6 Essential Budgeting Tips For New College Grads

6 Essential Budgeting Tips For New College Grads A paycheck every two weeks might seem like a dream come true after four long years of bi-yearly dorm-room budgeting, but adjusting to an active income can be trying for any fresh graduate. From college to career, shifting the way you handle your personal finances will set you up for long-term success in your career, improve your quality of life, and fuel your future endeavors. What  Budgeting Looks Like In College While attending university, it’s more than likely that at the beginning of the year you would budget out the amount of money you had, received, or saved, and stuck to that fixed income. Perhaps filling in the gaps with part-time jobs, and if we were lucky, our parents would keep paying for our health insurance, cell phone, and car insurance. Paying major expenses off all at once means that even if you go broke by the end of the semester, you will still have a place to live, stuff to do, and food to eat. Planning beyond that is what defines successful career budgeting. What Budgeting Looks Like In Your First Real Job It may seem infinitely easier to budget when cash rolls in every two weeks, but accounting for a barrage of unexpected expenses that accompany sudden ‘adulting’ can be frightening. You may already be paying for some of these expenses, but there are still things to learn if you’re trying to budget with an adjusted payment schedule. It can seem like there is a new bill every week, and they all come at once, so planning around these days will keep you from some very unpleasant surprising. While setting out your career budget it’s important to consider your goals, expenses, and current income. 6 Essential Budgeting Tips For New College Grads 1. Track Your Pre-tax Income Start by taking a look at how much money you are making at your job. When taking into account your income for month-to-month budgeting, look at the post tax amount. Considering the pretax amount is very helpful when considering how much to save each month, but looking at month-to-month, it can leave you a little short. Like taxes, which are automatically taken out at most places, you should consider the money spent paying back your student loans as a non-negotiable deduction from your income. That money doesn’t count, because you will never see it. Taking these necessary expenses out of your larger budget will help set them up as priority, which is vital if you are one of the millions of college student graduates leaving with an average of $25,000 of student loan debt. Once you looked at how much money you are actually making, you can start piecing out where that income goes, and how much you need to make. 2. Time  Your Expenses Planning out your expenses is both about looking at what your expenses are (daily and long-term), but also timing your expenses well. Perhaps several of your bills are right before payday, it might seem obvious to leave enough money to pay them, but many people forget and will over-stretch themselves. Living pay-check to pay-check is no way to live, so setting up your initial expenditures is an important first step. 3. Review  Your Necessities. Start with your necessities. Are your housing expenses around a third of your income? Are you paying for all of the necessities? Yes, health insurance is a necessity especially if youre one of the 85 percent of Americans with a parasite, or part of the almost fourth of Americans with heart disease. Necessary expenses and bills including housing, home internet, health insurance, or transportation costs should not exceed fifty percent of your budget. If your rent or health insurance takes up a larger portion of money, shifting money from another category will help you. For example, the average New York family spends forty percent of its budget on rent, but benefits from lower transportation costs. Although your ‘extras’ budget should be around thirty percent of your income, this part of your budget includes food, restaurant visits, shopping, or any day-to day expenses, during your first few months, you may have to reduce this part down to find money for the necessities. The final twenty percent should go to savings, this is for future goal. 4. Compare  Your Expenses Look at your finances for the last few months and give yourself a clear idea of where your money has been going by dividing out your expenses into the different categories. Giving yourself a comprehensive look at your finances give you the opportunity to change habits that may be subtly draining your account; perhaps your daily coffee bill is more than your grocery budget, or you might want to start taking the bus to work instead of driving (splitting up the ‘extras’ budget will be hugely helpful as it is where a lot of money hides). Looking at your finances tell you what you have, where it’s going, and what you can do about it. 5. Set Savings Goals Saving money as an adult is hard, but intensely rewarding. The hardest thing to switch when between college and career is the ultimate goal. While college has an end goal of graduation, or grad-school, your career is what you make it. If you want enough money to never have to work again, you can plan for that. If you want to further your career, you need to set down actionable steps to do that. It’s all about laying goals. 6. Set Dream Goals If you’ve taken a look at your finances and can put away twenty percent, then you can look towards the future with a lot of hope. Trips, business adventures, or buying a house are all great goals, so setting aside an actionable plan to save can help you achieve your goal, even if you don’t know what it is yet. Perhaps your true passion is travelling across the globe to the most exotic locations you can find, or just travelling up to Alaska. While your current job may not allow you to indulge in a magical journey everyday, saving for a few years will give you the freedom to travel, or look into buying a house, or starting your own business. Saving twenty percent of your income sounds like a lot to save, when you start looking at vacations, or long term financial goals like starting your own business or buying a house, it never seems like enough. Putting away a little money will help you achieve those goals when they arise and at the very least will help you build your credit score, or fund further education.

