It takes only 1 trip to the Kruger National Park of South Africa to not only fall in love with nature, but to learn from it. The immense animal kingdom of the savannah has many lessons to teach us, if only we take the time to listen. From leopards to lizards, here’s what I learned in my 4 days of immersion:

You always have a role to play. The food chain and natural order make for a complex system, but they ultimately teach that every organism has a part to play in the health of the environment. In my trip, we witnessed a leopard eating a small impala whilst nestled in a tree, as well as a hyena begging for scraps and vultures watching closely. This single interaction displays the ultimate fact of the wild: in every situation, there are role players.

The leopard is the predator, the impala the prey, and the vultures and hyena the clever scavengers. In the human world, I believe the principal is the same. Whilst we don’t have roles like predator or prey, we have titles such as mother, friend, listener and mentor. In every situation we have a role to play, and I believe that accepting that role brings us one step closer to peace. If you are a friend, you must accept that your role is to support. If you are a mother, you must accept that your role is to love. In the same way that a predator doesn’t feel guilty for playing its role in nature, we should accept our roles in our relationships and organisations.

Patience is always rewarded. The morning after the leopard’s kill, we found the same cat eating the last remains in a new tree, surrounded by hyenas on all sides. They had been waiting the whole night for something to eat. The leopard did not willingly share anything, although it couldn’t help that it accidently dropped a leg onto the floor through a misplaced bite. The hyenas immediately relished the opportunity and found themselves full. A whole night of waiting finally reaped a reward. There were surely many moments where even the hyena doubted its luck, but eventually its patience was rewarded. At the end of the day, it’s patience that will grant us happiness.

With the right people, anything is possible. A pride of lions had been stalking an unsuspecting heard of buffalo for nearly 2 days. We arrived on the scene with 4 lions confronting a bull on one of the main roads of the reserve. The buffalo had chosen their strategy well: the mothers had gone ahead with the youngest, whilst the strong bulls separated into groups to ward off their predators. With teamwork, the group of young bulls chased away the lions and granted their herd safety. In life, few things can be done alone. A lone buffalo would’ve easily fallen prey to the pride, but as a group they protected each other. In the same way we as humans must build our own herds. We must choose people who will protect us and love us in the face of danger, otherwise we’re easy prey as well.

Written by Gabrielle Coetzee

We’ve all met those people. They hate their jobs. They spend day-in and day-out complaining about strict bosses, non-communicative co-workers, office politics and bad corporate coffee. They find little satisfaction in their daily lives. Nothing at work has given them happiness in a very long time.

The concept of a 9-to-5 has always seemed like a large monster looming over my future as I was growing up. It was the idea that one day all of your time would be dedicated to your job and your whole day would be centered around when you work.  I was terrified of this idea. I didn’t understand how a person’s job could be such a large part of your life, and that you were supposed to enjoy it.

Having only just started my first internship, my opinion has drastically changed. In just a few weeks, I’ve discovered that a job can truly be enjoyable when you have the right environment. Here are my observations for what matters most in establishing a life-long, enjoyable career:

Corporate Culture

This is arguably the most important aspect of any career choice. Will your new work environment have a culture that matches your lifestyle and work-ethic? It is the idea that the people make the place. The organization has certain behaviors and symbols because of the people that form part of that organization. People play a large role in our productivity. If we do not feel accepted into a group, especially at work, our job satisfaction will dramatically decrease, alongside our productivity and output. To enjoy your job, it is essential to enjoy the company of the people you work for and alongside. You’ll never be friends with everybody, but the general cultural norms should suit your own values.

Personal Skills and Interests

The matter is rather simple: if you hate art, don’t become a painter; if you don’t enjoy talking about money, don’t work in a bank. From that perspective, it’s a wonder that we as humans often find ourselves in positions we hate and careers we despise. There are many things that influence our decisions: education, finances, location etc. but one of the most important parts of enjoying your job is being interested in it and being somewhat good at it. We won’t always be good at the things we enjoy, but then we should enjoy learning those skills and gaining more expertise. Imagine spending the rest of your life doomed to something you hate? Try to make your career decisions with your interests in mind. It might not always be possible when our situations demand that we consider other factors beyond interest, but that doesn’t mean interest shouldn’t form some, however minute, part of your decision.

