchasing strategies and limits and specialist purchasing roles
  • Learning about selection discretion and how to purchase goods and services
  • Studying direct, credit card and online purchases
  • Understanding supply agreements, quotes, formal tenders and approval for purchases
  • Learning how to select suppliers, make the purchase and receive goods
  • Exploring invoices, receipts, advices and petty cash vouchers
  • Gaining insights into project procurement management
  • Understanding how to determine procurement requirements
  • Learning about contracts and how to plan purchases and acquisitions
  • Exploring how to delegate authority and determine inputs and project scope
  • Studying a statement of work and a make or buy analysis
  • Gaining insights into contract types, planning and terminology
  • Understanding how to select sellers, evaluate criteria and determine a seller rating
  • Learning about seller performance and how to contract audit
  • Studying how to negotiate contracts with suppliers without prejudice
  • Gaining insights into negotiating issues and determining desired outcomes
  • Understanding document contract requirements and how to draft, prepare and finalise them
  • Learning about trade practices, consumer protection and sales of goods legislation
  • Studying how to monitor supplier performance
  • Gaining insights into the four key aspects of evaluation
  • Understanding supplier performance and non-conformance
  • Learning about ethical practices and how to conduct an external customer audit
  • Exploring quality importance, information security and privacy principles
  • Studying the purpose and qualities of goods and services
  • Gaining insights into push and pull inventory management models
  • Understanding effective negotiations and cost-saving strategies
  • Learning about procurement planning and procedures
  • Exploring outputs, evaluation and the approval process
  • Studying the supplier selection process including evaluation and screening
  • Gaining insights into audits and records management

 

And more!

Top Five Procurement Trends for 2020

Procurement courses can prepare teams to face ongoing challenges including tough competitors, volatile markets and increasing production costs. However, keeping up with trends requires fast adaption and ensures teams can deliver products or services on time and to a high standard. So what are the top five procurement trends for 2020?

#1 – Thinking Green

As of 2018, 33 per cent of all greenhouse gas pollution in Australia was due to electricity and 18 per cent due to transportation — and both areas are crucial components to supply chain networks. Progressive companies are starting to adopt processes and systems that reduce their carbon footprint. A climate-focused strategy when planning supply chains has also helped them to identify sustainable resources.

#2 – Circular Supply Chains

These are increasingly replacing traditional linear supply chains, which move in three steps — from manufacturing to distribution to the final destination. In the future, a fourth step will be added, known as a ‘recycling/reusing’ dimension. In this step, products that are not sold (and may have been once thrown away) will be put back into circulation wherever possible. It also enables businesses to save costs and stay compliant with waste disposal laws and standards

#3 – Globalised Outsourcing

Trends suggest that moving forward, 80 per cent of manufacturers will have multi-country operations, and there will be a need for competent and skilled workers. In order to bridge gaps in the emerging workforce, more companies will outsource certain processes to overseas countries. The highest outsourcing areas include distribution and logistics, manufacturing, finishing and packaging.

#4 – Transparency

Consumers are becoming more vocal about the treatment of workers, environmental impacts, and the overall ethical nature of the products they are purchasing. More companies will join the trend to be transparent about all aspects of their supply chain, from product conception right through to delivery. In the future, it’s likely that consumers will also expect companies to provide details about their processes to appease their buying choices.

#5 – Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is slowly being adopted in areas such as sales, marketing, HR and project management. In the area of procurement, it will affect management, production and customer experiences. AI will be used to anticipate events that could be disruptive to procurement processes and predict shifts in demand. The most obvious impact of AI will be large-scale automation which will increase productivity and efficiency.

Government Procurement Practices

Those who study procurement courses often find themselves working in the public sector — at a national, state or local level. The main difference between public and private sector procurement is in the area of funding. Budgets in the public sector are more likely to be preemptively delegated and distribution tougher to alter.

For example, at the Australian Government Department of Finance, there are two main principles. The first is that officials must seek to achieve value for money in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs). The second is that they must ensure they conduct procurements within their entity’s relevant Operational Guidelines and Accountable Authority Instructions

In terms of practice, there are seven steps:

Step 1: Plan the Procurement

  • Identify the need and determine the objectives.
  • Detail a clear scope of requirements.
  • Consult the Central Procurement Area for advice where appropriate.
  • Seek specialist advice where appropriate.
  • Research the market to understand restraints and capabilities.
  • Ensure probity arrangements are considered where appropriate.
  • Document relevant justifications and decisions.
  • Understand and incorporate Australian Government transparency requirements.

Step 2: Scope of the Procurement

  • Determine whether the goods or services to be purchased are subject to coordinated procurement arrangements that must be used.
  • Determine if the relevant entity already has a panel that could be used.
  • Consider whether there are opportunities for cooperative procurement.
  • Undertake detailed research of the market if appropriate.
  • Estimate the value of the procurement.
  • Where procurements are unable to be reliably valued, they must be treated as if they are over the relevant threshold.
  • Unless a specific exemption applies, entities must comply with the Division 2 – “Additional Rules For Procurements At or Above the Relevant Procurement Threshold”.

Step 3: Determine the Procurement Method

 An Open Tender

  • This involves a one-stage (ie. Request for Tender), or multi-stage (eg. an Expression of Interest followed by a Request for Tender) open approach to the market.
  • The ‘default’ for all procurements should be valued above the relevant thresholds (ie. $80,000 for non-corporate Commonwealth entities)
  • The Open Tender must be advertised on AusTender.

A Limited Tender

  • This involves procurement based on quotes being sought directly from one or more suppliers.
  • It includes what was previously referred to as ‘sole source’ and ‘select’ or ‘restricted’ source procurements.
  • It can be undertaken for any procurement under the relevant thresholds where it represents value for money.
  • It can only be used for procurements above the relevant thresholds where it is specifically allowed by the CPRs
  • The value and reasons for the direct source must be documented.

Step 4: Prepare to Approach the Market

  • Put in place appropriate governance arrangements.
  • Identify the contract characteristics of your procurement.
  • Prepare the tender evaluation plan and request documentation that appropriately incorporates Procurement Connected Policies.
  • Where applicable, include:
    • consideration of relevant regulations and/or frameworks;
    • application and verification of standards;
    • the consideration of broader economic benefits of the procurement to the Australian economy.
  • Seek delegate clearance/approval to approach the market.

Step 5: Approach the Market

  • Notify the market – for open tenders this involves (as a minimum), publishing the opportunity on AusTender.
  • For open tenders, ensure the minimum time requirements of the CPRs are met.
  • Include essential information (eg. closing time, lodgement mechanism, evaluation criteria and methodology, process rules, contact officer and the possibility of an industry site visit, briefing, and/or mid-term review) in the request documentation to enable suppliers to develop and lodge competitive and compliant submissions.
  • Include a draft contract and statement of compliance in the request documentation.
  • Use appropriate limitation of liability and standard contract clauses where available.
  • Do not use unnecessary mandatory language (i.e. ‘must’, ‘will’), jargon and acronyms from the request documentation.
  • Ensure clarifications or additional materials are made available to all potential suppliers in a timely and equitable manner.
  • Do not materially change the evaluation plan after the opening of submissions.

Step 6: Evaluate Submissions and Conclude the Tender Process

  • Deal with unintentional errors in tenders in accordance with the CPRs.
  • Deal with late tenders in accordance with the CPRs.
  • Ensure the procurement process is/was fair, equitable and will stand up to scrutiny, including that the evaluation is conducted in accordance with the Tender Evaluation Plan.
  • Ensure the process is consistent with the CPRs, including in relation to handling complaints.
  • Undertake a financial viability assessment(s) of the preferred supplier(s) if necessary.
  • Provide sufficient documentation and information to the delegate to enable them to make an informed decision.
  • If required by your entity’s Accountable Authority Instructions, obtain delegate approval in accordance with s18 of the PGPA Rules and two signed copies of the contract (one for the entity, the other for the service provider).
  • Advise unsuccessful tenderers and where requested provide a de-brief.
  • Report contracts valued at $10,000 (GST inclusive) and over on AusTender.

Step 7: Manage the Contract

  • Develop a contract management plan to assist the entity to understand and implement obligations under the contract.
  • Assess contract extension options on a value for money basis in accordance with the terms of the contract.
  • Ensure compliance with the Supplier Pay on-Time or Pay Interest Policy.
  • Appropriately consider and, as appropriate, issue contract variations.
  • Consider any obligations that survive the contract end-date or termination of the contract such as confidentiality.

 

Source: 2020, Procurement Process Considerations, Australian Government Department of Finance

 

Keen to positively contribute to an organisation’s bottom line? Our Procurement Specialist Program will enable you to confidently contribute to your organisation’s procurement process and join the cost-saving crusade!

 

Broaden Your Earth Science Career With Our Geology Courses

Geology courses study of the earth, rocks, the materials from which the earth is made, the structure of those materials, and the processes that cause them to change over time. It is a science that has practical relevance and diverse applications across many industries, from construction and mining to farming and environmental management.

Our Certificate of Geology will teach you about minerals, rock types and the nature of chemical change. You will also learn about the nature and scope of geophysics in today’s world and the practical applications of geology.

You can then leverage your knowledge in a variety of ways including managing groundwater and mining, understanding and predicting geologic natural hazards, locating underground deposits of specific minerals, and determining the appropriate engineering work in the construction of dams and other infrastructure.

Rock on!

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking geology courses include:

  • Learning about the methodology and applications of geology
  • Exploring the basic chemistry of rocks
  • Studying minerals and mineraloids
  • Gaining insights into mineral groups and the formation of minerals
  • Understanding silicates
  • Learning about the table of significant elements
  • Exploring igneous rocks and their classification and texture
  • Studying sedimentary rocks and their formation, texture and features
  • Discovering metamorphic rocks and their formation and classification
  • Gaining insights into recrystallization
  • Examining foliated rocks and non-foliated rocks
  • Understanding Pauling’s rules on crystal structures
  • Learning about igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary and hydrothermal minerals
  • Exploring structural geology including its features
  • Gaining an understanding of tectonics and geodynamics
  • Studying folds, boudins, foliations and lineations
  • Gaining insights into designing tectonic models
  • Understanding measurements, linear features and planar features
  • Learning about displacement, the orientation of forces and the magnitude of stress
  • Exploring data acquisition and data synthesis and analysis
  • Studying the types of minerals and how to identify and classify them
  • Discovering crystal form, colour and lustre and transparency and cleavage
  • Gaining insights into fracture and tenacity, specific gravity and hardness
  • Understanding silicate minerals, orthosilicates, sorosilicates and cyclosilicates
  • Learning about tectosilicates, inosilicates, phyllosilicates and non-silicate minerals
  • Exploring sulphides, halides, oxides, borates, sulphates, phosphates and carbonates
  • Studying geobiology in terms of the earth’s gases and the metabolic diversity of organisms
  • Gaining insights into the metabolic approaches
  • Examining oxygen-producing (photosynthetic) bacteria
  • Understanding greenhouse gases, underwater bio-physical processes and coral reef formation
  • Learning about soil biology, microbiome, chemical environment and the biophysical soil processes
  • Exploring geophysics including seismology, tectonics, hydrology and glaciology
  • Studying geothermetry, geomagnetometry, petrophysics and mineral physics
  • Gaining insights into plate tectonics theory

And more!

Five Superb Examples of Australia’s Geological Past

Australia is often thought of as an ancient yet relatively dormant geological continent, with activity limited to a steady drift northward of a few centimetres per year. However, our country’s past is far from sleepy — something you’ll discover by studying geology courses! Here are five places where our extreme history is literally written in stone.

#1 – Woodroffe Thrust-Mann fault, Central Australia

A drive along the Stuart Highway from Darwin to Adelaide may seem like a relatively uneventful journey. Miles of flat country is occasionally interrupted by dry creeks and low hills, however, hidden beneath the surface lies something quite spectacular.

Just north of the town of Marla, the Earth’s mantle rises up 30 kilometres below the surface along a fault system known as the Woodroffe Thrust-Mann fault. And most astonishingly, this subterranean mountain is so big that it actually warps the Earth’s gravity field! This is because the mantle is much denser than your typical continental crust. In fact, the difference in gravity is so dramatic, it is known as the largest continental gravity gradient anywhere in the world.

#2 – Lake Acraman, South Australia

Located on the slopes of the northern Eyre Peninsula, Lake Acraman today shows no signs of its cataclysmic past. However, its circular shape gives everything away. The lake is actually the eroded remains of a giant 580-million-year-old meteorite impact crater that was estimated to be up to 90 kilometres wide, and one of the largest craters ever identified.

Experts say the impact energy would have been equivalent to more than five million megatons of TNT. That’s enough to produce a global catastrophe that could produce seismic shocks, super-hurricanes and tsunamis! Material that was ejected from the crater has been identified more than 300 kilometres away in the Flinders Ranges. How? Pulverized rock fragments and shatter cones here feature a distinctive sedimentary layer known as an ‘ejecta horizon’.

#3 – Supervolcano, South Australia

The largest active supervolcano on the planet, The Yellowstone Caldera, is found in the USA’s Yellowstone National Park. But even it is dwarfed by the remnants of a much older beast, found in the Gawler Ranges. The region contains a lava field that stretches for 500 kilometres in diameter with a total lava volume thought to be as high as 500,000 cubic kilometres. That’s enough to fill Sydney Harbour around a million times over!

What is even more remarkable, is that the lava reached temperatures above 1000 degrees celsius that erupted around 1600 million years ago. The most extreme consequence of the phenomenon was that it produced the world’s largest hydrothermal deposit — an amazing ore system filled with huge quantities of silver, gold, copper and uranium. Within the region, Olympic Dam contains around 9 billion tonnes of ore which is a by-product of the ore-forming fluids associated with the ranges’ volcanic system.

#4 – Flinders Ranges, South Australia

Given that this area is known for its hot humid climate, it’s almost inconceivable that around 650 million years ago, this area was once blanketed by freezing ice. The evidence gathered by geologists are the glacial rocks found here that were deposited close to the equator and at sea level. This discovery forms the basis for the theory that the entire planet was once covered in ice sheets up to several kilometres thick (a scenario called Snowball Earth).

Around 635 million years ago, global glaciation was thawed by a sudden reversal to warmer temperatures. Here, the event is marked by the transition of glacial sediments to a distinctive sedimentary rock that formed in a warm sea, known as dolomite.

#5 – Murray River: Victoria/South Australia

This ancient watercourse and Australia’s longest river has produced some of the deepest submarine canyons ever found. Found far beneath sea level near Kangaroo Island, they reach depths of over 5000 metres and lengths of over 80 kilometres. To put that into perspective, they are tall enough to swallow the Grand Canyon whole and greater than twice the height of Mt Kosciusko!

They were produced when the Murray River existed far beyond the present coastline when sea levels were much lower and the continental shelf was dry land.  One of the largest and deepest, Sprigg Canyon, was discovered by geologist Reg Sprigg in 1947 and has walls over two kilometres high.

 

The Different Types of Geologist

Geologists help us understand the earth and its inhabitants, and they seek to understand the planet we live on including the forces that act upon the earth and the biology of its ancestral inhabitants. However, there are a variety of sub-categories those who have studied geology courses can specialise in. These include:

Environmental Geologist

Environmental geologists focus on understanding the earth and human interactions with the land. They forecast geological impacts on the environment due to the effects of industrial and urban expansion. They also look for solutions to environmental issues by observing and investigating erosion, flooding, pollution, earthquakes and natural hazards.

Engineering Geologist

These geologists investigate the chemical and physical properties of soil and rocks. They often work as advisors to public and private companies on geological and environmental issues. This information is used to ensure dams, bridges, structures, tunnels are roads are structurally sound when constructed. In terms of the civil planning aspect of the role, some knowledge of civil engineering is required.

Marine Geologist

Marine geologists focus on the interplay between oceanography, geology and marine biology. Their work generally involves studying landforms beneath the ocean like beaches, ocean floors, estuaries, large lakes, coastal rivers and the shallow shelves/slopes that surround the continents. They may also focus on the processes that occur beneath the ocean including earthquakes, volcanic activity and plate tectonics.

Planetary Geologist

Planetary geology is the study of the geology of the planets and their moons, comets asteroids and meteorites. These geologists may investigate the make-up of the solar system, impact craters, planetary volcanism, the structure of the moon and how planets were originally formed. By working with specimens gathered from space missions, or by analysing photos, they can begin to understand the history, climate and topography of other planets.

Economic Geologist

An economic geologist is concerned with the formation and extraction of earth materials that are currently or potentially may be valuable mineral resources, including oil, gas, minerals and ore deposits. Their primary objective is to locate profitable deposits and to figure out how to extract them.

Petroleum Geologist

These geologists focus on oil discovery, production and possible oil deposits or traps. They analyse sediment deposits in faults, oceans and rock folds, and often determine where to drill by locating prospects within a sedimentary basin. Their data may be obtained from geophysical surveys or by working closely with those who drill cuttings and rock formations.

