Business

Women WorkBusiness

5 Telltale Signs that You Need a Career Advisor

5 Telltale Signs that You Need a Career Advisor

Career coaching is a big deal in today’s world. As companies keep trying to build a workforce that adapts to the dynamic nature of the global workforce, employees also seek fulfilled careers. But the path to personal fulfilment and advancement could be fraught with uncertainties. These uncertainties can only be alleviated through career advisory.

While this concept may be alien to some people, it’s a hack that can skyrocket career growth. In this article, we’ll shed more light on career coaching and how to determine if you need one urgently.

Keep reading.

What is Career Coaching?

To better understand the concept of career advisory, let’s explore the meaning of career coaching. Career coaching means consulting a dedicated coach to help you navigate your career choices and decisions. These coaches are employed by organizations or individuals and offer professional advice on workplace skills. This may include interviews, negotiations, or resumes.

While a career coach also doubles as a career counselor, there is little difference between these two. You may consult a career counselor over a few sessions where you take tests and examinations to help the counselor understand you and offer advice. Career coaching is more of a long-term thing. A coach gets to know you and works with you to consider several options. When you eventually decide on a path, they guide you into making the right decisions.

How do you know it’s time to consult a career advisor?

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Women WorkBusiness

6 Vital Components of SEO

Vital Components of SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is basically what makes the Internet go around – and if your website doesn’t have it, it is likely to become static, stuck somewhere on the bottom of the pile that contains all the other websites. According to SEO Perth Experts, done right, SEO will optimise the chances of your website ranking well so that it will come up on the search page results for the keyword you use.

So basically, if someone types in ‘coffee machine’ and you are selling several, your website page will show up if you – or an expert – has done good SEO.  There are 6 vital components to SEO that any digital agency will tell you about – and do for you if you ask them. It may be a lot easier to get professional help than to try and do it yourself, unless you know exactly what you are doing. Here are the 6 things you need to know.

  • Have the right keyword/s on your website. They should be in the headings and the first paragraph of your content. Using the right keywords will help you to get the kind of traffic that converts to customers.
  • Meta tags should contain the keyword for your website as that is one place that the search engines look to see what your website is about.

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Women WorkBusiness

Why Drug Rehab May Necessitate A Home Move For Some

5 Telltale Signs that You Need a Career Advisor

Why Drug Rehab May Necessitate A Home Move For Some

Whenever someone has gone through drug rehab, there is a debate to be had and questions to be answered about whether they should return home. If that person happens to be you and you are about to enter or are already in drug rehab, then you may have had that conversation with your drug rehab specialist or drug counselor.

From the outside looking in it might seem strange to those with no knowledge or connection with drugs that someone who is in drug rehab would not return to the home they know and to be with the family that loves them and vice versa. Yes, in most other health scenarios, that is precisely what you would expect to happen; however, with drug rehab, there is more to consider before that decision should be made.

Some addicts have discovered that the best method to rehabilitate is to relocate; some even go so far as to relocate to a different country, such as Bali rehab, to be free of any triggers or memories of their former life. So, how do you make the decision, or at least evaluate whether moving home is the right thing to do after drug rehab? Here are some important areas of your life and recovery that you should consider, including what influences might help or hinder that recovery if you return home.

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Women WorkBusiness

5 Principles of Effective Web Design

Effective Web Design

Expert web design outfit Slinky Web Design report that some websites work well while others don’t and this is because many of the principles of effective web design have been left out. It is quite easy to leave them out when you don’t know what they are – and just as easy to include them when you do, so here are some of the most important ones to help you on your way to having an effective website.

  • Visual hierarchy is not as difficult to understand as it may look. In fact, your website is a visual thing, since people look at it much like they would a book. However, unlike a book, the website is there to get people to do a certain action. It is important then, to get attention to the most important elements in your website, such as the call to action. This can be done by size, colour and placement. For example, if you have two clickable buttons close to each other, the most important one should be larger or a different/brighter colour.
  • Proportion is important. You will divide your website up into sections that are visually pleasing and use the largest section for the most important parts of your website. The content area will be larger than the menu area.
  • Many people mistakenly like to give their visitors many choices to go here and do that, so that they are catering for all needs. Instead, they are creating confusion. It is really difficult to make a choice from many options. Instead, limit the choices to just 1 or 2 options. Or if you have a lot of products, use filters in the menu so that visitors know exactly what to click on to get their choice of product.

