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You are here: Home / Archives for Employment / Careers

Careers

Planning For A Career

November 26, 2017 By Twila VanLeer

Planning For A Career
Don’t be afraid to look beyond your current field, especially if you are feeling stale or unfulfilled.
Career-planning isn’t something you do once and never again. Over a lifetime of work, things change and it’s to your advantage to capitalize as your options are altered. Today, the average worker will change careers (not jobs) many times over his or her lifetime.

Planning next steps puts you in charge, which is liberating and fulfilling. It involves setting goals and making plans for transitioning into a new career. The following tips can help you in the process:

Make attention to career planning an annual activity, not an afterthought. Schedule a retreat to allow you to focus on that priority, a weekend if not more if a change appears imminent. Minimize distractions and carefully think about what you want to accomplish with a change.

Map out your desired career path. Don’t dwell on the past, except to reflect on your experience as a guide to what you want next. If it is just a tweak or if you plan a whole new objective, build on the past. Being fully aware of where you have been will help you map out where to go next.

Let your analysis include your likes and dislikes, needs and wants. If your experience has been less than satisfactory or the current career has become stale, plan on major change. A two-column list of likes and dislikes about your work will help you see the trend. Look at your motivations. What was important to you in your first post-college job may look quite different now. Your goals and objectives may have changed.

Consider the things you like to do when you are not working. Pastimes and hobbies are more important to some than to others. An all-consuming career can leave little time for them. Is your hobby conducive to a business? Some people make a good living out of what began as a hobby. (For instance, Paul Gauguin, the famous French painter, was a successful businessman who gave up that career in favor of painting, an activity he preferred.)

Remember that change is a fact of life. Think about your major likes and dislikes and see how they apply to a career. What do you expect from a career? Simply working until you can retire can be very unsatisfactory.

Take note of past accomplishments. Creating a powerful resume is easier if you don’t shortchange yourself. A realistic record of what you did in your current career can be useful in planning what to do next. Analyze how many of the skills you now possess can be successfully transferred to another job. For instance, a news reporter may not recognize the ability to edit, research, investigation, multi-tasking, meeting deadlines and managing time and information. Breaking the job down into a bunch of skill sets may help you see what might make a good career move.

Make both long-term and short-term goals if you think a career shift would be advisable. A new career path may require additional training and education. Taking advantage of opportunities to add to your skills list is always a good idea, whether a career change is imminent or not. It may take some planning to supplement your training if your decision takes you in a whole new direction. Look within your present company, local universities or colleges and online training opportunities to achieve your goals. Plan your finances to cover additional education if necessary.

Researching career opportunities might give you a sense of direction. Don’t be afraid to look beyond your current field, especially if you are feeling stale or unfulfilled.

Career planning can have multiple benefits, from goal setting to job changes, that lead to a more successful life. You’ll find yourself better prepared, whether there is a job shift involved or not , and the benefits will flow over into all aspects of your life.

Filed Under: Careers, Employment, Job Search, Life

Freelance Jobs On Top 10 Websites

July 13, 2016 By Twila VanLeer

Freelance jobs on the top 10 websites online
Freelance jobs posted online are becoming easier to find.
Freelance jobs can solve income problems for many people who work at home. In 2015, some 15.5 million Americans were self-employed, according to Bureau of Labor statistics. By 2020, the number is expected to rise to about 60 million – more than 40 percent of the total workforce.

Freelance Jobs Online

Freelancers are doing their work at home, in coffee shops and co-working spaces everywhere. Many or the best and brightest are leaving traditional jobs to take advantage of the flexibility and autonomy in jobs of their own creation. Whether the objective is just making a side job of a hobby or making freelance the way to a living, there are resources that can be helpful.

Toptal

Toptal is a freelance network of elite software engineers and digital designers from more than a hundred countries around the world. It has a screening process that weeds out everyone except the top 3 percent of talent in a number of categories. If you are selected, you know you are in company with the elite. You are allowed to decide if you want full or part-time work, how many hours and set your own rates. Toptal works with such companies as AirBnB, IDEO and JP Morgan and has a consistent lineup of interesting clients and projects.

Upwork

Upwork, a union of the two leading freelance networks, Elance and lDesk, is now the largest website to find freelancers. It has more than 10 million registered users, four million clients and listings for three million jobs every year. It is a source for writers, architects, legal aides, photographers and others. Users can enroll for short-term or long-term projects, work by the hour or by the project. A chat feature, time-tracker and payment protection are part of the program.

