Have a Balanced Work Life

Everyone wants to have a balance between work and personal life. But many times it becomes very difficult to separate personal and professional life. Due to this we think of home at work and of work at home. If you are also going through this then here are some tips to help you:

Manage Yourself
When we talk about balancing home and work then first of all we should think about time management. If you are spending more time at the office then it does not mean that you are more productive. So we must understand job discipline and should stop wasting time in excessive gossips and coffee breaks.

Make Priorities
You can be successful by not having balance between personal and professional life but you may never be happy in this routine of life. To achieve that happiness you must concentrate on four things:-work, family, friends and yourself. If you can manage to handle all four of these and are also disciplined at the same time, then you can be both successful and happy.

Do What Interests You
Many times we should do other things of interest apart from work. Stop worrying about work when you are with family and friends. Be relaxed during work and make a habit to enjoy everything.

Learn to Say No
It is good to take initiative and do something but many times it is better to simply say no to things that you think you are not fully capable of doing. Saying no to your boss and co-workers will not necessarily affect your carrer in a bad way.

Enjoy Your Work
Always think clearly about the kind of work you want to do before joining any job. If you are enjoying your work then stress will stay away from you and you will have your balance of personal and professional life.

Think Before Changing Your Career

Everyone feels great about their first job, but for most people this feeling slowly starts to go away as more and more time passes in that job. Then after sometime a voice calls from inside that I should have selected a better career and from here our mind starts thnking about other options. You are thinking to switch careers but do you know that this decision can bring a whole lot of challenges and problems. So its better to think carefully before switching for another line of career.

Today's young generation change their careers very often. There are some benefits as well as some risks involved in this approach. Think about many things before changing your career otherwise this decision can be dangerous.

Why Think About Money Only 
You may think that your current job is offereing less salary, so why not find some other job which offers more money. But this thinking is very wrong. Comfort of working at you work place, time spent in travelling and pay increments are other factors to think about. So it is not wise to base your job change decision on money only.

Success Demands Hard Work
Many people think that some careers demand less work and offers more growth. Having a positive thinking about this is good, but you will greatly regret after switching careers if you dont have the required skills, or you are not working enough. Success comes to those who works and prepares for it. If you can change your working and learning habits drastically then only proceed.

Analyze Deeply
Many times we chose a career which looks attractive from outside which should'nt be done. Things which are far always look good. So its better to analyze the problems and challenges that can come in any career before going for them. You can even consult any career councellor or a specialist for this.

Growth and Learning
Many jobs attract us which offer good money, but the thing to see is that how much and how fast we can grow in them. If you are thinking to switch career then first analyze and calculate the growth and learning opportunities that you are getting in your current job. If you are growing faster than others then why worry about changing your career.

Never Copy Others
We should never base our career changing decisions on the success of some relative or friend in their careers. It is not necessesary that their careers can help you in attaining that success. Compare your needs and personality with their careers and jobs and then make any decision. If you try to copy then most of the time you will find yourself going nowhere.

Searching Jobs Online

Most of the people think that social networking websites are a tool to remain in contact with family and friends. But these websites also allow you to do a lot more like getting information about different brands and products. They become more important for people who are looking for a job. By showing some smartness you can easily land on a good job interview from the convinience of your home.

Create Professional Profile
You can impress a lot more people if your social profile has a professional touch. To accomplish this create your presence on most of the popular social networking websites. Some of them are listed below for you:

• Facebook
• Google+
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Myspace
• Tumblr, etc.

Populate your profiles with the data and headline related to your field of interest.

Profile should be Factual
Your profile should be completely fact based. On the interenet you are identified by your picture so have a good profile picture put up on your profiles.The information that you share about your capabilities should be appropriate and correct. Also mention your future plans and tell about your creative ideas.

Stay active on the Internet
Be internet active. Join various groups related to your niche on different social media and networking sites and take part in the ongoing discussions sharing your thoughts with other people. Share your ideas and knowledge with others to increase your online presence and visibility. Also keep updating your profiles regularly.

