How to Handle These 3 Shocking Legal Issues at Work

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Edna Crane

We spend most of our waking hours at work, so we want it to be a positive and fulfilling place to be. But sometimes, things go wrong. Having a shocking workplace issue turns your world upside down. Unexpected and stressful situations like these can lead to a decline in our health and wellbeing, and we can be left unsure of where to turn. If you come up against any of these three shocking workplace issues, you’re sadly not alone in that, but there are things you can do.

Discrimination and Harassment

If you feel that a coworker is harassing you, it’s essential to seek help. Your employer might have an anti-harassment policy that details the steps to take, or you can speak with your supervisor. You might want to note down what has been happening for the record.

But what if you’re being discriminated against by your employer? Did you know that federal laws prohibit employment discrimination? It’s illegal for employers to discriminate against, harass or otherwise mistreat anyone on the grounds of race, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, or disability. Also, employers must not deny reasonable accommodation for a disability or religious beliefs. It’s important to note that your workplace is not permitted to retaliate against you as a result of you complaining about harassment or helping with a lawsuit or investigation.

So what do you do if you feel your employer has broken the law? File a charge with the EEOC within 180 days of the event. You can do so online through the public portal. As a victim of discrimination or harassment, you can also file a lawsuit.

Unsafe Working Conditions

Your workers’ rights mean you have the right to be safe in the workplace and report any safety concerns without fear or retaliation. If you feel that your working conditions are unsafe, you should report it to your boss. There is also the option of filing a complaint with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA).

Accidents and injuries in the workplace are still shockingly common. If you are unfortunate enough to be affected, it’s vital that you report this to your employer right away, and get seen by a doctor. Your employer should initiate any compensation claims, and you should ensure this is happening. If you need to take legal action, consider reaching out to professional attorneys like Hadley Law Firm.

Related Posts

Wrongful Discharge

Being discharged or terminated from employment is always a stressful time. Particularly so if you feel you have been wrongfully discharged. When you lose your job, you have the right to maintain your health care coverage. You may also be eligible for unemployment compensation to help you during this time. If you think your employer has fired you for reasons not covered under state or federal law, you should seek legal counsel. Your State Labor Office can advise you on which laws apply and what to do next.

Hopefully, you’ll never experience any of these terrible workplace issues. However, it’s always better to be prepared. It’s worth taking the time to read up on your employer’s policies and to understand how the laws apply to you, so you can feel empowered to handle challenging situations like these.

Save to Pinterest

Nail Your Next Pitch to Sign New Clients

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Edna Crane

It doesn’t matter what job you end up in, you will probably need to have some very strong pitching skills. This is especially the case if you want to find some freelance work for yourself. You will have to continually pitch to companies and clients in the hope that they assign their various projects to you. Even if you end up working full-time, you might still be involved in pitching as lots of businesses have to sell themselves in meetings in an attempt to try to sign new clients.

As you can tell, it’s always important that your pitching skills are up to scratch. They will help you win new work and climb further up through a company’s hierarchy. Here are some of the most important things to remember when you are trying to nail your next pitching meeting.

Create An Engaging Presentation

First of all, you will need to create a presentation to go along with your pitch. This can help to further engage your audience, and it’s also a great way to add some additional textual information that people can read. You don’t just want to make another boring old PowerPoint presentation as you can be sure that everyone else who is pitching will be doing the exact same. So, instead you should use a presentation software with smart templates and plenty of ways you can customize the slides. It needs to look good or else it just won’t be enough to catch your audience’s attention and they will very quickly get bored.

Do Your Research On Who You Are Pitching

You also need to spend a bit of time before the pitch researching these potential clients and anyone else who you may be pitching to. Once you have done your research, you will have a very good idea of who your audience are and the various ways you can target them directly. Plus, you will probably know what they are after a lot better too. That way, you can showcase your company or yourself in a way that really appeals to the people who are sitting in front of you throughout the meeting.

Practice Your Pitch

Practice makes perfect! We all know that, and you need to put these words of wisdom into practice. It is highly advisable to have a couple of practice run throughs of your pitch before you actually step into the pitching meeting. If possible, you should do this practice run in front of someone. They will then be able to give you any feedback on what they thought went well and what you could improve on. This also gives you the chance to know your pitch inside out and a lot less likely to make any mistakes.

