How to Survive a January money hangover

How to Survive a January ‘money hangover’ by Michael Cheary Let’s face it: January is the worst month of the year…Aside from the complete loss of Christmas cheer, it brings all manner of unpleasantries when it comes to your finances ranging from the 31 January self-assessment tax deadline to the inevitable credit card bills.That being said, there’s plenty you can do to make your money stretch further this January, and beyond.We spoke with the Money Advice Service about what you can do to survive the toughest of months:Start budgetingIf you only make one New Year’s resolution, make it about budgeting.It’s so easy to quickly spend more than you have coming in, which leads to the inevitable overdraft fees or credit card charges. The Money Advice Service estimates 15 per cent of us never plan our finances by budgeting, which can create all manner of problems if money is tight.You’ve probably seen plenty of articles and TV programmes or listened to countless experts on the radio talking about the benefits of budgeting, and may have dismissed what you’ve heard as unattainable. In fact, there are some really simple things you can do to keep your finances afloat.The Money Advice Service’s budget planner will certainly help you get started.Building a money planThere are some outgoings you have to cover â€" the weekly shop, mortgage or rent, utility bills and Council Tax being the most prominent ones. Others are easy to brush off to the back of your mind.You can probably put home and car insurance into this category. With a budget in place it is easier to cover these expenses, and to live within your means. Or course, it is always a good idea to save a little extra to cover unexpected expenses such as plumbing or heating issues, or birthdays and other celebrations.The first thing anyone in need of a budget must do is look for ways to cut back. This can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Food shopping is a major expense and one many of us can address without losing out.You can often save money by opting for own-brand products, and by sticking to what you have on your shopping list. There’s a reason why supermarkets place all the goodies by the tills â€" they know you’re going to be stuck there, queuing, bored and tempted to pick up chocolates. You’d probably be better off bulk buying a little more veg or meat and making casseroles, stews and so on that will provide you with several meals.Incidentally, this approach could save you a fortune on takeaways, if you remember to get them out of the freezer.Tips and tricks to save money when shoppingSell, sell, sell  While you’re in the process of slashing your weekly shopping bill you could raise some extra cash by selling your unwanted wares.Online auctions and markets such as eBay are probably the easiest way to get shot of items that are just getting in the way, but there are plenty of others out there for anyone looking to have a proper clear-out.Sure, you could wait for the summer to de-clutter, get up w ith the Sunday dawn and flog your unwanted things at a boot fair. But why wait when you can do it all from the comfort of your own duvet?Early mornings are overrated anyway…Switch and slashSummer’s a way off, so let’s concentrate on now.January is traditionally a quiet month, with a lot less on the social calendar than December. It’s a good time to review your finances and consider whether you’d be better off switching banks or even your energy provider. You could save a pretty penny with relatively little effort.It’s also worth contemplating what you spend each month on subscriptions, such as for a TV service, and avoid the January sales â€" which suck people into buying things they can live without.Finally, don’t fall foul of the ominous New Year’s resolution to join a gym. Many people look at the New Year as a time to lose weight and get fit, but while signing up to, or continuing with a gym subscription will doubtless cost you pounds, they won’t be the ones you want to lose â€" especially if you are tempted by those checkout chocolate bars.Still searching for your perfect position? Have a look at all of our current vacancies nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Features

