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How to land a secure job

In this day and age, people are always talking about how bad the economy is and how it is making things difficult for them. I’m not here to say that it isn’t, but to work towards the future. The past has already happened and I can’t change any of that, but what I can do is to help you out with some tips and ideas that help you in getting some stable income in the future.

The very first thing that you have to do is decide to make your future your responsibility. If you want to make you life better, you have to take matters into your own hands. There are very few to no jobs that just get handed out. You have to go out and using the talents you already have and what you know, make something happen to provide for you and your family. Now on to some things that you can do to get some income.

1. Clean up your appearance. The truth is that you have to be the person that the boss wants, not what you want. You want that job, well then you better clean up and look professional to that job. Don’t go in with tennis shoes and bad breath. What’s so sad is how many people skip this step. In real estate, a house that smells doesn’t sell, and it’s like that in person too.

2. Rewrite your resume for every job. If you are looking several different places, they will all have a few key different things they want. If you make just a blanket resume, then you will miss out on getting the most out of every opportunity. There are plenty of people throwing their resumes and applications at every job and I believe the average amount of time a person spends looking at your resume is just a few seconds so you have to make sure they count.

3. Specialize. This is the one key that will help you get in the door. Think about it, if you apply for a job that you don’t need any experience for, then so is everyone else. If you have a skill or license that gives you an advantage, then you better take full advantage of it. If you don’t have any certificates or licenses then get something.

4. GO TO SCHOOL. During the height of unemployment, the rate for those that didn’t finish high school was over 15% and those with a college degree was less than 4%. That is a massive difference and you need to think along those lines. But what if you’ve been out in the workforce for a while and don’t want to do the four year and tons of money thing. Well check out a vocational trade school. There are tons of skills and certifications you can get in just a few months that will make you much more attractive for employers.

5. Don’t be scared of a commission job. In truth, there really isn’t any completely secure job, but you have to make it with what you have. If you have sales experience, then use it. There are several people that I know that do very well who only do commission. Whether you are making a career out of it or just need it until you get what you want, don’t be afraid to go after it.

6. Work, work differently. Try working two part time jobs. Try working five one day a week jobs. Try doing some consulting if you can. Take your hobby to the next level and do something with it. Get creative and look for everything you can find. If you aren’t getting anywhere doing what your doing, then try something else, and then try something else. The next thing to do is keep trying something else. You have to keep trying.

I really hope that everybody can find a job or something that gives them a chance to take care of themselves and their loved ones. I believe that these are some things that you can take to heart and apply, and that they will really make a difference in your life. The best thing to do when you want something is to go out and get it.

Budgeting tips

Most people have spent some time on their budget, and have in fact probably done a great job. There are different kinds of income though, so be sure to make a budget that is tailored to your specific needs. Lot’s of people make a steady paycheck, but there are also lots of jobs where your income will change based on time worked, performance, or commissions. These are some things that can change your budget and need to be accounted for when you are managing your finances.

I will use myself for the first example. I have a steady paycheck that comes every two weeks, but I do extra things at work to increase that paycheck. My wife is a teacher and gets paid during school, but not during the summer months off. So we have a mostly steady, but somewhat variable income stream for the year. What this means is that we can’t spend during the summer like we can during the school year. We are making less money.

The way that this is compensated for budgeting is to make two budgets. I simply make an excel spreadsheet and put in a low income and high income budget. I make one budget where it shows how much we make on the good income months and another for the lower income months. This also allows me the chance to see about knocking down any recurring debt I might have missed or that is optional for the summer.

Payment shock is the term used to describe the difference in amount payed when one buys a house. This same idea of income to bills payment shock also occurs during the summer. Depending on how big a difference that is, you might not really notice things, or you might have to make special adjustments like setting savings aside during the good months.

Don’t forget to keep track of your expenses. This is the number one thing you have to do in order to control your finances. If you don’t know where your money is, how can you take care of it? This becomes more important as you get into commission budgets and personal business budgets.

When you have a sales job that is only commission, you are going to have variable times of income. This makes it much more important to have some type of cash reserve or allowance system setup to make sure that you have enough to pay your bills and also live on. The first idea is that you keep are fairly large cash reserve in your account that you make all your transactions through. This way you will be able to pay things as they come. The downside is that you have a lot of cash sitting around that isn’t working for you.

The second idea is to have all your money go into one account and then give yourself a constant paycheck. This will give you steady and consistent cash flow. You can put your money into several different things that have a set payout at certain times, or you can just put it into a high interest checking account if you want. These are just a couple ideas to help people compensate for differing incomes and budgeting around them.

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