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Women WorkBusiness

5 Reasons to Engage a Digital Agency

digital-agency

When you are full of enthusiasm for a project it is easy to get carried away, wanting to do it all yourself – whether you’ve been trained to do it properly or not. These days almost anyone can set up a website, but when it comes to designing a professional business website it is a different matter. Such websites need to be built properly with a specific purpose in mind and if they are not they won’t accomplish your goals. So here are 6 reasons why a digital agency should be engaged.

  • It will save you a great deal of time and money. A digital marketing agency has a team of experts to work on your website. They know what to do and how to do it. They can install complex parts as easily as simple ones. It might take you a day or a week to put up your website; it would take an a professional an hour, or two at the most to get that website up and running. Of course, that is not counting the time spent in interviewing you to see exactly what your needs are.

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Women WorkBusiness, Education & Employment

Team Building Ideas For Smaller Groups

Team Building Ideas For Smaller Groups

Whenever the word team is used in relation to team building ideas, the automatic assumption is that the activity is for a large number of people. However, it is very often the case that a team building activity will involve just a small group. Some team leaders, managers, and coaches find difficulty in trying to think of team building ideas for small groups, but there are plenty to choose from.

What is vitally important is not so much that any team building activity is specifically for small numbers of people, but that it solicits many of the key elements that all team building activities should have, regardless of the number of participants.

These include motivation, communication, collaboration, trust, and creativity. If your team activities do not provide opportunities for your team to display and use any of these, then it does not matter whether you have 2 or 200 participants, it is not going to benefit anyone in the way that you want it to.

Another thing we should point out is that the more variety that you can include in your team building ideas, the better. This means that you should include some which are done indoors, some which are outdoor physical activities, some that require certain skills, and others that are merely for fun and designed to help the group bond and build rapport.

If you are struggling to come up with team building ideas for a small group you are responsible for, here are some you might want to consider.

Axe Throwing

If you are looking for a physical activity that is a bit different, then an ideal choice is to take your team to an axe-throwing centre. Here they can bring out their native spirit, or dare we say, their aggressive side, by throwing axes at targets and seeing who has the most skill. This is great fun and a chance for the team to get to know each other better in an environment away from their usual surroundings.

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Women WorkBusiness, Family

7 Tips To Ensure You Hire The Best Carpet Cleaning Company

There is little argument that the best way to ensure that any carpet cleaning is effective, is to employ the services of a professional carpet cleaning company. Apart from the fact that they will have all the experience needed to get the job done properly, they will also have equipment which provides enhanced results.

We are sure there are some of you who might choose to employ a carpet cleaning company simply to avoid doing it yourself, and to be honest, that is as valid a reason for using them as any.

When you have to choose which commercial cleaning company to use, an issue arises as in most towns and cities there are often a number of them to choose from. The risk of not choosing carefully is that you get a botched job, carpets which are only part cleaned, and you will end up spending even more to get it done correctly.

To ensure that you choose a carpet cleaning company that is going to get the job done properly, here are some easy tips to make sure that choice is the right one.

Decide What Needs to Be Cleaned

One of your first tasks should be to sit down and decide exactly what needs cleaned. This will obviously depend on how many rooms, the areas, what types of carpets, and whether there are other floor surfaces that need to be cleaned. Write it all out so you can refer to it during your research.

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Women WorkBusiness, Education & Employment, Legal

What Should I Know About Employment Contracts?

Employment Contracts

As an employer, it’s important to ensure you’re familiar with the finer elements of employment contracts to ensure you’re able to draft them effectively. If you don’t have a lot of experience putting together new contracts, it could be a good idea to seek advice from a qualified employment lawyer.

As employers, we understand that drafting new contracts can be confusing, especially if your prospective employee is serious about negotiating the terms and conditions of said contract. With this in mind, we’ve put together the following list of important things you have to know:

Make Sure That All New Contracts are Clear and Concise

One of the most important things when drafting a new employment contract is ensuring that everything is clear and transparent. Make sure that you don’t include ambiguous clauses or conditions which could be interpreted differently by an employee or their lawyer.

