This year is setting up to be no different. In fact, it’s likely to be one of the best years — for workers — on record. 

“They’re pulling out every stop they can think of. They’re raising wages. They’re offering an increased number of jobs with benefits. They’re offering flexible schedules. They’re literally offering entry-level job seekers the opportunity to go to college and have it paid for,” says Ian Siegal, CEO of ZipRecruiter, in regards to employers chasing after workers in the already competitive, pandemic-riddled job market._[1]

Macy’s and Amazon have gone as far as to offer sign-on bonuses as high as $3,000 just to log hours over the next few months._[2] 

If you’re out of a job, looking for more hours, or simply searching for new opportunities, you’ll be happy to know that the holiday season – coined the “hiring season” – is just around the corner.

From traditional seasonal jobs at retailers like Kohl’s and Macy’s, to packing and delivery oriented jobs with shipping companies like FedEx and UPS, all the way to online jobs with tech giants like Amazon and Radial (eBay’s parent organization) – large companies are offering perks beyond just a high base salary to lure in potential workers.

12 Companies Hiring Seasonal Workers at $15 Per Hour (or More)

1. Target

Target announced it is hiring an additional 100,000 new team members for its over 1,700 stores, distribution centers, and fulfillment centers across the world.

There are job openings in logistics, sales, cashiering, inventory management, and food services (some locations have cafe’s on-site).

Employees receive a 10% discount on Target merchandise and get 20% off wellness (grocery-oriented) purchases. Target’s On Demand initiative also aims to allow workers with inconsistent schedules to pick up hours more flexibly._[3]

Seasonal workers also get access to free mental health and virtual doctor visits during their employment period. 

Current Openings:  100,000
Pay:  $15.00 per hour (higher in select areas)
Apply:  Search Target Job Openings

2. Walmart

Like their giant commerce competitors, Walmart has upped the pay ante by offering a needed 150,000 seasonal workers an average wage of nearly $17 per hour (up to $34 per hour) to help with their retail, curbside and online positions. With nearly 5,000 locations, 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a store — meaning your daily commute doesn’t have to present as a lump of coal this holiday season. 

Associates have realistic pathways towards career advancement — 75% of salaried store management began their careers as hourly employees — and Walmart currently offers 100% tuition and book reimbursement through their Live Better U program.

If you transition to a full-time role, additional perks include:

• Paid time off
• No-cost counseling
• 401(k) with a 15% match up to $1,800 yearly
• Parental leave and more

Current Openings: 150,000
Pay:  $15 per hour and up
Apply:  Search Walmart Job Openings

3. UPS

UPS hires package handlers, drivers, and  “driver helpers” to help with the holiday rush. That rush applies to hiring too, as UPS says they’re looking to go from application to “hired” in 30 minutes or less for the 2021-2022 holiday season._[4]

According to a company spokesman, “over 74% of seasonal workers wanted their temporary position to turn into a long-term job” — a huge positive for someone looking for lengthier opportunities. 

With pay starting between $15 and $22 per hour, temp employees can further boost their earnings by electing to participate in the company’s Earn and Learn program, which pays up to $1300 every 3 months towards an employee’s higher education expenses._[5]

Current Openings:  100,000
Pay:  $15 to $22 per hour (certain locations offer weekly bonuses of $100 to $200)
Apply:  Search UPS Job Openings

4. Teletech

Teletech helps larger retailers by providing tech support throughout the holidays with a network of work-from-home assistants.

They’re currently looking for about 450 work-from-home customer service representatives to help large e-commerce retailers track, fulfill, and troubleshoot orders.

Current Openings:  about 450
Pay:  $18.00 per hour and up ($19 per hour once licensed)
Apply:  Search Teletech Job Openings

5. JCPenny

J.C. Penney’s is looking to add around 25,000 new cashiers and sales associates to their 875 retail stores in the United States. They’re also hiring operations associates to help with backroom inventory and merchandise replenishment._[6]

Perks are location-dependent but include up to a $3 per hour “Premium Hour” boost for high-demand periods, 25% employee discounts on merchandise, and unlimited $300 bonuses for referred employees._[7]

Current Openings:  25,000
Pay:  Up to $17.00 per hour (with Premium Hour incentives) 
Apply:  Search JCPenney’s Job Openings

6. Kohl’s

Kohl’s is getting in on the seasonal action and opening its doors to about 90,000 new sales, freight and distribution associates. Kohl’s sales associates typically help stock merchandise, provide customer service, fill online orders, and assist with credit operations.

Their freight and distribution associates typically help with order packaging and delivery.

Kohl’s also announced a new bonus program this season for associates who work with Kohl’s through the holidays. Employees will be eligible for bonus payments from $100 to $400. Associates also receive a 15% store discount and get paid weekly — a convenient perk for those needing near-immediate cash flow. 

Current Openings:  90,000
Pay:  Up to $15.00 per hour (with all bonus incentives included)_[8]
Apply:  Search Kohl’s Job Openings

7. Radial

Radial is looking to fill over 27,000 open positions in its fulfillment and customer service centers. Workers help source and send the surge of orders the company is expecting over the holidays.

Wages for Radial’s seasonal workers are location-dependent but start at $15 per hour and go higher from there, according to a company spokesman. They provide some of the highest-paying seasonal jobs available. Employees will also have the opportunity to be brought on as permanent team members.

Current Openings:  27,000
Pay:  $15 per hour and up
Apply:  Search Radial Job Openings

8. Williams Sonoma

Looking to trade your time for a little bit of money and a hefty discount on products you love? Williams Sonoma has a deal that will be pretty hard for some kitchenware lovers to pass up. Williams Sonoma Inc, the parent company for popular brands such as the Pottery Barn and West Elm, is hiring up to 7,000 for its seasonal work-from-home positions.

According to the company website, perks include: 

• 40% Discount on most merchandise
• Monthly performance bonuses up to $500
• $250 bonuses for referring friends and family
• $300 bonus for perfect attendance during the holidays
• Fun contests/rewards and recognition programs
• Paid Training from the comfort of your home
• Overtime, overtime, overtime
• Opportunity to convert to benefited status within 90 days!
• Pay = $15.00/hr

Expect these jobs to go fast.

Current Openings:  7,000
Pay:  $15 per hour + several bonus opportunities 
Apply:  Search Williams Sonoma Job Openings

9. FedEx

FedEx is looking for 90,000 new packagers and drivers this holiday season. They’re additionally looking for 500 roles in data science and IT. If you think you can handle a warehouse or brave the elements, or have computer smarts, FedEx is positing jobs with wages up to $19.50 per hour for all shifts (morning, day, evening, and overnight, with premium pay for full-time workers). 

Select customer service and courier gigs also offer sign-on bonuses between $1000 and $2000._[9] 

Current Openings:  90,000
Pay:  Up to $19.50 per hour + incentives 
Apply:  Search FedEx Job Openings

10. Macy’s

Mac’s is looking to fill nearly 100,000 seasonal jobs between their retail storefronts, fulfillment facilities, online chat jobs and over-the-phone customer service roles, and nearly 1,000 support staff for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and other holiday events.

Notable perks include: 

• Up to 20% merchandise discount
• Flexible scheduling
• Regular, optional overtime shifts
• $500 employee referral bonus
• Additional $2 per hour weekend bonus program
• Path to Growth Incentive
• Quarterly bonus offered to qualifying colleagues

Current Openings:  97,000
Pay:  Up to $15 per hour (with incentives)
Apply:  Search Macy’s Job Openings

11. Amazon

It’s no surprise that one of the world’s largest companies is looking for some serious manpower this time of year. Specifically, they’re looking for help filling 40,000 new corporate and tech jobs and 125,000 full and part-time fulfillment and transportation jobs. 

“Seasonal roles offer an average starting pay of $18 per hour, sign-on bonuses up to $3,000 and an additional $3 per hour depending on shifts in many locations, plus the opportunity to transition to long-term careers,” according to the hiring announcement._[10]

While Amazon has caught flak in the past for their hiring and pay practices, the new wage and bonus offerings are amongst the highest we’ve seen for seasonal workers, especially those interested in continuing work after the holidays. 

Current Openings:  165,000
Pay:  $18 per hour and up
Apply:  Search Amazon Job Openings

12. 1-800-Flowers

1-800-Flowers, alongside companies like FTD, are looking for customer service associates to help with the surge in holiday flower requests. Employees would be helping fulfill, track and troubleshoot the large volume of orders coming through during the Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day season (no need to worry about a crash course on becoming a florist although those positions are open too).

Temporary employees with good track records and great attendance are often invited to stay on as permanent team members.

Current Openings:  10,000
Pay:  $15 to $17 per hour depending on the position 
Apply:  Search 1-800-Flowers Job Openings

“Temp” Jobs Can Lead to Full-Time Opportunities

Many of the seasonal jobs posted are temporary (to help with the holiday rush) while others help fill vacant full-time positions; many have great benefits.

Having your foot halfway in the door, even in a temporary role, is a great way to secure a more permanent position and advance your career.

Related: 5 Financial Mistakes to Avoid This Holiday Season 

The post 12 Seasonal Jobs Hiring at $15 per Hour or More appeared first on DollarSprout.

A nursing to marketing transplant, I had no formal education when it came to digital advertising, social media marketing, and influencership, the seemingly essential skills needed to drive traffic. But everywhere I looked to study these concepts, I found I wasn’t alone.

Even people with formal “marketing” degrees were scoffing (just look here, here, here to get an idea) at how poorly universities equip graduates with the hard skills they’ll need to help run a business. 

Facebook ads, webinar funnels, truly effective social media marketing, none of it is being taught in schools. Or if it is, its theory and principle versus actual implementation. After all, what university is going to lend you $500 — let alone $50,000 — in advertising spend to practice with. And yet, billion-dollar businesses rely on multi-million dollar per year ad spend to keep things afloat. 

The incongruency between formal education and needed business acumen creates an opportunity for self-taught, privately mentored, or enterprise-trained individuals to offer services that are truly essential to businesses — at their own price point. 

If you’re one of a select group of people on the planet that can effectively scale fix- and six-figure ad campaigns, create high-converting funnels, or consistently rank at the top of Google for important search terms, your skillset cannot easily be replaced. You easily become the most important person in the room. 

With that in mind, here are ten essential digital marketing skills — which aren’t effectively being taught in school — that are crucial to virtually every modern business with an online presence. 

1. Web analytics

Big data powers some of the largest companies in the world. Even mom-and-pop shops will benefit from a clear understanding of what customers are doing when they visit their web properties.

Google Analytics has long been the premier tool for tracking visitors, how long they stay, and the types of products and pages consumers are most interested in. This sort of quantitative data can be used to make pivotal decisions about future product or content offerings that consumers are interested in.

Elite marketers can take things a step further by supplementing inferences gained by analyzing quantitative data with powerful deductions gained by analyzing qualitative data: how users behave and/or feel about the pages they’re visiting.

From automated A/B testing and heat mapping to session recording and feedback widgets, advanced tracking tools like Google Tag Manager, Crazy Egg, and Hotjar can be used to help businesses gain an understanding of what consumers are doing once they actually reach a webpage.

• Tools worth learning: Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, Crazy Egg, Kissmetrics
• Courses worth taking: Google Analytics Academy

2. Social media marketing

Organic social media marketing has changed tremendously over the past several years. Gone are the days of chronologically sorted timeline/news feed distribution (say goodbye to the easy traffic heyday of Google+, Facebook, and Pinterest), in are the days of engagement-based distribution. 

Brands have caught on — hence the tacky call-to-actions asking consumers to interact with posts — but their implementation is often rocky at best. It’s all well and dandy to understand the types of content that typically perform well on social, but intimately understanding specific social platforms is what will get businesses results.

As such, it’s common to see brands establish a presence on several different platforms where their audience lives, but their inbound marketing success often lives and dies with their ability to master a specific social media outlet ( and then leverage that success into growth of the brand on different platforms.) 

If social is your thing, start by learning the fundamentals of a comprehensive marketing strategy. HubSpot Academy offers one such course.

Denise Dorman, an award-winning inbound marketer and Top 1% subject matter expert on LinkedIn, suggests familiarizing yourself with the tools that will actually move the needle for clients. She recommends Hootsuite, HubSpot, and Talkwalker as social listening tools that will help guide marketers into creating actionable items that clients can move on.

After mastering the fundamentals, start by working to your strengths. If you excel at seeing the big picture, work to create a holistic strategy for reaching your (or brands) ideal client where they are.

If you prefer to niche down because you see potential on a single platform, become the go-to consultant for that media source. 1-on-1 coaching, account consulting, knowledge courses, and asset creation are but a few of the many services you can offer. 

• Tools worth learning: Buffer, Buzzsumo, Hootsuite, Mention, Hubspot, Talkwalker 
• Courses worth taking: HubSpot Academy, TikTok Marketing Masterclass, Advanced Social Media Marketing for Picking Up Clients 

3. CRO

Conversion rate optimization — CRO for short — isn’t exactly a new science. But, you won’t find digital CRO best practices in a textbook at your local university. Instead, you’ll find scattered literature in an array of entry-level marketing classes that talks in general terms about how improving conversion rates can impact a brand or business’s bottom line. And then they proceed to share very little about how to actually do it. 

