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Heather Harper

Heather Harper is the lead content manager for The Career Project. Her interests include organizational psychology and the impacts of variables upon workplace productivity and job satisfaction. Heather holds an MSc in Organisational Psychology from the University of Manchester, as well as a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from University of Lincoln. While at the University of Manchester, she completed her master's thesis which was entitled: "The variability of personality expression in response to situational cues and it’s relationship to job satisfaction". Heather is based in Cambridge, UK.

How to write a personal mission statement

By / September 5, 2020

All successful and motivated companies have mission statements that outline what they believe, the things they want to achieve and how they’re going to achieve those things…  why shouldn’t we, successful and motivated individuals, have one too? Well, we can – and its called a personal mission statement. Why should I have a personal mission statement? A personal mission statement defines who you are and identifies your purpose in life, how you aim to pursue that purpose and why it matters to you. It is an incredibly useful and powerful tool as it aids us in meeting our long-term goals …

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Masterclass review: is it worth it?

By / August 22, 2020

Materclass is a San Francisco based online learning platform designed specifically with creatives in mind. They offer unique classes, taught by the absolute best in the industry. And, they they can be accessed from anywhere in the world… So, I have decide to give masterclass a review! Masterclass targets a niche of professionals and creates content with writers, musicians, artists, chefs, and creative students and professionals in mind. Classes include acting taught by Samuel L. Jackson, writing taught by James Patterson, basketball taught by Stephen Curry, cooking taught by Gordon Ramsey and directing taught by Ron Howard. This, however, is …

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A short, but sweet, review of Udemy

By / August 22, 2020

If you have ever searched for online educational courses, then I am almost certain you will have stumbled across Udemy. It is one of the most popular and well-known online learning and teaching marketplaces in the world. With over 100,000 courses in over 65 different languages and 24 million students (or so they say), it certainly looks attractive on the surface… so I decided to conduct a review of Udemy. They offer courses for a wide range of subjects. However, their top categories being design, development, marketing, IT and software, personal development, business and music. As Udemy is developed with …

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Calling All Night Owls: The importance of morning routine

By / August 21, 2020

I am lucky enough to have always been a morning person. Much to my mother’s despair, I was the child up at 5:30am on a Saturday morning wanting to start the day. Since then, I have always found that I am most productive in the morning and I thoroughly enjoy getting up early and carrying out certain routines to get myself set up and prepared for the day ahead. I personally like to give myself an hour in the morning before I leave the house to carry out my routine. I get up and wash my face. Next, I make …

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How to be a Successful Freelancer

By / August 21, 2020

Speaking from personal experience, working as a freelancer is amazing 99% of the time. You have the luxury of being able to decide who you work with, what hours you want to work and ensuring that you are always working on projects that you enjoy. It can, however, be hard to know where to get started and what to do to become a successful freelancer. A freelancer, sometimes referred to as a ‘1099 contractor‘ is someone who works for themselves and not for an employer. As there are now more than 56.7 million freelancers in the United States alone, competition …

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Dear ALL Millennials: Our Problem with Instant gratification

By / August 18, 2020

In this blog post, I’ll talk about the work of Simon Sinek and how he believe millennial’s are destined for disappointment due to our parenting, addiction to technology, instant gratification and the environment. Unless (we) make some changes to our mindset. Why millennials will struggle It doesn’t take a genius to notice that there is a pretty big difference between our work ethic and the work ethic of our parents or grandparents. We, us millennials (the generation of humans born approximately in 1994 or above) are accused (and, perhaps rightfully so) of being entitled, narcissistic and self-interested. Sailing through our …

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Book review: Start with why

By / August 17, 2020

‘Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action‘, written by Simon Sinek, carefully illustrates examples of leaders such as Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King and Sam Walton, who stand out from everyone else for one simple reason… They always start with WHY. As a whole, I enjoyed reading ‘start with why’ finding it a quick, easy yet catchy read. I did, however, have a few reservations and criticism, which are outlined below. But first, I will introduce you to Sinek’s main ideas/the idea’s that most inspired me. There are only two ways to influence behavior I don’t …

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How to write a CV: 10 steps to success

By / August 18, 2020

According to Glassdoor, a job posting will get over 250 applications, each with good CVs (short for curriculum vitae) attached. Generally speaking, around four to six of the applicants will get an interview. But, of course, only one of those 250 applicants will be lucky enough to get the job. So, how do you make your CV, which is normally the first thing employers will read about you, stand out from the 249 others? 1. Tailor your CV It is so important to tailor your CV specifically to the job that you are applying for. You should not be just …

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A productive lunch hour: 5 tips on what to do

By / August 17, 2020

How productive is your lunch hour and how do you spend it? ?  Do you quickly gobble down your sandwich whilst still typing away at your desk? Or, do you spend the hour aimlessly scrolling through social media, stuck in the dark and dingy staff room? Do you fuel up on a strong black coffee and a bar chocolate? Now, how do you feel after this lunch hour? Drained? Tired? Uninspired?  The chances are, after this unproductive hour during the working day, you will not return to your desk feeling energized, motivated or inspired for the afternoon ahead. So, how …

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Why writing a cover letter will be the best decision you’ll ever make

By / August 18, 2020

We all know that writing a CV is so important in your job search. However, 53% of employers think a resume is simply just not enough to grab their attention. Therefore, you should be attaching a cover letter to your job application to ensure that you stand out from the crowd. Yet, incredibly surprisingly, only a tiny 47% of job seekers attach cover letters to their application. And all this means is that over half of you are missing out on the opportunity to really WOW employers. Tips for writing a cover letter I can speak from experience that knowing …

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