Career

During the coronavirus pandemic redundancy rates increased faster than during the 2008-09 economic downturn, with the global uncertainty resulting in many workers losing their jobs.

The Bank of England expects the unemployment rate to peak at 5.5% this autumn, with the government’s furlough scheme set to finish at the end of September.

While lockdown restrictions have eased significantly over the past months, the future remains uncertain for the portion of the population that was unable to work through the pandemic.

Becoming a freelancer is a way back into the job market for those people. We’ve put together a few handy tips to help those looking to go it alone get the most out of their decision.

What is a freelancer?

The number of freelancers in the UK grew slightly to 2.2 million in 2020, according to the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE).

When you’re a freelancer, you can work for any number of companies and invoice them for your services. However, you’ll need to register as a sole trader with HMRC and take care of paying your income tax and national insurance contributions. That may sound daunting, but you can file your self-assessment tax return online and government-approved software like GoSimpleTax makes it easier than ever.

Companies are responsible for the health and safety of freelancers they employ, though. However, they do not have to afford them the same rights as permanent employees. For example, a full-time member of staff would be provided with replacement equipment if theirs malfunctioned or stopped working – a freelancer wouldn’t.

To protect yourself from potential issues that can threaten your ability to work, it could be a good idea to take out a business insurance policy. That way you know your back is covered if unforeseen circumstances arise.

Before you get started

It’s important to make sure it’s clear what services you are offering and the industry you are focusing on before you try to find work as a freelancer. Identify your key skills and select the one you want to put forward as your primary offering.

Once you’ve done that, set up a professional profile on online platforms like LinkedIn, Bidvine and Upwork that can help you find work. Try to find out if there are any such services dedicated solely to the niche you are looking to freelance in or the skill you are offering.

For example, contently is good for writers, OnSite caters to people who work in the digital realm, while IT contractors can head to Elevate.

If you can showcase pieces of work from a previous job, create an online portfolio that you can direct potential clients to. They’ll be able to easily see the standard of your work and it could help turn potential leads into paid work.

It’s simple enough to register as a freelancer, but by following our tips you’ll hopefully find it easier to find potential clients and start earning on the terms you set.

Someone asked a wise man what to choose between heart and brain. The wise replied, the ‘heart’. Something that you desire to have with all your heart can be termed as a goal. Something you just desire or lust to have is just a fluke of mind, namely fondness. If only you realize the difference between these two words, ‘goals’ and ‘fondnesses’, you can understand the purpose of your creation.

Goals are the drivers of life. They tend to utilize the maximum out of you. Without goals, life can be considered an empty, useless vessel that does not pour or hold anything. Humans without goals do not hold any life, nor do they benefit the people around them.

Goals and Fondness

People tend to set goals but fail to achieve them. It might be that they do not have the vigor to achieve them, or they misinterpret their fondness for things as goals. Goals give you the inner strength to bend it like Beckham and set the tone of your life, while fondness generally sooner or later fades out.

If you have goals in your life, you are on the right track. However, people are so tangled in other things that they tend to let go of their goals, although they didn’t intend to do it. Probably, they have prioritized other things in life. Over some time, these unaccomplished goals torment you as ghosts of self-realization and failure.

No one can help you to achieve your goals. However, some things might ignite your spirit to achieve them.

6 Things to Follow to Achieve a Goal Successfully

Dream Big but Specifically: They say that “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Set high goals for your life; even if you fail to achieve them, your handwork will pay off, and you will get its award. Develop specific goals rather than general statements. It is similar to like,” I aim to buy a sports car, but I will work in a multinational company so that I can buy a McLaren, if not a Lamborghini.

Stay Persistent: Big goals are never easy to achieve. You have to stay persistent as possible, so even you might get distracted from your set goals, and you are always on the track to achieve them. Giving up on your goals will demoralize you and set your spirits down.

Go the Extra Mile: If you want to achieve your goals, put your maximum effort to achieve them. Mathematically it can be proved that (1.00) ^ 365 = 1.00, but (1.01) ^365=37.78. It implies that you can put a little more extra effort daily, so you can inch closer to your goals every day, rather than staying stuck in place.

Channel your Attitude: To achieve your goals, you must have a positive attitude. Sometimes you might feel a bit low on energy or get demotivated by looser talk. A positive attitude will help you to pass these challenging times. It also helps you channel your energies in a way that lifts you up with the right mindset and mood.

Exert Forces In the Right Direction: If you think you can make fishes fly or make an elephant climb a tree, you fool yourself around. Set visionary yet realistic goals and exert all your forces in the right direction that will help you achieve them. If you plan poorly and then execute it in an unthoughtful way, you are just wasting your sweat.