How to build an Instagram career for a living

How to build an Instagram career for a living Reaching 2017 we cannot say that conventional careers are still the way to go as, stated as a proven fact, most people each day find their way through entrepreneurialism, marketing, social media or arts to craft a unique path to success thanks to the engagement they manage to craft with their audience.Instagram is considered the place to go for incipient photographers to promote their portfolios or boost their creativity skills, but it can turn out to be a good way of making money.“Instapreneurs” is the name marketing experts give to this new venture in social media, and these people happen to found the way to turn followers into a constant amount of income.Photo Credit â€" Pexels.comevalSurely, building up a career through social media will take time, especially on platforms like Instagram or Pinterest, as followers are harder to retain and success doesn’t seem as immediate as with YouTube; but, putting effort is well paid if you thrive on the adventure of an independent profe ssional.Let’s go through some key points to help us build a successful Instagram career:1. Image quality is the core element to considerMost people tend to neglect the fact that Instagram is a social network of its own. Popular Instagrammers have been offered promos that rank as high as discounts in exclusive hotels â€" and by popular we mean users with over 1 million followers, insane indeed but not uncommon if you look closely. So, you may ask: what do they offer that I don’t?The simple answer is photographs. Professional Instausers have taken their business seriously and developed their photography skills as they know it’s not just adding tonnes of filters and vignetting effects to make the images stand out â€" quite the opposite.You just need to ‘find your voice’ to create a unique style that surely can catch the attention of a broad audience; avoiding common mistakes as overdoing post-production effects, pixelated images or ignoring composition rules altogether.2. Dev elop your passion through imagesIt’s all about building your niche, so if you love to travel, then use Instagram as a way to broadcast your adventures. By this you shouldn’t take as the fact that you need to photograph every single aspect of each place you visit â€" that’s annoying for most users. Use your creativity to show unique places or unforgettable moments you experience, like if you were writing a diary, but with images.Photo Credit- Pexels.comIf you feel somewhat overwhelmed by the challenge, look for trendy users at your desired niche: that’s the best way to learn from seeing what professionals do.2. Don’t forget your audienceevalPeople are eager to interact with other users, but to do so, you must keep two factors in mind:Use hashtags: for the photos you post, engage on relevant hashtags to make them available for other users. No one is going to interact with you if they don’t know what you have to offer.Like, repost and comment are valid ways to boost your pr esence: Everybody likes a rub on their back if they do a good job. A nice comment like “superb job!” / “nice shot” / “really gorgeous, where did you take it?” are ice-breakers, and certainly, can help to build your very own audience.Keep a steady routine for doing your publications: by doing so, users will get the habit that your posts are done at certain timeIn case you happen to be a travel photographer, then perhaps you may want to direct users to watch your YouTube videos of the trips you made since, as you probably may know, YouTube pays for a number of views reached.Photo Credit- Pexels.comThere are a lot of valid methods for keeping tabs on how your profile is doing and the exact amount of followers you have (Instagram can be very vague after you go over 10k followers), tools like Gramblast are a fantastic resource to add to our Instagram toolkit.Remember to automate the most tasks you can â€" it’s the faster and most reliable method for not forgetting anything, especially when you have several things to handle at the same time. Buffer, for example, can help us to schedule post up for a month’s time if we desire, even shortening URLs added to posts to make them look more friendly.Also keep an eye on hashtags: 30 hashtags per post is the max amount Instagram allows. If you go over it, the photo won’t be posted or, in case it does, text won’t show up since you exceeded the limit of hashtags allowed. Tools like Hashtagify are incredibly useful for finding related hashtags for your post.Be patient and don’t expect to be a Instastar overnight â€" Building an active audience takes time and effort, but which career doesn’t? Good luck!

