Author: Ownership

How and Where to Hire the Best Freelancers

If you are an entrepreneur, or venturing into the startup world, you will realize something very quickly. Hiring quality talent is difficult and expensive. While startups and businesses, in general, fail because of a broad range of reasons, inability to hire quality talent is one of the major reasons. If you need quality talent, but lack the budget to hire full-time, looking to freelancers may be the answer.

The freelance labor market allows you to cherry-pick top talent and pay relatively low amounts to acquire their services. Be warned, however, that the freelance marketplace is not without its challenges. In this article, we give you some tips to navigate these choppy waters to find a freelance solution that works for you.

How to Hire

How you hire plays a big part in who you hire and, the outcome of that hire. Some things that could go wrong include; hiring unskilled persons, time zone mismatching, language barriers, and a host of others. Here are some points to follow to avoid these pitfalls.

  • Requirements

First, write down your project requirements. Unlike a full-time hire who will be around as you figure out the way forward, freelancers require a highly specified project plan to deliver results. Determine the timelines, deliverables, milestones and every other detail you can squeeze into the project plan. Rule of thumb: the more detailed it is, the better.

  • Budget

Next, set a budget. This is the trickiest part. If you go recruiting with a blank check, you will get quotes from as low as a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. To properly gauge your budget, talk to a few friends and bounce budget ideas off them. You can also look at what other clients are paying for similar projects. Consider setting a minimum and maximum so you allow room for negotiating.

  • Recruit

Cast your net wide. Look for as many quality freelancers as you can and invite them to come for an interview. What you are looking for here is availability. The best talent is useless to you if they are unavailable. Once you lock down several freelancers with top skills, who have shown interest in your project, it is time to review.

  • Review

Peruse their past projects. What did past clients have to say? How were they rated? How many similar projects have they undertaken? Never take a freelancer’s word concerning their skills. Test all of them to determine their skill level. Once you find one that works, interview the freelancer and then get started.

Where to Hire

Now that you have a good idea of what to do when hiring a freelancer, where do you find them? Here are some places to look.

  • Major Marketplaces

Today, major marketplaces that you can find freelancers include Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, and Guru. The main advantage of going with these marketplaces is the depth and breadth of talent available. The main challenge, on the other hand, is sifting the wheat from the chaff. You will have to work harder to surface and hire the right talent for your project.

  • Specialized Marketplaces

These are smaller niche sites like 99designs, Toptal, QuiGig – hire now, Matchist and others. These sites offer a better experience because they invest a lot in recruiting quality talent for their platforms, as well as in value-added platform features. This makes it easy to get top talent. One notable downside is they are often more expensive.

  • Portfolio Sites

These include sites like Behance, Dribbble, Stack Overflow and GitHub. On these sites, you have an opportunity to see upfront what the freelancer has accomplished. The main challenge with these platforms is they do not provide project management tools and, it is often difficult to ascertain the authenticity of a portfolio.

  • Social Platforms

Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit also offer a fertile ground for recruitment. Most of these platforms have groups, or communities, of freelancers where you can go and post a job and get proposals. While this is an easy option, you will face the challenge of vetting proposals and figuring out how to move forward once you hire.

Hiring the best freelancers takes time and patient reviewing and vetting. However, a talented and reliable freelancer, once discovered, can add exceptional value to your project over time.

How To Book A Band For A Corporate Event

You need a band to entertain for your event? But you haven’t a clue where to find one. Well, let’s talk band, location, and booking entertainment for corporate events.

A little creative thinking goes a long way!

What kind of band are you looking for? Something with big shiny bright… lights, and loud music? Maybe you want something that features modern music with some jazz, or golden oldies thrown in? An era? How about 1920’s Flappers and Music to match? Show band entertainment?

When you get lost in the concepts of what you want with some creative thinking, you probably find some useful keywords that will help you locate an event planner, or booking agent, that knows exactly the right band for your event. When you find the right search words, you’ll find exactly what you need. So how do you know if those search words are right?

Industry leaders show up on the front page.

Above and beyond the names of the bands that show up on that front page, you’ll want to seek out a booking agent who understands your need for finding the best dance band, or show band, and can schedule what you need for your corporate event. More often than not, the scheduling or booking agent will follow-up and make sure the band shows up, does what they say they’ll do, and provides the top performance entertainment possible.

Key elements of booking agents who limit risks.

