From Full-time to Flexible Working

From Full-time to Flexible Working Success Story > From: Job To: Startup From Full-time to Flexible Working “Of course, my income isn't guaranteed, butI'm not far off what I used to earn now.” * From Full-time to Flexible Working It's not easy to 'give up' a career you've worked hard to build. But for Hazel Morris, continuing her busy, long-distance job was no longer an option. Here's how she turned a gift for a friend into a business and a lifestyle she loves. What work were you doing previously? I previously worked as a footwear buyer, for a footwear concessions business. I bought the footwear range for MCo, which involved a lot of long-distance travel. When I wasn't abroad, I was commuting into Londonevery day. I was heavily involved in product development, and worked closely with a designer as well as a merchandising team. I loved the challenge and seeing a range come together as I'd imagined, as well as the buzz of meeting targets. High street fashion is super-competitive these days and retail is a tough environment. What are you doing now? I now design and make cute and quirky nursery decorations, which I sell online. Each and every item is handcrafted by me, and can be customised or adapted for customers. Why did you change? Following the birth of my son, I took a full year of maternity leave. Towards the end of that year I had the urge to do something other than be a full-time mum again. Following return-to-work discussions with my employer, it became clear that there would be no compromises made on my return to work, and that it was full time or nothing. I knew that continuing in my role with a baby, and all the long-distance travel it would involve, would not be an option for me. Are you happy with the change? I'm delighted to be working for myself. I love the various aspects of running a small business â€" social media, packing and preparing orders, and having a direct link with customers. It gives me great satisfaction to create bespoke products for people, and to get good feedback is an amazing boost. My background is product, and not the marketing and social media side of things, but I'm learning, and enjoying that aspect too. What do you miss and what don't you miss? I don't miss the commute and full-time hours I used to work. What I do now allows me so much more flexibility and a great workâ€"life balance. Also, being a sole trader means I'm so much more productive, as each decision is just made by me â€" which I love! Of course, my income is not guaranteed as it used to be, but I see that as more of a challenge, and I'm not far off what I used to earn now. How did you go about making the shift? Towards the end of my maternity leave, I was making a felt mobile for a pregnant friend, and feeling pretty chuffed with how it had turned out. It occurred to me (and friends and family agreed) that this was something I could sell. My New Year's resolution last year was to set up an Etsy store. I bought myself a sewing machine just after Christmas and it went from there. I was bursting with ideas, taught myself to sew, and could not be separated from the sewing machine for weeks! As my ideas developed and friends made requests, I felt excited at the prospect ofworking full time for myself. That spring, with a good selection of products in my Etsy shop, I took the plunge and applied to be a seller on Notonthehighstreet.com. This was my ultimate goal, as it's a site I've always loved and where I'd envisaged my products would sell, being personalised and handmade items. I was delighted to get the call to tell me I'd been accepted onto the site, and following a professional photoshoot, my products were launched. I also created a transactional website, logo, and styled my product shots (which I'm really proud of). What didn't go well? What 'wrong turns' did you take? I've sent products to bloggers and journalists, and some features have been more successful than others. Then again, that's to be expected. How did you handle your finances to make your change possible? Financially, it wasn't such a huge transition. We were already living off my husband's income as I was on maternity leave. I invested a little in photographs and material stock, but start-up costs were relatively low. Is there anything you would have done differently? It's a hard one, as for the most part, the only thing I wish I'd done differently is doing it sooner. It's easy to get complacent and risk averse when you're employed by someone else. If I hadn't got pregnant and chosen not to return to full-time work, I never would have started up my little enterprise that I enjoy so much. What was the most difficult thing about changing? It was hard for me to 'give up' my career having worked hard to get myself to a good level before having a baby. I think it's a situation a lot of mothers find themselves in. From my antenatal group, all eight of us planned to to go back to our jobs, but only two did. I think that's a fair representation of the situation mothers in the workplace find themselves in. What help did you get? Friends and family have been very supportive and my initial orders were mainly from them! Social media has been a great asset to me in launching my business and marketing my products, and most of my orders come via social media now. What resources would you recommend to others? Instagram as a marketing tool, and forcreating abrand. Photography has been key for me as Instagram is such a visual marketing platform. What have you learnt in the process? I'm learning lots of new social media and marketing skills, in addition to my practical sewing skills, which are improving all the time. My brand is developing and I'm proud to have created something that I really believe in. What would you advise others to do in the same situation? I'd advise anyone with a niggling idea to just go for it! If you're offering something you'd like for yourself, that's a great indicator that there's a market out there for your product. If you don't believe in yourself and your product then no one else will, so be confident and ensure that comes across in your marketing and social media. Then customers will buy into it too. To find out more about Hazel's products, visit www.secretcrafthouse.com. What lessons could you take from Hazel's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

