Hiring a friend. Sometimes it’s a match made in heaven. Then, there are times when it was not worth the ultimate cost. Hiring friends can be tricky. This is because we all have a “work” persona and a “home” persona. How we act and interact at home is often very different than how we are at the office. Back when I worked in the motion picture industry, a good friend of mine was hired as an extra. She later commented how she was surprised to see me so focused and serious on the set. She said I was so completely different from the person she knew that it seemed like I was a stranger. I am much more serious at work than at home. Fortunately, I was able to explain this to her and avoid any “hurt” feelings. Have you or are you considering hiring a friend? If so, below are a few pitfalls to look out for and/or try to avoid to help strengthen both your work relationship and friendship. … [Read more...] about The Pitfalls of Hiring Friends
Archives for February 2014
What Every Business Plan Should Contain
For anyone looking to start a new business venture, a business plan is an essential tool in creating success. Whether or not you are seeking financing, it is still an important step that any hopeful entrepreneur should take. Taking the time to write a business plan will help you create the framework for your business, and will be the document you use to measure you success against the goals you laid out at the beginning of your venture. You want to write a plan that fits your exact business needs, according to Tim Berry, author of "3 Weeks to Startup." When you are creating your business plan, there are some common elements that should be included. Executive Summary Your executive summary is one of the most important parts of your business plan. This is where you include all of your company contact information, and where you highlight the information that is contained in the rest of your business plan template. You need to make this part stand out. If you can grab your readers' … [Read more...] about What Every Business Plan Should Contain
Getting Back Into Work
In these times of global recession, lots of us find ourselves out of work through no fault of our own. It can be a distressing and depressing time and it can often seem like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. But, whatever your reasons for finding yourself out of work, there is always hope, and the first step is thinking positive. It might sound easier said than done, but if you are feeling low and down on yourself then this could well be coming across in job interviews, and could be jeopardising your chances of getting that all-important job offer. Begin to believe in yourself and you may well find that your luck begins to change. One easy way to begin to feel more positive straight away is to begin every morning by writing down one thing that you are grateful for or happy about. You could create a noticeboard and pin your daily positive thoughts to it on sticky notes; it doesn’t matter if you repeat some. … [Read more...] about Getting Back Into Work
5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Start Your Own Business
After years of being unhappy at a job, you’re thinking of quitting. After months of having no luck finding employment, you decide it’s time to approach your career from another angle. To balance taking care of kids and pursuing your passion, you want to be able to work from home. Whatever brought you to the conclusion that you’d like to start your own business, pause before you quit your current job or invest any of your savings. Ask yourself a series of questions to determine if you have the follow-through and financing to achieve your dream. … [Read more...] about 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Start Your Own Business
6 Questions to Ask When Developing a Strategic Communications Plan
The corporate landscape is littered with plans such as business plans, risk management plans, disaster recovery plans and strategic plans. Therefore, when someone tells you it's time to develop a strategic communications plan for your company, it's easy to dismiss the idea as more corporate busywork. What you may not realize, though, is that your strategic communications plan could be the most important plan your business will ever create. Sure, when your network goes down during a power outage, your customers may not be able to access your website for a while. They may grumble, but if you have a good relationship with them, then they'll be back once power is restored. When your company makes major public communication errors, however, those errors have the potential to shatter relationships. … [Read more...] about 6 Questions to Ask When Developing a Strategic Communications Plan
5 Tips to Get Noticed at a Job Fair
If you’re looking for a new job, one of the best things you can do is to attend a variety of job fairs. These fairs bring together companies that are looking for great employees and those who are searching for the perfect job. However, there is usually a lot of competition at job fairs, which means that you need to stand out from the crowd. Prepare for the Fair One of the first things you need to do to stand out is make sure you are prepared. When you know that there are Fisher Investment Upcoming Events, you can ensure that you get ready specifically for that event. Preparing for a specific event allows you to get clothing together that will work for the event, as well as put together your resume and prepare answers to questions. Ensure that your social media profiles are up to date. If you’re going to a specific event, such as the Fisher Investment events, you can even connect with some of the recruiters for the company ahead of time. … [Read more...] about 5 Tips to Get Noticed at a Job Fair
Getting Your Degree While Keeping Your Job
Consider this scenario: you've got one day left to complete a final project that's worth 30% of your grade. Then, that afternoon, your boss tells you he needs you to stay late and help him with a work emergency. What do you do? Which priority takes place: your full-time job or your online degree? If you're an online student who also works full-time, you know the challenges associated with earning a living while furthering your education. Indeed, working and taking classes, while also maintaining your grades and meeting outside obligations, can be difficult, to say the least. It's the rare online degree student who hasn't had at least one of these conflicting priority scenarios come up, whether it's the boss who asks you to stay late or the online group project that can only meet during working hours. … [Read more...] about Getting Your Degree While Keeping Your Job
Tax Credit System, Employability & Businesses
Companies of any size need to keep in mind certain regulations related to taxation. While it is mostly looked upon as a business expense, there are advantages that companies can reap from taxation as well. In fact, an optimal business strategy is initiated based not only on product/service/market knowledge, but also through the application of tax based incentives. The existence of different tax brackets means financial leverage is be quite diverse in large and small businesses. Tax matters are linked to corporate governance, and there is a need for a set of processes and policies to manage the impact. … [Read more...] about Tax Credit System, Employability & Businesses