This is By Far the Dumbest Resume Trend

This is By Far the Dumbest Resume Trend This is By Far the Dumbest Resume TrendOctober 14, 2014 By the Resume Genius Team Reviewed by Mark Slack, CPRWTheres one resume trend that we absolutely cant stand Skill Ratings. Learn why this resume tactic is hurting your application, and what you can do instead. Make a Resume in MinutesDear Job Seekers,If you decide to create an infographic resume (against the suggestion of basically every hiring manager), please, for the love of god, DO NOT do this for your skills sectionDo not do this or you are a Bad Person.Oh look, a cute point ordnungsprinzip to visualize your skills Too bad it makes no sense.Creating a skills point system is an awful and illogical style of presentation that will only serve to confuse the hiring manager and make them trash your resume quickly. This trend is fruchtwein often found on graphic design resumesthat like to push the limits of creativity.Lets take a close look at why a skills point system makes no sense at a ll. Take this exampleAdobe Photoshop 7/10Adobe Dreamweaver 3/10Microsoft Word 10/10Excel 3/10Atrocious. Presenting information like this relies on a series of moronic assumptions which, stacked againstone another, creates a towering pile of illogical BS so high the peak is barely visible. Its a bad resume trend, and people should just stop it.Spock finds your resume most illogical.Nonsensical Assumption 1 All of these skills have the same level of difficultyIf you think Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Word have the same level of difficulty, you are either living under a rock or seriously overestimating your Photoshop skills.These scales are completely meaningless.You cannot create a point scale and compare your skills against each other when those skills differ in quality and difficulty. Period.Dont believe me? Tell me if this makes any sense to youKickball 10/10Brain Surgery 5/10It doesnt make sense, does it? The only thing youve learned about my kickball skills is that Im utterly pe rfect at it (which is true). With regards to brain surgery, would you trust someone with an 8/10, or a 9/10? What does that even mean?It means nothing. Literally nothing which brings us to point 2.Stop doing this. Just stop.Nonsensical Assumption 2 The point scale means somethingIn fact, these scales are completely meaningless.In order for a 10-point scale to have any meaning, people would need to design standardized tests that measure each skill on a 10-point scale.NEWSFLASH No one has designed tests to rate your ability on a 10-point scale for the majority of skills youll put on a resume.In other words, when people rate themselves, it is also known as making $h up.Try asking someone what the difference is between being a 5/10 and a 6/10 on Microsoft Word. What do you think they would say? TipRG Hint There is no difference.Please stop. I cant take it anymora.Nonsensical Assumption 3 People are good at rating themselvesActually, people are horrible at rating themselves across the board.Did you know that idiots are more likely to rate themselves higher for tasks they are awful at, whereas intelligent people are more likely to rate themselves lower for tasks they are good at? This is a cognitive bias called illusory superiority.How can that be? Whereas intelligent people are more aware of the inherent difficulties of a given task, an idiot will obliviously think that everything is easy because theyre incapable of thinking deeply enough about the problem.(This explains the middle-management idiot phenomenon, and also why braggarts tend not to be the sharpest tools in the shed.)Just awful.So how should you present your skills?Theonly place your skills actually mean anything is in the meat of your professional experience section. Thats where you tell the hiring manager exactly what you accomplished with your skills, which is literally the only thing that matters.What have we learned? A fanciful skills rating scale gives absolutely no information whatsoever and yo u should burn your resume to a crisp if youve included one.Thanks for reading.

