When you finally decide which path to take in life, it’s daunting to know that it may or may not be the “right” one for you. It might even be difficult to imagine that you’ll be doing one thing for the rest of your life. But what you need to remember when choosing your career path is that your future is open-ended; it’s not set in stone. Even though you might have been told for years that you will be or should be one thing, you have the ability to determine that for yourself. No one knows your strengths or your passions or your ambitions better than you, and no one but you can use any of these to propel you forward. At the end of the day, it’s up to you – not anyone else – to determine how far you go and how many of your dreams you try to achieve. It’s up to you to set your own goals and be your own compass, and if you head in the wrong direction once or twice or ten times, the good news is that there is an infinite number of possibilities, and it is never a bad thing to change direction.

      I’ve always been told that “I can be whatever I want to be.” I thought this was true for a while, and I honestly could never understand why. I couldn’t fathom why I would somehow be able to accomplish something when it’s obvious that not everyone has been given an equal opportunity to succeed or even figure out what they want to be. But I’ve since realized that what people mean when they say that – whether they know it or not – is that I can be whatever I work to be. If I set my mind and ambitions to reach a goal, I can achieve it. Anyone can. That’s the idea, anyway, and it’s an idea that’s kept me sane throughout college. It’s allowed me to struggle through challenges and change my goals without feeling like I’m making inalterable decisions that will make or break my entire professional life. I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t matter much who I have been or what I have wanted in the past. What I want now and what I want in the future may be two entirely different things, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t pursue them.

      When I first came to college, my mind wasn’t quite set on my career path. Although I thought I’d like journalism because of my love of writing, I’d never had any experience in it, and I chose my school based on that fact; we have very flexible programs that would allow me to change majors easily, if need be. I thought about creative writing at one point, I almost picked up a Spanish minor, and I even considered advertising for some reason that I’ve since forgotten. After a few weeks and months of consideration, I came to the conclusion that journalism really was what I wanted to do. I wanted to write, and I wanted to be involved in news. It was an obvious choice. However, that obvious choice may not be my final choice.

       This year, and perhaps part of last year, I’ve been realizing how much I do and do not like journalistic writing. On the one hand, it’s an amazing choice that allows me to do so many things that I enjoy: writing and meeting new people and having a genuine impact on the lives of others at times. On the other, it isn’t something that allows me to directly help anyone or express my views, and I’m finding more and more that I want to be an advocate of ideas not a surrogate for them. I can’t keep myself from openly sharing my opinions, but that is exactly what a journalist is meant to do – keep opinions as private as possible. So I’ve had to consider, in my senior year of college, the notion that journalism might not be for me after all. I had to think of alternatives and consider what my goals are and how I can accomplish them. So this semester – a matter of weeks ago, actually – I decided that I was interested in finding out more about law school. I’d never given it a serious thought before, but I’ve been thinking about where a journalism degree can take me and where it can’t. So I read up on the LSAT and law school and the career options available to law school graduates, and even journalism majors with law degrees, and I decided to take a practice LSAT just to see how hard I would have to work to actually achieve this new goal. After seeing my score and seeing how achievable a goal this might be, I took off with the idea. I ordered test prep books and made a 16-week study schedule, and I’m taking the LSATs in June.

      Now, you may be wondering “what does this have to do with me?” That’s a fair question. So far, I haven’t had a career. However, what I want students to take away from this is that while the decisions you make and the careers you pursue definitely impact your future, they do not have to be permanent choices. Nothing you have done or will do needs to impact what you may one day hope to do. If you’re afraid of making a choice now or of setting goals that may be unattainable, don’t be. Be proud of yourself for having dreams, and go after them using any means possible. If you’re worried about those dreams changing, just remember that they probably will. Most people today do change their jobs, if not their careers, a number of times before finding that elusive “perfect fit.” But if you never try to reach your first goal because you’re not sure if it’s right – if you hold back because you don’t think it’s attainable – that in itself is a decision that will shape your future.
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      Whether you choose to pursue your dreams is up to you, but whether life moves on without you is not. All we can do is aim high with every intention of succeeding, and if we choose a new target half way, it’s not a failure or a sign of misdirection. We’re just human, and we change. But the good news is that everyone expects us to. We are expected to be different from who we are in high school, and we are expected to be different from who we are after we go to college or take our first job or go through any number of changes in our lives. So figure out what you love to do and go after it as fiercely as possible, but don’t be afraid to pursue something new. Be more afraid of inaction than action, and be confident that while you’re trying to find something you love, you’re moving closer and closer to actually finding it.
 