And that’s where understanding today’s advanced tracking tools can make you an invaluable part of any marketing team. Simply put, there are a finite number of digital tools on Earth that help businesses make sense of conversion data, but many lack the personnel or understanding to put them into practice. 

Their usefulness cannot be understated. 

Example 1: A small, privately-owned clothing boutique with 4 full-time employees can’t understand why the online sales page for one of their popular dresses isn’t converting the way they thought it would. A CRO expert uses A/B testing software to control several variables on the sales page, including but not limited to: alternating creatives (dress images), subtle copywriting changes, check-out button location, and neuromarketing-oriented changes. After the suggested changes are implemented, the conversion rate jumps from 2.5% to 9.0% to previously warmed traffic, resulting in a 260% increase in revenue. 

Example 2: A CRO expert is consulted by a local plumbing company to see if changes to their services page would lead to increased customer acquisition. The expert quickly notices the services page lacks any sort of call-to-action (CTA) that might prompt a customer to take immediate action. An eye-catching CTA box is added above the fold (top of the page) that solicits potential customer information. Calls to the company’s dedicated service phone line increase 65% month over month, and a new database of recurring client information is created. 

Getting started is easy, as many certification courses require less than ten hours of training. With a relatively low barrier to entry, mastering CRO helps you stand out in a relatively unsaturated field. 

• Tools worth learning: Hotjar, Crazy Egg, LuckyOrange, Google Optimize, VWO Testing, Instapage
• Classes worth taking: Complete Conversion Rate Optimization Course, CRO Training

4. CRM

Customer relationship management systems (CRMs) help companies track every portion of the customer journey. A relatively young web industry, CRM experts help companies make sense of customer leads they’re acquiring, and what sort of journey they want the customer to go through as they become more acquainted with the brand. 

These systems can be incredibly simple, like a blogger that wants to capture reader emails and send them through an automated email sequence (that familiarizes them with the blogger’s story and builds trust).

Or they can be incredibly complex — a Fortune 500 company that needs to know which consumers are ready to convert on a particular funnel, and which customers need additional fostering to build a purchase relationship. 

In either instance, knowledge of CRM tools can help you track and organize every component of the customer journey. Need to know if a customer has lost a package or voiced a complaint? CRMs can log that. Need to know which customers are most likely to become repeat customers? CRMs generate those reports, too. From contact information and service issues to sales opportunities and full marketing campaign tracking, CRM systems are the premier way for businesses to get a clear picture of the entire customer journey. 

• Tools worth learning: Salesforce, Zoho, HubSpot CRM
• Classes worth taking: HubSpot Academy, Salesforce Administrator, Zoho CRM Certified Consultant

5. SEO

Few marketing skills are as simultaneously loved as much they are hated; such is the case with search engine optimization (SEO). The number one source of free, targeted traffic on Earth, companies across the globe clamor to be at the of SERPs (search engine response pages) for queries important to their business. 

Want to be the premier plumber in Seattle? Have your website rank #1 for the search “best plumber in Seattle”. Want to sell math tutoring services in your local area? You guessed it: rank #1 for “best math tutor near me”. 

It sounds simple…it’s anything but. Besides the competition (it’s free customers), major search providers (Google, Bing, etc.) constantly change their guidance on what constitutes best-practice SEO, if they share guidance at all. For what it’s worth, it makes sense things are so convoluted. 

1. The algorithms they use to rank search results are proprietary. Closely guarded trade secrets, in a nutshell. 
2. They want to keep a level playing field, less they be accused of favoritism. Ethically speaking, these companies know their search algorithms impact nearly every business on Earth. Their end goal is to return search results that are most helpful to the user so that users continue to search on their platform. 

As such, their guidance is generally very simple: create web pages that match what users are looking for, provide unique value, and don’t try to game the system. The constant change in guidance — even if at times seemingly contradictory — is what builds the love/hate relationship marketers have with SEO. 

While SEO has been around for decades, and there are almost certainly classes taught on basic optimization principles in schools, few curriculums can keep up with the ever-changing guidance that is released on the topic. This is a huge deal because outdated practices/optimization techniques can be critically harmful to a business’s aspirations when it comes to ranking for certain terms. As such, most advanced SEOs are self-taught, have a mentor, or have worked in a marketing agency/enterprise setup to gain their skillset. 

Independently mastering the skill can help you claw in millions of dollars in “free” exposure for a business, or gain you desirable positioning to sell your own product or service.  

• Tools worth learning: Ahrefs, Semrush, Screaming Frog, Deep Crawl
• Courses worth taking: Stupid Simple SEO, Semrush Academy, HubSpot Academy, SEO Starter Guide by Google

6. Email marketing

A personal weakness of mine, email marketing is an incredibly effective tool for interacting with followers, building trust, and pitching interested customers. In fact, email subscribers are often a company’s most robust source of revenue. Most simply, this is because these followers have already shown some form of interest. 

• An email address was acquired through a past purchase.
• An email address was acquired because of a value proposition. (The company offered something — often free — in return for a customer’s email address.)
• An email address was acquired out of a genuine desire to learn more about a product or service. 

In any of the three instances, the leap to conversion is small. These followers are ready or near ready to make a purchase. With a strong email game, marketers can start and foster the beginning of the customer relationship.

Even if the relationship solely exists to build trust and name recognition, with no immediate conversion in site, consumers are more likely to come back to that brand in the future if/when they’re in need of their product or service. If you’re a skilled copywriter, even if you’re background in writing emanates from a totally different area, the jump to email marketing may be a small one. 

• Tools worth learning: Constant Contact, Drip, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, Pardot
• Courses worth taking: Start Growing Your Own Email List Today, HubSpot Academy, ClickMinded  

7. SEM and digital advertising

Run a quick Google search for the query “Facebook Advertising College Class” — or Instagram, or TikTok, or Snapchat — and let me know when you find an organic result for a college that offers something of substance. I’ll wait. 

The patient searcher may find LSU’s $2,499 Facebook Digital Marketing Specialist Certificate buried on page 4 of the search results. But, again, we’re talking theory vs. implementation. Just look at the expected learning outcomes: 

Understand this, understand that. A surface-level primer of subject material. This isn’t to rag on LSU or any other university for that matter — they’re bold for helping introduce interested learners to the field. It just highlights the steep challenge higher education faces when A/B testing creative advertising material can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. 

Alas, $356 billion was spent on digital advertising in 2020._[1] The vast majority spent by a select few marketing specialists that have mastered reaching customers where they spend an inordinate amount of time: on search and social media platforms.  

Search engine marketing, often Google/YouTube/Bing Ads, or paid social acquisition (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok ads, etc.), helps businesses reach new customers as a part of a holistic marketing strategy. From targeting cold audiences (display ads) to re-targeting cart abandonments with discounts or one-time offers (OTOs), digital advertising is often the most controlled variable in a business’s expenses.

If the average lifetime value of a customer to a particular brand is $182, and you can get them in the door for $6.37 in ad spend, you’re going to have a job as long as you can count. 

• Tools worth learning: Facebook Ads Manager, Google Ad Manager, Zapier, AdEspresso
• Courses worth taking: Facebook Side Hustle, Google Ads Certification, Social Media Marketing Mastery

8. Advanced affiliate marketing

There’s a phrase commonly used amongst bloggers and email marketers that states “the money is in your list.” It’s a metaphor for the fact that, as previously mentioned, your email list is the often source of your most fervent and loyal [repeat] customers. 

And while it’s absolutely true, few things best the passive income (and scalability) that a well-constructed affiliate program boasts. (For those unaware, affiliate marketing is the act of selling another company’s product for a commission). 

Example 1: A popular teeth whitening company approaches a TikTok influencer about promoting their product. They pay a $15,000 sponsorship fee for a 30-second spot in one of the influencer’s upcoming videos. Beyond the initial sponsorship fee, the company offers a $15.00 commission for each viewer that visits an interest form and signs up giving their name and email address. The $15.00 CPA (cost-per-action) is an evergreen relationship that incentivizes the influencer to keep promoting the company if/where it’s relevant within their content. 

Example 2: A well-known credit card company needs an affiliate manager to set up and track affiliate relationships with over 1,000 finance content publishers. The affiliate manager uses one of several available affiliate network software’s to create the automated program, negotiate payouts with publishers, and create unique tracking attributes to better understand when certain publishers are meeting or exceeding desired KPIs. The credit card company receives real-time reporting from the affiliate manager via a robust reporting dashboard and selects a few high-quality publishers to run large-scale promotional campaigns with. 

In either example, an affiliate marketer uses their mastery-level understanding of commonly used affiliate software to create an advertiser-publisher relationship that mutually benefits each party. As a one-man show, you’ll be expected to know the intricacies of cookie tracking, server-based tracking, and all the nuanced complexities associated with ensuring that conversions across all devices and browsers occur when they’re supposed to. 

Influencers and publishers like to get paid for commissions and brands don’t like to deal with the fallout when things don’t track correctly. You have to be on your A-game here, but you’ll often get paid handsomely for it. 

• Tools worth learning: Impact, Tune, Everflow, Cake, Post Affiliate Pro, ClickBank, CJ Affiliate
• Courses worth taking: Start Your Affiliate Marketing Business, Authority Site System, Sub-Campaign Tracking Guide 

9. E-commerce store management 

Dropshipping, Amazon FBA, Shopify, Alibaba. It’s all word soup for what has become affectionately known as e-commerce to many forward-thinking entrepreneurs over the past 25 years. I’m not talking about your local Kohl’s taking their brick-and-mortar locations online (although that’s e-commerce, too), I’m talking about the small-box retailers competing against the well-established giants for space in the digital ecosystem. 

The once-small startup trying to sell razors (hello Dollar Shave Club). The local clothing boutique trying to get its new product line out there. The small-town art gallery trying to get traction. The David’s of the world, not the Goliaths. 

These companies often struggle to make it because their digital presence isn’t there to help make ends meet when their physical location underperforms. Even local bakeries can 10x their business with the right e-commerce systems in place. And for every dozen businesses that struggle, you see that one headline of a kid out there crushing it. 

While things have come a long way, and do-it-yourself digital storefront options abound, the truth is most small business owners don’t understand the difference between simply listing their stock, and using website architecture, CRO, SEO, and paid advertising to get the most of out their shop. 

While there’s a lot there to untangle, merely setting up an e-commerce shop, making it user-friendly and easy to navigate, and establishing a payment gateway is often too much for small business owners to handle. 

• Tools worth learning: Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, JungleScout, ProProfs, Oberlo
• Courses worth taking: Shopify Partner Academy, WooCommerce 101, BigCommerce University, Ecom Success Academy [Premium]

10. Project management, freelance support, and outsourcing

There comes a point in time where business owners almost universally realize one thing: they can’t do it all. 

It’s hard to let go. It’s hard to not micromanage when you feel like you’re the only one who can and will do things correctly. But not letting certain aspects of your business go is almost certainly a nail in your coffin when it comes to growing and maintaining a business. 

Some business owners know this, and they’re actually ready to take the first step, but they don’t know where to start, or what to actually outsource. They get it wrong, waste money outsourcing the wrong thing, and now they’re out time, money, and their sanity.  That’s where a project management expert can help.

As the expert, you’ll get intimately familiar with a client’s business, organize it from top to bottom, and help them identify the correct areas to plug and play freelance/contract support if hiring FTEs isn’t on the table. 

You’ll start by having in-depth discussions about standard operating procedures, company goals, and opportunities for growth. You’ll systematize and organize projects within popular project management softwares (Asana, Trello, Basecamp and so many more), and you’ll get to work finding inefficiencies in the current workflow that you can effectively (and affordably) hire out to start alleviating pressure on business owners struggling to maintain operational control. 

For the detailed-oriented neat freak, it’s the perfect tech job. And it’s one companies will praise you for over and over again when things start operating smoother than Trea Turner’s recent slide into home.

• Tools worth learning: Asana, Trello, Basecamp, LiquidPlanner, Teamwork
• Courses worth taking: Simplilearn, BrainSensei

The post 10 Digital Marketing Skills They Don’t Teach You in School appeared first on DollarSprout.

We had about 1,000 ideas written down at any given time. We’d wake up, meet in the living room (back when we shared an apartment), have our coffee, then sit down and start working on whatever idea we felt most inspired about that day.

You might be thinking that doesn’t sound like the best strategy for building a business. And you’d be right.

There were many weeks and months where we looked back and thought, “What did we even accomplish?” We weren’t making (or were barely making) any money, which is kind of the whole point of a business. Without revenue, you really just have a hobby.

We spent so much of our time being busy, working 14+ hours a day. But we weren’t being very productive, and we definitely weren’t focused on the things that matter most in a business — the ones that bring in revenue.