Related Posts

Try To Stay Relaxed

It’s perfectly normal to get nervous before you head into your pitch. Lots of people will feel like this as well! However, you don’t want your nerves to get on top of you or they could lead to you ruining the pitch. It is really important that you try to relax before and during your pitch so that you can deliver it as well as possible. There are various relaxation methods and techniques that many people use, so it’s worth taking a look through some to see which might suit you and your nerves.

Don’t Forget To Introduce Yourself

As soon as you walk into your pitching meeting and see who you are pitching to, you should be sure to introduce yourself straight away. Even though this might sound slightly obvious, it is remarkable how many people forget to introduce themselves and simply walk straight and start pitching straight away. Your audience will want to know who you are and what your role in the company is.

Always Follow Up

The pitch doesn’t end as soon as the meeting does. You should aim to follow up with who you were pitching to a day or two later. All this takes is a quick email to say that you hope they enjoyed your presentation and seeing more of the company. It’s important to always follow up as it makes it less likely that you are forgotten about. Lots of companies call in many freelancers or other firms to pitch to them, and it might be the follow up that makes all the difference in setting you apart from the others.

These are just a few of the tips you can use to help you nail your next big pitching meeting. Good luck with it!

Save to Pinterest

4 Dangerous Jobs That Pay A Lot Of Money

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Edna Crane

What’s your priority when you’re looking for a job? Is it finding something that pays well or maybe something that gives you a lot of job satisfaction? Whatever it is, you’re probably not searching for the most dangerous jobs out there, why would you? But what you’re forgetting is that somebody has to do those dangerous jobs. Because of all of the risks involved, you’ll get paid very well for them. If you’re a bit of a daredevil and you don’t mind putting yourself in harm’s way, you could earn a lot of money doing one of these dangerous jobs.

Fishing

When you think of fishing, you’re probably picturing a nice serene lake with a few camping chairs and a rod dangling in the water, which doesn’t sound very dangerous at all. But that’s not where all of the fish that we eat comes from, that comes from deep sea fisherman and that’s an incredibly dangerous job indeed. The waters out there are so rough. The crews are spending extended periods out there living on a tiny boat together. It’s not uncommon for people to get knocked overboard by the nets. When that happens, there is almost zero chance for survival. But the dangerous conditions on the boat do mean that you get paid good money for your catch. A lot of deep sea fisherman work a few months on and then a few months off, so you get a lot of time to enjoy all of the money you’re making.

Disaster Management

When natural disasters like earthquakes and floods hit, they can cause some serious damage. That’s why there are people who work in disaster management so they can prepare risk areas for natural disasters and help to limit the damage afterwards. If you want to apply for a job in this field, you’ll need a disaster and emergency management degree before you’re qualified. There’s a lot that goes into planning for and dealing with disasters like this. The margin for error is next to nothing because people’s lives are at stake. But, of course, you will get paid a good salary for putting yourself in dangerous situations.

Pilots

Being a pilot is often considered a very glamorous job because the pay is great and you also get the chance to travel for work and see places around the world. But there is a downside to being an airline pilot because it can be incredibly dangerous. People don’t realize this because we’re often told that air travel is safer than driving a car. It’s not crashes that make being an airline pilot so dangerous. Surprisingly, it’s overexertion and bodily reactions to long haul flights that really takes its toll on pilots and can cause some serious health issues.

Related Posts

Policing

It’s no surprise that policing makes it on to this list. Officers are constantly putting themselves in dangerous situations to protect the public. The most common cause of injury is assault by criminals that they’re trying to apprehend. However, you’ll be handsomely rewarded for being a police officer with a decent salary and some great retirement benefits.

Taking on a dangerous job might not sound like a good idea. If you want to earn a lot of money, it’s often the best way.

Save to Pinterest

3 Medical Careers You Might Want To Try

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Edna Crane

If you are thinking of getting a career where you can actively care for people, then one world which you are almost certainly considering is medicine. The world of healthcare is ideal for people who want to help others, but you might find yourself a little at a loss as to what job you should actually go for. There are, after all, thousands upon thousands of roles within healthcare alone, and it can be a challenge to pick out one or two that you think you might enjoy and be good at. To give you a helping hand here, we have put together a short list of some of the best medical careers you might want to try your hand at. Consider these if you are not sure what is right for you.

Healthcare Assistant

This is a great place to start out in medicine, especially if you are not confident on what you might want to do ultimately later on in your career path, or you find yourself flitting back and forth between different potential roles. A healthcare assistant doesn’t require much in the way of training beforehand, as you get most of the training on the job, and in the early first few weeks, you will already be learning basics such as taking blood, administering injections, performing ECGs and so on. This affords a great baseline experience for anyone who wants to get into medicine but isn’t sure exactly what they want to do, and it’s something that you should seriously consider for that purpose.

