March 2014 – NCU Training

Get online week

Get online week is an annual digital empowerment campaign that promotes the use of digital technologies and learning digital skills. Having even basic digital skills will afford you a world of opportunity and the ability to become self sufficient in your learning. With so many great resources online, it is important to be aware of technologies that exist and how to access them.

“Every nine jobs out of ten today presumes digital skills of one standard or another” – Pat Rabbitte

At NCU Training, we know the importance of Digital skills. Over the past few years we have been offering free Digital skills training so people can get online and start using technology to their advantage. We are all about digital empowerment and we have helped over 2100 people get online and start gaining Digital skills in the past two years alone.

If you are interested in taking a free Digital skills course with us you can call 01-8479463 to book a place.

Some of the course topics include:

Google services (Search, Email, Maps, Drive, YouTube, translate etc..)
Banking online
Government services online (motor tax, personal tax, local services etc..)

If you are interested in finding out more about Get Online Week you will find all the details on their website here

More websites worth looking at:

Grand Coalition for Digital jobs

Our free Digital skills course

Vice-President Neelie Kroes says digital literacy and e-skills are the new literacy

Universal Job competencies

In my travels around the internet I came upon a very interesting list of six core competencies that Microsoft look for in prospective employees. These are general competencies that could really be applied to any prospective position. As a Jobseeker It is useful to get a little insight in to the competencies that companies look for when searching for new employees, and this can help you prepare better for interviews.

Competencies

Adaptability – Demonstrates curiosity and actively explores options. Responds efficiently to changing demands and circumstances. Functions effectively in ambiguous situations. Maintains a constructive attitude in times of stress.

Collaboration – Drives alignment and teamwork within a team, department, or across organizational boundaries. Combines resources and joins efforts to achieve company-wide goals.

Drive for Results – Tenaciously pursues positive outcomes by using effective approaches to solve problems. Delivers on commitments and seeks increasingly challenging work. Takes responsibility and holds others accountable for actions, decisions, and goals.

Influencing for Impact – Communicates and networks effectively. Successfully persuades and influences others.

Judgment – Effectively scopes problems. Builds and applies a job-relevant knowledge base. Makes decisions with conviction.

Customer Focus – Anticipates customer needs, and proactively meets and exceeds customer expectations. Recognizes the issues that customers want to resolve, and creates, or facilitates the creation of, products and services to address customer needs.

5 tips for safer food preparation at home.

As a food hygiene tutor I am passionate about creating awareness for safer food preparation both at home and in the workplace. With some simple do’s and don’ts you can avoid a trip to the hospital and learn how to create a safer environment for you to make your food.

Today my 5 tips are aimed toward using the microwave.

Microwaves

Over 90% of food poising cases occur at home, one of the contributing factors to this is improper use of the microwave. The heating of food in the microwave is a cause of major concern in Ireland.

1.Read

Read the instructions on the packet. This is the first and most important step. We need to know whether the food needs to be cooked completely or just reheated, whether it can be cooked in a microwave or needs a conventional oven, cooking time and wattage. (generally your wattage is displayed on your microwave, if not consult the manual.)

2.Heat

To make best use of the microwave and to heat the food properly and evenly, heat your food in short bursts. For instance if the packet says 4 mins, put in for 2.

3.Stir

Make sure to take the product out and stir it thouroughly.

4.Continue heating

Put the product back in for the rest of the time needed.

5.Let it stand

Once the product is thouroughly heated through, leave it stand for 1 minute before consuming.