12 Personal Branding Tips for Serial Entrepreneurs - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

12 Personal Branding Tips for Serial Entrepreneurs - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career If you are a serial entrepreneur, whats one piece of advice you have for building a personal brand separate from your (many) companies? The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the worlds most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons. 1. Make It a Priority It is easy to get lost in your startup. Investors invest in YOU. Employees want to work with YOU. Make sure you take time to invest in your personal brand. Adam Lieb, Duxter 2. Build Your Brand Online Pick up a domain for your personal brand. Post your ideas, best practices, success stories, failures, presentations, upcoming speaking engagements, bio, media files, social media profiles and travel schedule. Benjamin Leis, Sweat EquiTees 3. Give Yourself a Reputation Building a CEO brand is paramount as well as portable, meaning you can utilize it for any company you lead in the future. You want investors, customers and people in your industry to believe that when you lead a venture, it is going to be successful as much because of your talent as the product. Through our CEO branding clients, weve seen how important your personal brand is to success! Raoul Davis, Ascendant Group 4. Use the Platform As your startup gains traction, it also creates a bigger platform for you to build your personal brand. Your best decision here is to proactively use the platform/foundation that your startup creates to also build your personal brand. This would include writing about your experiences, speaking at conferences and being a mentor to others. Adii Pienaar, WooThemes 5. Give Back to Organizations That Have Helped You Many organizations schools, nonprofits, industry associations, even companies love alumni who share their stories. Whether you speak on a panel, write a blog or offer office hours, the first place that you can build your brand is through an organization that knows you. Its always better to build a deep connection, and organizations love celebrating success stories of past members. Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches 6. Be Open and Honest About Your Other Ventures Six months into starting my company, I took my photography hobby to a professional level and started photographing weddings. At first, I tried to put up a wall between the businesses. I was afraid that if clients from either business found out about the other, they wouldn’t take me seriously. When I finally tore down the wall after a few years, I was thrilled by the response from my clients. Allie Siarto, Loudpixel 7. Share What You Want to Be Known for Share content on your favorite platforms. If you like to write, start a personal blog under your name. If you like to take photos, start an Instagram account and share those photos to Twitter and Facebook. Share whatever you want to be known for. That way, when someone Googles your name, they see the stuff you want to be seen. Brett Farmiloe, Markitors 8. Spread Your Wings It is important to build a personal brand that will follow you into your future. Get out there and interact with everyone and anyone. Take advantage of opportunities to participate in interviews or write articles. Use those opportunities to become an industry thought leader to further build your credibility. By doing so, you will be able to convey that you are both relatable and intelligent. Fehzan Ali, Adscend Media LLC 9. Let It Happen Naturally Focus on your strengths as an entrepreneur, develop them and let your personal brand come naturally. As you develop more companies and prove your concept, people will listen.Trying to make it happen wont seem genuine; take small steps to develop your brand, along with your companies. Slowly but surely, you will develop a solid personal brand that begins to separate you from your companies. Kyle Clayton, Jackrabbit Janitorial 10. Create Raving Fans It is very important to build a personal brand, mainly because people love industry leaders. Give! Give! Give! If you give free knowledge, people will come to you for advice, which will then turn into more leads and word-of-mouth referrals. Dont be afraid to share business secrets and knowledge. If you help people succeed, they will become raving fans of yours. Ak Kurji, Gennex Group 11. Have a One-Line Value Proposition A friend in executive hiring told me once that all executives need to have a value proposition they can declare in one line. When you meet people, they should walk away knowing that one value proposition not just the many things youve worked on. Im a problem solver, so when someone asks me what I do for a living, I say that first and then talk about my current venture. Benish Shah, Vicaire Ny 12. Spend Time on Your Brand Strategy and Identity I took the time and brought in outside help to work through the personal brand strategy and identity process, much the same as one would do with a new startup. Its important to take the time to think through AND document what you stand for and are passionate about. When you have a clear personal story and vision, it makes it easy to link that with different investments, companies and pursuits. Lauren Perkins, Perks Consulting

Future Work Trends Are They Social and Smart #wtsadecco

Future Work Trends Are They Social and Smart #wtsadecco If you are a recruiter or job seeker, Adecco welcomes your opinion. You can participate in the Future Work Trends study here. We often wonder how we will be working in the future: everybody in space suits or with fancy touch-screen-devices? A computer that talks to you all day, no keyboard necessary? Employees working  from home interacting across the globe, a future without emails? But hold on, aren’t we already  there? The Adecco Work Trends Study, conducted in 25 countries around the world, aims to find out just  that. Both job seekers and recruiters are invited to participate and help find out, how far into the  future we have already travelled. In 2014, Adecco conducted the Global Social Recruiting Study across 24 countries. At global, regional  and local levels the study looked into: The use of social media. The effectiveness of social media in matching job seekers with open positions. The importance of web reputation. The social capital of individual candidates. How recruiters explore the web when looking for a candidate. The results provided some useful insights on social recruiting for HR professionals: Social recruiting lets you talk to candidates across borders and languages in real time. You  can engage with them directly, based on interests and qualifications. Social recruiting can put an end to the practise of “posting and praying”. By using targeting  options when communicating or hashtags, we can talk to the desired audience. You will already know whether a candidate is a good match to your open position based on  the information they have provided in their social profile. You are already half way there. In order to achieve good results with social recruiting, recruiters need to improve on their  social profiles and their own web reputation. Creating trust by exemplary profiles is key for  success. Flexible working â€" a smart future is just around the corner: We are already well on the way to a social and smart future of work. Flexible hours, career models  that centre around the phases in the employee’s life and objective-oriented work have already been  adopted in many companies. And they have seen the benefits in motivation levels, efficiency and  creativity. However, smart working implies changing the way we work. We need to change our  perception in terms of availability: do we have to be ‘on the job’ from 9 till 5 or can we simply record  the hours we have actually worked â€" no matter what time of date or night? When people work from  different locations, managers and team leaders need to adapt the way they evaluate their team’s  work. Handing out work packages and measuring achievements instead of face time will help. We  will need to change the way we collaborate as teams and make access to platforms and data  independent of the location an employee works from. Smart working is not for everybody. It needs a high degree of self-discipline and awareness, and  employees need to know in which environment they work best. And for some jobs, being present in  a central office location will continue to be a necessity. The aim of Adecco’s study is to package these already existing trends into facts and figures and you  can contribute your experience to the findings. To get regular updates on future work trends, follow the hashtag #wtsadecco and the Adecco Group on Twitter  and  LinkedIn.