Nurse

If you want to make a little more of a career out of it, you could instead consider getting straight into nursing – or you could go straight from healthcare assistant to being a nurse. Either way, you are going to need some training and education, and there are many ways to get that, so you should never feel as though it is going to be out of your reach in any way. These days, you can even take online nursing masters programs to learn from home, so you should never feel that you can’t achieve what you want to here. Nursing can be highly rewarding, more than a little stressful, and ultimately a very satisfying career, so it’s well worth a shot.

Related Posts

Doctor

Of course, you could work towards being a doctor, and this will depend on having a great degree of training and education beforehand – but there is absolutely no reason why you can’t hope to do just that. You will need to attend medical school with a background in a scientific degree, and then you will need to specialize in a particular area for your doctorate. All of this can take ten years or more, so you should be prepared to be patient – but if it’s what you really love, then it shouldn’t feel as though it is particularly out of your way to do these things. All in all, it means you will end up in one of the most respected careers on the planet, so it’s worth considering.

Save to Pinterest

3 Medical Careers You Might Want To Try - #career #careeradvice

Top Tips For Acing Your Next Job Interview

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Edna Crane

If you want to get hired at the next interview, then here are some tips to follow. To help you to ace your next interview, you’ll want to stand out from the crowd. It isn’t as difficult a process as you might imagine; you just want to focus on making a great first impression.

Research The Company

Unless you are going out on a blind date, you should know a little about the person that you are going to be meeting up with. If you’d do that for a date, then it is a huge mistake to not go to a job interview without any knowledge of the company. You could even look up the company on a site like LinkedIn to see the individuals that are likely to be interviewing you. You can easily ace a job interview when you have shown that you have taken time to research the company. If you know what has been going on recently in the company, then it can be a good idea to have some questions ready for them too. When you are prepared, it looks good; the interviewer will know that this job means a lot to you and that you have an interest in the company that is genuine.

Use Your Resume Well

As someone that is applying for a job, you should know your resume practically off by heart. It isn’t the interviewer’s job to know these kinds of things about you. They will want to hear about them all. Plus, through the application process, they are likely to have a copy that they can read from and ask you anything about. If you’ve forgotten that you did some express training a year ago, or forgotten that you wrote about a position of responsibility that you may have embellished, and they ask you to explain but you’re unable to, then it isn’t going to look good. If you are able to implement this kind of strategy, then it will definitely help you to be on the way to ace your job interview. The interview is the time that you use to convince the interviewer that you are able to do the advertised job. Have something intelligent to say about each aspect of your previous work and roles. It is one of the best things that you can be doing in an interview.

Understand the Job Description in Detail

After getting the offer of an interview, you need to go back and make sure that you have a copy of the job description that you have applied for. Just the role’s title isn’t going to be enough to help you through. Study what the role description is. It can really help you to understand what the interviewer is looking for in a candidate. There will be specific words that the job description uses, such as attention to detail. When you know this kind of thing, it can help you to make specific examples based on your resume. These can be used at the interview to demonstrate how you fit this role. If you can do this for all of the main qualities or traits that are listed in the job description, then you will be well on your way to acing the interview.

Be Friendly; Build Rapport

There is an old saying that there is no second chance to make a first impression. That is something that holds very true for jobs and job interviews. You need to know how to be friendly and build a rapport with your interviewer right from the start. If you get their back up, then they won’t be able to imagine you working there. Simple things like starting off by greeting the interviewer with a firm handshake and a smile is a good place to start. Making small talk before you get into things is also another step to showing some of your personality and that you are a friendly person that would fit into the office environment.

Related Posts

Make Eye Contact

Along similar lines, building a rapport with someone is all about things like eye contact. Using it well is important as it is one of the biggest forms of nonverbal communication; a must for acing a job interview. Having eye contact also helps to show whether you are someone that is strong or weak. It is through that direct eye contact shows two qualities that employers will want; confidence and self-esteem. Even if you don’t think you fit into that category, fake it until you make it. Make sure you use eye contact. Look the interviewer in the eye as they greet you and when shaking hands. Having eye contact when you’re telling stories or answering questions will also help you to really exude confidence.