-Hope Swedeen
 
What are your career goals, and how do you intend to pursue them? Are you struggling to find one "thing" to do?

1. Make sure you’re ready to be 100% professional on Twitter

When you first start using social sites for professional interests, it can be difficult to adjust to new ways of using social media. Suddenly it’s not about socializing. It’s about networking. Make sure that you’re ready to be completely professional before setting up your Twitter profile so that you can stop yourself from posting anything that is in conflict with the professional image you’re trying to put forward.

2. Make yourself and your tweets findable

Even though you’re always told to hide your social media and make everything private online, don’t protect your tweets. You should be as visible as possible so that you can network effectively and expose your professional interests to as many people as possible. However, in order to feel comfortable leaving your tweets unprotected and viewable by anyone, you need to be sure that your profile really is 100% professional, as I said in step 1 so that you aren’t showcasing anything you wouldn’t want to come up in a job interview or even keep you from getting an interview.

3. Keep your profile picture professional

Just as on LinkedIn, you should use a photo that clearly shows people what you look like and that you have a) taken the time to have your photo taken and b) dressed professionally so that you would be taken seriously. If you look like you want to be taken seriously, you have a much better chance of people actually taking you seriously.

4. Use your bio to explain your professional goals

Although you only get 160 characters in your bio, try your best to write who you are and what kind of work you want to be doing in your professional life. When you follow anyone or post anything that piques someone’s interest, they’ll want to get an idea of who you are, and your bio is the perfect place for an introduction. Consider this your “pitch.” You’re selling yourself with your bio, so take it seriously and consider how you want to introduce yourself to professionals carefully.

5. Choose a name and username that make sense

You should try to make yourself findable by anyone who knows you already, so make your name whatever it is that people call you. If you go by a nickname even in your professional life, consider using that. However, if only your friends and family call you something that you won’t be called at work, use your full name. Your username doesn’t affect how easily you can be found, but it should be something professional that relates to your name, goals, or professional career so that, again, people take you seriously.

6. Tweet about topics relevant to your industry

Don’t tweet just to say that you’re on Twitter. Everything you post will contribute to the way people see you, or your professional image, so you should always keep your posts as professional and related to your industry as possible. What you post will be a factor in determining who follows you, so make sure your content is relevant, relatable, and worth being viewed by professionals with whom you want to network.

7. Use hashtags

This may be a no-brainer because it’s Twitter, but make sure you use hashtags to make your posts easier to find, easier for people to connect with and relate to, and easier to be evaluated for worth. If you’re using hashtags that are highly relevant to your field, then your post will be more likely to be considered relevant to the people in that field.

8. Quality of connections is more important than quantity

Don’t follow people simply to strengthen your numbers or get more followers. Instead, follow people who post content that genuinely interests you or people who you recognize as professionals in your field of interest. There is nothing wrong with following small numbers of people as long as they are people who will be useful in networking and learning about your industry. You don’t only have to follow people in your industry, but they should make up the large majority, at least at first, so that people can see you’re serious about the image you’re putting forward and your intent to break into whatever field you’re pursing.

9. Gain followers through interaction

It does look better the more followers you have, so you should be trying to get other professionals to follow you after you’ve followed them. However, they won’t automatically follow you just because you’ve followed them. Post tweets that are informed and related to your industry. Make sure that your profile displays you as a person who should be followed because of your commitment to learning and talking about your professional field. You should also feel comfortable commenting on others’ tweets or retweeting to show that you are engaged in conversations and value what others have to say.