Are You Just a Job Title Work and Identity Explored

Are You Just a Job Title Work and Identity Explored We spend more time at work than we do sleeping, eating, resting, playing, or with our families. Work, for most of us, is the defining aspect of life and thus of our identity. When someone asks us ‘what do you do?’ we nearly always reply with our occupation. The dictionary defines identity as: Who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group which make them different from others We derive our sense of identity from comparison with others, those we are like, those we differ from. So changing our job can change how we are seen and who we identify with. Through our work we find an identity, we can find status, intellectual stimulation as well as wealth which enables us to buy comfort. We can work out our place in the world. However we don’t have just one identity, we have several. Our identities are multiple, multifaceted and dynamic. Identity is actually a complex and changing representation of self. Because identity is created in relationships with others, we are not just our job, we have an identity as a son/daughter, as a sibling, as a spouse, as a parent, as a friend or sports team member. We may be aware of behaving differently in those relationships from the way that we behave at work; a passive son can be a firm leader, a compassionate friend may be a dispassionate adjudicator. If these differing roles create competing demands there can be real internal tension, (e.g. caring parent with conscientious worker) this is called dissonance and people have to employ coping strategies to reduce the conflict; either by segmenting their identities and creating strong boundaries or by dis-identification with one of the identities, or moving jobs. I am not suggesting that there are no constants in life. Personalities, values and underlying beliefs about what the world stay constant and will influence what career people choose. In the past, child followed father in his job or profession but today an individual’s beliefs, values and preferences guide their choice. A young adult whose belief is that resources are scarce in the world may choose an occupation with great security whilst one whose belief is in abundance may choose something riskier. Traditional career counselling (influenced by John Holland) suggests that finding those values, preferences and beliefs and choosing a career path that is congruent with them, is the key to both professional success and contentment. Our sense of who we are either in work or out of work propels us to towards certain careers. It is also clear that our working identities can change over time, our identity and behaviours as a young graduate are different from those of the professional expert and from those of the senior leader. Our ability to develop our identity is critical to our ability to be successful in a range of career roles, we need to shed our old identity and add new elements. The professional expert with their eye on the detail and expert knowledge needs to develop an identity and set of behaviours to support strategic thinking and the cultivation of external relationships. But our work identity also drives our behaviour: Jung says every call or profession has its own characteristic persona and that people can become identical with their persona: the professor with his textbook, the tenor with his voice. At an extreme level people can become subject to ‘role engulfment’ and lose all sense of themselves except as they exist through work. For those people the loss of work or being forced to change career through redundancy or retirement can provoke a severe identity crisis, with people asking : ‘Who am I? What am I if I don’t work?’. So is a new job the route to a new you? Well yes and no. Some people actually have an ability to be flexible and adaptable as a part of their personality and of their identity; they thrive on change and easily adapt. Others find that changing jobs may result in a changed work identity but not their personality. The beliefs that drive your actions, the values that determine your preferences will remain constant. If you move to work that is more in line with those values and beliefs then you will achieve more congruence, less stress and greater success. If you move into an environment which is at odds with those values and beliefs you will find it uncomfortable. We each have a picture of who we are and what we will/won’t can’t do in our heads, once formed our brains garner the evidence that it is a true picture and ignore evidence that suggests that it is not true. So people say ‘I don’t do numbers’, ‘I don’t do detail’ ‘I don’t do preparation’, they believe it and make it true. ‘I can’t do sales’ becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. But if you are in enforced job change you need to examine those beliefs and that sense of identity to see how grounded in reality they are, how helpful they are, and consider personal change. We can change our beliefs, actions and thus our identity through experimentation, practice and conscious self discipline. The public servant can take on the mantle and the role of an entrepreneur, excelling at sales, the professional expert can become the strategic leader enjoying the broader canvas, the banker can become the teacher, revelling in the sense of fulfilment and purpose of their new r ole. In an age where career progression may lead us into new environments and sectors it is ever more important to challenge our sense of self and explore whether you can create ‘a new you’ by changing the beliefs you hold about yourself and the world in order to develop and expand your career options.

