I'd like to share one of my favorite channels. The Black Brigade.
If you haven't listened to them, go ahead and listen to a few of their podcasts and nightcaps.
I've listened to all of their stuff because I work several hours from home and I have the option to listen to podcasts while I manipulate spreadsheets.
The Black Brigade are very red pill. The topics covered include the state of our economy and how American is making decisions on foreign policies.
What separates them from other channels is they emphasis going Galt. Pulling away from this system as much as possible and preparing for the worst possible situation for our country. They also delve into the topics of prepping a little.
Earlier today, The Green Steelhead released the night cap linked below.
DT Nightcap #12
The concept of the video was that you have to get pissed off to get motivated to make changes to your life and improve your life. Obviously, there is stuff that is out of your control. The stuff that is within your control, you need to take charge of that.
This nightcap was the best pep talk I've heard in a while. Even though this isn't new or revolutionary information, it is good to be reminded of it every now and again.
I encourage everyone to listen to the DT Nightcap #12. Also check out their other podcasts.
Check them out here.
Good night.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Creative ways to build resumes
Intro: You can skip to the next bold heading to get to the point
The summer of 2010 was the worst time I ever had searching for work. I was fresh out of college with my degree in accounting. I graudated Magna Cum Laude with a cumulative GPA of 3.85. The biggest problem I had was the fact that I had no work experience at all.
At least I was prepared for it. The financial meltdown happened in 2008. The previous months leading up to graduating, I kept hearing from students around me talking about students not being able to find jobs and competing with graduated students from previous semesters.
At that time, I had to learn how to do the job search on my own. The most disappointing thing I experienced were how few jobs were available. I wanted to find some job relating to accounting. I wanted to be a staff accountant, work in A/P or A/R, send payments, or do anything related to accounting.
Each day, I would search for the accounting jobs available in my area and I saw a total amount of 5 or 7 job opportunities. The problem was made worse when most of those positions required 2 years of accounting work experience. Having a high GPA in your field of study meant little to nothing when it came to actually getting hired. The idea of getting a college student getting a job offer before graduating seemed like just a dream at that point.
During a 3 month period, I had to spam my resume on different job sites in order to find whatever work possible. Over that period, I must have sent out 50 applications without much luck. I got desperate enough to start sending applications to fast food places and just pick up a part time job to get some money coming in.
At this point, it was a common strategy for many of my peers to go back to school and pick up a masters degree. This was completely out of the question for me because I had no way to pay for tuition. I got through college with merit based scholarships but the same scholarships were not available for graduate school. I could take loans but I was completely unwilling to take the risk of assuming thousands of dollars worth of debt without a guarantee for employment at the end.
Spamming my resume wasn't getting me much success. Maybe there were things I could add to my resume to make me look like a more valuable employee.
How to build up your resume:
While browsing the internet, I thought about working for a common tax preparation company. The company taught an 8 week class which was a total of 84 hours and after the class was completed, you were guaranteed an interview. The price was good, it only costed $250. Even if I didn't get hired, I would have something to boost my resume and have a better chance at getting a different job.
I really had something to believe in with this company. If you got hired, you could keep taking additional tax classes to further specialize. The classes would be free if you were hired.
If you completed all the classes, you had the option of becoming an enrolled agent.
The funny thing is that I actually was hired by a different company during the middle of taking the class. My dad knew a guy who ran a small business and he had a similar background to me. He was a CPA and he actually worked for the same company I was trying to work for.
I worked for his company for 15 months before our contracts ended abruptly. I was unemployed again. At that point, I decided to look for another certification or achievement. My previous boss owned an insurance company and he was willing to pay for me to become an agent.
The cost of the class was only about $250. It lasted one week and was a total of 40 hours. The class was just like a college course. You learn about the different types of property and casualty insurance, what they cover, and different legal topics. After that is done, you go to a testing center you get a certificate if you pass.