Geomorphologist

Geomorphologists study how the earth’s surface is morphed (or sculpted) by landslides, streams, wind and glaciers. By documenting and mapping these landforms and how water, air and ice have affected them, they can better understand how and why they formed. This can give them insights into past climate changes and processes.

Geophysicist

A geophysicist studies the inner workings of the earth, with a focus on the fluid and physical properties, to gain a greater understanding of continental formation and processes that happen because of it (such as earthquakes). Some geophysicists also focus on finding iron, oil, copper and other deposits of minerals that are created by the earth’s movement and the compression of materials.

Geohydrologist

These geologists study the distribution and properties of natural underground water reservoirs, the movement of water through reservoirs, and their capacity to store water. They also investigate the cycles of drawing out water from the reservoirs for human consumption as well as water replenishment via precipitation.

 

From mining and farming to construction and environmental management, broaden your earth science career with geology courses such as the Certificate of Geology.

 

 

 

Forensic Science Courses Amp-up Your Legal Know-How!

Also known as criminalistics, forensic science is the application of science to civil and criminal law. And the legal system widely recognises the role of forensic science — particularly in criminal offender trials — because when scientific techniques are used, there is little scope for injustice or bias.

Our Certificate of Forensic Science course is ideal for anyone considering a career in law enforcement or criminal law, including those working in investigative journalism, legal offices, the security industry, and even those who would like to pursue a career in crime writing!

It will give you a fundamental understanding of the nature and scope of forensic science, including techniques like fingerprinting, anthropometry and bloodstain analysis. You will learn about evidence collection and analysis, the types of physical and biological evidence, and specialist forensic services like pathology, psychology and anthropology. You will also study criminal profiling and intelligence, criminology and psychological theories, the ethical issues involved in forensic psychology and how to present evidence in court.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking forensic science courses include:

  • Learning about the nature of forensic science
  • Understanding the origins and principles of forensic science
  • Exploring field and laboratory sciences
  • Studying digital services
  • Gaining insights into digital services
  • Examining forensic medicine
  • Understanding forensic science and law
  • Learning about scientific principles
  • Exploring feature comparison methods
  • Gaining insights into the applications of forensic science to law
  • Understanding what evidence is, its use and the types of physical and biological evidence
  • Learning about evidence and its relationship with the law
  • Exploring evidence collection and the chain of custody
  • Studying crime scene investigations
  • Understanding first respondents, scene assessment and the collection of samples
  • Learning about the completion of a crime scene
  • Exploring the purpose of the analysis of evidence
  • Studying the principles underlying analysis
  • Gaining insights into the types of evidence including laboratory evidence
  • Understanding statistical and laboratory analyses
  • Learning about specialist forensics
  • Exploring civil versus criminal courts
  • Gaining an understanding of the types of forensics used including digital and electronic forensics
  • Studying forensic pathology, anthropology and psychology
  • Gaining insights into criminology and the psychological theories behind it
  • Understanding cognitive theory and moral development
  • Learning about personality, intelligence and children and crime
  • Exploring psychological disorders and crime
  • Studying mental health disorders and mental health and criminal offences
  • Gaining insights into the types of disorders, including personality disorders and crime
  • Understanding mental health in children and crime
  • Learning about conduct disorder and oppositional defiance disorder
  • Exploring criminal profiling
  • Studying the role of a forensic psychologist and a psychiatrist in profiling
  • Examining police and statistical profiling and the applications of profiling
  • Understanding profiling typologies and the problems with profiling

… And more

 

The History of DNA Profiling

DNA (which stands for deoxyribonucleic acid) is found inside almost every cell in a human’s body and is unique to individuals. DNA profiling is the process of determining an individual’s DNA characteristics, and in criminal investigations, is a forensic technique that compares criminal suspects’ profiles to DNA evidence to assess the likelihood of their involvement in a crime. Forensic science courses delve into the fascinating world of DNA evidence, but how did profiling come about and how does the process work today?

The use of DNA as a material for the identification of an individual first came about with scientific advances in the 1980s. American biologist, Rd. Jeffrey Glassberg filed the first patent covering the direct use of DNA variation for forensics in 1983.

Meanwhile, in the UK, geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys was independently developing a DNA profiling process in conjunction with two members of the Forensic Science Service (FSS). It was first used forensically in solving the murder of two teenagers who had been raped and murdered in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986. In the inquiry, the DNA contained within blood samples obtained from around 5000 local men, resulted in the exoneration of a man — Ian Kelly — who had confessed to one of the crimes. It also led to the conviction of a man — Colin Pitchfork — who had coerced Kelly to stand in for him when providing a blood sample.

A co-worker reported the deception to the police and Pitchfork was arrested. His blood was sent to the lab for profile development and his profile matched the DNA left by the murderer. This confirmed his presence at both crime scenes and he subsequently pleaded guilty to both murders.

These days, to make biological samples into a format where they can be compared between people, samples must undergo a multi-step process. In criminal investigations, DNA is extracted from samples at crime scene items. The first step is to ‘break open’ any cellular material present in the sample to release the DNA into a solution. From there, it is purified and the small amount of DNA left over, if existing, is replicated in the areas that are unique to individuals. Via a computer database, it is then output as a graph with peaks known as an electropherogram. The peak positions are then converted into a series of letters and numbers — the DNA profile.

 

A Day In The Life Of Forensic Scientist

Dr Charles Connnor is a biological examiner, authorised crime scene examiner and DNA scientist at Forensic Science Service Tasmania (FSST). With a medical research background, including a PhD in medicine and Honours in virology and microbiology, Dr Connor began working at FSST in 2002 and now performs a number of roles at the organisation’s lab. A snapshot into his ‘typical’ day offers some insights into the work he performs and inspiration for those keen to undertake forensic science courses.

The FSST is based in the South of Tasmania with a team of 32 staff. The biology team receive around 3000 cases a year, which equates to around 7000 items that need examining. He works closely with Tasmania Police on major crime scenes such as woundings, murders and sexual assaults, and provides expertise on scientific testing and bloodstain pattern analysis.

In the lab, his day generally begins with the review of a crime scene file that gives him some context into what is alleged to have happened and what might have happened. With that information, he then examines items, applies specific tests and takes samples for DNA profiling.

Once DNA has been profiled, it’s then a matter of comparing a reference sample from a known person to the crime scene profile. If the DNA profiles are exactly the same, it is called a DNA match. DNA matches can also be found by running the profile through two computer databases — one local and one national. There are around 27,000 unique reference samples on the local Tasmanian DNA database and over 980,000 on the national database.

Dr Connor believes there has been much improvement in DNA profiling over the past few years. Testing has become more reliable, sensitive and robust. It has also gone from the statistical chance of someone matching a profile being in the millions to the septillions (that’s a number with 24 zeros!)

New Developments in DNA Evidence

Several new techniques have been developed in the past decade that has increased the way DNA can be used as part of the criminal justice process. These include: 

Familial Searching

A DNA profile can demonstrate genetic relationships when the profiles are matched on the basis of the number of STR markers that are shared. For example, a parent is expected to share half of their STR markers with their children, because half of a child’s genetic code is received from each parent. Familial searching is used in criminal investigations where DNA evidence is found at a crime scene and a match can’t be established with any of the DNA profiles held on databases. However, these partial matches may be identified, and may indicate the DNA profiles of genetic relatives, and can provide new leads and a greater chance of identifying suspects.

Kinship Matching

Based on the same principles as familial matching, in kinship matching family members voluntarily submit samples of their DNA to investigators. Often used in natural disasters involving multiple fatalities where unidentified bodies are involved. If a partial match is found, it signifies a link to a family member and can reduce the time required to identify bodies.

mtDNA Profiling

Mitochondria are structures within our cells that are responsible for the production of energy. Each mitochondrion has its own DNA, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is maternally inherited, and identical between maternal relatives and siblings. This type of profiling can be used to provide greater specificity in familial searches where a number of partial matches are obtained. It can also be used in the identification of degraded samples such as skeletal remains, where there may be insufficient nuclear DNA to create a profile.

Y-STR DNA Profiling

The Y chromosome is a sex-determining, paternally inherited chromosome. Y-STR profiling can be used to narrow familial searches where a number of partial matches are obtained. It can also be used to distinguish between female and male DNA in sexual assault cases where samples taken from the victim are mixed, and where it is difficult to obtain an accurate profile of the suspect.

Our Certificate of Forensic Science course will arm you with the skills to embark on a career in forensic science or gain new specialised skills to advance in your area of career expertise.

Understand the Mind With Our Criminal Psychology Course

The origins of criminal behaviour can be explained by a variety of different theories. Understanding them can give you valuable insights into the thoughts and behaviours of those who cross the boundaries of what is acceptable in society today. Ideal for youth workers, counsellors, welfare officers, support workers, psychologists and those in the security, legal and crime prevention professions, our Certificate of Criminal Psychology will develop your understanding of how psychology is used in crime prevention and law enforcement.

You will learn about the scope and nature of psychopathology, and how learning disabilities and mental disorders are connected to the crime. You will also study how psychology can affect interactions with the police and in the courtroom, and take an in-depth look at how gender and age are associated with crime.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking a criminal psychology course include:

  1. Learning about the definitions of crime and the consensus view of what crime is
  2. Exploring the conflict and interactionist views of crime
  3. Studying the scope of criminal psychology and what criminal psychologists do
  4. Gaining insights into profiling
  5. Understanding the courts and the correctional system
  6. Learning about the psychological approaches to understanding crime
  7. Exploring biological explanations of crime
  8. Studying phrenology, genetics, eugenics and the XYY chromosome model
  9. Gaining insights into twin and adoption studies
  10. Understanding nature, nurture, family influence and the environmental explanations of crime
  11. Learning about rational choice theory
  12. Exploring types of aggression and the Drive, Freudian, social learning and biological and evolutionary theories
  13. Studying the types of aggression including against outsiders and in species and humans
  14. Gaining insights into environmental influences on human aggression
  15. Understanding familiarity, reinforcement, imitation or modelling and aggression and culture
  16. Learning about other aggressive factors due to pain, frustration and alcohol
  17. Exploring murder, sexual assault, pursuit behaviour, stalking and false stalking syndrome
  18. Gaining an understanding of mental disorders and crime
  19. Studying the meaning of learning disabilities and crime
  20. Gaining insights into sex offences and people with learning disabilities
  21. Understanding crime and intelligence, IQ testing and modern intelligence testing
  22. Exploring learning disabilities and crime
  23. Learning about the scope and nature of psychopathology
  24. Studying personality disorder
  25. Gaining insights into psychopaths and how people become psychopaths
  26. Understanding heartless and emotionless people and the treatments available
  27. Learning about the scope and nature of gender and crime studies
  28. Exploring rates of crime
  29. Studying murder and violence
  30. Gaining insights into prostitution

…And more!

Five Serial Killers Caught Using Criminal Profiling

Serial killers can often be difficult to track due to their high intelligence and disconnection to legal boundaries and law enforcement. Also known as behavioural analysis, the criminal profiling aspect of psychology offers those in law enforcement practical tools they can use to apprehend serial criminals. Formalised in the mid-1970s, criminal profiling involves creating a person’s profile, which is then used to connect seemingly unconnected incidents they may have been involved in. It’s a fascinating process you’ll understand well after completing our criminal psychology course!

#1 – George Metesky

Also known as the Mad Bomber of New York, Metesky was an American mechanic and electrician who terrorised the city for 16 years during the 1940s and 50s. Resentful and angry about a workplace injury he suffered years earlier, he planted over 30 explosives around the city. These were placed in storage lockers, phone booths, toilets and even cinemas. At least 22 of these exploded, injuring 15 people.

Frustrated by their lack of success in apprehending the culprit, police consulted the Assistant Commissioner of Mental Hygiene for New York State, James Brussel. Brussel built a psychological profile after reviewing crime scene photos and letters Metesky wrote to a newspaper. He was finally apprehended, found to be legally insane and committed to a state mental hospital in 1957.

However, in 1973, the US Supreme Court ruled that a mentally ill defendant could not be committed to a hospital operated by the Department of Correctional Services unless a jury finds him dangerous. Because he was committed without a jury trial, he was transferred to a hospital outside the correctional system. Doctors determined that he was harmless, and because he had already served two-thirds of the 25-year maximum sentence, he was released in December of that year. He returned to his home in Connecticut and died 20 years later at the ripe old age of 90.

#2 – Ted Bundy

Born in 1946, Bundy’s killing spree spanned hundreds of miles across America during the 1970s. Charismatic and handsome, he would typically approach his victims in public places and impersonate an authority figure or feign disability or an injury before knocking them unconscious. He also broke into dwellings at night and bludgeoned his victims to death as they slept, and decapitated at least twelve victims and kept their severed heads as mementos. He was jailed in 1975 for aggravated kidnapping and attempted criminal assault before engineering two dramatic escapes and committing further assaults, including three murders.

In 1978, two FBI specialists created a profile which assessed his psychological makeup, known movements, victim selection and killing patterns and placed him on the Top 10 Most Wanted list. They posted information and canvassed the public and he was recaptured in February of that year. He received three death sentences for the Florida homicides and before his execution in the electric chair in 1989, confessed to 30 homicides. The true number of his victims is unknown and possibly higher.

#3 – Joseph Paul Franklin

Following an abusive childhood, Franklin gravitated to the control and dominance that white supremacy offered, and his murder spree spanned the late 1970s and early 80s. His first violent attack was in 1976, and his crimes escalated in severity over the next several years. Robbing banks across the country to support himself, the FBI’s clever criminal profiling led to his capture in 1980.

He was eventually convicted of several murders and received two death sentences as well as six life sentences. He also later confessed to the attempted murders of civil rights activist Vernon Jordan and magazine publisher Larry Flynt. Both survived their injuries, however, Flynt was left permanently paralysed from the waist down.

After spending 15 years on death row awaiting execution for the 1977 shooting murder of Gerald Gordon, he was executed by lethal injection in November 2013. Because he repeatedly changed his accounts of some of his crimes, and in some cases was not charged, to this day, nobody is really sure of the full extent of Franklin’s crimes.

#4 – Wayne Williams

Spanning 22 months from 1979, a series of apparently connected murders occurred in Atlanta in the US. Behavioural analysis indicated they all fitted a certain profile — they were all young, African-American men taken in public areas during daylight. Williams first became a suspect in 1981 after a police surveillance team suspected something had been thrown from a bridge into the Chattahoochee River, a site where several victims’ bodies had previously been discovered. The first car to exit the bridge belonged to Williams, and when questioned, he gave an alibi that later turned out to be false which raised suspicion.

Two days later, the body of Nathaniel Cater was discovered and the medical examiner ruled he had died of suffocation. Police speculated that it was Williams who had murdered him and thrown him into the river. He consequently failed three polygraph tests, and fibres and hair retrieved from the body of another victim, Jimmy Ray Payne, were found to be consistent with Williams’ car, home and dog. Co-workers also told police they had seen Williams with scratches on his arms and face which police believed could have been inflicted by his victims during a struggle.

He was arrested in 1981, and in February 1982, a jury found him guilty of the murders of Cater and Payne and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Over the years Williams requested retrials — in the late 1990s and in early 2004 — however both were denied, and he continues to serve out his sentence in Telfair State Prison. Police believe that Williams is also responsible for at least 23 of the 30 Atlanta Child Murders that occurred between 1979 and 1981, however, he has never been tried, and most of the cases have now been closed.

#5 – Andrew Cunanan

Born in California in 1969, as a teenager, Cunanan identified as gay in high school and soon after began having liaisons with wealthy older men. He was known to have murdered five people during a three-month period in mid-1997.

His killing spree first began with the murder of this close friend, Jeffrey Trail, who he beat to death with a hammer. His second victim was David Madson with whom he’d had a previous relationship that ended in 1996. The pair were seen socialising together two days after Trail’s murder and Madson’s body was eventually discovered on the shores of Rush Lake with gunshot wounds to the head.

Two days later, Cunanan drove to Illinois and murdered prominent real estate developer Lee Miglin. He was found with hands and feet bound and his head wrapped in duct tape. Cunanan had slit his throat with a hacksaw and stabbed him more than twenty times with a screwdriver. Although Miglin’s family maintained that his killing was a random attack, experts argued that it is unlikely he would have bound and tortured him without some motive.

Five days after that, Cunanan shot and killed caretaker William Reese with the same gun he had used to murder Madson. However, unlike his other victims who he seemingly killed for personal reasons, experts believed he murdered Reese for his pickup truck, which he used to drive to Florida.

A month later he was listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, however, eluded authorities for the next two months. On 15 July, he murdered 50-year-old Italian fashion designer, Gianni Versace, on the front stairway of his Miami Beach mansion. He used the same gun that was used in the murder of Madson and Reese.

Driven by the need to live a life of luxury, experts believe he may have suffered from an antisocial personality disorder, characterised by a lack of empathy and remorse. Pressure from an intensifying manhunt led to Cunanan taking his own life, with police finding his body on a luxury houseboat on July 23. He had a gunshot wound to the head.

 

Gain a solid understanding of criminal psychology and learn to navigate and support the complex nature of your fellow humans with our Certificate of Criminal Psychology course.