Follow Up After An Interview

Immediately after an interview, it is a good idea to send a note or an email to thank them for their time. By simply thanking the interviewer for their time and letting them know that it was great to meet them can be a wonderful thing for them to receive. The team may deliberate over who to get the job too, and something like that can help you to stand out in their memory. It can be a simple thing, but something that can help you to do well in a job interview, nonetheless. If you understand and take on board these strategies, then you can be well on your way to getting the job that you have been dreaming of.

Save to Pinterest

Creative Careers That Pay Well

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Edna Crane

In the past, the typical attitude was always that you can either have a well-paid job or a creative job. The truth is that creative careers do not mean working for free or living like a starving artist. Nowadays, especially thanks to the rise of technology, it’s even less so the case because the creative jobs that are needing to be done are heavily reliant on advanced technology which require a great deal of skill to be able to do effectively. Do you feel like you’re someone who’s very creative, but you still need to be able to earn good money? In this post, we’re going to share some tips for some of the best creative careers you can have and also pay well.

Copywriting:

Copywriting is a highly creative job that requires a certain skill set. You need to be able to use words, persuasion, and psychology to understand people and what makes them tick. You can lead people to take a specific action – usually, this means buying something. It stands to reason that companies understand the value that a copywriter brings to their company. Especially if their own strong suit doesn’t extend to selling, they will be happy to pay well for this. Although the salaries for copywriting will vary depending on things like location, experience and also if you work for an employer or if you’re self-employed, the earning potential is pretty great with the average salary for a mid-weight copywriter being around $60K per year.

Graphic Design:

If you’re someone who has a keen eye for design, drawing and bringing messages together in a visually appealing way, then a career as a graphic designer could be perfect for you. Not only is this something that requires a highly specialized and creative skillset, but it’s got very good earning potential. Again, like copywriting, the amount you’ll earn as a graphic designer will really depend on various factors and is also something you can do whilst working for an employer such as a company within their marketing department, a creative agency like TLC Creative or by working as a self-employed freelancer.

Chef:

Whilst the vast majority of chefs are never going to reach the celebrity status of people like Jamie Oliver, it’s a great career to have if you’re passionate about food. If you’re willing to work hard at making a name for yourself, it can pay very well and also open up a lot of different opportunities to work in amazing places all over the world. There’s no doubt that being a chef is hard going and requires a certain type of lifestyle. You’ll have to be a certain type of person, but it’s worth it if you’re okay with the work involved.

Related Posts

Personal Trainer:

If you’re a fitness lover, then you could make a great name and career for yourself as a personal trainer. Many people may not consider this to be the most creative of careers, but it definitely is. You’ll be doing things like creating fitness plans for your clients and working with them on a personal level. You’ll need a deep understanding of the human body, nutrition and be able to use creative thinking.

Save to Pinterest

How To Create A Great Personal Brand

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Edna Crane

Personal branding is one of the most important things that you can focus on as a professional. It’s not so different to having a business brand. What it essentially means is that you have a good reputation. It means people know you for being associated with something positive within business (or whatever it is that you do). A personal brand also extends into your online presence. It’s about how you present yourself across the various platforms on the web. There are some things to keep in mind if you want to have a strong, impressive personal brand, and we’ve noted them down here for those looking to secure one!

Be Honest

Whilst it’s important to make sure that you’re selling yourself well, there is nothing more vital to your personal branding than being honest. In fact, being false and not delivering what you’ve promised could lead to the complete ruination of your personal brand. Think about the traits that you pride yourself on, and how you want people to see you as a professional in light of this. The worst thing that you can do is adjusting your personal brand depending on who you’re talking to. Make sure that you’re consistent and honest in everything that you do. This will make or break your reputation!

Do It Now

You may look at the personal brands of your peers, and those higher up than you, and think, ‘how am I ever going to be able to create something like that?’ However, when it comes to forming your image online, it’s never too late to start putting the work in to make it happen. Buy a domain name and everything necessary for a personal website, and get to work on it. If you’re using a platform like WordPress, it’s not hard to do these things yourself (as they offer themes that are easy to use), and giving your LinkedIn profile a bit of TLC is also a good idea. Ultimately, the sooner you start on your personal brand, the better.

Be a Team Player

The biggest thing that will help you to build your personal brand is your ability to be a team player, and to help other people to build up their reputations, too. Perhaps you’ve worked with somebody who did a great job for you, and you could help them to grow their personal brand by giving them an endorsement through LinkedIn, or a reference for them, so that their potential clients consider their services. Although you shouldn’t solely do it for this reason, it also means that they will give you the same support in return, and you’ll be able to build up your personal brand with the help of others.

