Jan 8, 2010
Posted by PTJFS on Jan 8, 2010 in Tips | 2 comments
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Getting a job isn’t the only way to get more money as a student. A dollar saved is worth just as much as a dollar earned, if the dollar goes for something you have to pay for in the first place. I am not talking about saving money on a new cashmere sweater, that isn’t comparable to a dollar earned. Here I am talking about money saving tips for common bills like rental and food.
Money saving tips
Knowing a few money saving tips can really put that extra cash in your savings account where it belongs or if you are a student make your semester more pleasurable. One of the first things you should do is figure out your bills or monthly expenses. This means things like your mortgage or rent, car payment, food bill, utilities, and cable or Internet. Add allof these up and look at the lump sum you need monthly. Now subtract that amount from the money you make monthly, or have available through student loans of parent funding, assuming you have enough to pay the bills, which most people do. Okay, at this point you need to think about all of the extras you spend on each week or day. This can be all sorts of things, but you may not typically consider them.
At this point, let’s go over common extras that people spend on all the time. Knowing what these things are will help you start saving money. First of all, there is the caffeine bill.
Coffee cut
How often do you purchase a coffee outside of your home? These can cost anywhere from two to five bucks a pop. If you’re buying one every day, that’s a lot of cash each week spent on java fixes. So one money saving tip is to cut this out, or at least limit yourself to one or two lattes each week.
The cable bill
Now consider your cable bill. Do you pay for the full movie package? More importantly, do you even watch what you pay for? Most people don’t. So this is one of the more obvious money saving tips. Don’t throw away your cash on wasted entertainment you won’t even miss.
Dining in, not out
How about dining out? This may be the number one issue with people in America today. Everyone spends tons of money dining in restaurants daily. You would save so much if you ate at home.
Party life
One of the biggest expenses for “active” students is party money. This could the single most important money saving tip, but probably one few want to follow willingly. If you want to save money, drink and part less. Alcohol costs really add up over a year!
Start saving and stop struggling
Now, these are just basic money saving tips that can benefit most people, but students in particular. You have to keep in mind that these mundane expenses add up very quickly. If you are tired of struggling get ends to meet at the end of each month, you might want to try one of these tips.
Share your best tip
Have a money saving tip of your own? Leave a comment below and share your best with ut!
Jan 4, 2010
Posted by PTJFS on Jan 4, 2010 in Find jobs, New articles | 0 comments
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Freelance work can be perfect part time jobs for students that need an extra buck here and there but don’t need a constant income. There are tons of jobs out there, and finding them is easier then ever. Web sites like E-lance and Freelancejobs.org specialize in connecting employers with the needed freelancer, and vise versa. What you need to look out for are deceptive ads, as some of the freelance writing opportunities listed on the Internet border on being scam, if not are outright trickery. However, rest assured that most freelance writing opportunities are real and legit.
Know what you want
It is a good idea to know what you are looking for before doing extensive searches on the freelance sites. If you are a student, try to think of ways that your education can be used for this purpose. IT-students might try to find computer related freelance writing opportunities, perhaps writing articles for a Tech-site. Journalists in the making might write reports and commentaries for a small online newspaper. Medicine students could work for a professor, scribing or proofreading journals.
Fee-based freelance web sites
Some of the online sites will charge you a fee for providing you with freelance writing opportunities. This fee is sometimes worth it, other times not. What is for certain is that you should never pay to be able to bid on or see listings of the jobs. If they don’t let you see the listings or advertisements for the freelance writing jobs, find another site. A fair deal is if the site takes a small percentage of what you make for the job. After all, they have to make a living providing this service.
Cheap labor
An issue that might turn you off freelance writing opportunities is that in the recent years cheap labor has flooded the market. This labor stems from countries where the minimum wage is a lot lower then here, if they have minimum wages at all, and the freelancer is willing to work for a very low salary. However, if you can write quality articles, you will probably be ahead of a large percentage of these low-wage freelancers, as English is usually not there best skill. You might want to start out with a low paying job first to build your resume, and then go for the more quality online freelance writing opportunities as you get to know the game.
Dec 29, 2009
Posted by PTJFS on Dec 29, 2009 in General | 1 comment
Discrimination has been practiced throughout man’s history, throughout the history of nearly every country, past and present. Defined as the act of perceiving differences, all people are discriminating. Have our parents not told us to be discriminating in selecting friends, groups and spouses? Do not our religious leaders tell us to avoid evil and associate with good? Discrimination used in these senses is regarded as prudence, and one who would counsel such as wise.
Sense of prudence
When selecting an employee, employment discrimination is also necessary, but only in the sense of prudence. When hiring, we discriminate, that is, distinguish differences of the candidates, on the basis of education, experience, physical requirements for the job, or even on the credit history of the candidates, on the presence or absence of criminal records, and the references each candidate provides. We do this because these are relevant to the job available. Failing to discriminate on these basis would be folly. You are expected to discriminate on these grounds and no business could expect to do otherwise.
