Your Finances While Studying: A Guide

Posted on September 3, 2020 by James Paul

Getting into university should be an exciting and invigorating feeling: something that you celebrate and cherish with your family and friends. However, a cloud can hang over some of those students who are concerned about how they will pay for their tuition or fund their lifestyle while they invest in their course.

For such individuals, money matters can take the front seat over the course of their studies, producing anxiety and concerns. That’s why we’ve compiled this short guide — to help you manage your finances while studying in a confident and care-free manner.

Make Use of Support

There are various levels of support out there for students who feel a little more pressure than most when it comes to cash. For these students who are often from disadvantaged backgrounds, there are support mechanisms out there to provide assistance. These include:

Scholarships, which reward those who performed well in school
Bursaries, which get people onto courses which are under-subscribed
Grants, made to those who qualify for the grantee’s criteria
Loans, which are provided by a number of different firms across the US

All these schemes are well worth researching to see if you can take some money off the cost of your studies and reduce your financial burden as you work hard to achieve your degree.

Temporary Studies

Another way to cover the costs of your studies is to only wok on your course part-time, to work on it remotely — over the internet — or to use transfer credits from other studies you’ve taken to reduce your workload. All these decisions can help you work a little to continue to earn a wage to support your lifestyle.

Excelsior College transfer credit for courses, for instance, allows students to change their minds on which course they want to study, and use the credits from previous courses and modules to contribute towards their new degree program. This is hugely helpful for those who’ve had a change of heart in the course of their studies, helping reduce the financial burden of making a change to their degree.

Strict Budgeting

Finally, no student should go to university or college without an idea of the budget that they’re going to be working with, and how they can save money to ensure that their lives are as free from financial concerns as possible as they work. You can save money while studying by:

Sharing accommodation, bringing your housing costs down
Cooking instead of eating out, and shopping for cheap and healthy food only
Ensuring that your nights out and social life is as cost-effective as possible
Making use of student discounts and other coupons to further reduce the cost of living

All these strategies are regularly undertaken by students who are studying on a shoestring budget, but you’ll only be able to draw up your own budget and sensibly work on your studies without breaking the bank if you take the time to examine your finances each month in a responsible manner.

Use the tips outlined here to make sure you’re financially secure during your studies, giving you time to focus on your degree and not your bank balance.

A Guide to Improving Your Employability in 2020

Posted on June 4, 2020 by James Paul

The job market is more competitive than ever before. If you want to secure a role at a thriving company, you must stand out from the crowd of talented, skilled candidates.

While a degree and experience can hold you in good stead, it might not be enough to help you land your dream career.

To walk into a new position at a successful company in the near future, read the below guide to improving your employability in 2020.

Work on Your Tech Skills

Most modern companies expect their employees to have a good grasp of computers and various technologies. If you lack basic tech knowledge, you will be a less attractive candidate for a position, as you will likely need in-depth training for a role. Give yourself the best possible chance of landing a job by working on your technology skills as much as possible.

There is no excuse not to work on your computer skills, as there are many free online courses and local computer literacy classes available. You also could watch how-to tech videos or pick up tech magazines to learn about different methods, innovations, and insights.

Develop a Reputation

While the February 2020 report for job openings reported little movement, sadly millions of people lost their jobs in the months since the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, you can guarantee the job market will be filled with many people applying for the same roles, so competition is bound to be tough.

To convince an employer you are worth hiring, you should aim to develop a positive reputation in your field. For example, you could publish a blog to showcase your industry knowledge, ideas, and opinions. It could look impressive on your resume or could grab the attention of a potential employer.

You also could build a positive reputation online by:

Getting published on a respected industry publication
Making informative, high-quality “how-to” videos for YouTube
Launching an industry podcast
Posting insightful articles on LinkedIn

If you can establish yourself as an expert in your field, an employer might be eager to snap you up over hiring another applicant. So, take the time to build a positive name for yourself online. It could transform your career.

Start Networking in Your Industry

Networking could open multiple doors for you throughout the years. One day you could potentially leverage these strong professional relationships to secure a new client or receive a job offer.

To build a strong professional network, you can:

Get involved in one or more charitable organizations
Develop a presence on social media networks such as LinkedIn and Twitter
Attend career fairs and industry events
Cold call or email people in your industry to ask for advice

Remember, many professionals are often happy to provide advice or tips on how to break into a market as they will be flattered you chose them for help. So, don’t be afraid to reach out to people across your industry to improve your employ-ability.

How An Online Degree in Data Science Can Boost Your Finances

Posted on May 23, 2020 by James Paul

An online degree is one of the best options to choose if you want to increase your earning potential and ensure that you do not go broke in the process. Whether you are looking for a top career that can make you money for retirement, or just a way to study that will not leave you in mountains of debt, this is how online degrees can boost your finances over traditional degrees.