On a separate occasion, I also paid for and took a class for life insurance. I got my license to sell life insurance and I was going to get licensed to sell property and casualty insurance until....
I found another job. As fate would have it, I didn't have to get into the insurance business and I never actually sold anything.
The job I took was a contract job that lasted seven months. By that point in my life, I had saved up a good amount of money where I could just take a few months off as a vacation.
I work as an accountant today. It took me 3 years after graduating college to become an accountant. I'm grateful for being where I am today because I was beginning to believe I would never become an accountant.
My boss encourages me to continue to collect certifications and increase my skill set. After doing a little bit of research, I found that it is possible to become a certified treasury professional.
Conclusion:
To any student recently graduating college, I would encourage them to continue to expand your skill set. Including these experiences and achievements on your resume will show your potential employer that you are willing to work hard, continually improve yourself, learn new skills, and show your ability to adapt to new situations.
On top of all that, you can learn useful information from the classes you take. After taking the insurance classes, I learned how insurance works, what and why deductibles exist, what sort of events are covered by different types of insurance, and how different insurance policies are priced. After taking the tax preparation class, I learned how to receive more money in your paycheck by filling out a W-4 and I learned about the different types of tax benefits from investing in different retirement programs.
The other point I want to talk about is that taking these extra classes or certifications can broaden your perspective a little. I know that doesn't sound like much, but you can get more of an idea of what you want to pursue (or not pursue) in life. Life is an interesting experience. Go ahead and explore it a little.
Compared to a master degree, you can pick up smaller achievements at a fraction of the cost. Tuition for a master degree can cost tens of thousands of dollars while becoming licensed to sell insurance costs only a couple hundred dollars and take only a few weeks. Because of this, the rewards for the certifications/licenses may be smaller but the risks are also smaller.
I've taken classes for insurance and tax. These classes can be found easily online with a few Google searches.
For anyone pursuing the accounting/finance field, I'd recommend getting certified to use QuickBooks or a different accounting software.
If you pursue the IT fields, there are countless amounts of certificates you can pick up for C++, java, and html. Some may be more expensive than other. The IT field is where large amounts of money can be made.
Or if an office job isn't for you, the certificate training programs for becoming a mechanic, plumber, or carpenter only take up to 2 years.
The world is an interesting place. Go out and try new things. Its kind of like collecting achievements while playing Xbox.
The summer of 2010 was the worst time I ever had searching for work. I was fresh out of college with my degree in accounting. I graudated Magna Cum Laude with a cumulative GPA of 3.85. The biggest problem I had was the fact that I had no work experience at all.
At least I was prepared for it. The financial meltdown happened in 2008. The previous months leading up to graduating, I kept hearing from students around me talking about students not being able to find jobs and competing with graduated students from previous semesters.
At that time, I had to learn how to do the job search on my own. The most disappointing thing I experienced were how few jobs were available. I wanted to find some job relating to accounting. I wanted to be a staff accountant, work in A/P or A/R, send payments, or do anything related to accounting.
Each day, I would search for the accounting jobs available in my area and I saw a total amount of 5 or 7 job opportunities. The problem was made worse when most of those positions required 2 years of accounting work experience. Having a high GPA in your field of study meant little to nothing when it came to actually getting hired. The idea of getting a college student getting a job offer before graduating seemed like just a dream at that point.
During a 3 month period, I had to spam my resume on different job sites in order to find whatever work possible. Over that period, I must have sent out 50 applications without much luck. I got desperate enough to start sending applications to fast food places and just pick up a part time job to get some money coming in.
At this point, it was a common strategy for many of my peers to go back to school and pick up a masters degree. This was completely out of the question for me because I had no way to pay for tuition. I got through college with merit based scholarships but the same scholarships were not available for graduate school. I could take loans but I was completely unwilling to take the risk of assuming thousands of dollars worth of debt without a guarantee for employment at the end.
Spamming my resume wasn't getting me much success. Maybe there were things I could add to my resume to make me look like a more valuable employee.
