5 Tips for Turning Your Photography Hobby Into a Career

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Photography is an art that anyone can enjoy. The widespread availability of affordable digital cameras in the market today has led more and more people to take up photography as a hobby, and many are now seeking to turn that hobby into a career. There are many opportunities available to talented photographers. Follow these helpful tips to get started on the path to photography as a new career option.

  1. Stock Up On Equipment
    Professional photographers don’t do their work on mobile phone cameras, unlike many hobbyists. If you’re serious about pursuing photography as a career path, start stocking up on equipment. Invest in high quality cameras and lenses. Build your experience and familiarity with the tools of the trade by working in both digital and film formats. Get to know what each different lens does, and how it affects the outcome of your work. Equipment is very important in photography, so make sure you have the tools to handle any project, as well as the skill needed to use those tools.
  2. Build Up Your Portfolio
    Selling your services as a photographer will be nearly impossible without a professional portfolio for prospective clients to view. Save every image that you shoot, and compile all of your best work into a portfolio. Put together a personal book of prints to show to clients in person, and create a website as well to host a more expansive portfolio online. Take advantage of any possibility to create new work. Shoot photos at friends’ weddings, trips overseas, and even on walks around town. Always have a camera on hand to shoot new portfolio pieces.
  3. Register a Legitimate Business
    Going into business means more than just convincing clients to pay you for your work. You may be able to make a little money on the side by fielding assignments like this, but turning your hobby into a career will require registering a legitimate business. Obtain all the required legal business licenses and certificates that you need to sell your services as a professional photographer, and draft a contract for your clients. After completing this step, you can truly call yourself a professional photographer!
  4. Take Advantage of Any Assignment
    In your photography career, especially in the early days, you never want to turn down an assignment. Every opportunity, no matter how small, is another chance to build your portfolio, gain new experience and insight, network with new people, and grow as both a professional and an artist. Don’t pass on a potential project just because it seems boring, or because it doesn’t pay enough. Make it exciting by bringing your own unique vision to the table, and make the experience worthwhile by using it for personal growth.
  5. Become Your Own Promoter
    Let the world know about your talents and your new career path by promoting your work everywhere you go. Social media networks are great places to start. Post and share your latest pieces of seascape photography, family portraits, experimental work and anything else that your friends and followers would like to see. Include water-stamps on all of your images, and link to your portfolio every time you post new work. Become your own promoter and gain the exposure you need to succeed as a professional photographer.

5 Tips to Help You Earn Extra Money While Searching for a Job

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In this economy, you could be waiting a long time to find a job that offers you a title and salary that is commensurate with your level of education, training, and experience. In the meantime you likely have unemployment compensation to tide you over, but you might eventually need to earn some extra cash in order to stay afloat as you bide your time and continue to hunt for a suitable day job. Of course, you want to check the laws in your state to make sure that you are operating accordingly in order to continue receiving your unemployment benefits, since you likely don’t want to give up this payment in exchange for part-time or contract employment that can’t possibly replace its value. But if you’re wondering just what you might do to earn a little extra cash on the side while you continue to seek gainful employment, here are some options to consider.

  1. Freelance. Whatever you do, you might be able to find freelance or contract options to tide you over until you find a full-time gig. You might start by creating profiles on websites like ODesk or Elance that cater to a broad range of freelance workers, helping to connect them with companies seeking the services they offer. Or you could use your LinkedIn account to search for one-off jobs or limited-term contracts. Again, you may just want to check in with the proper authorities to ensure that any jobs you take won’t affect your unemployment status (thus interrupting your payouts). But otherwise there’s no reason not to put your expertise to good use while you seek permanent employment.
  2. Babysit. If you happen to be home all day hunting for jobs and sending out resumes, you might save your family a bit of cash by keeping the kids at home instead of sending them to daycare. But if you’re looking to earn some extra dough, why not let family members or friends know that their kids can spend the day playing with yours, under your supervision, for a small fee (less than standard daycare)? If you don’t mind having a house full of kids and you feel comfortable feeding them, supervising play, and acting as the responsible adult, then you could help out a few friends and earn a little extra money in the process.
  3. TaskRabbit. If you’re looking for easy ways to put a few bucks in your pocket for groceries or gas, TaskRabbit may be a good option. This website is designed to connect people who are looking for odd jobs with those who are willing to pay someone else to pick up their dry cleaning, rake the yard, or assemble a piece of IKEA furniture. Every task lists what the person in need is willing to pay and you can vie for any jobs that interest you, perhaps earning a small amount each day or going back whenever you need a little cash on the side.
  4. Recycle. You might not earn a lot by recycling items in your own home, but when you offer to pick up and drop off recycling for neighbors that don’t have time to do it themselves, you could definitely end up with some spending cash in your coffers.
  5. Sell stuff. If you’re like most consumers you go through a lot of stuff. So if you need some extra money during the lull between jobs, consider selling valuables on eBay or having a garage sale. You could even perform a weekly yard sale search in your area to pick up items at low cost that you know you can refurbish and sell online for more.

