Wednesday and Career Change

Started Wednesday 2nd February 2011 0021 GMT
Words 311
S.I. = 62.2 %

The age of the part-time worker?

The part time worker accounted for nearly 97% of the employment opportunities taken up last year.  The time of the portfolio career is now, it is already happening without consciously or voluntarily being adopted (see previous blogs).

The worrying part of this is that the banking system has become so entrenched in offering mortgage products that rely on full-time employment (usually with both partners workers) over the now relatively short period of 25 years.  People are living longer and will have no legal compunction to retire at 65 very soon.  The state assistance, we had probably better get used to calling it that rather a pension, already does not appear to be given for post Baby Boomers (anybody born after 1962).  Even state sector (now public sector)  pensions are not as attractive a deal to compensate for the "vocational" nature of the job.

Insurance products such Mortgage Protection and Payment Protection Insurance taken out for a rainy day (or months) increasingly do not do what they claim to on the wrapper.  The future may not look so bright for many who are trapped in the house as an investment rather than a home scenario at present.  This dictates how flexible you can be in the choice of what you do to raise your happiness index to a 10.  Many people are doing this and have been doing this for sometime, I am realising that I have been speaking to them as they have been around me for a long time.

So 21st Century Working here I certainly come!  A good starting point for this is the Teleworking Association  (link to blog), a not for profit type organisation of which I became a Director at last weeks' AGM.  So if I do mention it you will know I am only promoting what I preach and practice myself.     

Career Change on a Wednesday

Started  Wednesday 26th January 2011  0700 GMT
Words  372
S.I.= 74.4 %

Career change is never easy.  Finding the right advice is also not very easy.  The world is not a very friendly place to the people who are having to act quickly because they have financial pressures owing to past trust issues with their financial institutes  (I will leave you to fill in the gaps of what this might mean).

I have  a little expertise in skepticism gained from that so called University of Hard knocks over the last 26 years, a whole generation of slaloming through those gates on the downhill course!

I have visited sometimes many fonts of business knowledge.  I have  been dropped in the font a few times, but managed to swim away.  Each time I have become, just, a little wiser.

As I personally contemplate dipping my toes into the digital ocean and go self-employed for part of my economic activities I have found the Lawpack series, in my case available locally from WHSmith or Staples.   I have used the Self-Employed pack.  This gives a series of useful documents and also a  booklet with a self-assessment test that   tests your motivations for going self-employed.  In other words do you at the moment have the right skills or persistence powers to make a small business a viable start up.  If you do not then it does identify areas that you may need to consider bolstering.  Like  taking a  psychometric test new skills and experiences can alter your profile and your perception of your suitability for this mode of living.

Relevant to home working is a new pack that will appear this week.  I learnt this from the author who is a member of the Teleworking Association.  I am personally going to obtain a copy as I have already used the self-employment pack as an aide de memoir when ticking off the way points to being self-employed.

Tomorrow the forecast is for light snow so I will catching up with those bits that need doing such as the Blog articles for 2pointfiveageofman and kritirecharge.co.uk.

Wellbeing tomorrow is the theme and being well in the dark of January is difficult to achieve.  A herbalists' lore (I am a Botanist/Agriculturalist by training)  will be dipped  into to promote health benefits.