4 Things To Do When You Can’t Quit A Job That Makes You Miserable

What do you do when you do not like your job and you can’t just say you quit because let’s face it, you have bills to pay…the rent, school fees, you just received a HELB message asking you to pay up your debt…argh!

Maybe you have a young family which looks up to you for up keep so you know the kind of trouble you will be bringing upon yourself and your household if you ever decided the hell with this gig.

You know the common phrase “If you don’t like your job quit”? Yea right….That only happens in movies where one quits their miserable jobs andvoila… before you know it they have a job they love and they end up living happily ever after.

You might after all be delirious to think that scenario would play out in Kenya especially if you do not have a well laid out plan of how you are going to get your ‘happily ever after job’ and prove critics wrong.

In the meantime you might want to cool your heels and be glad that you have a job to hate or as we like to say ‘Furahia ata una kazi’.

But  surely you can’t go on being miserable day in day out…Sitting in a traffic jam along Waiyaki Way or the notorious Mombasa road from Monday to Friday with a dark cloud hanging over your head because of the dread that comes with reporting to work.

I am no doctor but I do know that’s no healthy way to live…so, how does your job move from miserable to tolerable and maybe even to lovable?

Here are 4 ways of how you can make that transformation.

1.Find Out What Makes You Loathe That Job
The point of this is to find balance between the positive and the negative. There’s got to be something that just gets you going nuts…something that keeps you awake at ungodly hours thinking if only you could do away with it you would be a happy Kenyan.
Is your problem the work itself? Or do you feel overwhelmed, because you just have too much of it to do? Maybe you work for a difficult boss?

Well, as much as you would like to do away with your boss, there’s nothing much you can do about it…or maybe there is… (I am mostly kidding) Or perhaps you don’t like your commute or the working environment? It’s important to identify the source of your frustration, so you can work on a plan to change this.

While you are making that list of negatives, there’s got to be something you love about that job  and don’t say nothing….Try to find something positive, even if it’s just the neighborhood you work in or the view from your window…for your sake I am hoping there’s something good.

2. Be thankful you are employed.
Yes you read that right…you might snort if you want but you will be surprised by the number of people who would jump at the chance of having your job even with reduced benefits they will take it just to leave the jobless corner.  You might not like your job, but being unemployed would likely be worse especially in this Kenyan economy.
So yeah, gratitude could work miracles in fighting those frustrations.

3. Find someone to talk to.
I am not talking about finding someone who will listen to you complain like your buddies who are probably going through the same ordeal.  While it might be therapeutic, this won’t help you or them. It will only make both of you miserable. Instead, you need an empathetic, non-judgmental friend—a mentor, perhaps—who will hear you out and help you objectify the problem so you can address it constructively.

4. Suck it Up.
Who said it was going to be easy?  The truth is that work is hard. (That’s why they call it “work.”) Even at it’s best, there are going to be difficult days. When you are going to face frustrations, setbacks, and even failure…. Don’t be surprised; accept the bad with the good.
While the idea of quitting beckons at you each day as you listen to Maina and Kingang’i in the morning on your way to your dull job and wishing you had their cool job…don’t quit unless you have a second plan of how you are going to make ends meet if you decide to say enough is enough.

Credit: Career point Kenya

Caroline Mutoko’s Lessons About First Jobs & Money Mistakes She Made

While in campus, Caroline worked as a waitress in several restaurants among them Tratorria located at the Nairobi Central Business District.

“I have worked most of my adult life. I have always had money in my pocket. I don’t know what it is to be broke!” she says. Her hard work at Capital FM paid off when she was employed after working pro bono for six months. She worked at Capital FM for four years before moving to Kiss 100 where she has been at for the last 10 years.

Lessons about money…
You get your first job and you want to dress like or out-dress the lady who has worked longer than you and has a bigger pay cheque. You want to drive a better car than her and live in an upmarket address just to impress your friends. Don’t do it. When you start working, get in debt and try keeping up with the trends, you are not just wasting money, but your time and energy. No one cares and it saps your creative juices and stops you from focusing on the things that really matter and ultimately you get burnt.

I have made many money mistakes. I should have bought less shoes and more land/property. I also wish I had lived beneath my means. I am doing that now and I can’t believe how much money I wasted on the “so-called-finer” more useless things. I wish I had learnt to automate my savings – there was a time when I relied on willpower. I wish I had spent more time with the crowd that was sensible rather than with the “in” crowd that was wasting time and money. I wish I knew then that you don’t have to wait to be a certain age to dream or think a certain way or do smart things like investing. In our 20′s we have the illusion that “there is still time” no! the time is now.

Story By: Murugi Ndwiga

{From Management Magazine}

Credit: Career Point Kenya

Ten ideas about money management that every graduate should know

When you get out of the college, you suddenly find that you can't make ends meet. You can neither get food as cheap as the school's canteen nor live a year with about 1,000 dollars. You can't support yourself with your hard-working earnings. Here are ten ideas about money management which can help you know more about your money.

