Can you take a look at my blog [link redacted] and maybe give it a mention on your site? I am desperate for my blog to take off, so I can write for a living, which has always been my ambition. I am focussed on writing. I write every day. I am trying to tie the blog posts together, give it a narrative and make it more novel-ish. I have no idea if this will work. Any advice on that front would be welcomed…
My husband and I married young and, while he worked and graduated college, I chose to stay home with our kids. We both agreed being home was best for our family, but I wanted more challenge (and money) than that offered, so I opened a home-based child care. I have been doing this for the past 8 years, quite successfully. While I have enjoyed the job and feel like I’m good at it, I am, once again, ready to move onto something more challenging (not to mention, I would really like my house back).
My question is this:
I am about to quit and go back to school. I have been looking forward to going back to school for many years but, honestly, I don’t have any idea what I want to do. I don’t feel like I have the luxury of time because my goal is to get a degree and get me back into the job market as quickly as possible, but I want a job that will be stimulating and useful. My husband keeps saying just having ANY degree is the goal… is that true?
I wish I could read about more in your blog about how to find an investor for a start-up company. This is a forte for you correct? Why don’t we hear more about it?!
Let me tell you something, getting into the retail industry is difficult and kind of stupid, unless you have a lot of money or a great idea. My friend has a great idea, but not enough money to grow it beyond a craft fair thing. She started a mitten business about 4 years ago — she even created the entire mitten design.
This year is her fourth year in business and she has been accepted to a major, national crafts show. She wants to go to more of these large craft shows, but she can’t find a way to invest into the company to keep up with a high demand and streamline her process for these socks. I’ve told her she needs to create an online store, but she’s nervous about the amount of money it will cost and if she can keep up with demand.
So, what are the next steps here? How do we find an investor without going on some stupid TV show? Any thoughts or cares in the world for a little start-up that has huge possibilities?
I have always had a praised writing style and much career guidance towards writing. But what to write about has eluded me. I do know however that when I speak about growing up with [semi-famous person] people are so interested and wish to know more. People seem to respond strongly to anything related to Mario.
I was given a verbal blessing by [famous person’s] mom to write a book and use our pictures. I also have a small amount of rare rehearsal footage of us as a children dancing in the studio where he learned to be a performer.
My question to you is what should I do now to move forward. How can I parent this concept for a book into reality?
I know I probably don’t have to go back to school, however it’s always been an issue for me (and my parents) that I never finished. And my husband and I currently have the means to send me back.
We married young and we decided that I’d stay home with the kids. But it wasn’t enough for me so I started a small child care business on the side. Now I want to do something more, but the problem is that I don’t want to spend two years finishing school just to realize I can’t find a job anyway. Do you really think finding a job is that easy without at least a bachelors degree?
I’m not below waiting tables (I’ve worked a lot of service jobs). I just don’t have any desire to be a 50-year-old waitress. I guess I always assumed bachelors degree=better access to jobs=better pay. Is this not the case anymore?
Have I been out-of-the-loop that long? Won’t I be competing, at every level, with kids that have way more college than I do? Even our local barista has an MFA (I’m not really sure who’s point I’m proving now).
I’m faced with a very fucked up work situation and I thought I would ask for your advice.
This just happened to me:
One of our counsellors comes up to me and ask me for some legal advice. We go into a private room and she tells me about a matter she’s having with the organization. she needs help. in the process, she discloses something the company is doing that is illegal. The company is not paying proper employee taxes to the government and the result is that when an employee is fired they will not have unemployment benefits.
The management justified this by saying, we have to do it because we have no money. but the employees are getting screwed over. Management says, “At least these people have jobs.” Also, management is lying to donors about how many people are working at the company, but at lease the work is getting done.
But I think the government needs to be informed of this illegal behavior so the employees can negotiate a resolution that is beneficial to them.
I’m just not certain what to do. Do you have any advice?
Thanks for reading my lengthy email. The first thing I noticed when I came here was how little our Director seems to care about her employees.
I’m in the last interview stages with a company and I’m not sure how I should best answer the below question:
“Can you offer some idea of base + bonus or other comp for the past 2-3 years, and also confirm your expectations for a new role?”
Why does what I made 2-3 years ago matter if this is for a new, higher-level role? Can I respectfully decline to answer that? Also, why do they always ask about bonuses? In my career we may get a bonus at the end of the year depending on the health of the business but it’s not significant — just a few hundred.
“After many years of being in the work world (I’m 39), I decided to make a career change a few years ago and go back to school, full time, for a year. I’m single (no hubby, no kids), so it was no problem for me to move literally across the country to a much smaller city to attend university. I moved from Toronto, the largest city in Canada, to Victoria, BC, a city on Vancouver Island (approximately 90 nautical minutes northwest of Seattle).
“I loved island life so much I ended up staying in Victoria for almost two years. I only moved back to Toronto because the job market in Victoria is small – and is even smaller during a recession. I’ve been back in Toronto for about 9 months and found my current job only 2 months after arriving, but I, surprisingly, miss Victoria and would love to move back. The only deal-breaker is I will never move there without having a job first, my finances won’t let me do that again.
“Are companies now willing to use Skype, MSN Messenger, etc. to interview people who aren’t local?”
I’m a twentysomething who has sworn off college and 9 to 5’s and doing everything society’s way. I have a real mind for business and have an awesome idea for a new website. The idea is to create a live community, a craigslist or Brazen Careerist even for [culturally aware types] across the nation, a site complete with a message board and a calender for user submitted events. I really think there’s a need for this, and feel it would do really well upon launching. I probably shouldn’t have told you all of that but I’m confident you won’t steal my ideas.
So the question is money. I have this great idea, and I assume I need investors. Where do I find them? What should I say to them once I do find them? I’ve read some articles on your blog and made some headway but still feel a little, foggy.
Contact
penelope@penelopetrunk.com