Military Resume Writing Services Can Help You Write a Resume for Military Jobs

Military Resume Writing Services Can Help You Write a Resume for Military JobsMilitary resume writing services are the best way to turn your resume into an impressive asset. These services help you with all the details of a military resume so that you get a good looking job and get hired. Your recruiter will appreciate your efforts and give you the go ahead.Military resume writing services can help you with your resumes and prepare them for the various networking events that you might have in the future. It can also help you get your resume into the hands of prospective employers. These services can also advise you on how to improve your resume from your own learning and writing.They are a bit costlier than the other alternatives, but that is not necessarily because they require much skill or time, as the Internet is your best friend. The other option for a good resume is to get a copy of one professionally written by someone who knows what they are doing. They do charge more because this professional talent charges a bit more. You will get a good quality resume if you hire one of these services.The reason why the military resume writing services are a little more expensive is because of the skills they need to hone and the manpower they take to train and develop them. This can make them costlier than some of the other online methods for writing your resume. However, if you want to get a professional quality resume, you will be better off going with this type of service.One great benefit to hiring one of these services is that you can get multiple services at one price. There is nothing wrong with that if you have the time and the money. Many of these companies give you discounts to their services so you can get them for less.Military resume writing services can also help you with any questions you may have about writing your resume. They can write your resume to your specifications. It can include your skills, education, certifications, and what you have done before. Most of the services do use state requirements and standards when writing your resume.A resume is the most important piece of paper that you will ever have to send out. Not only is it the first thing that the recruiter will look at, but it is also the first thing that anyone who reads it will see. To get the most attention for yourself, be sure that you use this tool to its full potential.You should hire a military resume writing service that has experience in this field. If you choose one of the services with no experience, you could end up wasting your time and your money.

Things to Know Before You Set Up Your Jewelry Business

Things to Know Before You Set Up Your Jewelry Business Making jewelry has been your hobby for a very long time. You use a range of natural media and semi-precious stones to create your jewelry, but you usually make it only for personal use, and as gifts for friends and family. In the last two years, you have noticed that your items are really popular, and people have asked for personalized earrings and neckpieces. That has given you the idea to set up your own online store, but you aren’t really sure how to start a jewelry business, and proceed with the entire thing.  You do know that you want to make your line profitable, but you want to keep expenses to a minimum. Not to worry, there are several ways by which you can turn this dream into a reality. However, before you actually set up a website, the business website Entrepreneur states that there are a few things you should know about how to create, list, price and advertise your items online. Decide Your Niche and Your Capacity Jewelry covers several cultures, materials and designs. As a designer, you have to showcase your strengths but appeal to as many customers as possible. Before you even set up a website, you have to decide on what you want to display on your website. If you specialize in a particular niche like American contemporary, Native American, South-Asian, etc. you have to define what you can offer in that category and start buying raw materials. Once you have sufficient stock, you can then contemplate setting up a website. Please note, designing custom jewelry for special customers is a great idea and you should spare time, inventory and space on your website to incorporate this feature. If possible, stock raw jewels, fittings, wires, chains and encourage customers to order custom pieces. You can be much more creative with personalized designs and a happy customer will provide lots of word-of- mouth publicity. Do a Cash Flow Forecast Making jewelry from precious stones and metals is expensive. You might have a few ready pieces but this will not be enough for a website. You have also picked up orders from customers for gold and platinum jewelry but you don’t have the money to buy raw materials and create the items for customers. These are common situations that occur in almost all new businesses and for this reason, having a cash flow statement is necessary. Make sure you plan and have enough cash for setting up your website, for raw materials, high-resolution photos, and videos and so on. If required, take a small loan from friends or family or approach a bank for small business financing. Decide Where to Promote Most people think that the only way to sell anything is through a personal website but you can also use other forums to promote your jewelry and sell it quickly. For example, The Beading Daily site states that setting up a page on Facebook is quite easy and you can easily load high resolution images for free before you set up a website. Not only will this display your inventory but it will provide additional advertisement before you set up your website. Other good free places to display your pieces include Pinterest, YouTube, online craft exhibitions, etc. Holding lucky dips and contests on social media websites is also a great way of increasing interest in your artwork before your website goes live. Price Your Work Pricing your work is very important and it has to be done before you set up your website says The Design Trust website. Now that you know how much raw materials you ordered and the time you spent on your designs, it’s time to place an accurate price tag on your work. However, you can also do this the other way round. For example, you can decide on a price range and then make items to fit into that bracket. Both methods work but make sure you list wholesale and retail prices to encourage bulk orders. Take the time to check online websites and how they price their items made with the same materials you are using. Finally, the small business website Chron states that the key to setting up your online business is to establish goals right in the beginning. Think about it and decide what you want to achieve. Do you want to cater to just friends and family or are planning to make the range bigger and better? Is it still going to remain a hobby or are planning to work fulltime to turn it in to a money-making enterprise? These are legitimate questions and they will determine the future of your jewelry business. The answers to these questions will also determine your choice of website, marketing, sales, social media involvement, pricing and sale process.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Job

