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First the top ten Real World, Really posts for the month of March based on popularity determined by you guys.

1. College Loan Consolidation - 5 Routes to Relief [March 5th]
2. Make Some Money from the Airborne Lawsuit Settlement [March 4th]
3. 5 Things to Remember When Negotiating Your Salary [March 3rd]
4. Fill Your Apartment With Everything You Need on the Cheap With Freecycle [March 8th]
5. New Media Jobs [March 10th]
6. Link Love (Or: “It’s late and I’m too Tired & too Full to Write Much Else) [March 12th]
7. Generation Y as Employees: Disloyal, Lazy & Narcissistic? [March 14th]
8. Choosing a Job: For Love or Money? [March 16th]
9. About to Enter the Workplace for the First Time? Try the Solution That is Best for You [March 18th]
10. Be More Productive: Plan Your Day [March 21st]

As always, if you enjoyed what you read here at RWR, please subscribe to the RSS Feed so you don’t miss another moment. And, never hesitate to “Stumble” anything you’ve enjoyed.

Now, any regular readers of RWR may have noticed a pretty sharp decline in posts here over the past month. Frankly I’ve just been too caught up in other ventures and am the first to admit that I’ve been unfairly neglecting this blog and that makes me sad. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

So, to try and remedy that and bring the blog back up to the level of consistency in content that many have come to expect, I’ve brought on a second blogger. Meet Nate Cleveland, the genius behind 207 Prospectus and Cleveland’s Corner. Nate is a 2007 graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts now working in an entry-level position with the university. Like all of us recent grads, he too is dealing with tackling credit card debt, a first-time job, rent, student loans, debt, etc. Nate will bring a fresh voice and perspective to Real World Really which I’m very much looking forward to. Before you know it, the level of content here should be back to normal (and then some). Be sure and check back throughout April for the best RWR yet!

Popularity: 15% [?]

I know some of us are a long way off (myself included) from this scenario but let’s say for a minute, hypothetically, that you’ve got all of your high interest debt (like credit cards) paid down, your low interest debt (like students loans or car payments) under control, at least, and you put some of each paycheck away in both a high yield savings account and your office’s 401k.

I know, I know - you’re thinking “yeah right, that’ll never happen” but rest assured some day (soon) it will. And when that time comes, it might make sense to put more money away in an IRA.

photo credit: estherase

An Individual Retirement Arrangement (sometimes called an Individual Retirement Account), is a personal retirement savings plan available to anyone who receives taxable compensation during the year. Best of all, money may be withdrawn from an IRA at any time (but on withdrawal it may be taxed and/or penalized).

While there are technically 11 types of IRAs you will likely choose between the two most common: a Traditional or a Roth IRA. What are the differences?

Traditional IRA:

• The tax breaks for a traditional IRA are tax-deductible. That means that the money you deposit in your IRA isn’t taxed. And regardless, whatever earnings you have on your contributions won’t be taxed until you withdraw that money many years later.
• If you withdraw the funds before age 59 1/2, then in most cases you’ll have to pay both income tax and a 10% penalty on whatever earnings have accrued — but if the funds are used to pay for “qualified higher education expenses” then the penalty will be waived.
• You can put just about any money from anywhere into a Traditional IRA account.

Roth IRA:

• Unlike a contribution to a Traditional IRA, a Roth IRA contribution is never deductible. However, when you withdraw the money from a Roth IRA, none of it — and that includes the earnings — will be taxed (assuming that the Roth IRA has been open for at least five tax-years and you are older than age 59 1/2).
• A Roth IRA gives you huge flexibility by allowing you, in many cases, to withdraw your principal contributions at any time tax-free, without penalty. For instance, first-time homebuyers can pull out $10,000 in profits penalty free and tax-free (again, if the money has been in the Roth IRA for at least five tax years). There are also some breaks for education spending, and others.

So, which is the best option for you? That depends on a lot of different factors. But luckily there are plenty of online calculators to help you through the decision-making. Mint.com offers an easy three-step IRA Advisor and Fool.com has a number of different calculators in their Roth IRA center.

Just remember, whichever you choose, you’d better hurry. The deadline to sign up using your ‘07 taxes is April 15^th! Is it worth it? Well, By opening an IRA today, you could save up to $1,200 on your 2007 taxes. And, without any work or risk on your part, a $4,000 contribution this year could grow to as much as $65,000 in 35 years!

sources: - “Traditional vs Roth IRA: Which IRA Is Right For You?” [blog.mint.com]
               - “All About IRAs” [Fool.com]

Technorati Tags: personal finance, money, IRA, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, saving, career, college, graduation, real world

Popularity: 20% [?]

