GreenBucks

Last week as I was on my way to the last of the Zumba classes I’ve enrolled in, I saw a lot of people lining up in front of a mall even before opening time.

I got curious of course especially since there was a TV station van near the long queue.

It turned out that there was a job fair in the mall and the people lined up were there to look for and apply for jobs.

Such is the life of newly graduates, trainees whose contract have not been renewed and even those who are looking for better opportunities of getting better work and the perks that go with the better position.

Years ago, looking for a job was not that difficult. The ballooning population had a lot of graduates and non-graduates with very few jobs to apply to.

I remember attending a month-long course and training after I quit my work of one month in the hope of getting into teaching. A few days after the month-long course was over, I got hired not because I applied but because there were plenty of teachers there for a few vacant positions from different schools looking for teachers.

I don’t know if I’d be able to stand in a long queue for hours to be able to hand in an application form or a curriculum vitae. Maybe I’d be able to, for the sake of finding work and better opportunities to make my life better.

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Networking does not just mean having a Twitter account or a Facebook page. Networking is a face to face interaction among people.

Being a special education teacher, networking is important with me, not to get new clients but to learn from other people. I don’t think have to print out business flyers to advertise the services I offer because I have an online presence.  Having business cards ready to give to people interested in getting to know me is a big factor.

Networking is not just about these social media sites. Whatever is written in social media sites can be edited. Real-life dealings, though delivered in guarded behavior and measured steps most of the time, can give tell-tale signs on what kind of a person one is.

Networking is about people who will talk positively (and negatively too) about the way others conduct themselves and how they are as people who can be trusted.

No matter how one sugarcoats his/her social media accounts if offline or real-life behavior doesn’t add up, then people would see the real and not the reel person for what he/she truly is.

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Valentine’s Day is just around the corner as evidenced by the pinks, reds and heart-shaped decorations seen in different places.

It is the gift-giving season after Christmas’s gifting but this time around, gifts are considered as more special.

Flowers?

Stuffed toys?

Chocolates?

Teen gifts at Personal Creations?

Out of town trips? (yes for me!!!)

Whatever is that “perfect” Valentine’s Day gift for your loved ones, the tag price is not important as long as one is sure to give these gifts sincerely and from the heart.

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I don’t know if it’s just me but I think the Philippines has too many public holidays that holiday economics or RA 9492, “An Act Rationalizing the Celebration of National Holidays” is not something I would have approved if I was in Congress or Senate when it was approved (like I’d be there at all, lol)

BUT! moving the holidays to another day to promote a long weekend event is not something I would approve of. Imagine celebrating Independence Day on a different date? Duh? Thank God Good Friday, All Saints’ Day, Christmas and New Year are days that can’t be moved.

another BUT! for business owners, especially with the production and services companies, too many holidays are hurting their businesses, because they pay their employees extra when they need to go to work during holidays, IF they get these extra benefits at all.

Of course, the working people love holidays because it is the only during these days, save for their paid sick leaves (which I don’t have, sigh), that they get to rest and spend more time with their families. Save for national holidays, there are even regional holidays that merit another wave of holidays.

In European countries, a friend told me that if you live there, you have to buy the things you need because holiday means the stores are closed. But in this country, holiday means the malls are opened. Pity the employees who go to work and not spend time resting with their families.

Do they have extra compensation for that? I’m not sure because most of these sales person in malls are under 6-months contract which do not qualify them to get any benefits if at all. Tsk, tsk.

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Some people are shocked to know that I don’t have a credit card. Either I am too poor to afford one (read: too poor to get approval) or I am too much of a miser or I am unwise when it comes to having “emergency spending money”.

My thinking about this is “if I can’t afford it, then I won’t charge it” knowing that even if I don’t know what my credit score is, I don’t worry about interest rates any more than I worry that I wasn’t able to buy that cute dress for my daughter which I can’t afford.

For now, the only things I charge are my gadgets. Heh, corny 😀

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Can friends sustain friendship while being business partners?

I hope so.

I know people who have been friends for a long time who became business partners. The friendship was affected due to this business venture. When they parted ways business-wise, they were still friends. I can’t figure out how they did that but maybe if people are really friends, they can pull it off.

There are conflicting articles like this and this.

I guess it all boils down to good planning and management so that conflicts, especially major ones, can be avoided.

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