Panelist

Yesterday took an interesting turn! I have never been to a conference before, not even a career fair, but yesterday I was asked to be a panelist in a summit for recent graduates. One of my biggest fears is talking in front of people so the idea of speaking in front of this group (30-35 people...it's not even a big group!) is absolutely terrifying. But I think it will be a really good experience, so I volunteered to help out. Someone dropped out last minute so I have a few days to prepare which just adds to the fun! I had planned on spending my next two nights reading a book for class, but this changes my plans a bit.

The purpose of this panel seems to be to help recent graduates in their job search. I'm going to be asked to talk about where I went after college and where I am now and what steps I took in between. I was worried at first that I wouldn't have a lot to talk about. I only applied for one job and was offered it before graduation. Then when I made my career change, I only applied to two jobs, got one interview, and then got that job. So when it comes to the actual job search, I have very little experience. However, I have a lot of experience in researching for a position and I truly think that's why I have gotten every job I've interviewed for thus far (which is currently four).

I think that's the information that I will focus on in my discussion. I'll discuss the job search process in terms of preparation and try to get the point across that there is no such thing as too much preparation (but it is important to know what to share from your findings and what to keep to yourself).

I know some people don't believe it's possible to prepare for a job interview.  To me, the research process is half the battle for getting called back. You can have all the skills in the world, but if you haven't prepared for your interview and can't show the employer what you know and what you've done, then you've already lost.

When I was looking for a new job, I also did multiple informational interviews with career counselors trying to get a look into the daily life of those jobs. Then when I found a job that matched what I was looking for, I crafted a brand new cover letter and figured out who would be leading the search so I could address my letter to them. I also double-checked my resume to make sure there were no errors nor omissions. Once I got the interview invite, I started preparing anecdotes that showed my skills and personality and could be applied to a variety of questions. I researched the company and the people who worked there to see what kind of problems they might be facing and how I might help those problems if hired.

I think my preparation really helped me know what it was I was looking for which meant I could then make a better impression in interviews because I was only applying to jobs that really interested me. How do you prepare for the job search? I'll update later on how the panel went and what ideas and tips I heard from other people. There will be a Q&A session, so I'm very interested to hear what people come up with.

Savings Plan

As promised in my last post, here is my discussion of savings plans. Pretty much anywhere you read about personal finance, you will see that people recommend breaking goals into short-term (less than five years) or long-term (more than five years). Some also break into medium-term goals (5-10 years), but I think it can sometimes be tricky distinguishing between medium and long when they're both so far away.

As I mentioned before, I love love love spreadsheets. While my budgeting spreadsheet is pretty robust (a different tab for each month, and a different workbook for each year), my savings spreadsheet even makes me laugh at its depth. My goals and savings workbook has eleven tabs in it--eleven! It's actually pretty ridiculous. Each tab has a different variation--what if I saved this much, this month, when would I meet my goal? Or it goes into detail about a specific goal, like paying for graduate school or buying clothes.

My final savings spreadsheet looks like this (with dates and numbers thrown in; not my actual spreadsheet. It's way too big). Also, note, in my spreadsheets, I put the total highlighted in bright yellow so I know that I've completed saving for that goal. 

Dog	Travel	Graduate School	Month
50		350	January 2014
50		350	February
50		350	March
50		350	April
200	50	350	May
	50	350	June
	50	350	July
	50	350	August
	200	350	September
		350	October
		350	November
		3850	December

This just shows how I break everything out. When I was getting ready to buy a dog, I saved up money for a year to make sure I had enough to pay for him, all his vet bills the first year of his life, and any toys or supplies he needs. That way, when I picked him up, all I had to worry about was "omg, I have a puppy now!" and all the fun/stress/tears that involves.

The same goes for graduate school. I have always had a paranoia of becoming poor. Whenever my parents mentioned anything about money, I would pipe up "are we going to lose our house?!" Not that my questions had any basis in reality, but for some reason, I was always scared of not having enough money to get by. So fast-forward to now, at 24, living on my own and making ends meet. I still have that fear except now my big fear is going into debt. I never want to go into debt except for a house mortgage, and maybe a car, but even that I would like to avoid. So, to make going into debt not happen, I have to plan my money very carefully because I have many lofty financial goals and don't have a massive income.

I finished saving for Pinecone (my sweet, goldendoodle. He's almost a year and a half now!), I've saved up enough for travel for now, and I have my emergency savings all squared away (though, some days I think I should have more in my emergency account and then I think about all I want to save for fun, and I just can't do it). So for graduate school, since I don't want to dip into my savings or go into debt, I put a little bit away each month into a separate account so that when my graduate tuition bills come, I can pay for them immediately. This takes a lot of discipline though because sometimes I really just want to go out and buy some new clothes (my closet is finally tipping from mostly high school to mostly college and beyond--woohoo! Wardrobe is finally growing up...).