Have attractive profiles
If you are writing a blog or you are connected with a social group then do mention this on your social profiles because this is a very good way to increase your network. By this way people can know about your knowledge and capabilities in different fields. Stay away from poor jokes and comments and display facts to improve your online status so as to attract more people towards your profile.

How to Do Your Assessment for Performance Appraisal

Whenever there is a time of performance appraisal in the office, then everyone eagerly waits for his/her work assessment, and when results come out then some seem happy and some not so happy. There are many things in such performance assessment reports about which most of us don’t know. So if you are not happy with your work assessment then take a look at these points:

Meet With Your Boss
It can be the case that your performance is not according to what the company is expecting. So if you are not happy with your work assessment then meet with your boss by taking appointment at right time and then try to find out that what is missing in your work. Assess yourself without comparing yourself with others. See where you can improve according to the projects that have done.

Control Your Mood
Don’t get overexcited when your work assessment is good and likewise don’t get angry due to bad results. Analyze yourself where you lacked in your work and then try to improve in that area.

Do Something Different
To look different among everyone you have to do something different. Try to take on extra work and perform well in that work. Many times employees don’t take credit for their extra work which should not be done, tell your boss about all the extra work that you have done in a brief and data based manner.

Talk to Immediate Boss
Don’t wait to get feedback from the company, which can take a long time. Instead talk to your immediate boss for fast feedback about your work.

Never Discuss with Co-Employees
Never share your views about your performance report with your co-workers, they can do more harm instead of helping by disturbing you emotionally.

Things on which Performance Appraisal is Based
Apart from your work performance there are many other things on which your performance appraisal is based like your behavior, discipline etc. Your commitment towards your company also matters a lot.

Meet with the Managers
If you are completely sure about the work that you have done then you can meet with your senior managers as well and tell them your side of the story.

Don’t Share Information
If somehow you get informed about the promotion that you are getting or about some kind of pay increase then never discuss this with others because most of the companies don’t take this in a good way. Keep all the information to yourself and wait for the right time.

Career Advice : Freelancing

Freelancing today has become a very popular choice among young graduates for both part time as well as full time career option. Freelancing simply means to find work on your own and reap the full benefits of completing that work. All you do comes to you and there is no boss or company to share the profits of your hard work. Freelancing when done with proper planning and persistence can be much rewarding than the normal 9-6 job in the long run, many successful freelancers even end up starting their own company! So the question which must be arising in your mind must be how to start off as a freelancer? Well thats why this guide is prepared, follow the guidelines below to start off as a freelancer:


Starting Off
Starting to work as a freelancer is the hardest part. First you need to identify the skills that you have or the services that you can provide to your clients. Here is a list of most popular freelancing areas :

• Making Websites and Softwares.
• Web Designing.
• Writing.
• Data Entry Work.
• Marketing.
• Search engine Optimization.
• Education and Tutoring, etc.

Make a list of the skills that you have and select those in which you are good. You will need to polish your skills before taking any projects from the clients because a bad initial reputation will hurt your freelancing career greatly.

Finding your clients
Now a days to get clients you don't even need to get out of your home. All you need is computer and an internet connection. There are a lot of freelancing websites which allow people to hire freelancers, and freelancers to get clients. In most cases the websites act as a mediator between the two parties. All you need is to create an account on them, list your skill sets and start finding projects. There is a bidding system on these websites, meaning that you will have to bid on the projects, lower bids have more chance of getting projects but it depends on reputation of the freelancer as well. Here is a list of some freelancing web portals that are very popular.

• Freelancer
• Guru
• ELance
• oDesk
• Scriptlance

Freelancing through internet is mostly done for products and services which can be deleivered by the means of internet, like information technology products and services.

You must also not neglect your local market. Look for freelancing work in the local newspaper classifieds, or use your professional network for that. If you are still in college then you can offer to make some software or website for your college for free if required.

