Ricky Said:

Is a Higher National Diploma from a U.K University equal to an Associate's Degree for work permits abroad?

We Answered:

Talk to or contact the British Council, they advise on Qualification equivalents, I used them when I ran an employment agency.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/

Stacy Said:

Is a Higher National Diploma from a U.K University equal to an Associate's Degree for work permits abroad?

We Answered:

Talk to or contact the British Council, they advise on Qualification equivalents, I used them when I ran an employment agency.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/

Dawn Said:

Stay in a job you hate just because of the current climate?

We Answered:

Last year, I felt exactly the same about my job as you do about yours. But I stayed put knowing it would be difficult to find another when the economy was so bad (I work in an industry which was one of the first affected so even by early last year, things were dire). Then I was made redundant in November anyway, so I really regretted not moving sooner!

What also put me off changing jobs was that I had been with my employer for almost three years (which was a long time by their standards) and I figured that if they did make redundancies, it would be a case of last on, first off - but then in the event it certainly wasn't, and I was terminated even though others doing the same job as me but had only been there a couple of months were kept on. I also figured that at least I would get redundancy pay if I stayed - I did, but statutory redundancy pay is such a pitiful amount that it wasn't worth bothering with.

No matter what the current climate is like, it's always stupid to leave a job without having a new one to go to. So if you are going to line up a new job before you quit, then there is probably no reason not to move.

The only downside to changing jobs now is that because the job market is so bad, employers are advertising salaries that are a lot lower than what would have been offered even a year ago. You will probably find you can match your current salary, but you won't get an increase.

At the moment, I would say do not, under any circumstances, leave without a job to go to. The fact is that companies are just not hiring at the moment; even when someone leaves they don't replace them and they just make existing staff cover their workload. So you'll probably end up being unemployed for a considerable amount of time.