Guest Post

A career change can be a scary thing, but sometimes it’s necessary. If you’re making the move at the right time and you understand the journey you’re about to embark on, a career change just might be the best thing for you. If you’re trying to gauge if you’re in the right position to make the move, examine the circumstances surrounding your current job and your wellbeing. If things aren’t adding up, it might be time to develop an exit strategy.

Your Workplace Feels Completely Different

If you were excited when you started your current career, think about all the things that made you excited. Over the years, things change. Policies shift, companies cut corners, and priorities become radically different. If all the things that made you feel excited about the job have now cycled out of your workplace, you’re probably only still there because you’ve become used to it.

You may not need a total career change, but consider switching employers. If you can find something that reminds you of why you loved your line of work, you can reinvigorate all the positive feelings that came with starting your career.

You Don’t Feel Appreciated

Not feeling appreciated at work can damage your self esteem. You work very hard, and you deserve to feel appreciated for your efforts. Highly talented people expect more and get more from their workplaces. Do you have access to a wellness program? What about flexible scheduling? Are there any perks you receive that make you feel like it’s worth it to work as hard as you do? Consider a career change before you wind up burned out.

Expenses Have Gone Up and Your Salary Stayed the Same

Inflation makes things more expensive with time, and wages don’t always catch up. There are some things you can do, like learning to trade, that will help the money you currently make go further. If you don’t have the time to maximize your current income, it might be helpful to start networking in an effort to find a better paying job. If you’re paying more in rent and bills than you were before and you haven’t received a noteworthy raise in a while, a career change may be a better idea than sacrificing the quality of life you’ve become accustomed to.

Tyler Franta

Opportunities in Your Industry Are Changing

Take a look at job boards for positions being advertised in your industry. Does it seem like there are fewer of them? Do the prospects seem bleak? Are you almost out of opportunities for advancement? Don’t let yourself get stuck in a dead end job. If you have potential and ambition, you should be using it. Even if it means carving a new path for yourself, it’s worth the effort. You deserve to excel in your career, no matter what that career may be.

You Feel Like You’re Ignoring Your Passions

Some people take a job because they need money and stick with it because it’s “good enough.” If you always wanted to be a veterinarian but settled for a job as a secretary, you aren’t pursuing your passion. Artists aren’t truly happy in foodservice, and scientists won’t feel engaged painting houses. If your passions call you to a different career, that career is worth pursuing. The more passionate you are, the higher your potential for success will be.

You Know You’re Unhappy

It’s never worth keeping a job that makes you feel truly unhappy. If you’re having trouble sleeping or missing out on important life events due to stressful work commitments, it’s time to cut the cord. Developing a toxic relationship with your job is just as bad as developing a toxic relationship with a person. If your wellness demands that you make a career change, you owe it to yourself to move on. Even if you’re making less money by switching careers, it’s important to remember that money isn’t everything. It’s more important that you feel happy and well.

If you feel like it’s time to make the switch, keep it quiet for a while. Start looking for new opportunities before you leave your current job, and give them notice when the time is right. Your transition will be smoother, and you’ll be setting yourself up for a successful next chapter in your professional life.

Author Bio

Anna Ashmore is a woman of many talents. She is passionate about literature, sports, travel and education among many other things. She is also an amateur writer who hopes to make it big in the blog world.

In challenge

Handling Jack’s Colourful School Adventures With ACE | #ACEforSchool Challenge

Rebecca Smith1 Comment

This post is an entry for the BritMums #ACEforSchool Challenge, sponsored by ACE. Get help for all kinds of stains with the ACE Stain Helper. http://www.acecleanuk.co.uk/ or to buy head to your local Tesco’s, Morrison’s, Waitrose or Sainsbury’s.

Now I don’t know about you but my son gets very messy at school. He’s now in Year 2 and whilst you think a normal school day would be messy enough, he also does football after school on a Thursday, a club after school on a Friday that he sometimes wears his uniform too and has just signed up to a new club for a Wednesday.

As you can imagine, these colourful adventures of Jack’s can lead to a lot of mess and cleaning up for me, especially when it comes to his clothes after a day at school!

This is where I am glad to have ACE products close to hand. ACE is said to keep garments bright, robust and clean meaning clothes last for longer – in my experience, this is very true. With the ACE for colours, colours are kept bright and fresh (much needed for his PE kit with his house colour t-shirt and his football kit). For those tougher stubborn stains such as grease, the ACE Stain Remover also comes into its own.

