Making the Most of Our Career

February 28, 2019 By Deanna 5 Comments

I don’t know about you but my career is thriving and I expect it to only go up from here. I take it very seriously and want to not only grow myself professionally but also the company. This article is for anyone else who also wants to grow their career and needs some direction on where to focus. After all, focusing on our careers can be one of the highest paying investments.

I want to speak in general terms since there will probably be people of all different career backgrounds reading this.

Career Hacking

Firstly, I’d like to give a shout out to ESI Money as he is the first person I heard talk about the concept of career hacking. I’m sure there were others but I wasn’t quite ready to hear it until I was.

There is no shortage of career hacking articles on his site.

One of my favorites by ESI is titled, How to Manage Your Career and Make Millions. ESI gives 7 very helpful tips. When you are done with my article, I highly recommend you head over there and check it out.

The general concept of career hacking is to know what is expected of you, exceed it, document it, and report it. As important as tracking is to our financial health, it’s equally important to our income growth. You may be killing it in your career, but if you aren’t tracking it, it might go unrewarded. I’ll get to some tracking tips but first, let’s explore ways you can grow in your career.

Do Hard Things

November 29, 2018 By Deanna 8 Comments

I participated in a #thankfulnesschallenge this month and wrote a post about gratitude being a state of mind. Furthermore, I challenged you to track the following in regards to doing hard things:

How many times you wanted to give up
The number of times you actually gave up
The total number of difficult things you did

I participated too and will share what I learned about myself in this challenge. Moreover, I will share some changes I’m making in my processes at work as a result of my reflection on this challenge.

Negotiating for a Raise as a Woman

October 22, 2018 By Deanna 13 Comments

Firstly, I think the title of this article should just be negotiating for a raise. Period. However, apparently, it’s a bit different for women. So, ladies, this one is for you! Would you like some tips on how to negotiate for a raise as a woman? Yep, me too. Let’s explore this together

Sage Advice on Asking for a Raise

I worked in restaurants basically from the time I was 16 until I was 36 years old. At some point, I worked myself up in the ranks of serving to be a server in a fine dining restaurant. Furthermore, I became the assistant manager and wine sommelier of that fine dining restaurant.

Servers at this fine dining restaurant were paid a high hourly rate rather than being tipped. Members were charged a service fee but servers didn’t receive a commission. Occasionally, we’d receive additional tips but that was the outlier rather than the norm.

Early on in my career at this restaurant, I asked for a raise. I did it all wrong. How did I know I did it incorrectly? My boss was kind enough to turn it into a teaching moment:

Me: I am having a difficult time making ends meet on my current wage. Can I have a raise?

My boss: Don’t come to me and ask for a raise because you need it. Come to me and ask for a raise because you deserve it.

Photo by Faye Cornish on UnsplashContinue Reading

Bonus or a raise – what would you choose?

October 15, 2018 By Deanna 21 Comments

My company gives quarterly reviews and sometimes it includes a bonus. Moreover, I receive raises. Within the last year, our director of operations asked me if I prefer receiving a bonus or a raise. Without giving it too much thought, I said I’d prefer a raise.

As a result, I no longer receive bonuses but now receive more raises.

After giving it more thought, I still choose raises overall, but let’s explore why.