General Adulthood, Planning for the Future: Business, College, Budgeting, Investments, etc! $$$ - General

Im gonna crosspost some resume/CV advice I gave someone here since it could help. I'm on mobile so sorry if the formatting is funky but hopefully it'll help someone. [QUOTE=Pascall]ALRIGHT SO I TOTALLY FORGOT about this yesterday but here's a few things to keep in mind when constructing a CV. It's a little different from a resume, of which I've mostly had experience with, but you can apply the same sort of tips to either. [B]First:[/B] - Start with an aesthetically pleasing layout. Here are some examples: [[URL="https://gosumo-cvtemplate.com/all-cv-templates/"]x[/URL]] [[URL="https://designshack.net/wp-content/uploads/jpg3"]x[/URL]] Obviously don't pay for a layout if you can manage to craft one up in MSWord or Google Docs, but those will give you some ideas of how to craft something that looks nice. If it looks nice, some people might be swayed into believing you're more professional than your lack of work experience shows. - Cater the layout to the sorts of jobs you're looking for. Things like retail or food service probably won't care much (and shouldn't really need a CV to apply anyway), but if you're going into a creative field, aesthetic might be appreciated. Or if you're going into a STEM field, you may want to consider streamlining it to be simpler and more to the point rather than putting anything flashy. [B]Second:[/B] - Get together all your necessary information before trying to type it all into the actual CV. Things like your contact information, the name you want to go by, get a more professional e-mail if your e-mail is something like [email]pokemonkid77@gmail.com[/email]. Businesses prefer something like [email]firstname.lastname@whatever.com[/email] rather than anything else. Phone number is important as well for a contact point, and address, in addition to that. You can also consider putting your date of birth on there but as far as I can see, it's not necessary. Type all of this up in a blank word doc so you know what you want in there. - GET A LINKEDIN IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE. Employers like looking at LinkedIn. It's a professional social media platform and it's worth checking out if you have time. You can include this link in your CV. It can also be used as another potential point of contact (and jobs also get posted on LinkedIn in your network, so it can be handy for that too). - Consider the work experience you DO have. Depending on the type of work you're looking for, you can also consider things like volunteer work, freelance work, unpaid work, etc. as work experience. I myself put Facepunch moderating on my resume (if I'm applying for a community related position), and my freelance artwork as experience with working with clients and things like invoice/income management. No one ever said that work experience had to be a PAID job, either. - Keep different versions of your work experience handy (and keep your resume flexible). You want to cater your CV to the job you want, not assume that an employer will pick and choose the skills that they're looking for in a sea of other things that aren't applicable. So you'll have different versions of your work experience summaries as well as different versions of the CV itself. For example, say that this is my work experience: - Working at Facepunch - Working for an after-school program - Working for a mobile entertainment industry - Working for an indie game developer - Working for a fast food restaurant I recently applied for a job at Khan Academy as a Community Support Specialist. So my highlights for my resume for THAT particular application are Facepunch, the after-school program (because of KA's education focus), and the indie game developer. I also have the mobile entertainment job listed but it's listed last and I've only picked and chosen a few KEY skills that I utilized there to boost my problem solving skills. Other than that, that one is the shortest summary because it's the least applicable. And the fast food restaurant is completely unnecessary, so I leave it out entirely. - Your work summary matters! If at a certain job you learned how to count money, to problem solve, food prep, and to learn customer service, you want to make sure you list only the skills that will work for the job you're applying for. If I'm applying for a retail store next, they probably don't care that you learned food prep. So you can leave that out. Again, cater your CV to the job you want, not in hopes that an employer will magically find something that they like, especially when most places have an initial screener for CV's and resumes to weed out ones that don't fit. - Don't make all your work summaries the same. If you already listed a certain skill for one job, don't list the same thing for another job. Pick and choose important things. Money management comes in handy. So does customer service. Other good things are problem solving, e-mail and telephonic communication, data-entry, and other things that would come in handy in any work environment. [B]Third:[/B] - Education is important. I'm not entirely sure how the structure works where you're from, but I'd always list the last thing you managed to complete, whether it be high