Personal Finance 101–Introduction
SMART goals also require SMARTER actions. Whether planning to pay for a; post secondary, down payment on a house, car, vacation, or an adequate retirement life style money needs to be saved.
Upon completion of this course, students will learn basic money fundamental to help better achieve SMART financial goals. Strategies introduced include goal setting tips and ways to manage cash flow.
Course Outcomes
After completing this course, students will have learned to:
- Identify personal resources, and explain how they could be of value to self and others.
- Compare needs, wants and consequences, with consideration of self, others and society.
- Examine sources of lifestyle aspirations, and relate these to personal resources.
- Demonstrate knowledge of and a commitment to achieving personal financial goals.
- Develop strategies to be informed consumers.
- Explain how to offset financial implications of financing post secondary education, buying a house and a car, and retirement planning
- Investigate sources and types of financial assistance for post secondary education.
- Recognize that as individuals we are responsible for our own finances.
- Design a plan to reach a specific financial goal.
Invest in Your Career–Understand the Value of Group Benefits Part 2
Invest in Your Career–Understand the Value of Group Benefits Part 1
Invest in Your Career–Have the Owner’s Mindset
As we have discovered in other ASPiRE Courses long term goals are typically not achieved in one big step. Very few people have jumped right into owning and running a successful business without first meeting certain self-determined criteria. Most have worked as employees while developing skills and learning the “art of doing” business all the while collecting a pay check.
The move from being an employee to that of an employer requires a different mindset. Typically employees fall within two mindsets; entitled and owners.
- Employees with an entitled mindset often just work for the paycheck and feel the company is lucky to have them.
- Employees with an owners mindset work to make a difference (either in the company or to improve lives. They expect to be fairly compensated for their work but feel lucky to be part of something bigger than themselves.
Creating a business run by employees with an “owners” mentality certainly will be better off than running a business with people simply waiting for their next paycheck or bonus. Although business owners do not need to have a formal post-secondary education there are a variety of degrees that future owners can complete to help them better understand various aspect of owning and running a business.
Below is a list of typical courses offered within a degreed business program.
- Accounting/Bookkeeping
- Economics
- Financial management and policy
- Marketing
- Organizational leadership
- Probability and Statistic for Business
- Communication
Invest In Your Career–Selling Your Self…in interview
Selling your story during an interview.
In today’s streamline world most interviews are conducted following a review of a resume. So if we have made it to the interview we have already passed the first phase. While the resume provides the company with the information that we may have what it takes to add value to their company (help make them profitable). The purpose of the interview is to help the employer further understand our personality and see if it fits with their company’s culture. The interview also gives the company the opportunity to ensure we have what it takes to help them.
To maximize our chances of moving to the next hiring phase we need to be clear and concise in our presentation. Being able to provide examples that support our values and traits will go a long way in helping the company determine if there is a match. The interview is generally the best chance we have to sell ourselves by telling our story. It is also an opportunity for us to determine if this is a good company for us to work for as well.
Typically an interview has several components;
- Opening (greeting, purpose, structure)
- Interviewers questions (credentials, experience, opinion)
- Interviewee questions (position, company)
- Close (the next step, appreciations)
According to Trevor Johnson of Bullseye Recruiting we need to: Be prepared, be positive, be enthusiastic, be yourself.
Invest In Your Career–Tell The Right Story on a Resume’
It is easy to get our identity mixed up with what we do, what we believe, who we hang out with, and what we accomplish. Although these things may be important, they do not define who we really are.
In this activity we will create a personal statement, that will outline some of the values and skills you currently possess. The purpose of this statement is to provide a clear and concise description of who we are, and what makes us tick. Once this statement is written we can use it as a reference guide to help monitor our daily activities. Are the things we do each day in line with who we are, what we value, and what is important to us?
Invest In Your Career–Understand The Application Process
The Job Application Process
Creating a career path will help in setting professional goals and strategy to help achieve financial goals. However, by focusing on career goals rather than on financial goals (house, car, retirement, boats, etc) personal fulfillment will most likely be achieved. A higher level of personal fulfillment may help us focus on achieving financial goals.
As found in other activities, part of creating a career path involves determining our values, traits and skills. While directions in our paths may change over time understanding what provides us with personal fulfillment is important to keep in mind.
To create a career path normally we need to find a job. To do so it is important to know how the job application process works. Typically we understand some of the goals (family, social, financial, etc) that provide us with fulfillment. In particular career goals. We have determined the key ingredients of what we are good at and believe in so that when we search for a job we kind of know what we are looking for. Once we find a job we are interested in we can determine if we have the qualifications. If we believe we are qualified then the most likely next step will be to submit a resume. (online, email, in person). The resume will help the company determine if we are qualified. If the company likes what they see in the resume they may want to conduct an interview to further qualify us.
Invest In Your Career–Create a Career Path
In this workbook series the term career will be defined as an occupation or profession that generally requires additional training. Most often to obtain this extra training advanced education is required.
Choosing the right career requires lots of research and planning. The first step is to discover who we are in terms of like, dislikes, values, and skills. In the previous activities we identified our top values and skills.
The second step, which is the essence of this activity, is to identify potential career options that best match our current skills and values. Sometimes people make their career choices based on income or what mentors suggest without thinking about how well their skills and values match. For long term job satisfaction matching a career with what we love to do and what we are good at will play an important role.
Most careers are made up of a series of jobs. Research by Peter Harris suggests that Canadians can expect to hold 15 jobs in their careers. With this in mind it is vital to learn as much as possible from each job.
A Career path is not a job but a series of jobs utilizing common transferable and technical skills.
Invest In Your Career–It Is Never Straight Forward
Whether we are choosing to pursue a certain: career, relationship, spiritual fulfillment, or fitness level, the steps to achieving them are never as straight forward as planned. The efficiency in which we reach our visions depends upon:
The steepness of our climb.
The number of turns we make.
The amount of steps we take.
The speed in which we take each step.
Invest In Your Career–Develop Your Skills
Skills can be developed in a variety of way. However, before taking the first step clearly identity the skill(s) that are to be developed. Once that is done try one of the following:
Do volunteer work
Become part of a committee or group
Work part-time
Enroll in a training course
Read books
Network