How To Improve Your Credit Score

How To Improve Yur leistungspunkt Score For many of us, our leistungspunkt score is the number that we didnt even know we needed to manage until its too late. We wait helplessly as lenders pull our leistungspunkt history to determine where to platzset the interest rate on our loan. Bad leistungspunkt can hurt our future finances by increasing interest rates on leistungspunkt cards and mortgages, a frustrating cycle that results from too much debt, a spotty payment history, leistungspunkt cards that have unpaid balances and even student loans.Sohow to improve your leistungspunkt score? First, we need to understand that a leistungspunkt scoreis a number intended to summarize our credit worthiness or the likelihood that we will pay back money loaned to us from a bank or other institution. Our score is based on our credit report information, which is typically maintained in the United States by three major credit bureausEquifax,ExperianandTransUnion. Our score can impact the interest rat e on our credit card or mortgage, whether a landlord decides to rent to us and even our employment. (While employers cant check an applicants credit score, they can access a credit history, or report, as part of pre-employment screening.)TheFICO Score, developed by Fair Isaac Corporation, is the fruchtwein common method used to calculate your credit score. Today, scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850. Generally, a score below 550 is considered bad, 550 - 649 is poor, 650 - 699 is fair, 700 - 749 is good and a score above 750 is considered excellent.As you already be able to guess, you want to have a good credit score (at minimum).Generally, if you are in the bad or poor categories below 650 you may have difficulty accessing credit and be charged very, very high-interest rates. Similarly, if you are above 700 in the good or excellent categories, lenders will be very eager to do business with you.There are credit report scoreslike the VantageScore, but they tend to be used l ess often and are generally in line with your FICO score. I recommend focusing on your FICO score as your primary measure, though you may also want to access other scores if you have the time to do so.So, what should you do if your score is lower than youd like?Follow my step-by-step guide below to develop a good credit score and strong credit rating.1. Know your score.First, you need to know your score. You can pay for your score via the three major credit bureaus. When accessing your score, be careful to avoid ongoing credit monitoring offers these offers are often served up to you automatically when you are pulling your score. As you check out, ensure that youre only paying to pull your score, and not signing up for repeat charges. If your score is lower than the good or excellent categories, you may consider prioritizing areas for improvement.2. Pull your credit report.Your credit report includes the data that contributes to your score, so ensure that you have a recent copy of y our report to help you analyze your score. While legislation in the U.S. allows you to pull afree credit report each year, credit scores are not included in that free report ensure you have both.When you pull your credit report, look at it carefully for errors. Credit reports include a lot of data on your credit history, reported by banks and landlords, and can contain mistakes. Ensure that addresses are correct, that the accounts listed are owned by you (or were yours in the past) and that any late payments were, indeed, paid late.Each credit bureau has a specific process to fix any errors on your credit report, so if you find an error, take notes of exactly what youve done to work with the reporting agency to fix the error. Unfortunately, consumers (and not the agencies) bear the burden of putting in the work to fix mistakes. Follow up until you are absolutely certain that the error has been fixed.3. Evaluate what you can improve.Lets get back to improving your score. Your FICO sc ore is based on five primary factors, which have different weightingsTypes of credit in use (your credit mix) 10 percent of your scoreNew credit 10 percentLength of your credit history 15 percentAmounts owed (your credit utilization) 30 percentPayment history (how youve handled your credit) 35 percentThetype of credit in userefers to the diversity of your credit sources. Do you have five credit cards, but no other loans? This tends to lower scores. Or, do you have a student loan, one credit card and a mortgage? This mix may raise your score, as it demonstrates using credit for different things with different loan structures, versus a reliance on one type of credit.This is a smaller portion of your score, so I do not recommend taking out mora loans to improve your mix. You should limit your loans to what you truly need. However, if you have many types of the same credit (for example, many credit cards but no other loans) you may want to consider closing some cards. That said, any cre dit mix improvement will only have a modest impact on your score.New creditlooks at the recency of your accounts. In general, if you dont have much new credit, your score will be higher compared to someone who has recently opened up several new accounts. New accounts may signal that you are over-extending yourself or arent able to pay your debts, which can lower your score. You cant take proactive steps to improve this element, but you can stop opening accounts to improve this portion of your credit score.Length of credit historyis similarly something you have little control over. Generally, the best credit is old credit, and the factors in this category include how long your accounts have been open, how long since accounts have been used and how long specific account types (like credit cards) have been open.Like the new credit factor, there is little you can do to improve this element, though you can take steps to keep older credit, as long as it isnt too costly to do so. For examp le, you can pay off a high-interest credit card that you opened in college, stop actively using it, but keep it open to improve your length of credit history over time. Note that this may only make sense if the card doesnt include any other fees or costs.If youre new to creditand dont have credit cards or other loans, you may want to open one card and charge a single item on it monthly to departure establishing your credit. Once a week, you can pay for your groceries on the card and immediately pay it off. Ive struggled with credit card debt, so I understand why many avoid credit cards but if you dont have a credit history, it can be challenging for lenders to score your