Compare with Predetermined Metrics: To achieve your goals, you must analyze your performance with set metrics. Check to see why you lagging and what are is the cause of this impediment. Change your strategy. Ask for advice. Still, if you are not having the blues, it is probably just fondness, not a goal. As people with goals don’t go to sleep.

Once Made, Just Do Them

Goals are promises with the soul. They bring the best in you. Set your goals carefully, and move heaven and earth to achieve them.

Art is unvanquishable; no one and can claim or will claim its complete mastery. Writing, an excellent form for expressing emotions, art, or knowledge, is undoubtedly a no Childs’ play. Tormenting with your thoughts and coming with a few words that pass through the barriers of imagination and thought is undoubtedly a harrowing ordeal. Many have tried, many have failed.

The Essence of Good Writing

Stephen King once said that “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot”. On somewhat real-world grounds, these two things have a major impact on the success and failure on writing well, though they may belong to any form of expression i.e. stories, books, blogs and etc.

Other things also come along, but these two things (reading and writing) are the essence of writing good. Reading a lot provides you with the knowledge for more profound observance, and writing a lot trains you to express your thoughts more effectively.

No one can make you a good writer. It is a sort of self-meditation that can train you to write well and polish your abilities. We’ve listed down some activities that can sharpen your writing skills.

8 Good Practices that Can Make You a Good Writer

Develop a Deep Observance: Good writers tend to think deep. The ability to inculcate a thought in the readers’ mind is your first step to good writing. It develops a link between you and the observer. The deeper the thoughts, the stronger the link.

Build a Tone: Develop your specific tone that is somewhat unique and coheres with your writing content. This prepares the user for an easy read that is easy on the eye and creates a picture in his mind for better acceptance.

Read and Write A Lot: Reading good writers will enrich your thoughts; it can be books, blogs and brochures. Writing a lot will help you to improve your presentation, preciseness and persistence.

Maintain a Continuity: The text you write must be continuous. It must describe the idea to the reader in a way that completes the story. Good writers always prepare the writer for the ending, constantly plan your text for an interesting read.

Use the Right Words: The words you write, describe your thoughts. Choose your words that are best suited for the targeted audience and describe your content type. Any mismatch of words can cause the user to lose attention in the read, i.e. if you use literary words for a scientific journal, you probably mix Shakespeare with artificial intelligence.

Read your text as a Reader: Before publishing your content, it is always better to read your text as an audience. The writers tend to love their content as a child and consider their words to be absolute. For a good writer, you must have an open heart. Make edits where required, and then make the final copy of your content.

Be Structurally Correct: Readers tend to read their context in a more continuous fashion. Any grammatical or structural error can disrupt the reader from his read. Moreover, it also doubts the abilities of the reader and makes a bad expression.

Be True to Yourself: Although this step has nothing to do with the art of good writing, this step is by far the essential step to connect with the reader. If you are true to yourself, your writings will represent it, and indeed there is nothing as good as writing from the heart.

It’s a Long Road

Writing is the best form of expression; God also choose to convey his thoughts in written books, he revealed. Great revolutions took place as a result of great writings. Becoming a good writer is certainly not a piece of cake. Rome was not built in a day, and good writers don’t just sprout out from a library. It takes practice, hard work, and a good heart.

The healthcare industry is a vast sector with high demand for workers; one of which is medical coders. An individual who wants to work in the healthcare industry but prefers to stay out of the emergency and operating rooms can work as a medical coder.

For the uninitiated, a medical coder’s main task is to provide data to medical billers. Billing companies would then file a claim for reimbursement by healthcare insurance companies. The coder does this by assigning universally accepted numeric codes for a patient’s every transaction with a medical care service provider.

These transactions may include checkups or consultations, visits, laboratory tests, and medical equipment use such as CT scan, X-ray, and the likes. A coder is likewise tasked to translate the diagnosis and treatment via numeric codes.

If you’re considering a career in the healthcare industry but don’t want to expose yourself to potential health risks, medical coding may be for you. Discover the benefits of being a medical coder in this article.

The Advantages of Being a Medical Coder

Medical coders and billers typically work closely together. In smaller business settings, an individual may be asked to perform these tasks. In bigger companies, the tasks of handling a high volume of medical claims and other related transactions must be done by a medical coder and a medical biller separately.   

1. Be a Part of a Stable Industry

The healthcare sector is one of the most stable and fastest-growing industries in the world. Overall, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that healthcare jobs will continue to grow steeply, as most countries continue to have an aging population. As the elderly population increases, so are the need for medical services. As a result, the BLS predicts healthcare jobs to grow at an average of 18% by 2026.   

2. Medical Coders are Highly in Demand

Medical coders form a part of the sub-sector called medical records and health information technicians. This sector, the BLS further cites, is set to grow by 13% by 2026, which exceeds the average occupational growth rate across all industries, estimated at around 7%.

