If you want to be even slightly employable in today’s climate (freezing, at present…), you must possess what employers refer to as ‘commercial awareness’.
Quite an elusive concept, really. But let’s not go there; a discussion on the very nature of that chimera might take too long and bore you to death which, of course, is best avoided.
We have all, however, been constantly reminded by lecturers, mentors, employers and even friends and relatives about how important it is to ‘keep on top of things’ (for want of a better term).
Also, I can bet you quite considerable sum of money (if I had it, of course) that very few of us have actually been told HOW to do the above.
Common sense dictates that the best way to keep up with current affairs and news is to read papers and watch the news.
Well, common sense is blatantly wrong as most busy- bodies today do not have the time to sit down and read a newspaper or watch the news every day; sad but somewhat painfully true.
So, how on Earth, then, are we to maintain an acceptable level of ‘commercial awareness’ without having to wake up at 5 a.m. to read papers and watch the news?
Quite simple really- be smart about using your smart phone (don’t pretend, you all have one).
The easiest way to do this is through this little (and free, even for IPhones!!!) app:
<< http://stitcher.com/ >>
What Sticher effectively does is look for podcasts (or recorded broadcasts) that you are interested in, downloads a temp file and allows you to listen to them in your spare time.
Apparently, you can even listen to it on your PC or laptop (I just found that out as I have never been on the website myself..) which makes it even more useful because you can listen to the news whilst having your breakfast and coffee before work in the morning.
Furthermore, you can listen to it on the way to work; you can even do that on the tube as it does not buffer the podcasts but downloads the whole temp file so that you can listen to the whole thing without the need to constantly be connected to the internet.
The app offers a wide variety of podcasts, ranging from science updates to celebrity gossip and international news.
Finally, I shan’t leave you hanging as may others have previously done and I shall recommend a couple of podcasts which will help you improve your ‘commercial awareness’:
- Business Daily
Updated at 10:15 am UK time Monday- Saturday. Daily blend of world news and business updates
- BBC World Daily: Daily Commute
Updated at 13:00 pm UK time Monday- Saturday. BBC’s daily world news service.
- Wall Street Journal This Morning
Updated at 13:00 pm UK time Monday- Saturday. News from all around the USA, mainly on businesses and politics
- Global News, BBC
Updated every six hours Monday- Friday. The most up-to-date news podcast there is, world news, BBC.
To sum up, as previously noted, it’s free, time- efficient, informative and quite darn useful.
What more can you ask for?
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