5 Great Careers for Education Majors

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There’s a reason why certain people are drawn to a degree in education; for most it has something to do with wanting to enlighten a new generation of academics, molding young minds in order to create the leaders of tomorrow. It is wrapped up in wanting to participate in a local community and help kids to find something they love. It’s about giving rather than receiving. Unfortunately, you also have to earn a living, and the outlook for teachers these days isn’t the best, what with funding cuts and layoffs making it difficult to find and keep a job. But the upside of earning an education degree is that you can do more than just teach. In fact, there are all kinds of exciting careers outside of the standard, K-12, public school routine when you opt for a major in education. Here are just a few great careers that you may not have considered.

  1. School counselor. You might remember the school counselor as the person who authorized scheduling changes, told you when to take the SATs, and loaded you up with pamphlets for a variety of colleges. But there’s a bit more to counseling these days and it involves increased interaction with students and teachers. As a counselor, you will be responsible for guiding your students through their academic undertaking, creating plans that will help individual students to succeed and providing an adequate response in any scenarios that may present themselves, including academic issues and perhaps even personal problems in some cases.
  2. GED instructor. Plenty of teens make bad decisions and get up to shenanigans that can lead to expulsion or dropout. And at some point many realize their mistake and want to correct it. GED preparation offers a path to completion that doesn’t require them to finish high school. So if you can’t get a job as a public school teacher, consider that you might help students in need to get the piece of paper that will allow them the opportunity for a college education and gainful employment.
  3. Education Administrator. If you understand how the school system works and your strengths include strong organizational and communication skills, then a job in education administration could be just what you’re looking for. Depending on where you work and what administrative positions are available you could end up doing any number of tasks, from contributing to the creation and execution of academic programs, to overseeing departments or student services, to planning campus events. All could provide you with the challenging and rewarding career you want in education.
  4. Instructional Coordinator. This is an interesting career path that you may not be aware of. In your role as an instructional coordinator you will be responsible for ensuring that teachers and administrators are on the same page where the curriculum and teaching methods are concerned and that they are aware of and adherent to current standards at the state and federal level. You may also be called upon to evaluate the system and report on its success, potentially even coming up with new ways to tailor efforts for increased productivity.
  5. Self-Enrichment Instructor. Not every type of instruction is academic in nature, and as a self-enrichment instructor you’ll have the opportunity to offer courses that are designed to create well-rounded and capable students. These types of courses included music, art, language, or any number of disciplines, and you could teach either kids or adults. It might not be as stable as a public school job or a deal overseas through an organization like TeacherGig, but it could provide more personal interaction and fulfillment than a standard classroom setting.

5 Steps for Becoming a Mortgage Broker

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Choosing a career in the real estate industry is always a wise move. There will be some ebbs and flows in property prices, interest rates and upward or downward trends in various neighborhoods in this country, but you will be guaranteed steady work. No matter how well the stock market is doing, people have to live somewhere. People have children and need more space, or get transferred for work, or simply want to try out life in a new area. Property values will rise and fall, but folks will always want to move. Because of that, one of the best options in the real estate world is working as a mortgage broker. You’re the one who will really help people get into the house of their dreams, making their future vision into reality. In the vast majority of housing transactions, a mortgage broker is involved. So you can rest easy knowing you’ll almost always be able to find some work. If this sounds right up your alley, here are five steps for becoming a mortgage broker.