99 Designs

99 Designs has its own twist. The platform is for designers and every job comes in the form of a contest. Instead of browsing through a catalog of portfolios and resumes, clients are asked to crowd source projects, set a budget and give instructions and then let designers submit work based on the project brief. At the end of a week, the client chooses the best design and pays its originator. This is a good site for designers who want to test their talents and shake up their workflow.

PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour offers a source for all skills related to web projects, including software engineers, digital designers, SEO specialists and marketers. A tool called WorkStream simplifies the business side of the work by organizing payment, communications and management all in one place. You can browse jobs, be notified of new openings via your inbox and send up to 15 proposals without charge before you sign up for the premium plan.

LinkedIn Profinder

This freelance source has more than 420 million members in more than 200 countries and is a leading place for learning about job-related information. It recently launched LinkedIn Profinder as a means to help freelance professionals to find jobs. Based on its enormous amount of user data, it is able to connect freelancers with strong leads based on keyword searches and companies followed.

SimplyHired

SimplyHired has the largest variety of freelance jobs of any on this list, with information on jobs ranging from construction to concierge work. It offers help for those seeking extra work and has information on jobs in more than 24 countries, offering opportunities in 12 languages.

Freelance Writing Gigs

Freelance Writing Gigs is a job board that is updated daily with freelance writing and blogging jobs. Topics vary from technical writing to writing about such things as recipes, photography and healthcare. There are great opportunities whether you are looking to supplement your income or make freelancing you full-time work.

If you are among the millions of freelancers looking for new opportunities, check into these sites to see what’s in them for you.

Filed Under: Careers, Internet, Job Search, Money Making Ideas Tagged With: Employment, internet business, job search, Money Making Ideas

The Best Work-At-Home Opportunities

May 20, 2016 By Twila VanLeer

What you can expect working from home.
What you can expect working from home.
How to find a job that will pad your family’s income while you remain at home? There has never been more opportunity, but also there have never been the number of scams. Used to be the best chances lay with stuffing envelopes, now there are dozens of at-home jobs that are just a mouse click away.

Legitimate Or Scam

How do you sort out the legitimate opportunities from those that will end in disaster? With 4,500 to 5,000 ads for in-home jobs screened weekly, The Rate Race Rebellion, which tracks such things, found that there were 30 scams for every legitimate opportunity.

Competition For Job

Who’s your likely competition for the jobs that are available? Durst, whose company Staffcentric LLC develops home-based and virtual career training programs, identifies them as: Parents with small children, military spouses who face moving every few years, retirees and people with disabilities.

Disadvantages

Work-at-home is not particularly an ideal option for parents with small children who are likely to create diversions during the day. Consider deadline-oriented jobs rather than those that demand schedule-oriented work.

Who It Benefits

Social introverts may do very well with at-home work. They prefer interacting with others at a remove, working through email or on the phone, to being obligated to work with a lot of other people directly.

Personal Characteristics

The characteristics that usually are demonstrated by good at-home employees are self-motivation, discipline, well-developed job skills and independence.

Check Your Credit

If you apply for work at home, a prospective employer may check your credit. Check yourself at myBankrate.

Reduces Overhead

From the employer’s perspective, hiring workers who don’t come regularly into the office has some advantages. It reduces overhead and provides access to talented workers who are not available locally but make great telecommuters.

Opportunities Available

Ten job opportunities that now are available to at-home workers include virtual assistants, medical transcriptionists, translators, web developer/designer, call center representatives, tech support, travel agents, teachers, writer/editors or franchise owners. Look at the possibilities, but check with the oversight agencies to be certain you aren’t involving yourself with a scam.

Filed Under: Careers, Employment, Job Search, Work Habits Tagged With: Employment, job search, making money

Paid Parental Leave Largely Ignored

April 22, 2016 By Twila VanLeer

Fear of job loss factor in ignoring parental leave.
Fear of loosing a job a factor in people not choosing to use parental leave.
More states are joining the effort to require employers to provide paid maternity leave, but the programs seem to be vastly underused, according to Business Insider. A growing number of employers are opting to provide the service even if their states do not require it. But surveys show that the programs are not being used to their potential. For instance, in California, where parental leave will be paid for six weeks at 55 percent salary, only 25-40 percent of eligible mothers use the leave.

The benefits of being paid at least a percentage of income for several weeks to welcome a new family member should be encouraging. Studies show that there are increases in employee morale, healthier babies, better bonding and fewer problems down the road that require state assistance.