Hiring a band always includes some risk. Will they show up? What happens if they don’t show up? What happens if they show up and become obnoxious on the stage? Those risks are really unnecessary when you hire a booking agent who has experience with his bands. His experience will weed out the weak links, and he’ll send in qualified professional entertainers for your event. Better yet… He’ll send in the BEST entertainment available for your event. And he’ll guarantee their performance.

Contracts matter.

A quality event planner, entertainment booking agent always finds ways to get those contracts signed and delivered to you by the deadlines. Your money is safe with a qualified booking agent, because he’s got testimonials, and presence on the internet.

When you seek to hire professional entertainment, look for the booking agent with a record to back you up. Then hire the best band he has to offer for your corporate event. And have a good time! You deserve it.

Hazardous Energy & Its Harmful Effects

‘Hazardous energy’ may be defined by the appropriate agencies of a country, but more or less, any electrical, mechanical, gravitational, thermal, chemical, hydraulic, pneumatic, nuclear or any other energy source in terms of machinery or equipment that can harm people is hazardous energy. One needs to be cautious, and due processes put in place, to ensure safety of workers during maintenance/ servicing of equipment. This is because of the unexpected release of stored energy. While death may be the result in the most serious cases, injuries include damage by electrocution, amputation, fractures, laceration, crushing of body parts and burns. Hopefully, you now have an idea how ‘hazardous’ this hazardous energy is.

As previously stated, those involved in the maintenance or servicing of machines may be seriously injured, or even killed in case this energy isn’t controlled using LOTO (Lockout Tagout) or any other methods.

Sources of hazardous energy need to be carefully identified. While some, like electricity/ power supplied to a piece of machinery, or the danger of an object falling, are obvious, others, such as air pressure in a system are hidden.

Let us discuss some of these types of energy mentioned earlier, in greater detail. One of the most common forms, electrical energy is not just live via power lines, it is also stored in batteries and capacitors.

Mechanical energy can best be described as the energy in a spring that’s compressed. The energy would release when the spring is released. Similarly, the release of mechanical energy can cause a worker to get struck by an object. Simply speaking, gravitational energy, or rather gravitational potential energy means the potential of an object suspended high above the ground to inflict harm by falling over you. The heavier an object is, and the greater the height it’s suspended it, the more gravitational potential energy there is. Chemical energy results in a fire, or explosion. It’s a result of a chemical reaction.

Note that all these mentioned types of energy may be primary, or residual. Primary energy sources are the direct sources of power, while residual sources refer to energy that is stored. Never take stored energy lightly, failure to dissipate it is one of the most common causes of accidents. In order to control hazardous energy, a machine or equipment, i.e. a system must be isolated from both primary as well as residual energy sources.

Hopefully, with my this article, everyone now understands what hazardous energy is, in what forms does it exist, and its dangers.

Why QuickBooks Hosting Is A Complicated Process For Most Of The Businesses

The era of modernizing is the real world where most of the businesses are seeking flexible frameworks & reliable innovations for their progress. Where most of the accounting industries are amazed by innovations like cloud computing & online working portals, a majority of users residing in the same industry aren’t aware of its complexities. For already accessing users of Intuit’s QuickBooks desktop editions, integrating data to web-based software approach seems to be one of the most exquisite options for excelling in the marketplace.

Fortunately, the cloud-based QuickBooks give ease-of-accessing data over cloud network, ease-of-operating files from any device & OS and ease-of-collaborating with team members from anyplace & at any time but still lacks many features that are required by a QuickBooks desktop edition user. In order to host QuickBooks desktop edition to cloud network, an authentic hosting provider is a must who installs & manages software & company’s data files on their cloud-based servers.

It is true that user will no longer need to install QuickBooks software on their PC, as the Internet is enough to access both, software & data files on server’s cloud network. Though, after having this much ease, the user still needs the initial underlying technologies i.e. Windows on the local machine & QuickBooks software.

Distinct from True SaaS or Cloud-based Application Approach!

QuickBooks hosting is somehow a different approach from that of SaaS or cloud-based based applications. SaaS, Software as a Service is a web-based application solution or model where a single application and data framework is available which serves almost all users. For particular software, the web-based application can be taken as a service and the exact infrastructure in support is hidden from the user. On the other hand, hosted QuickBooks service works with its initial QuickBooks desktop editions as designed by Intuit. So the initial requirements including the PC-based installation of software, deployment of the application as per user & consumption of more resources will be still there with the cloud-based hosting approach.