How Long Does It Take to Get a Job How long does it take to get a job? The exact answer is unknown.I have seen people receive offers in as little as eight days. Unfortunately, not everyone is always so lucky. Whether you have been searching for days, months, or years, you are going to want to keep reading.Below we explain the average time it takes to get a job and what variables are impacting the length of your search.Average Time It Takes to Get a JobThere are a ton of theories out there on how long it takes to find a job. After all, the time frame can vary drastically for each person.A good rule of thumb to go by is that every $20,000 you earn will translate into one month of job searching. So, if you are making $100,000 per year, your job search will take five months.As you might have already guessed, this is a very personal process and there are a lot of factors that can either speed up or slow down your search.Variables Affecting the Length of Your Job SearchWhen it comes to job searching, there are hundreds of v ariables that will make your search unique from someone else’s. These variables include:Availability of Your Job in a Given LocationIf you live in a large urban city like New York, San Francisco, and Austin, the chances of finding a job will be easier. If you live in a 300-person town in the middle of Alaska, chances are there are not a lot of opportunities.Solution: Be willing to commute to a larger town or relocate to a new city/statefor new work.The Job RequirementsAre you looking for a chemical engineering job without a chemistry degree? Chances are you will be searching for a very long time if you do not have the basic credentials that the job is asking for.Solution: Choose a new job or gain the experience necessary to fully qualify for the jobs you are applying to.Unrealistic Salary ExpectationsIf you interviewed, shared your salary requirements, and it went nowhere, you might be asking for too much. A 5% decrease in your desired salary is not worth a year of unemployment. I can’t tell you how many people I have met that regretted passing on an offer that at the time was too low.Solution: Be open minded on the salary you are asking for.Quality of Job Searching MaterialsWhat kind of job searching materials are you using? Are you using the same resume style you used ten years ago? If you are, chances are this can be playing a big factor in the time it’s taking to get a job. Reach out to credible friends and recruiters to get honest feedback on your resume. If you have not had your resume professionally done, it might not be a bad idea.Solution: Receive free feedback from credible sources or pay for a resume makeover.Large Gaps in Your Employment HistoryOne of the hardest obstacles to overcome are the gaps in your employment history. Whether you took time off to find yourself or you were taking care of a loved one, employers are not going to enjoy gaps. If you are going to take time off work, try to stay busy. Show your future employer that you were c onstantly learning and staying up to date with working trends.Solution: If possible, list freelance work, volunteer work, or any work that is relevant to your job. You can also read this post on How to Explain Gaps in Your Job History for advice.Overall Effort Put Into the Job SearchHow hard are you actually looking to find a job? If you hop on Indeed for 1 hour a week, I would say you need to try harder. Searching for a job is a full-time job in itself. If you aren’t spending at least 10 hours a week on your job search, you are probably missing out on some great opportunities.Solution: Set aside time each day to search or hire Find My Profession to do all the work for you.State of the Overall Job MarketFor the most part, I think this one is a common cop-out for people who like to make excuses. There are always jobs available. Sure, sometimes it might be harder to find jobs than others, but this should not discourage you from trying.Solution: Stay persistent. There are ups and dow ns with the market. Keep your head in there and the ups will eventually make their way to you.The Recipe for a Job OfferAt the end of the day, it is impossible to predict how long your job search is going to take. Anybody that claims to know an exact time frame is lying to you.The job search process can be timely, difficult, and exhausting. There is really no way around that.However, with persistent work, strategy, and by following the steps above, you will be doing everything in your power to have time work for you, not against you.