credit worthiness, and therefore youll end up with higher rates on things like auto and home loans in the future.Amounts owed, or credit utilization looks at how much you owe (your balance) relative to how much credit you have available. This is a large factor of your score (up to 30 percent) and good news one that you can take proactive steps to improve.Here, you can have a measurable impact on your score in a relatively short period of time. For example, if you lower how much you owe on riskier accounts like credit cards, your score will increase. FICO does not treat all debt the same, and mortgage, auto and student loans dont hurt your score in the same way that credit card debt does.This is because credit cards have a balance that you control your choices each month determine how much credit youll use, and therefore how large your monthly bill will be. In contrast, an auto loan has a fixed structure. Your auto loan welches provided out for a certain amount and you paying on a set schedule each month. This is a less risky proposition for lenders, who like predictability.If you have credit cards with a balance, my recommendation to improve your credit utilization is to take out all of your credit cards, write down the balances you owe and the interest rate then start paying off the highest i nterest rate cards first. This will save you money by lowering the interest you pay and eventually improve your credit score.Similarly, you can call each credit card and request a higher credit limit. An increased limit means that you will be using less of your available balance. However, it is important that you arent tempted to use your credit cards more to take advantage of your higher limit.If you keep your credit cards open when you pay them off, this can help your score (because you are using less of the total credit available to you). Again, this can be a balancing act with the first factor (type of credit in use) but remember, that is a much smaller portion of your score, at only 10 percent.If you dont have credit card debtbut have other debt (like student loans or auto loans), you can also work to reduce those balances. The amount of debt you have left on these loans is also a contributing factor to your credit utilization, and paying off your loans faster than expected can also help your credit score.Some auto, student and home loans make it a little tricky to pay down your loan balance earlier. I recommend calling your lender to understand the preferred way to make extra payments, so they dont accidentally apply it to your next months payment which would help you next month, but would not lower your balance faster. Tell the lender you are interested in making an extra payment towards the principal balance of the loan, and then keep an eye on your next statement to ensure it was applied correctly.Payment historyis the largest single factor in your credit score, at 35 percent. This element looks at how youve handled the credit youve been provided in the past, which FICO has found is a good predictor of future behavior.Payment history includes seven sub-components, including the length of overdue accounts, amount of money in collections and past due items. Negative items like bankruptcy or an unpaid account that went to collections can stay on your cre dit report for 7 - 10 years. Since this section includes historical information, there are limits to the proactive steps you can take to improve this section of your credit score.That said, you can take steps tomorrow that will improve your score in the future these include prioritizing getting up-to-date on any accounts that you are behind on, maintaining a low credit card balance, keeping a secure credit card and checking your credit account report for errors as I mentioned above.4. Plan how youll manage your credit in the future.In addition to the steps above, you can take active steps to protect and manage your credit so it continues to improve in the future. Two of the most powerful steps you can take are only accessing credit when you critically need it and paying your balance on time.If you only access credit when you critically need it, you are less likely to be tempted to fall into debt and will have a cleaner, tidier credit report. Women are often tempted by store cards t hat credit card issuers offer when were shopping I urge you to avoid these, as they are some of the highest interest-rate cards on the market, and also increase the number of credit cards you need to manage. Twenty percent off your purchase isnt worth increased debt and stress.Additionally, if you consistently pay your balance on time you are taking one of the best steps you can to improve your score. If youre going to have trouble paying a bill, call your lender and work out an arrangement many will accept a partial payment. Your lender reports missed payments to the credit bureaus, so youll want to work proactively with lenders to ensure they know your payment is coming, and dont report a missed payment instead.Finally, you may want to consider freezing your credit. This is a simple, effective step you can take for a modest fee (often five or ten dollars, and in some states, it is free). If you freeze your credit, no one can open up any credit without your confirmation first. Thi s is a powerful step to protect yourself from fraud, which can have devastating effects on your credit report and score.You can freeze your credit by contacting the three agencies directly. The last time I froze my credit I was able to complete the entire process for each agency online. When you freeze your credit, you are given a PIN that you will unlock your credit should you need to apply for a loan in the future. Save this PIN in a safe place, and should you need a loan in the coming years, you simply contact the agencies and provide the PIN so the lender can pull your credit.Candidly, I recommend a credit freeze over credit monitoring, because a freeze is more preventative. Credit monitoring tells you if something looks incorrect, which means you may have already been a victim of fraud. Additionally, credit monitoring often involves expensive, monthly fees.I wish you the very best as you work on how to improve your credit score and strengthen your consumer credit If you take st eps now, you can move your credit score up, putting you in a more favorable position for your next loan, saving you a tremendous amount of money in the long run.--The Feminist Financieris on a mission to help women build wealth and own their financial independence, by improving financial literacy and taking the mystery out of money. Ms. Financier is also a shoe addict, travel fanatic, and wine enthusiast.