Eventually, SaaS is a cost-efficient architecture for users in which functionalities like system redundancy and fault tolerance are inbuilt in the solution itself. Whereas hosted QuickBooks approach is comparatively higher and offers complexity to its users.

Choosing the Right & Wise Move for Your Business!

Users who are considering shifting from locally-installed QuickBooks to hosted QuickBooks desktop editions as a wise move might fall abruptly if continues without embracing the right volume of knowledge. Yes, that’s true! The shifting is proving beneficial for most of the businesses but only for as long as they aren’t getting aware of technologies like SaaS. Usually, for both small-sized & medium-sized businesses, it is advisory to cognize the depth of perks before fascinating with the width of features.

There are numerous other perspectives which are predicting the concept of hosting with QuickBooks application, which is complicating the process of being a web-based cloud network business:

  1. Issue of Licensing: Licensing is the hardest task to convey by any third party service providers as installing the authentic software licensing level & give proper set-up to multiple levels of software asks preciseness which is somehow difficult to offer by all. Many times the service provider implements the same procedure in order to fulfill the installation process and doesn’t focus on a particular business needs which provide a generic setup to each user unwittingly.
  2. Verdict of Third Party Applications: Intuit itself checks each company before allowing them to offer hosting services to QuickBooks users. The companies are thus authentic to Intuit and are often known as third party service providers in the market. It is mandatory to evaluate the risks that might conquer while integrating your business data with any hosting provider. The risks are majorly confronting the users only when platforms and hosting software aren’t fully licensed.
  3. Maze of Multiple User Performance & Number of Servers: Initially, the QuickBooks desktop version wasn’t designed to run by multiple users over single PC until the presence of QuickBooks hosting comes in the notice. Many times while working on the same cloud-network it is quite hard for multi-users to get their command done as less availability of command-handler makes the workability strict and thus takes much time to complete the task. Hosting provider, in order to solve the scenario, allows more servers to the same number of users being in the working environment- which subsequently make the task delivery process complex & expensive.

So these three main practices that mostly become complications for third-party hosting providers are the reason making QuickBooks hosting a complex process for most of the businesses. The integration goes inflow until the user itself gets acknowledged with any scarcity of provider. But once the user gets to know his worth, he finds the whole process complicated.

How To Sell If You Hate Sales

If you want to be a successful person, whether it is a business venture, a job interview or to convince your boss to give you a raise, if you want to build successful relationships with people of the opposite sex, or in many other situations in life, you must free yourself from your preconceptions about the world of sales, it is worth your survival.

Why People Hate Sales

Most people have huge preconceptions about sales, often related to negative experiences with pushy telemarketers or shady car salespeople (By the way I have been a car salesman and a telemarketer myself and the majority of these people act with enormous integrity but unfortunately there are always the bad apples like in any other profession that negatively impact everybody else).

When people think about sales, they often tend to imagine the typical car salesman wearing gold bracelets with his hairs slicked back, but successful salespeople are anything but this: In fact, when I think about successful salespeople I usually have in mind politicians, famous lawyers, TV personalities or doctors.

Anyone who has achieved success in any area of life has often managed (consciously or unconsciously) to master the ability to influence other people, to achieve ambitious goals, to compete and to win in life.

Change Your Mindset Towards Sales Today

So many people don’t feel comfortable about sales, mainly due to insecurity or for fear of being rejected.

The top salespeople learn to master an “iron” mentality, a mindset that allows them to knock down any obstacle and to get what they want.

Do you think that this type of attitude might be useful in other areas of your life? You bet.

If you think about it, everything you see around you exists because you bought it, somebody sold it to you.

The same house you live in belongs to a sale, or even if you pay rent you had to sign a contract, everything inside is “born” from a sale, the chair or the sofa on which you are resting your ass in this instant comes from a sale, so have respect for salespeople if you don’t want to end up with your ass on the ground.

The greatest inventors or scientists had to “sell” their idea, they have managed to overcome many objections from people who did not approve their ideas before they became famous, otherwise nobody would have known them today.

Historical geniuses like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates are people who have mastered the art of sales.

In the society we live today, mastering the art of sales is no longer an option, it is mandatory for your survival in this world because everything revolves around sales.

The only way to get what you want in life, the only way to achieve your dearest dreams is to master the secrets of sales.