How to build up your resume:
While browsing the internet, I thought about working for a common tax preparation company. The company taught an 8 week class which was a total of 84 hours and after the class was completed, you were guaranteed an interview. The price was good, it only costed $250. Even if I didn't get hired, I would have something to boost my resume and have a better chance at getting a different job.
I really had something to believe in with this company. If you got hired, you could keep taking additional tax classes to further specialize. The classes would be free if you were hired.
If you completed all the classes, you had the option of becoming an enrolled agent.
The funny thing is that I actually was hired by a different company during the middle of taking the class. My dad knew a guy who ran a small business and he had a similar background to me. He was a CPA and he actually worked for the same company I was trying to work for.
I worked for his company for 15 months before our contracts ended abruptly. I was unemployed again. At that point, I decided to look for another certification or achievement. My previous boss owned an insurance company and he was willing to pay for me to become an agent.
The cost of the class was only about $250. It lasted one week and was a total of 40 hours. The class was just like a college course. You learn about the different types of property and casualty insurance, what they cover, and different legal topics. After that is done, you go to a testing center you get a certificate if you pass.
On a separate occasion, I also paid for and took a class for life insurance. I got my license to sell life insurance and I was going to get licensed to sell property and casualty insurance until....
I found another job. As fate would have it, I didn't have to get into the insurance business and I never actually sold anything.
The job I took was a contract job that lasted seven months. By that point in my life, I had saved up a good amount of money where I could just take a few months off as a vacation.
I work as an accountant today. It took me 3 years after graduating college to become an accountant. I'm grateful for being where I am today because I was beginning to believe I would never become an accountant.
My boss encourages me to continue to collect certifications and increase my skill set. After doing a little bit of research, I found that it is possible to become a certified treasury professional.
Conclusion:
To any student recently graduating college, I would encourage them to continue to expand your skill set. Including these experiences and achievements on your resume will show your potential employer that you are willing to work hard, continually improve yourself, learn new skills, and show your ability to adapt to new situations.
On top of all that, you can learn useful information from the classes you take. After taking the insurance classes, I learned how insurance works, what and why deductibles exist, what sort of events are covered by different types of insurance, and how different insurance policies are priced. After taking the tax preparation class, I learned how to receive more money in your paycheck by filling out a W-4 and I learned about the different types of tax benefits from investing in different retirement programs.
The other point I want to talk about is that taking these extra classes or certifications can broaden your perspective a little. I know that doesn't sound like much, but you can get more of an idea of what you want to pursue (or not pursue) in life. Life is an interesting experience. Go ahead and explore it a little.
Compared to a master degree, you can pick up smaller achievements at a fraction of the cost. Tuition for a master degree can cost tens of thousands of dollars while becoming licensed to sell insurance costs only a couple hundred dollars and take only a few weeks. Because of this, the rewards for the certifications/licenses may be smaller but the risks are also smaller.
I've taken classes for insurance and tax. These classes can be found easily online with a few Google searches.
For anyone pursuing the accounting/finance field, I'd recommend getting certified to use QuickBooks or a different accounting software.
If you pursue the IT fields, there are countless amounts of certificates you can pick up for C++, java, and html. Some may be more expensive than other. The IT field is where large amounts of money can be made.
Or if an office job isn't for you, the certificate training programs for becoming a mechanic, plumber, or carpenter only take up to 2 years.
The world is an interesting place. Go out and try new things. Its kind of like collecting achievements while playing Xbox.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Video games trained me for office work
Different men follow different paths in life. Some of us
will become mechanics, others will join the army, people will work in
restaurants, and a lot of men will end up doing desk work in front of a
computer for 8 hours every day.
Enter the corporate world. Whether you become an accountant,
analyst, sales executive, customer service representative, help desk worker….
Etc, your day will be very similar.
Show up early in the morning, grind through repetitive tasks
for a few hours, take a lunch break, grind though more repetitive tasks then go
home.