Prison Officer 2015 Role Play Questions

Prison Officer 2015 Role Play Questions If you are attending an assessment for a job as a prison officer, one of the key testing categories is ‘Role Play’. Role play will focus on your ability to make good decisions based on limited information. In this blog, we’ll show you some of the types of competency question you should expect, and give you some great tips on how to answer them. With the help of our guide to the prison officer 2015 role play questions, you should have no problem gaining employment as a prison officer.Role Play QuestionsTo begin with you will be given a briefing pack, which will outline a particular scenario. You’ll be expected to pick up particular clues from the information given, which will dictate how you are meant to respond to the situation. You will be judged against 8 behavioral competency concepts, any number of which could be assessed in any of the questions you will encounter.Effective CommunicationPersuading and InfluencingDrive and ResilienceCaringRelationships and Team BuildingRes pecting OthersIntegrityEnvironmental SafetyScenario 1In our first scenario, you are the manager of a retail centre. A member of your staff, who will be played by the role play actor/interviewer, approaches you and tells you that another member of staff has been making racist comments about her. She is feeling very upset and feels threatened by the alleged abuse. She would like to make a complaint.How to deal with this scenario:This scenario will test the competency of your communication skills, as you need to use them to clarify the details of the situation before making a judgement. Therefore, the first thing you need to ask is-‘Hello, thank you for coming to see me today. I understand that you have had a bad experience? I’d like to explore what has happened. Please can you tell me exactly what has happened to you?’ Don’t forget that you are not just being tested on your verbal skills, but on your physical communication skills too. You need to present yourself as a calming and reassurance presence for the distressed staff member. Use nods, eye contact and hand gestures as a way of demonstrating this. After the staff member has explained the situation, you can ask questions such as:  â€˜That must have been terrible for you, are you okay for me to ask you some questions about the situation? If at any time you feel uncomfortable please stop me and we will take a break.’‘What did the person say to you?’‘When and where did this happen?’‘How did that make you feel?’‘Have they said anything like this to you before?’‘Are you aware of anybody else receiving the same treatment?’    This will give an overview of the initial facts of the situation, and help you to make a judgement. You should then demonstrate your ability to relay this judgement to the staff member.‘Thank you for the information that you have provided me with today. I can assure you that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated and a full investigation will be carried out. In the meantime, in order to protect you from any further issues, I will take you away from the staff member and allocate another supervisory member to keep a regular check on you. Please don’t hesitate to come and see me again if there are any more issues, or even if you just need to talk to someone.’Hopefully the above scenario should give you some idea of what to expect from your role play assessment. To further aid you in this process, we have provided you with one more example role play below. This will test similar skills to the example listed above.Scenario 2In our second scenario, you are working as a new prison officer. A prisoner, who will be played by the assessor, has been breaking the rules by bullying new inmates and swearing at other prisoners. It is your responsibility to talk to him about his behavior, to try and amend it. He is a relatively new inmate himself and has been finding it difficult to settle into prison life.How to deal with this scenario:This s cenario will test your competency in communicational, caring and influencing skills, as you need to clarify all of the details of the situation and why the inmate is behaving in a particular way, in order to make a judgement, therefore the first thing you should ask is:‘Hi, thanks for coming to see me. I’d like to talk to you about an issue that has been brought to my attention. It’s been noticed that you’ve been bullying some of the new inmates and also swearing at other prisoners. What’s been making you act in this manner?’At this point, the prisoner breaks down crying. He is clearly upset about something. In this instance, it is important that you demonstrate a ‘caring’ nature.‘Hey, what’s the problem? Tell me what’s on your mind and how you’re feeling? I fully understand that this is difficult for you, but you need to talk and get things off your chest.’The prisoner tells you that he has recently received a letter from his girlfriend at home telling him that their relationship was over. He is angry about this, and therefore has started taking it out on the other inmates. Now you will have to demonstrate a firm, but empathetic attitude towards his issue.‘Oh no, that’s terrible news, and I’m really sorry to hear that. I can understand the anger that you must be feeling. However, as you can appreciate, your actions towards other prisoners aren’t acceptable. It’s at times like this that you need the support of other people, and you can only gain that support by treating people with respect. Can you understand that?’If the prisoner doesn’t agree with you, then you need to demonstrate your resilience, by further explaining the situation. Once you have brought him round to your way of thinking, you can help him.‘You are clearly going through a difficult time. I’m here to talk to you whenever you need it. Instead of shouting at other prisoners, come and sit down with me and talk about your feelings. Does that sound okay to you?’ Always remember that being a prison officer is about providing appropriate support to prisoners, not about shouting at them or punishing them for their crimes.You can find more competency based questions HERE This entry was posted in Job Competencies. Bookmark the permalink. Jordan Cooke Prison Officer Eligibility Criteria 2015Good Paying Jobs That Nobody Wants