We didn’t know it at the time, but we’re far from the only people who venture into self-employment that have this experience.

The Idea for the Freelancer Playbook

We’ve been in business for over five years now. In that time, we’ve met a lot of other business owners.

Having a community of fellow self-employed entrepreneurs is great for sharing business highs and ideas. But it’s also great for commiserating.

It’s through this commiserating that we realized so many people experienced the same problems we did in our business:

• Always feeling “busy” but not productive
• Not knowing what to focus on or how to prioritize tasks and projects
• Unclear of the path forward and how to actually grow a business

Now, before we go on, I want to be very clear about two things:

1. Ben and I have never really been freelancers.

We started our business as a membership site. Then when that didn’t work out, we transitioned to a media company.

We did have a handful of coaching/consulting clients in the early stages, but freelancing was never really our business model. Why, then, would we decide to create a planner for freelancers?

Well, a few reasons:

• There are already a lot of planners and journals out there for people who aren’t freelancers or solo-preneurs. But there are very few planners that address the unique challenges of a freelance business owner.
• We love the idea of freelancing. There are over 57 million freelancers in the U.S. for a reason._[1] It’s one of the most accessible ways to start an online business because you don’t need much to get off the ground — just the skills you already have and clients who are willing to pay you. Which is why freelancing is one of the number one ways we recommend for building a business or making extra money.
• Freelancers struggle with these issues the most. At least in our experience, speaking with freelancers we’ve worked with and those in our community, freelancers seem to have the most trouble focusing on the right things and building sustainable revenue in their business. And it makes sense. As a blogger or affiliate marketer, the money you make isn’t directly correlated to the hours you spend working. But as a freelancer, you’re often trading time for money, which means the less focused and productive you are, the less you’ll make in your business.

So that’s what led us to decide on freelancers, but what about the idea for a planner? That leads to clarification number two:

2. Neither Ben nor I have ever really been planner people.

I know that’s not a good look for us at first glance, but hear me out.

I’ve always been a pen-and-paper kind of guy. Both of us have.

When we first started this business, we had a living room full of white boards, easels, and stacks of notebooks on our living room table.

Whenever I have a lot on my brain or a new idea to work out, I sit down with my favorite pen, grab a notebook, and let the thoughts flow from my brain, down my arm and onto the paper.

There’s something about physically writing something down — whether it’s an idea or a to-do list — that you just don’t get with digital tools.

But admittedly, I’ve never liked planners. I’ve tried using several of them before, but I didn’t like the structure and rigidity of so many planners. It either felt like there was too much stuff that I didn’t need or want to use, or it just didn’t fit my goals as a business owner.

That’s why when we decided to create the Freelancer Playbook, we knew we wanted to make something practical and streamlined. Something that included everything you need to build a freelance business and nothing you don’t.

Which is why we co-created the Freelancer Playbook with actual freelancers and planner lovers. We got feedback from our own team of freelancers, created a group of over 200 beta testers, and asked the questions no one had asked them before:

• What do you absolutely have to have in a planner?
• What are deal breakers for you in a planner?
• What have been the most helpful exercises in helping you set and achieve goals in your business?
• What do you struggle with the most when it comes to staying organized and being productive in your business?

With all this information in hand, we set out to create the Freelancer Playbook.

Designing the Planner

I am not a graphic designer. 

So, naturally, I decided that I was going to be the one to design the entire planner. The cover, the logo, the daily pages, the works. 

It felt like the best way for me to understand the problems of the freelancers in our community and incorporate all their feedback. Plus, I’m guilty of sometimes making things more difficult for myself than they probably need to be.

I don’t know how to use any of the fancy design programs like Photoshop or InDesign or Illustrator. I’m a PowerPoint guy. So that’s what I used to create all the designs.

Before I started sketching out rough drafts of each page, I made two lists from the responses we’d received so far.

On the first list, I wrote what our freelance community wanted this planner to accomplish. Here’s the Objectives List:

• Help freelancers balance all the areas of their business
• Teach freelancers how to not just work “in” their biz, but “on” their biz
• Help people create (and accomplish) short- and medium-term goals
• Encourage routine introspection
• Stay on top of the day-to-day tasks
• Etc.

On the second list, I wrote down what kinds of “base” pages we would need. Here’s the Pages List:

• Daily planning pages
• Monthly calendar
• Weekly planning page
• Backburner pages
• How to Use section
• Etc.

With both lists side by side, I started connecting the dots and mapping out which Pages were going to be used to accomplish each of the Objectives. In the beginning, some Pages had a bunch of lines (i.e. Objectives) connected to them, whereas others had none. And there were a few Objectives that didn’t yet have a home.

The Sketching Begins

Once I had all of this written down on paper, it was time to start creating. To be honest, I was overwhelmed and had no idea where to start. 

After a few hours of accomplishing basically nothing, I decided to focus on just one page at a time. I started with the Daily Planning Page. This was the page people would be using the most often, so it seemed like a good place to start. Definitely smarter than designing all the pages at the same time, which is what I was trying to do before. 

Here’s how the sketching process worked:

1. I would draw out a wireframe of how I wanted the page laid out.
2. I would ask freelancers (either on our team or in our beta group) to point out everything they could think of that was wrong with the design.

And let me tell you, there was no shortage of feedback. I needed it, and I’m thankful to our community for being so generous with their time and providing thoughtful insights.

Something I learned: Don’t just ask someone what they think about something you’re making. Ask them to poke as many holes in it as possible… and keep pressing them until you have a nice list of things that can be better. People are nice and want to tell you that they love what you made, but you need to dig deeper. There is no room for emotions here!

One other thing: It can be physically impossible to incorporate everyone’s feedback. Some people want lines in their notebook, some want no lines. One person wants ribbon bookmarks, someone else hates them. At the end of the day, I trusted our feedback group and went with the majority consensus.

Turning Sketches Into Printable Files

I won’t lie, this part was a serious grind for me. Mainly because a) I’m not a graphic designer, and b) I was creating everything in PowerPoint. 

Again, we could’ve hired a designer to create everything in Illustrator, and I’m sure it would’ve saved an enormous amount of time. But I didn’t want to delegate this part of the project. Part of the purpose of co-creating this planner with our community was that I wanted to be involved, to work directly with the people we were serving. And it felt like the best way to do that was to be the one in the design chair, even if it was a new (and somewhat uncomfortable) role for me.

After each page was made in PowerPoint, I would print it out and see how it felt on physical paper. This led to way more adjustments being made than I expected, but I’m so glad I did it. Sometimes what looks good on a screen simply doesn’t translate the same way on a printed page, especially when it’s a page that’s meant to be handwritten on. 

Examples of things I changed after seeing the printed drafts:

• Font sizes
• Space between lines
• Spacing between checkboxes

Most things were minor, but wow they made a huge difference once they were fixed. I’m also realizing as I’m writing this that I might be a little too Type A.

Finding a Manufacturer and Nailing the Specs

We started this process with zero knowledge of how to make a physical product. Ben and I had literally no idea what we were doing.

I figured getting a planner made would be fairly straightforward, but alas, it was not. Before I could even get quotes from manufacturers, I needed to learn all the terminology and decide on the exact specs for the planner.

In this phase, I learned about:

• Paper weights
• Binding types (smyth-sewn, spiral, wire, etc.)
• Cover types (linen, leather, paper, etc.)
• Cover printing (emboss, deboss, foil stamping, et.)
• Standard black vs. Rich black ink
• And much more

I spent hours and hours researching all of this stuff and going back to our group to see what actually mattered to them and what they didn’t really care about. (I was glad to hear that I’m not the only paper snob.) We want the 90-Day Freelancer Playbook to be the clear #1 choice of paper planner on the market for freelancers, so I definitely took my time on this to get it 100% right.

Waiting on the Prototype

As I’m writing this post, our first prototype is still being made. It should be here in less than a week. I’m nervous as can be, but I’m also cautiously optimistic that it’s going to be awesome. We’ve been co-creating this planner with our community for months, and we can’t wait to share it with everyone and finally see it in use.

Once we get the prototype in hand, the tentative plan is to:

1. Go through, page by page, line by line, and find any mistakes.
2. Do a mini photoshoot of the planner for our Kickstarter campaign.
3. Publish the campaign and get the word out to as many people as possible who might be interested (via email list, ads, our blog, social media, etc.).

If all goes according to plan, we’ll launch the Kickstarter campaign in mid-May and (if the campaign succeeds) submit a mass production order for at least 1,000 90-Day Freelancer Playbooks in June!

Getting It Into People’s Hands

I can’t wait to see how freelancers use The Playbook. There really does seem to be a hole in the market for a planner like this one, and I think the right people are going to get a ton of value out of it.

It’s scary to try something so new and different from what we normally do in our business, and it’s also scary to share a behind-the-scenes look at how it’s going before we know if it’ll be a success. That’s part of the thrill of documenting it all online — you get to come on the journey with us.

If you’re interested in the Freelancer Playbook, you can grab a copy on our Kickstarter Campaign page.

The post A Behind the Scenes Look at the 90-Day Freelancer Playbook appeared first on DollarSprout.

As my client roster grew, I juggled projects, social media, marketing, networking, and bookkeeping, all while working full time. It was a lot to keep track of. 

Now that I’m self-employed, my time is even more valuable, which is why my paper planner is the freelance tool I can’t live without.

There are lots of great apps to track your goals and to-do lists, but many prefer the ease and simplicity of a pen and paper notebook, and for good reason. Studies show that people who write notes manually have better memory retention._[1]  You may also be less distracted and more productive when you don’t have to switch between apps throughout your day.

And as a freelancer, being more productive means making the same amount of money in less time.

Here are the best planners for freelancers that I recommend trying. I’ve included a breakdown of the key features and layouts of each planner, my experience using it, and what I think each planner works best for.

1. The Freelancer Playbook ($35)

Best for: setting business-specific goals and tracking income

I prefer to keep my freelance work separate from the rest of my life. Who wants to open their planner to see their personal to-dos and immediately be reminded of a client to follow up with or an email you forgot to respond to? That’s why I worked with the rest of the DollarSprout team to create a planner specifically for freelancers.

We created the Freelancer Playbook to help you focus on what matters most in your business so you can be more productive in less time. It’s the most holistic freelancer planner that we know of.

The Freelancer Playbook includes:

• Revenue Tracker: This is my favorite feature. At the end of the workday, I take five minutes to add up my hours (for my project management clients) and words (for freelance writing) and calculate my total earnings for the day. This helps keep me on track toward my monthly income goal.
• The Big 4: These are the key areas to focus on in order to grow a sustainable freelance business. As you know, freelancing is a lot more than working and getting paid. You have to find clients, continue to hone your craft, and manage the back end of your business. The Freelancer Playbook helps you set tangible goals for each critical area to keep your business in balance.
• Setting Aligned Goals Exercise: This is the most extensive goal-setting exercise I’ve seen in a planner. You’ll start with high-level visioning, then create 90-day goals, and break your goal into smaller milestones to work toward each week.
• Monthly/weekly calendars and reviews: Use the monthly and weekly layouts to view all your events, meetings, and deadlines in one place. Then at the end of each week and month, review your hours worked, average hourly rate, and progress toward your 90-day goals.
• Daily pages: Each daily layout comes with a 6am to 7pm time log, to-do lists separated by priority, and an entire page for notes. It also includes a 30-second end-of-day review of items to complete before you clock out.
• The Backburner: We all have those tasks that aren’t critical right now but need to be done at some point. So you copy them from week to week. But for every item you check off, it seems like you add two more, and your to-do list never shrinks. The Backburner is the solution to that — a place to keep track of your running to-do list of lower-priority items and ideas.

This is the planner I wish I’d had when I first started freelancing, and probably the only one I’ll ever use again.

The Freelancer Playbook is live on Kickstarter. Click here to reserve your copy.

2. The Passion Planner Daily ($30-$35)

Best for: tracking personal and business goals/to-dos in one place

The Passion Planner isn’t freelancer-specific, but many freelancers love it for the versatility and unique styles. This planner is undated with weekly or daily formats that come with four main sections:

• Passion roadmap: This exercise helps you define your “gamechanger goal” — the goal that would have the biggest positive impact in your life right now — and break it down into actionable steps. As a big goal-setter (and full-time freelancer), I loved this exercise. It helped me narrow the focus in my business rather than taking any freelance projects I could find.
• Yearly overview: The annual overview gives you a zoomed-out view of your year. Add any vacations, projects, or time off here so you can plan your schedule and workload in advance. This is especially helpful for full-time freelancers. If you have a trip planned in May, then you know you need to set aside some of your earnings January through April so that you can pay yourself while taking time away.
• Daily layout: This is where the Passion Planner starts to lose me. For the undated version, you have to choose between weekly and daily schedule templates. They currently don’t offer both in the same planner, which is a deal breaker for me. The daily layouts include space for three tasks each for your personal, work, and “gamechanger” goals. Each day comes with a time log from 5am to 11pm. This could be ideal for certain types of freelancers, or if you prefer to time block your days. These pages also include reflection questions, like the best thing that happened to you today, something you learned, and your mood.
• Monthly self check-ins: The reflection questions in this section encourage you to focus on the positives of the month, like memorable moments and lessons learned. The questions are broad, but you can apply them to your business and reflect on challenges, accomplishments, and what you want to spend more time on in your business going forward.

