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How to Find a Job Through Social Media

February 22, 2012
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How to Find a Job Through Social Media

Is it possible to find a job through social media, Linked In, Facebook and Twitter? There is a jargon in management world these days, “bring in a known good person rather than an unknown better person”. This refers to hiring from within a known circle of people, or with recommendation from a known circle of people. The largest professional network, Linked In, was founded on this principles and today its thriving along with Facebook and Twitter. In last one year I have seen quiet a few people getting jobs through social media referrals. I receive requests to refer some one or other within my connections for jobs. Recruiters and HR managers are now actively mining talents through Linked In. Example, one of my close friends was found out through his Linked In profile. The recruiting manager was his 4th level connection. You may not be as lucky as this guy, as he had some specialized training and diploma which was sought after by his employers. It also added spice that my friend and his the-then interviewer had similar tastes of reading. If you imagine typical job of a recruiter, he has to post for the positions, collect resumes, sort through them

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Does Blogging Affect Your Work? I Think So

February 20, 2012
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Does Blogging Affect Your Work? I Think So

Does blogging affect work? Last year, when I started blogging, I didn’t know the answer, or at least, I didn’t want to find out. I got caught up in the intricate world of blogging, to an extent I was never fascinated with anything else. Not even my day job. The reality was, there were no blog income, where as the salary was more than satisfactory. First week of February was a wake up call for me. The appraisals for 2011 came in. It was a rude shock to me How blogging affected my work For past two years I was assessed as “Exceeding the expectation”, or rated 1. This year I was assessed as “Meeting the expectation”, or rated 2. My manager saw my performance degrading compared to last two years. On a later one-on-one with my manager (a director), I was pointed to my behavioral changes. 1. My work hours got reduced by an average 1:30 hours a day, it is a right observation, instead of spending 11+ hours, I was spending only 10 or even less. This might sound ridiculous to you but, I am fine with that number of hours. I feel hard work is necessary to grow in career or

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One Cent Weekly Roundup Car Trouble Edition

February 19, 2012
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I reported a few bad news last week. I did found out solution to a few of them. Tomorrow I am going to publish a mammoth post on how this blog affected my at-work performance. I request you to come for that article tomorrow. Our older car, 2002 Hyundai Elantra, finally gave in. The cheap car with cheap parts has its limitation. With KBB value of $2,800 I am not at all fond of shelling out $2,500 towards fixing my engine, radiator, AC belts and a new battery. I am eyeing for a Toyota or Honda used car as the replacement. I spoke to a few friends and colleagues. I may get one by March second week. Until that happens, SMB has to wake up early and drop me to office and every evening she has to  pick me up from work. Naturally I am not as complaining about the car problem as she is doing. Yes, it’s a monetary loss of a $1,500 (after factoring in resell price of $1,000) but, I had that money saved anticipating a break down. I vowed not to own another Hyundai ever. Roundup of good reads The exceptional reads from last weeks are listed below.

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Chase Freedom Credit Card Review

February 18, 2012
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Chase Freedom Credit Card Review

This review will be third in series of reviews for products we use. The previous ones were Credit Sesame Review and Yodlee money center review. I have used Chase Freedom credit card for last 5 years. First applied when the solicitation mail came in my mail box. That time card was offering 2% (sometimes more than 2%) return on all spending. 2% cash back was welcome break from my otherwise no-reward secured card from Bank of America. I readily accepted the offer. Till date the card carries 19.23% interest. I am not worried. I never paid a single penny on interest on this card. Rather, the high interest rate is my motivation to payoff full balance every month, to avoid interest payment. Although not any more as attractive as the earlier days my Chase freedom card is still being used. I now learned to take advantage of occasional promotion offers from card issuers to maximize credit card return. It is particularly designed for the people who are interested in earning reward points in return for charging the card against expenditure. It is preferred by many since it enables one to earn 5 % cash back on select items as well as 1% cash back on the others. You

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How to Shop for an Engagement Ring to Maximize Value for Money

February 17, 2012
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How to Shop for an Engagement Ring to Maximize Value for Money

Is the fear of how much an engagement ring will cost holding you back from taking that next step in your relationship? Shopping for an engagement ring should be a pleasurable experience…one you remember forever! Not one filled with anxiety and pressure! Below are tips that will not only help men eliminate the stresses involved with purchasing an engagement ring but also save money in the process. Set a Budget A good idea would be to establish what is the most you would spend and what would be the least. Giving yourself a high and a low baseline will allow jewelry dealers to pinpoint exactly what range you are able to purchase in. Determining these two pricing points will depend on several variables including but not limited to how much you earn, what your monthly expenses are and how much money you currently have saved. There is no precise formula for determining what you personally should be spending on a ring. You are going to have to come up with pricing the fits your budget. You want to make a purchase that your bride-to-be will be happy with but not one that is going to set you in extreme debt. If you are in a situation where money is tight now, but you expect

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8 Winter Car Care Secrets to Save You Money

February 16, 2012
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8 Winter Car Care Secrets to Save You Money

The following is a guest post from Micah Moon, who talks about winter car care in this article. There’s no doubt the same principles that apply to car care in the summer do not apply in the colder winter months. While your car zipped through summer with only the sound of the air conditioning buzzing in your ear, now that the winter chill is upon us, you may notice a few differences in the way your car handles and sounds. Follow these eight winter car care secrets to save you money and extend the life of your car. 1. Tune it up. A tune-up at the beginning of the season is possibly the best thing you can do for your car before winter begins. In colder temperatures, the metal on your car expands and contracts causing belts to squeak, gears to stick and a lag in transmission shifting. A seasonal tune-up will help prevent squeaking, scraping and sticking, and prevent additional damage that often costs a lot of money to repair. 2. Oil it up. Make sure to get an oil change at the beginning of the winter season. This is important because there is a special grade of engine oil to use during the winter that offers a

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The Pro’s and Con’s of Preparing Your Own Taxes

February 15, 2012
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With the economic crisis hitting a big part of the world, spending that extra few dollars on filing tax returns can be something you should consider saving. But, before that, let’s consider when its better to prepare your own taxes. MSN Money suggests asking three question to yourself 1. Do you have time to prepare your tax? On average simple tax return takes 20+ hours of preparation. If you can’t spend that much time, I suggest you hire a professional 2. Do you have fees to pay the consultant? One thing to remember, the tax preparation fee can be waived from your taxable income. On average the tax can be filed with $200 fee 3. Do you know the tax codes? Do you know what deductions to claim and income is taxable? If not, don’t take risk, hire an expert. If you have answered all the above questions in affirmity, you can go on reading the benefits and drawbacks of preparing your own tax return. Pro’s With all of the new programs available to individuals these days, even small businesses, there is no reason to have someone else file your taxes. These software programs are designed for the NON business

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Cost Cutting Ideas We Can Learn From India

February 13, 2012
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The following is a guest post from an American, Kristy, who now lives in India, just the opposite of us. Enjoy reading. When I lived in the United States I listened closely to all the things we were taught of saving money and energy and the environment. Those of you who live there know very well how many commercials run and how many innuendo’s there are in everyday television shows. Even when I followed all the tips such as replacing my light bulbs with incandescent lights, turning off the water while I was brushing my teeth and other such money saving tips my light bills were still too high. I tried all of the usual tips but nothing seemed to lower that one massive bill enough. In the pursuit of a life change and to alleviate some of the problems I was having in my personal life I decided to move to India and marry my long time fiancé. I knew ahead of time how the lifestyle was going to be but I didn’t fully understand just how green I would be living once I got here. It’s taught me quite a bit and those tips are well worth sharing

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