Successful salespeople are geniuses in creating solutions

People want to find solutions to their problems, whether it is about choosing a vacuum cleaner, to buy a vacation to the Caribbean or to choose the right political party, anyone needs to be able to make the right choices, the real salesperson is a problem solver, someone that can help you to think better, to analyze the right options and ultimately to live a better life.

If you like this article, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

Remember: Sharing is caring!

DC

Things to Consider While Hiring a Data Entry Outsourcing Agency

In recent times, digitization of documents and data generation has created high volumes of data in almost all industries. It is definitely not easy for entrepreneurs and business owners to manage the large volumes of data and maintain quality, accuracy, and reliability at the same time. Whether your firm is small, medium or big, effective data management is time-consuming and highly complicated. When you are running a business, it is always advisable to invest time in core business activities and hire a data entry outsourcing agency for managing voluminous data.

However, before you hire an outsourcing agency, considering a few important factors is important. Let’s take a look:

1. Experience

The process of data entry demands great accuracy. It is important to ensure that the company you hire is capable of managing all the different tasks and is highly efficient. The most trusted way to judge the experience of an outsourcing company is by reviewing the case studies of similar projects and reading the testimonials of the past clients. Reading the feedback of past customers is a great way to measure and analyze the capabilities of an outsourcing partner.

2. Latest Technology and Infrastructure

Before outsourcing data entry services, ensure that the outsourcing partner has access to the latest technologies and proper infrastructure settings. Apart from high-speed data connectivity, the outsourcing agency should also have backup facilities and data security measures for faultless and continuous services.

3. Flexibility

While choosing the right outsourcing partner for data entry services, it is ideal to go for a flexible working environment. Factors such as flexible timing and pricing help strengthen the bond with an outsourcing partner. Moreover, when there is a flexible working environment, employees can also provide customized solutions.

4. Clear Communication

In order to achieve effective results, communicating your exact requirements clearly is important. Without clear communication, your outsourcing partner will not understand your specific requirements and this, in turn, may end up hampering your business goals in the long-run.

5. Round-the-Clock Maintenance and Support

Before finalizing an outsourcing agency, ensure that the service provider offers 24/7 maintenance and support. For instance, if you have an e-commerce site, significant downtimes can make your prospective customers make their purchases elsewhere. Moreover, when you outsource your services, it is equally important to ensure that the transactional data and log-in data remain secure.

6. Quality

Checking the quality of data entry services is crucial. So, before outsourcing your requirement, make an attempt to know how proficient the service providers are. Using a free trial before you sign the final agreement is advisable. This process also helps you figure out the quality of the services on offer.

7. Cost

The primary objective behind outsourcing is to avail the benefits of skilled manpower at budget-friendly rates. Before you decide to sign a contract, understand the clauses and make sure that there are no hidden rates such as overtime charges or opportunity costs.

Outsourcing data entry services is an easy way to reduce operational costs, improve turnaround time and concentrate on core business activities. Data entry outsourcing is reliable in terms of sales turnover, profit, and quality.

Top Reasons to Work in the Hospitality Industry

The hospitality industry covers a very diverse range of jobs with a common theme of helping and looking after people. It involves catering to people, looking after and providing their various wants and needs. Generally, people in this industry are hired for their personal ability to get on with others their cheerful disposition and their individual skills such as a chef, housekeeper, kitchen assistant, waiting staff or such.

Many people in the hospitality industry are extroverted, vibrant, lively and fun people. If you enjoy the idea of a nine to five office job and the same routine the same group of people day in and out day after day, then probably the hospitality industry is not for you.

No matter which level or area you start at in the hospitality industry there is always room for personal improvement and career advancement, this industry opens the doors to endless possibilities and options for many people.

The huge diversity of jobs in the hospitality industry includes restaurant and kitchen work, hosting tours and reception work, economics, sales and marketing, management maintenance and engineering fields. Many of these areas overlap and people find they gravitate naturally to the areas that suit them the most. Some top achievers in the hospitality industry such as managers and heads of departments started their career in the kitchen or the concierge area of hotels and through hard work, ambition opportunity and self-improvement very quickly advanced into the top tier areas.

This wide range of different fields and opportunities is open to all people regardless of their socioeconomic background, who decide to choose the hospitality industry as their career option. Hospitality work is often fun, very dynamic and changeable, it includes the opportunity to change your location and position or advance yourself in other establishments either in your area, different centers or even countries. Hospitality is definitely an energetic vibrant industry so implement a trendy and functional uniform. For the hospitality industry, this means considerations like pockets on aprons for pads and pens, easy tie straps for comfort. A well-designed hospitality uniform is now really an important element of brand building for almost any venue.