They Can Help You to Make Money

Online degrees are an easy way to take a course that can benefit your finances in the long term. Most of the research that has been conducted shows that graduates of online degrees make more money than those without and that they often have the samesalaries as graduates of traditional degrees.

Some of the most profitable online degrees include those that are centered around business, such as digital marketing, project management, and data science. Data science itself is one of the most in-demand careers that you can choose from, and this means that companies are starting to offer competitive wages for those that are in the business. Therefore, taking a data science degree online can be a great option for those for whom profit is a great priority.

They Can Help You to Start Up a Business

However, if you want to make your own money, online degrees can also help you to start up your own business by giving you the necessary tools and skills that you need in order to develop your business plan. Although you can start a business without a degree, they also give you access to a professional network through which you can find a mentor and your first clientele. Although you might consider taking a business-related degree for this purpose, such as data science, any type of online degree can give you the expertise that you need to succeed.

They Can Advance Your Career

If you are already following a career path that you love, but you want to get promoted in order to gain access to the higher wage schemes, you should consider taking an online degree in order to advance your career. Online degrees can allow you to gain the requirements that you need to apply for top positions, such as managerial and leadership roles, and to show that you are committed to learning and innovation within your company.

They Are Cheaper Than Other Colleges

However, as well as boosting your career prospects, online degrees can also put less strain on your initial finances as they are often cheaper than traditional colleges due to their internet-based nature. This will lessen the amount of student debt that you will carry with you throughout your career, enabling you to make increased profits in the future, without the burden of debt to pay off.

You Can Work While Studying

An online degree can also be more advantageous than a traditional degree when it comes to finances as they allow you to work while you study. This means that you can keep your finances afloat and gain the necessary experience that you need to apply for top positions even while you are working toward your degree.

Why Now is the Best Time to Start Studying Online

Posted on May 22, 2020 by James Paul

Have you ever sat down in the evening and spent hours endlessly scrolling through social media on your laptop, or wasted hours of your life watching the stream of funny cat videos on Instagram?

Even if you’re one of those people who religiously watches Ted Talks or you have a YouTube Premium subscription and you’ve filled your ‘watch later’ feed with a dazzling array of personal growth videos, you still might be wasting your time.

While that may seem like a harsh statement, watching videos and scrolling for hours on end is not improving your career prospects. Sure, you might learn how to plumb in a toilet by watching a video on YouTube, but if you have no intention of having a career as a plumber, that knowledge isn’t helping you in the long term.

Stop Wasting Time and Study

The very idea of studying may bring up horrible memories of being stuffed into lockers in high school, but as an adult, studying can be much more vibrant — and less claustrophobic! There are some amazing courses that you can take right from your living room and at a time and pace to suit you.

It’s important to note that studying online is not for everyone, but by following some insightful steps to success in studying online, you could be well on your way to having the career you deserve.

Why Now

Why not now? On a serious note, why not now? As the famous saying says, “we’re not getting any younger”. Career development only happens if you put in the effort to create those opportunities to succeed and grow.

With the current outbreak of COVID-19 still taking its toll on society, and with most of the world still under some form of lockdown, we may have found ourselves with a lot more time on our hands. And that istime that can be spent learning and developing into a better version of ourselves and a more productive version too.

Don’t Lose Time

There is also another reason to consider studying online now — a much deeper reason. All around the world are reports of people who are sick and losing their lives to this new virus, people who were previously fit and healthy and who thought that they had plenty of time left.

Do you really want to be a person who gets to old age and thinks, ‘I wish I’d done that’?

With the explosion in online study opportunities, with courses all over the world in hundreds of different topics, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot study something you deeply love and enjoy.

Taking the decision now to study online, to improve your career prospects, and to do something that you will truly enjoy and then make it your source of income, is a fantastic aim to have, especially in a world that seems so bleak right now.

As Irish poet and playwright George Bernard Shaw says in his play Pygmalion: “Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby”

How to Increase Your Salary – The Best Tips & Tricks to Make More Money

Posted on May 1, 2020 by James Paul

Increasing your salary is probably the best way to improve your financial situation while also developing your career. Still, it is also something that can be challenging to do without the right knowledge. You do not necessarily have to find a big promotion to increase your salary (although this is certainly one option), and you might find that there are a few other easier options which could make a big difference to the amount that you earn each month and year. Here are a few tips for increasing your salary, no matter what area you work in.

Ask for A Raise

Simply, the easiest way to increase your salary is simply to ask for a raise. This can, of course, be daunting, but even if they say no, they might tell you what you need to do to receive a raise, or it could make you realize that you need to make a change to receive more money. If you are to succeed, then you should be performing to a high standard every single day, helping the company to succeed and able to demonstrate your achievements.