First of all, make sure you understand what’s involved in the work of the mortgage broker. No career is easy to prepare for or break into, so you’ve got to know what you’re signing up for. There are also several paths you could take that fall under the same general heading. Some mortgage brokers are self-employed, working directly with families and individuals as a go between with the lenders. Others work at banks or within brokerage houses. Try to decide on your preferred placement, so you’ll know which decision to make along the way.

Now that you’ve got the ins and outs of the job clearly understood, it’s time to earn the required education. It all starts with successfully graduating high school. That will be your point of entry, but it’s probably not where you’ll want to stop. You can get work with just that diploma, but many of the higher paying broker opportunities will require some amount of higher education. Mortgage brokers navigate some complex financial and legal situations, and you might not be prepared for all of that straight out of high school. If you do go to a four-year university, look to earn a degree in economics, finance or business, which should give you the right mix of skills and knowledge.

After graduation you’ll want to hone those skills by getting some experience. Mortgage brokers usually start out working as a real estate agent or a general loan officer. This will allow you to do the basic work involved, such as analyzing all of the financial documents, learning how to interpret trends in the real estate market and trying your hand at the various loan underwriting technologies. Luckily those jobs are also in high demand, so you should be able to find the right fit fairly quickly.

To take the next step into the mortgage broker world, you’ll have to earn a license. Regardless of your state of residence, you must apply for a license, which approves you to work as a Mortgage Loan Originator. That’s the only way you’ll be able to negotiate any of these loans. The requirements aren’t terribly strict. Basically, you can’t have been licensed in the past and had that license revoked, or been convicted of a felony in the last seven years, and you must earn a 75% or better on the national exam.

Finally, expand your opportunities and earning potential by picking up an additional certification. This will help you add skills, so you won’t just be leaning on a website like RateSupermarket to do all the heavy lifting, as well as appear more attractive to employers and clients. Reach out to the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. You can choose one of three levels of certification, each of which will have various experiential requirements and an exam you much pass. The certifications last for three years, at which point you’ll need to reapply.

Necessary Skills and Training to Become a Warehouse Manager

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Sometimes making it to the top doesn’t mean making it to the penthouse corner office. Becoming a warehouse manager can be a rewarding and challenging career, especially if you land a job with a large company with lots of inventory. A warehouse manager can be a complicated job and you will need to constantly be on your toes. As a warehouse manager, your daily duties will be to maintain the shipping, receiving, warehousing and distribution of a business’ product. Moreover, you will oversee other employees in the warehouse department and find logistical solutions to make the over all system a lot more efficient. Here are some of the necessary skills and training to become a warehouse manager.

For one, you must have a bachelor’s degree or some kind of associate’s degree in logistics. In some companies you might be able to get by without a degree, but if you want to have a huge advantage over other candidates for the position of warehouse manager, you should probably get your degree. A degree won’t just look good on your resume, but will give you a better sense of how to manage a warehouse and you might even get some hands on experience, which is vital to your success in the position.

It is also critical that you have at least 5 years of experience working in a warehouse as a boxer or shipper. Most businesses will want to hire a candidate that knows the layout of a warehouse like the back of their hand. Not only that, but they want to know that the person knows how to use the equipment, like vertical carousel storage and conveyer belts. On top of knowing how to use the equipment, experience is required because it usually means that the person is also fully acquainted with all the safety precautions.

If you have not gone to school to acquire your bachelor’s or associate’s degree, there are plenty of programs you can take that can give you the certification you need to succeed as a warehouse manager. With the job market the way it is right now, getting your certification to become a warehouse manager will give you a huge competitive advantage. Many of the programs are specialized to the job and can teach you everything there is to know about equipment, machinery, safety precautions and even give you the managerial skills to look after employees and keep them motivated.

Lastly, becoming a warehouse manager is not just about managing the distribution center of a business, but it is also about making sure the employees who are filling orders are happy and motivated. As a manager it is your job to keep up workplace morale and make sure that workers don’t get burned out. At the end of the day, the slower workers can fill orders, the slower the turnaround time, which will ultimately reflect poorly on your managerial skills. A good warehouse manager can’t just be a good manager, but also a leader, because the business you work for depends on it.

5 of the Most Travel Intensive Jobs

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If you’ve always dreamed of traveling, perhaps you should look for a career that allows you to do so on a regular basis. Most of us don’t have the time or the money saved up to satiate our traveling desires, but what if it was part of your job? There are a number of positions where traveling is actually a part of the job description. What can be better than traveling the globe and getting paid for it? Best of all, some of these dream jobs are not that competitive, and thus not that hard to acquire. Here are 5 of the most travel intensive jobs.