As a planner minimalist, the Passion Planner is a bit overkill for me. I don’t like mixing personal life with business, so I prefer a planner that’s more straightforward for tracking my freelance goals and projects. But if you want a robust planner that allows you to do both, then the Passion Planner may be the tool for you.

Related: 5 Steps to Sell Your Services Online and Fill Your Freelance Schedule

3. The Content Creator’s Planner ($29-$39)

Best for: creating a content marketing plan to sell your product or service

The Content Creator’s Planner is a newer addition for me. I bought it to help me create a content marketing plan for my financial coaching services. Even though I’m still in the early stages of implementation, it’s already an incredible find. The Content Creator’s Planner can help you create content strategies for your clients or sell more of your own product or service online. It’s a also a great option for bloggers and social media managers.

Here’s what’s inside:

• Monthly campaign: This is where you’ll decide on your purpose-driven content for the month. You start with your business goals, like a revenue target or launching a new service. Then brainstorm content topics, calls to action, and choose the end goal for each piece of content.
• Content strategy map: Once you have your content topics, this page helps you break them down by type (blog post, podcast, etc.), including cornerstone pieces and micro-content for social media.
• Monthly and quarterly statistics: Track your numbers for sales, blog traffic, podcast downloads, and more.
• Undated monthly and weekly calendars: View your publishing schedule for all your content mediums.
• Content types checklists: This was such a unique value-add for me in this planner. The creators included a checklist of items to do before, during, and after publishing different types of content (YouTube videos, Instagram Lives, blog posts, etc.). This has been a true time and headache saver in my business.

The Content Creator’s Planner comes in three different forms: print, digital (PDF), and Trello board. I ordered the printed version, which comes spiral-bound and is similar, both in price and end product, to what you would get if you bought the PDF and printed it at FedEx. 

This planner comes with a free setup guide. But as someone who’s not an expert at content marketing (and often feels overwhelmed by it), I purchased the $49 companion course, the Content Masterclass, for a little more guidance.

Related: 15 Ways to Maximize Your Productivity and Earnings as a Freelancer

4. The Freelancer Planner ($15)

Best for: no-frills to-do list and revenue tracking

This planner combines elements of the Freelancer Playbook and the Content Creator’s Planner. It’s directly targeted for freelancers, but specifically for those with an online presence or who rely on content marketing to promote their business.

The Freelancer Planner comes with:

• Monthly view: Track your project and income goals for the month, and view all your projects, meetings, and deadlines on the calendar page.
• Weekly planning pages: This page includes a column for your weekly tasks and another to write down which goal this task aligns with. This helps keep your goals top of mind. It also has a space for your “staple tasks” like content creation, marketing and PR, and client work.
• Weekly to-do list: A two-page spread with space for three priority tasks per day.
• Monthly recap and post-mortem: This is the most useful part of this planner for me. Here, you can reflect on which goals you met in the last month, which ones you didn’t, and what you’ll do differently going forward. The metrics page leaves space to calculate your average hourly rate, which helps determine your most profitable projects and clients.

The Freelancer Planner is a minimal, no-frills freelance project planner for tracking your to-do list and revenue targets. However, unlike some of the other options on this list, this planner doesn’t include much help or guidance for setting goals for your freelance business. 

It looks like this planner is no longer available in printed form, but you can order the PDF for $15 and print it out yourself.

Related: How to Fire a Freelance Client without Ruining Your Reputation

5. The Day Designer Today & To Do Planner ($49-$59)

Best for: simple task tracking and planning daily to-dos

The Day Designer daily and weekly academic planners come in many colorful and floral designs, mainly targeted at women. But the more flexible and non-dated Day Designer Today & To Do planner offers a sleeker, more minimalist look in red or navy.

This planner comes with:

• Daily planning pages: Similar to other planners, you have room for notes, to-dos, and and daily appointments with a timeline from 7am to 8pm. But a few unique features give this one the edge over other planners on the market. Other planners force you to choose three tasks per day, but the Today & To Do planner leaves room for many more, with a section to choose your most important three. It also includes a “Dollars” box, which could be used in several ways, but I used it to log my freelance income earned each day. There are also fewer reflection and check-in questions, which may be ideal depending on your personality and preference.
• Weekly and monthly planning pages: Both include space for to-dos, notes, and the weekly pages have a space to list your top three priorities for the week.
• Goal setting worksheets: When done well, the goal setting exercises are the magic of any good planner. My favorites in this one are the core values, where you identify your top five values, passions, and strengths, and the ideal week and month exercises.

The Today & To Do planner is a good fit if you prefer a simple, no-fluff option to track your weekly and daily to-do lists. Since it’s not designed specifically for freelancers, it doesn’t include a designated space to track your income, hours worked, or reflect on your business goals. But it can still be adapted as a freelance or side hustle planner.

Related: How to Make More Money as a Freelance Writer

6. Self Journal ($32)

Best for: combining personal development with business tracking

The Self Journal comes with a lot of bells and whistles. That may be a good thing if you enjoy personal development and want a place to track your daily habits in addition to your business goals. Or it may be completely overwhelming.

Here’s what you get with the Self Journal:

• 13-week bucket list and BestSelf Benchmark: Use the bucket list for places you want to visit, things to do, and people to meet in the next 13 weeks. While the Benchmark is meant to be a reflection of your health, relationships, finances, and other key areas of your life, these can be adapted for business-related goals. For example, instead of “Relationships,” I used this section for “Clients.” What are my current clients like, and what types of clients do I want to work with more in the future?
• 13-week goal setting and reflection: This holistic planner encourages you to set goals for your health, finances, work, relationships, personal growth, and mindfulness. Again, I adapted this planner to my freelancing business by using all of these pages for business goals. The milestone and critical driver sections help you break down each goal into actionable steps. At the end of the 13 weeks, you can look back on your progress and reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and what you’ll change going forward.
• Weekly planning and review: Log your top three priorities, any deadlines for the week, and other tasks. This page comes in a list format rather than the typical calendar view. The reflection questions aren’t business-specific but can easily be adapted to fit your freelance work. For example, I used the “What did your key relationships look like this week?” question to reflect on interactions with clients and ways I can continue to nurture those professional relationships.
• Daily planning pages: The Self Journal’s focus is mainly on personal improvement, so in addition to the typical gratitude, these pages include a mood tracker, win the day score, and “What will make today great?” prompt.
• Habit tracker: Track habits in your business, like posting on Instagram three times per week, or add personal habits you want to implement, like going to the gym or taking your vitamins.

If you already feel strapped for time, then a planner as involved as the Self Journal can feel like a chore. But if you’re looking to implement healthy habits alongside your business goals, then this may be the planner for you.

7. The Freelancer’s Daily Log ($5+)

Best for: analog time tracking at home or on the go

As the name suggests, The Freelancer’s Daily Log focuses on one thing: tracking your time. While there are plenty of online tools for time tracking, some freelancers prefer the old-fashioned method of pen and paper.

Each page includes space for four clients. While it’s less of a freelance organizer and more of a tracker, the Freelancer’s Daily Log can make a good companion to a more robust planner or for freelancers who switch between clients and projects multiple times a day and forget to punch a digital time clock. 

How to Choose the Best Planner for Your Freelance Business

The right tools can be a game changer for your freelance business, and a planner is no different. But every planner comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Choose one that fits your lifestyle, business goals, and preferences. 

If you want a planner that combines work and personal goals, then there are plenty of options for that. If all you want from a planner is a place to track your hours because you hate using digital time clocks, then The Freelancer’s Daily Log will probably be sufficient.

What matters most is that you enjoy using whichever planner you choose. The more you enjoy your planner, the more likely you are to put it to use.

The post 7 Best Paper Planners to Organize Your Freelance Business appeared first on DollarSprout.

Sometimes, a company offers you a higher salary than its competitors, but it comes at the cost of worse benefits. The bigger paycheck may not give you the best value once you factor in the higher healthcare costs or a lower 401(k) match.

The last time I was job hunting, I was lucky enough to secure three offers. The salaries were within $5,000 of each other, but they each offered different perks. I chose the organization with the best employee benefits package, and it ended up being the right move.

Employee Benefits to Look For When Job Hunting

Sometimes you can negotiate certain benefits, but others are governed by a plan document and can’t be changed for an individual employee. Here are the benefits to look at when comparing job offers.

1. Retirement

If your potential position offers a retirement account, you may think you’ve hit the jackpot. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

These plans, such as 401(k)s and 403(b)s, offer benefits that vary from firm to firm. Some come with high fees that result in diminished returns while others offer low-fee programs with great investment options.

In my first position, I got a 3% contribution to my retirement plan regardless of whether I put money in. But a different job required me to set aside 6% of my salary to get a 4% match. Before you accept an offer, understand how any matching funds can be earned.

You should also understand the vesting process. Some companies require that you work there for a certain length of time before you’re 100% vested, while others have immediate vesting.

2. Paid time off

The names for this benefit vary. It may be called paid time off (PTO), vacation, sick time, or paid leave.

Whenever I switched workplaces, I always tried to negotiate more vacation time. I was often able to secure an additional week of PTO beyond what each employer offered, even though it went against the established policy. Firms may not be willing to budge from their official paid leave benefits, though.

3. Raises, bonuses, or overtime

Knowing your total compensation is vital. You have to understand how much you’ll be paid beyond your salary or hourly rate.

Ask if you’ll be eligible for overtime. For non-exempt workers, overtime pay is governed by law. Despite the fact I was an exempt employee, which is a term for employees not required to be paid overtime, my first position offered straight-time overtime for their salaried workers.

Bonuses and raises can play a big factor in your total take-home pay. Research pay potential on anonymous sites like Glassdoor. You should also ask the hiring manager about their usual bonus and pay increase practices.

An organization that offers a high initial salary but only gives raises for major promotions may not be the best choice. Another company that gives sizable annual raises to most employees may result in higher pay down the road.

Related: How to Ask for a Raise: The Advice No One Ever Gave You

4. Insurance

Employers may offer health, vision, dental, life, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance. Other types of insurance, such as pet insurance, may be offered in rare cases.

When comparing insurance options, ask for the insurance plan documents. This gives you an idea of what the insurance pays for. Premiums, deductibles, providers, and coverage options can vary between plans.

Find out if the business subsidizes the cost of the policy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average civilian employer pays 67% of a family health insurance plan’s cost. This can provide massive savings.

While insurance isn’t negotiable, it’s necessary to understand what you’re being offered.

5. Work from home opportunity

The opportunity to work from home is a benefit more workplaces are offering. You may want the option to avoid the office to save on commuting time and costs. Some people perform better away from the distractions of the workplace.

Even human resources professionals see the benefits of remote work.

“If I were to convince an employer to allow me to work from home, and I did, I would definitely talk about the potential for increased productivity,” said Sandy Smith, Senior Certified Professional in HR and founder of the Elevate Community.

Related: Is Working From Home Bad for Your Mental Health?

6. Paid training

Paid training can be a big money saver if you hold a professional license that requires continuing education. It may be offered to help you learn skills or to maintain certifications relevant to your career.

As a Certified Public Accountant, I must complete 40 hours of continuing professional education each year to maintain my license. My public accounting firm jobs paid for my training, but I had to negotiate having my education costs covered when I moved to corporate accounting.

7. Tuition reimbursement

Tuition reimbursement can benefit employees and the companies providing you the option to pursue a bachelor’s or a graduate degree. Even so, tuition reimbursement doesn’t mean you can study anything.

“If you’re going to be pursuing another degree or program, understand what potential employers cover in their reimbursement programs,” said Jen Bohler, PHR, SHRM-CP and YouTuber at The Budget Bounce. “If yours isn’t currently included, try to negotiate it into your offer, and get it in writing.”

Be sure you understand any repayment or employment restrictions associated with the benefit. You may have to repay certain costs if you leave before your agreement specifies.

Related: Should You Get a Graduate Degree?

8. Student loan assistance

As the student loan crisis continues to grow, more employers are assisting with the repayment of student loan debt. You may have to meet certain eligibility requirements to qualify for a workplace’s program, though.

Programs may offer monthly, yearly, or matching payments. Lifetime maximums on the total amount repaid or program time limits are standard.

9. Family planning benefits

Paid parental leave has become a hot topic in the United States. FMLA requires 12 weeks of unpaid leave in certain circumstances, but paid time off isn’t required.

“It’s nice to be able to expand your family without worrying about money,” Smith said. “More companies are providing up to 12 weeks of paid leave for men, women, and adoptive parents.”

Some progressive companies are even offering assistance with the costs of fertility treatment or adoptions.