So why are employees not taking full advantage of the option? Studies have consistently shown the following as reasons:

People Fear They Will Lose Their Jobs

In some cases, discrepancies between state and federal laws mean that the employee may have to choose between the paid leave and job loss. Gaps between the federal Family Medical Leave Act, which has guaranteed job protection for some, leaves other employees vulnerable. The act ensures job security up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, but only for those who work at least 1,250 hours per year at businesses with at least 50 employees. Statistics show that more than half of all American workers are employed by small businesses that don’t meet the requirement.

The Possibility Of Negative Career Outcomes Deters Many

Even if they have FMLA assurance that their job will be protected, there is subtle evidence that employers may discriminate against workers who accept the leave. The New York Times reported survey results that showed women, after passage of FMLA, were 5 percent more likely to keep their jobs, but 8 percent less likely to get promotions. Men who take advantage of the leave may get negative performance reviews and there is a perception that workers of either gender are less committed to their jobs if they stay home for awhile after the birth of a child.

Many Workers Are Not Aware That They Are Entitled To Paid Parental Leave

In California, 12 years after the state initiated its paid leave provisions, only 36 percent of workers were aware of the program, according to paidfamilyleave.org. The organization’s survey also showed that those in the age group 18-29, Latinos, less educated workers and those in lower income brackets – those most likely to benefit from the program – were not aware.

The question of paid maternity leave is gaining momentum, but these obvious flaws must be addressed before it will be a viable option for the many Americans who work during the childbearing years.

Filed Under: Careers Tagged With: Employment, health

Preparing For Your Career

April 21, 2016 By Twila VanLeer

The more education the broader range of jobs which leads to greater earnings.
Higher education leads to greater earnings.
“What are you going to be when you grow up?” It’s the standard question kids get from the time they are able to converse. The answer, though they don’t have any way of knowing it, will make a huge difference in their lives.

Used to be most boys opted for jobs as firemen or star-quality quarterbacks. Girls for a long time were limited to teaching and nursing. Now there are dozens of job options for children of either gender and preparation for them runs the gamut, from high school education through years of graduate work. Likewise, the income they can expect has a wide range. The tales of high school dropouts who made fantastic fortunes are few and far between.

Career Preparation Begins In Elementary School

Experts can reasonably predict how successful a child is going to be based on performance in grades K-12, although, of course, there are exceptions. Many job opportunities are sidelined along the way, placed off-limits to children who don’t see the connection between education and the future in the job market. A serious approach to the foundation years of education will help a child and the support and guidance of parents can make a huge difference. Ideally, however, children should be advised that money is not the only reward for work. Satisfaction in the activity a child chooses to pursue is as important as what they can earn.

The More Education The Greater The Earnings

Logically, a child needs to know that the more education they get, the broader the range of jobs they will qualify for and the greater their earnings will be. If they don’t finish high school, for example, the jobs that are available include such things as waitressing, farm work, fast food preparation, custodial jobs or highway maintenance, will pay from $1,583 to $2,500, according to standard listings.

High School

A high school diploma will generally offer entry into such jobs as bank teller, construction, data entry, child care, military, travel agent and others. The pay range is $2,049 per month to $3,494.

Vocational

A vocational degree (two years or less of post-high school education) in fields such as auto mechanic, cosmetologist, machinist, plumber, welder, etc., increases the range from $2,040 to $3,666.

Associate

A two-year associate degree ups the ante. Jobs such as dental hygienist, office manager, paralegal, nurse or real estate agent are opened up., with pay ranging from $3,205 to $5,759.

Bachelor’s

A bachelor’s degree is required for accountants, teachers, elementary teachers, flight attendants, social workers, marketing managers, news reporters, graphic designers, meteorologists and many other professional jobs. Pay ranges from $3,154 to $7,859.

Master’s

A master’s degree prepares secondary teachers, physical therapists, psychologists, engineers, guidance counselors, librarians and speech pathologists and other specialized fields, with pay from $4,479 to $7,318.

Professional

The step up to a professional degree is required for college professors, dentists, lawyers, optometrists, pharmacists, veterinarians, etc. The pay ranges from $4,500 to $12,645.

Medical

Medical degrees take several years of very expensive training beyond a bachelor’s degree, but the wages are commensurately higher, beginning at an average of $14,500 for a pediatrician to $15,246 for a general practitioner.

There are, obviously, dozens of variables that enter into the equation, but the general truth is that the better, highest-paying jobs go to those who are educationally prepared.

Filed Under: Careers Tagged With: Careers, education

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