It’s particularly important to be aware of this when it comes to things like bonuses, time off, and potential pay rises. Additionally, ensure you clearly outline the basis on which the employee will be paid – will you pay a salary, hourly wage, commission, or via a piece-rate agreement?

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Women WorkBusiness

Tools for the Informed Service Provider or Trainer

IT career experts

Get the tools to move women into IT!Getting IT Across! A Counselor’s Guide for Recruiting Women to Information Technology Careers (GITA) provides program operators with right tools and instruction to recruit women into IT training and employment. This easy-to-use resource turns counselors into IT career experts! Get the IT Basics every counselor needs to know:

  • IT Tips to enhance counseling skills;
  • IT Job Profiles to help clients make informed decisions;
  • IT Interest Assessment, a user-friendly tool for finding the right occupational niche;
  • and more IT resources!

Get the right skills, and get IT across!

Regular price  $59.95             Discounted for members (20% off)  $47.96
Jobs That Pay! A Guide to Nontraditional Occupations for the 21st Century. This guide will help education, training and workforce development program providers educate and motivate women to pursue a career in a broad range of high-wage fields. Jobs That Pay! will help you introduce nontraditional fields to your clients and encourage women to pursue a career with real growth opportunities. And, the job profiles section is a valuable resource to have on-hand for your program participants.
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Women WorkBusiness

Setting Yourself Up To Pay Your First Wages

First Wages

According to professional accounting firms when it comes to bookkeeping and accounting, it is extremely important to keep a clear record of any and all wages you have paid each financial year. If you are planning on employing people directly, you will need to set yourself for PAYG tax withholding. However, if you are planning on using self-employed contractors, then the process becomes a little easier.

What things do I need to set up before I can pay wages?

When it comes to setting yourself up to start paying wages, there are a number of things that you need to do. Failing to do any of these can lead to problems with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) at the end of the financial year. Make sure that you do the following:

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Women WorkBusiness

3 Ways in Which Gardening Can Become a Business

Gardening Business

According to Landscapers Network listed expert gardeners Lone Pine Landscapes many people enjoy gardening as a hobby and almost everyone who owns a house has some kind of garden in their backyard. This means there is always a good demand for plants and other things that are used in gardening such as tools, seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, decorative pots and other hardware.

It follows that there can be many businesses in this area. If you love gardening and want to own your own business, this could be a good niche for you to consider. Here are 3 different types of businesses to do with gardens and plants for the home.

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Women WorkBusiness

How to Get More Work for Your Fencing Business

Fencing Business

Most types of fencing are a one-off purchase because fences last a long time if maintained properly. A report out this month by highly experienced fencing experts says that if you’re a fencing contractor, you won’t have many repeat clients. So how can you get more work? Of course, you’ll need to advertise; that is a given in any business. But there is another way to get more work: expanding your skills and offering different types of fencing.

For instance, many fencing businesses focus on one type of fence, whether it is picket fences, steel panels, or swimming pool fences. But if you offer a good variety of railings, you’ll surely get more work. And if you have a creative flair, you can put it to good use, such as erecting fancy fences for high-end homes. That will undoubtedly be great for your business.

As a person who erects fences, you’ll be aware of the many kinds of fences there. Some are made from concrete or a mixture of other materials, works of art meant to set off the home behind them and provide security. You can quickly expand into this sub-genre of the fence if you develop the skills for concreting.

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Women WorkBusiness

5 Tips for Choosing a Lawyer for Your Small Business

Choosing-a-Lawyer

Some small business owners tend to avoid lawyers and business consultants in an effort to save on the costs of hiring them. However, when you have great lawyers who are skilled in the legalities of setting up and running a small business, whether you are a qualified electrician or a retail shop owner you will save on costs in the long run, simply because they will know how to save your business money.  And keeping them on after the business is all set up will help you avoid all kinds of costly problems.

Rowe Bristol Lawyers have provided us with 5 tips for choosing the best lawyer for your small business: –

  • If you have a negative mindset about the reputation of lawyers, drop it. Of course, there are ‘bad’ lawyers out there who overcharge or have nefarious dealings, but most of them are honest and hardworking. Some even go the second mile, working nights and weekends to help in times of trouble or at short notice. Your relationship with your lawyer should be a positive one.