By repetitive, I do mean repetitive. The first two jobs I
had, my job responsibilities never changed. I did the same thing every day.
As an analyst, I had to answer phone calls for customer
service every day and process invoices every day to send out payments to day
care centers. Each month, I processed and sent out more than 200 invoices.
My second job, also as an analyst, I spent 8 hours each day
inspecting different cases checking if they had enough flood insurance.
Often times, I felt more like a robot than a man. Just shut
the brain off and repeat a pattern.
I came to a sad but amusing conclusion one day while
reviewing a home equity line of credit document.
Out of all the skills I learned while growing up, I learned
the most important skill and ability to function in the corporate world by …….
Playing Final Fantasy 7
Actually, it wasn’t just Final Fantasy 7. It was Pokemon,
Breath of Fire 3, Kingdom Hearts and pretty much any RPG video game.
All these games (first playthrough) required lots of
grinding.
I guess I spent hundreds or thousands of hours smashing
imps, tonberries, nobodies, zombies, and pidgeys just to gain experience find
gold and advance the plot of the game.
I remember on Pokemon Red, the clock maxes out at 255 hours.
256 is a magic number in 8 bit video games because of the hexadecimal system.
Office work, repetitive office work, requires a lot of time
and patience. You just have to sit there and do your work.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Academic Composition
Freelancing opportunities with Academic Composition
Hello everyone.
A friend of mine is looking for people to advertise his services online.
If you are willing to post some advertisements and you live in one of the following cities.
1. Honolulu, HI
2. Austin, TX
3. Dallas, TX
4. Minneapolis, MN
5. Los Angeles, CA
6. Philadelphia, PA
7. Pittsburgh, PA
8. Ann Arbor, MI
9. Atlanta, GA
10. Vancouver, BC
11. Toronto, ON
12. Boston, MA
13. New York, NY
14. Denver, CO
15. Sacramento, CA
16. Portland, OR
17. San Diego, CA
18. Miami, FL
19. Jacksonville, FL
20. Phoenix, AZ
Let me know and we can talk further.
You will get compensated for each day your ad stays live on craigslist and earn a bonus for every customer referred to Academic Composition.
Hello everyone.
A friend of mine is looking for people to advertise his services online.
If you are willing to post some advertisements and you live in one of the following cities.
1. Honolulu, HI
2. Austin, TX
3. Dallas, TX
4. Minneapolis, MN
5. Los Angeles, CA
6. Philadelphia, PA
7. Pittsburgh, PA
8. Ann Arbor, MI
9. Atlanta, GA
10. Vancouver, BC
11. Toronto, ON
12. Boston, MA
13. New York, NY
14. Denver, CO
15. Sacramento, CA
16. Portland, OR
17. San Diego, CA
18. Miami, FL
19. Jacksonville, FL
20. Phoenix, AZ
Let me know and we can talk further.
You will get compensated for each day your ad stays live on craigslist and earn a bonus for every customer referred to Academic Composition.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Career advice: How to Fill Blank Spaces in Employment History
In today's economy, people may hold on to jobs from a few years to just a few months on the shorter end.
The time spent in between jobs may vary and be unpredictable.
It may be possible to go several months before finding another job. This is especially the case if you happen to be collecting unemployment benefits. The benefit can provide a real disincentive to get back to work as soon as possible and losing out on government benefits.
When going to several job interviews, they may ask for an explanation for long gaps in employment history on your resume.
The gaps can be explained with a cover letter or during an interview but I may have a better solution.
Instead of having long gaps in employment history (in excess of 3 to 4 months), try to work on your own projects and list them on your resume.
If you take a class in that time period, you can include it on your resume in the education section and have an easy explanation for employment gaps. The class doesn't even have to be a college course that needs to be paid for. A lot of information is available online and there are some websites that offer classes for free (you just don't get any college credit). One such example is Khan Academy.