You should charge less in the begining or even you can work for free, this will help you create your professional profile, and if your work is good then this will help in getting more clients and building references.

Marketing Yourself
Marketing yourself is very important, if no one knows you then you don't exist, its simple as that. You can market yourself by creating a professional portfolio, either follow some online guide for that or better to ask someone experienced in this. You can also follow these guidelines to do that:

• Set up your website with your accomplishments, projects delivered and refereces of clients on that.
• Create your business cards with your name, phone number and website address on that. Give those cards to anyone you think will be helpful in getting clients.
• Set up social media profiles on facebook, twitter etc.
• Create a blog and update it frequently to get noticed by search engines.

Benefits of Freelancing:
Freelancing has benefits which attract many people in doing it. They are:

• Be your own boss.
• Freedom to choose your work.
• Work when you want, with you want.
• Sleep and wake up when you want.
• Spend more time with family.
• You may not even need a degree.

Freelancing has also some drawbacks as with every good thing in this world:

• There may not be regular income.
• Spending more time in finding work than doing it.
• No regular job benefits like pension, paid leaves etc.
• Difficult time management.

Legal Issues
In different countries there are different legal issues while working as a freelancer. Most of them are financial issus like tax payment. Be sure to get the required knowlede about all the legal issues if you continue to work as a freelancer and recieving payments. You may also need to sign legal contracts with clients, taking money from escrow etc, so always be attentive to them.

This is just an overview of freelancing, you can look online for help in specific freelancing areas to gain more knowledge about it.

Career Planning Tips

So you are freshly out of college and want to start off your career with your dream job; then don’t waste any time. Looking for a job is easy and actually finding one is also easy, but the hard part comes in finding the job that YOU WANT. Follow these tips and kick start your professional life.

Start Your Preparation

Start off by making your resume, if you already have a resume then update it and keep updating it regularly. Keep a professional resume ready for that dream job when the opportunity comes. Describe yourself as a valuable asset to the recruiters.

If you need help in creating the resume then follow the guidelines in this post.

Writing a Killer Resume 

Look for the right thing at the right place

Start looking for the job that you want in your current city. Look for them in the local newspapers, job hunting sites, regional job hunting websites, contact recruitment consultancies etc. Here are some few tips to help you find the jobs:

• Look in the local newspapers.
• Search in online job hunting websites and also regional websites.
• Contact local recruitment agencies and send them your resume, but be aware of those who demand money first before giving you any interview offers.
• Have your professional profiles set up on popular social networking websites like facebook, twitter, linkedin etc.
• Another very effective method is cold calling local companies. Search for all the local companies in your geographical area which are related to your profile and take their phone numbers and addresses. Start calling their HR Managers for any kind of job openings related to your skills. If they have any then apply for that.
• Create your professional network. Doing this is very important because nearly 50% jobs are not posted in any job hunting website or any newspaper. Contact any seniors or relatives that you have who are working and ask them for any references that they can provide. Keep doing this at regular time intervals until you get what you want.

Keep Learning

Never stop learning. Invest 2-3 hours daily learning new skills related to your profile while you are unemployed. You will be surprised to know that there are so many people that land up on jobs different than the ones they were looking for in the first place. So don’t stick to the same kind of jobs and have an out of the box thinking.

Changing Locations

If you don’t find any good jobs in your local city or area then by all means change the place where you live. Go to a place where the industry in which you want to go is blooming. Not only you will land on a job faster but also with good salary because of the high number of companies and demand for good candidates. So never hesitate in taking such kind of decision.

Have Right Mental Attitude

Job hunting can be a long and many times disappointing process, so always have a positive attitude and faith in your abilities. If you don't get a job then that does not mean end of the world. There are hundreds of companies and thousands of jobs out there. The best thing to do is to create a daily routine giving time to job search, applying for jobs, and learning new skills. Exercise daily to keep your body and mind healthy and always be positive.