It’s not a pink slip. It’s a blank page.
Shared Experience
Perspective
Hope
http://www.agencyscoop.com/special_events.php?e=2
Note: There are several commercials, watch through them until the end of the movie.
Career assessment and transition
Career Assessment: Lemonade
March 4th, 2010Career Transition: Bridging the Career Gap, Receiving through Giving
February 8th, 2010By Susan Posluszny of OPTIONS for Career & Life Planning LLC
When you are looking to transition from one career field into a totally new career field, you can tend to feel like an outsider looking in. You send out resumes knowing that you would be able to prove yourself if only someone would give you a chance. You find yourself wondering just how those insiders got there and sense that all the posted openings go to those who have inside connections.
Well, one wonderful thing about gaining career and life planning skills is that you become empowered with the knowledge that you can break into any career field you choose. It really is about figuring out where you are relative to where you would like to be and working to ‘bridge the gap’ to your new career interest area. One way to bridge the gap is through volunteer work. Through volunteer work in a career area of interest, career transitioners are able to gain knowledge, experience, and connections in industries and work settings where they have no prior work history. You essentially ‘give and receive’ at the same time. My own career development offers examples of how I have worked to ‘practice what I preach’ over the years.
When I first graduated from college I worked in advertising for a time (on good old Madison Avenue in New York City). I quickly realized that this work was not as glamorous as I had envisioned and decided that, for a number of reasons, this work was not for me. As I worked with a career counselor and explored alternate possibilities I came up with a number of career interest areas including human resource management, corporate outplacement, and career development in a higher education setting.
» Read more: Career Transition: Bridging the Career Gap, Receiving through Giving
Career Assessment: Tips for Working Women with Families
January 21st, 2010By Jackie Simmonds, NEJS Blog Editor
Being unemployed provides the time to assess what we really want out of life. This assessment is really critical to focus in on the right career choices and the right company that fits with our lifestyle. As women with families we are often under a great deal of pressure not only to have a stellar career but to be a stellar Mother and wife as well.
As we all know balancing work and family are very difficult, if you have been out of balance in the past now is the time to determine what is most important to you and use it to guide your job search. We will never reach the perfect balance but by carefully selecting our next job we might get just a little bit closer.
Mary Sevinsky posted an article on Careerealism that looks at this issue and offers up some tips that woman can use as a guide in their job search.
- Realistically assess your abilities, goals, and family needs.
- Find a position firmly within your abilities in a work culture that is comfortable.
- Talk with your spouse and family about your desires at work and home.
- Share concerns from work rather than try to handle it yourself.
By following these tips you will gain clarity in what kind of a job, the level of responsibility, and the type of company that is right for you and your family. For complete listing of tips read Mary’s article.
Career Transitions: It All Begins with an Ending
January 7th, 2010
By Susan Posluszny, MA, NCC
Endings are the clearing process which allows us to move on with new beginnings in our personal and work lives. Through the work of William Bridges, author of the well known classic, Transitions, we learn that the transition process begins with an ending. For those who are unemployed (willingly or unwillingly), an awareness that the transition process has predictable stages, with the first one being an ending, can serve as an aid in dealing with and moving beyond the loss.
There are four different aspects of the natural ending experience. They do not occur in any specific order. They are as follows:
Disengagement - a separation from the familiar place in the social order (a pilgrimage, divorce, death, job loss, and illness are examples of disengagement). These, and many lesser events, disengage us from the contexts in which we have known ourselves. They break up the old system that served to reinforce our roles and to pattern our behavior.
Disidentification – in one way or another, most people who are in transition experience a sense of not being quite sure who they are anymore. The person loses a sense of self-definition and tends to question…”Who Am I?”
Disenchantment – involves the discovery that in some sense one’s world is no longer real. Separated from the old identity and the old situation or some aspect of it, a person floats in a state of limbo between the old world and the world that is yet to be experienced. Disenchantments come in many forms: relations that proved unfaithful, leaders who are unethical, idols who are petty and dull, and when a trusted organization betrays your trust. Moving forward involves recognizing that a shift in perspective may well be in order…that is the realization that your old reality was in your head, not outside of you.