Tomorrow! Join me Alex Franzen live to talk Copywriting with Heart! - When I Grow Up

Tomorrow! Join me Alex Franzen live to talk Copywriting with Heart! - When I Grow Up Alexandra Franzen is not only a former client and a current friend of mine shes one of my business heroes. Do we notice shes not on any social media platforms, and yet she has a super engaged, rabid fan base who buys her stuff with minimal push? Thats because shes writes her website copy, her books, her newsletters with one main body part: her heart. Although shes coined the term hut, which means to use your heart + gut. She uses that in spades, too. She follows what feels good to her, whether thats doing one-on-one work, writing books, leading retreats, self-publishing erotic novels or just playing hostess at her boyfriends restaurant. Get ready to fall in love with, well, Alexs love and learn how you can bring some of that into your own business offerings. At 4pm Eastern on Friday, March 31st, well be covering: How to face the blank page with compassion Letting your authenticity shine through in your writing How to sell without feeling like a used car salesperson Leading your copywriting with your heart Whatever you wanna know â€" there’ll be plenty of time for QA! Dont forget that when you register, you get: a recording of the session within an hour or so of us wrapping up, that comes with a worksheet with blogging homework directly from  Alexandra a link to access my prior Women of the World interviews with Kim Werker, Tanya Geisler, Jodi Womack, Susannah Conway and Holly Becker â€" and the worksheets that go with em Ready to become a copywriter with heart? Register below and await the transformation! By signing up for this webinar, you agree to get communication about this interview + also to be emailed with goodness from both myself and my guest. We’ll never sell your email or spam you, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Where to Get Resume Writing Assistance Online