Writing the Objective of a Front Desk Receptionist Position

Writing the Objective of a Front Desk Receptionist PositionWhen you write the objective of the position you are applying for, make sure you address the needs of your new employers first. The objective should be addressing their interests and wants so that you will be able to take care of their needs as well.As a front desk receptionist, you must be sure that you communicate exactly what you can do for your employer. You should always be precise with what you can do for them because if they are not pleased with the objective, they may choose to not hire you. It is better to be a happy employee than a disgruntled one.You also need to check the employee background of the person you are targeting to be your interviewer. Be sure that the person is a good fit for the company before you write your interview objectives. Most people don't want to put themselves in a position of being evaluated by a person they have never met before.Research the company and find out about their client's qualif ications. Ask other employees if they would hire them. Once you know their qualifications, you can compare their qualifications to yours and be sure that you are presenting yourself in the best light possible. This will make your interviewer happy and satisfied that you met his or her expectations.While it may be tempting to jot down everything on a resume, you should read your resume a few times to see if you can make changes that will reflect your strengths and the strengths of the job you are applying for as a front desk receptionist. Think about what you have written in your objective, and then ask yourself if you would use those words in your resume. You might want to shorten or lengthen words depending on how they sound when spoken. Make sure that you match your resume objective tothe way you speak.Read your resume again and ask yourself if it is something that you want to continue working at. If you write about things that are not appealing to you, you can write something els e in its place. As a front desk receptionist, you need to be sure that you speak your mind, even if you are not comfortable doing so. After all, your objective is to find an employer and you should be clear about what you hope to gain from the position. If you are not clear, your interviewer might lose interest in you.One of the most important things to remember is that you should be good at what you are interviewing for. It does not matter if you think that you are a natural at talking to people. It is essential that you speak clearly, quickly, and with confidence so that your interviewer can easily relate to you. Do not assume that your interviewer knows how to conduct a conversation, so be sure to practice if you want to succeed. Once you have done this, you will be more comfortable with interviewing and your interviewer will be more interested in hiring you.In order to be a good business owner, you need to be an excellent and effective front desk receptionist. Writing the object ive of the position is one way that you can do that. Be sure to tailor it to your job description.

Resume Not Getting You Interviews This Could Be Why.

Resume Not Getting You Interviews This Could Be Why. Your strategy for trying to land a new job should include researching Austin companies, networking, trying to get your resume in front of the hiring manager and, of course, submitting your resume. Submitting your resume via email or through the employer’s application system may seem straightforward but is actually a critical step that you need to take your time with. Often times we overlook the details of the job application process and miss some necessary details or instructions. 50% of Resumes Are Not Considered Last week, I spoke with someone who was seeking to hire a new employee for her company. She placed her ad on a local job search board and received many responses. She told me that less than half of the respondents followed the stated directions on how to properly apply to the job. She was very discouraged by what she saw and created two piles for job applicants â€" one for those who followed directions and one pile for those who did not.  She reviewed the resumes of those who followed the directions but did not even consider the others. How do you think the employer will interpret you not following directions?  They could see this as: Lack of attention to detail Lack of interest in the particular position Someone who is applying to as many jobs as they can Lack of technical skills to apply. Many times, candidates who cannot follow directions are not even considered for the job, even if they are well qualified. Create a Checklist for Following Job Application  Directions When you find a job posting and intend to apply for it, read the application directions.  What does the employer require? A .txt version of your resume Email with a resume attached Cover letter attachment A specific email subject line Most Austin jobs have specific application requirements which can be easy to miss or forget.  Therefore, create a checklist listing the requirements for the specific job you find.  Use Microsoft Word or Excel, a Google doc or even a piece of paper!  Write down the name of the employer, the position (which is especially important if you are applying for multiple positions within one company) and each specific requirement the employer outlines for a successful application.  Once you have your resume and cover letter personalized and are ready to apply, review the checklist and make sure you have completed every requirement. Creating a checklist and following it will increase your chances of being considered for the positions you apply for.  The advice in this blog is quick to implement and is one way to help your resume land in the to be considered pile. Have any tips for submitting resumes?  How about a story? Please share in the comments section below! *revised on 04/20/2016

What to Do When Youre Caught Complaining About Your Boss on Facebook - CareerEnlightenment.com

Your employer has the burden of proof. If your employer asserts that you are acting as a “lone wolf” to disparage or malign another employee, your boss or the company or brand, they must prove their allegations before you can be charged.You cannot be prosecuted for legal online activities you undertake while not on duty. If posts you make during non-work hours are legal and are not related to your work duties, your employer cannot hold you liable.Your employer cannot prosecute you for broad-brush “offenses.” The NLRB has pushed back against companies that create too-broad social media use policies. If your employer’s social media policy includes such broad language as to rule out most types of work-related online conversations, their case may not stand up in court.Your state determines whether your employer has access to your social media accounts. Six states have now made it illegal for employers or recruiters to ask employees or candidates for their social media account p asswords. Be sure to know your state’s policy on this issue before handing over your passwords to your employer.What to Do if Your Employer ProsecutesRegardless of whether your employer has a case or not, this may not prevent them from bringing a lawsuit against you in regard to your social media activities. If you do find yourself in a legal situation that stems from work-related conversations online, here is what you should do.Contact the NLRB and explain the situation to find out how strong your employer’s case is.Speak with your employer to find out if there is a way to resolve the issue out of court.If more than just yourself is named, convene with affected others to discuss group representation.Locate a qualified attorney and hire representation of your own to fight the charges.Ultimately, responding promptly and definitively to any social media-related legal charges levied against you by your employer can show good-faith effort to resolve the situation quickly and for eve ryone’s benefit.Andy Chung uses his masters degree in management  from Catholic University to head up the HR department at a mid-sized technology company. He also leads monthly lunch-and-learn seminars for employees on social media etiquette and best practices.