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Women WorkBusiness

Web Design Tips for Small Business

web-design-tips-for-small-business

While a professional website designer will most likely be needed for technical details, they must rely on the business owner for input on all the details about their business because no one but you knows it well enough. So don’t feel that you must accept the dictates of the designer without any input of your own when you decide to create that all-important business website.

Here are some important design tips to consider.

  • The first thing to do is decide on your branding and key message – and what you want the website to do for your business, advertise, garner a customer base or sell. These elements will dictate how your page layout is organised and many other, more technical details.
  • The most important thing is to keep your website simple. It may not need all the bells and whistles that are available; not unless they contribute to ease of use and functionality. Look at it from your customers’ point of view. If they cannot find what they want, or if the checkout gives them problems, they will leave your website and go somewhere else to get their needs met. If you’ve ever surfed for a specific reason you will very likely have done this yourself.

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Women WorkBusiness

Why You Should Engage a Digital Agency

Why You Should Engage a Digital Agency

Once you decide to get a website for your business, the question will soon arise: Who will do it? You might look through your staff to see who has the right skills to whip up a website, then divert them to this important task. Meanwhile, who is going to do their work? And what happens when they can’t quite manage to do what you envisage?

Instead of depending on a person who is not qualified, it is far better to outsource the job to a suitably qualified digital agency. They will have a team of experts that can get stuck into the job and get it finished in no time just how you like it and even better, because they know more about what is needed than even you do, if you’ve had no experience with such things.

It is easy enough to put up a personal website, but a business website requires many more things if it is going to work how you want it to. You have to decide what you want it to do for your business. Some people sell stock from their websites, while others just use them as a contact point for customers. The two are quite different and need to have different components.

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Women WorkBusiness

Key Ingredients of a Successful Adwords Campaign

Successful Adwords Campaign

Google Adwords are a well-known way for entrepreneurs to make money for their business. The best part is that you can set a daily budget so you don’t lose more than you make.  To ensure your adwords campaign are as successful as you dream they’ll be, there are a few things you need to have in place

  • Customer demand for your keyword. If there is no demand your ad will not be successful. You can use the Google Adwords Keyword Suggestion Tool to find out – and to discover other keywords you might want to use.
  • A budget. Each click has a cost, but what you can afford to pay is determined by your website conversion rate and estimated profit per customer.
  • Find out what you need to know about your profitable keywords by seeing what your competitors have found out before you. Using the ‘Keyword Spy’ tool’s free trial will save you doing anything illegal.
  • Utilise your USP. Your Unique Selling Proposition can be reduced to a few words and used in those adwords to get more qualified clicks and much fewer unwanted clicks. So you’ll have more traffic that becomes paying customers.

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Women WorkBusiness

What You Need to Know Before Buying a Business

The days have long gone when it was only men who bought businesses; these days there are many women who own and run their businesses very successfully. But to do so, you cannot expect to buy into any business without knowing anything about it. You need to have training in small business management and experience in the industry, otherwise your efforts are likely to be in vain. Here are some pointers to help ensure success if you want to buy your own business.

  • Get work in the same industry that you are interested in before you attempt to buy a business. If you want to run a restaurant, become a waitress. If a resort in some exotic location sounds good, work in one first. Learning the ropes from the ground up will give you a good idea of how everything works and whether you have the staying power and interest to make it through all the hardships of owning your own business.
  • When you are ready to go ahead, befriend a reputable lawyer and accountant and take their advice in all things to do with your business, from whether you should buy it at all to whether you really need to upgrade. It is easy to get carried away with your plans and waste money you may need for more serious purposes, such as paying off the loan.

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Women WorkBusiness

Reminder: Make Your Advocacy Day Appointments!

Reminder: Make Your Advocacy Day Appointments!

Advocacy Day, March 31st, is approaching fast! This integral part of the NAPE & Women Work! 2009 Professional Development Institute is an opportunity for advocates from all over the country to learn about current policy issues and educate their representatives in Congress about their work and the challenges they face.

Attendees should be setting up meetings with their Senators and Representative for between 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on March 31st. Use the Advocacy Day Prep Kit for help in identifying your legislators and contacting their offices. Once you have set up your meeting or meetings, don’t forget to add them to the Master Schedule, so we can track out joint impact.

If you haven’t registered for the 2009 Professional Development Institute, Partners on the Path to Equity (March 29th – April 1st in Washington, D.C.), you can do so here.