Email Mishaps Hiring Managers Make - Spark Hire

Email Mishaps Hiring Managers Make - Spark HireHalloween is almost upon us, but thats no reason to partake in scary hiring behavior. There are so many mistakes that job seekers and candidates can make in the hiring process that cause you to think, This is definitely not the candidate for me Thats simple enough. Especially since it is your job to find mistakes in your candidates. Have you ever thought about the mistakes you are making in the hiring process though? More specifically, the schmelzglas mistakes you might be making? Before you meet a candidate in person, what you say and do in your email correspondence is a reflection of the company you are hiring for.In light of All Hallows Eve tomorrow, we will be covering the scariest video interviewing mistakes you can make. In order to get warmed up for those mistakes so that you can easily avoid them, and to avoid top candidates running away from you and your company as if you were The Blob, why not cover some of the email mishaps th at hiring managers often make?You may be thinking, email mishaps? How much can you possible screw up in an email? Well, if that was a thought that crossed your mind then that is one of your first mistakes. Often times when we send emails we are doing so in a hurry. Its easier to send along an email than to plek up the phone and talk to a candidate. Email certainly has its pros and cons, but with it comes the potential of making a lot of silly- and easily avoidable- mistakes. Take note of these email mishaps and avoid them like the plague next time you take to your keyboard to write to a candidate.Spelling Errors This should be complete common sense, but there are still thousands of people that refuse to edit their emails before they push that send button. Before a candidate comes in for an interview, its highly likely you will be interacting with them through email and over the internet in some capacity like with video interviews. That is completely fine, but you have to remember th at what you say- and how you say it- is a reflection of the company. Since you are likely the only person from your company interacting with the candidate, its easy for them to associate your behavior and responses with how the company operates.If you send along an emails ripe with vocabulary and grammatical errors, then it doesnt say much about you or the company you work for. Does this person not care how they are representing the company? Are all employees that work there this careless? leid all candidates will come to this conclusion, but its possible that if you have a ton of repeated errors in your email correspondence that you may lose out on some candidates that would otherwise be interested. Be sure to edit and check your emails before you send them off.Job DescriptionsThough its not part of email correspondence, making sure your job description is void of any vocab or grammatical errors is extremely important. A company that lists a job description with a handful of errors - even just one or two- looks less credible and very unprofessional. Be sure to edit your job description and even have other people view it as well.Deathly-Long WaitsEveryone knows that the hiring process takes a long time to complete. However, leaving candidates guessing for weeks is enough to send them running for the hills. If you say in your emails that you will get back to them after a set time period, then stand by your word. Stay on top of your email correspondence and dont let your candidates sit for weeks on end before getting back to them. As stated in our deutsche post dhl on how long a candidate will wait for a job offer, if you leave them hanging for too long they will most certainly move on- or worse, theyll get picked up by another employer or company.If your decision making or hiring