Category Archive

Work

Let’s talk about work in all it’s forms: Careers, day jobs, school, studies, even decorating your office, and working from home.

How can I survive hot-desking in an open-plan windowless office?

I have recently started a new job. And while I love the work itself, the working environment is new to me and causing me to regret taking the job. I now work in an open-plan office without any natural light, and I am hot-desking. What can I do to make the environment nicer, and more of a productive area to work in?

Keep yourself from going stir-crazy when you work from home

Working from home is practically the new American dream. Everyone I know wants to do it, and everyone I know says they envy my ability to set my own hours, pick my own clients, and work in my pajamas (or naked!) any time I feel like it. What’s less obvious is that working from home can be a huge stressor sometimes. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to keep yourself from losing your mind as a stir-crazy freelancer. Here’s just a few of the ways I keep myself sane on a daily basis…

Staying spooky in the corporate world

When you work in a corporate environment, it can be easy to fall into the pattern of dressing the way your co-workers do, especially if you haven’t quite wrapped your head around the concept of “business casual.” For a long time, I felt the need to basically be undercover as a “normal person” at work to avoid raising eyebrows, and because I felt I needed to dress a certain way to be respected. I’m going to let you in on a little secret I’ve learned after 7ish years working in offices: this just isn’t true. There are plenty of ways to express your creepy side in a work-appropriate manner.

Learning to fold: everything I know about laundry I learned from working shitty retail jobs

When I was in college, I worked for The Disney Store. They taught me this thing called “The Disney Fold” … a laundry folding method that I use to this day.

Should I volunteer or start a job?

I know that volunteering would be an amazing way to gain the experience that I need, but with graduation quickly coming and all my debt looming in the distance, I worry if I can afford it and if it’s worth the risk. Then again, I have had a few professors tell me that I should get a job instead of volunteering or interning, but I worry that no one will hire me due to lack of experience.

How to write a grad school CV that shows off the goods

I need a CV to complete my application for a graduate program in divinity — and I have no idea where to start! I did some Googling to try and find a good template, style guide, or even sample and immediately got stuck in a black hole of garbage career advice websites. Could anyone recommend a website or app I can use to generate a quality CV, or at least a style guide?

The steps you should take when job hunting: Insights from the person who receives your resumes

I’ve spent the better part of the last three months hiring people for openings in my department. I’ve been looking mostly for entry-level candidates for marketing and writing positions, and have reviewed thousands of resumes (from online postings, job fairs, LinkedIn and referrals). I’d like to offer some general advice from a management perspective for getting your resume seen and getting an interview.

Earning extra income at home by doing laundry

There are a lot of articles and blogs out there about making money from home, most of these are targeted at stay at home moms and include things like, “Get a job as a virtual assistant” or, “Sell your handmade goods through an Etsy shop.” These are great ideas, and I am sure they work for a lot of people, but in my experience with this a lot more time is spent scouring the interwebs for opportunities than actually generating any income. What I have found works best for me is low tech and old fashioned. I wash clothes and I bake bread.