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Women WorkBusiness

Important Tips for Getting a Domain Name

Getting a Domain Name

Once you decide to start your own business, whether that is a work from home business or the coffee den down the street, you need to get a website to advertise it.  A website is essential, especially if you are selling goods or a service that can be offered online. Depending on what kind of business you have, it allows your customers to buy or place an order at any time of the day or night.

Make sure your domain name is unique

So the first step to a website is getting a domain name. But before this is possible, you have to choose the name and make sure no one else owns it. You cannot register a domain name that belongs to someone else. How do you find out?  When you go online to purchase a name, the website will offer a way to find out with just a few clicks. It is all done automatically. If the name you choose is not an original, you will know immediately.

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Women WorkBusiness

Careers and Internships with Women Work!

Women Work! The National Network for Women’s Employment is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advances economic justice and equality for women through education, advocacy and organizing. Since 1978, the Network has assisted more than 10 million women to successfully enter, re-enter and advance in the workforce. Through supporting, advocating and advancing women’s economic self-sufficiency, Women Work! members strengthen families and communities.

Women Work! is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds. Women Work! is committed to upholding a work environment free from discrimination and inequality. It is our policy to actively encourage a diverse pool of candidates who believe in the organization’s mission and vision.

There are no job vacancies at this time.

Women WorkBusiness

Call for Best Practices – Serving Women in Economic Transition

Women Work!’s call for Best Practices has officially closed. Thank you to all of those who submitted applications. Women Work! will be conducting interviews and further research into the topic Workforce Development that Works for Women throughout the winter and spring of 2008.

Our Project

Women Work! knows there are effective models for helping women achieve economic security through work, and we want to encourage their replication throughout the country.

Selected best practices will be featured in a publication to be issued by Women Work! in September 2008 and widely disseminated to policymakers and the workforce development community.

If you know of a best practice in women’s workforce development that you think Women Work! should know about, please contact Tiffany Boiman at [email protected] , or 202-467-6346.

Women WorkBusiness

Labor Day Pay Equity Campaign

This Labor Day, Women Work! The National Network for Women’s Employment and our coalition partners are teaming up to tell Congress that women demand protection against gender-based wage discrimination.

When Congress returns from summer recess in September, they’ll have the opportunity to pass two important pay equity bills. The goal for our Labor Day Pay Equity Campaign is to let Congress know that pay equity is important to voters and makes a huge difference for women and their families, especially those on the lower end of the earnings spectrum.

We’ve provided you all the information you need to build your own Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor in support of wage equity. With one simple action you can gain publicity for the important work you do and help us raise the profile of the equal pay issue in communities across the country.

To have an Op-Ed placed for Labor Day make sure to submit it to your paper’s editorial board at least a week before the holiday.

Women WorkBusiness

Pay Equity Legislation in the 111th Congress

Paycheck Fairness Act

The Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12/S.182) would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes and barring employer retaliation against workers who share salary information with their coworkers. The bill would update the landmark 1963 Equal Pay Act by strengthening protections against gender-based wage discrimination and by holding gender discrimination to the same standard as discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity.

Sponsors

House: Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Senate: Hillary Clinton (formerly D-NY)

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Women WorkBusiness

Higher Education Act Reauthorization

Higher education consistently leads to increased earnings and employment stability, but for many women this road to economic self-sufficiency is out of reach because of high tuition and attendance costs.

On July 31, 2008 Congress passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which reauthorized the Higher Education Act. The bill was signed by President Bush soon after. The HEOA contains several provisions that expanded supports available to women and parents to help them succeed in higher education. However, funding for most of the new policies and programs is unlikely to begin before Fiscal Year 2010.

Policy Resources

College Cost Reduction Act: An Overview

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Women WorkBusiness

How to Market Your Business

Market Your Business

There are many ways in which to market your business. Much depends on what kind of business it is. For instance, if you have an online business you run from home, you will need a website to showcase all your goods, or to describe your services if that’s what you offer.

A bricks and mortar business may also have a website in order to help with branding, to showcase goods or services and to get the word out about its existence. However, the fact that it can be seen from the street as people walk past is also a good advertisement. It is essential that your store or business facade is attractive and eye-catching and tells people exactly what you offer.

