Career Planning | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

The Endless Opportunities in Construction and 6 Tips on How To Identify and Utilize Them

April 1, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Architecture, Blueprint, Floor Plan, Construction

The construction field is filled with vast opportunities: design, building, repair, modification and adjustments, and decoration. You only need to identify your strengths and specialize in creating a niche of your own.

As simple as this sounds, it is challenging to break into and succeed in this field. Many businesses and professionals have had it rough when starting a construction business. Some people may blame it on the crowded industry, thus stiff competition from more giant corporations in the market. However, a few success stories will make you change your mind about the benefits of the construction industry, whether you are an entrepreneur or an employee.

Here are some of the tips for succeeding in this industry:

Have the Right Mentor

Having a mentor is a requirement in any industry, let alone the construction field. You need to identify someone who will walk with you in your journey, so the mentor needs to have experience in the field.

Mentorship will help you gain valuable insight into the dos and don’ts of the industry. It will also help you choose a suitable niche in which you can thrive.

Consider Your Network

Apart from having a mentor, it would be best to enrich your network in the construction industry. It will help you interact with peers in the same field, which will increase your knowledge and understanding of the industry.

Having a vast network will also help you experience different work types, thus helping you make a better choice. Nevertheless, be careful with the type of people you interact with; you might pick up unacceptable practices that may ruin your chances of a successful career.

Understand Your Niche

Once you identify which niche best suits you, you need to acquire relevant experience to stand out in the crowd. Practical training in construction goes a long way in ensuring you grasp the techniques.

The practicality and diversity in repairs, especially in concrete repairs, will need you to be precise and knowledgeable. You can learn more today about concrete repairs and their requirements. Remember, accuracy plays a significant role in the construction industry; there is no room for error.

Research Widely

You can only improve by reading and researching. Devote your time to improve your skills and knowledge. Go the extra mile to ensure that your skills will provide quality results for the clients.

It is not enough for you to learn about quality services and forget about the client relationship. It would help if you educated yourself on working with clients harmoniously, resolving disputes, and advising appropriately.

Be Patient and Opportunistic

It would help if you were patient enough to wait for the right opportunity and aggressive enough when the opportunity comes. Once you feel the opportunity’s timing is right, arm yourself with the appropriate documentation and go for it.

Review Your Certifications

Despite having various educational documentation, you need to ensure you acquire the necessary legal and supporting documents to certify your works. Strive to seek recognition from the national bodies that will also make you a cut above the rest.

The construction industry has a lot of opportunities that you can maximize on with the right strategy. You only need to have the right arms in your armory for you to succeed.

How To Make Life Easier At Work

April 1, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Whether you are a business leader or not, you need to think about whether you are finding your working life easy or if you’re finding it hard to manage your day to day activities. The daily grind can lead to burnout if you’re not careful, and it’s not even relative to your role in your career. If you’re the top dog business leader, you’re going to do everything in your power to make your life easy; it’s why you hire a whole team of people to help you. You know that you can’t do it all and even if you could, you shouldn’t want to. Life is tough enough without burning out and living to work – you need to work to live, instead.

You want life to be easy, right? Well, the first thing to consider is how you can remove unnecessary stressors and start seeing some improvements in the everyday career you have loved so far! If you don’t have the space for a whole team, you may choose to outsource elsewhere and figure out the prices for a virtual receptionist who can keep up with supporting you. We’ve also got the added tips below that will help you to finally make your day to day routines as easy on you as possible. Let’s take a closer look:

