Free From Broke

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5 Financial Considerations Before You Quit Your Job to Be Your Own Boss

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For many, the dream of working from home is a strong inducement to quit a job.

After all, if you could be your own boss and set your own hours and still make a living, wouldn’t it make sense to walk away from “the man”?

Quitting your job is about more than just making sure that you have enough income from your side hustle to replace the income from your day job.  You might not realize all the benefits you’re getting from your current job.  You will need to a way to make up for those losses as well.

Before you take the plunge and quit your job, here are a few questions you should have answers for:

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Do You Need More Time Off? – Vacation Time in the U.S. Vs. Other Countries

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Around the world, Americans are known for their solid work ethic.

Here in the United States, we place a premium on hard work.

However, that might actually be detrimental to us.

If you are looking for a good work/life balance, the fact that you leave an average of 11 vacation days on the table (according to CNN Money) could be a bad thing.

It might even reduce your productivity level.

How Does U.S. Vacation Time Stack Up against Other Countries

We take much less vacation than other countries.

In fact, many countries require companies to give a certain number of paid vacation days for employees with 10 years of services.  The United States isn’t one of those countries, but China is (10 paid vacation days).  Other countries include the United Kingdom, with 28, and Japan with 20.
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The New Job Market: Temporary Jobs and Freelancers

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One of the challenges facing many job-seekers is the fact that the job market has changed quite a bit in recent years.

The recession that accompanied the recent financial crisis led to a rise in temporary jobs and freelancing jobs.

However, these are no longer jobs that people do to “get by” until they find something a little more permanent.  Indications are that these are becoming the permanent jobs.

Temporary Jobs and Freelancing are the New Job Market

Staffing Jobs on the Rise

The American Staffing Association releases data from a quarterly survey about trends in the workplace.  For the third quarter of 2012, there was a year over year increase of 4.3% in staffing jobs.  The latest data represent the 11th consecutive quarter that staffing jobs have grown since 2009 and the technical end of the recession.

Temporary positions are on the rise, in part, because freelancers, temps, and adjuncts cost a lot less than full-time regular workers.
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How to Use the Internet to Find Your Next Job

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Whether you are unemployed, or whether you just want to take your career in a new direction, one of the best tools you have at your disposal is the Internet.

You no longer need to rely only on Classifieds in the newspaper and a trip to your state’s employment services office.  And your entire fate no longer rests on your resume (although a resume is still important).

Thanks to the magic of the Internet, you can find your next job online — even if you plan to work in the offline world.

Using the Internet to Find a Job

Update Your Online Persona

First of all, potential employers are probably going to Google you if they are even remotely interested.  Public items that you have shared on social media are going to be “out there.”  A glimpse of some of your images on Facebook or Flickr is possible.  Tweets are searchable (even the Library of Congress is cataloging tweets).  And if you have a blog, what you write is out there for all to see.
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Is Telecommuting Bad for a Company: A Look at Yahoo!’s Decision to Ban It

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Several weeks ago, Marissa Mayer’s decision to send a memo to all Yahoo! employees letting them know that effective June, 2013, there would be no more telecommuting allowed set off an Internet fire storm.

A barrage of articles hit the web arguing everything from the fact that this memo would not be an issue if Mayer was a man instead of a woman with a young child to the fact that this decision could spell the beginning of the end for Mayer’s career and Yahoo!.

Now that the dust has settled, so to speak, and emotions have cooled, it’s time to take an objective look at the decision.

Is Telecommuting Beneficial to a Company?

On the surface, it appears that telecommuting isn’t really beneficial to a business.

Having everyone working in the same building where they can be watched and where they can interact with one another seems best, which is Mayer’s argument.  But is it best?

There are three distinct advantages for companies that allow their employees to work from home at least part of the time:

Performance

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