Be Careful What You Post Online

OK, so this is probably the most important thing to note about a personal brand. Building one up over time is relatively easy, but ripping one down extremely quickly can happen within a flash. One inappropriate photo, or an article that’s pretty damning, can ruin your personal brand in a matter of hours. You need to be extremely careful about what you’re posting on the web, so that you don’t live to regret it in the future. A politically-charged tweet may not seem like the worst thing in the world at the time, but it can ruin your reputation. Old, drunken photos should also be kept out of the public eye.

Get Negative Content Taken Down

If there is content out there that isn’t exactly desirable or useful for your personal brand, then do your best to get it taken down. If it’s on Google, you can either ask Google to remove it (which is the harder way to go about this) or you can ask the site that posted it to take it down, which is the best way to get rid of it quickly. Assuming your friend has posted the picture or comment somewhere, then get in touch with them and ask them to delete it. You’ll find that most people (and sites) will remove the image if you request this. Some may be more difficult to reason with, and you may need to use legal action.

Don’t Focus On Too Much

Creating a personal brand is all about what your main marketing point is, rather than putting a wide range of skills out there to entice an employer. It’s a lot better if you just focus on a few things, rather than trying to make yourself an all-rounder. Let’s be honest, most people know a wide range of skills to a basic level. However, there are a few select skills that they can really use to make a big difference to a business. Think about what your top skills are, and what you can do to really showcase them throughout your personal brand. Don’t try to spin too many plates here, or you could live to regret it.

Related Posts

Show That You’re Consistent

Something else that employers look for is consistency, and this is an integral part of your personal brand. If you have the commitment to show that you’ve tirelessly worked on building up your brand for the last few years, then it means that you’re going to show a similar commitment to the next stage of your career. Perhaps you’ve posted regular and professional updates across the various platforms? Or you’ve made sure that you’re always posting a well-informed commentary when something big happens in your field? Whatever it is, be consistent and show your commitment.

So, if you want to create a good personal brand, both online and in person, make sure that you keep these things in mind. Building up a reputation, and a profile of yourself online, can be a difficult task. It takes time, but it is certainly rewarding in the end. When your potential employer looks you up, they should see a professionally branded individual. If you follow these tips, then this could be you! Good luck!

Save to Pinterest

3 Questions to Ask Yourself When Looking for Your Dream Job

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Edna Crane

A lot of people, when they think of their dream jobs, imagine some half-thought-out fantasies that involve them lounging around on a beach drinking Pina coladas for most of the day, and then spending a bit of time teaching a surfing class, or checking in with their remote business empire via their laptops, before getting back to the party again.

Everyone should take steps to work towards their dream job. And for that matter, to discover what their dream job might be via an ongoing process of trial and error. But that doesn’t mean that you should be naïve about things.

When you’re looking for your dream job, it’s important to ask yourself certain relevant questions. If you were a registered nurse, for example, and were planning your future. Would you be happy staying in your current role, or would you prefer to become a family nurse practitioner?

Here are a few of the sorts of questions you should ask yourself, on your quest to find your dream job.

Could you fall in love with the work itself, and not just the results?

A dangerous mistake to make when thinking of your “dream job” is to visualize the results and benefits of the work, and fall in love with those, without taking into consideration the nature of the work itself.

When all is said and done, however, money is unlikely to bring you happiness or satisfaction if it comes at the cost of you spending the majority of your waking hours doing something that you more or less hate.

The first question to ask yourself when wondering whether a certain career path could lead you to your dream job is, “could I fall in love with the work itself, or might I just interested in the results?”

Does the job “scale” well?

It’s one thing to think that a job seems meaningful, interesting, and potentially fulfilling in the here and now. But if you’re considering what your “dream job” would be, you also need to consider how your job develops your skills across time.

When assessing a particular career path, ask yourself whether there’s enough of a ladder to climb there for you to keep increasing your level of responsibility, and your pay grade, over the years—or not.

If your would-be career of choice caps out at a pay level that you couldn’t ever be content with, that’s not a great sign.

Related Posts

Does the job expand your options in different areas?

Here’s a useful thing to realize about “dream jobs”; you’re very unlikely to enter a particular job role in your youth, find that it’s the perfect fit for you, and stick with it for your entire life.

What actually happens, if you’re motivated, is that you keep amassing skills, exploring new and parallel job roles until you find one that is a good fit for you.

An ideal “dream job” should therefore be one which expands your skill set and maximizes your options in different areas, so that you can always expand laterally in your professional development, down the line.

Save to Pinterest