Business Psychology Course A Valuable Asset 

Business psychology courses are valuable professional development across many industries and careers, from business coach to customer service manager and even marketing executive. What do these diverse careers have in common? They all need at least foundation knowledge in understanding people and their behaviour.

If you want to develop your leadership, marketing, and business coaching skills, our Advanced Certificate of Business Psychology is perfect for you. This course will provide you with business psychology knowledge and skills to gain an understanding of the behaviour of both employers and business users.

You will learn about marketing psychology, which explores buyer behaviour or the motivations of people as consumers. You’ll also discover how to help clients develop strategies to achieve goals and build their business potential as a business coach.

On completion of this course, you will have a foundation knowledge of how and why people behave in certain ways, specifically in the workplace and as consumers.

Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes achieved by this business psychology course include:

  • The Gestalt Approach
  • Explaining Behaviour
  • Knowledge of Brain Processes
  • Personal Interpretation of a Given Situation
  • Business psychology terminology
  • Developmental and Interactive Expressions of Behaviour
  • Nature versus Nurture
  • Influence of Environment on Learning Behaviour
  • Modelling and Conformity
  • Classical and Operative Conditioning
  • Reinforcement & Punishment
  • Mature & Immature Temperaments (e.g. Sanguine, Melancholic, Choleric, Phlegmatic
  • Maslow’s Model of Self-Actualisation
  • Ways of Seeking Applicants
  • Types of Interview
  • Ways of Selecting Staff
  • Scope and nature of marketing
  • Reasons for marketing
  • Types of customers: loyal, discount, needs-based, wandering, impulse.
  • Economic, economic, personal, apathetic shoppers
  • Understanding reward options: rational, sensory, social, ego satisfaction
  • Market segmentation
  • Internal influence on perception and personality
  • Internal influences – motivation and awareness
  • Social influences
  • Consumerism
  • Communication and persuasion
  • Nature and Scope of Business Coaching
  • Improving productivity
  • Marketing
  • Improving business resource management
  • PBL Based Project
  • Significance of knowledge of interviewing and assessment
  • Incentives and motivational strategies
  • Productivity and marketing strategies
  • Theoretical information to derive sensible solutions
  • Initial business coaching assessment for a specified business
  • Actions for improving and sustaining the level of performance

 

What is a Business Psychologist? 

A business psychologist is a coach with specific insights to help individuals, teams, and workplaces operate more efficiently. Their unique skill set is also valuable to executives and managers in leadership positions to help them build and manage successful teams that achieve business goals.

Business psychologists can specialise in many areas from organisational psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology and marketing psychology. At the heart of the profession is the ability to understand people and how they intersect with a business system and others. To put it simply – they are people experts.

 

Business Psychologist as Business Coach

As a business coach (or career coach), business psychologists focus on why individuals thrive (or don’t survive) in certain business situations or careers and offer support. This support is provided in leadership, teamwork, and business success.

Leadership

Help executives and managers hone their leadership style and abilities through leadership coaching. Businesses psychologists help leaders to identify and improve on their weaknesses and capitalise on strengths to lead successful teams

Teamwork

Conduct assessments, facilitate meetings and provide training to teams to help improve business outcomes.

Business Improvement

Carry out business or organisational audit to identify barriers to success, such as cultural barriers or system inadequacies that lead to lost productivity and retention of employees.

 

5 Careers That Benefit from Business Psychology

Several careers would benefit from business psychology skills, but the following are the most obvious. If you work in any one of these roles, a professional development course in business psychology is valuable for you.

 

  1. Human Resources Professional 

Human resource professionals must have expertise in dealing with people, from recruitment to resolving workplace disputes and taking disciplinary action – psychology plays an integral role in this career.

 

  1. Marketing Executive 

Marketing executives who understand and can predict why people think and behave in specific ways and how they make purchase decisions are valuable. If you work in marketing, a business psychology course will help you progress your career, especially in advertising, sales, research, training, and consumer advocacy roles.

 

  1. Professional Development Coach 

Executive coaches, career counsellors or businesses coaches are responsible for making significant improvements in a person’s career or business. If you want to pursue a career as a coach, business psychology courses will provide the skills and knowledge to help people reach their business, career, and life goals.

 

  1. Customer Relationship Specialist 

Customer satisfaction is a major priority for all businesses. As a result, businesses are investing in customer service specialists with expertise in resolving customer complaints with customer retention being the desired outcome. A background in business psychology is helpful for this role to understand human behaviour develop programs that encourage customer loyalty.

 

  1. Recruitment or Training Specialist 

The success of any business relies on the recruitment and the retention of the right people. Professional recruiters and training specialists are critical to identifying the skills, knowledge and personality traits that fit not only the role but also the organisational culture. It’s easy to see why a recruitment professional or training specialist would benefit from a business psychology course, and why a business would value these unique skills.

 

Are you interested in adding a business psychology course to your professional development portfolio? Enrol in the Advanced Certificate of Business Psychology today and discover how to be a people expert. 

 

Beautiful Gardens Bloom with Our Home Gardening Course

Gain the confidence to create and maintain a beautiful and economical green space with our home gardening course! All you need is a green thumb attitude and knowledge to begin planning and planting a home garden you can be proud of.

It’s not easy to create and maintain a garden like a pro, but it is possible when you know why professional gardeners make certain choices and decisions. 

So, if want to develop your gardening skills, spark your creativity, and save money, our Certificate of Home Gardening course is ideal! 

In this online course, you will learn practical gardening skills so that you can cultivate your garden just like a professional at a fraction of the cost.

You will also learn about the different type of plants, soil and nutritional requirements of gardens and lawns, and how to control pests and weeds. 

This gardening course will also cover landscape design techniques, and how to create indoor and outdoor gardens, including vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens.

Learning Outcomes

You will achieve the following learning outcomes in this home gardening course: 

  • Identify plant health problems and know treatments
  • Know the plant naming system and how plants are classified
  • Understand the effect of soil structure and texture on plant growth
  • Comprehend plant terminology and planting methods
  • Learn plant pruning requirements and methods
  • Know plant nutrition requirements
  • Understand soil conditions and when they require improvement
  • Recognise a range of pests and diseases and the methods of control
  • Recognise a variety of weeds and know various control methods.
  • Know a range of garden styles and the history behind them
  • Have knowledge of landscape construction techniques
  • Understand the elements and processes of landscape design
  • Understand various propagating techniques
  • Propagate plants by multiple methods
  • Understand the soil preparation and requirements to establish or renovate a lawn
  • Know lawn maintenance requirements.
  • Understand needs, including environmental and nutritional aspects of growing plants indoors (including hydroponics and greenhouses).
  • Know how to select plants suited to growth indoors
  • Develop knowledge of vegetable growing procedures and requirements.
  • Have knowledge of a range of fruits and berries suited to the home garden
  • Have knowledge of a variety of commonly grown herbs and flowers

6 High Protein Plants to Grow at Home

Whether you’re a vegetarian or simply want to boost your protein intake via plant sources for health reasons, these plants pack a powerful punch. Discover tips on how to help them grow and be inspired by the recipe idea.

  1. Spinach 

Spinach is a true superfood that’s high in protein and packed full of nutrients and antioxidants. Darkly, leafy greens like this one are essential for skin, hair and bone health – providing protein, iron, vitamins and minerals!

Growing tip – Spinach does best when growing in moist, nitrogen-rich soil.  

Recipe idea – Spinach, pear and parmesan salad 

  1. Kale 

Kale is a member of the cabbage family and is excellent in salads and smoothies. It’s also a superhero food that comes in green and purple with a powerful protein punch! Kale contains fibre, antioxidants, calcium, vitamins C and K, iron and many other health-promoting nutrients!

Growing tip – Kale grows well in full sun but will tolerate partial shade. 

Recipe idea – Healthy green juice  

  1. Quinoa 

Pronounced ‘keen waa” this super grain is popular for its nutty flavour, versatility and nutritional profile. It’s also packed with protein, fibre and various vitamins and minerals – and is gluten-free!

Growing tip – Plant in spring by sowing seeds slightly covered with soil in uniform rows. Keep the seeds moist until the seedlings sprout! 

Recipe idea – Quick halloumi and grain salad 

  1. Sunflower 

Sunflowers are beautiful, so they add a glorious pop of colour to any garden, but their seeds are also good for you! Sunflower seeds make for a nutty, crunchy protein-packed snack on the go.

Growing tip – Sunflower seeds can be started indoors. When planted outside, they are tolerant to heat and drought but make sure they’re never waterlogged. 

Recipe idea – Ronnit Hoppes seed brittle

  1. Broccoli

It’s not the most popular veggie on the dinner plate, especially with the kids, but this mean green packs a powerful protein punch.  

Growing tip – The most foolproof way to grow your broccoli is to grow them from seedlings. 

Recipe idea – Jamie Oliver’s quick green pasta

  1. Hazelnuts 

Hazelnuts are rich in dietary fibre, folate and are an excellent source of vitamin E and healthy fats.

Growing tip – Hazelnuts are the easiest nuts to grow – perfect for the nervous first-timer! They are generally grown as a bushy shrub and can be kept to a manageable size with regular pruning. 

Recipe idea – Hazelnut brownies 

 

The Indoor Garden 

Whether you love or loathe the outdoors, you can enjoy a beautiful garden! The indoor garden gives you green space inside your home or office and provides many benefits.

You might be particularly keen on creating an indoor garden if you live in an apartment or spend a lot of time indoors for work. 

Having an indoor garden has the following benefits:

  • Boosts your mood
  • Reduces stress and fatigue 
  • Cleans indoor air by reducing toxins, increasing humidity and producing oxygen 
  • Fragrant plants naturally perfume the air 
  • Enhances productivity 
  • Promotes restful sleep 

 

6 Best Indoor Air Purifying Plants

The best indoor plants for purifying the air include English ivy, snake plants, spider plants, and chrysanthemums.

  1. Flamingo Lily

Appreciated for their bold, exotic looks, the Flamingo Lily is an excellent choice for any houseplant-lover looking to add a pop of colour to their home.

  1. Aloe Vera 

A beautiful addition to your home, Aloe Vera has many uses such as relieving heartburn, keeping fruits and vegetables fresh and soothing skin irritations.

  1. Pineapple Plant

Have you ever thrown out the top of a pineapple? Next time keep it – you can grow your own pineapple plant!

  1. Peace Lily

The Peace Lily is one of the most popular, hardiest and most attractive of the smaller indoor plant varieties.

  1. English Ivy

A traditional houseplant, English Ivy remains trendy thanks to its easy-going nature, elegant style and versatile stems.

  1. Chrysanthemums

The official flower of Mother’s Day, these colourful plants are perfect for indoors as they require little care, other than watering, good soil and drainage.

 

Eager to make gardening more efficient, exciting, and full of possibilities? Put that green thumb to work with the guidance of a home gardening course like our Certificate of Home Gardening.  

Change Management Courses Turn Negatives Into Positives

Change is a fact of life. And in today’s dynamic business world, while it can be disruptive at first, organisational change can reap enormous benefits. From restructuring the workforce to launching new products, the successful management of change ensures companies remain competitive.

Our Certificate of Change Management is ideal for managers, directors, supervisors, team leaders and those who are keen to develop or refine their skills in leading and sustaining change in an organisation. You will learn about the different types of organisational change, how to overcome resistance, and the tools and techniques required throughout the change cycle. 

You will also study how to communicate change to different groups, remove obstacles that can hinder a collaborative transition process, and how to engage, motivate and support employees in order to make the change last. Get ready to turn resistance into acceptance with this change management course!

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking a change management course include:

  • Recognising the key initial outputs of a change initiative and the RACI status of stakeholder groups
  • Learning how to assess the level of stakeholder discomfort in relation to a proposed change effort
  • Exploring the questions used to assess the effectiveness of vision of a proposed change
  • Studying the sequence of steps required to assess the skills needed to support organisational change
  • Examining how to determine an organisation’s readiness for sustainable change
  • Learning about stakeholder analysis and the key initial outputs of a change initiative
  • Exploring how to assess discomfort, vision, skills and the keys to change
  • Studying how to match the sources of employee resistance to change to examples
  • Examining how to match types of change resistance to actions for dealing with them
  • Understanding how to identify tactics for overcoming obstacles to change including inertia
  • Learning how to recognise appropriate ways to communicate change
  • Exploring how to recognise tactics for effectively leading change in your organisation
  • Studying how to overcome resistance and the obstacles to change
  • Examining how to introduce, communicate and lead change
  • Understanding which key elements of change need to be communicated to different groups
  • Learning how to employ strategies to make change easier and reduce discomfort
  • Exploring how to recognise how to reinforce skills and make change last
  • Studying how to leverage performance management methods to make change last
  • Knowing what and how to communicate
  • Gaining insights into making change more comfortable
  • Understanding how training can facilitate change
  • Learning how to sustain planned change and how to institutionalise change
  • Studying how to keep employees motivated during change
  • Recognising the common signs of stress in employees
  • Understanding how to reduce employee stress during times of organisational change

And more!

 

Types of Organisational Change

There can be a variety of factors that lead to change within an organisation, and one of the major challenges is how to reduce the potential for employee resistance. This will ensure employees understand why change is important to the company’s future. Here are the main types of organisational change — some of which you will cover in our change management course.

Total Change

This involves change in an organisation’s vision and is required when it is faced with criticalities including growing competitive pressures, long-term business failure, the failure of management or leaders, or disagreement about employee an organisational values.

Fundamental Change

This type of change relates to the redefinition of an organisation’s mission or vision. It may be required during extremely volatile circumstances like a failure in leadership, a decline in productivity or due to the current business environment.

Operational Change

This kind of change becomes a need or requirement when an organisation is faced with competitive pressures. The focus here is on the improvement in the quality or delivery of products or services in order for the organisation to gain a competitive edge.

Strategic Change

Strategic change is usually implemented at the organisational level and can include a change in management style. This kind of change usually has a cascading effect on the entire company and often has a marked influence on the company’s overall performance.

Directional Change

This type of change may come about because of rapid changes in governmental policies or control. These can include pricing structures, and import/export and tax policies. Directional change can be required when an organisation lacks the capacity to implement their current strategies effectively or if new strategies are required.

Incremental Change

Incremental change is implemented at the micro-level, and changes are adaptive in nature and implemented or introduced gradually. It is based on the assumption that changes will result in even bigger changes, and it creates adaptive mechanisms for meeting the organisation’s ultimate vision.

Reactive Change

These changes take place in response to an event or a chain of events. It usually occurs when there is a decrease or increase in the demand for the company’s products or services. It can also be a response to a crisis due to technology advancements or changes.

Anticipatory Change

This is a change that’s implemented with prior anticipation, and organisations may either undergo incremental changes or change the organisation from its existing state to a desired futuristic state and deal with the process of transition afterwards.

Planned Change

Planned change is also regarded as developmental change, and it is implemented with the objective of improving current operational strategies. It can include organisational restructuring, team building, enhancing employees’ technical expertise or the introduction of new products or technologies.

Happened Change

This kind of change is unpredictable and usually takes place as a result of the impact of the external factors. It is usually profound and can be traumatic as its consequences are out of direct control and often unknown. It happens when an organisation reaches a plateau in its life cycle and can be impacted by social or political events.

 

How to Motivate Employees in Times of Change

One of the most difficult aspects of working through change is managing the ‘human’ side of the business. This is because people are fundamentally resistant to change, as it can bring about fear, doubt and indecision. So how can you prepare, manage and motivate your team?

Explain the reasons

One of the quickest ways an employee’s motivation can be depleted is because they don’t understand the reasons for the change. If an organisation is going through a transformation, everyone should understand why it’s happening, and what to expect in terms of challenges, benefits and outcomes.9

Detail the repercussions

When employees are faced with changes in their organisation, most will immediately wonder how it will affect them. However, most won’t actually ask the question, which can lead to frustration and disillusionment. Leaders should take the time to explain to employees how the change will impact them and how the business will support them.

Communicate well

Communication can be the make-or-break factor when it comes to keeping people motivated during periods of change. The reasons should be clearly explained and regular updates provided to check how employees are coping. Questions and concerns should also be promptly addressed as the situation progresses.

Be honest

There is no point selling a negative change as a positive one — employees will see through it, and be less inclined to come on-board. If the change is negative, be honest about why it’s happening and why it’s necessary. If it will have short-term negative effects that will lead to positive results, be upfront about that as well.

Consider individuals

Remember that everyone is different. Some will immediately understand the reasons for change and others take some time to come around. Give employees the freedom, resources and time they need to come to terms with it and support those who are struggling. If there are those that continue to undermine the process, don’t be afraid to be direct with them. Study our change management course and you’ll find out more!

 

Our Certificate of Change Management will give you the confidence to apply leadership and change management principles so you can successfully implement strategies for organisational change success.

 

 

 

Enhance the Digital Journey

Top UI/UX Trends for 2020

Website design trends come and go, but when creating a website, UI and UX (via a UX design course) are both integral to the success of a product or experience. Here are some of the top UI/UX trends for 2020.