  1. Professional interpreter. If you are multilingual and you love to travel, becoming an interpreter could take you all around the globe working with individuals and businesses to translate during business meetings, seminars and more. You could be a translator and assist in international police investigations or you can be the middleman between two foreign businesses that are looking to merge. You might also be tasked to translate important and private written documents. All in all, translators are in high demand and are being flown all around the globe for their services, so now might be a good time to learn a new language.
  2. Travel photographers. Travel photographers will usually work for a magazine, newspaper, or their own blog, and go on assignment all over the world photographing exotic and distant locales. As a travel photographer you could be on assignment multiple times a year. Not only will you get to travel, but also you will get to live your artistic dream and share your images with the millions of people reading the magazines or newspapers you work for.
  3. Army. Whether you become a Navy SEAL or Special OPS, you could be traveling the globe for years on a number of different missions. Whether in wartime or peacetime, these missions will never be short of adventure, excitement and a little bit of danger too. Best of all, you will get to visit locations that that most people only dream of visiting in their lifetime.
  4. Importer or exporter. Whether you are selling electronics or clothing, becoming an importer or exporter can be a great position for someone that both likes to travel and has a knack for business. You might be working with other businesses to source products or you will be working with manufacturers to source parts and equipment. No matter what, though, you will be traveling all over the world, multiple times a year for business.
  5. Lastly, one of the most interesting jobs that allows you to travel the globe on a regular basis, is that of an ethnomusicologist. An ethnomusicologist’s job is to study world music, trace the roots of musical genres, and even searches for new music. For instance, an ethnomusicologist might travel to the Ukraine to study traditional music and how it relates to current musical trends. If you are staying in the capital, Kiev accommodations are usually taken care of if you have a grant and you get to meet a colorful cast of characters. This is a dream job for both music and travel lovers.

Different Types of Jobs in the Field of Pediatric Nursing

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If you have a love for children and you’re preparing to go to nursing school, the field that you might want to consider is pediatric nursing. These are health specialists who are medically trained to work with individuals from the ages of birth through 21. Due to the fact that a lot of hospitals have pediatric floors, it is important for them to have nurses on staff who are constantly available to care for the child and teen patients that come to them for care.

If you’re curious about what some of the different types of jobs in the area of pediatric nursing are, we have enclosed a few of them for you below:

Registered Nurse. Those who go to nursing school to become a Registered Nurse (RN) are eligible to apply for pediatric nursing positions. That’s because they have the general knowledge required to care for this particular demographic. Once you have an RN degree, the smartest thing to do would be to start applying for jobs that are on the pediatric unit.

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. If you decide to go into the Doctor of Nursing Practice program following your graduation from nursing school, one thing that you can study to become is a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP). These people are actually able to diagnose children’s illnesses as well as prescribe medication. In many cases, they work very closely with attending physicians at hospitals and medical offices.

Certified Nurse Midwife. Individuals who are passionate about prenatal care as well as labor and delivery may focus on how to become a certified nurse midwife. These are nurses who are specifically trained on how to provide assistance to licensed midwives both in the hospital and also as it relates to home births. As a matter of fact, in many cases, certified midwives make the transition into becoming a licensed midwife after a few years of nursing experience and some additional schooling.

Pediatric Endocrinology Nurse. The endocrine system is the part of our body that includes the adrenal, thyroid and pituitary glands. When a child or adolescent’s endocrine system is malfunctioning, that can cause long term growth challenges (among other things). What a pediatric endocrinology nurse does is work closely with the pediatricians assigned to these kinds of cases to insure that children with illnesses that are related to the endocrine system can get the best possible care.

Certified Pediatric Hematology Oncology Nurse. If you’re someone who is currently taking some CNA classes, then you may have heard of a Certified Pediatric Hematology Oncology Nurse (CPHON) before. Being that hematology is the study of blood and oncology is the study of cancer, then you can probably guess that these kinds of nurses specifically cater to children who have blood disorders and who are diagnosed with various forms of cancer.

