5 Ways Your Online Lifestyle Can Ruin A Career Opportunity

5 Ways Your Online Lifestyle Can Ruin A Career Opportunity Many people want to keep their work lives and their personal lives separate. However, with social media it has become more and more difficult to keep the two worlds from colliding. Todays employers will look through social profiles in order to help them decide who would be a good candidate for a job position. The amount of information your publish on social media sites makes it easy for potential employers to have access to your personal life, which could turn out to be bad for you if  they happen to spot some things that will turn them off, and ruin your opportunity to get the job. Vulgarity and Obscenity: People generally speak on the internet the way they speak in real life. Or at least thats the way employers think. If you use vulgar language in your profiles, then employers will assume you lead a lifestyle where you speak publicly the same way, and they will not want to hire someone who they cannot trust to communicate in a professional manner. Negativity: Employers want to hire people  who will keep a positive atmosphere in their company. If you are a negative person, dont show it. Dont post negative  comments or qoutes  on your online profiles, and when you are at work try, your hardest to be positive and upbeat. People have actually been terminated because of posting negative comments and/or making negative or derogatory remarks in the workplace. Gossip: If you gossip at work or gossip about co-workers or supervisors outside of the office, you can jeopardize your current job, your chance at a promotion, and your  potential for new jobs. It  may be hard, but try to avoid gossiping on the internet and everywhere else. Things you say on the internet travel fast and they stay there forever, even if you think you have gotten rid of them, once your post has been seen by someone else, the damage is already done. Overly Outspoken: If you have an extremely outspoken personality,  it can cause problems. Now you dont have to ignore your beliefs or not express them, but try to avoid screaming your beliefs over the internet or getting into arguments about them at work. While employers shouldnt decide who to hire based on  a candidates beliefs, they may have a negative feeling towards you if you are loud and obnoxious about those beliefs. Hygiene and Appearance: Once again, employers cannot keep a job from you simply for how you look, but it can affect how they think about you. If you look unprofessional or you dont appear to be clean in pictures that you have posted online, potential employers will not want to hire you because you  may show up to work looking unprofessional and unclean. Be smart with your social networking and think twice before posting controversial or negative information on your personal sites-dont hurt your chances of getting a great new job before the employer even has a chance to speak to you in person.

Finding the Best Resume and Cover Letter Writing Companies

Finding the Best Resume and Cover Letter Writing CompaniesWhat's the best way to find the best resume and cover letter writing companies? Well, the first thing you have to do is realize what you're looking for. How will you use this information to choose the right service provider?The best resume and cover letter writing companies can help you in more ways than one. They can help you with the resume for you. While some companies may be able to give you a sample, some of them will be a little more detailed and accurate. While there are others that will tell you what to write on your resume but are unable to tell you the exact requirements for your job. It is important that you know what the requirement is for your resume.Resumes are very important in today's society. A resume gives you a list of everything you have done, what you have accomplished, and the kind of personality you possess. It can go as far as to help you land that dream job.With all of this information out there to hel p you, it is not surprising that you would want to put it to work for you. What should you use it for? How should you use it? To answer these questions, you need to put your resume in writing.Some people will write a resume and then wait for some miracle. But it is easy to get stuck in the rut of just hoping that you can somehow get that dream job. Not only does this delay your process, but it will keep you from even starting with the first step of using your resume in writing.In order to put your resume in writing, it is important that you know what you want to say about yourself. How do you want to be seen by prospective employers? How can they better understand you? How can they see what you can bring to the table?Having a resume in writing is an essential step to start your career. Using this information to find the best resume and cover letter writing companies will make it easier for you to choose the best one for you.

5 Tax Moves to Make If You#039;re Starting a New Job

5 Tax Moves to Make If You#039;re Starting a New Job If you’re starting a new job in 2016, or made a recent change, congratulations! Here’s hoping your new workplace offers you more money, new growth opportunities, and better management. You also may find yourself with a few new tax-prep tasks on your to-do list, however, since a job change is one of the big life events that experts say should prompt you to evaluate your taxes. Yes, April is a long way off, but laying the groundwork now can help lessen any bite the taxman takes. Here are a few moves to make now. Claim eligible job-search expenses. “Many people don’t realize that the expenses that come with a job search can be tax deductible,” said Lisa Greene-Lewis, a CPA and tax expert with TurboTax. If you paid for career counseling or resume preparation help, hired a headhunter, spent money mailing or calling job leads and traveling to job interviews, you can deduct those expenses. If your new job requires relocation, moving expenses not paid by your employer are deductible (the new job has to be 50 miles further away from your house than your old job was.) There are a few caveats, Greene-Lewis said. These deductions don’t apply to your first job, and the new job has to be in the same field as your last one. What’s more, you can only deduct expenses above 2% of your adjusted gross income. Check your withholding. If that new job comes with a big bump in your paycheck, you might want to reconsider how much you have withheld from each check, suggests Mark Steber, chief tax officer at Jackson Hewitt. “You have to pay a lot more attention to those exemption allowances,” he says. This also applies if you are in the same job and get a large raise, since a significantly bigger paycheck could bump you into the next tax bracket, increasing the amount you’ll owe Uncle Sam come tax time. If this is the case, Steber suggests increasing your withholding rate, then checking in the middle of the year to see if you’re on track or need to make any adjustments from there. Don’t delay your retirement rollover. Unless your previous employer has a real standout planâ€"you can check it out on BrightScopeâ€"most experts recommend rolling over your retirement savings, because it’s easier to keep track of assets if they’re all in one place. (You can move funds directly into your new employer’s 401(k) plan, if it’s a good one, or into a rollover IRA account.) If you do cash out retirement savings from your old job, keep a close eye on the calendar. “Once you cash out of a retirement plan, including a 401(k), you have just 60 days to reinvest in another qualified plan,” Steber said. After that cutoff, you’ll owe taxes as well as a 10% penalty on the amount. Look broadly at benefits. Your retirement account isn’t the only way to shelter funds. “Be aware of other benefits offered by the employer in order to maximize benefits and tax advantages,” said Bernie Kaplan, managing director at accounting and consulting company CBIZ MHM. For instance, if your new health care plan gives you the opportunity to contribute to a flexible spending account or health savings account, you should consider it, since contributions are made with pre-tax dollars and can reduce your tax burden. Ask about local taxes, too. “Some locales are well known for high state and local taxes,” said Emily Sanders, a CPA and managing director of United Capital. For instance, New York and California are both notorious for high income taxes. Even if you commute to your high-tax job site over state or municipal lines, make sure you know how much that will cut into your take-home pay. “Be cognizant of your combined tax bracketâ€"federal, state, and local,” Sanders said.