career Archives | Page 38 of 43

When to Ask Your Boss for your First Raise

Asking for a raise is like breaking up. There really isn’t a “best time” for it, and a lot of awkwardness will be involved. Unfortunately, our success in life corresponds to the number of awkward conversations we’re willing to have. So if you want to climb out of that low income rut, you’re going to have to bite the bullet and ask–but do it the right way:

The Three Rules of Asking for Money from Your Boss

The first thing you have to do is make sure you don’t break any of these. If you do, the chances of failure are not only exponentially higher, but the consequences will also be steep. Even if you do win your raise while breaking these rules, you will incur the resentment of your employer and could pay for it throughout your career.

Always signal your intentions. Always give your boss forewarning. Drop a polite note saying you would like to set a time to discuss how you’re being compensated. If you corner your boss at the water cooler and ask for a raise, 99% of the time the answer will be “no”, or a polite brush-off.

Prepare justifications based on results, not on how hard you worked. You will need to make a list of achievements before negotiating. “Achievements” are not the number of hours you worked, or the personal time you’ve given up (we hate to tell you this, but most employers don’t care). Achievements are how much money you’ve made for the company, how you improved a product or service.

Always have help. Find a team or department leader whose schedule would be badly affected by your departure, and tell them about it first. If someone relies on you for budget reports, for example, tell them your plans to leave if you can’t get a raise. And then ask them to back your credentials when you negotiate with your boss. Here’s a secret: whether you get a raise is often dependent on how hard team leaders fight for you, not just how hard you fight for yourself.

Timing the Moment

Obviously, the best times should be just after a good performance review, or after a successful project. But things are seldom so convenient, so look for the following times instead:

Wait About Three Working Days after Informing Your Boss of Your Intentions

As mentioned above, never corner your boss and discuss your raise on the spot. Send a short e-mail or, even better, meet her face to face and ask if you can talk about your compensation “later this week”.

Three days is a good interval, which will also give you time to prepare what you need. It will also give your boss time to reflect on your contributions.

Ask about Two Weeks after a Big Win

Use the “halo effect”. When your department or you have performed well, you are in a good position to negotiate a raise. However, don’t do it immediately, as it will be too obvious that you are trying to capitalise on it.

You’ve Just Heard the Report on Your Employer’s Financial Health

If you just heard a rah-rah report about your company doing better, try to time your request close to date you heard it. You can also obtain this information from a prospectus or annual report.

It is better if you make the request after it has been announced however, since it’s harder for your employer to use lack of money as an excuse.

You’ve Checked and Compared Your Earnings

Use sites like Payscale to check your earnings compared to your peers. You might even want to go so far as interview for positions in other companies, to see how much they are willing to offer. In general, you are right to ask for a raise if you are on the low end of the pay scale (bottom 50%). If you are already on the high end of the scale, you had better have some kind of massive achievement of late to justify the request.

If the timing is right and you’ve prepared the right details, then go ahead and make your move.

Just remember though, if you do get a raise, don’t go crazy with it. Your first priority should be to pay down any credit card debts that you have. Your credit card should be saving you money, not costing you money. If that’s not the case, drop by SingSaver.com.sg to compare and find the best credit card for your needs.

(This article is brought to you by Singsaver.com.sg)

4 Highest Paying Jobs That Introverts Can Excel On

A common misconception of introverts is that the dislike socializing. Contrary to the popular belief, introverts are drained by social interaction. Many introverts can socialize easily…they just prefer not to. So, as long as the job does not require tons of socializing face-to-face then, it is suitable for an introvert.

In fact, certain jobs that require extensive research and great listening skills are better off with introverts. That said, here are a few of the highest paying jobs that introverts can excel on:

4. COMPUTER PROGRAMMER

Average of S$47,399 per year

It is common sense that one of the most in demand jobs today is computer programming. Diving into computer programming requires knowledge on Computer Science or Information and Technology. It involves lifelong learning of the constant evolving technology and coding. As a computer programmer you will spend countless of hours in front of the computer while having minimum real-life interaction.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Average of S$47,642 per year

With the overflowing dependence on digital technology, businesses all over the world had been hiring social media managers to enhance their marketing strategies. All you have to do is to spend most of your time online with minimum real-life interaction. Visual interaction is done through answering the feedbacks of Twitter followers or Facebook fans. Having your own nest at home while earning money makes this job perfect for introverts!