10. Use Twitter to network

​Rather than sitting back and just tweeting in hopes of receiving followers and starting conversations, search for people with whom you’re interested in connecting, and start talking. Message anyone you’d like and just start a conversation about something related to your field. Tell them about yourself, and ask questions about the industry, who they are, and their career. Begin a dialogue that will help you learn more about not only the industry but the person with whom you’re networking, and make it clear that you’re interested in learning from them, not just in getting another follower. Just as I said in my post about learning how to network, make sure that you make your conversation more about them than yourself.
 
-Hope Swedeen
 
How can you make sure your Twitter is as professional as possible? What are some ways that you have used or might use Twitter in a professional setting?

As I said in last week’s post about managing personal finances, it’s important to build a monthly budget when you’re beginning to track your spending and figure out just how much you can and should spend each month. Budgets are useful tools if you’re having trouble figuring out what your “needs” and wants” are because when you crunch the numbers and see how much you have to spend on something like rent, it’s easier to see where you need to be spending less, like on clothes or groceries or cellphone bills. You might even find that you need to eliminate some expenditures entirely because you simply can’t afford them without going into debt or just making it by each month. The goal should be to save as much of your money as possible, and by creating a budget, you can see where that money should be coming from.

At the end of this post, I've included a Microsoft Excel example budget that can be downloaded. Feel free to use it as a template to create your own budget! I've also attached a photo of the budget so that you can see a visual example while reading the steps to create a budget below.

Step 1: Determine how much money you have
In any bank accounts and in cash. This includes your checking and savings accounts. In order to know how much you can and cannot spend, you first need to know what you’re starting out with as a base. You should always be trying to build up your savings, if possible, so keep tabs on what you add or subtract from all of your accounts.

Step 2: Know how much you earn each month
Take into account any money coming your way each month from full-time and part-time jobs, allowances, and any other forms of income you might have. These will all factor into what you have available to spend each month.

Step 3: Know how much you already owe
If you’re behind on payments for anything, you’ll need to know this so that you can start paying off debts as soon as possible. The “debt” section of your budget requires the most attention because debt has the ability to build so quickly that while you might be able to afford it one month, it might be double or tripled the next. Interest rates vary on every form of debt, so make sure you know what you owe, how much you can afford to pay off each month, and how much you absolutely need to pay off to keep yourself from falling into even more debt.

Step 4: Keep track of bills/payments
Include any payments that you make every month, including cellphone, utility, and internet bills, and rent payments. If you’re trying to save for any these things, you can also use your budget to do so. If you’re looking to rent an apartment but can’t afford it yet, for example, you can add an “apartment” payment to your budget and use that to save a certain amount each month specifically for an apartment.

Step 5: Evaluate monthly expenses
In addition to your monthly payments that are always relatively the same, you need to look into how much you spend on items that aren’t stagnant. Expenses for transportation, clothing, cellphone add-ons, entertainment, groceries, personal care, and eating out are all included in this. To figure out how much you spend on each of these categories each month, you’ll need to keep your receipts and bills for everything you buy or pay off. Once you know how much you spend in one month, you’ll have a rough idea of what you’ll typically spend in following months. You’ll need to do this at the end of every month to determine whether you spend more or less than you intended on each category.

Step 6: Create a visual budget
There are several online resources to help you create a budget and stick to it. There are countless online platforms that you could use to create your budget, but the most basic way to do this is by using Microsoft Excel. If you’re looking for something more sophisticated that will track your spending and progress on savings goals and then provide visuals like graphs to match, you might consider using an online platform. However, Excel has these abilities as well, so if you have some experience with the program, you could create your own graphs or use a budget template to get started. If you’re just looking for an organized way to track your spending yourself with the ability to quickly add numbers, Excel is your best bet, and you can use the example I've provided to get started.

When you leave high school, you’re going to be thrown into a world where money is much more important and complicated than it’s ever been before. You’ll enter the professional world and need to know how to manage your own finances, cut expenses, and live within your means. If you don’t know how to keep track of your money or build a savings instead of living paycheck to paycheck, you need to learn. All of this is difficult enough already, but if you have no guide to help you get started, it might seem impossible. Below are ten things that I think every high school student should know before graduating so that they can begin their independent lives successfully and without facing avoidable financial hardships.

