Making the Right First Impression

When I was younger, I could never speak with much confidence to anyone. I always used to be the child who would sit in the corner, hardly participating in anything. 

Now that I am growing up, I thought to myself "I'm not helping myself this way. I have to do something about it". 

As you have read in my previous blogs, my university holds many workshops in the aim to teach us what we need to know to kick start our careers. 

Not long ago, I attended a networking event. Finding it extremely helpful, I thought I would share with you some tips I learnt to help you make the right first impression when meeting new contacts. 

• Create your personal "Elevator Pitch"

Your elevator pitch should be one sentence long, which includes: "who, what, when, where, and why" of your personal career to your new contact. You must think that this is the only time you will get to sell yourself, so make the most of it!

• Take pride in your appearance

Many employers begin to make a judgement within minutes of meeting someone new. Therefore, whether you will be working in a formal or casual environment, it is important to take care in your appearance. If you look scruffy, employers may ignore your skills, which in fact could be beneficial to them. They will think that someone who does not take care in themselves will be unlikely to take pride in their work. 

• Get professional business cards

Using a graphic design program or even a simple word processor, you can create a clean, simple card in minutes that will reap many long-term benefits. You want the card to be representative of you and as professional as possible. Don't forget: ALWAYS keep them handy! You never know when you will need them!

• Follow the 80/20 rule

Listening is a key part of networking. It should take up 80% of the time and talking 20% of the time. This enables you to ask open ended questions and keep the conversation flowing!

• Remember names of who you meet

Another key point of networking is remembering the names of who you meet. If you are lucky enough to meet your contact again, then they will be impressed if you remember them, immediately improving your relationship and opening a lot of doors for you. 

• Ask open - ended questions

With this tip, not only will you be able to follow the 80/20 rule, but will help you know the person better. This is beneficial as you might find out that you have a mutual contact between the two of you (then you will see how small the world really is!) or if you are really lucky, you may even be introduced to your future employer! 

Now that you know how to make the right first impression, get practicing and good luck!

Ellie Fanis
BPP University College

Olympic Games: Value for Money?

So far this year, it has been all eyes on London with the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations and now the Olympics are just around the corner. This is a very exciting time for everyone as athletes from around the world come together to take part and compete in various sporting events.

The Olympics began in 776 BC, when men from different cities in Greece would walk to Olympia with the aim to show off their skills at their chosen events in one venue. The purpose of taking part at the Olympic Games was to compete fairly, and the athletes were motivated by the glory that came from winning an event. Their reward for winning was an olive wreath, which symbolised prosperity and peace across the country, especially during the games.

For the modern Olympic Games, it is a different story. Our experience as Londoners has been far from that. The moment London was announced as the next host city, renovations and heavy duty spending began. We all understand new Olympic venues have to be constructed, improvements on public transport are essential and housing arrangements for the athletes and the large number of tourists will create a large logistical problem. On top of these costs, let’s not forget security, a priority in these times especially. Therefore, the danger costs will escalate is very high.

We have heard the public sector funding package for the Olympics, which covers the building of the venues, security and policing, stands at about £9.3bn ($14.4bn). That figure is an estimate and is likely to grow even more. Knowing the expected cost, it begs the question if this amount of spending is good value for money. A recent survey showed 55% of people asked agreed it was value for money while 59% thought the taxpayer paid too much to cover the cost of the games.

In my opinion, although the cost seems expensive, it is not a waste of public money. According to the UK Prime Minister David Cameron, the Olympics will benefit the UK economy by about £13bn in the years to come. This figure is based on the assumption the infrastructure currently being built to support the Olympics will pay for itself in years to come - the regeneration will add value to the geographic area surrounding the Olympic venues and improve people’s quality of life.

From an accountant’s perspective, accounting for a project like the Olympics will always provide an interesting challenge. I am afraid that, we will never be able to come up with a final figure of the true cost or properly monetize the benefits of the games. We all hope the Olympics will be a success and the city’s residents will be proud to have hosted them one more time.

“Faster, higher, stronger” has always been the Olympic motto but hosting the event has become very expensive and a risky business to be involved with.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-18/olympics-14-billion-turns-junkyard-into-meadow-artist-studios   

Ellie Fanis

BPP University College

This post first appeared in The Accountant (July 2012)