10. Employee stock purchase plan

Some businesses provide workers an opportunity to own shares of the firm’s stock through an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP). These can be a great way to invest at a discount if you believe in your organization’s future.

The programs have strict guidelines, but it’s one way to get extra compensation through the discounted stock price. There are tax consequences for investing.

I never participated in an ESPP. The industry I worked in wasn’t one I was fond of investing in. Plus, I didn’t want to worry about my investment and my career if the firm faced difficult financial times.

Unique Employee Benefits That Set Companies Apart

Old-fashioned employee benefits provide significant services, but innovative workplaces are moving toward offering newer perks to help make their employees’ lives better. The most important benefits to employees aren’t always traditional ones.

11. Tech benefits

If you must be responsive around the clock, you may be provided with the technology to do so. If not, the organization could give you a stipend to buy equipment.

It may be tempting to use the equipment for personal use to save money.

“If the company does give you a device such as a cell phone, laptop, or tablet, you’re likely subject to usage monitoring,” said Laura Gariepy, a human resources expert turned freelancing coach at Every Day by the Lake, LLC. “Use that equipment strictly for company business.”

12. Pet-friendly policies

If you have fur babies instead of children, pets are a huge part of your world. Employers are beginning to recognize this and may offer pet insurance or the ability to bring your pet to work.

13. Personal health benefits

Progressive firms have started offering health-related benefits other than insurance. My first workplace had a small gym in the building any employee could use.

Others may offer free or discounted services in the office on a regular schedule, such as bringing in a massage therapist once per month.

Related: 11 Good Work Habits for Becoming a Stand-Out Employee

14. Time off for volunteering

Organizations often like to give back to their communities. One way they can do this is by offering employees time off to volunteer locally. Your options may be limited to certain causes your employer supports, though.

If this perk is important to you, Bohler suggested asking if there is a designated volunteer program, if it includes company-sanctioned volunteering events, or how many hours you may get paid to volunteer per year.

15. Free meals

“When your employer provides free coffee, snacks, and meals, it can save you a pretty penny and the hassle of having to procure them on your own,” Gariepy said.

When certain workplaces offer this perk, it’s a genuine way to say thank you to employees. Other companies may use this to get you to put in more hours in the evenings. Consider the motivations behind the perk before assuming it is a benefit.

Related: How to Negotiate Your Starting Salary

Read the Specifics of Your Company’s Policies

Before you sign your offer letter, get the specifics of any employee benefit policies that are your top priorities. Ask any questions you have before you commit.

When reading the policies, look out for commitments or hidden downsides. You may be required to stay employed by the organization for three years after receiving tuition reimbursement.

If a critical employee benefit isn’t available or isn’t as strong as you’d like, try to negotiate with the employer. You may be able to secure an extra week of PTO or a 2% higher salary if a competing offer provides more robust benefits.

Remember, a job is more than the salary. The best employee perks can result in a much different compensation package when viewed as a whole with your pay.

The post 15 Best Employee Benefits to Look For When Job Hunting appeared first on DollarSprout.

The information he wanted, which included my annual income, my mortgage amount and interest rate, and how much I had in savings, had nothing to do with the work I was providing as a writer; rather, he wanted to use it for his own purposes.

He told me I had a responsibility, as a personal finance writer and editor, to be transparent. If I didn’t share those details, he’d use his investigative journalism resources and contacts to find it anyway.

Needless to say, I terminated that relationship and never looked back.

Firing a client isn’t always as clear-cut as that experience. Often, it’s hard to tell when it’s time to fire a client. And when you decide it is, it’s a difficult conversation to have. One that most freelancers would avoid.

However, if you approach firing a client professionally and courteously, you can protect your professional reputation and still get paid.

Signs It’s Time to Fire a Client

Sometimes it’s difficult to know when to let a client go. Maybe you’re quitting freelancing for a full-time job. Maybe you just want to reduce your workload to spend time on other hobbies and pursuits.

Sometimes you just want to stop working together, but you’re worried about losing money or risking them badmouthing you to other people.

It’s not always obvious when it’s time to fire a client, but there are some warning signs to consider.

• Scope creep. This happens when a client incrementally increases the amount of work, regardless of how the project was outlined in your contract, without increasing your pay. Scope creep is one of the biggest problems in the client/freelancer relationship, and is a primary cause for terminating contracts. If you’ve asked for a rate increase due to scope creep and were denied, it may be time to let go.
• Time-consuming. Sometimes you might wind up taking on a client who takes up more time than you allotted or planned. This could be for a variety of reasons including scope creep, constant emails or texts, or unnecessary phone calls. If this happens frequently, it might be time to consider letting the client go.
• Lack of respect for boundaries. A client should respect limits you put on the relationship, whether that’s communicating with you only during your established working hours, only asking you to perform tasks you’re comfortable with, or not sharing excessively personal details. If you find they’re crossing a line, you probably need to end the project.
• Poor communication. Without clear communication, a freelance project can’t succeed. If you have a client who frequently changes their mind about what they want and doesn’t tell you, fails to answer your questions directly, or disappears for days at a time with no contact, it’s likely indicative of a larger problem.
• Chronically missing deadlines. A key part of effective freelancing relationships is both parties meeting deadlines. If your client fails to provide you with documents but still insists on the same deadline, or fails to pay you on time, it’s best to terminate the relationship. Someone who doesn’t respect your time isn’t worthy of it.
• Ignores all recommendations. Depending on the nature of your freelancing project, you might find yourself making strategic recommendations to the client. If they constantly question your suggestions, blatantly ignore them, or insist that what you’ve suggested is wrong, that client might not be worth keeping around.
• Makes unreasonable demands. Unlike the other warning signs, this is one you can generally pick up on in the beginning stages of a project. If a client wants a 100,000-word book edited in two days or a house built in a week, you’ll know this upfront and can say no before you even get started. But sometimes clients start off reasonable and progressively increase their demands. When those demands become unreasonable, whether it’s setting impossible-to-meet revised deadlines or wanting you to offer a discount, it’s probably time to fire them.

Depending on the client, you might be able to fix most of the problems on this list without ending the relationship. Sometimes you just have to stand up for yourself and assert your boundaries.

However, there are three circumstances in which you should almost always fire a client immediately: if they’re abusive, sexually harassing you, or asking you to do something illegal, unethical, or potentially harmful to another person or business.

The long-term consequences and harm done by abuse, harassment, and breaking the law aren’t worth it.

Related: How to Negotiate Your Starting Salary

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Firing a Client

If you’ve established that there’s cause to fire your client, you should have an honest conversation with yourself about why, how, and any potential consequences to terminating your professional relationship.

Some questions to ask include:

• Why am I firing this client?
• How will this impact my business financially?
• How will this impact my business’s reputation?
• In what ways will this impact the client?
• Are there any legal consequences? Do I need to consult a lawyer first?
• Are there steps I can take to fix the relationship?
• Can I have an open conversation with the client, revise the contract, raise my rates, or establish stricter boundaries?

Make sure you thoroughly answer these questions. Your responses responses will inform how you approach your client. It’s also a way to work through your concerns about firing them as well as provide a foundation for your termination letter.

If you have a mastermind group, partner, or friend in the same business, talk through the questions with them as well. They might provide a perspective you hadn’t thought about or give advice on what to do next.

You might even find that, after answering these questions and talking them through with others, you can approach your client with an open and honest conversation and implement some solutions without having to fire them.

Related: What to Do When You Hate Your Job and Want to Quit

6 Tips for Professionally Firing a Client

If you’ve tried to fix the freelancer/client relationship and nothing has changed, or you’ve decided the relationship isn’t worth salvaging, you need to fire your client professionally. You don’t want to burn any bridges, and you still want to get paid.

To make sure that happens, here are a few steps to follow.

1. Set a meeting time and method.

Once you’ve made up your mind to fire a client, it’s best to get an appointment with them on your calendar as soon as possible so you don’t lose your nerve.

If you’re going to meet with them face to face, make it somewhere neutral and quiet. Your office or theirs is a good choice, but if that’s not an option, you can always try a public library, co-working space, or another public location that offers meeting rooms.

For online conversations, make sure you have a reliable internet connection and your laptop or phone is fully charged. That way your connection doesn’t go out in the middle of the conversation.

If a face-to-face meeting isn’t possible, you can terminate your client relationship via email. Before sending the message, take some time to proofread it. Make sure it’s free from spelling errors, ambiguous statements, and emotionally-charged language. You can also send it to a friend beforehand to see if they agree with the tone and content.

While it might make you feel better to say exactly how you feel, once it’s been received in writing, you can’t take it back.

Related: How to Maximize Your Productivity and Increase Your Earnings as a Freelancer

2. Create a plan and timeline.

Just like you would when quitting your job, give the client a detailed plan for ending the relationship. Spell out details including:

• Revised timeline for project completion
• Final payment schedule
• Securing a reference or recommendation

Out of professional courtesy, you can work with your client to formulate a plan that benefits both of you, but it’s a good idea to have your details worked out ahead of time. For instance, if you want to end the project in two weeks and get paid one week after submitting your final deliverable, bring that timeline to the meeting.

Even if your client doesn’t agree with your timeframe, it gives you a starting point for negotiations.

It also shows that you’re the kind of freelancer who respects your clients enough not to quit in the middle of a project. Bethany McCamish, freelance writer and owner at Bethany Works LLC, makes sure to see her contracts through until the end.

“Contracts that are ongoing (like writing work) are a bit different and can be ended at any time by either the client or myself, but I always make sure to complete the assigned articles first,” she said.

Seeing a contract through to the end helps protect your professional reputation, and you might even be able to secure a good reference from your former client.

Related: 5 Steps to Sell Your Services Online and Fill Your Freelance Schedule

3. Make it clear it’s not personal.

Even if you’re firing a client because you can’t stand them or working with them feels immoral, you want to make sure you refrain from telling them that. You want to communicate that the reasons you’re terminating the relationship are purely professional; that it’s a business decision, not a personal one.

Some reasons you can give:

• You’re raising rates
• You’re no longer providing that service
• They’ve violated the terms of your contract
• You haven’t been paid for any work

Freelance writer and best-selling author Emily Guy Birken uses a creative strategy when she lets a client go. Rather than completely quitting, she raises her rates.

“I choose an amount that would make it worthwhile for me to keep working under the same conditions, but I generally suspect that my new rate will deter the client from asking me to take on more work,” she said.

This puts it in the client’s hands whether or not they want to keep working with her, and she’s typically found that the ones she’d like to fire are the ones who don’t accept her rate increase.

While you generally want to let the client know this is a business decision, in cases of abuse or harassment, if you feel comfortable, you should address this directly with the client. Tell them that their behavior is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated, and you’re ending the project as a result.

Related: How to Ask for a Raise: The Advice No One Ever Gave You

4. Reach out to other freelancers.

When you decide to fire a client, do your due diligence and reach out to your network to see if there are any other freelancers who might be willing to take them on.

This frequently happens in a Facebook group I belong to. When one person can’t work for a client for whatever reason — they don’t have time in their schedule, the subject matter is beyond their expertise, the pay is too low — they present the opportunity to the rest of the group. Those who are interested let the original freelancer know, and that person brings the list of options to the client.

Presenting options to your clients makes it feel like they’re not being hung out to dry, and that they’ll have someone to complete the unfinished work or assist with future projects. It shows that you care about your clients and are willing to go the extra mile to help them, even when you’re no longer under contract.

It also helps your fellow freelancers, as McCamish found. “I think it’s essential as a freelancer to pass on work and help out my colleagues this way,” she said.

Paying it forward is a great way to set yourself apart and ensure that one day, someone in a similar position might do the same for you.

Remember, if a client is particularly challenging, and you can’t in good faith recommend them to someone else, don’t. You don’t want to compromise your relationships with others in your network over one bad client.

5. Write a script.

Even if you think you’ll never need to fire a client, it’s a good idea to have a script on hand just in case. There might be that one situation or project you just can’t do, and you’ll need to let the client know.

A good format for your termination script starts and ends your letter with positives and keeps the negative information — the reason you’re ending the professional relationship – in the middle.

McCamish follows this format and says it’s helped preserve her professional relationships.

“Whenever I ‘fire’ a client…I will always thank them for their business and personalize exactly how they helped me grow,” she said. “Then I give the reason for leaving. And sandwich this again with another thank you/how we can stay connected.”

Here’s a sample script that follows this format:

[Name],

Thanks for meeting with me today. While I’ve appreciated the opportunity to work with you, I’ve decided that as of [date], I will no longer be able to work on this project.

After evaluating my goals, I have decided to take my business in a different direction, with a focus on new services and more work-life balance.

You can expect me to finish all the outstanding work, and I’m happy to connect you with other freelancers who might be a better fit for your needs and budget.

If you’d like, we can schedule an additional time to outline a plan going forward, including deciding which deliverables are a priority to complete and revising the payment schedule.

When using a script, it should be concise, direct, and respectful. Tailor it to your specific client and circumstances, taking care to not just copy and paste in an email.