I think by now it’s pretty obvious that America is in a recession (seriously, if you think otherwise just take a look around; I dare you), but is it affecting the workplace as much as the wallet? For those of us in Generation Y (people born between 1978 and 1990), it’s unlikely. According to Penelope Trunk, author of The Brazen Careerist,

The health of today’s job market is not so much a function of economic indicators as it is a function of demographic trends. There is a huge shortage of employees. Baby Boomers are retiring and Generation X and Y are less able to replace the Baby Boomers than had been anticipated; employers receive fewer hours of work per person from post-Boomers because of their focus on family (Generation X) and entrepreneurship (Generation Y). Due to these factors, the employee shortage is increasing, and only a knock-down-drag-out recession will change this sunshine outlook for employees.

What this means for recent grads (and current students alike) is that, as the trickle of retiring Baby Boomers picks up steam and the Gen Xers aren’t there en mass to replace the vacancies the Boomers leave behind, employers will be forced to turn to recent grads to fill positions. Assuming you’ve done your part to prepare to enter the workplace, and your wallet can weather the recession storm then look on the bright side - landing a good job might get a little easier.

(image via citizen.co.za)

Technorati Tags: Generation Y, career, career planning, college, graduation, real world

Popularity: 24% [?]

When you look at the day in front of you, it’s easy to think you have a very busy day planned. You have emails to respond to, a staff meeting in the morning, maybe a lunch meeting and you need to buy cat food at some point in the afternoon. Your day looks cluttered, so you think it’s jam packed. but really that’s all it is - clutter. If your day was better laid out, you’d be amazed at how much time is freed up.

A simple trick anyone can use — at work, in school, or even during the grace period after graduation while you’re looking for work — is to come up with a plan. Make a template in Excel with three columns that breaks your day down by the hour (the left-most column), task (in the middle) and comments/reactions (to the right). Save the template to your desktop and open it every morning when you get up or get to work and fill it out for the day in front of you.

photo credit: quinn.anya

Most importantly, be honest. Schedule in down time and a lunch break (if you get one). If you don’t have something planned for an hour, leave it blank. And, once your schedule is complete, stick to it. If you schedule responding to and writing emails for 1:00-2:00pm, only check your email during that hour. If you planned to write and mail cover letters from 9:00-11:00am, write and mail your cover letters from 9:00-11:00am and nothing else.

Once you see your schedule right in front of you, broken down by the hour, you’ll be amazed at how seemingly busy, stressful days work themselves out, and you will see just how much time you waste each day by lacking focus. By scheduling your day every morning and sticking to it, you’ll free up more time to be more productive.

Technorati Tags: career, productive, schedule, self improvement, college, graduation, real world

Popularity: 19% [?]

Popular financial blog The Simple Dollar featured a post today targeted towards recent grads entering the working world for the first time. The post recommends something called the 50% Solution - essentially putting 50% of every paycheck in your checking account to cover day-to-day expenses and 50% into a high yield savings account, and not touching it. Then, once you’ve settled into a routine, every three months invest 80% of your savings account balance in an index fund. The author, Trent, goes on to explain:

Putting half of your paycheck away buys you a little more than a year of complete freedom for every year that you work. If you work for ten years, then you’ve probably built up eleven or twelve years of living expenses. Even if you work a single year, you’ll be able to just follow your muse for another year on that savings.

But is it really that simple? Or even that plausible? Quite simply, I know I couldn’t do it. Believe me, I would love to be able to put half of each of my paychecks away in a savings account (and someday soon I’d like to be able to). But if I were to do that now, while I’d be investing in my future, sure, I would be hurting my present by not focusing on paying down my debt — from credit cards, student loans, the car I needed to buy after graduation because my job required it, etc. — first. 50% of each paycheck on an entry-level salary is nearly impossible, in my opinion.

I think the best advice to come out of Trent’s post is that putting money into a savings account (especially one with a high interest return) with every paycheck is a huge advantage. I personally put $25 (much less than 50% of my paycheck, yes, but as much as I can handle) directly into a savings account each time I get paid. I look at it like I’m paying another bill, so there can be no exceptions, and I don’t touch that money for any reason. And as I pay down my high interest debts mentioned above, I will up that deposit amount.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is to pay down the debt first but still put away (or invest) as much as you can. If 50% is too much to handle, start where you can and work your way up, even if it’s just $25/month. Set your sights too high too quickly and you’ll doom yourself to failure and falling further behind in debt.

source: “About To Enter The Workplace For The First Time? Try The 50% Solution” [The Simple Dollar]

Technorati Tags: debt, budgeting, personal finance, college, real world, graduation

Popularity: 21% [?]