Purpose

Your job should do something for you, or for someone else. If you feel you’re only working so that your superiors might make money or gain acknowledgement, you’ll never enjoy what you do. Perhaps your purpose is in providing something for the community, or for your family, or launching an incredible new product, or receiving recognition for your work. Either way, it is important that you feel your job is benefiting you or your area in some way, otherwise the work will never seem worth it.

By Gabrielle Coetzee

My name is Sabad Khaire and I’m an intern at You Press. Nearing the end of Ramadan with lockdown measures still in effect this year, every Muslim is observing the holy month in different ways around the world. I personally have a different experience here in London compared to some others. As someone who suffers with chronic kidney failure, a long-term illness where I have to take medication for the rest of my life, I do not fast. Those who are sick, pregnant or of old age are exempt from fasting. One of the ways we celebrate is by doing Fidyah, which is the name for the obligatory charitable contribution when you cannot fast in the required times or make up for your fasts on later dates.

My sister, who shares the same condition, also celebrates Ramadan by cooking with me when we’re having a good day. We support each other by cooking our family’s favourite food and coming up with great new dishes for them to try. We believe that giving a helping hand after a long day of fasting and working is our contribution to Ramadan, with the reward of seeing smiling faces at the end of the day. Celebrating Ramadan is a way of being spiritually aware and treating yourself (and others) better.

I got the chance to interview Shahid Waseem from British Land to discuss his views, thoughts and experiences about the month of Ramadan.

Do you feel like Ramadan changes you?

“I think it does change people. I believe it depends on the individual; some people can go very quiet and I certainly becoming more focused. I do find that a lot of change has happened to my personality during Ramadan.”

Do you feel like you refrain from bad habits that you wouldn’t think of as bad when it’s not Ramadan?

“Yes, you try. Like I wouldn’t be having too much coffee in a day and I’m trying not to use bad language. I’m trying to make a conscious effort. “

Apart from fasting, what is the most challenging part about Ramadan?

“Because of the long days and very short nights as we have to fast for 18 hours, I think sleep could be another issue. If your job is demanding and you have to wake up in the early morning, you don’t get enough sleep.”

Do you feel like the community aspect of Ramadan is important?

“It is but it’s currently quite difficult with COVID. However, being involved with the community is definitely good; going to Friday prayers, there’s a spirit in the air bringing a lot of positive vibes. As a community we make an effort in practicing good deeds, focusing on charity, working at the soup kitchen because collectively you want to be better.”

How are you spending this month of Ramadan with the effects of COVID?

“It has been very different these last couple of years with the mosque being very limited with spaces. Even on Friday prayers you get sent back sometimes, it certainly makes me feel very incomplete and I do miss the sense of normality.”

What’s your favourite part of breaking fast?

“You know, it’s the little things. It’s just looking at the food and gaining happiness, having your favourite food or drink and feeling like ‘ahh I can eat now!’. It’s a blessing. Like the difference is normally we would be opening the fridge ten times a day and having the food in front of you. When that’s taken away, that’s how you humble yourself. I normally don’t go without a drink of coffee and if I don’t have much lunch, I would have probably felt like screaming. But now that I’m fasting, I can work through it and I’m focused for the rest of the day.”

Are there any barriers that stop you from fasting? If so, are there any other things that you do to still celebrating Ramadan?

“There are no barriers for me because religion is important to me and it’s close to my heart. I make no excuse and I still go to work because I want to earn halal. But what I do to celebrate is have my family all together to break fast as we have a family unit which normally don’t eat together.”

What Ramadan traditions do you have as a family?  

We make a lot of fried food like samosas or pakoras because this is the time you want to eat all of that delicious food. Other than that, for my family, it’s mostly fasting.”

What keeps you motivated during this month?