» Read more: Career Transitions: It All Begins with an Ending
Career Assssment: Starting Your Own Business, Part 6
December 10th, 2009By Thomas Arrison, Certified Public Accountant
Quick Hitters
Tax Professionals
Owning your own business can be confusing and lonely. Legal and tax difficulties can appear at any time. If you hire a tax professional, they can help with your tax return and estimates. A good tax professional will also advise you on running your business and work with you to make it more profitable. They also can advise you on legal ways to reduce your taxes. Don’t depend on your friends and family when you are self-employed.
Checking Accounts
It is best to set up a separate business checking account for the business. Pay all your business bills from the business account and all your personal bills from your personal account. Transfer money from the business account to your personal account so your checks won’t bounce
Health Insurance
You can get health insurance from several sources. Cobra should be available to you from your former employer. Chambers of Commerce offer health insurance options and there are various other organizations that offer this benefit. Your payments for health insurance are not deductible on Schedule C as a business expense, but could be deductible on the first page of your Form 1040.
Employees
Do your best to avoid hiring employees. The requirements you must meet when you have employees are significant and time consuming. Contact your tax professional if you are seriously thinking about hiring employees.
Sales taxes
Very little of this blog talks about a business that sells things. Be aware that if you sell a product you must collect and pay sales taxes in most states. Some states, such as Connecticut, have a sales tax on services as well.
» Read more: Career Assssment: Starting Your Own Business, Part 6
Career Assessment: Starting Your Own Business, Part 5
December 1st, 2009By Thomas Arrison, Certified Public Accountant
Paying your taxes
Be sure you are sitting down. The taxes on the income from your business can be as high as 40 to 50% of your net profit. It all depends on what other income shows up on your tax return. The fact that your spouse is working can push you into this level of taxation as can investment income, unemployment compensation, or rental income. Here is how it breaks down:
The Social Security Administration gets about 15% of your wages or net income from self-employment to cover your Social Security benefits and Medicare. When you are an employee, you pay half and your employer pays half. When you are self-employed you pay the whole 15%. Your itemized deductions, such as mortgage interest and real estate taxes, do not effect what you pay for Social Security.
Your federal income taxes depend on your taxable income and marital status. This blog cannot provide all the alternatives. A large majority of taxpayers end up in either the 25 or 28% tax brackets. Your actual percentage will vary with your return.
Most states have an income tax. Even some states that do not have an income tax have a business tax that applies to self-employed people. New Hampshire is one of those states. Massachusetts has a tax rate of approximately 5%.
Using the numbers above you would be paying either 45% or 48% in total taxes. Now that you are totally depressed, let me back off from that statement a bit. The taxes you pay depend on how your tax return goes together. High mortgage interest and real estate taxes will reduce your federal taxes. A non-working spouse reduces your taxes. Many of my self-employed clients only pay Social Security taxes because their income is low.
» Read more: Career Assessment: Starting Your Own Business, Part 5
Career Assessment: Starting Your Own Business, Part 4
November 26th, 2009By Thomas Arrison, Certified Public Accountant
Tax Deductions
The reason you need a bookkeeping system is so that you can deduct all the expenses possible to minimize the taxes you will be paying.
There are a couple of expenses that you will not collect in your bookkeeping system.
Automobile expense. You have two choices in calculating your deduction for your automobile. Under either choice you need to keep a log on your business miles and know the total miles you drive your car during the year.
One way is to record every expense, (gas, insurance, repairs etc.) you incur using your automobile. Once you know the total cost you multiply it by your business-use percentage. (Business-use percentage is your business miles divided by your total miles.) Alternately, you use the IRS automobile mileage rate (for 2009 the IRS mileage rate is $0.55 per mile) times the business miles. The vast majority of my clients use the IRS standard mileage rate. It’s simpler to work with.
Deduction for a home office. To deduct the cost to maintain an office in your home, you must use the area exclusively for business. Thus you cannot deduct the expense if you work at your kitchen table. You are allowed to deduct the business-use percentage of all the expenses to run the house. This would include mortgage interest, real estate taxes, utilities, heat, insurance, and general repairs. You cannot deduct repairs to the non-business use portion of the house, like your kitchen. As this is a complex deduction, it would benefit you to hire a tax professional to help you figure it out.
» Read more: Career Assessment: Starting Your Own Business, Part 4