Factors unrelated to the job
The case for discriminating when hiring on the basis of job-related factors is unassailable. It makes sense. Not so with employment discrimination, when based on factors unrelated to the performance of the job, such as the candidate’s race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or religion. While there may be some instances in which gender or age discrimination is valid, such as the case in which a job has been opened for a model of adolescent, female fashions, few jobs would require the person to be hired be of a specific race, gender, or religion. For example, you would not hire a Jewish rabbi to officiate at a Catholic wedding, not because the person is Jewish, but because the rabbi does not have the qualifications to perform a Catholic mass. On the other hand, in a job that does not require specialized religious knowledge or experience, such as a secretary for the pastor of a Presbyterian congregation, refusing to hire the secretary because she is Jewish is employment discrimination. Being Jewish or Presbyterian has nothing to do with typing letters, taking dictation or answering the phone.
Employment discrimination is bad business
Not many jobs call for a specific race, yet there are some that do. A company selling tanning lotion might require a light-skinned representative to model the effects, thereby excluding dark-skinned people such as blacks. None would think to accuse this company of employment discrimination. Light skin is part of the job requirements. It is when we exclude or refuse a person qualified in all areas for the job, but not of a race we prefer, that racial discrimination has occurred. Preference is the key to discrimination, preference for a particular race, gender, or age. Our preferences do not factor into a job’s requirements. When we make a decision to hire someone who is as qualified as another, and we do it because we do or do not prefer the race of the other, we have discriminated.
Decision solely on requirements
Employment discrimination is easily avoided if the person who is doing the hiring makes their decision to hire solely on the requirements of the job and the candidate’s qualifications for the job tasks. Hiring on the basis of preferences can result in hiring the less qualified. Not only will you avoid suits for employment discrimination, but by sticking to the requirements and the candidates qualifications, you are assured that you have selected the best possible candidate and, most important, increase the likelihood of achieving your business goals. Non-discriminatory practices in hiring are good business!
Dec 26, 2009
Posted by PTJFS on Dec 26, 2009 in Career advice, New articles | 0 comments
I once worked in the data entry business. This meant I spent the day putting information into a computer, but I never had to deal with the customers. However, that didn’t seem to be important. When I started the job, I had to learn about the software I was going to be using, and I also had to go through some customer service training. The company I worked for also had jobs for taking orders over the phone, and even though I would never do this, they thought everyone should at least have some basic understanding of how to talk with customers.
A must
Customer service training is a must for anyone with a job that interacts with the public. It is more important in some sectors than in others, but these skills are always good to have. This is because we often think we know how we would like to be treated, and we think that is how you talk to others. The problem with that is some don’t think like this, and they need customer service training so they know they are saying the right things at the right time. Not every customer is going to be pleasant, and that is where most of the problems come from.
Smile to the customer
One thing that surprised me about my customer service training was that I was instructed to smile. This is something that anyone should do when interacting with a person face to face, but I never thought there was a need to smile when on the phone with someone. I was taught that a smile will make your voice more pleasant, and will encourage you to be nicer and more patient with someone who may be complaining or giving you a hard time. This part of customer service was a surprise, and very much a simple lesson, but it is one that I would not have thought of on my own.
Customer service training is worth it
Most who go through customer service training will have to learn much more than I did. I don’t really care for such jobs, but they can be great jobs with wonderful earning potential. People always need help, and that is why these types of jobs will always be around. If you are offered courses on customer service training anywhere you go, you should make sure you take them, even if you aren’t sure you will ever need them. One thing anyone should know is how to treat a customer. You have no idea where your career will go, and these skills may come in handy more often than you can imagine.
Dec 19, 2009
Posted by PTJFS on Dec 19, 2009 in Find jobs, New articles | 0 comments
There are tons of part time jobs for students if you know where to look. Finding the right part time student job is the difficult part, as you want to find the job that is just right for you and your schedule. There are many employees out there that are willing to take advantage of cheap student labor, so shop around and try to get the one that also helps you build your resume.
Resume building for you or cheap labor for employer
There are two main types of part time jobs for students. On the one hand you have jobs where the employer takes advantage of the fact that you are young and need short-term employment. On the other hand you have the jobs where the employer actually harnesses your skills. To get the latter type of job, you need to put more effort in, as these are in high demand and can be difficult to find. It also requires that you have a particular skill. As an example, if you are good at computer programming, you could get a part-time systems administrator or monitoring job. If you are good with people and customer relations, you could get an office counter job at a University.
Chill summer jobs
Some students like to have a part time summer job that doesn’t require much responsibility. In that case you might want to apply for a job in a student cafeteria, which will let you work at a relaxed pace, and could possibly be a very social type of work where you can mingle with other students.
Always be on the look out
Keep you eyes and ears open, as some of the best student part time jobs are only past around through the “grapevine”. There are many stories of students finding part time jobs completely by accident, or through someone they know. An example, a student had a professor who was looking for other students to help him with a long term project, and just by being in his class and making friends with him he got one of the jobs. So, you never know when an opportunity might show up and knock on your door.