Speaking of clothes, I also have a 'clothes' tab in my "Savings Plan" spreadsheet. In it, I have what clothes I would like to buy (all color-coordinated so I can do a lot of mix-and-matching instead of buying a ton of stuff and having nothing to wear it with), how much they will likely cost, and when I can afford to buy them. Since most of my money is going toward graduate school right now, it will be a long-process updating my wardrobe. My next big purchase will be jeans since I know I desperately need a pair--seriously, my other two jeans (yes, only two) are wearing very thin. I'm wanting to buy more quality jeans so I've been looking at Lucky Brand which is much more pricey than my usual Kohls jeans, but will a) probably look nicer for casual Fridays at work and b) will probably last longer. For my new wardrobe, I'm looking for more quality over quantity.

Other big parts of my savings plan include a house, a car, and a wedding. All of these things are ridiculously expensive. But by breaking them out into manageable chunks, I'm able to see when I'm likely to reach those goals. These are the long-term goals I mentioned at the beginning of the post--things that I will (hopefully) need 5-10 years down the road, not now (again, too expensive!). I've already started researching what type of car I'd like (hoping hoping hoping my current car lasts at least another six years) so that I'm prepared for what I need to save so that when my car does die (again, hopefully many years down the road), I'm prepared to buy a new one.

Anyway, that's my way of creating savings plans. It may seem tedious and silly, but it really keeps me on track to reach my savings goals and allows me to do the things I want to do. I highly recommend spreadsheets to help get your finances on track, or really, anything on track! Spreadsheets are amazing.

Monthly Finance Breakdown

I believe I've mentioned before that I absolutely love budgeting and talking about savings, investments, and money-management. I think it's a lot of fun, albeit sometimes stressful. 

Last week I watched a webinar by TIAA-CREF for young women professionals. While the information was pretty rudimentary, I was reminded that I really need to start contributing again to my personal Roth IRAs. I've been doing my work 401k, in addition to maxing out my company match plan, but apparently that it not enough according to the webinar, so I'm back to monthly contributions to my Roth IRAs. This means I had to play around with my budget some and I decided to share my monthly breakdown in percentages to those who are interested in learning and talking about budgets.

Here is my monthly breakdown:

Rent: 34%

Education: 19%

Groceries: 14%

Restaurants: 7% 

Utilities: 7%

Extras: 5% (this includes doctor appts, presents, toiletries, clothing, races, entertainment)

Dog: 5%

Roth IRA: 5%

Savings: 3%

Transportation: 1% (I walk a lot)

Some months I have tax refunds in an early month or get some freelance work, so I sometimes change up the percentages based on what I would like to spend money on (usually more on dog, food, savings, or extras). It's actually really nice to see this in percentages, because every month, I balk at how much I pay for utilities (paying for premium cable seems like such a waste, but alas, without it we couldn't watch The League). 

I have all of this information, with actual hard data numbers, on a spreadsheet that I update every few days to include new purchases. Seriously, I love spreadsheets. I find them extremely fun to play with and have many different ones that I fiddle with on a daily basis. Definitely a tad bit OCD and type A, but I enjoy it. It's even gotten me a freelance job, so it's a pretty great hobby.

Next post, I will talk about my savings plans and goals. I have a few and each one is broken out month by month for about the next five to ten years so that I know exactly where I am with each one. In similar news, Trulia just came out with a report that over 50% of millennials are planning to ask their parents for money for their home down payment. That number baffles me, but more on saving goals next time.

I think it's really helpful to start a dialogue about saving because saving money is so incredibly important. Are there any tips or tricks you've learned along the way? Is there a specific money topic you would like addressed? I would love to continue the discussion!

Whole30

My mom recently started doing the Whole30 lifestyle change. She's only on day four, but people say that in weeks two and three, you can really feel a change in your body and energy-levels. Basically, you take out all the big inflammatory food groups (sugar, legumes, dairy, grains) and substitute them with protein, vegetables, and infrequently, fruit. I'm planning to start this too because my diet now mostly consists of beans, which is really not the healthiest thing in the world. Delicious, protein-filled, and hearty, but when your dinner consists of a can of beans, a tortilla, and some cheese, it's probably time to start doing nicer things to your stomach (mine has been rebelling for the past few days after a delectable taco casserole, hence the inspiration to finally start a new lifestyle after decades of stomach anger).

I've started trying to come up with a meal plan for the first week and it's proving to be difficult. When you cut out grains and legumes, you have to buy a ton of animal protein and a variety of vegetables. According to one site, you should be aiming for about one pound of protein and six to eight cups of vegetables a day. A pound of protein! I usually only eat chicken once a week and then subsist on beans the rest of the week. We'll see how this experiment goes!