Just wanted to give you a head’s up that ResumeEdge has activated a new coupon for $10 off any Professional and Executive level resume service. This coupon is good from March 18 - 29, 2008. To take advantage of this great offer, use the coupon code RE200803 at checkout. And also, for a limited time, ResumeEdge is offering a savings of $20 when you purchase a Resume and Cover Letter combination at ResumeEdge.com. ResumeEdge,

specializes in 40 different industries to provide the highest quality resume and cover letter services available, bar none. ResumeEdge is the leading provider of Resume Writing Services online and the chosen resume partner of Yahoo! HotJobs, CareerJournal, and Dice.com. Our website provides industry-leading resources for job seekers.

If you need resume writing help, check out ResumeEdge today!

Technorati Tags: resume, career, getting a job, college, real world, graduation

Popularity: 20% [?]

photo credit: PhotoFusion

When considering a job application, interview or offer there are many factors at play — the location, the commute, the atmosphere, etc. The truth is that there are as many variables as there are types of jobs a recent grad can take on. But, there are three true factors, three types of jobs to consider and weigh against one another when deciding what path to take. Whichever is best for you is entirely up to you and is unique to everyone’s situation, but — if you’re lucky enough to be able to choose between one job and another — think about each category closely and decide which is right for you (unless the perfect job — a combination of some or all of the three — awaits you, in which case - I’m jealous):

1. Taking a position due to money

There is certainly nothing wrong with accepting a position based solely on the attractiveness of the salary offered, especially with the heavy burden of debt many grads find themselves under. Taking a position with a high pay rate would go far to alleviate such a debt and quickly. Jobs with very high pay are also rarely offered to recent grads, so jumping at the chance might certainly be a good idea.

2. Taking a position due to passion

The second option is to take a job which is in a field you’re passionate about - either a cause you care about or hobby-turned-career you enjoy. Rarely will the second option coincide with the first (unless of course you really, really like hedge funds) but when can you do something you’re really passionate about if you can’t do it when you’re young?

3. Taking a position due to position

The third option is to accept a job that really doesn’t fall into either of the first two categories but will hopefully lead to one or the other (or both) somewhere down the line. Maybe it’s a job that you’re not too excited about but it’s in a company that you really want to be a part of — taking a secretarial job in a firm you really want to work for so you can get your foot in the door, for instance, or working for a company or job that you don’t really like for a year or two so that it will be very beneficial on your resume down the road.

In conclusion:

Again, if you’re lucky enough to be considering more than one job offer (or interview, or even application) than chances are that you will need to take each of the scenarios into consideration and weigh them all heavily. Ideally, however, you will be able to settle on a combination of some or all of these options; or you find yourself young (and flexible) enough to be able to try out each possibility at different jobs in the coming years. Already have a job — which route did you take? why? Please, share.

Technorati Tags: getting a job, college, graduation, career, income

Popularity: 20% [?]

There was an article featured on the front page of entrepreneur.com today debunking the myths behind employees from Generation Y — people born between 1978 and 1990 — and their attitudes in the work place. The three common myths the article touched on were #1 that Gen Y employees are disloyal: that the days of working in the same office for 30 or 40 years are long gone and instead we will bounce from company-to-company on a whim. The article refuted this fact (and I agree) saying that, despite this common misconception, Generation Y employees really do want to have a long-term relationship with a company; but they also want to trust that the company wants to have a long-term relationship with them. Gen Yers need companies to prove to them that they’re wanted there and that their staying with a company is worth it. As Entrepreneur explained,

In today’s environment, nobody trusts the system to take care of them long term. From the collapse of Social Security to the fall of major companies during the dot-com era and, more recently, the Enron scandal, millennials are acutely aware that nothing is a “sure thing.” These events have created a generation skeptical of loyalty.

The second myth: #2 Gen Yers don’t want to pay their dues. Bruce Tulgan, co-author of Managing Generation Y, however says that this myth is utter nonsense. But that it goes hand-in-hand with the realities associated with the first myth,

It’s nonsense to think they don’t want to do lots of work. In fact, I think that Gen Yers will absolutely do grunt work–they just want to know, ‘OK, I did all this grunt work; what do I get?’

Employees from Generation Y will do any work asked of them as long as they understand the point of the work and its benefit to the greater good (both their’s and the company’s).

And the third and final myth is one that I personally have heard a ton: Myth #3: They need constant praise. This isn’t entirely inaccurate - we have grown up in a time and culture of constant praise and support. After all, I think it’s because of my generation that now every player in Rec Basketball and every girl on the pee-wee cheer squad now gets a trophy just for showing up. But does that translate into the workplace? I’m not sure. And, if an employer is failing victim to praising their employees every five minutes, they’re just as much to blame. If you let an employee get away with not meeting expectations and praise them anyway, they’ll continue to do it — no matter how old they are.