Consider Looking Elsewhere

Following this, you might find that the best way to earn more money is by changing to a different company and/or moving to a new area. It can be daunting, but sometimes you reach a limit with a business and need to make a significant change if you are to progress your career and take home more money each month. It is also helpful to research the market value of your career so that you can get an idea of how much you could be making and if you need to learn new skills to boost your income.

Earn Qualifications

Following this, if you have reached the limit in your position, then you could look to earn qualifications, which could help you to reach the next step or take on additional responsibilities. Online degrees and certificates are a smart way to do this because they will not interfere with your career. At the same time, you earn the qualification, and there are all kinds of different recognized degrees in various industries that will help you to earn a higher salary.

Find A Mentor

Having a mentor and/or shadowing a superior at work can help prepare you to take the next step and shows that you are committed to your work. You could also develop new skills, learn how to be more professional,and benefit from being introduced to a broader network when you have a mentor.

Increase Workload & Responsibilities

If possible, increasing your workload and/or adding responsibilities can also help you to increase your salary. You need to make sure that you still perform to a high standard each day, but if you can increase your value to the company and help them to succeed in other areas, then you will undoubtedly be able to increase the amount that you are paid.

Increasing your salary is not easy, but it is possible provided that you are willing to put the work in and know how to demonstrate your value – hopefully, this post will help you to do this and boost your income while developing your career.

When You Have a Degree You Earn More: Here’s Why

Posted on May 1, 2020 by James Paul

One of the reasons we’re often told that going to college and earning a degree is a good idea is that it means you can get a job that brings in a higher income once you graduate. This is, for the most part, very true – with a degree you can certainly earn more, and depending on which sector you go into, this can be a significant amount more than someone without a degree.

Although we can see that once you have a degree you can earn more money, what is the reason behind this? Read on to find out just why a degree can help you to become significantly more wealthy.

Expertise

Having a degree is something that many employers want from their employees because it shows a certain level of expertise. If you have spent two, three, four years or even longer working on New England College business degrees, you are bound to have a lot more knowledge in the subject than someone who has not done this. An employer won’t have to spend any time or money training you since you already know what to do and you have a greater overall understanding of the job you need to do, so you will be a better hire for them.

With the amount of expertise you will earn when working for your degree, you can start at a higher level than those who don’t have the knowledge and have to start on the bottom rung of the career ladder. Again, this means you can start earning more immediately.

Dedication

There is a fear, when someone is hired, that they might decide they don’t like the position they are working in and they decide to leave and look elsewhere for work. If this is due to the company itself, then this is something that can be changed by the employer once they get some feedback on the issue. If it’s due to generally not enjoying the work, this is more of a problem – the employer won’t be able to change anything, and will lose an employee. This is costly and time consuming.

Someone who has a degree will already be extremely dedicated to the sector they are planning to work in. They will have spent a lot of time learning as much as they possibly can about it, and if they realized they didn’t like what they were doing, they would have changed disciplines a long time before they started applying for jobs.

An employer will quickly and easily be able to see that someone enjoys the sector they are working in and understands about it when hiring them if they have a degree that relates to it.

Additional Skills

When you have a degree you know a lot about the subject you studied. However, you also learn a lot more than ‘just’ the degree subject; you learn a lot of life skills at the same time. From time management to research and much more, a college degree gives you everything you need to be successful in your career, no matter which direction you choose to go in.

5 Best Economics Careers to Consider in 2019

Posted on July 8, 2019 by James Paul

If you have an affinity for finances and you’re adept at analyzing linkages between consumers, products and trends, a career in economics is a lucrative and rewarding way to put your skills to work. One of the many great things about this type of job is that it encompasses a much wider range of career paths than just being an economist.

If you have an esteemed certification such as a Boston College economics degree, you can enter a variety of sectors including healthcare, finance and banking, government, analytics, international development and much more. Here’s a taste of some of the best economics careers that you should consider for 2019 and beyond.

Actuary

According to Glassdoor, the average base pay for an actuary sits at around $105,031 per year, putting it well above most other base salaries. Actuaries usually work in the insurance industry, analyzing the probability of risks to develop a better financial strategy for policies.

Data Scientist

Did you know that Glassdoor rated data scientist the best job in America for four years in a row? With an average base pay of around $117,345 per year, excellent job satisfaction ratings and a constantly high number of openings, it makes perfect sense.

As a data scientist, you will use your analytical skills to run through large volumes of data and identify trends to obtain insights. This information is extremely important to businesses, as it will influence their decisions moving forward. This puts you in a relatively high position from the get-go, which naturally has many benefits.