For my first week, most of my meals are salads. I really need to get more creative if I'm going to make this work because salads get very boring very fast.  I try to grocery shop on the weekends so this meal plan starts on Monday. Here's the plan:

Monday
2 eggs, 1 cup of spinach, 1/2 c cantaloupe
2 c lettuce, 1 c cucumber, 1/2 c tomatoes, 1/4 c almonds
Fish fillet, home-made salsa (1 c tomatoes, 1 c onions, handful cilantro), 1 avocado

Tuesday
Smoothie (nut butter, 1 c fruit, 1 c veggie, 1 c almond milk)
2 c lettuce, 1 c salsa (leftover), 1/2 c hearts of palm, 1/2 avocado home-made mustard vinaigrette
Serving chicken, 1 c salsa, 1/2 avocado

Wednesday
2 eggs, asparagus, lemon, 1/2 c cantaloupe
2 c lettuce, can of tuna, 1/2 c hearts of palm, mustard vinaigrette
Chicken, asparagus, lemon, kale chips (make with garlic and EVOO)

Thursday
2 eggs, 1 c bell peppers
2 c lettuce, can of tuna, 1/2 c hearts of palm, mustard vinaigrette
1 c edamame hummus, 1 c snap peas, 1/2 c bell peppers, 1/2 c carrots

Friday
Non-traditional breakfast: hard-boiled egg, 1 c onions, 1 c tomatoes, 1 c cucumber, vinaigrette
1 c edamame hummus, 1 c bell peppers, 1 c snap peas, 1/2 c carrots

I only plan meals for the work week as weekends tend to get swept up by other things. For that week though, those veggies add up really fast at the grocery store (in terms of cost). I might have to play around with my grocery budget some.

I'm having a hard time thinking of new ways to eat the same old produce. Also, I have issues with eggs which are making up a large portion of my meal plan. I go through phases where I can eat them everyday and then go through phases where they absolutely disgust me. Currently in a disgust phase and yet, guess what I had for lunch?!

Looking back over the week seems like that can't possibly be enough food--I love crackers so much and feel that a meal is incomplete without a crispy crunch or a nice piece of bread, but I will try to persevere! And maybe add some more food to my daily meal plans depending on if it's needed or not. I really don't know. Has anyone done the Whole30 or have any advice on what foods to eat?

For following weeks I will definitely be making a ratatouille. One of my favorite foods is eggplant so I love making dishes with it. My favorites are ratatouille, babaganoush, and eggplant lasagna. Also I like making a pasta sauce with eggplants, but can't eat pasta on this plan, so that's out.

Finding Your Dream Job

I was reading an article today on careerealism.com about finding your dream job. While it's a short article, it got me thinking about finding a dream job and all that entails. It's not so easy as saying "I like this, so therefore it will be a great job." I learned that lesson the hard way. So after reading this article I wanted to answer the three questions it poses for finding a dream job.

What Makes you Really Angry?

The biggest issue that gets me really angry is animal cruelty. It absolutely breaks my heart when I see an animal suffering or see one being neglected. Unfortunately, my anger is often clouded over by my sadness--I feel too much that I literally make myself miserable thinking about these things. My dream as a kid was to become a veterinarian. Upon realizing I would have to take more physics (the bane of my existence), I went towards my other passion, writing. But on top of physics, I realized I would have to put animals down. I know it's necessary for the animal's well-being sometimes, but the idea of doing it personally breaks my heart. I was in the waiting room at the vet one day with my dog and an older woman came in carrying her dog silently crying over it. The vet tech came out and immediately brought her to the back without saying a word. I almost burst into tears in the waiting room just seeing that--I can't imagine actually being the one to do it. A few weeks ago, my parents had to put down our eleven-year-old golden retriever. We got him when I was twelve. I rushed home from work and just barely made it in time to say goodbye to him. The vet came to our house and sedated him before putting him down. I respect so much that she is able to do that and be with a family as they go through one of the hardest life decisions and events, but I know I could never do it. So despite my anger over the pain and abuse, I could never make a career out of it lest I want to be perpetually depressed.

What are the Biggest Personal Challenges You've Overcome?

I'm going to be honest-I really haven't had many personal challenges. I've had a pretty easy, cushy life. Not to say I haven't been sad or lonely or gone through emotional turmoil, but in comparison to some problems in the world, mine are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. The one thing I could say about this is that I've had multiple people tell me I should go into counseling or be a life coach--so while I haven't dealt with many personal challenges of my own, I have been there for friends going through their own personal challenges and allegedly I give good advice and am good at listening to their concerns. I don't know how this question exactly helps me find a dream job, but it did help me think about my listening skills and words from my friends, so in that sense, it could help.

What  are your Most Exciting Passions?