school, a two year degree at college, etc. Your specialization might be irrelevant to the job you want, but it's better to list that you've been to school if you have rather than not listing it at all. If you're still in school, list a prospective graduation year so they know when you plan to finish. Other than that, you don't have to go into detail about what you learned or anything. Just list the degree, the date of completion, the name of the institution, and that's all you need. [B]Fourth: [/B] - Your skills need to be specific! Most people tend to fellate themselves and say "energetic, hardworking, etc." when that's not what employees are looking for, because of course you're gonna try to sell yourself to them. These skills need to be something practical. If you know how to use a certain program, then list that. MSOffice is one of the more important ones to know. You can also list if you know any creative suites like Photoshop, etc. (Of course, again, depending on the job you're looking for. Won't matter if you're applying for retail because they don't really care that you know how to use Photoshop most of the time). These skills can also include things like social media familiarity (listing the sites is helpful i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), SEO marketing knowledge (which is super easy to learn), basic business analytics (also easy to learn!), and things like that. This is also where you need to put your best foot forward and try to LEARN some new skills if you think it'll come in handy. I learned basic business analytics in like twenty minutes when I saw that this job I'm applying for preferred a candidate with that knowledge. I have a Google Certification for Education that I paid $10 to take a test for, but it works WONDERS on my resume. If you want a job you need to always be learning. - List any languages you know. If you're bilingual, you'll likely win brownie points no matter where you are. - Don't put UNNECESSARY skills. If your skill is "can dribble a ball real well", don't put that. Don't be a silly goose. You would think this wouldn't be as common as it is, but trust me, I've seen some wacky CVs and resumes out there. - Keep it short and sweet. I'd say about four to six skills would be ideal. If you have less than that, that's okay. But if you have more, choose the ones that are the most relevant to the job you're applying for. [B]Additional: [/B] - You CAN put personal interests, hobbies, etc., if your layout allows for it. But don't CRAM THEM IN for the sake of cramming them in and having something else to fill up a resume. And make sure they're not weird things, obviously. If you like dressing up like a furry, that's probably not something an employer wants to know about. Appropriate things can be like sports, game or software development, travel, any sort of art like painting/drawing/photography, etc. You can also cater this to your job application. A creative field will appreciate if you have creative hobbies. Think like that. Your CV is being judged from EVERY angle. The more information you have that'll lend something to your application, the better. - Resumes don't usually have pictures but apparently CVs do? At least all the templates are telling me they do lol. But if you want to include a picture, make sure it's professional. This should be a given. No bathroom pics, no pics with hats or sunglasses, no group pics with other people, no beach pics, etc. It doesn't have to be you in a uniform or a suit or anything, but it has to be presentable and CLEAR. Nothing blurry and weird looking. A picture is a good first impression. Make sure it's a good one. AND THAT'S REALLY IT. Things will change depending on your experience, what you wanna sell, the job you're applying for, etc. But if you follow these basic rules and strategies, you can come up with a good CV for any job, really. [/QUOTE] [editline]27th April 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=The Drones;52158299]So uh, I was told that this would be a good place to ask for help in terms of making a CV that isn't awful since I have no idea what to do. [URL="http://i.imgur.com/rUCMXik.png"]Here is my current CV[/URL] As you can see in the image, it was for a position at Cex and I had to rely on my Mother helping me to write it cause I have no experience with this kind of stuff. Feel free to say whatever, I'm open to any help.[/QUOTE] In addition to the tips above, your cover letter is fairly weak in terms of formatting. I'd go to these sites for more help on crafting a professional cover letter: [url]https://resumegenius.com/cover-letters-the-how-to-guide[/url] [url]https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/sethporges/2012/08/29/6-secrets-to-writing-a-great-cover-letter/amp/[/url] [editline]27th April 2017[/editline] By the way, for those in states who are using the more typical "resume" layout, PLEASE leave out the "summary" and "objectives" part. These are pretty much irrelevant in the year 2017 and are totally unnecessary unless you want to look like you've never written a resume in your life. Employers don't care that your objective is to "perform daily tasks well" or something equally as cliche. Leave it out entirely. Those are my tips, so hopefully someone can benefit from them.

