Education & Careers » job-advice

A Day in the Life: Take a deep breath… Ready, Set, GO!

Monica Polo — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:27:38 +0000

I invite you to take a peek into a typical weekday for me. Somewhere between the alarm going off at 5:45am and 5:45am the next day, things get a little… ummmm… FRANTIC!

A beautiful and serene beach setting, the sound of the ocean, a gentle breeze, the sun warming my body, the fragrance in the air – orchids and coconut….

5:45am: alarm goes off, RUDE AWAKENING! The previous *text* was merely a DREAM – wake up – brush teeth – take dog out – feed dog – wake up the young person I am raising, my child – make tea or coffee – make breakfast – child says she’s not hungry – pack healthy lunch and snack – argue about “wardrobe selection” – demand that she change clothes – monitor the change of clothes – review homework – remind the child to make sure her room and bathroom are clean – make my bed – prepare to go to the gym

7:02am: hugs and kisses, baby girl to bus stop – gym: get some exercise in – phone starts ringing – continue to exercise and handle some business – check Facebook and Twitter while on phone, while STILL on treadmill – get way too absorbed and stay on treadmill a little too long, all the while talking (multi-tasking at its finest) – look at time…

9:15am: how did that happen? – jump off treadmill and race home to shower – get dressed, light makeup, light spritz of my favorite parfum, grab heels, put on flip flops to drive to meeting – put heels in bag with laptop and proposal – pour a cup of coffee to go although I prefer Starbucks – look in mirror – out the door

10:30am: speed down highway, fumble with GPS, realize I left my coffee on the counter

11:03am: park car haphazardly – run into building – phone rings, they’re running behind – SMH – sit in lobby and check phone messages and emails – call next appointment to delay a bit – review proposal for any flaws

11:25am: start walking to elevator – realize I STILL HAVE ON FLIP FLOPS – detour to powder room – change shoes – elevator – 15th floor, meet prospective client – present proposal – nail it – get approval – they ask if I can do lunch – unfortunately, I have to decline – off to next meeting – stomach growling

1:45pm: pull up to existing client’s office – review verbiage for website, discuss rebranding, they make idle conversation, lose 35 minutes

3:00pm: HAVE to head home to meet up with my child – accident on freeway, TRAFFIC – STOMACH SCREAMING AT ME

3:36pm: meet bus at gate – PHEW! – converse with child over snack and homework – realize I have to finish my own assignment – take dog out – library run because my daughter needs a book for homework – peruse the library a bit too long

6:00pm: head back to the house – detour to grocery store – food shopping, still hungry, buy entirely too much

7:08pm: carrying groceries in – start dinner, direct child to complete her homework, edit said homework – start my homework again

8:15pm: eat dinner – talk about day, friends, why she can’t cut her hair, her friend Grace having a boyfriend, gossip at school, lecture about the inappropriateness of 10 year olds dealing with boyfriends and/or gossip – phone rings, client having a crisis with a logo design and color palette – tell client that I will have to call them back – “When is it appropriate to have a boyfriend, Mommy?” “Mom, I can’t eat this chicken. I’m a vegetarian.” “Mom, can we go to Target because Katie has this really cute tee-shirt from there?”

8:54pm: clean up after dinner, send child to shower – that would be a “No, we cannot go to Target” – sit at laptop to look over my assignment – call client back and tackle the logo issue and discuss rebranding… colors, etc.

9:20pm: tell child that she is going to turn into a raisin, please get out of shower

9:45pm: help her with hair and tuck into bed

10:10pm: back in front of laptop, read emails, sign into online course – tackle homework assignment and post by…

12:00am: set up client Facebook and Twitter accounts and start posting – check my accounts – draft a blog entry – reply to emails from earlier – play with InDesign – take dog out

2:27am: why am I still up? – Adobe Photoshop has me mesmerized

3:45am: wide awake – peel myself away from my laptop and go to bed

5:45am: alarm rings… Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? “Today is tomorrow. It happened.” LOLOL…. I hope you took a few breaths. I didn’t.