In times of pandemic, an increased need for medical workers, including medical coders is unquestionable. Medical facilities have been grappling with unusually high cases of illnesses. In parallel to this, medical claims and reimbursements should be fast-tracked. 

3. You Can Earn a Competitive Pay

Like any other job, the salary range for medical coders varies. Education, training and certificates received, location or place of work, type of employer, job functions, and experience all contribute to specific salaries of coders.     

BLS further cites that health information technicians, medical coders included, earned anywhere from $27,820 to $71,150 as of the 2017 survey.

As mentioned, medical coders who have experience and have ample training may earn higher than their other counterparts. Some employers also offer higher salaries to medical coders, who may be hired by medical facilities, educational institutions, healthcare insurance companies, law firms, and government agencies.   

4. You Have a Variety of Options

To start your career as a medical coder, you can take a course in a community college or technical school, as well as other institutions that offer this type of curriculum. It takes about two years to earn a post-secondary certificate or an associate’s degree and start earning as a medical coder. An advanced degree will increase your chances of getting a better-paying job, so taking a bachelor’s degree related to the job will help.

If you don’t have time for in-person classes, you can enroll in an online class for convenience. Taking an online course lets you learn at your own pace, right in the comfort of your own home.

5. There are Chances for Career Advancement

Your earning potential will increase for every year of experience that you earned. As already mentioned, your two-year associate’s degree already allows you to practice medical coding while you continue your education to get a four-year bachelor’s degree.

You can also take another route and take laddered certifications for medical coders, as some companies require specialized skills. In addition, as you become a seasoned medical coder, you may be considered for higher management positions in medical auditing, compliance, documentation, among others.     

6. You Can Work Flexible Hours

If you want to work in the medical industry but have other obligations, you can choose to become a medical coder and work according to your schedule. This, however, depends on the type of employer that you have.

Part-time and full-time positions are being offered by several employers. Some agencies and institutions may require you to report for work within the required schedule, while some may allow you to work at your own convenience. For example, if you can’t commit to a 40-hour work per week, you may take a 4-hour per workday stint. In some instances, the hiring company may agree that you fulfill an 8-hour workday based on your convenient schedule.       

7. You Can Work from Home

While medical coders may be required to report for work in most cases, some companies allow work from home setups out of necessity. Because the internal workforce can’t fully address the need for skilled workers, other companies have sought to find talents elsewhere. Hence, medical coding from home has become a better-accepted working arrangement for most employers. 

You can therefore start earning as a medical coder with the required skills and experience, as well as a working computer and an internet connection. 

8. You Can Work in Less Stressful Environments

Working from home as a medical coder allows you to control your own work environment. Without worrying about your colleague, you can turn the music to full volume while working, if that’s what you prefer. If your eyes hurt, rest your eyes take a quick nap on the couch.

An ideal working spot can fulfill an employee’s specific needs in order to work comfortably and more productively. A flexible working arrangement at home can also dramatically reduce the fears and stresses of worrying about getting infected with the coronavirus. 

9. You’ll Become More Productive

Because you’ll get rid of lengthy commutes and non-work-related yet time-consuming activities, you’ll have more time to spend working on tasks that need to be done. 

In a survey on remote workers, communications company Connect Solutions discovered that about 30% of those who participated said they can do more in less time. The same survey also cited that up to 77% work from home employees noticed increased productivity, as compared to working in an office.

The Bottom Line

Apart from skills and experience, a medical coder should be able to code accurately. An error-free data is critical in facilitating medical payments and reimbursements. To do this, a coder should be able to perform the duties well by creating an ideal working environment. Whether the coder needs to report in-office or work from home, the keys to productivity include being comfortable and flexible.

When appearing for competitive exams like SBI Clerk, the amount of effort you put in your pre-exam preparation process can make a huge difference. Candidates should focus on working hard and create a preparation strategy that will help crack the examination.

The final merit list of candidates is prepared according to performances in the SBI Mains exam. Only those candidates who qualify for the Mains exams are called for an interview.

This makes it essential for candidates to give their best to get qualified for the further selection process. Taking up the SBI Clerk mock test can help candidates get a grip of the different sections.

SBI Clerk Section-wise preparation

Reasoning Ability and Computer Aptitude

1. This is a scoring section and can help you increase your overall exams in the Mains exam.
2. A part of this section consists of puzzles and arrangement-type questions. Make a habit of solving a few puzzles every day to build concentration, enabling you to solve in less time.
3. Major focus areas for Reasoning include Input-Output, Coding-decoding, Critical Reasoning, and decision-making.
4. For computer aptitude, you need to have basic knowledge of computers and learn shortcuts on MS word, MS Excel, LAN, etc.