A career in Hospitality can literally open the door to the world for you while you gather experience and qualifications which are usually considered universal, allowing you to see the world as a waiter, cook or housekeeper, especially when working within one of the international hotel chains who are renowned for looking after and rewarding their loyal workers.

After all is said and done customer satisfaction means a return customer and that is the backbone of hospitality. Many hospitality workers find that the salaries they receive are reasonable and the tips can be considerable.

So if you are looking for a rewarding career both in the areas of job satisfaction and financial remuneration then the hospitality industry has a lot to offer for many people. Whether a first-time school leaver or seasoned worker, there are rewarding opportunities available in hospitality in virtually every location around the world as everyone needs to eat and sleep. The hospitality industry has proven over the years to be very resilient even in times of economic difficulties as seen in the last decade or so where many industries were hit hard, hospitality has maintained and even prospered.

Interesting Myths That Proves QuickBooks In The Cloud Is Beneficial For Your Business

From past few decades, QuickBooks has been gaining recognition from the business world including CPA’s, financial advisors, and owners. Some beliefs on its proven practices i.e. result businesses showing after integrating with the software whereas some are still allowing the software into their business by believing in interesting myths. The real power of cloud QuickBooks can be easily acknowledged by both, SMB’s & huge enterprises right after mitigating the data in the cloud.

As per the surveys and research held by experts in the just passed the year 2017, Small businesses are vastly accessing the cloud computing technique by allowing it in their traditional QuickBooks software which again helping them to do work effortlessly and negating the need of numbers of employees. It is quite important for business, nowadays, to be a step ahead in the marketplace and earn their space by crossing the ladder of success step-by-step. Any small-sized or even medium-sized business can effortlessly step-up the ladder of success by inputting the right set of strategies within their business space.

How soothing it will be for businesses to know these interesting myths that simply show the importance and necessity of QuickBooks software in the business environment.

1. Stay hungry, stay competitive

Initially, when Intuit, the developer of QuickBooks, came with the idea of offering reliable accounting platform to businesses, very few have been recognized the approach as a good one. However, soon when the approach seems to be a promising deal that businesses can offer to their clients, Intuit has gained real space in the market world. Though the market has always been a competitive portal where to claim success, you need to pay attention, good strategies & worthy decision.

About a decade ago, QuickBooks in the cloud came into notice and again revolutionized the whole market with its flexibility, scalability & security approaches. So, it’s never going to be enough when one claims for success & growth.

Henceforth, Intuit asks you to be- Stay hungry in this battleground of business and beat the competition by planning excellent strategies.

2. Track constantly, Work Instantly

The Cloud-based QuickBooks allows users to track even the minute changes made by the client or any other fellow team member instantly. That really helps businesses to stay away from the concept of ambiguity as the changes are seen to each person as the way it made.

Constant tracking and updating alike features are the real value, QuickBooks offered to their users so that they don’t have to waste time over re-checking the files and data.

3. Never Fear, Cloud-based QuickBooks is here

Businesses often fail due to the lack of having backup options at times when all the data accidentally crashed, residing in the local machines. Even in the digital world of today’s, around thousands of businesses still dealing with data loss and data threat. But, QuickBooks in the cloud offers complete data security as only authenticated team members can access the data.

Backup and data recovery are two major benefits that users can engage their business with without any much effort and practice. Data in the cloud itself is backed up in a timely manner.

4. Less paying, Big saving

Most of the businesses have already been connected with the renowned QuickBooks desktop edition software and would like to integrate with cloud-version as well. So for SMBs who are not looking forward to paying more but also want the flexibility of the cloud- can simply transform the traditional QuickBooks into Cloud-based QuickBooks.

To doing so, the user only needs to find out authentic third-party hosting provider i.e. businesses can enrich their features by paying less as well.

The Final Round Up

QuickBooks software has proven each time that nothing can beat this immense popular & usable software when it comes to flexibility with the cloud, security of data and scalability of the platform. For all kind of businesses, allowing QuickBooks into your business premises will only going to worth the pay & say!

What Qualities Do You Need to Have to Be a Good Security Guard?