You can also have brochures to drop in letterboxes and ads in the local paper or one that goes further afield, such as a national paper or magazine. For instance, if you offered accommodation such as B&B, you could advertise in a magazine that was available nationally.

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to advertise, so giving quality service and interacting with customers in a friendly and helpful way is a wonderful way to advertise that will cost you nothing.

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Women WorkBusiness

How to Get Finance for Your Business Start-Up

Business Start-Up

Once you decide to make the break and start up your own business, you are likely to need finance.  This can be for buying stock or equipment, for insurance and for fitting out your premises. Or if you set up at home, for building outside access to the designated room. This will save your customers having to access your business through your home, something that is not very professional.

So where can you get this finance? Much depends on how much you need. Here are several options.

  • Get a loan from the bank. Make sure you negotiate terms you can afford.
  • Apply for an angel investor. These are people who risk their own money for a good cause. They may also want to have some say in how you run the business.
  • Get a loan from family. This should be set up legally and you should pay interest on the loan, even if it is very low interest.
  • If you don’t need much, you may be happy to put it on your credit card. Not a good idea due to the high interest rates.

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Women WorkBusiness

Women of Triumph

At the heart of Women Work! are the women whose lives are transformed every day through hard work, perseverance and the support of member programs. During our 25th Anniversary Gala in 2005, we celebrated the achievements of 25 outstanding women who have participated in Women Work! member programs and successfully overcome challenges in their lives.

Women Work!

Denise Abbey
At the age of 16, Denise dropped out of school, married and then endured 19 years of emotional and mental abuse for the sake of her three sons. In 1991, she realized she needed to go.

With limited education, little work experience and being on disability, Denise was unable to work at the time. However, support from the Re-Entry Center at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, NV, helped Denise unleash her passion for education. Since then, it has continued to flow. At Truckee Meadows, she earned an associate’s degree, and was named valedictorian, Outstanding Student of the Year and Board of Regents’ Scholar. She went on to the University of Nevada and founded the Non-Traditional Student Union and Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society. She also co-founded HEROES, an organization that provides support to single parents pursuing degrees. While earning her master’s degree, she helped create Project Wings! to find sponsors for single parents and displaced homemakers pursuing higher education.

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Women WorkBusiness

The Economic Value of Homemaking

The History of Homemaking
A homemaker is a person whose main activity is to care for a family and home. This is traditionally an unpaid occupation.

In an effort to understand the value of a private homemaker’s unpaid labor, experts have attempted to quantify the dollar value of the job. No one has come up with a perfectly accurate way to do so.

Four different methods of assessing the economic value of homemaking are listed below. Each method has serious drawbacks and disadvantages.

NOTE: Women Work! does not promote one method over another; we have simply gathered the following data for your information.

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Women WorkBusiness

Handling Conflict at Work

Conflict is defined as the negative feelings experienced between people and groups in problematic relationships. Conflict at work can hurt the quality of your work and the work of those around you. Conflicts arise in a number of ways: disagreements between co-workers, jealousy of positions or salaries, gossip, or office politics can all create uncomfortable situations. When conflict rears its ugly head, it’s good to remember that most conflicts can be solved by listening, talking through your problems and even sometimes realizing that your conflict has fizzled out. Here are some tips on how to handle and help avoid conflicts at work.

Things to Remember

  • If a conflict is between you and just one other person, try to work it out between the two of you, rather than bringing others into the conflict.
  • In a workplace, everyone deserves to be treated with respect. Treat others the way you want to be treated, and don’t put people down.
  • Give credit where credit is due; if someone has helped you on a project or proposal, make sure others are aware that the person deserves credit for helping.

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Women WorkBusiness

Cover Letters: What is it and how to write one?

What is a cover letter and why is it important?
A cover letter is a one-page business letter that you send to a potential employer when you submit your résumé. The letter introduces you, explains which job you are applying for and why you think you would be a good candidate for the position. A cover letter is important because it gives you the opportunity to talk more in depth about the skills and experiences on your résumé that are applicable to the job for which you are applying. You can use a cover letter to discuss some important experiences that may not have a place in your résumé. It reflects your personality, your attention to detail, your communication skills, your enthusiasm, your intellect and your specific interest in the company to which you are sending the letter.

The Four Parts of a Cover Letter
Writing a cover letter can seem a little overwhelming at first, but it is helpful to think of it as four separate sections:

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