process is going longer than previously thought, then be sure to stay in contact with candidates to let them know what is going on. Tell them the interviewing and hiring process is goin g over the estimated time period and that you will get back to them as soon as a decision has been made. Leaving them in the dark is an easy way for candidates to associate ghoulish, unappealing characteristics with your company.Email Job OffersThere is nothing more impersonal or confusing than receiving a job offer over email. Granted, most candidates wont turn a job offer down simply because it was offered over email, but its very impersonal and a bit unprofessional as well. If you are truly excited about hiring this candidate and bringing them onto your team, then take the time to give them a call directly to offer them the job. They will be able to hear your excitement and enthusiasm and will know that you are anxious to have them start.Email is a great tool to use both in our personal and professional lives, that much is certainly true. However, as with any tool there are proper ways to use it and improper ays. Be sure you are properly using your email to correspond with candid ates and coworkers as well, and always remember to edit your emails before you push send.Have you ever made or experienced a terrible email mishap? Let us know about it in the comments section below.IMAGE Courtesy of Flickr by Sean MacEntee

These are the most annoying behaviors on an airplane, ranked

These are the most annoying behaviors on an airtuch, rankedThese are the most annoying behaviors on an airplane, rankedIt takes an averageof three hours for people to start feeling uncomfortable on an airplane, according to a survey conducted bytravel company Genfare. The survey asked 2,000 Americans all about their flight habits and preferences and realized that people have some grievances to air.Nearly 70% of survey respondents said theyve put on headphones to drown out a snoring passenger (bring those earplugs, friends). And 36% of travelers said they think reclining seats should be banned. As far as footwear goes, two-thirds of passengers say its cool to take off your shoes on a plane but only 20% say you can take off your socks. And well weigh in on this one- were gruppe keep your socks on. But the survey found that certain behaviors irked travelers more than others. See which ones topped the list below.1. Getting your seat kicked 54%More than half of the respondents agreed tha t having the back of your seat kicked is the most annoying thing to happen on a plane.2. Crying baby or child 27%Slightly more than a quarter of travelers said that crying children rank worst.3. Body odor 26%Another quarter of passengers rated smelly seatmates as their true in-flight nightmare.4. Talkative passenger 23%More than a fifth of respondents said a chatty neighbor is the biggest annoyance around.5. Inattentive parents 21%Restless children with inattentive parents were more than 20 percent of peoples main concerns.6. Drunk passenger 18%Just 18 percent of people think drunk passengers are the worst of all (even though theyre obviouslythe worstin general).7. Seat pulled back or leaned on 17%Its not as bad as being outright kicked, but its still pretty bad.8. Snoring 15%Loud snorers made the list for 15 percent of people.9. Rushing to get off the plane as soon as it gets to the gate 15%Another 15 percentof survey participants said the people who try to bolt off the plane are t he worst. Its one of our personal pet peeves, too. Seriously, where do you think youre going?The remaining rankings are as followsReclining seat 15%Putting feet up 13%Smelly food 11%Man-spreading 7%Passengers taking off their shoes or socks 6%Bright phone screens 3%Non-service dogs 2%Wearing pajamas on the flight 1%This article was originally published on Swirled.