You might also want to create different scripts for the various reasons you might fire a client, whether it’s personal reasons, raising your rates, changing the scope of your services, or something specific to your industry.

6. Trust your instincts.

Firing a client is never easy. But you know what you’re willing to deal with, and how much someone needs to pay you to put up with increasing demands or unreasonable expectations. If you’ve reached a point in your client relationship that it’s become toxic to you, and you can’t handle it anymore, it’s time to fire the client.

Although you might question your decision now, over time you’ll realize letting this client go was best for your business, your mental health, and your self-esteem.

It’s OK to Fire a Client

Whether it’s for financial reasons, worried that they’ll never find another client, or needing to build a portfolio, many freelancers feel that they need to keep working with clients who are difficult, unreasonable, or even abusive.

But that’s not the case.

If you do quality work, are professional and reliable, and have reasonable rates, there will be clients who want to use your services. And if you need to fire a client at some point, and do it respectfully, timely, and thoughtfully, it shouldn’t hurt you in the long run.

The post How to Fire a Client: 6 Tips for a Polite Breakup (with Script) appeared first on DollarSprout.

When I first started writing my resume, I made some of these common resume mistakes. In particular, I didn’t do a good job of giving specific information about my job duties or customize my resume for each job posting I applied to. Had I corrected these errors, I may have ended up taking a much different career path.

When you’re competing for a job, you don’t want your resume to stand out for the wrong reasons. Here are some common resume mistakes to avoid.

1. Spelling and grammar mistakes.

Spelling and grammar mistakes are some of the harder errors to spot, but they’re important to catch before you turn in your resume.

“Many hiring managers, myself included, will throw out resumes with even a single spelling or grammatical mistake, especially if there are many job applicants,” said Becky Blake, a millennial money expert, career coach, and founder of TwentyFree.

Well-written resumes show you’re a strong communicator, but those with spelling or grammar errors warn employers you aren’t detail-oriented. And if the job is competitive, a manager may have no qualms about tossing a potential candidate because of a resume typo.

Typos on resumes make sense. When you’re staring at a document for hours, it’s easy to read what you meant to write rather than what’s on the page. Have friends or family proofread your resume because they’ll be more likely to catch typos.

If you don’t have anyone else to help, give yourself at least a 24-hour break before looking at your resume a final time. You should also read it aloud to see if it reads well and makes sense.

“Consider reading it from bottom to top to catch mistakes that you’d previously missed,” Blake said.

Related:  How to Make a Resume from Start to Finish

2. Including generic information.

Generic statements about your job experience don’t give hiring managers the full picture. Make your work history shine by including specifics.

Communicate the nature of the duties you oversaw. Rather than saying you managed several employees as a shift manager, include the number of people on your team, explain if you were responsible for hiring or firing decisions, and any other relevant details.

Give specific information about your accomplishments and use numbers whenever possible. Don’t just say you’re a President’s Award winner. Explain you earned the President’s Award because your $1,250,000 sales volume was among the top 5% of salespeople in your company.

The more quantifiable details you add that strengthen your case, the more you separate yourself from other resumes. Managers care about results, and numbers are the best way to communicate them.

3. Exaggerating your abilities or accomplishments.

Exaggerating may seem like a way to get noticed in a competitive job market. But there’s is a fine line between tweaking your resume to look good and deception.

This can have a disastrous effect if you do get hired. If you add skills you don’t actually have, such as saying you’re fluent in a computer language that you have only basic knowledge of, you’ll be in trouble when you receive the first assignment that requires you to use that language.

“You may find yourself in a position that you can’t handle because your employer thinks you’re more skilled than you are,” said Laura Gariepy, a human resources expert turned freelancing coach at Every Day by the Lake, LLC. “This can lead to high levels of stress and poor performance on the job, which could ultimately result in your getting fired.”

4. Leaving out extracurricular activities.

Early career job seekers don’t have a long employment history full of accomplishments to fill their resume. If that describes you, consider adding relevant extracurricular activities to make your resume stand out instead of leaving blank space.

These activities outside of work give hiring managers insight into your skills, hobbies, and interests. This doesn’t mean you should include everything you’ve ever done, like starting a monthly craft beer meet-up, but you should include activities that are pertinent to the job.

“Make sure that there’s a tie between the activity and the job you’re trying to get,” Gariepy said. “For example, if you’re applying for an entry-level sales job, you absolutely want to include the fundraising committee that you were on.”

You can drop these extracurricular activities from your resume once you have enough relevant job experience.

5. Making it too long or too short.

Balancing the length of your resume can be tough. Newer job seekers may feel they don’t have enough to fill up a page. Those with more experience may want to write a book detailing their accomplishments and responsibilities.

So how long should your resume be? One-page resumes are appropriate for jobs that aren’t high-paying or for people just entering the workforce, said Jennifer Grimson, a long-time resume advisor for executives and host of the Micro Empires podcast.

“If you are at an executive level or seeking six-figure income, you must have a two-page resume,” Grimson said. She advised against resumes longer than two pages. Adjust your resume length to your current career and the job you’re seeking.

Most people don’t read past the first third of the resume before deciding about the applicant. If your relevant experience isn’t from your most recent position, minimize the responsibilities listed so your most important jobs take up more visual space and are more easily identified.

6. Not tailoring it to the position.

Using the same resume for every position you apply for may save time, but it’s a recipe for disaster. Potential employers may notice if you didn’t put in the effort to your resume for the position.

“When you try to use something that speaks to everyone, you effectively speak to no one,” said Kamara Toffolo, a resume writer and job search strategist.

To avoid this, consider writing different resume templates for each type of job you plan to apply for.

Some companies use resume scanning software. This software may throw out your application if it doesn’t include certain words or phrases related to the position mentioned in the job listing.

Tailor the skills you highlight for each application by taking clues from the job posting and including them on your resume. If the job description requires knowledge of a specific CRM system and you’re a power user, list your experience in the appropriate part on your resume.

7. Trying to accomplish too much.

When you’re struggling to fit your experience on one or two pages, it can be tempting to fill up the entire page. But this can result in a resume that’s not very visually appealing.

“Recruiters and hiring managers look at your resume for less than 10 seconds,” Blake said. “Trying to squeeze as much information as possible onto an 8.5 x 11″ sheet of paper will only drown the important information in a sea of irrelevant text.”

You don’t need to include all of the responsibilities of every job you’ve held on your resume. Duties from an entry-level accounting position aren’t as important as your experience as an accounting manager when you’re applying for a CFO position.

Provide more details for the most relevant jobs you’ve held while minimizing details on less important positions. Focus on leaving white space so that your accomplishments can be found.

The best way to utilize the space is to break down your relevant points into bullets. Have each bullet start with a verb. Then, describe the specific outcomes you’ve accomplished, Blake said.

8. Not including a cover letter.

Even when a cover letter is optional, you should always try to include one. A cover letter gives the company more information about you and is one more way to stand out. Experts, including Toffolo, often recommend including one with all applications unless the job posting prohibits it.

“Cover letters tell parts of your story that your resume can’t or didn’t,” Toffolo said.

Use your cover letter to explain potential concerns an employer may have about your resume. Explain a skill or career gap or the unique abilities you offer. Tell the company why you want to work for them and why you’d be a good fit.

Related:  How to Write a Cover Letter

9. Not following the company’s instructions.

Always pay attention to the job posting’s instructions about how to apply. If you don’t follow the instructions, it shows a lack of attention to detail, Gariepy said.

Submit your resume and supporting documentation in the correct format. Address your application packet to the right person, include their correct title, and double-check their name spelling.

“You may otherwise be a perfect candidate for the position, but the hiring manager could drop you from consideration because they perceive you as careless or insubordinate,” Gariepy said. “Plus, if you send your resume to the wrong place or the wrong person, it may never get reviewed.”

10. Not addressing career gaps.

Work gaps are a part of life for many career-focused individuals. Whether you got laid off during the Great Recession or you took time off to raise your kids, gaps are obvious on resumes.

Some people prefer not to bring attention to resume gaps, thinking the manager won’t notice them. They may be embarrassed about them, especially if they reflect a long period of unemployment.

“It’s a mistake to leave career gaps unaddressed because you’re exposing yourself to interpretation and allowing the reader’s imagination to run wild,” Toffolo said.

Insert a single-line placeholder describing the reason for your career gap. According to Toffolo, hiring managers understand that gaps happen, but most want to know why they exist and if you did anything productive during that time.

Related:  Should You Get a Graduate Degree? Probably Not. Here’s Why

Your Resume Should Leave a Good First Impression

A successful resume leaves a good first impression. You may not get a second look or a call back for the job if you make one of these 10 resume mistakes to avoid. You want the person to remember your resume —  in a good way — so it doesn’t end up in the trash.

Hiring a resume professional is one way to help you polish your resume to the level hiring managers expect to see. If you prefer a different route, ask a friend to look for errors you may have overlooked. This gives you a final chance to avoid resume mistakes that result in an employer disregarding your application.

The post 10 Common Resume Mistakes to Avoid (and What to Do Instead) appeared first on DollarSprout.

Bad habits are enjoyable in the short-term, but having good work habits leads to success, and success is big-F Fun. Hitting six figures was Fun. Realizing I had the power to negotiate because I was a stand-out employee was Fun. Running my own business, finishing and publishing my book, and being my own boss are Fun.

Hitting snooze, watching that extra hour of TV, and thinking of an excuse of why you couldn’t turn in your report today are not accomplishments that will make you, or your ten-year-old self, proud. They’ll keep you spinning your wheels, wondering why you can’t ahead.

Only good work habits, applied consistently over time, will get you where you dream of going.

Great Habits Won’t Go Unnoticed

With so many habits to choose from, how do you know which ones are the most important? These successful entrepreneurs, executives, and career coaches discuss their favorites and how you can apply them to your work life.

1. Know the “why” behind your work.

Career strategist Jasmine Escalera said she, like many people, used to cling to the idea that hard work equals success. However, applied like a blunt instrument, this belief led to overworking and burnout, damaging her quality of work.

“What I have recently learned is that your intention is really what leads to your success,” she said. “Knowing what you are working toward and, more importantly, why is pivotal to gaining the success you want in work and life.”

Get specific with yourself and write down your career goals, earning goals, and lifestyle goals so that you know exactly where you’re headed and why. It will impact your work ethic, helping you focus and stay on track even on the days you don’t feel like it.

2. Track your progress.

Business coach Amanda Abella echoed the need for a clear goal, but added that you need to track your progress towards your goals. If you don’t know how to track your progress, your goal probably isn’t clear enough. It needs metrics like numbers and dates.

“When I don’t do this, I fall off the wagon, and when I do this, I feel really on it,” she said.

Tracking your goals helps you not only stay focused, but it helps maintain motivation. “What happens when people don’t do this is they have a tendency to think they’re doing worse than they actually are, so then they lose momentum,” Abella said.

To track your goals, she advises to keep it simple. A journal or spreadsheet will do. Measure the most important metrics, like dollars in the bank or sales calls made.

Related: 15 Ways to Maximize Your Productivity and Earnings

3. Clarify your goals with your manager and stay focused.

Sometimes we think saying yes to everything is the way to get ahead, but career success coach Michelle Gomez said sometimes that can only keep you stuck.

“When we say yes to everything in a chase for validation,” she said, “we’re only going to overcommit.”

She advises picking three to five areas where you want to focus and grow in your job, and review them with your manager. If they ask you to take on a project that’s outside of those skills, don’t be afraid to push back.

“Otherwise you become the office workhorse,” she said.

If you’re not sure how to approach the conversation or what to say in these circumstances, she suggests the phrasing, “I feel like it would take away from my ability to give full capacity in my other tasks.”

4. Plan out your day.

One key work habit is to spend time each night before your workday to plan out your tasks and schedule, suggests Andrea Woroch, co-founder at One Take Media Coaching.

“If you wait until the day of, it’s easy to lose track and lose focus and not be as productive as possible,” she said. “Not only do I write out all the tasks I have to get done the night before, but I also block off time in my calendar for each task, even small things like sending invoices to clients or even personal items that can take up time, like calling my health insurance company.”

She advises to get the most important tasks done as early as possible in the day, so if there are any surprises, you’ve already handled the most essential goals. If you’re not sure which ones are most important, you can speak with your supervisor or list them by deadline, working on the ones with the soonest deadline first.

5. Create moments to recognize your accomplishments.

Sometimes we get in the habit of focusing on all that we have to do without looking back to congratulate ourselves on what we’ve done.

“Have a ‘Did do’ list in addition to a ‘To do’ list,” said Caroline Tien-Spalding, chief marketing officer at Aptology. “Not only does it give you a sense of what you’ve accomplished for that weekly report, it highlights any large deltas between what your priorities are and what ends up taking over.”

By looking back on what you’ve accomplished, it will help you realize how much progress you’ve made. This will motivate you to accomplish more before your year-end review, providing you with tangible evidence of all the value you’ve provided that year.