6 Tips for a Successful Internal Hire - CareerMetis.com

6 Tips for a Successful Internal Hire Every single time you hire a new employee, your business takes a risk. Will the new person live up to your expectations? Will he or she fit in well with the company culture?Since employee turnover costs a lot of money, sometimes it’s in your best interest to hire from the inside. After all, you already have a good idea if an internal candidate has what it takes to fit in and succeed.Source : Pexels.comHiring internally, however, is not fail-safe. That’s why we’ve given you some tips to help you and your promoted employee hit the job fulfillment jackpot.1. Implement an Internship Program and Have a Mentoring MentalityevalevalBy giving students a chance to embed themselves in your business, not only are you reducing your hire risk You will probably receive some input, both positive and negative, that you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise and you will get a feel for compatibility so that the future team’s success can be more effortless.4. Be Careful When Courting a Current Employ eeIf you already have a candidate in mind for the opening, but they aren’t actively looking for a new position, you need to do plenty of footwork first. Research, research, research before you even speak to them about a job.Your belief about what they can do and want to do may be way off. You also don’t want to build any bad blood between you and the other supervisors or coworkers.When it’s time to speak to the candidate, make the employee comfortable and create a connection.evalStart with questions. Is there something else you can offer that they’re not getting from their current job? Be prepared to sell the position, its compensation, and the benefits.eval5. Have a Vision and Share Your StrategyIf you want to win over the best and brightest hires, you need to demonstrate that you’re a leader, not just a manager. This is an area where you can’t afford to wander. What does team success look like to you? What kind of steps do you need to take to get there?Selecting a goal , collecting relevant information, and knowing your numbers will go a long way toward working out the flaws of your vision and getting you on the path to achieving it.Share information regularly, especially once you know where your team is going and your strategy for getting there!The Center for Management Organization Effectiveness According to a recent study, “43% of U.S. office workers are bored, and that bored workers are twice as likely to leave.” The bottom line is that your employees desperately want to progress their careers and add value to their company.When you invest in upskilling your team and promoting from within, you end up with a more engaged workforce, an increase in productivity, and reduced turnover. It’s a win-win for everyone!