Where to Get Resume Writing Assistance OnlineResume writing assistance is something that is easily available, especially when it comes to online employment assistance. Many companies have websites and are looking for qualified candidates who are able to provide great assistance with resumes and cover letters. So, what can you do to find out where to get resume writing assistance?One way of finding out where to get resume writing assistance is by asking around for the answers that you are seeking. You will know where to find resume writing assistance if you are in a position to ask people, including your potential employer, about the type of assistance that they would need. This is because you will be able to know exactly which companies to look into.For instance, there are several full-service businesses that have professional resume writers that specialize in helping individuals create their resumes. These professionals will help you by giving you a detailed outline that includes th e important parts of your resume. You will also be able to get advice on writing resumes from them which will include tips on how to put your skills in the right areas.The best way to find online help is to use Google or some other search engine to get an idea of which companies to look into. These search engines will give you an extensive list of companies and it will also allow you to narrow down your options by choosing the main ones that you would like to work with. You can narrow down your choices by choosing from the top ones or going to a local office and ask to speak to someone at that particular company.On the internet, it is easy to find out where to get resume writing assistance as most of the services are free of charge. In addition, you will also be able to get useful tips by searching online which can prove useful in your job search. These tips are available in many different formats and can be printed out to take with you whenever you need them.Even though many resume services can be found online, it is still a good idea to ask for a professional resume writer in person so that you can get more honest feedback. It is important that you do not simply pick up any resume because of its quality but rather research as to the credentials of the individual who wrote it.The first thing that you need to do in your job search is to verify the background of the company that you are considering, as well as the credentials of the individual who has created the resume. You should also make sure that the individuals you are interested in are knowledgeable about the area that you are looking for. Once you have these basic things figured out, you will find that you are well on your way to being successful.