1.  Know the difference between what you need and what you want

Up until a certain point in our youth, most of us only spend our own money on things that we want like games, candy, movie tickets, clothing our parents won’t buy us, and random tiny things that people don’t really have any need for. However, at some point, we all begin to spend our money on things we need like food, electric bills, clothing for the real world, shoes for when ours are completely worn out, and the boring things our parents always seemed to somehow provide for us when we were younger. When we reach this point where we begin paying for our needs, it’s important to remember that we can’t always afford the “wants” on top of those “needs.” In order to be smart with your spending, you’ll have to identify your needs and wants, determine which are most important, and use your money accordingly.

2.  Take cheap transportation

An example of a “want” versus a “need” is the debate over whether to take a bus, subway, or taxi. If you’re someone who chooses the most expensive option most frequently, try to cut down on your spending slowly but surely by choosing cheaper modes of transportation. If you can take the cheapest option every time, you’ll save more money than you could imagine, and you’ll be able to spend it on something way better than transportation.

3.  Create a budget

You’ll probably find, once you start paying for your needs and trying to add a few wants onto your tab as well, that you’re running out of money faster than you can keep track of where it’s going. When you begin thinking about your money regularly and try to pinpoint where you spend too much or where you can spend less, a budget will be extremely useful to you. Start by saving receipts for a few months straight, and once you’ve accumulated enough, you can go through them and see how much you spend on certain things each month.
A budget usually consists of categories of spending that can be as specific or general as you’d like, such as “food,” “clothes,” “transportation,” “insurance,” “entertainment,” and “phone.” You’ll also have categories of income like “part-time job,” “full-time job,” and “allowance.” Once you look through your receipts and bills, you’ll be able to determine how much you spent on each category per month and estimate how much you will spend on those in the coming months. For example, if, in one month, you spend $400 on food and the next you spend $500, you can look at why you spent more one month and less the other. If you find that the $500 can be chalked up to several expensive meals, then $400 might be a more desirable goal to set for upcoming months. However, if you think you usually eat expensive meals and the $400 month was an anomaly, set your budget for $500 a month and try to wean yourself off of your extravagant spending. If you simply set a lower budget for yourself right away, you probably won’t be able to stick to it, and you’ll end up with much less money at the end of a month than you intended.

4.  Start building a cushion as early as possible

Everyone who give financial advice will tell you that saving money now will help you immensely in the long run. If you tuck away a little money after each paycheck, week, or month, you’ll see a small savings turn into a large sum of money. Some people call this a “rainy day fund” to be used when you run into financial hardship. If you lose a job, have to take a trip unexpectedly, have unexpected medical costs, need to move, or run into any situation that might require a large chunk of money, you’ll be so grateful that you had the foresight to save some of what you’ve earned rather than spending it all each month. If you keep even $20 a week for a year, you’d have a little over $1,000 by the end of that year, and if anything goes wrong or if you have any unexpected expenses, you’ll have a way to easily pay for them. The more you set aside, the larger your “rainy day” can be, and you might even be able to afford some “wants” you’ve been trying to save up for. However, it’s best to save more in preparation for big purchases in addition to an emergency fund so that you don’t spend your cushion money on a flat screen and then have nothing left when you need it most.

5.  Open checking and savings accounts

If you don’t already have one, you should open a checking account as soon as you can. It’s nearly impossible to save money if you keep it somewhere that you can immediately access, and it’s much safer to keep your money in a bank than in rolls under your mattress or in a shoebox. You’ll also need a bank account in your professional life in order to cash and deposit paychecks, and some companies actually deposit paychecks into bank accounts automatically each payday, so you’ll definitely need an active checking account if you’re getting paid regularly. You should also consider opening a savings account so that you have a place to put your money that you want to save each month. This way it will be separate from your checking, so you won’t accidentally dip into the money you’re trying to save, and it will accumulate interest over time, making your balance go up slightly more each month. At first, the interest will not be substantial, but over time, and the more you place in your account, the more “extra money” you’ll receive simply for having money in savings.