As I've mentioned on the blog before, my two passions are writing and helping people. Writing about life and thoughts and ideas is something so thrilling to me, and yet, I find myself shying away from it for fear of criticism (hence the blog; it's an attempt to force myself to write regardless of fear). Helping people is my other passion. From doing physical labor to giving directions to a lost student or parent, I truly enjoy helping others. I think this question is the one that will help me find my dream job. My love of writing and helping people will hopefully come together one day to create a nice environment for me to spend eight hours a day, five days a week. That's how work should be--spending those hours doing something you love. If I could figure out how to do that from home a few days a week, then I would be set.

Questions were from http://www.careerealism.com/find-dream-job-clues/#!RZmbc

Path to Career Coaching

I wanted to expand a bit more on my last post about my career plans.

I am currently working toward a Master of Education with a concentration in higher education.  My goal for this is to become qualified to be a career coach.  One of my greatest joys in life in helping others, so after a year and a half working as a book designer, I realized I needed a career that was more interactive.  While my first love is still writing and editing, I wanted to find a career that combined my joy of helping others with my love of editing and writing, while also adding in a bit of teaching, consulting, and one-on-one conversations.  I started looking around and met with a career counselor at my alma mater to take the Strong Interest Inventory.  My top job matches were HR positions, but third on the list was 'career counselor.'  I started doing informational interviews with counselors at my school and realized that this seemed like a perfect career fit.  I applied and was accepted to a career services office to gain experience first-hand.  This has helped solidify my desire to work as a career coach, but I still find myself wavering sometimes, missing my first career in publishing.

But I digress.  Since I am working toward being a career coach, I started thinking about different options available to me.  Some questions I've had to ask myself include: who do I want to work with? what obstacles do they face? what services will I provide to help them overcome their obstacles?  These questions are important because they will help me maintain focus as I work my way through my graduate program.  I want to be able to hone in on what types of jobs I want to apply for and what types of people I want to work with (whether a specific program or a more broad, university-wide student body).

Back to my earlier digression about missing publishing, I have also started thinking of ways to combine these two careers.  Maybe I can write career books after I have some experience in the field?  Or maybe there is a magazine I can work for where I write career and relationship articles?  At this stage in my life, all the doors seem wide open, which is a pretty scary point to be at.  I know the world is my oyster right now, but having so many options open can be a little intimidating at times, especially as a generalist that finds joy in many different things (I had two earlier career options of dietitian and financial planner).  I feel like I need to nail everything down and have it all figured out, but I definitely do not (which as a planner, is an extremely difficult point to be at). 

Hopefully all of these hours spent trying to figure out a career path will benefit me and my clients when I finally become a career coach.  Since I was filled with so much uncertainty at times (and still am sometimes), I feel I will be able to help students come to terms with their own uncertainty and help them realize that just because they don't have it all figured out doesn't mean that they will fail.

Why I Chose My Job

Fear.  

My whole career path has been chosen by fear.  Fear of failure, fear of not making enough, fear of being looked down on.  Ninety percent of my choices in my job decisions have been decided by fear.

I went to university to study English to become an editor and writer.  My fourth year of college, I had an internship in publishing and was hired by the company full time once I graduated.  It was such a relief.  I didn't have to worry about finding a new job in a city that really only has one big employer.  I didn't have to face the uncertainty that comes with having a bachelor's degree but no job to call my own.  I was set in the field I had chosen to go into.  And naturally, I realized it wasn't what I wanted.  But it was safe, and it was familiar.  So I stayed for a year and a half before I made the one unfearful choice in my career.  I landed a job in an entirely different field.

I've now been here for a little over six months.  I love my job, I'm starting my master's degree in education to work my way up, and I truly enjoy what I do.  But I realized that these decisions are still based on fear.  The fear of going out of my comfort zone, of trying something truly hard for me.  

I've figured out what I want in a career: a steady paycheck, reasonable hours, and the ability to help people. I thought I had figured out what that meant, and to some extent I still do, but part of me still isn't sure because if I were completely honest with myself, I would still say I want to be an editor and writer.

But I'm scared.  I'm scared of not getting enough money to live to my standards of comfort.  I'm afraid that I will get bad reviews and comments and that I won't be able to handle that criticism.  I'm nervous that I would work so hard  but still wouldn't be able to think of anything to write. 

On the other hand, I want to believe that fear makes for a more passionate and fulfilling career.  Having fear on your side is a powerful motivator as long as you don't let it consume you.  Being afraid of failure can help drive you to success.

I guess the point I want to make is this: I love my job, my colleagues, and my city.  For now, this is where I need and want to be. But I want to remember that what drove me here first was fear.  And I want to remember that it's okay to takes risks and try something I find fearful.  And maybe one day I'll go back to my childhood dream, my passions in high school and college, and become a professional editor and writer. And hopefully, if I'm lucky and work for it, I'll be able to find a way to combine my career choices, career advising, writing, and editing.

   

I learned a lot about myself and my goals by playing it safe and I hope one day I will learn a lot by taking a risk.