2. STATISTICIANS

Average of S$53,238 per year

Statisticians are focused on the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of quantitative information. Rather on contemplating about the conversation topics, they rely on numbers for small talk. This job is rewarding for introverts, not just because they are paid well but also because they are mostly immersed in spreadsheets and equations alone.

1. GEOSCIENTIST

Average of S$120,000 per year

Interestingly, the highest paying job on the list allows more interaction with the environment than with people. Geoscientists can specialize as geophysicist, geochemist, hydrogeologist, geologist, and sedimentologist. Learn more about this introvert-friendly occupation, here:

Sources: 1, 2, 3, & 4

Is Hiring A New Employee Worth It For Your Booming Business?

Having a flourishing business sounds well doesn’t it? But, for a business owner who has not planned about growth, it is possible to find himself or herself in the crossroads – not knowing where to go next. Furthermore, the challenge rises when the perfect employee for the job is asking for a competitive salary.

Employers must calculate the hiring budget and the total cost of hiring a new employee. Additionally, they can find new ways to gain the help they are looking for on how to keep hiring costs low.

COST OF HIRING A NEW EMPLOYEE

Since the workforce of Singapore consists of a diverse mix of employees in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity, employers are strongly advised to practice fairness especially in the matters of talent recruitment.

This fairness expands to the general obligations of the employers. For instance, the cost of hiring a new employee includes the taxes issues for foreign employees and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions for the local employees. CPF is mandatory for all local employees including Singaporean citizens and Permanent Residents that earn more than S$50 a month. And, the maximum CPF contribution rate for the employer is 16%.

Aside from this, the recruitment process can cost you if you are planning to pay for a job advertisement. Fortunately, you can post cheap or free position Ads online through various websites that are available here.

Once you select the perfect candidate, you may have to accommodate to their needs such as purchasing new desk, computer, writing materials, and other tools. Lastly, the hourly wage or the base salary heavily affects the cost of hiring a new employee.

ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO GET HELP

After analyzing all the factors that contribute to the cost of hiring a new employee, you may come to a conclusion that you are still low in hiring funds. This is when creativity and alternative ways to get help comes in.

1. ENHANCE YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYEE’S SKILLS

Instead of hiring a new employee, enhance your current employee’s skills to meet your company’s needs. As the business grows, relatively increase the level of responsibility and the amount of salary. By doing so, you can enhance the current employee’s productivity, effectiveness, and loyalty to your company.

Upgrading your employee’s skills does not necessarily equate to burning your pocket. You can search for a variety of affordable workshops that Groupon.sg offers. Here are just some:

a. Instead of hiring a social media manager, learn with the 3 Hr Branding + SEM + Facebook Marketing Workshop for S$28.

b. Instead of hiring a graphic designer for a few projects, learn with the Adobe Photoshop CC Online Course from Teacherbird.com for S$23.

2. HIRE PART-TIME EMPLOYEES FOR YOUR TEMPORARY NEEDS

If your company’s needs are temporary only, hire a part-time employee, as it is more cost efficient. A sense of flexibility, in both the salary and employment benefits, is undeniable when hiring part-time employees. The working hours of these employees are less than 35 hours a week.

Image Credits: Alex France via Flickr with Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike

With all these in mind, ask yourself this: “Is Hiring A New Employee Worth It For Your Booming Business?”

3. Outsourced Staff

Of course, if you’re truly in need of the assistance and short of human resources staff, you can always rely on a good old recruitment agency to help you out.

It has become a trick of the trade for most companies to hire a Philippine, Indian or China recruitment agency. Should there be a temporary vacant spot in the company’s roster, companies choose to outsource a temp instead of having their current staff pick up the slack. This also guarantees that everyone in the company stays focused on their core tasks.

Sources: 1 & 2

Improve Your Business With Employee Engagement

Do you want to increase your employee’s happiness, safety, participation, and good health? Then, you have to be familiar with the term called “Employee Engagement”. Employee Engagement is an approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to the organization’s values and goals. This later leads to organizational success.

The benefits of Employee Engagement are tremendous.

For instance, a study examined 168 engaged and disengaged employees to measure their stress levels and health indicators. Findings showed that engaged employees reported lower stress as well as improved cholesterol and blood pressure readings. Not only that, they engaged employees are proven to perform better by producing better results. Lastly, research showed that engaged employees have a lower chance (i.e., 5 times less) of experiencing accidents at work than their disengaged counterparts.