General/ Financial Awareness

1. This section comprises questions about the Banking Industry, the Indian Economy, and Current Affairs.
2. Candidates should study Current Affairs regularly to stay updated.

English Language

1. Even if you have strong English language basics, taking up mock tests keenly will help you score well in your Mains exams. For those who are weak in this area, hard work and patience will help them master the language.
2. Focus on some of the major topics such as comprehension, spot the error, multiple phrase replacement, etc.
3. Read newspapers, magazines, or novels, which will help you know how to build sentences and more.

Quantitative Aptitude

1. Revise and practice shortcut tricks for quantitative aptitude.
2. Practice simple questions from Series, data sufficiency, data interpretation which will help you score maximum in this section.
3. Give mock tests which will help you in managing time.

Few Tips to Prepare For SBI Clerk Mains Exam

1. Adopt a Section-wise Approach

From the year 2018, SBI has introduced a new pattern of exams which has made preparation easier. For each section, time is allotted, and you can create a study plan based on these to ensure all the sections are covered before your exam.

2. Practice Previous Years Question Papers

Analyze your performance by solving previous years’ question papers. Candidates will know where they stand in their preparation and work on the difficult areas. To ace the examination, candidates should solve more and more questions from each section of the previous years’ question papers.

3. Take Online Tests

When appearing for your mains exam, your focus should be to maximize scores in each section. Apart from practicing several previous year’s question papers, candidates should also take up online mock tests. Giving the SBI Clerk mock testwill help the candidates understand what type of questions are asked in the exam.

Candidates need to give mock tests as often as possible, which will help them enhance their skills and increase speed and accuracy, which are essential aspects of clearing this exam.

4. Revision

It is the solution to success in any examination. The revision will help candidates remember the important formulas and current affair topics. Remember, you cannot retain all of the information, so focus on essential topics to revise before the exam.

It is tough to clear the SBI Clerk Mains exam, and candidates should put in a lot of effort. There is negative marking for every wrong answer, and so the preparation should be such that candidates can maintain accuracy for each question which will help them score good marks.

Making a selection for a professional career is one of the best and biggest decisions of everyone’s life. The lifetime of a career along with its best and worst outcome mainly depends upon the type of profession that a person chooses.

It is important to see the pros and cons and most importantly the ranking of a profession in the current era as well as understanding your own personality. You may be an Introvert, if so, these are the best career options for you.

No doubt the world is progressing rapidly in the way of science and tech. Whether it is medical science or any other, the value and demand of scientific knowledge and its application playing a major role.

While listing down the best professions, Optometrist comes at the top of the list in serving as the best rewarding career by giving major practice scope in different subfields.

Let’s have a sneak peek at this profession that how it performs and deals with the lives of humans.

Vision is the greatest blessing of God and any defect to it can cause a great loss of appreciating the beauty of the world through visionary sense. Optometrists are the experts who diagnose and prescribe curing measurements. They perform a deep and comprehensive eye checkup while prescribing sometimes the contact lenses, sometimes advise a therapy for improving eyesight.

How Optometry Is A Good Profession?

Optometry, which is the greatest rewarding professional career that opens more than one training zones of having a qualitative living. While living in the contemporary era where medical science is evolving day by day to improve the quality of life, the Optometry career is growing rapidly while assisting the bunch population across the world.

Here are some opportunities that an Optometrist gets after choosing this profession.

Holistic Treating Manner

The proficiency of dealing with patients in the interdisciplinary healthcare unit helps them out to deal with patients with full devotion.

Scope in Exercising Skills

Give opportunities in practice like rehabilitation, ocular disease, and other disabilities.

Benefit of Working under Skilled Supervision

One of the convenient ways of working in this field is that the aspirant can gain or practice skills with general public medical sectors and then practice specialty in particular eye conditions under high street optometrists.

Provide Attitude to Work in a Community

This is the profession that provides several satisfying medical courses in several ways. It is an active and career profession that provides self-awareness and working etiquette like respect in that particular working community.

Money-Making Profession

Whereas the making of money is concerned, this profession is a highly recommended job field to choose for achieving a good amount of money for settling life.

Flexible Workplace

Also, the Optometrist has the recourse to select the working place for them, they can go to either clinic, medical center, or any other health care campaign.

Benefit of Independence

After succeeding in polishing skills, the skillful optometrist runs their optometry clinic for serving people in solving all issues related to vision.

Final Words

The scope of an optometrist has been increasing nowadays as it has been discovered under research that almost 80% of vision loss is preventable or treatable with the latest techniques and medications. They can invest a greater difference in the lives of many people by diagnosing vision issues on time while prescribing effective treatment. Hence, optometry is a great choice to pick for establishing a good career that promotes growth while availing of several opportunities in life.