Related: How to Stand Out at Work (in the Best Way Possible)

6. Always be learning.

Did you think your education stopped at your high school or college graduation? It hasn’t. In fact, the most successful people are life-long students. With the world changing as rapidly as it does, a little studying should be part of your daily schedule. Your office should also be your school.

“The most important work habit that has helped me is to set aside time for learning,” said Sarah Li Cain, finance writer and host of Beyond The Dollar. “Circumstances, rules, regulations, jobs, etc. will change, so it’s important to find time to identify what piques your curiosity and can help you further your professional development.”

If you do 15 minutes a day of reading, listening to a podcast, practicing a skill, or even taking a class, you’ll have 65 more hours of education than you otherwise would, every year. You can take that education with you no matter where you go.

7. Protect your focus.

Every little ping, ding, and buzz costs you time, focus, and quality of work on your most important projects.

“Understanding how to stay focused is exactly what it takes to get things done and get ahead,” said Nir Eyal, author of Indistractable.

He suggests “slaying the messaging monster” by consciously removing distractions. Turn off notifications on non-essential apps, schedule time to check email (and refrain from checking it beforehand), and block tempting websites with programs such as Freedom.

You can even use your phone’s autoresponder, the one you usually use while driving, simply to focus.

8. Learn to follow through.

It can seem so easy in theory, but so many people have a hard time mastering the art of doing what they say they will.

“Whenever I’ve had to hire paid interns and freelancers (and even award scholarship funds), I’ve also seen firsthand how many just drop the ball. Emails unresponded to, projects left partially completed — literally leaving money on the line,” said Lauren Keys, who managed to semi-retire in her 20s and create a travel blog called Trip of a Lifestyle. “Showing up, as simple as it sounds, really is a huge part of the equation.”

Keep a journal with you at all times and write down any project, meeting, or task you commit to as well as anything you should follow up on. Then review the journal daily, checking off what’s done.

By following through, you’ll demonstrate you’re reliable and someone clients, managers, and coworkers can trust.

Related: 11 Skills Employers Look for That Most People Never Think About

9. Prioritize your to-do list.

Not all tasks are created equal. You’ll have to choose sometimes. But how do you know which ones to do first?

Robyn Ireland, career coach at Robyn’s Couch, provided a list of questions to ask about each task:

• Have I been given a clear deadline? If yes, when is it? If no, who do I need to follow up with to get clarity?
• Who is waiting for a response from me right now?
• Who will be impacted by me not doing this task during my workday?
• How will completing this task quickly improve my career aspirations?
• What on my list has a higher priority?
• If no deadline has been assigned for a task, what deadline will I give myself?

Use your answers to these questions to prioritize your to-do list. If you’re still struggling, talk with a coworker or manager to help you. You also want to make sure the time frame for your list is appropriate.

“I understand that not everyone likes the pressure of a deadline, that is why you need to be reasonable with yourself about getting things done,” she said. “You never want to be the person who breaks trust with the boss or clients by over-promising and under-delivering.”

Prioritizing tasks will help you feel less overwhelmed and it will help you focus and concentrate on the most important ones.

10. Always over-deliver.

Back when business strategist Rebecca Cafiero worked a corporate job, she knew her clients would get a survey. She told them that her goal was to give them stellar service, and she asked them to tell her if they ever felt they weren’t getting it.

“You have to ask to understand what the expectations are,” she said. “But also understand: an expectation is a bare minimum. You’re not going to get a raise for getting there on time. Look for areas where you can excel past that.”

According to Cafiero, the secret to providing amazing quality of work is not assuming you know what over-delivering means to your external customers, like clients, and internal customers, like your boss.

“You want to make sure you’re over-delivering in areas that actually matter,” she advised. “It’s a little like love languages for business.”

When you’re asking for expectations, clarify with your boss what areas are most important. Also, go to people who have had your position and moved up. Ask what they felt were the five most impactful actions they took that led to their success.

11. Create healthy work-life balance habits.

You can only bring your best self to work if you take time to care for yourself. So an important work habit is actually taking care of yourself, even in your off time.

“Scheduling personal time to care for myself and husband is always prioritized,” says Colleen Simo, a Director of Human Resources who also runs her own coaching practice. “I maintain a twice-daily 20-minute meditation practice and yoga a few times per week and if I didn’t put this first it would slip away. Maintaining my meditation practice makes everything easier.”

You may want to put a daily recurring 15- or 30-minute appointment with yourself on your calendar for mindfulness exercises to train your focus to take on the day.

Related: Is Working from Home Bad for Your Mental Health?

Good Work Habits Can Make or Break Your Career

This far into my career, my days are structured on the building blocks of good work habits. Learning them takes away some of the decision fatigue of deciding what to do every day. They make my schedule easier, my days less stressful, and my work more rewarding.

Leveling up with your work habits will feel like changing gears on a bike. You’ll climb larger hills faster, and arrive less out of breath.

The post 11 Good Work Habits for Becoming a Stand-Out Employee appeared first on DollarSprout.

Many emailed resumes came with a short note, if anything. More than one used smiley face emojis. And while they’re great for texting, using emojis in a cover letter comes across as unprofessional. 

Cover letters may be more often emailed rather than printed these days, but you still need to follow basic cover letter etiquette. Without it, you might find yourself struggling to get the job you want. 

What Is a Cover Letter and Is It Still Relevant?

“Should I include a cover letter in my application’ is the number question I get asked,” said career strategist Jasmine Escalera. “And my response back is filled with the facts. Almost half of applicants get rejected for not including this critical document.” 

A cover letter is a sales pitch for an internship or a job. It sells you to the company you want to hire you. Your resume provides proof of your claims. 

When writing your cover letter, you want to sell your excitement about working for the company and make them excited to meet you. 

Related: How to Make a Resume from Start to Finish 

10 Tips for Writing a Cover Letter That Employers Will Read

If you’re new to writing cover letters or need to brush up on your skills, here are ten tips from hiring managers, recruiters, and career coaches so you can get it right and land your dream job.

1. Know who (or what) might be reading your cover letter.

In the same way Google crawls the internet looking for keywords when you search for them, Applicant Tracking System Software, or ATS, looks for keywords in your resume or cover letter that match the job description. 

By using the same keywords the company uses, you improve your chances of your application passing on to a human reader.

That’s why Al Smith, aka “The Hired Guy,” suggests knowing your job title and paying attention to the keywords for that title, and making sure they appear throughout your resume and cover letter at least three times each. 

2. Start with an attention grabber. 

Be unique and avoid boring the reader. Try to be more creative than starting with “I am writing this cover letter to…” 

“Get personal. Your cover letter can be slightly more casual than your resume,” said Chelsey Opare-Addo of Not Your Mother’s Resume. “This is your chance to use personal pronouns, tell your story, and explain your passion.”

Keep it simple and get to the message quickly; taking too long to get to the point might make them skip over the rest of your application. Some options Chelsey suggests include starting with a compliment to the company, a statement of why you admire their mission, or recognition of their thought leadership in the industry. 

“The reader should know why you’re interested in working for that company,” she added. 

3. Write it as a problem solver for the company.

Read up on the company, or glean it from the job description, to see what kinds of challenges they’re facing. Then, use that information to customize your message in the cover letter. 

“Make sure to mention the company’s name, the challenges it’s currently facing, and how your unique blend of skills will help address them to make your introduction more personalized and attention-grabbing,” suggested Max Woolf of ResumeLab.

For example, if the company just started a new social media account on a particular platform, you can talk about your experience growing audiences with that platform.

Related: How to Stand Out at Work (in the Best Way Possible)

4. Use numbers, samples, and results to leave an impression.

Anyone can use adjectives to describe themselves. Instead, rely on facts. And rather than stating you’re a devoted or eager employee, show that you are. 

“When explaining yourself in the cover letter, use samples and several performance results,” said Noa Aziz, CEO of Zentern. 

Instead of saying you’re a great salesperson, Noa advises, use an example such as: 

“In my previous job at [Company], I was promoted within three months to project manager as a result of increasing sales by 20% and creating over 10 new partnerships.”

If you’re struggling with this part of your cover letter, ask a trusted coworker or friend to describe you or your accomplishments in your position. 

5. Keep it short and don’t repeat your resume. 

“The biggest mistake most candidates make is to make an excessively long cover letter,” said Yaniv Masjedi, CMO at Nextiva. 

You want to respect the hiring manager’s time by keeping your letter succinct and enjoyable. 

Describe the things that aren’t shown on the resume, such as challenges you faced, decisions you’ve made, or the results of your work. 

As Branka Vuleta, founder of legaljobsite.net puts it, “The cover letter should be short and exciting. It should show your enthusiasm and sincere appreciation of the company’s work. Writing a cover letter of up to 300 words is perfectly fine.”

If you’re struggling with keeping your cover letter short, have a friend look at, or consider hiring an editor who specializes in resumes and cover letters. You might even be able to use a service like Find My Profession.

6. Convey your passion for the role.

Employers want someone who really wants the job. 

“Make your cover letter stand out by showcasing your passion for the role with a personal story,” advises Samuel Johns from Resume Genius.

He says, for example, that someone applying to become a make-up artist might start their cover letter with a story such as: 

“Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved transforming my friends and family through the art of make-up. My proudest achievement was doing the make-up for my sister on her prom night — she was selected as prom queen that evening.”

It doesn’t have to be a story conveying a major accomplishment, but it should be one that demonstrates your proficiency and passion for the job. 

Related: 11 Skills Employers Looks for That Most People Never Think About

7. Use a professional email address.

Present yourself as professionally as possible. That includes using a good, professional email address. 

“Not ‘CrazyCatLady@xyz.com,’” said Deb Geller, author of Building Talent Pools: A Professional Development Model for Succession Planning, “and don’t use fancy paper or fonts.”

It may seem boring, but your resume needs to be easily copied and scanned, and you want to make that as easy on the hiring manager as possible. 

8. Make it specific to the job.

It’s tempting to write one cover letter and submit it with multiple applications, but the effort to personalize it will pay off. 

Find the company’s mission, vision, and values, and look for ways to work those into your cover letter. 

Jana Tulloch, Founder of Tulloch Consulting, said that her company looks for the effort potential candidates put into their cover letter. They look to see if it’s tailored to the job, uses keywords from the posting, and if it highlights how they match the requirements.

“It’s important for candidates to research not only the role they are applying for, but the company as well, and to speak to how their individual values and achievements align with the company’s values and goals,” Tulloch advises. 

Since your cover letter should answer the question, “Why should we pick you?” it needs to show that you are the best candidate for the position. This is hard to do if you use a canned or recycled cover letter.

Related: 10 Resume Mistakes to Avoid (and What to Do Instead)

9. Follow the instructions.

This is your first test: did you follow the instructions for the application? 

“Read them carefully,” said Jon Hill, CEO and Chairman of recruiting company The Energists. “This may sound glib, but, especially when you’re applying to a lot of different jobs, it can be easy to start glossing over the details in the applicant guidelines because they’re often quite similar.”

For each job, create a checklist from the paragraphs of information they give you, and check off each item as you include it. Remember to pay attention to the details they request and the format in which they request them. 

For instance, if they want you to provide your cover letter as a Word document, make sure you submit it as a Word document rather Pages or a Google document. 

10. Proofread it, and proofread it again.

Typos give the wrong impression. And thanks to spell check, grammar-checking software like Grammarly, and your grammar-savvy friends, you can create a typo-free cover letter. 

“If your letter is full of mistakes, you’re speaking volumes about your attention to detail,” said Timothy G. Wiedman, D.B.A., a retired Associate Professor of Management & Human Resources. He remembered that he once received a cover letter from an applicant who mentioned they graduated from a top tier “collage.” 

“I was not impressed,” he said.

To avoid gaffes like that, Wiedman advises having someone with solid writing skills proofread your cover letter. You can also have your cover letter read out loud by software. 

You might also consider learning the mail merge function in Word, which will help ensure the email address you’re using matches the correct manager’s names. 

Using all available resources will ensure you submit an error-free cover letter. 

Related: How to Write a Resignation Letter that Leaves a Good Impression

Sample Cover Letter Format

Matthew Warzel, President of MJW Careers, provided a template cover letter. You can use this exactly or as inspiration to create your own.

[DATE]

RE: [TITLE] Position

Salutation:

Dear [NAME OF HIRING MANAGER],

Opening Paragraph

Congratulations to you and the team at [NAME OF COMPANY] on [RECENT SUCCESS]. I can only imagine that given [NAME OF COMPANY]’s rate of growth, your sales team is in need of help to continue this expansion.

Body Paragraph

As I currently own and operate a powerhouse insurance office, I was able to secure142 sales in FY14 to earn #2 agency ranking for all of Houston and with only 4 of us. We had to keep our customers happy while continually pursuing new business at the same time. We grew sales to earn #1 ranking for dual/special need program sales by building high-performance teams and training agents on sales efficiencies, product benefits, and business development.