Pricing Analyst

Your job as a pricing analyst will be to use market research in conjunction with your own skills to determine the best price for a company’s products or services. While the average base pay for a pricing analyst is around $68,611 per year, it’s much easier to find a career in this sector. This makes it a great starting point for graduates.

Economist

Of course, no list of good economics careers would be complete without mentioning the obvious. This is because it still offers an excellent annual base pay of $102,339 on average in addition to being highly rewarding. Tech companies in particular are on the lookout for economists at the moment, leaving many job openings available on a regular basis.

As an economist, you will be able to hone your analytical skills to interpret data and identify trends based on the information you have available. This puts you in an important position in any kind of business – one that is highly esteemed among professionals.

Operations Specialist

As an operations specialist, your job is to help a department or company run more effectively and efficiently. Just like a few of the other above-mentioned careers, this makes use of your analytical skills to identify processes and practices to find areas of improvement. The average base pay for an operations specialist is $52,598 per year.

These are just a fraction of the many rewarding and lucrative careers that you will have available to you as an economics graduate. With high salaries and high demand, now is a better time than ever to hit the books and get to work.

5 Tips to Fear Proof Your Freelancing Career

Posted on January 21, 2019 by James Paul

What sounds more scary to you: failing as a freelancer… or making it as a freelancer?

Each one carries its own pros and cons. If you make it, you have to find a way to stay on top and keep people coming back for more. You will have to handle your own health insurance if you quit your job to do it full time. And what if you get so much work you can’t keep up?

Meanwhile, not making it makes you feel poorly about whatever your niche is. You will be forced to think about it every day as you make your way back to the soul-sucking job you vowed to get out of.

Well, wake up! Neither of these two scenarios has to be your personal story. In this day and age there are tons of resources you can consult on how to be a successful freelancer. For this post we asked our friends from Crunch, an online accounting software provider, on how fear-proof your freelancing career. Crunch works with a lot of freelancer and these advise are based on real-life stories.

1. Ask A Simple Question…

“What’s the Worst-Case Scenario?”

There. That’s all you need to ask yourself! See, the first step isn’t so painful. Think it over and play it out in your mind. Make yourself the star of your own mini movie. Think about and envision just what you think the absolute worst-case scenario is and feel it out.

If you’re a new freelancer, you are probably afraid of getting out there and asking for work or sending proposals to prospective clients. You may not feel that you have the right qualifications or experience. It could just be general insecurity, too.

But even then, what is the absolute worst that could happen? For most of us, we simply don’t get a response back, or somebody just says, “Not interested,” and you are free to move onto the next prospect. In our experience, nobody has been blacklisted from freelancing platforms simply for being rejected a few times. So, don’t fear getting out there.

2.Get Some Help

Get yourself in with the right crowd of people. Make yourself a support system. Put your social media to good use and make friends with other freelancers or join support groups. After all, networking is the name of the game, and you can help each other out by doing so. You can use these groups to seek an accountability partner, a mentor or even just somebody to talk to. Use your friends and family too as a support system.

You need to be around people who will share your joys, goals, losses and heartbreaks with you in a healthy way. Any job, especially freelancing, is hard to do on your own, so don’t attempt it, lest you get burned out. Having somebody to talk to about your happiness and fears is healthy and helpful.

3. Impose Stricter Deadlines

Everybody works best when there is a goal or deadline to meet as part of the completion process. Sure, clients give you a deadline, but ratchet it up a little bit and make it a tad harder on yourself. If your client wants the work by Tuesday at 5 PM, aim to be done at Monday by 5 PM.

This way, you can plan for any bumps in the road that may arise as part of daily life (your tire blows, your sister needs to drop off your niece for babysitting, you get the idea). Plus, clients tell others interested in your service about your prompt work…and thus, the client base grows larger!

4. You’re in Control

If you’re a control freak, fret not. This line of work means that you control the money, the times you work, how much you make and when you start. You also get more leeway when it comes to making mistakes, learning, and taking on and turning away clients and projects. Even if you do mess up and lose a client, it just means you step up your game and work harder to regain a new client and then some.

5. Welcome to The New Age

This is the gig economy we are in after all, and you’re going to have to learn to adapt. This is great news-it’s easier than you think to find freelance work and do it all from your own laptop, at home or the coffee shop.

More companies are open to hiring freelancers, and besides, wages for regular jobs are a bit stagnant to say the least. You can and will probably make more money on your own-so JUST DO IT! If you don’t feel you can make it, let this nugget of advice suggest otherwise to you.

Conclusion

Fear is the worst. It holds us back and prevents us from doing what it is we really feel like doing. Don’t let it stand in your way like that bully kid you knew in junior high. Push that fear to the ground, speak up about what you intend to do and then just do it. Chances are, you were being too hard on yourself.