Meaningful Content

Website design is increasingly focused on narrative and meaning as opposed to emotion and sensation because it helps to convey the essence of an organisation and its brand values. Unique visual design is essential, but content via digital storytelling is what truly engages viewers. A true connection means they are not just browsing — they want to be part of a brand’s story as well.

User Customisation

Providing a tailored and customised experience to users means you have a strong understanding of their needs. With UX and UI, customisation can be integrated on a range of website assets, including via navigation. When navigation is woven logically into an organisation’s ‘story’ and flow of information, engagement will be even more optimised.

Uninterrupted UX

If you are designing an E-commerce website, it’s important to consider a customer’s purchase journey. For example, how many pages do they have to scroll through in order to finalise their purchase? Too many pages can cause friction in their user experience, negatively divert their attention and even lose you the sale. Uninterrupted UX will ensure every piece of information the user needs about the product or service and how to acquire it, is easily accessible.

Data Visualisation

More and more businesses are focusing their website branding strategies on the use of visual data that is not only aesthetically pleasing but interactive as well. Data visualisation is not just about including charts and graphs to make data more digestible, it can also provide a ‘wow’ factor that will increase engagement with your target market.

Artificial Intelligence

The importance of AI continues to grow and AI assistants are becoming increasingly common …  hello, Smart devices! Just as DIY services like Squarespace and Wix have done, AI will increasingly become part of the web designer’s toolbox. An example – a designer creates a storyboard and feeds it to an algorithm. The algorithm then applies constraints to the storyboard and comes up with several template options. The result? The UX/UI designer is able to make more creative decisions and incorporate the technology across a variety of applications.

Augmented Reality

As new technologies arise, UI/UX trends are going above and beyond what is expected. Virtual reality (VR) is a complete immersion experience that shuts out the physical world and is already being used in entertainment systems like video games. Augmented reality (AR), however, adds a virtual layer onto the world we live in — something Microsoft refers to as ‘mixed reality’.

 

What is Customer Journey Mapping?

Customer journey mapping visually illustrates customers’ needs, perceptions and processes throughout their interaction and relationship with a brand. Often studied as part of a UX design course, it is all about leveraging the customer experience (CX). This will provide insights via core metrics, identify opportunities to optimize your CX, and diagnose CX issues. It can also help you identify where new products or services can improve existing customer journeys, or create completely new ones.

Most customer journeys fall into one of four categories:

  • Onboarding ‑ for example, opening an account or taking out insurance.
  • Maintaining ‑ for example, changing your address or calling for technical help.
  • Using or owning – for example, using a smartphone or making an insurance claim.
  • Renewal – for example, renewing services or subscriptions.

How To Identify Customer Touch Points

Analysing all of the touchpoints a potential customer has before, during and after an interaction with your brand plays a big part in customer journey mapping. It includes things that you directly influence, but also those controlled or influenced by third parties. This is because regardless of whether you are responsible for it, it still affects the customer experience.

Key questions to ask include:

  • How did they access you? For example, your customer may find you through social media, advertising, online reviews or even by old-fashioned word of mouth.
  • What did they do with you? For example, it could be navigating your website, visiting a store or interacting with your call centre or sales assistants.
  • What did they afterwards? This might include querying product details, requesting a return or product support, subscribing to EDM’s, or filling out a customer feedback survey.

 

Once you map every touchpoint in a customer’s journey and collect feedback from each of them, it will be easier to spot pain points along the way and then work towards improving their experience.

How To Create A Customer Journey Map

Let’s look at an example of a customer wanting to take out a mortgage for a property. Customer touchpoints (in bold) could include:

  1. A customer sees an ad from their bank detailing an attractive interest rate. Further research on the bank’s website prompts them to further investigate a mortgage.
  2. An online mortgage calculator confirms the repayments are affordable, so they go to their local branch for a meeting with their bank manager.
  3. Their queries are answered, so they return home and fill out an online application form.
  4. They receive an email from the bank saying their application has been accepted, and they are invited to complete a full application
  5. The customer fills out a full application form online and submits it, and an email is sent to them saying their application has been received.
  6. However, some of the required information is missing, so a contact centre agent calls them to explain what information they still need to provide.
  7. Eventually, the mortgage application is approved and the customer receives a letter with a mortgage offer.
  8. Once the property purchase process has been completed, the customer then receives a final confirmation of the mortgage via email including details of the direct debit process and conditions etc. The process is now complete.

So that’s a total of 11 touchpoints. For many homebuyers, there will more depending on the bank, its process and the details involved — right up until the point of purchase. After that, there may still be communication about monthly statements, changes to interest rates, and other customer queries.

How To Fix Pain Points And Where

You might have a satisfied customer in terms of their attitudinal, affective, cognitive and behavioural response. Their satisfaction may also be evident via a Net Promoter Score (NPS) or a Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSAT). But how many other prospective customers found the website confusing, the application process too complicated, or customer service that did not meet their expectations … so they gave up?

This is why journey mapping is essential. By gathering feedback at each touchpoint, you can start to understand how each one contributes to the overall experience. And by being able to pinpoint specific pain points along their journey, you will be able to make improvements at the points it really matters.

Analysing these alongside your core CX metrics, you’ll be able to identify improvements that will have the biggest impact on their overall experience, and the impact on your organisation’s sales, conversion rates and customer lifetime value. Something you’ll learn the value of when undertaking a UX design course!

 

Are you passionate about IT? Discover our range of online courses in Information Technology & Microsoft. 

Starting a Consulting Business – Tips

Starting a consulting business can be daunting, but becoming a business consultant in Australia is a growing and promising career path. However, possessing expertise in the field of business does not guarantee work as a consultant. It is crucial to understand that you may need to source your own clients or partner with larger companies that provide consulting services to secure work opportunities.

Working as a business consultant can be both lucrative and rewarding, but it may also mean working with multiple clients with varying needs. Therefore, before taking the plunge, you should consider several factors to ensure a successful career in this field.

Firstly, you must have a thorough understanding of the industry and the skills required to be a successful business consultant. Secondly, you should be aware of the competition and the demand for business consultants in your area. Thirdly, you should have a clear understanding of the services you will offer and the fees you will charge for your services.

Lastly, you need to have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, as you’ll be working with different clients and stakeholders, and you need to be able to effectively communicate your advice and recommendations to them.

Starting a consulting business requires carefully considering these factors to increase your confidence and your chances of success.

Legals

Depending on your area of specialisation and the types of consulting services you’ll be offering, there may be certain legal requirements you need to adhere to. These include choosing the right business structure — as a sole trader, partnership or company. Each has pros and cons that will affect the future operation of your business, including tax consequences.

You’ll need to apply for an ABN for tax purposes, and professional indemnity insurance is also recommended. This protects small businesses and covers legal claims that other third parties may make, such as a breach of duty or negligence.

Qualifications

Certain regulated industries may require formal qualifications; however, a Certificate of Business Consulting will establish your credibility and expertise with clients. It’s also worth applying for professional memberships and industry accreditations to keep up to date with developments in certain industries.

Company Structure

Once you’ve determined your business structure, you should also consider how you see your business expanding down the track. You may want to start small—with just you in a home-based office—and hire additional staff at a later date. If this is in your business plan, consider their tasks and where they will work.

For example, you may wish to hire another specialist or someone who can help out with admin so that you can concentrate on servicing your clients. You’ll also need to consider several key responsibilities as an employer when starting a consulting business.

Lifestyle

If you have formerly worked for a large organisation and are about to embark on starting a consultancy business solo, things will change! Running your own business means you will be responsible for everything from fixing internet issues to covering expenses, paying super and managing how and when you invoice for your services.

You also won’t receive income for time off work — so paid annual and sick leave won’t be an option. You’ll need to weigh up whether your lifestyle and personality can cope with these factors and learn to be disciplined and organised to effectively manage your workload.

Target Market

The best consulting services in the world are no good to anyone if there is no market for them, so understanding who will pay for your expertise is crucial. Are you looking to service individuals, large organisations, or global corporates? And how will this work logistically? If you want to service clients face-to-face, you’ll need to factor in travel expenses and confirm whether clients are willing to cover these costs.

Your Brand

The idea of branding your business can be intimidating. However, establishing it will solidify how your clients see you and form their opinion of your business. Your brand should also stand out from other consultancy services in terms of your unique selling proposition (USP).

Then, it’s all about finding the most effective ways to communicate your USP to prospective clients, i.e. marketing yourself! This can be done by an engaging website, a unique marketing campaign or a memorable social media feed — whatever will make your potential customers think of your services before your competitors.

Once established, you should also consider registering your business name to protect your brand (such as your logo and intellectual property).

Networking

Building and maintaining relationships with current and potential clients is essential to guaranteeing a consistent flow of work when starting a consulting business. However, networking is also vital to your success as a small business owner, regardless of the types of consulting services you provide. Professional networks will introduce you to various practices, give you new opportunities to learn and promote positive connections and collaboration.

Once your business grows and your reputation is solidified, contributing to thought leadership in your area of expertise (via article writing or blog posts, for example) can enhance your kudos even further.

Billing

Different types of consulting will require different rates, and determining these can be challenging. Charging too little will make it harder to make your business financially viable in the longer term, and charging too much may deter clients from working with you. Do your research on your competitors, compare ‘apples with apples,’ and base your rates around being competitive.

You will also need to factor in your expenses, including tax and super contributions. Invoicing terms should be agreed upon, including the timing of payments. If projects are lengthy, consider charging an upfront fee that is paid before work commences to cover your ongoing costs.

Small business consultants can help companies identify problems, recommend solutions, and ultimately cut costs and increase revenue in slowing economies. Business and management consultants are also employed in virtually every industry—either full-time or as freelance consultants—including the banking, mining, retail, logistics, healthcare, government, and media sectors.

Certificate of Business Consulting

Certificate of Business Consulting

Certificate of Business Consulting

If you’re starting a consulting business, our Certificate of Business Consulting will help you hone and market your expertise to prospective clients to leverage positive outcomes. You will study presenting, report writing, communication, and negotiating skills, as well as emotional intelligence and leadership. With Seek projecting job growth of over 24 per cent in the next five years (and a salary package of up to $120K!), now is the ideal time to consider a consultant career.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking consulting courses include:

  • Learning about professional practice for consultants
  • Exploring the pros and cons of being a consultant
  • Studying what’s needed to be a consultant and how to get started
  • Gaining an understanding of codes of conduct
  • Understanding the methods of entering business and deciding where to work
  • Studying how to plan a consultancy
  • Learning about equipment, start-up finance, and set-up costs
  • Exploring business structures
  • Gaining an understanding of insurance
  • Studying how to prepare a business plan and pro forma
  • Gaining insights into knowing what to charge
  • Understanding available work time and how to convince clients of your fee value
  • Learning how to set up your consultancy practice
  • Exploring how to find clients and market a consultancy practice
  • Studying how to establish a press kit, network and communicate
  • Gaining insights into keeping accounts and records
  • Understanding how to source documents
  • Learning how to handle timesheets and invoices
  • Exploring how to generate business and keep it
  • Studying how to use agents and brokers
  • Gaining insights into subcontracting other consultants and support services
  • Understanding how to gain references from clients and propagate referrals
  • Learning how to obtain references from clients
  • Exploring how to write tenders and articles
  • Studying how to close a deal
  • Gaining insights into leveraging successful client relationships and keeping clients
  • Understanding how to deal with clients who say no
  • Learning how to maintain your consultancy practice
  • Studying how to hire staff and expand your business
  • Gaining insights into creating passive income
  • Understanding how to work in a changing world

… and more!

The Most In-Demand Consultancy Skills

If you’re still considering what consultancy work is right for you, it’s worth remembering that the types of consulting careers for those with the right qualifications depend on the sector involved. However, these days, those with project management, financial modelling, data science and analysis, process improvement, and business transformation skills are becoming increasingly sought after. According to Business Insider magazine, here are the most commonly requested consultancy services in Australia by industry.

  • Large corporations – process improvement, project management, business transformation, financial modelling, and data science and analysis.
  • Aviation – Data science and analysis, due diligence and customer segmentation.
  • Banking – Project management, business transformation and process improvement.
  • Mining and metals – Project management, tendering, and procurement strategy.
  • Logistics and supply chain – Business analytics, process improvement and supply chain management.
  • Media – Marketing strategy, lead generation and data science and analysis.
  • Retail – Digital transformation, data science and analysis and IT project management.
  • Telco – Change management, Big Data and  e-Commerce
  • Healthcare – Process improvement, data science and analysis and project management.
  • Financial services – Change management, e-Commerce and due diligence.
  • Insurance – Change management, project management and business strategy.
  • Government – Big Data, digital transformation and process improvement.
  • Consumer goods – Process improvement, cost reduction and marketing strategy.

 

Starting a consulting business is exciting. With our Certificate of Business Consulting, you can confidently leverage your strategic know-how and help improve the financial and operational health of a wide range of businesses!

 

Become An Expert Tree Doctor With Our Arborist Course

Also known as a ‘tree doctor’, an arborist is committed to the cultivation of healthy trees. They also diagnose and treat tree disorders relating to nutrition, pollution, disease and soil contamination. Our Certificate of Advanced Arboriculture follows on from our introductory course and is ideal for gardeners, tree doctors, farmers, horticulturalists, or anyone with a tree-focussed career or hobby.

In this in-depth and comprehensive course, you will learn how to strengthen weak trees, perform tree surgery, and fell diseased or unsafe trees. You will also study how to select the appropriate trees for certain conditions; plant, stake, water and fertilise different varieties; and prune, cable and brace damaged tree limbs. Make tree-hugging your career!

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking an arborist course include:

  • Gaining an understanding of soil, water and watering methods
  • Studying climate and slope serration
  • Gaining insights into planting techniques and planting at the right time
  • Understanding how to transplant trees including large trees and deciduous trees
  • Learning about direct and spray seeding and pruning at planting
  • Exploring wattling, pocket planting and planting on arid sites
  • Studying local regulations and how to match a tree to the site
  • Gaining insights into temperature and acclimatisation
  • Understanding fire damage, fire-resistant trees and how to treat foliage burn
  • Learning about air pollution and tree growth, and pollutant tolerant and intolerant trees
  • Exploring soil contamination, soil chemical composition and pollution and toxic reactions
  • Studying wet and dry soil tolerant trees and the symptoms of drought-stressed trees
  • Gaining insights into the biological controls of pest and disease and using pesticides safely
  • Understanding tree nutrition and fertilisers
  • Learning how to strengthen weak trees including trimming techniques
  • Exploring thinning, bracing and temporary props
  • Studying bolting, guy wires, cabling and the rodding technique
  • Gaining insights into how to control damage caused by plants
  • Understanding tree damage and tree root problems
  • Learning about trees that cause problems with drains
  • Exploring how to limit root problems including root pruning
  • Gaining an understanding of trees and aquifers
  • Studying poisonous trees and trees and power lines
  • Gaining insights into tree felling and stump removal
  • Understanding tree evaluation systems and how to calculate a tree’s value
  • Learning about tree felling methods and saws, axes, winches and chain saws
  • Exploring the different methods of removing stumps
  • Gaining an understanding of how to protect trees and national tree registers
  • Studying risk assessment, duty of care and how to keep a worksite safe
  • Learning about the tolerant plant species and what to plant where
  • Exploring species suitability, and the influence of trees on buildings
  • Studying harsh environments, and how to protect trees from sun, frost and wind
  • Gaining insights into fencing and mulching
  • Understanding soil degradation and saline, lime and acid-tolerant trees
  • Learning how to design and establish a tree plantation
  • Exploring windbreaks, windbreak design and how to choose a windbreak species
  • Studying how to produce drawings to scale

… and more!

The 10 Tallest Trees in the World

Trees get the best of both worlds — their roots taste the soil, while their upper reaches soak up the sun and sometimes touch the sky. And although they are far from the lofty heights of Jack’s beanstalk, these beauties are still pretty impressive … and not just to an arborist!

#10 – King Stringy

This brown top stringybark (Eucalyptus oblique) is located in Tasmania and stands at over 86 metres tall.

#9 – Unnamed Alpine Ash

This 87.9-metre-tall Eucalyptus delegatensis is located in the Florentine Valley in southern Tasmania.

#8 – Neeminah Loggorale Meena

Also known as the Mother and Daughter Tree, this Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus) is over 90.7 metres tall.

#7 – White Night

Standing at over 91 metres tall, this manna gum (Eucalyptus viminalis) has called the Evercreech Forest Reserve in Tasmania home for over 300 years.

#6 – Unknown Yellow Meranti

Located in Borneo, this Shorea faguetiana is over 94.1 metres tall and found in the Danum Valley Conservation Area.

#5 – General Sherman

At over 95.7 metres tall, this giant Sequoiadendron giganteum can be found in California’s Sequoia National Forest.

#4 – Raven’s Tower

Located in California’s Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, this Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) towers to a height of over 96.7 metres.

#3 – Doerner Fir

Vying for 2nd spot, this coastal Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) can be found in Coos County in Oregon and is over 99.7 metres tall.