Image source: Pexels

Drink less coffee. Okay, don’t throw things at the screen and switch it off – hear me out. Coffee is one of the best starts to the day when you are a business leader, but it could also be hindering you in a big way. Coffee is nowhere near as effective as your natural body rhythms are, and you can have too much of a good thing. If you become reliant on coffee, your body will never learn how to gear up and get going without it. You need to start trusting the power of water as much as the power of your body. Think about limiting how much coffee you are already drinking and take your time with cutting it back – it’s going to take some getting used to! Drink more water and less caffeine and see how well you feel for it. It’s going to sharpen your mind!
Ask for help. The reason you’re looking at prices for a virtual receptionist is because you need help, and it’s okay to need it. You can’t do it all yourself and even if you can, you shouldn’t! Ask staff to help you and hire outsourced freelancers to get the expert marketing plans and IT issues sorted. You don’t need to add more to your stress and while it may feel like a great idea to take everything on yourself, you need to be able to rest, relax and keep your head straight without getting too burnt out over it! Ask your colleagues for help and do the right things for your business as a result.
Close that open door. It’s always a good idea to have an open door policy, but the problem with it is that too much of that can be distracting. Instead, come to a compromise with an open door policy through certain hours of the day. If you ensure that you are accessible to your staff when you can afford to be distracted, you’re going to be able to maintain great conversation with your team while still getting your work done. You have to come up with a way to maintain your day to day work without compromising on your relationships, and this is the way to do it. Communicate this schedule on your door, too, and you will be able to let everyone know in a gentle way that you are here for them!
Automate. Oh, one of the very best ways that you can help yourself at work is to invest in your technology and automation. Your current technology may be inefficient and out of date, and you want to find the technology that will do your job for you as much as possible. Check out what you need and then look for the best of the best. Investing in this is just a smart way to run your office. Automation is going to stop you and your staff from wasting too much time, and this then saves you money!

Man in Black and White Stripe Dress Shirt Sitting on Chair in Front of Macbook

Image source: Pexels

Balance your life outside work. As much as it’s nice to get your working day sorted, you also need to ensure that you are able to rest and recuperate outside of work. Balancing your evenings and weekends to ensure that you are well-rested is just a smart decision! Read, watch TV, sing songs – whatever it is you do to relax, do it! You need to keep your brain relaxed where you can, and life at work will get better when you do.
Start making lists. The hardest thing about the working day is the fact that you can feel overwhelmed very easily. It’s easy to experience being overwhelmed when you have over 100 things to do (or so it feels). So, think about giving your brain a rest by making lists. Start every morning with a list of things to achieve and complete, and when you do this, you can kind of empty out the brain of all of the information buzzing around in it. Anything that you can do to minimize your stress, do it so that you can feel more centered and calm.
Address your conflicts. What is it in the day that’s causing your daily conflict? Whatever it is, you can’t keep avoiding it, so face them and get through them. Not all conflicts in business are bad ones, so think about making a point of changing things up to eliminate the conflict and reduce your stress. Addressing the situation is how you encourage things to get better, not avoiding it altogether!
Do your best. Lastly, the thing to remember is that you can only do your best and no more. Pushing for more is not going to yield different results; it’s going to burn you out and that’s a problem! You can solve this by ensuring that you are doing your best work at all times and allowing this to be enough.

Signs You Should Work From Home

March 30, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

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Working from home has become more and more popular in recent years. Due to advances in technology as well as the flexibility of a new generation of business leaders; many of us at one point or another have been able to work remotely for a period of time.

But what if you could make the move to remote working permanent? There are many brilliant benefits to working from home, and today we want to share some of the signs to look out for that might indicate it is time for you to work from home.

You feel sick when you go to work

Sadly, mental health is something that a lot of us still don’t really talk about or acknowledge – but in some instances you should sit up and pay attention. If you feel sick whenever you have to go into work; this might not be our stomach but instead your mind. Anxiety and stress go hand in hand and a stressful working environment can cause you to become anxious about your trip. If the idea of going into work makes you feel anxious, trying to work from home might be the best solution.

You miss family time

One of the things that most of us notice when we work in an office is that we don’t get as much time to be with our family. It is so important for us to spend time with the ones we love, and working from home could be the best way to do that. By choosing to work from home you will avoid the daily commute and you will have more time with your loved ones. You will also be less likely to be too tired to enjoy their company after a long day.

You get easily distracted in the office

It is so easy to become distracted in the office, and we all know that feeling when you simply cannot focus. This is why working at home with virtual services can actually be much more beneficial to your working day. You won’t have people constantly coming to your desk to ask you things or being dragged into meetings, and you are much more likely to get work done.

You have a long commute

If you currently have to commute for a long drive, train ride, or multiple modes of transport – it might simply not be economical for you to go to work. Consider finding a job that allows you to work from home instead and you’ll save a lot of money each month which can be put away into savings. By not travelling you’ll also have more time in the day and you’ll be happier.

You want your own space

Having your own personal office working space is always a great thing and it is so important for you to take advantage. Consider decorating your own home office to make it homely and comfortable for you and you will be able to work in a way that suits your needs and wants.

