Women Restarters – Find your own way!

It’s a long post but reading through it once will help you prepare for sure. It has worked for me and a few other people I know. So I hope it does for you too. Take what you like, leave the rest and don’t hesitate to share what I have missed. It can help quite a lot of people.

Lately, I have been involved with a forum, Jobs For Her for women restarters. I consider myself fortunate enough to meet a lot of like-minded and brilliant  women who are looking forward to restarting their career. It is a huge challenge for a typical Indian Woman as I have faced it too.

People Networking can take you a long way!

Have you ever wondered how come the successful people have so many contacts? The fact is that these contacts only make them successful. Networking with the right people can take you places in work as well as in life. If you are a shy person and want to be successful, please never shy away from meeting new people and maintaining a healthy network. As with anything else, it’s the quality of contacts and how well you connect with them that matters more than having a large number of useless contacts.

So how do we go about widening the people network?

I am not Perfect & I would remain so!

Isn’t it strange that people are always wanting to correct and make their closest ones perfect! Correction is alright but wanting them to be perfect!!! It freaks me out sometimes. I am not perfect, just as even they are not. I don’t expect them to be perfect too, neither do I want them to be so! And that’s exactly why it freaks me out when they just will not accept the fact that I’d rather be myself, than try to get into some other mould!

Chronicles of a Homemaker!

Everyday begins and end with the same question! What’s cooking? Sometimes its frustrating, but sometimes its exciting too. I guess every homemaker will go through this phase at some point of time. As for me, its a challenge every day!!!

Visualize to Achieve!

Have you ever walked aimlessly on the road? Dangerous, isn’t it? Working hard without a goal too is like walking aimlessly!

If you want a successful career, you need to visualize your goal. You need to see for yourself what you want to achieve. A hazy roadmap will get you somewhere only if you have your destination clear. But then, if you have your goal ready, you can easily make a clear roadmap which makes the journey easy.

 

How do you Visualize what you want to Achieve?

Even though I feel that the current generation is quite goal oriented, I have come across many young people who have no clue what they want to do. They are probably frustrated and just want to jump into any job they can get. While a job definitely makes sense, you must know what you are missing. Technically, it’s called Opportunity Cost. 

The best way to understand what you want to do and what you will gain or loss in the due course is to take down a pen and few papers and point out your ultimate goal. Create milestones that are reasonable to achieve. We are working top-down now.

Take separate papers or pages to note down each milestone. List out how you will achieve the milestone and how it will lead you to the next milestone. This is planning! By then end of it, you should know from where to start. If you plan to be in a corporate, you need proper education from reputed institutions! If you plan to be an entrepreneur, you need more experience and capital. So you can decide on whether to go for a job or for studies once your goal is set.

At every milestone, also note down what if you do not achieve the milestone! Point out what can be the possible distractions or blockages that will restrain you from achieving the same. Also, how you can overcome the distractions. That’s risk management.

It can be quite confusing initially, especially when you have a couple of options to consider. In such a case, you can follow the above-mentioned process for each goal and then compare the pros and cons.

By the end of this process, you will have a better idea about what you want to do in life and how you are going to get there.

I am a happy-go-lucky person! I don’t want to follow a path! 

Good for you if you prefer to go along with the flow. But then, you must be ready to take what life gives you at each stage. You must be strong enough to face the strong currents that blow against you.

What if things go wrong even with a well-planned roadmap?

It was not as well-planned!

So you keep aside what’s already achieved and re-plan the rest. You might have heard people advise to always have a Plan B. Well, that’s what we covered under the risks and still, if things go beyond your imagination, which is quite possible, you need to re-imagine things.

The point to note is that periodic re-evaluation of the plans and risks are essential to keep you going towards your goal. If you are focused, you will know where your plans can default much earlier and rework on it on time. This is an ongoing process!

Life is an Adventure, So I don’t want to plan!

Keep your guards always on. The moment you feel tired, you can always come back to the goal-setting process and get on the track!

Image courtesy: http://www.pexels.com

Work From Home – Are you ready for it?

Image Courtesy: https://www.pexels.com/

The Background

I have been trying to get some work that I could do from home since 2007. The idea was to keep myself engaged while I could take care of my son at home. A 9 to 6 job did not seem feasible and sensible back then as I did not want to leave my hardly 2-year-old son with my mom and go to work! But then, this was the first time in my life that I was sitting home all the time and it was quite frustrating. I was never that typical homemaker, who could be home and manage the home affairs completely! That was just not me!!! But then, back in 2007, in Kochi there was little I could do with a baby to attend to who would fall sick every other month.

Even though I was net-savvy and kept searching for some kind of freelancing work, especially in software development which I loved and enjoyed doing, there was no opportunity available. Then I got an offer from a reputed company where many of my ex-colleagues had joined. I was a referral by a couple of managers there and I was glad that I got the call. But then it did not work out as they wanted me in the office twice a week from 5 pm to 10 pm! I could never leave my son that long and there was no Ola or Uber for late night travel. Since the office was on the outskirts of the city and I did not find the timing feasible, I refused that offer and kept my search on.

Another couple of years down the lane, I happened to know that a friend of mine was undertaking outsourcing jobs and she wanted some writers who could help her out. I was not a writer but was ready to try my hands on since I knew that I could write without any grammar or spelling mistakes. I tried it out and found it quite interesting. There was a lot you could learn. It was flexible and interesting. Even though the pay was negligible, I was writing regularly for her and learning this new skill on the job.

