Whether you are employed or self-employed, managing your work load is essential. It is important to ensure that you understand what work needs to be done and have the time to do it all. If you do not do this then not only will your under perform in your job but you may also suffer from anxiety or stress due to the pressure.

The best way to manage workloads are to ensure that you have a schedule in place. Week to week planners is great for being able to plan out your day and move tasks on to other days if not complete. Some people prefer to use an electronic diary and others prefer pen and paper. Often people say that prefer to write it down (rather than in putting it in to a computer) as it is quicker to update and to keep a track of what you are doing rather than having to flick between screens.

If you find that you have too much work on to possibly complete in the time frames then you need to think carefully about how you can either cut down on time spent on certain tasks, work more hours or off load some work to others.

Temporary work can be a great way to get you earning money quickly, but the risk is the lack of security that comes with these types of positions.

Some employers offer temporary jobs due to cover of maternity leave or illness or just to see them through a busy period. The job may be on a fixed term such as 3 or 6 months, after which time you may know the job will come to an end or it could be on a flexible contract where it is reviewed after three months for example.

Often temporary jobs can lead to permanent positions, especially if you show your worth and work hard. Even if the company you work for doesn’t have any current vacancies, they are likely to invite you to apply for jobs that come up in the future as it can serve you well if they already know you how you work.

It is important to continue to look for work whilst in a temporary job as there is no assurance that you will have further employment at the end of it. You could register with an agency who will attempt to find you work, but you may have to go to a different place of work every day in order to ensure you have employment.

We all need to take time off work whether it be for medical reasons, vacations with the family or just to use your holiday entitlement up. Most jobs require some if not all of your work to be passed on to other people in your absence. This can put added pressure of your co-workers, so it is important to try and make it as easy for them as possible.

You may just need to set up an out of office email and divert your calls to someone else, but if there is something that is likely to crop up while you are away it is important to inform someone else who can take responsibility for it in your absence.

If you need someone to actually do your work on a daily basis then it is vital that you have some times with them prior to going on leave to ensure they understand what needs to be done. Sometimes it is helpful to create a list of tasks or to give those notes on your clients that they can look in to should they need to.

Always allow enough time to train your replacement and make sure that you have got up to date with all our work so that you are not leaving them in the deep end straight away.  

If you own a business and are in need of extra staff but do not want to spend hundreds or even thousands on recruiting cost then there are some ways in which you can find the right candidate on a smaller budget. You may need to put in more time and accept that you may need to do a lot more interviews to find the right candidate. If you use an agency they will often do much of the preliminary searching and vetting for you, so you will only be sent candidates that are suitable. If you advertise the job yourself and vet the CV’s etc, then you will have to work your way through often a large number of them to find the people that you would like to interview. Agencies can save you a lot of time but they do come at a cost.
Social media sites are a great way to find potential employees. Advertising jobs on your own social media profile and your website is free and can attract a large number of candidates. Also using Social media sites such as LinkedIn allows you to find people within your industry that you can target. Creating a simple ad and putting in in the local paper is still a great way to get CV’s rolling in and can cost as little as thirty to fifty pounds.
Always be sure to keep CV’s of previous candidates on file as they may not have been suited to the position they originally applied for but you may have a vacancy open up that they would be suited to.

A lot has changed in the world of job hunting since the advent of the internet, and whilst it’s certainly easier to search & apply for jobs, it can feel very much like you’re firing off hundreds of applications with very little response.

Gone are the days when you would simply pick up a local newspaper and call through, now your CV and covering letter really are key; if these aren’t effective, you simply won’t get through to interview.

That’s made even harder when you consider that some firms use sifting or filtering software to score your CV and submissions, and as such ideal candidates can fall foul of using the wrong language.

To truly get the best out of your searching then, it’s important to be targeted and strategic in your search; apply for the jobs you’re best qualified for, and be specific – with examples – as to how you meet the person specification. This is truly what employers are looking to see, especially if you’re not quite an exact fit for the role – show them how you could be.

There’s absolutely no point wasting time submitting applications ‘on the off-chance’ if you don’t put in this extra time, you’ll simply fall foul of either a software, or manual, sifting process.