Whats In a Project Scope Document

Whats In a Project Scope DocumentWhats In a Project Scope DocumentWhen youre kicking off a new initiative, the project scope document is a critical piece of information for your whole team. It defines the end product to be delivered to the customer, when it must be delivered, and at what cost. Essentially, this document defines the boundaries of the work, so that each team member and the customer all understand what the project entails. Just as importantly, they understand what it does not entail. The Benefits A project scope gutachten once shared with every member of the team and the projects customers, is an integral part of project management. Among its benefits A common understanding among all involved of the expected features, quality, and timing of the projectA means of communicating with other stakeholders in the project to gain their support and involvementA tool to focus the teams efforts on the work required to meet the customers needs Moreover, if changes are suggested that are beyond the boundaries of the original scope, the statement becomes the grund for estimating and proposing modifications. If the changes are accepted by all stakeholders, the scope statement can be revised. Getting Started The project manager needs to seek input from team members, customers, the executive sponsor, and other key stakeholders to understand and describe the required output from the project initiative. This is often called the deliverable. The description of the deliverable must include a cost or an acceptable cost range for the project. It also defines the key features to be included and the time-frame for delivery. Once agreed upon by the customer, the project manager, the project team, and the executive sponsor, any changes to the project statement must be made using a carefully controlled and documented change process. A Cascading Impact Once the scope statement or document has been agreed upon, each part of the team uses it as a basis for their own estimates of the work, timing, and costs involved. The more precise and accurate the scope statement, the more likely it is that the work teams will produce accurate estimates and resource requirements. Exclusions Can Be Important It is not uncommon for a project scope document to list specific items that are to be excluded from the deliverable. For example, a contractors scope document to build a house might stipulate that environmental permits are to be obtained by the owner and are not the responsibility of the contractor building the house. What Can Go Wrong? Lack of clarity is a common source of project stress and failure. A vague or ambiguous scope document leaves many issues open to debate and uninformed judgment calls. These can impact the features, quality, timing, and cost of the project. Another pitfall to avoid is known as scope creep. If the scope statement is vague, the customer is tempted to make demands that are beyond the intent or boundaries of the origina l plans. Adjusting the Scope While frequent scope changes will delay the completion of the project and may add significant costs, they are sometimes necessary and reasonable. Project managers rely on a change management process that identifies the requested change, revises all corresponding time, cost and workload estimates, and reassesses the project for new risks given the change. The project manager and executive sponsor usually make the final decision on changing the scope only when the situation has been fully analyzed. Changes are documented in a decision log and then communicated to the larger project team.

This life skill is more vital to your happiness than any other

This life skill is more vital to your happiness than any otherThis life skill is more vital to your happiness than any otherHeres a harsh life truth that youll never hear in your formative years - there is a very high probability you will leid discover what you truly want to do when youre young. The life you want - the one that will bring you equanimity, joy and splendor - will reveal itself to you gradually throughout the course of your life.This test of time will occasionally be glorious, and it will also challenge you to your core. Your quest to find yourself will lead you into hobbies, schools, jobs and relationships you couldnt have imagined when you were young.If it seems that things are taking too long, know it wont be out of lack of desire or joy for life. It will take you time to learn what job, career, hobby or activity you will choose to fill your schedule. That thing that combines your passion with determination and a track record that says - Im good at this. I know i t. And so does everyone else.Thats fine. In this age of winning, life is surely not won in just one month or one year. The journey of success is as old as time. Those who continue to grow in intellect, who search for knowledge, who choose to be lifelong learners, who never, ever, ever give up on finding happiness and success will win. And victory, or success, or fulfillment, however you want to name it, is defined and determined by you.It always will be.The good, the bad and whats nextPerseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th. - Julie AndrewsNo matter how much our digital, vastly interconnected world continues to push the limits of social judgment, pressure and identification, it simply wont matter if you resist these temptations, and allow your mind to control your destiny. From there, once youve forged your plan, determined what it is you want and endlessly worked to become great at that thing - continue to keep doing it for all your days in this world.That is a bl essing. Its a gift. Youll only know it once youre living it.Dont get caught up in trying to have things all figured out at once. The beauty of your