You can also use the time you are unemployed to try to set up a small business/hobby for yourself. Something that can make money or attempt to make money.
In December of last year, I bought some skateboards whole sale and started trying to sell them. My profit from each skateboard was only about $5 but I did make some sales. If you can find something to buy and sell whole sale, that is one possible way to generate income.
You could also try writing your own book and self publish it.
The very least thing you could do is create a blog, try to grow an audience, and monetize your blog. Affiliate marketing programs are such a way to do this.
Even if your ventures are not successful, it won't matter that much.
By filling in the gaps in your employment history, you communicate a few things to your potential employer.
1. You prevent giving off the impression of being lazy.
Even though you could be been let go of your previous job through no fault of your own; even though the job market is still hostile to recent college grads; your employer may just think you are lazy if there are gaps in your work history.
2. You make yourself a more unique person and you demon-straight that you are creative and are willing to try and learn new things.
If you can stand out and make an impression, you might stand a better chance at being remembered. Your potential employer may have several people lined up for a position. If he or she remembers you, you may have a better chance to get the position.
The time spent in between jobs may vary and be unpredictable.
It may be possible to go several months before finding another job. This is especially the case if you happen to be collecting unemployment benefits. The benefit can provide a real disincentive to get back to work as soon as possible and losing out on government benefits.
When going to several job interviews, they may ask for an explanation for long gaps in employment history on your resume.
The gaps can be explained with a cover letter or during an interview but I may have a better solution.
Instead of having long gaps in employment history (in excess of 3 to 4 months), try to work on your own projects and list them on your resume.
If you take a class in that time period, you can include it on your resume in the education section and have an easy explanation for employment gaps. The class doesn't even have to be a college course that needs to be paid for. A lot of information is available online and there are some websites that offer classes for free (you just don't get any college credit). One such example is Khan Academy.
You can also use the time you are unemployed to try to set up a small business/hobby for yourself. Something that can make money or attempt to make money.
In December of last year, I bought some skateboards whole sale and started trying to sell them. My profit from each skateboard was only about $5 but I did make some sales. If you can find something to buy and sell whole sale, that is one possible way to generate income.
You could also try writing your own book and self publish it.
The very least thing you could do is create a blog, try to grow an audience, and monetize your blog. Affiliate marketing programs are such a way to do this.
Even if your ventures are not successful, it won't matter that much.
By filling in the gaps in your employment history, you communicate a few things to your potential employer.
1. You prevent giving off the impression of being lazy.
Even though you could be been let go of your previous job through no fault of your own; even though the job market is still hostile to recent college grads; your employer may just think you are lazy if there are gaps in your work history.
2. You make yourself a more unique person and you demon-straight that you are creative and are willing to try and learn new things.
If you can stand out and make an impression, you might stand a better chance at being remembered. Your potential employer may have several people lined up for a position. If he or she remembers you, you may have a better chance to get the position.
Problems with the US Education System
One of the biggest problems facing generation Y today is student loan debt.
If you throw in the search term "I majored in Debt" you can find multiple videos of students that racked up $50,000 to $200,000 plus in student loan debt and have no real way to pay them off. A good number of graduates are working minimum wage jobs or temp jobs.
Luckily for me, I was able to get through college without having to take any loans. Most of my friends did take loans and they told me that their loans do not charge interest until they graduate.
I don't know very much about the qualifications of receiving government loans. I just know that student loans cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. It does make me wonder if generation Y students have used credit cards to pay off student loans and then go though with bankruptcy. After all, student loans can't be discharged through bankruptcy but credit card debt can.
Please do not actually try to transfer student debt to credit card debt. I am not advocating that.
Since I don't have much knowledge about student loans, I do not know the qualifications to get them or the requirements to pay them back. I kind of wonder if some people have been using college as a retirement plan.
Please do not actually try to use college as a retirement plan. I am not advocating this.