Best Job Sites 16 Powerful Resources For New Grads - Money Under 30

Best Job Sites 16 Powerful Resources For New Grads - Money Under 30 Best Job Sites: 16 Powerful Resources For New Grads If youve recently graduated, odds are youre actively looking to find a job. Nobody enjoys that awkward conversation you have with a random former classmate at the grocery store. You know, the one that goes so, what are you doing now? Have you found a job yet? Its especially awkward if you havent. And youre probably tired of that question. The job hunt is exciting, nerve-wracking, and time-consuming, especially if youre diving into full-time work for the first time after college.  Fortunately, the internet has many job sites aimed at new grads, where the skills you developed in college can shine. In this article, well share our best job sites for new grads.  Weve hand-picked 13 of our favorite resources so you can start applying the minute youre done reading. The best job sites for entry level positions 1. College Recruiter College Recruiter plugs new grads into entry-level positions and continuing education opportunities, both in and outside the United States. This is a great site to visit if youre overwhelmedthe Advice Resources section offers guidance on resumes, interviews, and other aspects of the job hunt. You can sign up for job alerts to see when a position matching your interests and qualifications is posted, so youre always ahead of the curve. 2. Indeed One of the absolute best job search sites online, Indeed has a simple interface, similar to a Google search (type in a keyword, like a job title or company name). Indeed is uniquely helpful because its a job aggregator. It collects postings from all over the Internet, including company websites, online classifieds, smaller industry websites, and more. Youll find a wealth of resources together in one place. You can upload your resume to Indeed, too. This allows employers who search the site for candidates to find you based on your location, skill set, and career goals. 3. One Day One Job One Day One Job is exactly what it sounds like. Blog creator Willy Franzen highlights a new employer daily, rounding up the entry-level jobs they offer. The site includes a search engine and tips on how to navigate the Internet to find work. One Day One Job can be a great place to find jobs where you hadnt thought to look! 4. Experience This job searching sites ideal if youre just starting out, since it helps job seekers use interests and abilities to connect to a career. Experience also partners with organizations and schools to offer great opportunities. 5. Craigslist With careful searching, you can find a good job on Craigslist. Its the 12th most visited site in the US, and many smaller companies, employers, and temporary agencies post job listings there. Youre more likely to connect directly with the hiring manager or supervisor via Craigslist, since most jobs post direct contact information. And you can search multiple locations. For best results, look for postings with lots of information and a compelling voice. Young job seekers have had success here, but be alert and avoid any posting that doesnt seem legitimate. The best sites  for connecting with college alumni 6. After College As the name suggests, this sites specifically designed for recent graduates. Set up an online profile, and then connect to employers in your alumni network. After College supplies a search engine and helpful articles on navigating professional life. 7. AlumniCentral AlumniCentral is a division of CollegeCentrala similar site geared towards students. You enter your schools information when you register, and youre connected to a network of fellow alumni. The database includes over 500,000 entry-level positions, and the site offers plenty of career advice. 8. Startjobs.net On StartJobs, you can search for available positions by keyword, location, or university. The university feature is designed for recent college graduates who want to stay plugged in to their campus community, whether by reaching out to alumni or finding jobs near the campus. The best site for building your professional network 9. LinkedIn A LinkedIn profile is a must. LinkedIn lets you build a creative, interactive version of your resume by entering jobs, internships, and accomplishments. Pick quality over quantityyou dont need to list every job youve ever had, but focus on the experiences that best prepared you for the career youre looking for. And dont forget a professional photoits the number one recommended profile to-do from LinkedIn. Here are the other four: LinkedIns standout feature is the ability to make connections. Based on the information you enter, the site suggests people you may know, such as other alumni or former colleagues. You can request to connect, send messages, and search for experiences in common.  The site also has regularly updated job postings and a search engine. Further reading:  How to Stop Being Awkward and Start Networking Like a Champ (via AfterCollege) The best site for working in the public sector 10. USA Student Jobs Government positions, or jobs in federal service, require diverse skill sets and offer great benefits. If youre interested in working for the government, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has a site designed for recent grads. The jobs include part-time and temporary positions, as well as full-time work. You can search by location, career field, required experience, federal agency, and other terms to find a job that works for you. The best site for seasonal  employment  opportunities 11. Cool Works If youre looking for short-term employment, whether its to gain experience, to tide you over till something permanent comes along, or just to try something different, Cool Works may be just the site youre looking for. Cool Works collects jobs across the country at summer camps, ranches, ski resorts, tour companies, theme parks, and more. Be ready to travel! The best site for working while traveling the world 12. iHipo Looking for international work experience? This site collects international high potential with lists of jobs and internships overseas. You can also participate in discussion groups, and get interview tips for competing in the fast-moving global job market.  Since iHipo caters to a global crowd, youll find advice on preparing a CV for different countries, and information on the expectations of different cultures. The best site for non-profit or activist work 13. Idealist Idealist posts opportunities for action and collaboration, including job listings around the world. You can search by location, focus, minimum salary, employment type (entry-level or advanced), and more criteria. Nonprofit and community organizations offer the bulk of the jobs here. There are also postings from government agencies, recruitment firms, and more. Create a profile, save your information, and connect to others with similar interests. Other resources Job sites arent the only place to look! Try these additional resources: 14. Access your colleges alumni network Your university website probably has an alumni page. If you can access the alumni directory, try searching for alums in your career field or location. If contact information is provided, reach out politely to see if theyd be available to talk. They might know of opportunities that hadnt occurred to you. 15. Work backwards Go directly to the pages of companies youd like to work for, whether theyre hiring or not. Gather as much information as you can, so if a job does open up that fits your skills and experience, youll be prepared. 16. Use online social networks Try networking on any social media platforms you use. This method works best if you have specifics in mind, like a certain type of job in a certain city, or a niche career field. Summary Looking for a job is tough, and its important to use all the resources at your disposalwhether online or IRL. Read more: How Not To Suck At Applying For A Job How To ApplyAnd Actually Get HiredFor Freelance Writing Jobs

Is It Ever OK To Tell Your Boss Youre Looking For A New Job - Work It Daily

Is It Ever OK To Tell Your Boss Youre Looking For A New Job - Work It Daily Lately, we’ve been getting lots of questions around looking for work when you’re employed. One question that keeps popping up is, “Is it ever okay to tell your boss that you’re looking for work? I have a great relationship with my manager, and I don’t want to blindside him. I also think he’d be a great reference.” Here at Work It Daily, we don't advise telling an existing manager you’re looking for work… regardless of your relationship with him or her. It's better to tell employers that you’ll provide your manager or boss as a reference once you’re given an offer and accept it, and that the employer can make the offer pending the reference check. The reality is, the moment you tell your boss you’re looking, he or she will likely be upset and want to let you go… often before you have a new job. Don’t put yourself in a bad position. You might feel like you have a great relationship with your boss, but the fact is, you don’t want to risk getting let go before you’re ready. Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!