Jack has been coming home with all manners of things on his uniform in recent weeks – stains from his lunch, pen marks. We’ve been using ACE for a little while now to see how it works and the products have been leaving his uniform looking as bright as ever – other products in the past have made the red of his shirt washed out – and the stains have disappeared. Not an easy task when you have caked on macaroni cheese, some pen that you aren’t quite too sure if it is a sharpie, specks of mud and various other icky bits!

With a toddler in the house too, stains are the bane of my life and my laundry pile certainly seems never ending. Add to that a partner who works in the same school that Jack attends and who has a very active job and it seems like my washing machine is never off. I need products which I know will do the job and it looks like I might have just found them.

What do you use to get stains out of your child’s uniform and to keep the colours bright? I’d love to know!

In Reviews

Getting Ready For Winter With Simply Hike

Rebecca Smith6 Comments

We were sent a couple of items from the Simply Hike range to help with creation of this post.

Have you heard of Simply Hike? They’re a fab brand who offer a range of outdoor clothing and hiking gear, among other things. We were recently contacted by them and asked if we’d like to try out some of the items from the range. With Steve starting a new job that sees him outside in all weathers (he’s the site assistant at a school so has to fix things outside, come rain or shine), I knew he needed some weather appropriate clothing and footwear to stand up to the job.

As well as offering outdoor clothing and hiking gear, the brand also offer both and adult and kid’s ski wear so it is a perfect place to not only get yourself kitted out for winter but also kitted out for winter sports too!

So what did we opt for and what did we think?

Above see’s the Berghaus Mens Expeditor Ridge 2 Walking Boot – both as new and after a month’s worth of wear. These retail at £78.99 and whilst billed as a walking/hiking boot, are great for jobs like Steve’s as he needed decent boots for his role. The big plus point for these boots is that they are waterproof, with an AQ® waterproof lining that keeps out the wet and lets your feet breathe. They also have a great grip.

If you are looking for good quality walking boots, these are definitely worth checking out. They wear well – all too often shoes and boots start to show signs of aging and wear after just a few weeks but these are still looking pretty much as good as new!

The second item we chose was the Jack Wolfskin Mens Arroyo Jacket in Ebony which retails at £62. It is soft in texture which differs from a lot of other waterproof coats which can rustle and make noise. The jacket has articulated elbows for easy stretching and movement. It also comes with pockets, perfect for putting your essentials in.

Steve obviously also needed a decent jacket for his new role and again, it needed to be waterproof. This jacket is great for all weathers – the zips have a water resistant chemical coating and the back side of the coat features a microporous PU Coating- it is waterproof to 6000mm.

This has been great in the past few weeks – it has been hard to gauge how the weather will be from day to day – even hour to hour at some points. The weather has been miserable in the mornings on some days and then blazing hot by the time mid afternoon reaches us. However, a lightweight but durable waterproof coat has been perfect for these weathers – you’re not going to get too hot but you’re also not going to get wet if it starts bucketing down!

If you’re looking for some great quality winter clothing for the whole family – or perhaps even some stuff for winter sports – then I’d certainly check out Simply Hike. They’re affordable and good quality.

Have you ever bought from Simply Hike before?

In Personal Finance

Tips To Prepare Yourself For Adult Life

Rebecca SmithLeave a comment

Tips to Prepare Yourself For Adult Life

After the whirlwind experience of university of college, you are expected to make the transition from studying to working full time with no real help or guidance from your peers or parents. This is one of the most challenging but exciting times of your life and career, with new experiences and people entering your life. This is the building time for the foundations for the rest of your days, and it can difficult to really know what decisions are key to making this a successful start to the working period of your life. From buying your own flat to making new friends, it can be hard to prepare yourself for all these changes and really make the most of them. Below, I have a few tips for preparing yourself for adulthood which are practical for both new workers and also for people who are just looking for some help and guidance during their career.

Manage Your Money

One of the greatest things about being an adult is both the increase in amount of money you have, but also the control you have over it. Having a think after you get your first pay check is paramount to being able to control how much you are spending and making sure you are spending it on things that are valuable to both you and your time. Decide what is really worth your hard earned cash: spending money on new clothes, investing in a new flat, hobbies you love doing. Make a conscious spending plan and also save or invest money each month that can be accessed if you need it for a rainy day or that special gift for yourself. Keep notes on your income and expenditure to keep ahead of the game and make sure you are using your money economically and efficiently.