1. Don't make career decisions based on dollar amounts. Think big picture. If you're offered X dollars in New Nairobi City, it's not the same as the same amount in Kisumu City. You have to evaluate what you want out of your career and what the benefits are of those decisions. When evaluating job offers, know the difference between benefits and perks.

2. Figure out how much you will need up front to move and start your life. Apartment rentals require deposits, as do some utility companies. You may need a moving van, and you may have to wait four weeks for a first paycheck. You have to figure out what you'll need to live on before that first paycheck.

3. Know what your take-home pay is--it's not as much as you think. You can't start fashioning a budget without knowing what you have to work with. A paycheck and the dollars into your hand are not the same thing. You and the married guy next door with three kids will not get the same check for the same salary.

4. Be realistic about your expenses and essentials. It's time to grapple with expenses like transportation, health care, food, entertainment and incidentals. Plan everything. Many students expect to live on $50 a week for food. You will not live on rice and beans. You will go to the deli. You will buy coffee. You don't have to deprive yourself. Just be realistic. I don't care if you get a pet snake. Just know how much it costs.

5. Understand cash flow. Find out not only exactly how much you'll be paid, but also precisely when, and when your bills will arrive.

6. Keep an emergency account. Bad things happen, and they will happen to you. You'll be sick. You'll be hurt. Life will happen to you the same ways it does to everyone else. Be prepared mentally and financially for this reality.

7. Know when to use a debit card or credit card. Credit cards are safer from theft than debit cards, and paying off a credit card every month will help a young person build a credit history and, hopefully, a good credit score. However, for routine purchases like going out to eat, buying gasoline or going to a movie, students should use a debit card. It will protect you from the typical 'I spent how much this month?' experience. Credit cards should be for major, significant purchases.

8. Get renter's insurance. Look carefully at the insurance options provided by your employer. For example, everyone needs worker's compensation insurance. Financially protect yourself from a roommate who might run off to Puerto Rico with a security deposit or legal agreement.

9. Begin contributing immediately to a Retirement benefit account (your IRA). Even if you start off slow and modest, it will make a huge difference. You may miss the $50 or so you put aside out of each paycheck, but it will grow and grow and save you from panic later.

10. Don't be afraid to invest. A savings account is a risky investment, because it means you're betting that there won't be inflation. Diversify, diversify, diversify.

Order Now and Pay Later: The Best Credit Option

There have been tremendous improvements brought about in ecommerce industry with the coming of internet. People have started online business to buy and sell diverse forms of products. In order to promote the same and get more businesses, they have also brought in various offers for people. Free shipment is one such facility that ecommerce sites offer such that people do not worry about additional expenses of shipment. Likewise, there is facility COD, Cash on Delivery option to allow people to pay, only after delivery.

Order Now and Pay Later

It is also one of the facilities that ecommerce websites are offering to people these days. It is a sort of credit option that makes it easy for people obtain the desired product without worrying about ready cash. This type of option is believed to be most useful, when you want any product immediately and do not have money to pay. Such ecommerce dealers give numerous payment options to their customers to make the purchase easy.Order Now and Pay Later credit plans are growing much in demand, because of the convenience and benefits that people are offered with.

Buy Now and Pay Later With No Credit Check

This plan is helpful for people with bad credit history, as there are no credit checks carried out before making a purchase. There are many customers who could not get any credit option because of the credit history. Such customers can take advantage of these offers in order to get the product on credit. It is a sort of loan that a person gets for buying a desirable product, wherein the payment is to be made later at ease.

Buy Now and Pay Later Requirements to Meet

Unlike like loan there are no herculean requirements to meet to use this credit option. One just need to have regular income source, should be more than 18 years of age and should have a valid bank account. As there is no credit check carried out, hence, one need not have to worry about bad credit records. Telephone numbers may be checked, to ensure that they are properly working so that client can be contacted for the payment later. The details entered might be checked in some cases. There are many Online Buy Now And Pay Later options offered by different ecommerce dealers. A person can order the products and can pay for the same later, even on online purchase now.

7 Top Rated Online Job Hunting Tips

Picture Credit carolynsmith.com.au

Searching for a job can be a monumental and overwhelming task, particularly when trying to work out how to go around the multitude of online job search websites. The guide in this article covers how to conduct your job search from the moment you get on-line to getting your foot in the door.

1. Key job search phrases chosen during your hunt are crucial to finding the role you'd like. It helps to go broad at first, thus enter basic terms or terminology such as "journalist" or "freelance journalist" in order to pull up the widest array of positions which are listed in this category. As soon as you've got a breakdown of the choices, define your search by using additional or perhaps different key phrases for your field of interest (such as "news," "sporting activities," or "music and songs") and/or the specific kind of writer (such as "blogger," "publisher," or maybe "journalist"). 

2. Check if the search engines that you're using are posting authentic job listings or are aggregating their material from other sources online. You don't need to get slowed down simply by looking at redundant websites that have identical job opportunities listed. Having said that, the best aggregators, do pull from several, varied places online and can list extra job opportunities which are not seen on the popular job searching websites. 