Having this in mind, you must know that Employee Engagement is one of the most important things to manage and to measure an organization. Measuring employee engagement may seem like a challenge as it focuses on specific areas of the organization’s strengths and gaps. This shall be observed in a personal and a group level through monthly or yearly surveys.

To boost and manage the employee engagement, here are a few steps you may take:

1. ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR STRENGTHS AND CAPABILITIES

Recognizing the employee’s strengths and capabilities does not always have to be monetary. A respectful acknowledgement of the contributions they have made is enough. Never forget to give your employees flexibility to explore how they can contribute best by allowing feedbacks.

2. CREATE TRANSPARENCY

An organization with transparency creates a room for engagement and a sense of significance. Transparency exists when the leader is comfortable enough to share his or her success to the team.

3. EMPOWER THEM

To enable active participation, put your employees in the position of influence. For example, let them lead a project and choose whom they want to collaborate with. This simple deed will make them realize their own potentials.

Image Credits: thetaxhaven via Flickr with Creative Commons License

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

You’d Be Surprise At How Much YouTube’s Grandest Stars Make (Hint: Up To 8 Figures)

Gone are the days that we rely on MTV to show as the latest music hits. Nowadays, with a stroke of the keyboard, we can just browse our favorite music video and play it on the loop. This was made possible by a website called YouTube.

Since its inception, YouTube has paved way for local stars like Justin Bieber or Ryan Higa to emerge in the worldwide scene. It is surely incredible that the founders named Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim created it about a decade ago. In 2006, Google bought it for US$1.65 billion – a price that we currently know as a serious bargain! Good move for Google indeed.

As the rise of the visitors coming to YouTube increase, the revenue of the renowned YouTube stars also increase. Personally, I am curious to know their yearly earnings. With the combination of the recent data available, here are the estimate yearly earnings of YouTube’s brightest. But bear in mind that YouTube takes 45% of the ad revenue. And, these numbers exclude that.

4. SMOSH

The comedy tandem behind the SMOSH is consisting of Anthony Padilla and his friend, Ian Hecox. They usually do amusing sketches, lip-sync videos, or just about anything funny they find on the web. This attracted 20,686,912 subscribers with about 4 billion total views! If you are shocked with those numbers then, brace yourself as they make an estimate of US$336,000-$5.4 million yearly.

3. BLUCOLLECTION

In 2010, BluCollection ToyCollector‘s maker had created children-friendly videos in English, Portuguese, and Español. These children-friendly videos are purely unboxing, trying out, and reviewing of toys and play sets. Interestingly, his collection of videos had attracted about 2,158,228 subscribers and a total of over 3 billion views! Well, those numbers added to an estimate of US$585,200-$9.4 million yearly earnings.

2. PEWDIEPIE

One of my all-time favorite YouTubers is PewDiePie. Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg (real name) lives the life he dreamt. He is making money on doing what he wants: playing video games. With the most number of subscribers on the list (37,436,585 subscribers), PewDiePie’s humorous commentary videos have garnered about 9 billion views! It has been estimated that he makes about US$896,100-$14.3 million yearly.

1. FUNTOYZCOLLECTOR (Previously: DISNEYCOLLECTORBR)

A channel filled with videos of a simple premise: to unbox and demonstrate the toys made by Disney, Pixar, and so on. With a staggering amount of 4,774,148 subscribers and a total of over 6 billion views, FunToyzCollector proves to be one of YouTube’s elite. She has an estimate of US$1 million-$16.6 million yearly.

How Does One Get There?

In 2014, New York Times did a case study of a full-time YouTube channel creator named Olga Kay. Olga has nearly a million subscribers to date. And, at that time, she has earned about US$100,000-$130,000 per year. Her earnings are brought by the combination of advertising, sponsorships, and merchandising. Her channel cost include hiring an editor that is paid about US$500-$700 a week.

To put the advertising revenue in perspective, a video with ads makes about US$7.60 per 1,000 ad views. That is a down rate compared to US$9.35 per 1,000 ad views in 2012. Furthermore, YouTube gets 45% from the total ad revenue.

With the diminishing rates of ads and all the effort put into production, Olga shares to New York Times that: “But we think if we were coming to YouTube today, it would be too hard. We couldn’t do it.”

Although being a YouTube star is a viable career, it may not be for everybody.

Sources: 1,2, & 3

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