Making Your Blog Into Your Job - CareerAlley

Making Your Blog Into Your Job - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Blogging has really taken off in recent years. Businesses blog to improve their ranking in search engines and promote their brand, people blog for fun to get their voices heard and connect with like-minded people, and others have turned their hobby into a full-time job. Blogging can be lucrative, while many people start for fun if your site gains in popularity it can make you a decent amount of money. While its certainly not something, you can do overnight, if you put the work and effort in its reasonable to think that your blog could at some point become your job. Here are a few things to bear in mind if youre hoping to get to this stage. Engage Your Audience Being an excellent writer doesnt necessarily translate into being an excellent blogger. Blogging has its own very definite style, it tends to be a lot more casual and conversational than academic or informational writing (the pieces youd find in newspapers or reference books for example). People tend to read blogs because theyre written in plain English and are easy to read and digest. They tend to be written from more of a personal perspective, so posts have the feel of chatting with a friend. Being an excellent writer doesnt necessarily translate into being an excellent blogger. Blogging has its own very definite style, it tends to be a lot more casual and conversational than academic or informational writing Tweet This Finding your voice is so important when youre writing a blog, while you will be putting important information out there which people want to read, it should engage the reader and be worded in a way thats interesting while still being easy to understand. Play around with your writing and language- you could look up vocabulary words with sentences to make sure youre writing in the best possible way. And finally, read more blogs. This is invaluable and will quickly teach you the kind of style that successful blogs are written in. Its important to not simply mirror or copy what you see, but its absolutely fine for them to teach and inspire you in your own work. Nail this, and youll build a loyal readership of people who enjoy what you have to say. This keeps them coming back week in week out, which is exactly what you need if you want to make a career from your blog. Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay Monetize Your Site There are plenty of ways bloggers can monetize their sites these days, and having a couple of different things in place can help to keep the cash flow coming in. Google Adsense, for example, will pay a small amount each time someone visits your site or clicks on one of your ads. Its free to set up, and you can adjust the sizes of the ads so that they blend in well with your template. You could sign up with a couple of different affiliate programs, where you place ads in your sidebar or links within your post, and again get a small amount of money if someone clicks on them. While these arent huge earners by themselves (unless youre getting a lot of traffic), they can add up and give you a nice little payout every couple of months. The Essential Habits Of 6-Figure Bloggers: Secrets of 17 Successful Bloggers You Can Use to Build a Six-Figure Online Business Price: $14.99 Have you ever wondered why some bloggers earn six- or even seven-figure incomes while most struggle to make their first $1000? What strategies, habits, or systems have led to their success? Buy Now from Amazon We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Last Updated: March 2, 2020 Attract Sponsors Most of the money you will be earning as a blogger will be from sponsors. Companies will contact you and suggest adding a link to their company in a blog post for a certain amount of money. The problem with this is you have to wait for them to come to you, so as a blogger your monthly income will fluctuate. If youre not earning enough from your blog, in the beginning, you could keep it as a side hustle or do it part-time. If you want to work solely from home, there are plenty of freelancing websites you could sign up to earn some extra income. LASSO: Affiliate Link Manager for WordPress Price: 14-Day Trial Find new income opportunities, increase clicks, and measure what's making money by managing your links with LASSO. Sign Up for LASSO Today! We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. You can improve your chances of being contacted by having a professional-looking blog design, and regularly producing good quality content with sharp, clear images. Buying a domain for your blog (.com/ .co.uk/ .com/au etc. depending on where you live) is also worthwhile. It looks more professional than the WordPress/ Blogger address you were given when you first signed up, and some sponsors will only work with bloggers who have a domain. Work from home Price: Discover flexible jobs that are far better than a typical job. FlexJobs makes it easier, faster, and safer to find a job that better fits your life! Buy Now We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to find the opportunities that help you grow your best career. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search

All About Professional Resume Writing Services in Ernakulam

All About Professional Resume Writing Services in ErnakulamProfessional resume writing services in Ernakulam have a variety of services available to fulfill the varied needs of the candidates. Apart from the on-site resume writing services, these companies offer various forms of resume writing services that are customized according to the requirements of the candidates.Even after all the preparations, there is no denying that writing a resume would take much of your time. Therefore, hiring the services of professional resume writing companies in Ernakulam is a must for most candidates. Not only does it save time but the people who work in these companies are trained professionals and they have experienced writing resumes as well. Thus, they can provide you with a fresh resume at any given time.There are so many different ways in which a resume can be written. A good example is an 'Official Resume' which is prepared according to the specifications provided by the educational instituti on the candidate wants to join. Besides, there are 'Work Experience Resumes 'Professional Experience Resumes'. And these are just some of the popular forms.One of the major advantages of the professional resume writing services in Ernakulam is that they take a lot of time before the resume is written. This is because they have to understand the candidates' requirements and go through the list of academic achievements, knowledge, experience and other academic requirements. Based on this information, they can draw up a unique resume according to the candidate's requirements. The one you get will have all the information about the candidate's achievements and will be very useful.The easiest way to draw up an impressive resume is to use the templates provided by these companies. This saves a lot of time and it is also very effective.Since a professional resume writing service has all the benefits and has little overhead cost, it makes sense to choose the services of these companies in t he region. They provide you with a variety of services to suit your requirements. Of course, you can expect them to give you a suitable option that suits your need perfectly. Also, these companies work under very flexible time schedules so they have an option of the date for writing the resume.You can also ask for their help in formatting the resume if you want to provide it in paper format as compared to electronic format. These resume services also have a template of 'GRE Verbal Essay and Test' so that you don't have to spend any more time and money to prepare it yourself.So, hiring a good website for resume writing services in Ernakulam is a good idea. You should not opt for the free services because they may not provide you with all the information that you want. Hence, it is always better to hire these professional services.