If you’re in field sales, delivery or customer relations, you may find you spend a lot of your time on the road travelling to meet or deliver to clients. As someone in a field-based role, personally I find it a relatively enjoyable part of my job, but I love driving.

However recently studies have begun to emerge which suggest that there may be health implications to spending a lot of time on the road. A number of articles in publications from the New York Post to Web MD and the Daily Mail have highlighted the negative effects.

In particular, one noticeable impact is a decline in IQ. This is because driving is (or at least can be) sedentary in both the mental and physical sense, and causes stress and fatigue. All of these factors contribute to a decline in brain function, particularly in people from middle age onwards.

In addition, we’ve all heard reports about the other impacts of sedentary lifestyles and stress – it’s widely accepted that these contribute to obesity, insomnia and a generally lower feeling of wellbeing, all of which puts considerable strain on your heart. And that’s before you couple it with the fact that regular road users are more likely to smoke.

If you are looking for work you may find that you are offered night shifts. For some people, night shifts are the perfect option. It can fit in with their lifestyle and you often get a few days off in the week which some people prefer.

There are some downsides to working nights are often these are more for people that have to do it on a long-term basis. Shift working can be very anti-social. You may find that you are at work when everyone else is off work and that you have to sleep during the day. If you have a partner or children it may be that you get little time to spend with them as the days you are off they may be at school or work. It takes a while for your body clock to adjust to night shifts and you often find that on your days off, you struggle to change your sleeping pattern.

Night shift work is often better paid than working the same job in the day, you may find you do not have to contend with rush hour traffic and that you can get more work done if there are not many other people about.

If you are in need of work quickly then you may decide to go and work for a temping agency. There are a huge number of agencies around some of them are based online others will have offices that you can visit. When signing p to an agency it is important to find out what fees they will charge. Many temping agencies will not charge you a fee to be on their books but they may take a cut of your salary. This is often a percentage and some agencies can take quite a bit. You should also find out if you need to have any special equipment or work wear such as steel toe capped boots as the agency may often to sell you these and take it from your wages but they are often not the cheapest way to buy them.

The advantages of working for an agency means that you may have work every day of the week and can start earning money very quickly without having to go through the whole recruitment process such as interviews. Most agencies will need to speak to you and have a look through your CV before they can offer you work. This is so they can establish your skills and qualifications to find suitable job opportunities for you. You will need to be available at short notice as they may call you on the day that you need to go and work, so having your own transport is preferable.

If you are in the process of looking for a job then you may need to make sure it fits around other commitments you may have such as childcare. Part-time work can vary greatly. It may be that the working hours are for full days but only a few days a week or you may be required to work shorter days throughout the whole week or the majority of it. Depending on what the job is, you may be able to choose the hours you work to allow you to fit it in around your other commitments.

If you find a full-time vacancy that you feel would be perfect for you then you could always apply and ask them whether they would consider offering a part-time role. Some companies may accept this especially if it’s only on a short-term basis or they may even consider hiring two part-time people to cover the role.

It is important to remember that when you are part-time you will only be entitled to holiday pay that has been accrued based on the time you have worked. You may also need to work a longer probationary period.

If you are currently in a part-time role but feel that you want to take on more work, before leaving and looking for a full-time position, speak to your current employer and ask them if they would consider taking you on full time.

Teaching is certainly not an easy job. Many people are attracted to teaching by the good pay it can offer and the fact that you are able to have the school holidays off, but when you actually look what is required of you as a teacher, you may think again.

Although teachers only teach from 9-3.15 (approximately) they have to be in school before that, often at 8 and do not usually leave until 5 -5.30. Once they are home they may not be able to stop them as they will have planning and marking to do. Weekends are often taken up by working from home and you may have to sacrifice some of your holidays to go in and sort out classroom displays or to set up for new children arriving.

All this being said, teaching is still a very rewarding job and many teachers get great satisfaction out of the job. It is amazing to see how a pupil improves over the course of a year and knowing that you have helped to achieve that is something that keeps may teachers in the profession.

Before going into teaching, way up the pros and the cons and make sure it is right for you.