It is hard to describe how happy I am right now [t]http://i.imgur.com/xfodomR.png[/t]

So I have a small business now. I sorta fell into it, I made enough that I quit my job and I work on it myself. I have a registered LLC and I'm a sole proprietor. How the fuck do I pay taxes? I can get Quickbooks, infact, I will. But like, how does any of this work. I think I get what quarterly taxes are but it seems like a pain. Wouldn't it just be easier to wait until the end of the year, calculate it all together and pay the taxes I owe + the penalty (how much is the penalty anyway) just to make it easier on myself? I honestly save 98% of the income I make that I don't use on expenses and I keep track of them all. I just filed my LLC and started doing business this January. I thought may you guys would know something. [editline]27th April 2017[/editline] This article seems to indicate I can do this. [url]http://www.inman.com/2012/06/08/dont-sweat-quarterly-tax-deadline/[/url] So basically is my plan a good idea? * Get Quickbooks. Input my already (physical) filed expense reports/receipts etc. into it to track. * Save 90% or more of my income in preparation for annual taxes. (Maybe even open a second savings account and transfer 30% of my income into it purely for taxes.) * At the end of the year when I do my taxes input my gross income, deduct expenses and pay what I owe in taxes and the "underpayment penalty" for missing all my quarterly taxes?

Quickbooks honestly does a ton of the work for you and makes it super simple. Quarterly taxes can usually be filled out online through your state comptroller's website so it's not as much of a hassle as it sounds. I've done it twice already and as long as you're keeping track of your expenses (which you can do through Quickbooks), it takes only a few minutes. I wouldn't take the penalty just because it seems difficult. When you make a sale through QB invoice, you can apply a sales tax to each one. That takes care of the taxes you need to collect without you even having to worry about it. I'm not an expert or anything but I definitely think you should just do quarterly taxes.

Nothing really stops you from going in to school later. There are a couple of people above age 35 in my class and they're doing fine. If anything waiting that long makes sure you know what you want so you'll choose wisely and be, as I percieve it, motived so you don't waste your time. You could study businiess economic in like 5 - 10 years then start your own company with the experience you seem to be getting now.

There's so many old people in the classes I'm taking and most of them seem to be just like you. Don't ever think you can't go back to school to improve on your business. (They also seem to be trying to make connections with people like me in my field of work, because what I do is actually super useful for businesses)

My company officially made its first dollar. :') It's only three hundred bucks from a lease arrangement, but it's the first time a check has been cut to me for services rendered as a realtor. It's a nice feeling. My first proper transaction on an actual sale is scheduled to close at the end of May, if all goes well with the inspections tomorrow. Fingers crossed! I've got a long way to go until I'm out of the woods, but every step little step is a huge weight off my shoulders!

Are there any pros from not choosing the general Business degree as opposed to a more specific business related major?

-snip rant, basically messed up my FAFSA and may be paying dearly for it- sorry for the rant but moral is for any of the young people do not be irredeemably stupid like me, and be responsible when it comes to filling out important paperwork like this correctly

[QUOTE=lum1naire;52171885]-snip rant, basically messed up my FAFSA and may be paying dearly for it- sorry for the rant but moral is for any of the young people do not be irredeemably stupid like me, and be responsible when it comes to filling out important paperwork like this correctly[/QUOTE] you say you messed up but you don't say how or how to avoid it.

Perhaps a stupid question but a CV should really be only one page, right?

[QUOTE=Highwind017;52174849]Perhaps a stupid question but a CV should really be only one page, right?[/QUOTE] Ideally - rule of thumb I follow is that for every 5 years of experience, it's one page. Maximum is two pages, but you better have a lot of valuable shit to stick on there to make it count.