If you have a need for district sales management and a minute to chat, I’d love to learn more about [NAME OF COMPANY] and share a bit of my story with you.

Thank you for your valued time,

Writing a Good Cover Letter Can Set You Apart

Writing a good cover letter takes time. Each one is an investment, so you have to be smart about it. It’s better to take your time and apply to fewer jobs with a quality cover letter than blast your resume with a generic note to as many jobs as you can find. 

Every job application is a bet placed that you have what it takes to get the job. Show that you’re the best candidate by writing a stellar cover letter.

Related: Not Sure What to Bring to a Job Interview? Don’t Forget These 10 Things

The post 10 Tips for Writing a Cover Letter That Helps You Stand Out appeared first on DollarSprout.

But you only have seconds to make an impression. Recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds scanning a resume, according to a study by Ladders Inc._[1]

That’s why it’s important to learn how to make a resume that will catch anyone’s eye.

How to Make a Resume for Your First (or Next) Job

When you write a resume, it should be tailored to the job but also reflect your own experience and strengths. Whether you need to make a resume for your first job or you’re on to the next, these experts weigh in on how to get it right.

1. Choose the right resume format or template.

Before you build a resume, you need to decide which type of template to use. These provide a basic structure for your resume, so you simply edit to include your own information. The right template showcases your strengths and downplays your weaknesses.

There are three main types:

• Chronological: This template is best for someone with a steady, advancing career path with plenty of experience that’s relevant to the position. Write your job history starting with the most recent role at the top, moving in reverse-chronological order.
• Functional: This type of template emphasizes skills over job experience, so it might start with a summary followed by a list of skills and examples of using those skills. If you have gaps in your job history or you tend to quickly move from one role to the next, this is a good template for you.
• Combination: This combines aspects of the chronological and functional template, and it’s best if you want to emphasize skills but also need to list your previous roles. Lead with your qualifications and skills, followed by a reverse-chronological employment history.

“Unless you are in a major career change, I always recommend a reverse-chronological or a combination resume,” says Cassie Hatcher, certified professional resume writer. Employers tend to prefer these because they’re easy to scan and show you have the job experience for the role.

But you might decide to use a functional resume if you’ve had very similar roles without a lot of differentiation, says Kim Sarmiento, certified professional resume writer. That can help keep the resume from becoming very repetitive.

Microsoft Word and Google Docs both offer free resume templates. You can also use DollarSprout’s free resume template. For more help and sleeker designs, MyPerfectResume’s Resume Builder walks you through the exact step-by-step process of creating a resume. You choose a template you like, follow their prompts to add your resume content, and download your completed resume.

They’ll offer helpful suggestions along the way with pre-written examples you can customize based on your work experience. When you’re ready to download your resume, you can choose 14-day access for less than $3 or a monthly subscription of $5.95.

2. Fill in your contact information.

Even if you nail the rest of the resume, it won’t mean much without a contact section. Prospective employers need this information so they can schedule interviews and ask follow-up questions.

List the following information near the top:

• Name (and credentials, if relevant)
• Professional email address
• Phone number
• Location
• LinkedIn profile link
• Portfolio link (if relevant)

Recruiters commonly visit your LinkedIn profile next if they’re interested in knowing more, says Myra T. Briggs, executive search consultant and practice leader at Nonprofit HR.

“From the applicant’s perspective, it’s also a good way to track the interest your resume is generating by reviewing the ‘who’s viewed my profile’ section in your account,” Briggs adds.

Just make sure your LinkedIn profile is error-free and as well-written as the resume.

3. Write your resume summary.

Job seekers used to write their “objective” near the top of a resume, but Sarmiento says trends have shifted toward using a “summary.”

“Think of it as your 30-second commercial on paper,” Briggs says.

This paragraph should communicate what you offer the employer, show that your skills align with the job requirements, and set you apart from other applicants. In a few sentences, you’ll establish your expertise, highlight one or two major accomplishments, and explain the value you offer using keywords from the job description, if possible.

Here are some resume examples of a summary:

If you have extensive experience, Hatcher offers this example:

“Strategic operations and program manager with 20+ years leading government and military operations. Agile leader with proven success evaluating programs. Managed a $700K annual budget. Possesses a comprehensive background in program management and operations derived from directing domestic and global operations. Top Secret Security Clearance until July 2023. Sustained $4.6M in assets, property, and equipment while leading up to 1,100+ personnel.”

If you’re new to the job market, you can use a summary like this:

“Recent college graduate with a BA in journalism and political science and eight months’ campaign internship experience. Seeking to leverage knowledge and work experience to fill your campaign communications role. A dedicated worker aiming to help you achieve company goals and quickly take on more responsibility.”

If you’re changing careers, try to follow this example:

“Experienced and accomplished sales manager with 10 years’ experience looking to leverage an extensive background in customer service and leadership to an entry-level human resources position.”

4. Add your work experience.

The work experience section is the most important part of your job application because it “defines you as a candidate,” says Kathy Robinson, founder of TurningPoint, a company that provides career counseling. “Hiring teams look here to vet that you have the chops to fill the role.”

For each job, you’ll include the job title, company name and location, dates employed, and work responsibilities. When phrasing those responsibilities, Robinson says you should:

• Use keywords and language from the job description to help show you have experience doing the work that the job demands.
• Avoid writing in first person. Write in the past tense for previous jobs and present tense for current jobs.
• Use numbers where possible (such as percentages and dollar amounts) to show how you increased sales, leads, or results.

Here are some examples of ways to demonstrate on your resume how you helped solve a relevant problem and by how much:

Good:

• “In response to economic circumstances and increased competition, reorganized sales operations to consolidate teams and deliver sales efficiency, resulting in combined growth of product and services pipeline expected to contribute multi-year revenue of $10M. Exceeded sales KPI by 10% for the quarter.” (from Kathy Robinson)
• “Executed the transition plan to relocate the North American corporate headquarters (from Boston to Houston), resulting in a $4M annual cost savings.” (from Kim Sarmiento)
• “Automated analysis and cleanup of 30 million general ledger line items through adoption of an AI tool, reducing labor hours 30%.” (from Kim Sarmiento)

Needs work:

• “Reached out to potential customers over the phone or email to maintain relationships and upsell products. Tracked and reported leads for three months.”
• “Reorganized and consolidated sales operations, which led to company-wide savings.”
• “Analyzed labor hours and made suggestions for consolidation, resulting in savings.”

If you need help coming up with relevant statistics, Hatcher says you can ask yourself:

• Did I increase sales? If so, by what percentage or amount?
• Did I generate new business, bring in new clients, or forge affiliations?
• Did I save the company money? If so, how much?
• Did I create or institute any new system or process? If so, what were the results?

“You can roll up multiple years if need be, or add things together, or even talk about expected revenue,” Robinson says. “You also always want to tie the number to a business problem that is relevant to the current economy and the company in question.”

If it’s your first full-time job or you’re fresh out of school, you can list other relevant experience such as volunteer work, part-time jobs, or leadership roles.

Related: 10 Resume Mistakes to Avoid (and What to Do Instead)

5. Tailor your resume to the job.

Before your resume reaches a recruiter’s eyes, it typically goes through an electronic applicant-tracking system (ATS) to rank resumes and weed out candidates who don’t fulfill the basic requirements.

You can get through this initial scan by looking for keywords and phrases in the job posting and weaving them throughout your resume and other parts of your job application like the cover letter. These descriptions “are basically cheat sheets that you have right in front of you — use them,” Briggs says.

First, read through the job posting to understand the employer’s needs and check out their website to get a feel for their brand and values. Then, look through listings for the same position at different companies. Pick out the most popular keywords and phrases. But because ATS machines also uncover keyword spamming, make sure you use the keywords naturally.

Here’s an example of how to use keywords from a job description in your resume:

6. List your education.

Typically, recruiters are more interested in your recent work achievements than your educational accomplishments. But the education section is important because it shows employers you meet the academic requirements for the role.

Make sure to include the university name, type of degree(s), major(s) and minor(s), and years attended. In addition, you should also:

• List your highest degree first and others in reverse-chronological order.
• If you’re a new graduate, list this first above work experience.
• Only list high school information if you don’t have a university degree.
• Mention GPA if you’re a new graduate and have a 3.5 or higher.
• If you’ve completed some college, list relevant completed credits.

Feel free to leave out the years attended, Sarmiento says. When working with clients, she only includes this detail if she needs to explain why the applicant has less than 10 years’ experience.

7. Include additional resume sections that fit the job.

You can write a good resume using the sections covered so far — they’re must-haves for any job application. But adding some additional information can round you out as the best candidate.

Skills

Job skills should be included throughout your resume, mainly in your summary and previous roles.

But you might need a special “skills” section if you couldn’t find a good place for one. This usually happens if you’re changing careers and your previous work experience doesn’t reflect skills you picked up outside of your jobs.

In this section, you can list hard skills needed for the job, such as your proficiency with industry software or a certification to run machinery, or soft skills that any employer will look for.

If possible, list your proficiency level for each skill (e.g., beginner, intermediate, expert).

Languages

This section on your resume includes the languages you speak and your proficiency.

You can define your mastery of the language as basic, conversational, proficient, or fluent. But you’ll also want to include your specific language skills, which include reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

If the job doesn’t have language requirements, you can list any level of proficiency, Sarmiento says. But if the employer does need you to use those skills at work, only include languages if you’re proficient or fluent.

Hobbies, interests, and extracurricular activities

This section can showcase skills that are relevant to the role, Sarmiento says. For instance, if you’re a computer salesperson and an avid motorcycle rider and you’re applying for a sales position at a motorcycle company, “you might want to list [motorcycle riding] as a hobby on your resume and go into some details in your cover letter,” she says.

If your hobbies don’t align with the position but you feel they’ll help you stand out as a candidate, you don’t have to list them on your resume. “LinkedIn is a great place to share your personality,” Hatcher says. “Are you a deep-sea diver, Eagle Scout, or avid gardener? Share it in your (LinkedIn) summary section.”

You can also save other interesting hobbies for the interview, Briggs suggests. “Surely a question about what interests you will come up during any conversations with recruiters.”

Volunteer work

In this section of your resume, list volunteer roles if they’re relevant to the job or the company’s mission. This section can be a good stand-in if you don’t have much work experience or you’re switching careers and you have volunteer experience in your new field.

“Volunteer work is most relevant when it ties to your community (or network) or what you want to do professionally,” Sarmiento says.

But you’ll need to prioritize. Resumes are typically one or two pages, so if you’ve run out of room, list your volunteer work on LinkedIn and leave it off your resume.

Certifications and awards

Here’s where you list relevant honors you earned along with certifications that show you’re proficient in a particular skill.

Listing certifications can be especially helpful if you’re changing careers or don’t have much experience in the field you’re applying to. For example, if you work in finance and you’re applying for an SEO-marketer position, then being Google Analytics-certified would give you some credibility.

Awards can help demonstrate soft skills such as problem-solving abilities, leadership, and teamwork. List these if they’re relevant to the position and can help you stand out.

Projects and publications

If you’ve worked on a big project, you were featured in a major publication, or you write as a side hustle, you can list these accomplishments in a special section.

These can show you have a passion in your field and help set you apart. If you’re applying to a newspaper job, for example, you can list a book you wrote. For any publication or project, list a URL if possible so the recruiter or hiring company can check it out. If you’re a graphic designer or other type of artist, portfolio websites can be a good way to showcase your skills, or you can list them on LinkedIn.

8. Proofread your resume before sending.

Before the interview, your resume might be the only connection you have with the employer. Make a strong impression by checking your resume several times before submitting to the hiring company.

“If you have typos or formatting errors, they are likely to assume that your attention to detail is sub-par, and that could hurt your standing with key stakeholders,” Robinson says.

In fact, 77% of employers immediately disqualify resumes for spelling and grammatical errors, according to a CareerBuilder survey.

Give yourself a few days to run these checks:

• Once you’ve written the resume, use editing tools such as Grammarly to catch errors.
• Print the resume and proofread it yourself. Check for formatting issues, too.
• Ask a friend, family member, or mentor to proofread the resume and give feedback.
• Prepare the resume as a PDF unless instructions say otherwise.

Put aside time for a final line-by-line check before sending it out, Robinson says. It should be as perfect as possible.

Keep Your Resume Simple and Relevant

As you write the resume, focus on what’s most important. It’s a balance between showing you can do the job, amplifying strengths that set you apart, and doing all of this in as little space as possible. Most resumes are one page, but you can stretch to two pages if you have extensive experience.

Keep the format simple, too. In the Ladders Inc. study, the best resumes had simple layouts, clearly-labeled sections, bold keywords, and bulleted lists.

“It’s your job to make sure your resume’s simple, succinct, and customized for each employer,” Robinson says, “so it’s easy for them to read, easy for them to know what you can do, and easy for them to pick up the phone and call you in for an interview.”

The post How to Make a Resume in 8 Simple Steps appeared first on DollarSprout.