#2 – Centurion

The world’s tallest known Eucalyptus regnans tree (at over 99.82 metres), can be found in the Arve Valley in Tasmania.

#1 – Hyperion

The granddaddy of all lofty trees, this remarkable Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is over 115.92 metres tall and is found in Redwood National Park, California. It is so tall that you can’t actually see its top!

Six Fascinating Facts about Trees

For almost 400 million years, trees have provided us with food, shelter and shade, however, they are often taken for granted. Here are six fascinating facts that may elevate your appreciation of them … and perhaps even inspire you to become an arborist!

  1. Trees like to live locally

Across the planet, over half of all tree species come from the one country, and the countries with the highest number of local tree species are Columbia, Brazil and Indonesia. However, Australia also has its fair share, with over 800 different species of Eucalypt native alone. Some of the other more common natives include emu bushes, acacia and grevillea.

  1. Trees really aren’t that old

Although the Great Basin bristlecone pine (Methuselah) found in California is over 4851 years old, trees have only existed for the last 90% of our planet’s history. In fact, the first plants only flourished around 470 million years ago. And while this seems extraordinary, earth has been around for over 4.5 billion years!

  1. Although, some trees are pretty old!

The earliest known tree was called Wattieza and was found in the region we now know as New York. Existing around 385 million years ago, it was a leafless, fern-like plant that was around eight metres tall. The oldest known tree in Australia is found in Tasmania. Named King’s Holly, it’s been around for over 43,000 years.

  1. Tree roots can go deep

Generally, tree roots only go as deep as the first 45 centimetres of soil. However, hickory, pine and oak trees can grow roots longer than six metres in the right conditions. One wild fig tree discovered in South Africa had roots that reached over 121 metres deep.s

  1. Some trees repel enemies

 Some tree species emit chemicals into the air to attract the predators of their enemies. For example, apple trees under attack from caterpillars will often release chemicals into the environment to attract hungry birds. Some can even send airborne signals to other trees in the area to alert them to an incoming insect attack.

  1. Trees can save you money

Trees provide shade as well as releasing up to 400 litres of water into the air every day. This can impact the costs of heating and cooling by as much as 50%. So, hire an arborist to look after your trees — you’ll be saving cash and the planet at the same time!

Famous Arborists

Noteworthy ‘tree doctors’ are found throughout history and in a variety of countries. Here are some of the more famous ones worth researching for your upcoming career as an arborist!

  • John Chapman. Born in 1774, pioneering orchardist and nurseryman Chapman introduced apple trees to large parts of regional America. He is more commonly known as Johnny Appleseed.
  • Francis A. Bartlett. Bartlett graduated from the Massachusetts Agricultural College before founding his scientific tree and shrub care company, the Bartlett Tree Expert Company, in 1907.
  • Alex Shigo. Known as the father of modern arboriculture, Shigo was a biologist with the United States Forest Service. His studies of tree decay have advanced many modern-day arboricultural practices.
  • Sebastian Junger – Before becoming a journalist and filmmaker and penning his book, The Perfect Storm in 1997, Junger was an arborist in Massachusetts.
  • Chuck Leavell. Author of the children’s book, The Tree Farmer, Leavell was appointed to the Georgia Land Conservation Council in 2006. He has also been the keyboardist for the Rolling Stones since 1982!
  • Cass Turnbull. An author of gardening and pruning books, Turnbull was also the founder of Plant Amnesty, an advocacy group that educates the public about harmful pruning techniques.
  • Ben White. White became an environmental activist and a ship’s officer for the Sea Shepherd Conversation Society after falling from a tree while working as an arborist.
  • Mark Hartley. Actively involved in the forming of the Australian National Arborist Association, Hartley was instrumental to the introduction of the Standards Australia AS 4373-1996.
  • Callum David Michael Grant Peck. Peck is an expert in the field of arboriculture and is credited with the eradication of the invasive plant, gorse, in the remote north and northwest Tasmania.

 

Expand your knowledge of tree care and maintenance with our Certificate of Advanced Arboriculture and watch your career flourish!

Editing Courses Can Enhance Your Career

Editing courses enhance your ability to communicate well in writing, which is a skill valued across every industry. Whether it’s proofreading a textbook or creative content writing for a website, employers value writing and editing skills.

Perhaps you want to become a professional editor, or maybe you simply want to improve your own writing, whatever your desire, editing is an important skill and an asset to your resume.

Fortunately, writing is an acquired skill that can be improved with practice. The Certificate of Editing and Proofreading is a comprehensive online professional development program that will provide you with the knowledge and skills required to edit and proofread copy for a variety of formats.

When you’ve graduated the Certificate of Editing and Proofreading, you can continue your education to master your skills in the Certificate of Editing and Proofreading (Advanced). 

Learning Outcomes  

In these editing courses, you’ll develop a solid grasp on the theory and principles of professional editing and proofreading and will achieve the following learning outcomes. 

  • Principles of editing and proofreading
  • Types of editing
  • Setting priorities
  • Editing symbols
  • Style guides
  • Proofreading tips and tools
  • Plagiarism 
  • Interpersonal skills for editors 
  • Editing for a variety of mediums
  • Print and online content 
  • How to find editing work
  • How to sell and market your services 
  • The production processes 
  • Overview of who does what in publishing 
  • Mechanics of clear writing 
  • Assessing manuscripts 
  • Copyediting
  • Editing headlines 
  • Proofing graphics
  • Editing and design 
  • Legal and ethical issues in publishing 
  • Copyright 
  • Reporting restrictions 
  • Law and the internet 
  • Electronic publishing 
  • Desktop publishing software
  • Image manipulation 
  • Designing with photos 
  • Editing terminology 
  • Traditional and modern editing 
  • …. and more 

 

Careers to Explore in Writing and Editing 

When you study editing courses, there are many career opportunities available across multiple industries, from content writing to journalism. 

Online Writers & Editors 

The proliferation of websites has created many opportunities for those skilled in writing online content. Whether you’re hired to create content for a business’s website, or you craft your own as a blogger – there’s a huge demand for talented writers with the ability to write SEO articles. 

Key skills include:

  • Research and writing
  • SEO/keyword research 
  • Create SEO-friendly copy
  • Secure relevant images 
  • Edit copy 
  • Conduct interviews 
  • Use CMS’s to publish content 
  • Promote content on social media 

 

Technical Writer 

A technical writer is responsible for researching and writing on technical subjects for articles, manuals and reports. If you’re an expert in a specific field and you undertake writing and editing courses, you’ll be in demand as a technical writer.

Key skills include:

  • Research and writing and technical topics
  • Writing articles, manuals and reports
  • Co-ordinate images
  • Production of a document
  • Write updates on procedures
  • Secure expert content
  • Interview experts
  • Use industry-specific terminology
  • Use technical documentation software

 

Proposal Writer 

A proposal writer often works in sales, consulting or large organisations. This type of writer’s primary purpose is to create an opportunity for business development through proposals and bids. They work closely with sales teams, marketing and advertising professionals and product design experts.

Key skills include:

  • Research and writing
  • Proofreading documents and projects
  • Adhere to tight deadlines
  • Word-processing
  • Document design
  • Knowledge of industry terminology

 

Journalist 

Journalists must have a curious mind, research know-how and sharp communication skills. Journalists write for television, radio, web and print publications. 

Key skills include: 

  • Research and writing 
  • Fact-checking 
  • Interviewing 
  • Write to word limits
  • Adhere to style guides 
  • On-page SEO ability (web content) 
  • Editing and proofreading 

 

Editor 

An editor is the ‘manager’ of the publication material, whether for a magazine, website or other publication. They select and prepare copy for publication and are in charge of maintaining editorial policies and plans. 

Key skills include:

  • Journalism experience/knowledge 
  • Editing and proofreading
  • Management 
  • Fact-checking 
  • Adhere to style guides 
  • Content writing 

Advertising Copywriter 

Advertising copywriters are creative and sales professionals who use words to work magic in advertising. Copywriters can work for advertising agencies, public relations firms or independent businesses to create the copy for advertising and promotional collateral. 

Key skills include: 

  • Creativity 
  • Writing 
  • Content writing 
  • Deadline-driven 
  • Draft concept pitches 
  • Cool under pressure 
  • Marketing or advertising knowledge  

 

Marketing and Communications Specialist 

Writers working in the marketing and communications field create programs and communication collateral. Their written work is primarily used to promote an organisation and its products or services. Writing for brochures, flyers, fact sheets, promotional literature, annual reports, and press releases are common in this job. 

Key skills include:

  • Writing and editing 
  • Proofreading 
  • Marketing/business knowledge 
  • Content writing 
  • SEO-content ability 

 

5 Vital Qualities Editors Need to Succeed 

Taking an editing course is an excellent way to hone your editing and proofreading skills, but in addition to theory, you’ll also need on the job experience. If you have the following five

qualities, you have what it takes to become an editor!

 

  1. Knowledgeable

If you want to become an editor, it’s crucial to invest in your education. Editors require knowledge on a range of subject matter to make meaning of content. An editing course is an excellent starting point, but to become an editor for a major publication, you’ll also need higher education and/or on-the-job experience. 

 

  1. Detail-Oriented 

Do people say you’re a noticer? Editors need a keen eye for detail to ensure accuracy in all content, whether it’s for a magazine or company website. After all, the reputation of a publication and/or a business is at stake. 

 

  1.   Collaborative 

Editors are generally in charge, but they also need to work as part of a writing, design and management team. As such, you’ll need to work well with others and be able to collaborate and accept constructive criticism. 

 

  1. Highly Literate

Editors need to know all the rules of language, have an extensive vocabulary and need to know how to spell. Editing requires skill and speed – so being knowledgeable in grammar and spelling is vital. 

 

  1. Inspired 

Editors work with words to improve content, but they also need to work with ideas. Editors will receive hundreds of pitches from writers throughout their careers. It’s the ability to spot the good ones that sets great editors (and publications) apart.

 

Are you interested in gaining outstanding editing and proofreading skills? Study the Certificate of Editing and Proofreading and Certificate of Editing and Proofreading (Advanced) to make your way into this exciting industry today! 

 

Explore Plant Science with our Botany Course!

The knowledge learnt in botany courses can help individuals solve a variety of major issues that exist across our planet. These include helping to purify polluted soil and air, overcome food shortages, and reduce global warming. This course is ideal for anyone working with plants, from botanists, agriculturists, horticulturists and farmers to nursery workers, landscapers and even those in the ecotourism industry. 

In our Certificate of Botany, you will study the basics of plant science, including plant anatomy, physiology and morphology. In this fascinating botany course, you will also learn about the taxonomic classification of plants, the various systems in plants, the effects of growth manipulation, and how to harvest, store, transport and improve the shelf life of edible plants. Get that green thumb growing!  

Learning Outcomes 

Outcomes achieved by undertaking botany courses include:  

  • Learning about the taxonomic classification of plants 
  • Exploring plant taxonomy 
  • Studying botanical and horticultural nomenclature 
  • Gaining insights into the binomial system 
  • Examining botanical classification 
  • Studying plant cells and tissues 
  • Discovering cell components 
  • Gaining insights into plant growth 
  • Examining the types of plant cells 
  • Understanding primary and secondary plant tissues 
  • Learning about the specific vegetative parts of a plant  
  • Exploring stems, buds, roots and leaf structure and arrangement 
  • Examining morphological changes due to maturation 
  • Understanding common botanical terms 
  • Learning about flowers and fruit 
  • Exploring flower structure in terms of inflorescence 
  • Studying fruits in terms of simple, aggregate and multiple 
  • Discovering pollination and fertilisation 
  • Understanding how to overcome incompatibility 
  • Exploring seeds and the developing embryo  
  • Gaining an understanding of seed structure 
  • Studying seed germination 
  • Uncovering germination requirements 
  • Gaining insights into stimulation, inhibition and the propagation of plants 
  • Examining photosynthesis and growing plants  
  • Understanding chloroplasts in photosynthesis 
  • Learning about photosynthesis in controlled growing conditions 
  • Exploring artificial light and photosynthetic apparatus 
  • Studying light transformation into energy 
  • Understanding the stages of respiration 

… and more!  

 

Famous Botanists Throughout History  

The scientific study of plants helps us understand the effect of plants on animals and humans. And a number of botanists through history have had an enormous impact on the way botany is studied today. Here are some that will provide inspiration for anyone interested in studying botany courses. 

Paracelsus  

Born in 1493, Paracelsus was a follower of the spiritual influences of the cosmos on man and nature. A believer in the classic Greek elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, he believed that human health and in turn illnesses relied heavily on man’s harmony with nature. 

 

Carl Linnaeus 

Linnaeus is the father of modern biological classification systems, and after graduating from university, conducted numerous field studies where thousands of species of fauna and flora were identified, labelled and catalogued. He had a long and distinguished career until his death in 1778. 

 

Albrecht von Haller 

Swiss-born von Haller initially pursued a career as a physician and is credited with heralding modern-day physiology and neurology. However, his interest in botany also saw him collecting a large range of flower species, leading to his reputation as one of the most renowned botanists of the eighteenth century.  

 

Sir Joseph Banks 

An English botanist, Banks embarked on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean on the HMS Endeavour with James Cook in 1763. After returning with a major collection of specimens, he became an adviser to King George III on the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. The garden at the time was incomparable to any other botanical garden in the world. 

 

Robert Brown  

Born in 1773, Brown developed a passion for mosses and accompanied Sir Joseph Banks on an expedition to Australia, where he gathered most of the species he explored in his lifetime. His contribution to the field is considered monumental, and several species of plants have been named in his honour. 

 

Hugo von Mohl  

Von Mohl was a major figure in the emerging fields of plant physiology and anatomy in the mid-19th century. His research paved the way for the development of the plant cell theory. A professor of botany in Germany, he was the first to propose that new cells are formed by cell division, and also provided the first clear explanation of the role of osmosis. 

 

Ferdinand Von Mueller  

A German-Australian botanist who founded the National Herbarium of Victoria, Von Mueller was one of Australia’s most prominent 19th-century scientists. He was appointed government botanist for Victoria by Governor Charles La Trobe, travelled extensively on scientific expeditions, and is credited to have discovered nearly 800 new species in Australia. 

 

Jagadish Chandra Bose  

Born in 1858, Chandra Bose was the first person to prove that plants have the ability to feel pain and affection. His highly sensitive instruments were able to detect the minute responses by living organisations to external stimuli. He was recognised as the first modern scientist of India by the Royal Institution in London.  

 

George Washington Carver  

Often referred to as the Father of chemurgy (which is the industrial and chemical use of organic raw materials), Carver encouraged the growth of alternative crops. Passionate about helping poor farmers increase their productivity, his work played a significant role in the revival of the agricultural economy in the late 19th century.  

 

Agnes Arber  

Born in the UK in 1879, Arber learnt the art of illustration from her father, which she applied to plant anatomy and morphology. As one of the eminent botanists of her time, her significant research work, including her work on floral structure, has formed the basis of a range of developments in plant science. 

 

Marie Stopes   

Born in 1880, Stopes was a British palaeobotanist who studied the influence of plants in relation to the evolution of life. She was the first female science academician at the University of Manchester, and the youngest person in Britain to attain a doctorate degree from the University College London. 

 

Birbal Sahni  

Sahni earned a doctorate from the University of London in 1919 and was a pioneer in palaeobotanical research (the study of fossil plants). He became the Head of the Botany Department of the Lucknow University in India, and founded what is now the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in 1946. 

 

Janaki Ammal Edavaleth Kakkat 

Born in India in 1897, Ammal was a botanist best remembered for her work with sugarcane. An expert in cytogenetics (the genetic content of genes in cells), her work led to new findings on the evolution of species. Her research played a vital role in choosing plant varieties for cross-breeding in order to produce the sweetest sugarcane.  

 

Lynn Margulis  

Margulis was born in the US in 1938 and as a biologist, completely altered the concept of how life came about on Earth. She eventually became the Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts. As a staunch evolutionist, her theoretical paper on mitosing cells is now considered as the landmark argument in endosymbiotic theory.  

 

Australian Fossil Reveals New Plant Species 

Searching for new plant species is an undertaking that scientists around the world aspire to. And a recent discovery by a student at Flinders University has provided fresh inspiration for botanists, and for all those who are interested in undertaking botany courses.  

The fern-like species discovered is believed to be among the earliest plants on earth and thought to have existed in Australia over 359 million years ago. It was unearthed after PhD student Antoine Champreux undertook a fresh examination of a fossil that was discovered in the 1960s by amateur geologist, John Irving. Found on the banks of the Manilla River in Barraba NSW, the fossil was unearthed by a major flooding event in 1964, however, it remained in storage for more than 50 years. 

The fossil dates back to a time when Australia was part of the super-continent Gondwana, and although diverse fish species existed in the oceans at this time, continents had no dinosaurs or flowering plants. Well-preserved fossils from this era are extremely rare, and its condition allowed Champreux to observe the walls of million-year-old cells. The plant was named genus Keraphyton (for the Greek name for the horn plant), and the species Keraphyton mawsoniae, in honour of Professor Ruth Mawson, a distinguished Australian palaeontologist who died in 2019. 

