Women Career and Education

Going back to school is a serious decision, and returning to a campus after years of having a job or taking care a family must be awkward for many. Before you deciding to go back to school, consider these 6 points and see if you have made the right choice.

1. What are you thinking about going back to school?
Be sure that you are going back to school for the right reason, or you would not have the much needed determination to go through. Make sure you have considered your reasons; is it for earning the new degree that would help you with your career? Or is it for your own personal pleasure in pursuing something new, or are you just bored and want something else to do?

2. What do you want to accomplish? Read more!

Becoming an adult student has its own challenges. Not only we have to balance our life and study (which is not so hard among many younger students since most of them do not have responsibilities as many as adults), but also deal with cognitive problems related to things such as memories.

There are many ways to improve memory while studying, contrary to popular beliefs about sitting-still style of studying. If you think that you have difficulties in retaining your memory during your study session, here are some tips based on New York Times article by Benedict Carey, “Forget What You Know about Good Study Habits.”

1. Vary the study space
Dr. Robert A. Bjork, psychologist at the University of California, L.A., stated, “What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting.” In other words, to have Read more!

When you are going to be interview, image is everything. Your appearance is the very first impression that your employer will get from you before you even open your mouth to speak. Understandably, a slight fashion disaster can really lead you into your downfall. In order to make a good impression, you must dress professionally, and that includes understanding about what not to wear to your job interview.

1. For accessories, do not wear flip-flops or sneakers, and flashy jewelry that visibly hangs from your neck or ears. Also, avoid big, flashy hair clips or excessive arm jewelry.
2. Even if you are a trendy-type woman, avoid wearing shorts and jeans, pants that are too tight or low-rise, skirts that are too short, blouses that are too skimpy or low-cut, and visible underwear. Do not wear any underwear that shows, even if the straps match your tops. If you wear a thong, make sure that it does not show above your pants.
3. Tattoos and piercings are a little tricky; depending on where you are interviewing, you may want to consider Read more!

Many job applicants and employees do not put salary negotiation, whether it would be for a raise or possible salary of a new employee, on their top of the must-do list; in fact, negotiating salary is a very important step to make sure that you are paid what you are worth. Job applicants perhaps think that negotiating salary is a bit bold, but as long as it is done properly, negotiating salary can help you getting the salary that you deserve without so much fuss.

These are some tips of how to properly negotiate salary.

1. Do not put your ground reason on the salary of employees from different fields. You may be envious of your friends who are earning more money than you are. However, if they are not working in the same field you should not make those comparisons.
Read more!

Stories of people who become millionaires in a very young age, such as Mark Zuckerberg and Michael Dell, sound like too good to be true. But these people are also like many of us; they got ideas, developed them, and added some extra recipes to make their dreams come true. Here are some advices of success for entrepreneurs from famous young millionaires, or people who became millionaires when they were young.

1. Mark Zuckerberg
His creation, Facebook, now becomes a part of many people’s life, from New York to Bangkok and Madrid. Not long after his 23rd birthday, Mark Zuckerberg became one of the most famous young millionaires in the world. He urges young people to use their potentials to their fullest, and success does not have anything to do with age.

2. Michael Dell Read more!

These days, moving out of the job and getting the new one every few years is not a new thing; many employees do this as a tactic to raise their selling points or getting higher earnings. However, moving out of the job is also a risky step, especially when you commit some of these common mistakes.

1. Having no exact reason to move out
Some people based their decisions of moving out from trivial things, especially when they have very high obsession or easily annoyed by small, unpleasant things as a part of their daily routine. Career changing is not a trifle; many companies will be afraid to accept you if you have history of moving out every 3 months.

2. Being lack of experience
For those who have reached mature age, changing careers into completely different fields is a risky step, since the new Read more!

Everyone makes mistakes, whether it is at the workplace, house or school. While some mistakes can just be corrected or even forgotten, making mistakes at your workplace can be a serious problem, affect the whole performance of your co-workers or partners, and even shake the company’s bottom line. Simply correcting your mistakes may be not enough if your mistake is quite grave or significant.

Hiding until someone uncovers your mistakes is surely not an option, so do not try to hide your mistakes. Instead, try to fix them up by following these tips.

1. Admitting your mistakes is the first and foremost thing to do. The sooner you tell your boss about your mistakes, the better. The only exception is if you make an insignificant error that will not affect anyone.
2. Before you go to do step one, you better have also equipped yourself with some plans to fix your mistakes. Present Read more!

Many of us know and remember well the basic etiquette of formal letters, but we often forget the same etiquette when we are dealing with formal or business e-mail. Basically, the basic etiquette of formal e-mail is not really different from formal letters, and here are some points to pay attention to.

1. Mind the manners
Use the same proper manners that use with formal letters; do not forget to write ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ appropriately, use proper calling like ‘Mr.,’ ‘Ms.,’ ‘Dr.,’ and only address someone with first name when it is okay to do so.

2. Be concise
In writing a formal e-mail, you want to get to the business as quickly as possible, without leaving important details that will help your recipient answer your query. Read more!

When a job offer (or perhaps several offers) finally comes, we feel happy and congratulate ourselves for the finally paid off efforts. However, since our job is something that will last in a long time, there are some questions that we should consider about before really accepting the job offer, so that you could save yourself from regrets when you realized you have accepted unsuitable job for you.

1. Is the salary fair?
Sure money is not the only important issue when you do a job, but you should be paid what you are worth. Research is important here; make sure that you have gotten a good picture about the standard salary of other employees in the same field, and take into account your experience and your location.

2. What kind of boss will I get? Read more!

Setting up your house into your own office does not only mean preparing a special room to put your computer, stationery, and papers. A good, structured office will make your business goes more smoothly, no matter how small the initial size is. To effectively turn your house into office, here are some steps to consider:

1. To make it easier, start from the blank canvas; remove all unnecessary existing furniture and plants from the room or space that you will set up as an office. If you need some remodeling done to accommodate your home office set up, the next step will be demolition to remove existing partitions or shelving that are not part of your new home office design ideas.

2. Install any electrical, phone or cable outlets, cabinetry, shelving and wall partitions as you plan while the space is still empty.

3. Thoroughly clean, paint, add wallpapers, cover the floor, hang light fixtures as such before bringing anything into your new Read more!