Fabian Blank

Be Covered

As great as life can be when you have finished your studies and have your first full time job, you need to make sure you are prepared for the unexpected. Especially at this time, the last thing you will think of is the worse case scenario, as everything is going so well and you are focused on your career, new living situation and the new friends in your life. Insurance is imperative and often overlooked and you need to make sure you are ready for anything that life throws at you. Companies like UCompare give you the ability to check for the best life insurance quotes, with the ability to get a quote within one minute. From mortgage protection to life cover and illness, make sure both yourself and your family are given peace of mind incase anything unexpected happens. Having these tasks completed and sorted will mean you can live life to the fullest with no stress or worry to deal with.

Always Be Learning

Although it can be difficult with long working days to do anything else when you return home after work, this is the perfect time to learn more and grow as a person both in personal and working life. Whether it is a new hobby like playing football, learning a new language or doing a part time course in your spare time to finally learn how to cook, there are so many options available to you that will help you develop and become smarter. Learning new practices, policies or keeping up to date with the latest trends in your business sector gives you the head start against your other employees or competitors and makes your a better person in general. To become great, you have to put the graft in and the hours in order to understand, appreciate and become better at whatever you are doing. It can be difficult, but little things each day, like reading or listening to a podcast, can broaden your horizons and make your learn even when you don’t think you are.

Collaboration

In Reviews

PJ Masks Super Moon HQ & Rocket Toys | Review

Rebecca Smith1 Comment

Items sent for the purpose of review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

We’ve made it no secret just how much we love PJ Masks in this house. Jack absolutely adores them and will watch the show and play with the toys until the cows come home. Recently, Olivia has also been showing more of an interest in the characters and enjoying playing with them too.

If you didn’t know about PJ Masks, it is a cartoon featuring three children who are all friends. They are ordinary children who turn into Catboy, Owlette and Gekko at night – a crime fighting team known as the PJ Masks – and they have superhero powers too!

The new episodes are about a Super Moon Adventure and to celebrate and promote these fab new episodes, we’ve been lucky enough to be sent a selection of toys from the PJ Masks range, some existing in the range already and some new for Autumn- and also throw a PJ Masks party too!

The Deluxe Figure set retails at £34.99 and features all of your favourite characters from the cartoon – the main three plus Luna Girl, Romeo, Night Ninja and the stackable Ninjalinos! They are all 7.5cm tall and come with poseable arms and legs.

Jack was thrilled to find out he had the deluxe figures – all too often toys come with a limited amount of characters so having these figures to play alongside the bigger toys in the range really made him happy as he could switch in and switch out characters as he wanted.

The Mission Control HQ Playset retails at £49.99 and is new for Autumn. Jack was very excited to see this and him and his sister have played with it constantly since it arrived! With three levels of fun, it starts out as the PJ Masks totem pole headquarters before opening up to show the different levels. There’s a trap door to capture villains, a bolt cage and a light and sounds control panel which plays some of the PJ Masks theme song and some other sounds.

The playset itself can give your children hours of fun and is such a fantastic price for the level of game play you can get out of it. There is so much to see and do!

The Super Moon Adventure HQ Rocket is new for Autumn and retails at £49.99 and has exciting lights and sounds. You can press the button to let down the ramp and Gekko can launch out of it on his space rover. You can also pull the rocket up on its legs. When you want to fly, just put down the legs and put away the ramp and fly, fly away! Jack has been playing with this non stop too – it is so much fun!

We also received the Speed Booster vehicles which are also new for Autumn and retail at £13.99 a piece. Enjoy speeding around as your favourite hero characters as Owlette, Catboy and Gekko speed around in their speed booster vehicles.

Finally, we received the Super Moon Adventure Figure Catboy set, new for Autumn and retailing at £9.99. This has the characters wearing their special spacesuits and with a fab jetpack that lights up. We also got the Super Moon Adventure Catboy Rover, £9.99 and new for Autumn. With this, you get a 7.5cm figure, a Super Moon themed accessory to coincide with the brand new episodes and a Space Rover vehicle just like the show! This is a must have for any fans of the show – and makes a perfect stocking filler!

We’ve been very impressed with the PJ Masks toy range – the toys are great for keeping children entertained and encourage plenty of imaginative gameplay. They can mix and match which of the toys or playsets they are playing with and the deluxe figures come in very handy to make their games even bigger. The toys in this range are available at all good toy stores, Very.co.uk and Amazon {affiliate link} and are perfect gifts this Christmas.

Also don’t forget to head on over to the PJ Masks Super Moon Adventure Twitter Party with UKMums.tv at 1pm on the 17th of October. We’ll be talking all about the toys, having a PJ Masks party and giving away plenty of toys too. Why wouldn’t you want to be there?