[QUOTE=Jsoldier;52167666]Are there any pros from not choosing the general Business degree as opposed to a more specific business related major?[/QUOTE] Picking a more specific major should help you plan more appropriately by allowing you to choose a specific path; choosing a more general degree without a path might make it more difficult to grab the right qualifications earlier on for jobs you might want

Things just keep getting better for my realty company. I just had my first complete stranger call me to request help finding a home. I'm up to six buyers and a seller now. Five more clients, and I'll have hit my minimum goal for the year in my first two months. It's a ton of work trying to stay on top of everything, but this is as great a start as I could have possibly asked for. My first sale is scheduled to close at the end of this month, too, so I can finally pay down one of my credit cards.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;52180089]Things just keep getting better for my realty company. I just had my first complete stranger call me to request help finding a home. I'm up to six buyers and a seller now. Five more clients, and I'll have hit my minimum goal for the year in my first two months. It's a ton of work trying to stay on top of everything, but this is as great a start as I could have possibly asked for. My first sale is scheduled to close at the end of this month, too, so I can finally pay down one of my credit cards.[/QUOTE] Excellent work, BDA! There's a ring I wear that was a gift from my grandfather that says "This too shall pass". It reminds me not to get too happy about a success, or too upset about being down in life. That having been said, temper your happiness and use this windfall to build up that buffer you desperately wanted - see if you can split it between paying back your debts and socking away some for a rainy day. You could really use that "rainy money" right about now if it turns out that this is a "flood or famine" sales cycle (as can sometimes happen). Also, look to expansion if possible - hire an intern/someone interested in learning the ropes to help assist you with your work part time, if possible. Some kid fresh out of college would be ideal, if they're looking to make some money over the summer. It'll allow you to focus more on closing/pulling in more leads, help your practice for growing the business later, build a solid sales pipeline and take things to the next level, business wise. I'd also strongly suggest capitalizing on the good testimonials from your client right now, doing a marketing push ([I]cough[/I] SEO and passive lead generation [I]cough[/I] to keep the momentum going - strike while the iron is hot!

Well this was unexpected, I submitted a resume over a year ago! [t]http://i.imgur.com/uuN6HoG.png[/t] In true Apple fashion they're describing it as a "interactive experience" rather than an interview so I have no idea what to expect.

So I've been fortunate enough to secure a new job with a $7k increase in salary, but I've put in my two weeks at my old job and I'm having trouble staying invested in my current/old job. Any pointers?

[QUOTE=DanTehMan;52186193]So I've been fortunate enough to secure a new job with a $7k increase in salary, but I've put in my two weeks at my old job and I'm having trouble staying invested in my current/old job. Any pointers?[/QUOTE] It's only two weeks so grit your teeth and tough it out?

San Diego State University recently accepted me to be a computer science major at their school, which I was ecstatic about, they were pretty much my first *reasonable* choice. I say *reasonable* because I also applied for some UCs as just a hail mary, and by some miracle, UCSD accepted me. But here's the thing: they accepted me to be a Literature/Writing major. Now I like both subjects equally, but the question that's giving me a hard time is this: Do I go to a lesser school(SDSU) and get a better degree(ComSci), or do I go to a better school(UCSD) and get a lesser degree(LIT/WRI)? I'm not dissing Literature/Writing or anything, it's just you know, a ComSci degree will probably be more valuable. I don't know, any thoughts?

[QUOTE=Dunsparce;52187233]San Diego State University recently accepted me to be a computer science major at their school, which I was ecstatic about, they were pretty much my first *reasonable* choice. I say *reasonable* because I also applied for some UCs as just a hail mary, and by some miracle, UCSD accepted me. But here's the thing: they accepted me to be a Literature/Writing major. Now I like both subjects equally, but the question that's giving me a hard time is this: Do I go to a lesser school(SDSU) and get a better degree(ComSci), or do I go to a better school(UCSD) and get a lesser degree(LIT/WRI)? I'm not dissing Literature/Writing or anything, it's just you know, a ComSci degree will probably be more valuable. I don't know, any thoughts?[/QUOTE] Visit both and decide which campus is better suited for your needs. Once you're attending your university of choice you can always change majors. Changing majors is trivial compared to transferring schools.

[QUOTE=DanTehMan;52186193]So I've been fortunate enough to secure a new job with a $7k increase in salary, but I've put in my two weeks at my old job and I'm having trouble staying invested in my current/old job. Any pointers?[/QUOTE] The only solution to short timers is riding it out.