When I was in my last year in college, I took geography for my lab class requirement. I remember seeing on student that looked like she was in her 70s. I kind of wondered why she was there. At that age, I didn't think she was really trying to get a degree for a job. The second most likely reason I could think of was that she just wanted to get a degree because she never had the chance to do so before.
But then I thought about a third reason. What if she was in a poor financial position? What if she had no real family? What if she could not afford food or housing?
Would it be possible for her to apply to a college and get a federal loan that would take care of her tuition and living expenses?
At that point in her life, she could reasonably just try to stay in college until she died.
If heard stories of kids racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt. I can't imagine that all of it would be due to tuition and books. The student must have used the loans for living expenses such as housing and food.
If there is no limit to the amount of loans a student can take out and if the loans don't have to be paid until graduation; could a student use federal student loans to stay in college for decades?
A student might be able to keep going to different colleges for as many bachelor degrees, master degrees, and doctorates as possible.
These are just different thoughts. There must be some sort of provisions in the federal student loan system that prevents these sorts of situations but I wouldn't be surprised if there was not anything to prevent this.
Again
Please do not try to go to college for the rest of your life. I do not advocate this.
If it is possible for a 20 year old kid to keep accumulating student loan debt for 60 years, this is a real problem for the US economy.
This is another reason why our country is falling apart.
You might want to keep buying your gold and silver.
If you throw in the search term "I majored in Debt" you can find multiple videos of students that racked up $50,000 to $200,000 plus in student loan debt and have no real way to pay them off. A good number of graduates are working minimum wage jobs or temp jobs.
Luckily for me, I was able to get through college without having to take any loans. Most of my friends did take loans and they told me that their loans do not charge interest until they graduate.
I don't know very much about the qualifications of receiving government loans. I just know that student loans cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. It does make me wonder if generation Y students have used credit cards to pay off student loans and then go though with bankruptcy. After all, student loans can't be discharged through bankruptcy but credit card debt can.
Please do not actually try to transfer student debt to credit card debt. I am not advocating that.
Since I don't have much knowledge about student loans, I do not know the qualifications to get them or the requirements to pay them back. I kind of wonder if some people have been using college as a retirement plan.
Please do not actually try to use college as a retirement plan. I am not advocating this.
When I was in my last year in college, I took geography for my lab class requirement. I remember seeing on student that looked like she was in her 70s. I kind of wondered why she was there. At that age, I didn't think she was really trying to get a degree for a job. The second most likely reason I could think of was that she just wanted to get a degree because she never had the chance to do so before.
But then I thought about a third reason. What if she was in a poor financial position? What if she had no real family? What if she could not afford food or housing?
Would it be possible for her to apply to a college and get a federal loan that would take care of her tuition and living expenses?
At that point in her life, she could reasonably just try to stay in college until she died.
If heard stories of kids racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt. I can't imagine that all of it would be due to tuition and books. The student must have used the loans for living expenses such as housing and food.
If there is no limit to the amount of loans a student can take out and if the loans don't have to be paid until graduation; could a student use federal student loans to stay in college for decades?
A student might be able to keep going to different colleges for as many bachelor degrees, master degrees, and doctorates as possible.
These are just different thoughts. There must be some sort of provisions in the federal student loan system that prevents these sorts of situations but I wouldn't be surprised if there was not anything to prevent this.
Again
Please do not try to go to college for the rest of your life. I do not advocate this.
If it is possible for a 20 year old kid to keep accumulating student loan debt for 60 years, this is a real problem for the US economy.
This is another reason why our country is falling apart.
You might want to keep buying your gold and silver.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Book is Complete
The first version of my book is complete.
I'll be receiving a copy of it in a few weeks.
This version is not yet available to buy online yet.
If anyone is interested in reading it, just let me know in the comments section.
Have a good night.
I'll be receiving a copy of it in a few weeks.
This version is not yet available to buy online yet.
If anyone is interested in reading it, just let me know in the comments section.
Have a good night.
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