Working from home can offer many benefits and it might be time for you to make the switch this year.

Unexpected Ways To Make Good Use Of Your Degree

March 29, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

There are many career options out there, and when you’re qualified in one field, you might think you’re not ready to throw your hat into the ring elsewhere. However, there are many ways to make good use of a degree, and we’ve got a small snapshot of how you can find the right job for you, no matter your academic experience.

So, if you’re fresh out of college, or you’ve been coasting for a while and you’re just not sure what to do with your degree, make sure you keep the points below in mind during your search.

Pexels Image – CC0 Licence

Use it to Network

Of course, the age old adage of, ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know’, fully applies here, but it isn’t as simple as this. You’ve got to put some work into this proverb yourself, and that’s where networking comes in. Networking is a big part of finding the right job for you, as when you personally get in touch with the right people, you have a much better chance of making a good impression.

You have a chance to reach out and show your interest, put together a networking pitch that both draws someone in and asks the necessary questions of them, and most of all, you’ve got the chance to move into fields you never would have considered before, but more on that below.

Focus on Your Physical Attributes

Your physical attributes may seem like a soft skill, but that doesn’t make them any less valuable to your job search. Let’s use CMDR Brad Swanbeck as an example here; someone who achieved great feats on a sports team at a younger age could very well move into fields such as the military, or heavy manual labor such as construction or other building work.

You know you’re capable of working in environments like this, thanks to your previous academic achievements, and your relevant physical attributes will always make up a part of your career success. So, why not depend on them?

Get Specific

And finally, you’ve got an entire sector at your fingertips here, and a degree that qualifies you to work in all of it. Because of that, it can be hard to track down a job, or even be considered against the potentially hundred other candidates also applying for the position. And that’s why you need to get specific.

There are millions of job titles out there, and at least a portion of them are going to apply to you – use that to your advantage! Apply for things that seem out of your way, use niche descriptors when tapping a search into Google, connect with people with similarly titled jobs and ask about the field they’re in. Show your interest in such a specific niche, and you may just have better luck with your job search.

Making good use of your degree can mean a variety of things – however, if you’re searching for a job, use it smartly for success.

What To Do When Your Freelance Business Slows Down

March 29, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

There are many reasons to become a freelancer; be your own boss, greater flexibility, work on what you really want, etc., and many people who freelance never regret the decision they’ve made.

However, every single business out there goes through a slow period, and people who are self employed aren’t exempt from this rule. And because you’re the one in charge, it’s all up to you what happens next, and that can be both an exciting and a scary thing to have to face.

So, when it comes to a slow period in your freelancing business, what can you do? You still need to turn a profit, but opportunities are slim – if you find yourself in this situation, here are some ideas to keep in mind.

Pexels Image – CC0 Licence

Sell a New Product

You can’t quite get enough clients together right now, or even your regular retainer client has nothing for you at the moment, and you’re left with some free time, low profits, and the same bills to keep paying. And that’s why it’s a good idea to come up with a new product or service.

Branch out a little here. Put together an ebook you can sell, or a course you could teach, that people can sign up to at any time. These are both forms of passive income, so once you put the effort in, you won’t have to put any more in down the line, which still leaves you free to do your regular work once it picks back up again.

Make Some Noise

Take the COVID-19 pandemic as an example here, and take a leaf out of Michael Lerner’s book: if you’re running a freelancing business that requires a lot of face to face, physical contact/presence, write about how it’s becoming difficult, and begin to collect a community of freelancers just like you together.

Even just two heads are better than one, and in making some noise about your business, you’ve got a chance to make something new of the situation. You’ve got a chance to create a group that offers a new service, or come up with some new funding, or even just find out you’re not alone during your slow period.

Research Some New Clients

You’ve got more time than ever before on your hands, and that can make chasing down client leads a lot easier than ever before! After all, this should be a big part of your job already, and knowing where your next project is going to come from is a key skill in being a freelancer.

Look into your niche. Look into the companies or websites you want to work for, and find out what they’re looking for from the freelance world. Put together a new letter of enquiry, with all your new experience, and don’t be afraid to reach out.

Your freelance business may start to slow down. You’ll need some ideas for times like that, to keep your company going when the going gets tough.