Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Tag: job skills

  • Is Buying Real Estate a Good Idea?

    Is Buying Real Estate a Good Idea?

    You’ve probably heard this question asked multiple times, but this is probably the first time you’ve heard this answer. Is buying real estate a good idea or should you rent? Here’s an answer from the perspective of what jobs skills and education you have.

    Why You Should Rent for Now and Buy Real Estate Later

    First, before we talk about buying real estate, let’s begin with renting. You’re likely living at home or renting while you consider the big move into investing in a property. Many factors go into a decision like this, including your income, cash flow, and future plans. Renting makes more sense if your situation is the following:

    • You won’t be living in the same location for a long time or you aren’t certain how long you will be at that location.
    • Your income is unstable. For example, you have been hired on a short-term contract, you work hours fluctuate from month to month, or you are still on probation with a new job in a new career that you may/may not like.
    • Market conditions are not ideal. Factors to consider are inflated market prices, mortgage rates, and available inventory on the market. (If you don’t like what’s available to buy, it’s best to wait.)

    But let’s say all the ideal conditions line up. You’ve found the city that you want to live in for the next few years, you’ve been working for a while for the same company, and there are a few listings on the market that look like a possible dream home. Buying real estate now may be a good idea.

    Why Buying Real Estate Now is a Good Idea

    Buying property is a great investment if you’ve got the cash flow, income, job skills, and a stable future.

    First, you’ve found a city that you want to settle down and call home for a while. You’ve had your eye on a few neighbourhoods that you would feel comfortable living in. The market and economy are in your favour, with interest rates and a price you can afford.

    Second, you have job skills that are in high demand. It’s easy for you to find work because companies are hiring for your job description or you have specialized skills that companies want. You will be able to find a steady income no matter what condition the economy is in. If you can’t find a job, you will have enough experience to be able to freelance and find work on your own.

    Now, say you want to take real estate investing a step further. You can find ways to pay down your mortgage faster and turn it into a business investment.

    At the end of the workday (or whenever you have free time), read books and learn about investments. Increase your cash flow by investing in stocks or something else you have strong knowledge in to help with mortgage payments. A financial education isn’t just about what you learn in a course. You can increase your knowledge by taking initiative.

    Another option you have is to turn your home into an investment by renting out a room or suite in your house. If you have a side business, such as freelancing, or you own a business, you can write off the areas of your home that you use for business. For example, a room that you use as an office or a meeting room to meet with clients.

    Some people will buy a new house without considering their own personal preferences when choosing furnishings. For example, when deciding on types of appliances, type of finish for kitchen cabinets, and interior paint colour, they will choose what most people want to buy. A few years after they buy and live on the property, they plan to sell it for a profit.

    Summary

    Buying real estate is not a simple decision because of all the factors involved. Two factors that will impact when and if you buy are your job skills and financial knowledge. The more skills and knowledge you have, the more options you have for paying down the mortgage or turning your home into an investment.

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  • How to Develop an In-Demand Skill Set

    How to Develop an In-Demand Skill Set

    How pandemic-proof is your skill set? If a global event disrupts the economy, would you have a job tomorrow? Many people lost jobs last year, but those workers with high-demand skills were able to do one of three things.

    These workers kept their jobs, they were snapped up by a new company if they were laid off, or they pivoted with ease into a new industry. Those are the perks of an in-demand skill set. You’ll always be able to find work. To ensure the stability of your income, you’ll want to continuously improve on this in-demand skill set which should include the following skills.

    Speaking Skills

    Strong speaking skills are one of the top skills that will land you a job, improve your job performance, and advance your career.

    • At job interviews, you’ll be able to give concise, well worded, and confident answers.
    • Your elevator pitches will persuade your listener to believe in your cause or invest in your project.
    • When presenting an idea or your boss, co-worker, or client, you’ll deliver your concept in a persuasive and effective manner. The other party will either agree with you or respect you if they disagree.
    • Customers and clients will trust and understand your advice.
    • Your presentations at meetings will be well-organized and polished.