 

Use your understanding of how plants grow to solve some of the complex biological issues of our rapidly changing world with a botany course, such as the Certificate of Botany! 

e-Commerce Courses Critical to Business Survival

Do you want to start an e-commerce business? Savvy entrepreneurs who wish to enter the lucrative e-commerce world have a lot to learn about this exciting industry. And if modern enterprises are to survive and prosper, knowledge and skills in e-commerce are vital to success.

e-Commerce courses, such as The Certificate of E-Commerce, are ideal professional development for new online business ventures or for anyone wanting to monetise a website.

The Certificate of E-Commerce is an online professional development course designed to provide you with an understanding of e-business, e-commerce and its associated technologies.

 

Learning Outcomes 

In this e-commerce course, you’ll discover the foundations of online commerce and the elements that are central to an electronic marketplace.

  • Develop effective sales strategies for online business success
  • Learn a range of Internet marketing strategies
  • Optimise sales for your online business 
  • Use targeted marketing and customer acquisition and retention strategies
  • Create value for your online customers
  • Manage an Internet sales and marketing budget
  • How to build online credibility
  • How to use social media tools for customer engagement
  • Discover the foundations of HTML, web design and web content principles
  • Develop e-marketing communications
  • How to protect a business 
  • Warranty and conditions 
  • Legal issues (privacy, consumer protection, copyright, patents) 
  • Consumer laws and manufacturer and sellers’ liability
  • Automating supply of goods, services, and cashflow 
  • Payment gateways
  • Drop shopping and outsourcing 
  • Change management and corporate structure 
  • Web analytics 
  • Information currency Vs cash currency 
  • Insurance 
  • …. and more 

 

e-Commerce boom after COVID-19?

E-commerce and professionals in this sector are likely to be the big winners during and post-COVID-19 according to digital marketing expert Mitchell Kelly.  

“Digital marketing specialists, Shopify and WordPress developers, graphic designers, UX and CRO specialists are all likely to be in demand.

“The reason for this is that slow adopters to online shopping are now being forced to switch their shopping behaviour online.”

 Mr Kelly says that while most people under 40 are comfortable shopping online, others have been resistant to switching their shopping behaviours.

“With in-store shopping options shrinking, many of these people have had no other option but to switch their shopping online.

 “The longer this drags out, it becomes more likely that these individuals will maintain their online shopping habits going forward even after this crisis ends.

 “With this in mind, there’s a strong chance that the overall e-commerce market will be much larger once the world negotiates COVID-19.”

 As a result, e-commerce stores will thrive, and the market will increase, particularly drop-shippers, explains Mr Kelly.

“This will lift demand for graphic designers and front-end developers that specialise in e-commerce friendly CMS (content management systems) like WordPress and Shopify.

 “Bigger retailers are likely to push more marketing dollars into their online stores to capitalise, which will mean a greater need for digital marketing specialists and UX and conversion rate optimisation specialists that can increase the return on investment of an online store.”

 

e-Commerce Platforms for Business 

If you’re looking for an e-commerce platform, consider Weebly, Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, Square Space which each have strengths and weaknesses to consider when setting up an e-commerce business.

Weebly 

Weebly is a website and e-commerce service founded on the belief that anyone should have the tools to take their business from idea to launch to growth. This platform claims to make it easy to build a professional, mobile-optimised site and to grow a business with integrated marketing and advanced analytics.

Shopify 

Shopify is a subscription-based e-commerce platform that can help you to develop a website and use their shopping cart to sell, ship, and manage your products. This software allows access to a simple administration panel where you can add products, process orders and enter data.

Wix 

Wix Stores allows you to sell your products and get paid online. You can also market your brand further by designing a customised logo using Wix Logo Maker and get discovered in search engines with Wix SEO Wiz. 

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a flexible, open-source e-commerce solution that’s a plug-in for WordPress. It is designed for small to large-sized online businesses using WordPress. It’s popular for its simplicity to install and customise and has a free base product.

Square Space  

Whether you’re a new venture or an established brand, Square Space’s powerful platform can help your business to grow. The simple software platform offers a service building, hosting and monetising. It’s pre-built website templates and drag and drop feature makes creating webpages a breeze.

 

Booktopia – Australian e-Commerce Success Story 

Booktopia is an Australian online bookstore founded in 2004. The company is a family business owned by brothers, Tony and Simon Nash and their sister, Elana Traurig and her husband, Steve Traurig.

What started as a side project for the Nash siblings with little more than a $10 budget, a dream and a lot of hard work – has now become a $100 million-dollar e-commerce success story.

The company now employs over 200 staff, stocks $150,000 titles have donated over $750,000 in cash and books to literacy-based projects. 

From humbling beginnings – it took three days for their first book sale to come through – to having an item sold every six seconds, Booktopia is an e-commerce success story and an inspiration to those considering an e-commerce business. 

 

Are you interested in starting an e-Commerce business? Study an e-commerce course such as the Certificate of e-Commerce and gain foundation knowledge about this exciting and rapidly-expanding industry today! 

 

Pursue a Career as a Business Psychologist

Knowledge in organisational and industrial psychology is vital whether you work in human resources, own a business or desire to pursue a career as a business psychologist. 

The Certificate of Industrial and Organisational Psychology will teach you how to apply psychological principles in the workplace to improve organisational effectiveness and the quality of work-life in organisations.

Throughout this course, you will explore theories of psychology and behaviour, discover how employees think, how to improve the performance of teams and individuals and how to increase effectiveness and productivity in the workplace.

If you’re considering studying to become a business psychologist, read on to discover the definition and history of this exciting profession, roles and responsibilities, where you can expect to work, other career opportunities and remuneration. 

 

Learning Outcomes 

The following learning outcomes and knowledge in industrial and organisational psychology will be achieved on completion of this course. 

  • Free will versus determinism
  • Developmental and interactive expressions of behaviour
  • Nature versus nurture
  • Influence of environment on learning behaviour
  • Modelling and conformity
  • Conditioning, environmental factors and learning
  • Classical conditioning
  • Operant conditioning
  • Reinforcement and punishment
  • Sensation and perception
  • Thinking and daydreaming
  • The gestalt approach
  • Unconscious and conscious psychic elements
  • Explaining behaviour
  • Knowledge of brain processes
  • Personal interpretation of a given situation
  • Terminology 
  • The application form
  • Psychological tests
  • Interviews
  • Intelligence tests
  • Laws of learning
  • Devising tests
  • Selecting appropriate tests
  • Ways of seeking applicants
  • Types of interviews
  • Maslow’s model of self-actualisation
  • Security
  • Money
  • Ambition
  • Companionship
  • Social reinforcement
  • Labour wastage
  • Qualities of managers
  • Understanding morale
  • Discipline and training

 

And more … 

 

What is a Business Psychologist?

A business psychologist is not unlike a coach, but with the advantage of understanding the science of human behaviour in workplaces and organisations. 

Business psychologists help individuals, teams and workplaces operate at a peak level to enhance the performance of an entire organisation. They are crucial in assisting leaders in managing and performing with clarity to achieve organisational goals. 

Organisational and industrial psychology is a rapidly growing area in psychology and one that helps businesses increase their efficiency and improve the quality of work-life for employees. 

Organisational and industrial psychology involves understanding the individual and the intersecting work environment and culture to promote success and harmony within a workplace. It is the role of the business psychologist to identify how internal factors pose obstacles to business success and to overcome them. 

 

History of Industrial and Organisational Psychology

Hugo Munsterberg, a German who headed the Harvard psychology laboratory in 1892, was likely the first industrial-organisational (I-O) psychologists. 

Munsterberg researched and developed the idea that it was possible to select the best worker for a job and to design jobs to best suit workers. He applied experimental approaches to practical business issues in his comprehensive text, Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913).

Walter Dill Scott is also regularly credited as the founder of I-O psychology due to his early texts on advertising and founding the first personnel consulting firm. 

Another leading character that had an indirect impact on I-O psychology was an industrial engineer, Frederick W. Taylor. While Munsterberg and Scott focussed on individuals, Taylor brought the organisation into the spotlight with his text Principles of Scientific Management (New York. 1911). 

 

What do Business Psychologists Do? 

Business psychologists perform many tasks within an organisation, including:

  • Assisting with recruitment 
  • Designing harmonious, productive work environments
  • Facilitating employee training and motivation
  • Performing employee assessments and evaluations
  • Increasing employee morale
  • Providing counselling
  • Establishing employee health and well-being initiatives
  • Providing leadership training and development
  • Improving organisational structure
  • Enhancing business efficiency
  • Studying the workplace environment 
  • Implementing workplace health and safety guidelines
  • Maintaining employee records

 

Where Do Business Psychologists Work? 

Business psychologists work in private and public establishments, from small companies in the private sector to large government organisations. I-O psychologists are often in leadership roles working in human resources, management, counselling or training and development. 

 

What Other Careers Can I-O’s Pursue? 

As a business psychologist with training in I-O psychology, you can expect to work across several industries, such as government departments; marketing, advertising and sales; human resources; and as academics at universities. 

Government Departments 

Business psychologists can play an essential role in developing policies and human resource services for government departments. Their knowledge is valuable in that these departments rely heavily on strong policies and guidance to work with the public.  

Marketing, Advertising & Sales 

Understanding what motivates people to purchase products and services is the foundation of successful marketing, advertising and sales efforts. So, whether it’s analysing buyer behaviour or anticipating consumer thought processes, business psychologists are a valuable member of a marketing or sales team to achieve sales targets and business goals. 

Human Resources 

As a human resource professional, business psychologists develop policies and procedures that drive recruitment and retention efforts within a business or organisation. Their highly-skilled understanding of what motivates people helps O-I psychologist to mobilise an organisation’s most valuable asset – their employees! 

Universities 

Business psychologists with master’s level qualifications can work as academics at universities in a research capacity or teaching role (or both). 

 

Organisational & Industrial Psychologist Salary 

The average salary for an organisational psychologist in Australia is $84,739. However, earnings can vary with experience and location from $61k to $158k per year.

Total average compensation by experience:

Early career (1 – 4 years) $77,994

Mid-career (5 – 9 years) $96,448

Experienced (10-19 years) $121, 428

 

Are you interested in becoming a business psychologist? Study our Certificate of Industrial & Organisational Psychology and gain foundation knowledge about this fascinating and rapidly growing area of psychology.  

Leadership Programs Help You Smash the Glass Ceiling

Leadership programs are vital to ensuring that the existing gender gap that currently exists in Australia is significantly decreased in the future. This is evident in the fact that although there are more women in leadership positions than ever, only 26 per cent of women are Company Directors and only 17 per cent CEOs. More importantly, research also shows that more women in key decision-making positions deliver better company performance and greater profitability and productivity.

If you’re a female manager or have plans to move into a leadership role, discover our our range of leadership courses.

The 10 Most Powerful Women In The World

Women around the world continue to claim leadership positions and inspire leadership programs in business, media, government and philanthropy. Here are the top 10 female leaders of 2019 according to Forbes business magazine.

#1 – Angela Merkel

Merkel is now serving her fourth term as Chancellor of Germany after becoming the first female to do so in 2005. She has steered the country through financial crisis and back to growth, and her strong leadership has been on public display — from challenging President Trump to allowing more than a million Syrian refugees access into Germany.

#2 – Christine Lagarde

For over eight years, Lagarde ran the International Monetary Fund, and in 2019, she became the first woman to head up the European Central Bank. This position means she is in charge of European monetary policy during a slowing economic growth in the region and in a time of geopolitical uncertainty. In 2018, she highlighted the need for gender reform in the male-dominated banking industry.

#3 – Nancy Pelosi

As the 52nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Pelosi is second-in-line for the presidency and the highest-ranking elected woman in the country. She started her third term as Speaker in 2019 and initiated the fourth-ever impeachment proceedings in U.S. history against President Donald Trump.

#4 – Ursula von der Leyen

In 2019, von der Leyen was appointed president of the European Commission and is the first woman to serve in the role. For 14 years, she served the longest tenure in Angela Merkel’s cabinet, and for the last six years of her time there was Germany’s Defence Minister.

#5 – Mary Barra

The CEO of General Motors since 2014, Barra has invested billions in self-driving cars, electric vehicles and a ride-share service called Maven. The company ranked number one on the 2018 Gender Equality Global Report, and the company is one of only two global businesses that have no gender pay gap.

#6 – Melinda Gates

As co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates is a powerful woman in the area of philanthropy. She has helped solve tough global challenges from poverty and education to sanitation and contraception. The Foundation’s mission is to assist all people to led productive, healthy lives and she devotes much of her time to women’s rights.

#7 – Abigail Johnson

Johnson’s grandfather Edward Johnson II founded mutual fund giant, Fidelity Investments, in 1946 and Abigail has served as CEO since 2014. She holds an MBA from Harvard, and in 2018, launched a platform that allows institutional investors to trade ether and bitcoin.

#8 – Ana Patricia Botín

Botín succeeded her late father as chair of multinational bank and financial services company the Santander Group in 2014. In the face of political unrest, she has championed financial technology and focused on entrepreneurs — in particular, small enterprise and female-owned businesses.

#9 – Ginni Rometty

Rometty is a 36-year veteran of iconic tech company IBM, and has put cognitive computing at the centre of the organisation’s future strategies. Her ongoing efforts to keep women in the workforce include supporting returnships, extended parental leave and a breastmilk delivery program.

#10 – Marillyn Hewson

As CEO of Lockheed Martin since 2013, Hewson has steered the defence company’s position to be at the forefront of aerospace, security and technology. The organisation’s innovation team is now developing a supersonic aircraft that breaks the sound barrier without a sonic boom.

 

The Future Of Women in Leadership

While there has been progress with many aspects of gender equality, it hasn’t been in the area of female representation in leadership. In fact, according to 2018-19 data from the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency, while women make up half of the private sector workforce:

  • Only 31.5 per cent are in key management positions
  • Only 26.8 per cent are Directors
  • Only 17.1 per cent are CEOs
  • Only 14.1 per cent are Board Chairs.

 

The Gender Equity Insights series has also uncovered critical evidence of the importance of female representation in senior leadership roles. In 2016 and 2017, the research showed that increasing representation of women in leadership roles is associated with declining organisational gender pay gaps, and that:

  • having an equal representation of women on governing boards leads to a 6.3 per cent point reduction in the gender pay gap for full-time managers, and
  • organisations with a balanced representation of women in executive leadership roles have pay gaps half the size of those with the least representation of women in leadership.

 

Reports in 2018 and 2019 also build on these findings. This research highlighted the critical role of leadership in driving organisational change towards gender equity and decision-making. A 2019 report shows that:

  • women are now progressing into management roles at a faster rate than men. If it continues, it will take 20 years for women to have equal representation in full-time management positions, however,
  • in terms of CEO roles, there will not be an equal share of women until the turn of the next century — that’s 80 years away!

 

And critically, in 2020, the series uncovered a clear message — that more women in key decision-making positions will deliver greater productivity, greater profitability and better company performance! It’s time to embrace leadership programs ladies!

Experiencing a few ‘glass ceiling’ challenges at work? Learn valuable networking and communication techniques, and lead with competence and confidence with a leadership program.

Improve Your EQ with Our Emotional Intelligence Course

In the mid-nineties, psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman wrote a book on emotional intelligence that put the spotlight on the importance of emotions, specifically, how you can make them work for rather than against you.

The book was a bestseller as people were fascinated to learn how to understand better and manage their emotions to increase success in life. 

Today emotional intelligence is widely accepted as an essential indicator of career success. And an emotional intelligence course can be a platform to a promotion, not only because it improves relationships, but employers also value this intelligence highly. 

Our Emotional Intelligence  online course that will teach you how to develop and apply EQ for personal and career success. You will explore the skills required to understand and use EQ to improve your self-awareness, empathy, and ability to deal sensitively with the feelings of others.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking our emotional intelligence course include: 

  • Manage relationships positively
  • Deal sensitively with the feelings
  • Improving self-awareness, empathy and ability
  • Improving your emotional intelligence
  • Navigating emotions and relationships
  • Emotional intelligence domains
  • EQ competencies – self-perception and social perception
  • Controlling your emotions
  • Emotional intelligence and facilitating
  • Using emotional intelligence effectively
  • The relational side of EI
  • Building acknowledging other people’s emotions
  • Organisational awareness
  • Skills of acknowledging and affirming
  • Enhance workplace relationships
  • Emotionally intelligent strategies
  • Developing relationships through empathy
  • Being aware of the emotions of others
  • Owning your emotions
  • Managing your emotional IQ or EQ
  • Handling difficult situations effectively
  • Managing conflict
  • Responsibility of emotional ownership
  • How to be emotionally self-aware
  • Know the emotions you’re managing
  • Types of self-management
  • Identifying personal recovery techniques
  • Emotional awareness and management
  • Lead emotionally intelligent teams
  • Managing your own anger
  • Owning and expressing your anger
  • Emotions, feelings and moods
  • Emotional and intellectual responses
  • Dealing with anger from others
  • The roots of anger in the workplace
  • Putting anger to good use
  • Using your anger positively
  • Develop empathy for colleagues
  • Self-management techniques

 

9 Signs of High Emotional Intelligence 

Have you ever met someone who seems to “get” you? If so, they’re probably high on the emotional intelligence (EQ) scale. You see, people with high emotional intelligence can tune into the feelings of others and are also self-aware enough to understand and manage their own. So, what are the signs of an emotionally intelligent person? The following nine are good indicators that someone has above average EQ!