6.  Know how to balance and use a checkbook

A lot of people require payments in the form of check if they’re trying to get paid directly into their own bank accounts. If you’re paying rent or bills, you might end up needing to know how to write checks, and that means that you’ll also need to know how to balance your checkbook. This simply means that you should keep track of how many checks you write each month and for what amounts so that you can make sure it all adds up at the end of each month. There are instances of fraud where people cash fake checks using your bank information, and if you only look at your bank statement, you might not notice that a check has been cashed that you never wrote. To avoid fraud and keep tabs on your checks, make sure you keep a book or make a digital document to track them and compare the list you make with your bank statements.

7.  Protect your information

Your banking information can be stolen easily and at any time, so be cautious when doing anything with your money. If you use a debit card, be wary of pin pads at stores. They’ve been hacked countless times and on massive scales, so if you can avoid it, don’t put in your pin number. Instead, if you have a debit card, you should be able to choose “credit” when checking out rather than “debit,” and you’ll need to sign rather than punching in your pin. The only time that I use my debit card is for ATM withdrawals, but even still, I used it once at a store when I didn’t have a credit card or cash on me, and a month later, my account was hacked, and I was missing more than $400. The bank reimbursed the money, but you should know that this happens to almost everyone at some point, and not using a debit card to make any purchases is a good way to avoid it. Nothing is fool-proof, though, so just as you do with your checkbook, check your bank statements each month to make sure that there isn’t any unauthorized activity.

8.  Use cash instead of cards whenever possible

In addition to avoiding using debit cards to make purchases, if at all possible, you should avoid using credit cards as well for a different reason. Studies have shown that when we use credit cards, we’re less aware of the tangible cost of what we’re spending, so we’re more likely to spend more when swiping a card than if we use cash. Cash allows you to see exactly how much you’re spending, and the total sinks in much more when you’re handing over three $20s rather than a piece of plastic that you don’t need to worry about paying off until later. Be careful when spending, and be aware of how much something actually costs and whether you can afford it. You should also use cash on small purchases as much as possible. A credit card bill can seem manageable until you forget to factor in the ten times you spent $15 here and there, so don’t get caught off guard by putting small items on your card and seeing them add up at the end of the month.

9.  Pay off credit card bills on time – and pay more than the minimum

If you decide to have a credit card, make sure that you know everything you need to know before you apply for one or start using it for purchases. Credit cards are great to have because they’re safer than debit cards, and they give you the opportunity to build credit. Your credit score is determined by a number of factors, but in terms of credit cards, if you pay your credit card bill each month without missing a payment, your score goes up. You can pay a percentage of your bill, or you can pay it in full, and if you pay it in full, your credit score goes higher. You’ll need a good credit score when taking out loans, and buying real estate, cars, and other high-priced items. The better your credit score, the more likely you are to get a better price for these types of items because the people selling them to you will trust you to pay them everything you owe just as you’ve paid off your credit card bills each month. Your credit score is essentially your trust score – the more trustworthy you are to pay off debts, the higher your score, and the higher your score, the more people will trust you to continue paying off your debts.
Just remember that credit cards are not money. They’re a safe way to pay for things without using information directly related to your bank account because they don’t take money from your account. They’re just debt that you need to be able to pay off each month, so use them wisely and only if you have more money in your checking account than you’ve spent with your credit card.

10.  Pay your bills on time

Just as with your credit card bills, be sure to pay off your other bills on time each month. These can also impact your credit because companies will keep records of your payment history, so if you’re not paying on time, your score can go down. You might also begin being charged more for services if you’re an unreliable client. A bonus of paying on time each month is that you can periodically call to negotiate new prices if you’re unhappy with how much you’re paying or if a service’s price goes up. If your cable bill goes up $20, for instance, if you’ve been making regular and full payments, you might be able to talk your cable company into leaving your service at the old price. Your payment history also gives you a bargaining chip in that you can threaten to shut off your cable unless the company gives you the price you want. It doesn’t always work, but it can, especially if they’re counting on your regular payments.
 
-Hope Swedeen
 
What are some methods that you use to try to save money? What are some questions that you still have about finances?