    Clarity and confidence are important on the job for people to understand you and believe what you say. To develop your speaking skills, work on the following:

    • Time and record yourself speaking about one topic for one to three minutes. Listen to the recording. Does your speech have a beginning, middle, and end? Do you speak smoothly, or fill your pauses with ums and uhs?
    • Practice giving a presentation to someone you feel comfortable with, such as friends or family.
    • Watch videos about public speaking and try to implement a tip into your speaking practice. For example, focus on the volume and pitch of your voice one day, and focus on your vocabulary use for an impromptu speech on another day.

    Sales Skills

    Here’s a fact you probably knew but may not have thought about: you need to be able to sell to be successful. Many people don’t know how to sell or are afraid to because of the slimy, desperate, dishonest salesperson image that we associate with selling. What you should know is that sales in every day practice is more subtle:

    • Selling your concept or idea to your boss at a meeting. Selling is persuading in this case, and if you can’t persuade, then you can’t get the other party to agree with you.
    • Selling your boss on a job promotion or getting a raise. Why should your boss give you that job title you want? Why should you get an increase in your salary? Again, if you aren’t persuasive, you won’t achieve what you’re looking for.
    • Selling to your customers and clients. The obvious result of a successful sale is if your client buys what you are selling. However, there are other levels of selling, such as getting the customer to trust you and build a long-term client relationship with you and your company.

    Sales is a skill that can developed over time. It’s a high-demand skill because every business needs sales to survive. To work on your sales skills, practice the following:

    • Read books and watch videos about sales tips and techniques. Understand the psychology behind why some sales techniques are effective.
    • Practice selling something to someone you feel comfortable with. As you gain confidence, work on selling something to a stranger. For example, convince someone you don’t know to try visit a place you like.

    Writing Skills

    Writing is an important skill for communication and professionalism. Your mastery of this skill increases in importance if your work involves a high level of accuracy and/or or political correctness.

    • Writing emails that have few grammar, spelling or punctuation errors reflects on your level of education and professionalism. If you make a lot of mistakes with words like they’re/their/and there, your writing can look sloppy.
    • Verbal communication is easy these days with voice messaging apps, but writing is important for keeping records. A letter or email saying that you will have something done by a certain date is a solid promise of what you will do. In some cases, written records can become evidence if there is a lawsuit.
    • Written reports and other documents are a permanent record that will be referenced in the future. Your choice of words and the clarity of your thoughts will be vital to the professionalism and accuracy of the document.

    Writing skills need a lot of practice and time to develop because you need to learn grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. You can also try these activities:

    • Copy a piece of writing that is written in the style that you want to learn. By copying it as practice, your brain starts to learn that writing style.
    • Practice writing each day. Use writing apps such as Grammarly to review and give suggestions on how to improve your writing.

    Leadership Skills

    Career advancement is difficult without leadership skills. Empathy and understanding the people you work with, and being clear and organized about when you want something done are both in-demand skills.

    • At most companies, a promotion means becoming a leader of some kind, which means you need leadership skills. You need accountability and responsibility to lead a team, become a supervisor, or become a manager. It’s rare that an employee will receive multiple promotions for a job in which they work solo. Leadership skills can be learned from on-the-job training or taking a course.
    • As an owner of your own business, even for a sole proprietorship, you still need to know leadership skills to manage your employees or contractors.

    Technological Savvy

    Ongoing mastery of technology is key.  Software is constantly upgrading to new versions and companies require their staff to learn new programs and platforms over time.

    • Larger organizations have replaced processes with technology to simplify the work of employees. For example, paper-based time sheets have been replaced by computerized time sheets to make the calculations easier for the accounting department.
    • Companies with employees or clients in other cities or countries are using technology instead of in-person meetings. For example, the technology for a Zoom meeting is less expensive than flying people and booking hotel stays.
    • While it’s still possible to call someone on the phone, or walk over to another person’s desk on the same floor, communications applications make it easier to share files and messages between office workers and locations. Members of one chat can see what actions have been completed by various team members involved in the same project.

    Fortunately, it’s easy to find videos on YouTube on how to use all the latest platforms and software. If your co-worker or your company IT department hasn’t answered your tech question, you can educate yourself on whatever technology you are using.