lifes journey is that youll learn through the process of elimination what you truly love, and what isnt worth your time. Through opportunities, simply by showing up and expressing a hearty interest, youll learn what inspires, motivates and lights the fire inside of you.Youll also learn what leads you to boredom, what frustrates you and what you know you struggle with learning and grasping. Youll learn what youre destined NOT to do. This is absolutely as important, if not more important, than what you love most. The sooner you discover this, the less time youll spend in pain, anxiety and hurt. Youll avoid wasted time. And spend your time on the good stuff.The thing is the thingPermanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements and impossibilities It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. - Thomas CarlyleLet me preface the rest of this piece with this very important statementPerseverance is sometimes mistaken. To never give up when youre doing the wrong thing is foolish. Only a crazy person would continue doing the same wrong thing over and over again expecting a positive and different result. That, as the cliche goes, is the definition of insanity.So its reasonable to say that perseverance is all about finding your right thing. Doing you and continuing through both the good times and bad. Adversity, setbacks and doubt will be no match when you believe in yourself and you understand that the long game is the only one worth playing. The instant gratification quick-win scheme youre being sold is for the foolish and naive.One of the beautiful things about perseverance is the more you buy-in to this all-powerful value, the more your thought about the beauty of life evolves. Life is magnanimous. You start to believe this and have this revealed to you once you become more optimistic about continuing to forge forward through the good times and the bad.Speaking of evolution, I thought a fantastic example about one of the most famous figures in history was well suited for this piece. Most people know of Charles Darwin as the man who helped to establish the theory of evolution, which spoke about natural selection and where the species of life came from. Few realize just how long it took the man to get to the point of putting his work out for public consumption.On the Origin of Species was published in 1859 by Charles Darwin when he was 50 years old. 50 Dont be too harsh on yourself when youre a little less than famous at the age of 28 Darwin traveled the world as a young man during his early-mid 20s, gathering much of the information he needed to form the basis of his theory.Still, he had his own doubts. He had doubts on what others would think of his radical new scientific research. The man was far ahead of his time and skeptics were ev erywhere. But he believed passionately in what he was doing and he kept moving forward.Darwins five-year voyage around the world on HMS Beagle, which ended in 1836, provided him with invaluable research that contributed to the development of his theory of evolution and natural selection. Concerned, however, about the public and ecclesiastical acceptance of his deeply radical idea, he did not present his theory on evolution until 1858 The next year, Darwin published his seminal work, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Source History ChannelOver 20 years after he made his way around the world, Darwin finally entered the spotlight. He loved nature. But he didnt know where it would lead him. The man spent the bulk of his years following his voyage around the world writing on geology It took him a while to find his thing.Darwin continued to advance his hypothesis and seek worldly acceptance throughout the latter stages of his life. As the years passed, his research on e volution began to be accepted as fact by society. Charles Darwin meticulously researched something he was passionate and fascinated by, and persevered at a later age to advance a revolutionary breakthrough in biology.Know who you are so you can riseYou may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. - Maya AngelouIn my own life, Ive learned to grow and persevere against both personal and professional adversity. Ive had my heart broken. I pressed forward and found the woman of my dreams. Ive been rejected from publications where Id like my writing. Ive kept writing and found ones I love to write for. Ive been fired from jobs. I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and dared to find the next opportunity.Does this sound like you?Ive used these moments as life-changing turning points. Its driven me to become a bestselling author and fami ly man. I forge forward every day, sometime in big steps, sometimes in small steps, to build a life I can be proud of, firmly on the foundation of what matters most to me.Fame? Fortune? 450,000 Instagram followers or a millionaire founder of a super-successful tech startup? These lofty aspirations and titles are yours if you declare that you want to do them and continue working toward them each day with dedication, intelligent work and perseverance. Just know you should take your time. Know that even if this is what you want, its not going to happen right away. It may not reveal itself at age 19.And thats just fine. Life is more fun that way. Theres simply nothing as invigorating as continuing to get to know yourself, your growth as a woman or man, and the lifelong process of self-discovery that will lead you to love, happiness and stretching the limits of what you ever could have imagined was possible. Keep going and find yourself on this remarkable journey called life.Find your wa yJoin my newsletterandcheck out my book,The Value of You. This will give youinspirationto start planning for success on your journey.Thisarticlefirst appeared on Medium.