Freelancing Now

But now the situation has changed completely. For those seeking work from home opportunities, freelancing is a good option. If you want to get into freelancing now, there are many options available. In fact, I have recommended this to many of my friends and relatives too, some of whom are already freelancers now. The best part of freelancing is that it is flexible! You take up work when you feel like, take holidays when you want to, and get paid for what you do, no matter from where you get it done! But it does come with some complications too. I am just trying to help people out with the pros and cons of freelancing and hope it helps them decide.

Pros of Freelancing

Things you need to seriously consider about freelancing are:

• It is flexible – If you can optimally use Freelancing, it is quite flexible.
• It pays – Use it wisely and professionally and you can make money.
• Be your own boss – You need to be a strict one at that!
• Diversified experience – Explore different skills you have with freelancing opportunities.

Cons of Freelancing

I am sure many of you would have experienced this part of freelancing more than the pros. But then getting into the right channels can make a difference. Like every coin has 2 sides, freelancing too has some issues:

• It is not permanent – This is something you need to consider seriously.
• There are frauds – But then there are in the conventional job market too!
• Take time – Yes, you need to have a lot of patience to start off with freelancing.
• Need to invest in multiple channels – Invest your time and effort in multiple channels of freelancing instead of mulling over just one option.

So how do you nail it?

As I said, there are many websites like Upwork, Freelancer, PeoplePerHour etc where you can register your profile and seek freelance opportunities. There are many organizations that also outsource some of their jobs. Things will not happen overnight and you need to build up a good network as well as profile. To begin with, compromise a little on the compensation and build a good clientele. Once you start getting work regularly, you can bid higher. Approach the start-ups or SMEs initially, where you can get a good exposure and build your profile.

If you are an experienced person seeking a freelance job, it makes things easier. You need to showcase your profile professionally and go out and seek the options available. Do not drop your card somewhere and expect people to call up and give you a job. If you want it, you have to explicitly ask for it and grab the opportunity that comes your way.

Try various job sites, LinkedIn etc which are also sources of freelancing work. But then, always make sure that you verify the company or the client for whom you work. Join networks like JobsForHer, Sheroes etc that are helping women out in restarting their career.

There are some basic ethics and rules to follow too. Managing work and personal life in freelancing can be quite tough! But then if you want to stay home and work, you have to find an efficient way out for it. There are many tools available online that helps you keep track of what you do. You can use MS Excel also if you are not that tech-savvy.

You need to be responsible and serious about your work. A negative review can cost you many projects impending confirmation. Deadlines have to be kept and communication is also very important. You need to prioritize the work and plan accordingly.

The fact remains that quite a lot of freelancing opportunities in various fields are available online. You need to polish your skills, get confident and focus on it. Writing, SEO, Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Customer Care, Teaching, Accounting, Fashion Designing, Web designing, Graphic designing, HR & Recruitment, Advertising, Software development, Photography, Surveying, Market Research etc are some of the fields where ample freelancing opportunities are available. If being occupied with work is what matters more, try diversifying into some thing that is in demand.

Make the most of the technology but beware of the pitfalls!

 

Conquer your Fears! Don’t let it conquer you.

Fear is like a termite, eating your brain. If you do not overpower it fast, it will overpower you faster. I constantly challenge myself to try something I am quite fearful of. I know that I have to consciously fight my way out of my fears. I want to break away from whatever is restraining me. I am happy that I am actually taking small yet consistent steps to overcome my few fears. I guess trust plays an important role in combating fears!

I did manage to explore darkness while we were travelling in Hyderabad! One uncle suggested that we visit the place and we did. It made a huge difference to my son’s fear of darkness. He was 9 then and was very scared of closed spaces and darkness, especially in an unfamiliar place. I tagged along my mother and son to explore this new world and it was the most worthy experience we had in Hyderabad.

I am yet to conquer my biggest fear – Height! That’s funny, considering that I am quite tall myself. But no, it is the fear of falling from a height that constantly disturbs me, especially when I see a picture taken from a height or see someone walking treacherously at a height!  I am definitely working on this one.. though taking baby steps.

And I managed to explore heights and adventures recently at an amusement park. All the rides had an element of height and many had a falling effect too! Although I was tensed, not scared, I experienced and enjoyed the rides to the fullest. The most interesting one was where the seat flipped upside down as it rotated and revolved! For one moment I was scared that I would fall, but then, I realized I would not survive it and that moment the fear run away. After that moment, I saw the world upside down rotating and revolving! I am happy I did explore it and did not shy away scared. Then there was the huge swing! This time I was more prepared. And it helped too! Even though I could feel butterflies in my stomach, I managed through the ride with a smile.

And then, I fear some people. I feel some people are more poisonous that any chemical, animal or weapons! It is not a general fear. I fear those who are potentially poisonous. I guess I need to find a way to fight this fear more than anything else. There are many such people we encounter everyday and we need to make sure that they are contained, well-before they spread it out to the world. You know that they are poisonous, but what about those unaware?  I need to find a way to handle this one!!!!

Free Advice! Do you need it? You may benefit!!!

I guess advice is the most freely available material in the world, especially in India. Everyone elder to you have the Right to advice you. If a younger one is more Successful than you, they can advice you too! Here’s my take on free advice..