    Summary

    If you aren’t sure how to develop an in-demand skill set, start by looking for skills that are transferrable from one industry or niche to another. In times of economic hardship, these skills will continue to find you steady work. Strong speaking and writing skills, and sales and leadership skills are just some of the skills that are always in high demand. Can you think of any other transferrable, high-demand skills? Comment below!

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  • What Job Skills Should You Improve On If You Don’t Have a Job

    What Job Skills Should You Improve On If You Don’t Have a Job

    This year – 2020, the pandemic year – was a rough one. If you’re one of the thousands who lost your job and you’re not having any luck finding another, what should you do with your time? Working on your job skills is one option, but what skills should you improve on?

    Learning a whole new profession is probably not the best option unless you’re absolutely sure that your current career doesn’t hold a future for you. A new profession would mean learning a new set of skills and building a new network of professional connections.

    Instead of a complete change, you can work on a new skill or skills that are similar to the skill set that you currently have. For example, if you were working in the marketing field, learn something new about social media or branch out into affiliate marketing if you weren’t working on that before.

    Look into taking free courses such as those offered by HubSpot and LinkedIn, paid courses, or educational YouTube videos. I’ve learned new job skills, new ways to find work, and new platforms and software just by investing a few minutes each day into my professional development. Don’t forget about reading some juicy books that will teach you new skills or a new mindset as well.

    Other options include joining Facebook groups for specific fields and industries to find work. These are a source for job leads as well as learning about job finding tips and trends in job hunting and in your industry.

    Subscribing to online magazines are another source of information about trends in specific industries as well as the latest information on job hunting.

    By learning about latest trends, you can stay on top of the skills that specific markets are looking for. These skills or this software should be the ones that are top of mind for what you’ll learn next.

    Don’t forget to read job postings in your field that you aren’t interested in applying for. Maybe you aren’t interested in working for that company or the job isn’t an exact match for what you want, or you aren’t yet qualified for the job. However, it will give you ideas about what is available in the job market and what jargon to use in your job application. 

    Volunteer work is also another way to build your skills. Work on projects to develop new skills or keep current ones fresh. Add these projects to your resume.

    Improving on your job skills will help you find work in the same or similar fields. It will also keep your resume current and may even open doors for jobs that you didn’t qualify for before your skills upgrading.

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  • What Should You Do If Your Career Takes A Wrong Turn

    What Should You Do If Your Career Takes A Wrong Turn

    Regret is a powerful motivator.

    Recently my memories seemed to morph into the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. I thought about the career I used to have, and how stable and comfortable that job had been. It was my dream job, but things changed, and I found myself looking for a new career.

    I had decided to take my skill set and become an entrepreneur instead of taking another job, building up my career from scratch at another company, and risk being laid off again. Today, just a week before a new year begins, I face an uncertain future. The future is scary.

    It’s scary because so much is unknown about it. Will the pandemic come to an end? Will the economy improve? Will I need to make more pivots to my business so that it will thrive?

    When I first started my business, I made some mistakes. Looking back at the wasted time and the wasted money is painful. The regrets are painful. But looking forward, I see a chance to do things better. More wisely. More efficiently.

    If you’re thinking about changing careers, or your future is unknown because of COVID, consider these tips whether you’re looking for a job, or working on a business like I am:

    • Assess your financial situation. How much do you have in savings? How much debt? Should you borrow money to pay expenses while you work to get your career back on track?
    •  Look for options in which you can develop your skills while working. Can you use your current skillset to get some employment while you continue to build on your skills by taking courses or learning on the job?
    •  Build a professional support network. I’ve joined Facebook groups and attended online network meetings to get to know people. Through these connections, I have found clients and work opportunities.
    •  Work with a mentor. A career coach or someone with more experience than you in an industry or field can guide you. They can point out what you need to work on, steer you away from making potential mistakes, and share important wisdom with you.

    A year from now, I want to feel like 2021 was the year I made progress. At that time, I will look at the past fondly, the present with satisfaction, and the future with bright hope.

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