What are your days like? Share in the comments below!

Avoid Costly Career Timeouts

Karen, online education — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:45:38 +0000

Some days, I’m the envy of my friends…I can work and stay at home with my kids. Now that they’re starting formal schooling, I also have the time to slip in a class or two when needed. But when I’m stressing over a deadline, I know most of them are glad they’re not in my situation. Who wants that kind of pressure when you’re already busy raising children?

Well, after reading some recent information about the cost of taking a career time-out, I’m glad to have the stress — and the paycheck. And I plan to keep working even when I start school. (See, nothing good ever comes of a time-out; just ask my son and he’ll completely agree with me.)

One third of women take a short break in their careers

Here’s the data I found: Nearly one third of women take a short break in their careers, according to the Center for Work-Life Policy. But most of them — about 73 percent — have trouble finding a job afterward. At least 22 percent say they had to “step down” and take a lesser position. And the average wage loss was 16 percent of their former salary.

The takeaway here? Go get a part-time jobs or find some way to freelance for an employer instead of completely quitting. Yes, school will take up a huge portion of your time. Combine a job with classes, studying, creating presentations…and feeding a family…will feel like the worst of times.

Avoid resume gaps

But come time when you’re done with that degree or certificate, your earning potential will be amazing. It will be a short sacrifice. Avoid resume gaps that could haunt you later. Instead, keep a foot in the door with your current job, find a more flexible job or seek out new employers who are willing to let you study and work at the same time.

Now, freelancing isn’t for everyone. If you like a steady paycheck, this is not the work you’ll want. And taxes? Don’t get me started. But it is a means to an end — you trade convenience (an employer paying your FICA, for example) for the flex time. No one tells me when to work. I get to set my hours and decide how much to take on during a particular month. So maybe when I take the hardest classes, I’ll scale back. And if I decide I need the summer off, then I can work more to make up for the income loss.

Granted, I’m in a hugely lucky position where my husband has a full-time job with benefits. So, with that said, I can do this kind of stuff. Let’s hope my luck holds out.

Anyone balancing a job with school? How’s that going? Tell us in the comments below!

Recession? What Recession?

Marcus Varner — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:41:07 +0000

For the last four months, we have been expecting the stock market to crash, unemployment to skyrocket, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to come riding into town. True, we got expensive groceries and gas and maybe a healthy dose of sanity pumped back into our real estate market. But, in some strange way, after all the gloom and doom, this all seems like a letdown.

Where is the repeat of the recession that crippled the nation in the early eighties? Where are the unemployment lines stretching around the block? Have we really averted the Great Depression: the Sequel?

I see three possibilities:

1) The measures taken by the government took the bite out of the economic downturn, the worst-case scenarios were never fully realized, and we are largely out of the woods;

2) The recent upturns are only a lull in our downward spiral; or

3) We are going down and picking up speed, but the powers that be are covering it up.

It seems unlikely to me that one day every credible voice in America would be sure that we are plunging into the ninth level of recession hell and the next everything has suddenly reversed and things aren’t so bad after all. I think the news media and the government, in the interest of dispersing the bad juju that had pervaded the national outlook, would give precedence to voices and stories that give a rosy picture. In the old propaganda tradition, unfavorable opinions would be denied airtime. I mean, can’t you just picture a certain Texan public official getting on the phone with the editor-in-chief at CNN and saying something like, “All this bad news about the economy is killing the public morale and my approval ratings. Do you think you could just tone it down a bit?”

What does this mean for average joes like you and me? We would do well to be skeptical and to be prepared for the worst. Improving your value at work is always a great way to avoid getting laid off. Putting some savings away for a rainy day and eliminating high-interest debt are always good ideas no matter what the economic forecast. Of course, as mentioned in previous posts, consider getting more education. Advanced degrees can be a great way to keep a step ahead of the jobless masses.