“It is the fact that we are fasting because it is compulsory. It is written in the Qur’an that fasting is upon you, it is a pillar of Islam and it keeps me motivated. But some people do also say that there are health benefits. It makes you more peaceful at heart. Even if you pray five times a day it makes you spiritually cleaner; that hunger gives me purpose.”

What is one advice you’d give to your younger self about Ramadan?

“Don’t eat too much fast food, maybe take Ramadan more seriously and learn more. When you’re a young Muslim, you can learn about Islam and Ramadan because knowledge is power. We focus on learning a lot of other things but if I could go back, I would learn my obligation within Islam and about the Qur’an. We can recite the Qur’an but not properly understand the meaning behind it. I would go back and learn the meaning of the Arabic words that we use during our prayers.

Written by Sabad Khaire

Founded in 2002, LinkedIn quicky became the largest professional networking site available. It now has over 760 million registered members from more than 150 different countries. But, why do so many people choose to set up a LinkedIn account? Well, typical motivations are:

• Finding a job opportunity;
• Sharing a job opportunity;
• And connecting with other professionals (to ask advice, share ideas or collaborate).

For me, the best way to think about LinkedIn is that it’s a digital version of your CV (with plenty more opportunities to show potential employers who you are).

Creating your profile

With LinkedIn, this best place to start is creating a profile. LinkedIn currently allows you to add the following to your profile page: Your name and location, profile and cover images, a short biography, an about section, a ‘featured’ section, experience (paid and voluntary work), education and qualifications, skills and endorsements, and recommendations.

That’s quite a lot of information. Let’s break some of those areas down to see what they cover:

• You name and location – you should use your full name (first name and surname) and choose either the location where you are currently based or where you want to be based (e.g., if you are searching for jobs in London, select London. Why? When recruiters search, they often do so by location).
• The short biography/summary – It’s up to you to decide what you put here, but most people put their job title in the bio. If you’re unemployed or searching for a job, use relevant words that help with search functions – e.g., ‘English Literature graduate seeking jobs in publishing’. Here, you can also use #ONO (Open to New Opportunities). This gets picked up in recruiter searches.
• Images and the featured section – most LinkedIn profiles tend to feature very formal, professional (in the traditional sense) looking photos. But just because most people choose to go this way, it doesn’t mean you have to do so. Remember, it’s your profile. When I started using LinkedIn, I would add photos that I thought would interest the type of employer I was looking for (someone interested in the charity sector work and a positive approach to work – so, lots of smiling faces!). In the featured section you can add relevant links – perhaps an article you’ve written?
• The ‘about’ section – it’s typical to start CVs with a personal statement/about me section. The ‘about’ section on your LinkedIn profile is an extension of this. This is the place to have the key information you want a potential employer to see. Lots of LinkedIn users will also add information about their current role, skills, and perhaps about their life outside of work.
• Professional experience, voluntary work and education – These sections are where you can summarise your previous experience, whether that’s the grades you achieved at school, some volunteering you do on the weekends, or a list of your previous job roles as well as your current one. What should I put in the job roles sections? Similarly to your CV, a good simple structure would be to add in information on the following: key roles and responsibilities, and key achievements. You can also add in information about why you left a job, for example “to find a company with better opportunities for career progression”.
• Skills – In the skills section you can add in any skills that you’re proud of or that you feel are relevant to the experience you have and the jobs you are applying for. For example, if you’re applying for a job that requires IT skills, it would be good to add Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint and Excel) to your skills section. You can also ask your connections to ‘endorse’ each of your skills!
• Recommendations – last but not least, recommendations. You can leave ‘recommendations’ on your connections’ profiles, stating what your working relationship is/was with them (e.g., are you their manager or do you work in the same team?). You can also ask them to leave a recommendation on your profile! A typical recommendation would be ‘Ayeesha and I worked together on the Blue Project during our time at Jenkins and Co. Ayeesha was hard working and a pleasure to be around…’

So that’s the basics of the profile covered. What’s next?