While I don’t entirely believe that any of these myths are anything more than that - myths, stereotypes have to come from somewhere. It may be a good idea to keep each of these myths in mind when interviewing for a job, or during your first week on a new job, and go out of your way to debunk them as soon as possible. As Tulgan explained,

This is going to be the most high-maintenance workforce in history–but I think they’re also going to be the most high-performing workforce in history.

Source: “Gen Y Myths Debunked: Getting the Most from Gen Y Employees” [entrepreneur.com]
[image via boomers.typepad.com]

Technorati Tags: Generation Y, getting a job, on the job, college, graduation, real world

Popularity: 22% [?]

One of the benefits of living close — but not too close — to my parents (they live in a small town about 45 minutes north of my apartment) is that those evenings I’m able to get up to visit them, I’m (almost) always rewarded for it. Often it’s the chance to save some quarters by doing my laundry at their house, or some lucky visits its a free meal out. That’s just what happened this evening. But the downside (and believe me, it’s the only downside) of a great dinner and a couple of pints of great microbrew is now I’m too stuffed and too tired to write a totally original post.

So I figured I would at least show some link love and point you all in the direction of some other great and helpful posts from across the Interwebs. It’s the least I could do, really.

photo credit: Brian Sawyer

First, Trent at The Simple Dollar lists 20 valuable questions to ask yourself about, well, yourself. And your relationship with money. Ranging from “1. What five things do you most truly love doing? Think of things that you both enjoy in the moment and also enjoy looking back on later. Do any of these cost money?” to “11. Where do you want to be in one year? Describe your life in as much detail as you can. Can you name five actions you can take in the next week to lead you to that goal?”

Secondly, J.D. from Get Rich Slowly featured a guest post today entitled The Lazy Man’s Guide to Groceries on a Budget, which certainly hit home for me - being both a lazy man and on a budget. The recommendations included buying vegetables from a Farmers’ Market (when the season’s right), where they are typically half the price they are in grocery stores to, most importantly, never letting anything go to waste. Nothing will screw up a grocery budget faster than having to throw expired food away.

And thirdly, Ginger from Girls Just Want to Have Funds — who has an AWESOME new look to her blog that everyone should check out if they haven’t already — wrote a tell-all tale of her Disillusionment and Resentment with Graduate Education, in which she outlines her objectives, resentments and ultimate decisions with her graduate degree program; something that I think most graduates grapple with after completing their undergraduate career. Ginger also touches on the decision of pursuing passion & purpose, or pursuing a career - something I debate with myself about on an almost daily basis.

Alright, on that note - I think it’s time for a chapter or two of The Tipping Point and bed. Good night and happy reading!

Popularity: 24% [?]

This is a guest post from the folks at slickricky.com: Affordable Website Design, Site Maintenance & Management

No matter where your specialties lie, or whatever your background may be, you have no doubt had a taste of the changing workplace. What was the job to have last year may well be the most overpopulated field next year. Technology and information have had an amazing affect on the marketplace, and with change in the media being marketed, it naturally follows to find change in the need for experienced niche market employees and consultants to control and support the media at hand. In the past decade, most of the job markets that you have seen on the rise are technology based positions.

photo credit: guiguis

Programmers

In the 60s when the first operating systems were being produced for mainframes, it was a very simple thing to choose what type of programming you should study as there were so few to be found. Today the sheer number of programming languages is amazing, and the professional coder today will most often have more than one specialty. Programming languages govern so much more than the basic operations of your computer now. Programmers are needed to create automated tasks for office applications and factory machines, to personalize the operating system and network for campuses that are countries apart, and to create a dizzying number of simple and complex promotional video games for marketing purposes. For those pursuing a position in this field, where to start is the most daunting question.

Market Analysis

Used to be that, demographics had no science, you simply brought your wares with you and knocked on doors. Today there are millions of dollars spent on targeting customers. You can find a job in demographic research, product placement and labelling, market trend research, and trend analysis for the launching of new products. Marketing based on this analysis is honed directly toward the target audience. The modern tools and data gathering techniques employed to discover this target audience are then focused into producing an effective advertising campaign.

Internet Marketing

Selling products and services has always been a tricky field, but with the right amount of information we are much more able to find the end user for products and services. The forms of advertising that is available today is limitless. Companies are not bound by paper advertising or television and radio air time. Today we hire contracted or permanent marketing specialists that understand the new forms of advertising, such as Search Engine Optimization and affiliate networking. Email campaigns are launched, electronic newsletters and brochures are dispatched by Graphic Designers, Web Page Designers produce advanced websites with interactive entertainment and information for your customers to ensure return business.

By looking only briefly at three separate, yet related industries that are affected by recent developments in media we have identified several new jobs that the workforce of tomorrow is preparing for. With open minds and ready hands we keep ourselves educated on the next best opportunity, for who can say what the next new media revolution has in store for us?

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Technorati Tags: new media, job search, job listings, online jobs

Popularity: 25% [?]