 

#1 – Recognises and Understands Feelings 

Emotionally intelligent people are fascinated by what makes people tick. They’re the people who check in on how their friends and family are doing. They ask questions about how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking. As a result, they are highly tuned to people’s emotions, noticing things like body language, tone of voice and personal tics or nervous habits. This makes them self-aware and socially-aware – they recognise emotions and their impact on thoughts and actions – both in themselves and others. 

 

#2 – Accepts Criticism with Grace 

Those with EQ know that constructive criticism is an opportunity to learn more about themselves and to evolve as a person. They take negative feedback well and don’t feel threatened by it. On the contrary, they ask questions on how they can improve – whether in their work or personal life. 

 

#3 – Forgives, And Forgets 

Holding on to resentment is not something people with high emotional intelligence have time for. They readily forgive and forget the transgressions of others. It’s how they release themselves from painful emotions and move forward with their lives. They do this because they understand that people make mistakes, but mistakes do not make the person – we’re all more than our behaviour. 

 

#4 – Demonstrates Empathy 

High EQ gives people the ability to ‘step into someone else’s shoes.’ They can readily see things from another’s perspective because they understand their thoughts and feelings. Demonstrating empathy doesn’t mean they will always agree with your point-of-view, but they know where you’re coming from. 

 

#5 – Is Genuine 

Authenticity is evident when you meet an emotionally intelligent person. They know who they are and are steadfast in sticking to their values and principles. They are genuine in their communication with others – saying what they mean and meaning what they say. 

 

#6 – Apologises Easily 

It’s not easy to say sorry. It takes courage, strength and humility – three traits that come more easily to those of us who are emotionally intelligent. Those with high EQ realise that apologising doesn’t necessarily mean they’re wrong – instead, they value their relationships more than being ‘right.’

 

#7 – Gives Compliments

Giving genuine compliments is a sure sign of someone with high EQ! People demonstrating emotional intelligence show appreciation and acknowledgement of others because they understand it builds trust and inspires. 

 

#8– Keeps Commitments  

In the fast-paced, time-strapped existence we live, it can be easy to renege on a commitment you’ve made if you’re feeling overwhelmed. However, those with high EQ will rarely break commitments because they know that keeping their word protects the feelings of others and builds trust.

#9 – Charitable   

The emotionally intelligent are helpful. They’re the ones volunteering their time to help others in small or big ways. They understand that one of the best ways to influence others positively is to help them. 

Emotional Intelligence Course Helpful at Work

Having a high EQ isn’t just important in your personal relationships and social life, it’s also crucial to your career development. Why? Because you need to be able to develop healthy working relationships with customers, clients and colleagues, too! 

It could mean the difference between getting that promotion or staying stuck in a career rut.

 

So, develop your emotional intelligence and success in life and at work with our Emotional Intelligence course!

Fine-tune Your Medical Knowledge For A Career in Healthcare

A medical terminology course will equip you with valuable skills that will enable you to interpret and apply the ‘language’ of patients’ medical symptoms and procedures — verbally and in writing — in a range of healthcare settings.  

Studying the ‘language’ of healthcare will help you gain a competitive career advantage or help you enter the medical sector as a health administrator, medical receptionist, healthcare worker or ward clerk.  

Our Certificate of Medical Terminology will help you learn the ‘ABCs’ of the medical world! This includes studying anatomical and pharmacological terminology and terminology relating to medical equipment. You will also learn about the terms used to describe the various elements of the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, immune, lymphatic, reproductive, respiratory, excretory, digestive and integumentary systems. 

Learning Outcomes 

Outcomes achieved by undertaking a medical terminology course include:  

  • Learning about the scope and nature of medical terminology 
  • Exploring the origins of words  
  • Studying the structure of words  
  • Understanding prefixes and suffixes 
  • Examining anatomical terms and structure  
  • Learning about the location of organs 
  • Exploring brain structure  
  • Studying word forms, abbreviations and symbols 
  • Understanding medical equipment and procedures  
  • Learning about diagnostic and surgical procedures and equipment 
  • Exploring the storage and handling of medicines  
  • Studying the sterilising of equipment 
  • Gaining an understanding of bacteria 
  • Learning how to observe through a microscope (microscopy) 
  • Exploring diagnostic microbiology 
  • Studying research microbiology 
  • Examining common bacteria you may encounter in a medical setting 
  • Understanding the types of wounds 
  • Examining problems resulting from wounds 
  • Gaining insights into treating wounds 
  • Learning about electrolytes 
  • Exploring pharmacological terminology  
  • Studying medicinal terminology including alternative and herbal 
  • Examining over the counter and prescription drugs 
  • Learning about the musculoskeletal system  
  • Exploring musculature and the major muscles 
  • Studying the relationship between the muscles and the skeleton 
  • Understanding bone and joint problems
  • And much more!

 

The History of Medical Terminology  

Medical terminology has evolved primarily from the Greek and Latin languages. The science of anatomy began during the Renaissance, and many early anatomists attended Italian schools of medicine. They assigned Latin names to structures they discovered, which is why Latin accounts for many of the root words in the English language.   

Names for others conditions were retained from the teachings of Greek physician, Galen, who wrote texts on medicine in the latter part of his life. These remained influential for almost 1500 years and many of the condition and disease names he first used have been retained. Which explains why the second most common source of medical root words is the Greek language!  

Older roots also have their origins in Arabic, due to the scholars that were important teachers of medicine throughout the middle ages. Some modern roots are also taken from the English language, which reflects its pre-eminence in the medical and biomedical sciences for the past half-century. 

The addition of suffixes to nouns to denote different syntax constructions comes from the Latin language. This is because suffices were commonly used by Italian scientists.  

Some prefixes are also adaptions of Latin words, and in medical terminology, they were attached to root words and often used to indicate locations on the body or directions relative to structures in the body. 

Some words in modern medical terminology have also been borrowed from biology, and many of these are species of pathogens and names of the genus. Using Latin for these names dates back to the founder of the modern system of taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus.  

And finally, from 1650 through to 1850 and because Latin was the language of educated people, many linguistic elements from the Latin language (like prefixes, roots, and suffixes) were included. 

An example of medical terminology being used to describe diseases or procedures is the case of acute pancreatitis. The root (pancrea-) indicates the organ involved, the pancreas. The suffix (-itis) indicates inflammation, and the word ‘acute’ describes a rapid onset of the condition.  

An example of a surgical procedure is a choledocholithotomy. This is an operation to remove (-otomy) a stone (-litho-) that originated in the gall bladder (chole-) but is currently in the common bile duct (-docho-)!  

 

30 Complex Medical Terms For Common Things  

  1. Obdormition – When your limbs ‘fall asleep’. Derived from the Latin word ‘obdormire’ meaning to fall asleep. 
  2. Borborygmus – The noise your stomach makes when you’re hungry. Derived from the Greek word for ‘to rumble’.  
  3. Vasovagal Syncope – Also known as fainting. Derived from Latin and the Greek word for ‘sudden loss of strength’.  
  4. Lachrymation – When you’re vision is blurred by a few loose tears rather than actually crying. Derived from the Latin word for ‘a tear’.  
  5. Horripilation – Also known as goosebumps. Derived from the Latin word ‘horripilar’ meaning to ‘bristle with hairs or be shaggy’. 
  6. Fasciculation – When the muscle fibres contract under your skin and you feel muscles twitching. Derived from the word ‘fasciculus’ or ‘little bundle’.  
  7. Bulla – Also known as blisters. Derived from the Latin word ‘bulla’ meaning ‘a bubble, stud or knob’.  
  8. Synchronous Diaphragmatic Flutter – Also known as hiccups. Derived from the Latin word ‘singultus’ meaning ‘the act of one’s breath while sobbing’.  
  9. Formication – That creepy-crawly feeling when your skin feels likes it’s teeming with tiny insects. Derived from the Latin word ‘formica’ which means ant. 
  10. Veisalgia – When you have an uneasy stomach and a sensitivity to light and noise, ie. a hangover! Derived from the Greek word ‘algos’ for pain. 
  11. Gustatory Rhinitis – When your nose runs when you eat hot or spicy foods. Derived from the Latin word for ‘tasting’ and the Greek word for ‘nose inflammation’.  
  12. Muscae Volitantes – When you see small transparent threads floating across your line of sight. Derived from the Latin words for ‘flying flies’. 
  13. Odontalgia – Also known as a toothache. Derived from the Latin word ‘odontalgia’ meaning ‘toothache’. 
  14. Otalgia – When the cabin pressure changes on an airplane and your ears hurt. Derived from the Greek word ‘otalgia’ meaning ‘earache’.  
  15. Pyrexia – Also known as a fever. Derived from the Greek word ‘puretos’ for fever. 
  16. Morsicatio Buccarum – A condition where people repeatedly chew or bite down on the inside of their mouth. Derived from the Latin words ‘morusus’ meaning ‘bite’ and ‘bucca’ meaning ‘cheek’. 
  17. Epistaxis – Also known as a nosebleed. Derived from the Greek words ‘epistag’ meaning ‘to bleed from the nose’. 
  18. Xerostomia – When you have a dry mouth as a result of taking medications. Derived from the Greek words for ‘xeros’ meaning ‘dry’ and ‘stoma’ meaning ‘mouth’. 
  19. Bruxism – Also known as teeth grinding. Derived from the Greek word ‘brukein’ meaning ‘to gnash’.  
  20. Rhinorrhea – Also known as having a runny nose. Derived from the Greek word ‘rhis’ meaning ‘nose’ and ‘rhoia’ meaning ‘flow’.  
  21. Aphthous Stomatitis – Also known as mouth ulcers. Derived from the Greek word ‘aphthi’ which means to ‘set on fire or inflame’.  
  22. Cardialgia – Also known as heartburn. Derived from the Greek word ‘kardia’ for heart. 
  23. Emesis – Also known as nausea, particularly after a stomach bug or food poisoning. Derived from the Greek word ‘emein’ meaning ‘to vomit’.  
  24. Sternutate – Also known as sneezing. Derived from the Latin word ‘sternuere’ meaning ‘to sneeze’.  
  25. Varicella – Also known as chickenpox. Derived from the Latin word ‘varius’ meaning ‘speckled or spotted’. 
  26. Hyperhidrosis – A condition where people sweat a lot. Derived from the Greek word ‘hidrosis’ meaning ‘sweat’. 
  27. Heloma Molle – Also known as foot corns. Derived from the Latin word ‘duro’ for ‘hard or tough’ and the Greek word ‘heloma’ for nail. 
  28. Crepitus – When your joints pop and crack due to air in the subcutaneous tissue. Derived from the Latin word ‘crepitus’ meaning ‘a crackling sound or ‘a rattle’.  
  29. Diplopia – Also known as double vision. Derived from Latin ‘dipl-‘ meaning ‘double’ and ‘-opia’ meaning ‘vision’.  
  30. Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia – The ‘brain freeze’ you feel when you eat an ice cream. From ‘sphen’ meaning wedge, palatine meaning ‘pertaining to the palate’, ‘gangli’ referring to the main cells of the nervous system, ‘neur’ meaning nerve and ‘algia’ meaning pain!  

Gaining a valuable career edge or up-skilling to enter the exciting and ever-changing world of healthcare is as simple as learning your (medical) ABCs with our Certificate of Medical Terminology! 

Study Marine Life With Our Marine Biology Course Online

Boost your career prospects in the marine life industry with a marine biology course online that’s ideal professional development for marine professionals including biologists, scuba divers and environmentalists. 

Our Certificate of Marine Biology and Certificate of Marine Biology – Advanced will develop your understanding of a wide range of issues relating to marine studies, including marine ecology systems, reef formation and function, marine organisms such as fish, cephalopods and marine mammals, marine ecosystems and the impact of human activity. 

The study of marine biology helps us better understand our oceans and the complex issues they face. This course is ideal professional development of anyone currently working in the industry, or for students interested in a marine studies career.

 

Learning Outcomes

Some of the outcomes achieved by undertaking a marine biology course online include: 

  • Identify characteristics of various marine environments
  • Discuss the first primary groups of marine animal life
  • Identify the characteristics of different marine environments
  • Describe the range of molluscs and crustaceans in the marine environment and their lifecycles.
  • Describe the biology and ecological significance of Cephalopods and Clupeoids in the marine environment.
  • Describe a range of cartilaginous fish (sharks, rays) and selected bony fish (eels) that inhabit the ocean
  • Describe chosen species and the diversity of marine fish that exists in the world’s oceans.
  • Describe a range of marine mammals
  • Discuss the presence of marine mammals in the seas and oceans of the world
  • Describe a variety of reptiles and birds that co-habitat with fish in the marine environment
  • Explain the impact of humans on marine environments and of selected aspects of commercial fishing
  • Describe the variety and nature of microscopic animals, marine plants, cnidarians, marine worms, arthropods and molluscs in marine environments
  • Differentiate between different classes of Echinoderms and selected families within those classes
  • Describe the shared characteristics and distinguishing features of a selection of different species of non-bony fish
  • Describe characteristics of bony fish, including anatomy, physiology and behaviour.
  • Differentiate between different families of bony fish
  • Describe the taxonomic characteristics of groups of marine animals including reptiles, birds and mammals
  • Draw a table to compare three different species of marine protists
  • Explain the differences between sponges, krill and plankton
  • Produce a table that compares the characteristics of the three different types of algae
  • Explain the difference between seaweed and seagrass
  • Explain features that distinguish different types of worms apart
  • Present a report on research on the Cnidarians
  • Explain the formation of coral reefs
  • Research the living environments of one local arthropod and consider how its body structure and feeding mechanism is adapted to its environment
  • Differentiate between cephalopods, gastropods and bivalves
  • Describe the feeding and defence mechanisms of two different molluscs
  • Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the echinoderm’s radially symmetrical body.
  • Describe the relationship between a particular kind of lamprey (ideally, one found locally) and its host, considering who benefits and/or who does not, and why
  • List three families of local bony fish
  • Describe the biological characteristics of three fish families
  • Discuss the behavioural characteristics of the three families you researched

 

10 Fascinating Facts About Australia’s Marine Life

The underwater kingdom that makes up Australia’s oceans is home to thousands of marine plant and animal species not found anywhere else in the world! 

Did you know? 

 

  1. The world’s oceans cover over 70 per cent of the earth’s surface and are vital to the survival of our planet

 

  1. Australia’s oceans support 4000 different types of fish

 

  1. There are 1,700 different types of coral in Australia’s oceans

 

  1. The Great Barrier Reef stretches 2000 kilometres off the coast of Queensland 

 

  1. The Great Barrier Reef is made up of 2900 individual reefs and 900 islands!

 

  1. There are 17 different species of sea snake in the Great Barrier Reef

 

  1. 6 different species of turtle call the Great Barrier Reef home

 

  1. 30 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises have been discovered in the Great Barrier Reef

 

  1. The coral reef is a critical natural habitat for thousands of marine creatures, but it also protects coastlines from waves and tropical storms

 

  1. The Great Barrier Reef was founded in 1975 – and remains one of the richest, most diverse ecosystems in the world

 

9 Divine Marine Creatures in Australia’s Oceans

 

Bottlenose Dolphin 

The Bottlenose Dolphin is a marine mammal that can swim up to 260 metres below the ocean’s surface. These beautiful creatures have unique dorsal fins and can also be identified by their signature whistle. They are found around the coastline of Australia in temperate and tropical waters – occupying open coastlines, sheltered bays, waterways, lagoons, estuaries and even the lower reaches of some rivers.

 

Humpback Whale 

Humpback Whales are the superstars of the sea, putting on a spectacular show with their dives, rolls and amazing breaches out of the water for sightseers in Australian waters! They’re also the gentle giants of the ocean, weighing in at up to 50 tonnes and measuring between 14 and 18 metres in length! 

 

Manta Ray 

Highly intelligent and owning the title as the biggest ray in the sea, this majestic marine creature has a wingspan of up to 7 metres. Manta Rays can be found cruising the waters of the Great Barrier Reef and are particularly prolific in the winter months off Lady Elliot Island. 

 

Loggerhead Turtle 

The Loggerhead Turtle is found worldwide. In Australia, they inhabit coral reefs, bays and estuaries in tropical and warm temperate waters off the coast of Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and New South Wales. These amazing creates are the largest of the soft-shelled sea turtles with a shell about 92 centimetres long and weighing 113 kilos!