[QUOTE=1legmidget;52187271]Visit both and decide which campus is better suited for your needs. Once you're attending your university of choice you can always change majors. Changing majors is trivial compared to transferring schools.[/QUOTE] That's not necessarily true. There are plenty of schools out there with enrollment caps, often not taking effect until 2nd year or later. So that's just something to research before a decision is made. If UCSD has to cut their CS program size in half or more by sophomore class it's going to be tough to change degrees.

I have a lot of money sitting in my credit union checking account. How do I invest it in a way that it's still sort of available if I ever want to buy a house? I thought about doing an IRA backdoor thingy but really all that does is transfer money from my checking to a retirement account I can't access. 401k is maxed so that's no an option either (and is why I have so much money in the bank). Is moving the money into an investment bank or money market account the safest thing? They don't have much interest though.

Picked myself back up after a painful job rejection and applied for a data entry job for an insurance company. Not really my favorite thing to do but it'll get me paid and benefits. Seems fairly easy enough and I meet all the qualifications, plus I'm hoping that they'll allow for partial remote work which would be crazy ideal for my school schedule. Here's hoping.

-snip-

How do you people control your fears when starting at a new workplace

[QUOTE=The bird Man;52259130]How do you people control your fears when starting at a new workplace[/QUOTE] The unknown is simultaneously the source of everything that might destroy you, and it also is the guardian of all of the good things you'll ever experience in your life. Every time you approach something awful voluntarily, you will expand your competency and will always grow as a person. If you approach it from a reactionary standpoint, rather than voluntarily, you damage yourself, create anxiety, and you never really get better. It is okay to be fearful, what makes a man is being afraid and fighting the dragon anyway and bringing home the gold.

[QUOTE=Dave_Parker;52226331]There's a number of things you can invest your money in, but what you should invest in mostly depends on how much you want to invest, how long you want your money to be gone for and how much returns (and risk) you want on it. If you want to keep your money gone for 10-30 years while collecting interest on it every 6 months, you could look into treasury bonds. They're extremely low risk, but also low reward. Alternatively, you could look into a well-managed mutual fund like Vanguard or Fidelity. They might have bad months and sometimes won't beat the market average, but for the long term they're usually a sound investment. The most fun is of course to open an investment account, and finding your own stocks to buy. Your money will be available to withdraw as long as the markets are open, and you're in control of your own gains (and losses). Do read some books on investment before you begin though.[/QUOTE] Also do note that depending on how you invest your ability to withdraw money for free will actually be delayed by some brokers unless you decide to get it direct wired for a pretty shitty fee. This is in addition to the T+3 settlement, but most brokers only hold you by roughly the t+3 - a week or so. I think OptionsHouse is the only broker I can think of that holds funds for 30 days before it can be withdrawn from your brokerage account to your bank, and they've been bought by E-trade and all accounts transfer this June so it's unlikely you'll be going with them anyway.

Quoting this from my complaint in the WAYT thread. [quote]I seriously hate my life right now. This damn College situation. My current college doesn't offer a few select classes online so I'm trying to go through another one to get those select classes. Problem is they're being difficult getting back to me, and then getting the a-okay from my college on what classes will definitely transfer is like pulling teeth. This is absurdly difficult and annoying.[/quote] Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? I've been dealing with this for essentially a year now, and I'm screwed for Fall at this rate. Does anyone have any college suggestions for an online Computer Science degree? At this rate I may swap. I'm 48 credits in which sucks, but if at least 36+ transfer I'll be fine.

I absolutely hate being forced to rent a place. Uni student means that renting is my only means of accommodation (since I'm no longer a first year). It sucks that I can't dedicate this summer to household jobs that improve my QOL, cause ain't no way I'm sinking my own time and money into something that in 3 years, I will no longer "own". My parents were contemplating getting a small house / apartment and letting me live in it whilst I just pay mortgage on it. I wish that worked out, cause then I'd be paying half the money on a bigger place that I could call my own. I hate the disparity between rent + mortgage. £475 for an apartment, yet my parents are paying nowhere near that on our big house. Another thing that rubs salt in the wound is I could then sell the house / rent it out once I graduate from uni, meaning I'd get some money back (and maybe a little extra).