Like all social media sites, LinkedIn relies a great deal on user generated content – the things that you and I post, share, and engage with. What this means is that there is no right or wrong way to use LinkedIn. Sure, there are some things you can do that are likely to help you build meaningful connections and there are some things that might put people off. But the point is that your LinkedIn profile is yours to develop as you see fit.

You might have been told that your LinkedIn profile and activity needs to be ‘professional’, but it is worth knowing that this is subjective. So, my advice would be this: create a profile and content that align with the version of yourself that you want to present to the world (hopefully the real you!) and that attract the type of people and companies that you want to connect with.

While it’s great to put your spin on your profile and activity, here are some standard dos and don’ts (these are based on my experience and on my opinions – take whatever’s useful and discard anything that isn’t):

Don’t…

• Let the fear of reaching out to someone stop you from doing so. It’s completely natural to feel scared or unsure when reaching out to someone you’ve never met before for advice or help. The best way to reach out is politely and clearly – make it obvious what you are asking for.
• Be offended or feel put down if someone doesn’t reply to you on LinkedIn. When I want to learn something new or get an opinion, I’ll typically message 5-10 individuals because I know that several of these will ignore the message.
• Lie or write anything that would be misleading on your profile. In the long-run it’s never worth lying about your experience on your CV or on LinkedIn.
• Neglect your LinkedIn profile. A bad LinkedIn profile is in some ways worse than not having a profile at all! Where possible, keep your information updated.
• View LinkedIn as a ‘taking’ platform. LinkedIn offers many ways to give. For example, you can offer your advice or help a friend by connecting them to someone you’ve met on LinkedIn.
• Be afraid to report anything that you think is wrong. Although some people think otherwise (often men, sadly), LinkedIn isn’t a dating site. If you see or experience something that you don’t think is right, report it to LinkedIn.

Do

• Use the power of ‘no’ if you want to. You will likely receive messages from people trying to sell their services, and there’s nothing wrong with this. There’s also nothing wrong with saying ‘no’ to them. Of course, be polite if you can, but don’t be afraid to say ‘no’ – by doing so, you save everyone time down the line!
• Be wary of what you write online. It’s good to stand up for things you’re passionate about, but remember that it’s hard to ‘unsay’ things you’ve said online.
• Utilise the potential of LinkedIn – never before has it been so easy to connect with great leaders, people in positions of power and influence, and potential mentors and role models.
• Borrow ideas from other users – if you see something you like, use it on your profile.
• Put some time into creating a profile that you’re proud of!

Contacting other people

Examples of how to get in touch with someone you don’t know:

• “Thank you very much for accepting my invitation to connect. I am interested in learning more about a career in X area and I can see from your profile that you have worked in this industry for some time. Would you mind telling me a bit more about how you got into this industry?”
• “Thank you for connecting. I invited you to connect because I am looking for a change of career and I am seeking work experience opportunities in the industry you work in. I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of any useful sites or organisations sharing these kinds of opportunities that you are aware of.”

Responding to messages

You’ll receive some great messages and offers on LinkedIn and you’ll receive some that aren’t so exciting. Seeing as lots of us are too nice for our own good, here are some ways to politely say ‘no’ on LinkedIn:

• “Thank you very much for your message. This sounds interesting, but it’s not something I want to pursue at this time.”
• “Thank you for your invitation to connect. This isn’t something I would like to do, but I’m, happy to stay connected.”

What should I post or share on LinkedIn?

Again, it’s up to you. You can post about things that matter to you (E.g., conservation work) or something that might help you get a job, like sharing a photo of a qualification you’ve acquired. If you can, it’s important to stay active on LinkedIn – interact with posts you find interesting, join in with debates (respectfully of course) and utilise the content available to help you learn and progress.

Good luck!

I hope you found some of the advice in this article useful. This is a very basic overview of LinkedIn and it doesn’t cover many of the tools available through the platform, so I would advise you do your own research. Not sure where to start? Just search for LinkedIn tutorials on YouTube – they might not all be useful, but it’s a good starting point!

If you would like any help with creating a LinkedIn profile or if you would like someone to review your profile, please email Hal@youpress.org.uk or you can contact Hal directly on LinkedIn – Hal Davidson