 

Parrotfish 

Coral-crunching sand-makes, these brilliantly-coloured fish grind down coral reef into sand to make islands rise! A bump head parrotfish can excrete 90 kilograms of sand in a year. Much of the coral they consume is dead and includes old debris, so they’re not as destructive as they sound. 

 

Clownfish 

Made famous by the Pixar film Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, the Clownfish is one of the Great Barrier Reef’s Great Eight! These striking orange and white fish are protandrous hermaphrodites, which means when a female clownfish dies, the male will change its sex to female and stay female for the rest of its life!

 

Blacktip Reef Shark

Easily identifiable by the prominent black tip on their fins, these sharks are among the most abundant sharks found in the shallow waters of tropical coral reefs. This timid, skittish shark is relatively small, reaching between 1.5 and 1.8 metres long and seldom poses a danger to humans. Its diet is primarily fish, crab, lobster, octopus and other molluscs. 

 

Coral Reef Snake 

There are about 15 different species of sea snakes found on the Great Barrier Reef, and while all produce lethal venom, it’s rare for them to use it on humans unless they feel threatened. The main differences between land and sea snakes are that sea snakes have a paddle-shaped tail and they give birth to live young! 

 

Maori Wrasse 

This brightly coloured giant fish reaches up to six feet long and comes in hues ranging from electric blue to green purplish-blue and red-orange! The Maori Wrasse has a vital job in protecting the environment as it eats the creatures that attack the reef, including the sea hare, boxfish and crown of thorns starfish.  

 

So, You Want to be a Marine Biologist?

If this marine biology course online inspires you to become a marine biologist, you’ll need to pursue a degree in marine biological science at the university level. Many institutions offer this type of program. If you’re not sure it’s the right career for you – complete both of these professional development courses and try to gain relevant work experience in the industry before committing to a university-level qualification. 

 

With a marine biology course online like our Certificate of Marine Biology, you’ll gain a sound knowledge of marine organisms, which can enhance your current qualifications or prepare you for a fascinating career in marine biology. 

Help Create A New Generation Of Leaders

Business coaches and those who have undertaken a leadership coaching course are valuable assets to any organisation because in today’s business environment it can be challenging for leaders to move forward with confidence. They can assist businesses with organisational change and when specific problems like dysfunctional behaviours need to be resolved. They can also help employees develop specific skills for specific purposes like being prepared for a role change or promotion.

Our Leader as Coach professional development course is ideal for those currently in a leadership role or wanting to transition from a leadership role to a coaching role.

 

Learning Outcomes

Some outcomes achieved by undertaking a leadership coaching course include:

  • Learning how to develop successful coaching relationships
  • Exploring successful coaching in the workplace
  • Studying how to initiate and develop a productive relationship with a coach
  • Gaining insights into facilitating the coaching process
  • Learning how to handle coaching challenges
  • Exploring the MIT Sloan management review process
  • Studying how to manage for performance development
  • Understanding the dominant leadership types
  • Examining how to identify leadership potential
  • Gaining insights into using data-driven assessments
  • Learning about finding hidden gems
  • Exploring how to adopt data-driven methods
  • Studying the six types of supporters
  • Understanding how to validate the six categories
  • Discovering the importance of fit
  • Examining the impact of organisational context
  • Gaining insights into the implications for organisations and individuals
  • Discovering how to align leadership at multiple levels
  • Examining the focus on the human dimension
  • Gaining insights into working within a broader ecosystem
  • Learning how to support ‘analytical amateurs’
  • Exploring neuroscience for coaches
  • Studying the brain areas
  • Gaining an understanding of the prefrontal cortex
  • Examining the basal ganglia
  • Learning about striatum and nucleus accumbens
  • Exploring the insular cortex
  • Studying the amygdala
  • Understanding the anterior cingulate cortex
  • Examining the hypothalamus and hippocampus
  • Gaining insights into brain chemicals
  • Discovering the communication molecules of your mind
  • Learning about GABA and glutamate
  • Exploring neurons and synapses
  • Studying neuroplasticity and neuroimaging
  • Gaining an understanding of brain networks
  • Examining the quantum brain
  • Gaining insights into self-control and willpower
  • Learning about mindfulness and motivation
  • Exploring decision making
  • How to leverage individual performance for company success
  • And more…

 

Top 8 Characteristics of Great Leaders

Managers who show great leadership can inspire their teams to accomplish amazing things. And coaches can play a big part in developing positive leadership using what they’ve learned in our leadership coaching course. But what characteristics make for a great leader?

 

#1 – Enthusiasm

Authentic enthusiasm can’t be faked. And when leaders are sincerely passionate about their work it can be contagious. Being enthusiastic can also help leaders identify existing problems in an organisation, which can lead to innovation and real change.

 

#2 – Integrity

Whether it’s acknowledging their mistakes, putting safety and quality first, or giving proper credit for accomplishments, great leaders exhibit integrity at all times. Basically, they do what’s right, even if it’s not the best thing for the project or the company’s bottom line at the time.

 

#3 – Communication Skills

Leaders instruct, discipline and motivate their employees — none of which can be accomplished with poor communication. Poor communication can also lead to poor outcomes, and leaders who fail to develop these skills, including listening skills, are often perceived as being weak.

 

#4 – Loyalty

Great leaders understand that true loyalty should be reciprocated, so they express loyalty in tangible ways that benefit their employees. It is also about ensuring all team members have the support, training and resources to do their jobs well, and supporting them in times of conflict or crisis.

 

#5 – Decisiveness

Leaders aren’t empowered to make decisions simply due to their position. They are willing to make decisions and take risks knowing that if things don’t work out, they need to be personally accountable. Leaders who aren’t decisive are often ineffective, and too much consensus-building can often have a negative impact.

 

#6 – Competence

Simply being good at your job doesn’t prove that you’ll make a great leader. Employees who are great workers understand their organisation’s products, services, goals and processes. But are they also competent in inspiring, motivating, directing and mentoring as all great leaders are?

 

#7 – Empowerment

Great leaders have faith in their ability to develop their employees. They also have a willingness to empower those they lead to act autonomously, which is about trusting that their team can successfully negotiate any challenges they might face. Empowered employees are more likely to make decisions that benefit their organisation.

 

#8 – Charisma

Great leaders are friendly, approachable, well-spoken and show sincere care for others. Employees are more likely to follow leaders they like, find it easier to relate to them, and therefore more likely to make a positive contribution to the organisation.

 

The Importance Of Emotional Intelligence

A lack of Emotional Intelligence (EI) can make or break even the best leaders. A leadership coaching course can help coaches assist clients with motivating themselves, managing their emotions, and recognising their own feelings and those of others. The basic components of EI are:

 

#1 – Self-awareness

Self-awareness refers to someone’s capacity to recognise and understand emotions, and have a sense of how their moods and actions and the emotions of others take effect. It also involves being able to identify one’s emotions correctly, being aware of personal strengths and limitations, and being open to different experiences and ideas.

 

#2 – Self-regulation

This refers to someone’s ability to express emotion appropriately. It includes being able to cope with change, managing conflict and being flexible. It also refers to being aware of how one’s actions affect others and taking ownership of those actions.

#3 – Social Skills

Having social skills refers to being able to interact well with other people. Different social skills include leadership, developing rapport, active listening, and both verbal and non-verbal communication skills.

#4 – Empathy

This component refers to being able to understand how others are feeling. It enables individuals to respond appropriately to others based on recognising their own emotions, and play a part in social relationships including in the workplace.

#5 – Motivation

In the context of EI, motivation refers to intrinsic motivation. This means an individual is driven to meet personal goals and needs rather than being motivated by external rewards like fame, money or recognition. People with motivation set goals are action-oriented, take initiative and typically search for ways to improve themselves.

 

There is also a range of theories that explore these concepts more deeply. These include:

Mayer, Salovey and Caruso’s EI Ability Model

This four-branch model suggests information from the perceived understanding and managing of emotions can be used to facilitate thinking and guide our decision-making. They include the ability to:

  • Perceive emotion — this involves being able to identify emotions in the postural and facial expressions of others.
  • Use emotion to facilitate thought — this involves the ability to use emotions in order to aid thinking.
  • Understand emotions — this involves the capacity to understand emotions, appreciate the outcomes of emotions, and discriminate and label between feelings.
  • Self-manage emotion — this involves an individual’s goals and self-awareness shaping the way their emotions are managed.

Goleman’s EI Performance Model

This theory is built on four capabilities – the first two are about ‘self’, the second two about others. They include having:

  • Self-awareness — this relates to perception and accurate understanding.
  • Self-management — this relates to emotional self-control.
  • Social awareness — this relates to empathy and an understanding of the emotions of others.
  • Relationship management — this relates to collaborating, accomplishing goals with others and working effectively in the social space.

 

These four capabilities form the basis of twelve ‘subscales’:

 

  • emotional self-awareness
  • emotional self-control
  • adaptability
  • achievement orientation
  • a positive outlook
  • influence
  • coaching and mentoring
  • empathy
  • conflict management
  • teamwork
  • organisational awareness
  • inspirational leadership

 

Bar-On’s EI Competencies Model

This theory revolves around EI being a system of interconnected behaviour that arises from social and emotional competencies. Bar-On argues that these have an influence on performance, behaviour and relationships. The five ‘meta-factors’ are the ability to:

  • Be aware of emotions and understand and express feelings.
  • Understand how others feel and interact with them.
  • Manage and control emotions.
  • Adapt, manage change and solve problems of a personal and interpersonal nature.
  • Generate a positive effect to enhance self-motivation and facilitate emotionally and socially intelligent behaviour.

 

This theory also has 15 subscales:

  • self-regard
  • self-actualization
  • emotional self-awareness
  • emotional expression
  • assertiveness
  • independence
  • interpersonal relationships
  • empathy
  • social responsibility
  • problem-solving
  • reality testing
  • impulse control
  • flexibility
  • stress tolerance
  • optimism

 

Help businesses transform and employees thrive in today’s challenging and ever-changing business world with our Leader as Coach professional development course!

 

 

Create Winning Attitudes With Our Sport Psychology Course!

If you work with individuals in the sporting sector, then a sport psychology course will give you valuable insights into how people’s psychological state can impact their sporting performance – which is obviously key to their success.

Our Certificate of Sport Psychology will teach you how to identify the psychological traits found in successful athletes, how the mind affects athletic performance, and how to maintain and increase motivation. Athletes, coaches, fitness instructors and physical education teachers … get ready to help others activate their minds and their bodies!

 

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking a sport psychology course include:

  • Understanding performance psychology
  • Learning about exercise psychology
  • Exploring environmental influences
  • Studying the aspects of sports psychology
  • Discovering how to apply sports psychology
  • Examining the psychological traits of successful athletes
  • Gaining insights into personality inventory determining a personality type
  • Learning about cognitive techniques
  • Exploring anxiety and arousal
  • Understanding and dealing with anxiety
  • Studying the physiology of anxiety
  • Understanding how to maximise the psychological state
  • Examining focusing and centring
  • Learning about motivation as an internal impulse
  • Exploring the basic principles of motivation
  • Studying intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
  • Understanding the factors that affect motivation
  • Examining motivation for fun
  • Gaining insights into aggression
  • Learning about mental rehearsal
  • Exploring error parking
  • Studying how to use self-consciousness
  • Understanding how to use word association
  • Examining anger and conflict
  • Gaining insights into measuring aggression
  • Learning about the simulated practice and e-event procedures
  • Exploring reliving success
  • Studying conflict handling techniques
  • Understanding leadership and coaching
  • Examining the role of a coach
  • Learning how to get attention
  • Exploring questioning and punishment
  • Studying team dynamics
  • And more!

 

What It’s Like To Work With Olympians

 

Georgia Ridler is a sports psychologist with more than 15 years’ experience supporting professional athletes across a range of sporting codes. She builds team dynamics, offers support and encouragement, and helps athletes develop mental strength and resilience. This is what her job entailed during the 2016 Rio Olympics swimming events, which will give you plenty of inspiration to undertake a sport psychology course!

Keeping Unusual Competition Hours 

At the Rio Olympics, broadcasting giant NBC held the swimming events much later on in the day to cater to American audiences. This meant heats were from 1 pm to 3 pm and finals from 10 pm until 1.15 am! Given the team typically wake very early for training, Georgia worked to transition them to a later schedule which involved shifting their mindsets, and ensuring they ate meals later than normal to maximise their energy levels.

Promoting Positive Team Dynamics

Swimming is predominantly an individual sport, and a large part of Georgia’s role was to make sure the team of 40 athletes and 20 support staff could work together harmoniously in what she calls an ‘Olympic pressure-cooker environment’.

As she explains, “Relationships are the most difficult thing for any human being to manage, especially when you bring together a group of 60 people who don’t typically sleep, eat, wash, exercise and catch transport together. The better people can get on and the less issues people have with each other, the less distractions we’re creating internally, which is very important because there are enough external distractions. A lot of my work in terms of team dynamics was to help everyone focus on similarities and respect differences.”

Managing Anxiety and Distractions

Georgia also spent a lot of time helping the team remain focused, as distractions — from the increased media attention to sharing an Olympic village with over 10,000 athletes — could have lead to anxiety. This included working with the management team to ensure the right messages were communicated in the lead-up to the event. This involved coaching the athletes to work on ‘focusing on the process’ and ‘expecting the unexpected’ to ensure they didn’t get too emotionally caught up in the distractions and challenges of Olympic village life.

“When swimmers experience anxiety, a lot of the support I provided was around reassurance and reinforcing peak performance routines”, she says. “We also talked with the athletes about focusing in a noisy environment. Some swimmers liked to embrace the noise but others preferred to protect themselves from the noise so they created an imaginary bubble over the pool area which allowed them to stay focused.”

Supervising Warm-ups

Before the competition began each day, Georgia spent time with the athletes during their warm-up and stretching routines assisting with anxiety levels and reminding them of the benefits of an adrenaline surge. When anyone is under stress, our ability to think clearly can be impacted. And while adrenaline is a benefit in elite sport, it can also affect decision-making and information processing. One of her key tools was using cue words.

“Cue words were the keywords that were a very quick reminder of how they wanted to swim and were related to focus, technique, power and confidence”, she says. “For example, ‘me, length, build, go’. This athlete was reminding themselves to focus on self, ensure length in their technique, build power in the water and to go for it.”

Counselling Winners and Losers

Olympic competition is extremely tough and unfortunately, many athletes don’t progress beyond the heats. Part of Georgia’s role was to help unsuccessful athletes cope with and learn from having been unsuccessful.

“Swimmers who don’t achieve their goals will have a natural emotional response. However, once an athlete has come to terms with the outcome, it is very valuable to reflect on the learnings in order to grow and improve”, she says.

Georgia was also on hand to help swimmers who qualified for semis and finals with less-than-optimal performances.

“Sometimes swimmers would get through to semi-finals or finals but it may not have been a good time and they perceived that they wouldn’t get a good lane,” she says. “In these cases, we assisted swimmers to reframe their thinking and focus on the opportunities.”

Sport Psychology Theories

When studying a sport psychology course, you will come across a range of topics and research methodologies. One common area is the theory of the relationship between personality and performance. There are a number of personality characteristics that have been found to be consistent among elite athletes. These include:

  • Mental toughness – a psychological edge that helps athletes perform consistently at a high level.
  • Self-efficacy – a belief that they can successfully perform a specific task and in sport, it has been conceptualised as ‘sport-confidence’.
  • Arousal – refers to an athlete’s physiological and cognitive activation.
  • Motivation – defined broadly as the will to perform a given task.
  • Commitment – a dedication to continuing a sport from early development into a high level of expertise.
  • Competitiveness – the ability to challenge opponents with an aim of success.
  • Control – the ability to focus and separate on different events occurring in one’s life, both within and outside of their chosen sport.

There are also multiple approaches to this personality/performance theory, including:

Psychodynamic Approach

This theory explores how an individual’s subconscious interacts with the conscience. It proposes that our underlying feelings, thoughts and emotions influence how we act and think. It also emphasizes the understanding of an individual as a whole, rather than by each trait. However, it doesn’t consider environmental factors that can influence behaviour.

Trait Approach

This theory focuses on the traits that are commonly attributed to an individual and how they influence the way they will act on a ‘normal’ basis. However, although traits are helpful in predicting ‘usual’ behaviour, they can’t always predispose ‘situational behaviour’.

Situational Approach

This theory suggests that how an individual will act depends entirely on the environment. For example, if a player acts aggressively during a competition, they might not act the same way removed from that situation. However, this theory neglects individual traits and doesn’t consider differences among people.

Interactional Approach

This theory is a combination of a trait and a situational approach. It suggests that the traits commonly attributed to an individual do predispose behaviour, however, they won’t influence behaviour unless the situation calls for it. This theory is most commonly used by sports psychologists because it takes into consideration the situation at hand and the components of each person. This method of measuring personality involves assessing a person’s traits and typical style of behaviour versus the immediate emotion or behaviour ‘in the moment’.

 

With our Certificate of Sport Psychology course you’ll be empowered to support people in both club sports and individual sporting careers get the most out of their performance. It’s a win-win!

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