A Security Guard is hired to protect people or keep property secure and are there as a preventative measure. Having good security gives you total peace of mind but a lot of people do not think about it until it is too late. There are many security guards out there, but what qualities should you look out for when hiring one to ensure you feel safe?

Proper Training and Education – It is essential before hiring a Security Guard to know they have knowledge of industry standards and an understanding of Security Operations. They need to be prepared on how to handle any situation that may arise whilst they are on duty, how to prevent disasters from occurring and the correct safety procedures that need to be taken in an emergency. They should hold the required Certification and Licence and this must be kept up to date.

Physical Fitness – There are many potential scenarios that Security Guards could be faced with whilst on duty, and to be a great at your job then you must be prepared for any one of them. To be able to protect a person from harm then you need to be able to defend yourself and your client. If an intruder attempts to break in to the premises you are watching, then you might need to give chase and apprehend the culprit. You might be required to walk around the premises on alert for possible threat, and at times just the sight of a Security Guard can act as a deterrent. A Security Guard must keep themselves fit so they can are ready for anything.

Honesty and Integrity – Many times a Security Guard will be required to work alone, therefore the Client must feel they can trust them to do the job they were hired to do and not breach security or take advantage of confidential information. Background checks are standard procedure before a Security Guard is employed to ensure there is no previous criminal history. The nature of the job also has an increased risk of confrontation, so you need to be able to trust that the person in charge knows how to assess a situation and act appropriately without excess force.

Alertness – A good Security Guard needs to be alert and aware of events going on around them. They need to be able to stay focussed and avoid distractions at all time to ensure they are prepared to deal with any situation that may arise or prevent one from getting worse. If something important gets overlooked, then lives could be put at risk or criminal activity could be missed. At times they may need to report information to law enforcement so they need to be able to give as much detail as possible.

Common Sense – Security Guards have to be able assess a situation with deductive reasoning and logic before deciding an appropriate course of action. They will need to think quick to determine if there is a legitimate threat and figure out if there a way to avoid it by being able to think a few steps ahead to try and predict how a situation will play out. This is especially important in cases of an emergency where it could mean the difference between life and death.

Temperament – It is important for Security Guards not to overreact so they are able to prevent tense situations from becoming worse. Many times confrontations can be prevented from escalating with the correct course of action. At times Security Guards are working in places where people are consuming alcohol which has an added risk of potentially explosive incidents occurring. In these instances, if they aren’t handled calmly and rationally and preventative measures aren’t taken in a timely manner then things could easily get out of control fast.

Communication Skills – Without good communication skills, Security Guards run the risk of misunderstanding important instructions that are given to them by their Client or employee. This may lead to confusion where wrong decisions get made. At times Security Guards work in a team so they need to be able to effectively communicate to their co-workers to ensure correct information is being passed on. In instances where they are dealing with law enforcement, they may need to accurately convey and document incidents that have occurred.

ABCs Of Your Career Journey – K Is For Knit

When you start to knit a sweater or scarf, you only have needles and yarn. As each stitch is completed, rows emerge and it starts to take shape. A career journey is very similar in that you start with yourself. Later you add a college degree or two, other technical skills, your responsibilities, awards, etc. so that you are now known as (add title). All that may be well and good but many people are starting to question if that title is really what they are all about. Aren’t you known for other things as well, but others have a tough time identifying you outside of your title?

Here is an exercise I suggest you try. In Column One, list all of the things you are good at. In Column Two, list the things you could be better at. In Column Three, list the things you are good at from Column One but hate doing. Finally in Column Four, list the things from Column Two that you truly want to excel at. If you are struggling compiling any of these lists, look at past performance reviews and ask others what they think. Once the lists are finalized, figure out how you want to be known. It would be awful if you are known as a great report writer but that skill falls under Column Three, or worse yet is that your boss does not suggest you get training/experience for things in Column Four because you never told him or her.

Just like knitting, it takes patience. You have to concentrate to knit otherwise you will drop a stitch and you may have to start all over again. You don’t necessarily want to do that with your career unless you plan on doing something completely new. The point is that you need to take that yarn and knit it into the career of your dreams. Changing colors or using different types of stitches is always challenging at first but over time it does get easier. This is the same with your career. Trying new things, meeting new people, taking a course that you never would have considered before, and also planning on how you will acclimate to the “new normal” (whatever that may look like) is exciting but you have to knit that first stitch. Trial and error works for both knitting and your career but having a pattern or plan always helps!

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