How to Grow Your Freelance Career

How to Grow Your Freelance CareerHow to Grow Your Freelance CareerHow to Grow Your Freelance CareerBeing a freelancer means you have freedom to choose projects and people to work with. While most people assume that freelancers just sit at coffee shops all day with their laptops, the reality is much different. Freelancing is a job just like any other and requires great organizing skills, strong willpower, and dedication. People opt for freelancing due to many reasons such as inability to find a job and taking destiny into your own hands, desire to establish yourself as a reputable member within a specific niche or because they want to spend mora time with their families. In order to succeed as a freelancer, you need a few career coaching tips that you can use as guidelines. Thats exactly what Im going to in this post Ill share some tips that helped me succeed in freelancing.Courtesy startups.co.ukBecome entrepreneurialWhen youre a freelancer, you shouldnt consider yourself as an emplo yee anymore. Instead, you should consider yourself and the service you provide as a small business. Being entrepreneurial helps you understand what your responsibilities are. For example, when youre your own boss, you are the one who has to find clients and conduct a certain project. This means that you are responsible for entire chain of commands.Dont worry, as youre getting more experience in freelancing, you will also develop your entrepreneurial skills.TIP Instead of waiting for someone to stumble upon you as a freelancer who can conduct a certain job or assignment, you should approach potential clients via email, social network etc.Showcase your creativityAlways bear in mind that freelancing is an open market and you are competing with millions of freelancers within that market. Instead of trying to copy someone elses work or trying to make it similar to stuff that some other freelancers did successfully, you should strive to showcase your own creativity with a career portfolio .I believe that being brave to do things your own way at the beginning and demonstrating your creativity important for establishment of your own identity and reputation. You have the freedom to represent yourself as the person or freelancer you want to be, which is why you opted for freelancing in the first place.Furthermore, recruiters and clients always look for freelancers whose works or services stand out which isnt possible if you feel afraid of expressing creativity. Bravery and hard work always pay off.Polish your resumeWhen youre a freelancer, your resume is oftentimes the first form of contact between you and potential client. This means that you should pay extra attention to polishing your resume. If you cant, or dont know how to make a resume that stands out, you can always hire someone to do that for you. Ideally, your resume should be customized to the type of job youre applying to in order to catch clients attention and lead to an interview.In freelancing, resume that showcases relevant skills necessary for certain project and experience is always a step in a right direction.Connect and be patientTo succeed as a freelancer, you need a lot of patience, particularly at the beginning. Before starting to despair how clients dont turn to you at desired rate, you should always bear in mind that beginning is the most difficult part and as you get more experience, you will also get more client.Connecting is another thing that will help you succeed as a freelancer. As mentioned above, there are millions of freelancers in the world. Although you shouldnt copy each others works and project, you should be able to establish great communication with people from your niche. Other freelancers are going through the same thing as you do which means you can exchange experiences and help each other. Plus, connecting with other freelancers can improve your chances of getting hired. For example, if some other person is hired to do something but client needs more peopl e, they can easily recommend you. Isolating yourself from people in your niche is never a good idea.Get organized and take breaksWhat makes successful freelancers stand out the most is their ability to organize their time. Sometimes, you will find yourself working for 3 or more clients and all of them need their projects urgently. In times like these, your organizational skills can help you do everything according to the schedule. There is always something with a higher priority and you should arrange your assignments bearing in mind the urgency. I use planner that I always carry with me and write down all projects and details about them.To ensure productivity it is important to take regular breaks. These breaks will help you reenergize and motivate yourself to continue working.Establish verbunden presenceOnline presence is like an online form of your resume or demonstration of skills you have regarding your niche. Having a strong online presence can also help you get hired sooner t han you think as client already has an insight into what you can do. You can set up your own website or a blog, create a LinkedIn profile, and become active on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.Learn to say noSaying NO to some job is much better than accepting it only to send a low-quality finalized project. If you feel like you cannot submit high-quality content to your client, you should let them know you cant accept. They will appreciate your honesty and send a different assignment. This also shows your responsibility.Go easy with the attitudeOne thing Ive learned as a freelancer is that you should always know how to control yourself and your attitude, even though you know youre right. While some clients can be easy to get along and communicative, others arent good with communication, never state what they want, and they expect some things that you know arent correct. Although these things can be frustrating, you should never let your attitude get better of you a nd react harshly. Remember, that person is paying to perform certain task in certain way. The only thing you can do is to do your best and be open to suggestions and edits they might have.When youre a freelancer you will work with different people and different characters. Good attitude, positive energy, and enthusiasm are always appreciated by all clients.