3. Find out if the job website is more than simply a search engine. If you'd like helpful resources as well as help in the course of your job search, you will have to look for websites which provide these kind of services. Some of the best search websites usually enable you to submit your resume on the Internet for free for future recruiters to browse. They also have discussion boards where job-seekers can talk about their experiences and expertise in the job-hunting process.

4. Go through the job description carefully and entirely. When you are searching for a paid position, make certain that information is a part of the job profile. In order to save time as well as minimize your stress, try to promptly locate deal-breaking phrases, such as "not paid" and "short term," if that's not what you are searching for.

5. Research your prospective employer. Some of the most successful job searchers are those that are informed about the way to present themselves and who've searched significant information about the recruiters for whom they would like to work. As we say, knowledge is power, and the more you know about your possible boss, the more you are able to promote your skill set towards the particular needs of an employer.

6. Target your curriculum vitae to match the requirements of the region's jobs because standard resumes won't cut it. Resume submission is seen as a significant stage in the job searching process and relevant details count. You should demonstrate that you really fully understand a company's or organization's mission statement and in what way you are going to play a crucial part in order to realizing its full potential.

7. Patience, persistence, and a positive mindset are essential. It takes time and effort to obtain the job you're looking for, no matter whether it is knocking on doors, dialing potential organisations, marketing with others, or maybe searching for jobs online. Each time you are applying for a job, you need to put emphasis on your goal and then aim all your energy and knowledge into the process. Because the tried-and-true saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try once again. Here's to your 

Managing Business Decisions - Learning From a Former CEO

 What is it which separates many of us from becoming what we want to be? Will we be able to fulfill our dreams or get stuck in something incomprehensible? And in the end will our lives be a happy one or will we spend decades after decades chasing that one ethereal dream? Who we are and what we become in life are mostly dependent on the decisions that we take. Be it managing business decisions, our problem solving capabilities or personal choices, what we decide determines the course of our life.

Mike O'Neill, former Managing Director, Whirlpool Australia, speaks of three essential decisions and the impact they had on his career as well as his life. I have added my take on the three decisions.

Severing ties with a long-standing partner company:

When Whirlpool in Australia was established, the company looked for comparatively small partners who had similar values, focus in life and ambition. At that time there was one key supplier who started off with Whirlpool with the very first shipment that came out of the US. That supplier had all along assisted the company to a great extent, given crucial information and in the process shown a great deal of support. Over a period of time he helped Whirlpool save thousands of dollars. However, much later because of a significant business decision, Mike, the then CEO of Whirlpool had to sever ties with this supplier and move on to having newer ties with other partners.

My Take:

I feel Mike took a tough business decision which was the need of the hour and corresponded well with the work-flow of the company. When he is at the helm of an international company like Whirlpool he cannot afford to take decisions from an emotional point of view. We in our life need to take tough career decisions at certain junctures. Those might sometimes appear cruel but if we are ambitious then we just can't help but take such a tough stand. It might not be a very sentimental decision but a rational one indeed.

Advising a good employee in the company to move on:

Mike himself admits that it is tough separating from a partner but tougher separating from an employee. And more so when that employee had served the company in a difficult period and shown a lot of promise. The concerned person had progressed quite a lot and in short could be called a model employee. Then Mike himself gave him another profile to prove his merit. However, the other role was not suited for him and it was tough for that employee to adjust. It was clear things were not working out favourably for this employee and he did not seem to be having a future in Whirlpool any more. It was at this point of time that Mike met him personally and advised him to move on. It was a tough stand but everything needs to be seen from an organisational point of view.

My Take:

Mike's decision might appear very strange for some people. But instead of getting judgmental we must all understand that professional life is much different from the personal one. In professional spheres no one is interested in making personal bonds and getting carried away. It all depends upon professional relationships and acting according to what is best for one's career. Even we have to be tough and take many such difficult decisions in life. We might get criticised for our actions but then for our career such compromises have to be made.

Moving on from the 'CEO of life':

It is quite obvious that when you have started a company you are bound to have more than a professional relationship with the company. With time you grow to develop a personal bond. And the longer you stay in a company the attachment gets stronger than ever. So it was indeed difficult for Mike to finally say goodbye to the company. But it was an important decision for him as well as the company and when someone is working in a global position as he was the decision simply had to be taken.

My Take:

Life takes us through various courses and it is during these junctures that we need to implement different strategies that will boost our career prospects. If we are working in one place for a longer period of time we tend to develop a comfort zone of our own. This is highly disturbing because it saps away our ambitions, making us stagnated in the process. What we had learnt during our educational training of planning to move ahead at every point in time, starts diminishing. This was perhaps one of the reasons why Mike had to let go.

I feel it all starts from the very basics. Our small choices at every juncture of life helps us in managing business decisions later in life. The courses that we take up, the tools that we use, the consultants from whom we seek advice, everything leads us to make who we are later in life.

Arindom is a final year IIM student. He loves reading blogs and learning about the lives of CEOs. He feels learning more about the lives of CEOs will help him in managing business decisions later in life.