As you can see, there are all kinds of specialties within the nursing field. So, if you do decide to go to nursing school and you want to have some kind of pediatrics career, there are many options available to you. For more information on nursing specialties, visit DiscoverNursing.com.

Common Job Duties for HVAC Technicians

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As a species that mainly lives indoors, climate control has become one of the most important parts of our society. Climate control determines the temperature and quality of our homes, office spaces and more. During the summer our air conditioning systems keep us cool, during the winter our radiators keep us warm and all year round our air filtration systems keep the air we breath healthy and breathable. You could say that to keep our air systems in optimal working condition an HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) specialist is one of our closest allies. Becoming an HVAC specialist can be a sustainable and fulfilling career, but some people don’t know what the position actual requires. Here are some common job duties for HVAC technicians.

  1. Diagnosis. An HVAC specialist will take a long, hard look at our heating, cooling and ventilation systems to see if they have any problems that need repairing. Depending on if we hear a noise coming from our vents or if we notice a particular smell, an HVAC specialist will get to the root of the problem and diagnose it. An HVAC specialist can also do a routine check to make sure there are no problems we haven’t noticed yet, so that we don’t run the risk of bigger problems popping up down the line.
  2. Repair. An HVAC specialist also has the knowledge and certification to repair our heating, cooling and air filtration systems. The problem can either be mechanical or perhaps there is a short circuit in our temperature control module. Once an HVAC specialist finds and diagnoses a certain problem, they can usually repair it, no matter what the problem is. An HVAC specialist will know most of these systems like the back of their hands.
  3. Installation. Because an HVAC specialist knows these systems like the back of their hands, they can usually work solo or with a contractor to install them. No matter if they are consulting with the installation of a heating and air conditioning in a large office space or a ductless system in a small apartment, an HVAC usually knows what he or she is doing.
  4. An HVAC specialist can also save you a lot of money. A specialist can usually recommend different systems to help you save on your energy bills based on the size of your home and your energy needs. An HVAC can either help you save money on home energy with Mitsubishi ductless systems or a large system from another dealer if you have much more demanding energy needs.
  5. Lastly, an HVAC specialist can help clean your heating, cooling or air filtration system. Cleaning can be a very important job, but in most cases the owner of the home cannot do it, because the task is very specialized. An HVAC specialist will go inside the system to make sure it is clean and in optimal working condition. An unclean air or heating system can have disastrous results on your health and the structure of a home if it is left unattended, so an HVAC specialist can be in high demand.

Education Requirements for Nursing Administration Professionals

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Nursing administrators have some of the most important jobs in the medical world today. They are responsible for facilitating and contributing to many aspects of patient care in order to ensure proper treatment and speedy recovery for all patients in their departments. In an administrative position, nursing professionals are also charged with important managerial responsibilities for the nursing staff. Every troupe needs a leader, and the nursing administrator becomes that leader. This is an exciting career path, but interested individuals will need to make sure that they meet all educational requirements before going to work.

Preparing for a career path like this should begin as early as high school. Although many students have not yet decided on a career path in these formative years, they can still improve their chances for career development in any field by achieving high grades and registering for advanced placement courses. Special attention should be paid to the sciences, particularly biology. College preparation courses will be a great help as well, as the next step in nursing education is university study.

Students interested in nursing as a career path should enroll in a Bachelor of Science program at any school of their choice that offers an accredited nursing program. This four year course of study will prepare the student for the many challenges to be faced in a nursing career. Anatomy, physiology and biology courses will be given great emphasis, as these classes are loaded with knowledge that is essential to any nursing professional. Later courses will often focus on material more closely related to patient care and administrative duties, preparing the student for professional work in the field.

Upon graduation, the ambitious nursing professional-to-be will be in need of licensing and additional certifications. All graduates should take the National Council Licensing Exam as soon as possible after graduation, and then secure a registered nurse license. Passing the national exam is the first step to becoming licensed as a nurse, but additional requirements will vary by state. All future nurses should get to know their state requirements and start preparing as early as possible.

After becoming a registered nurse, two or more years of hands-on experience in a nursing position will be necessary in order to even be considered for an administrative position. Nursing professionals should use this time to learn as much as possible about both patient care and administrative duties in order to be totally prepared for the next step. Nurses who feel like they are ready to take on additional responsibilities should then enroll in a nursing administration master’s degree program.

Advanced nursing degrees can be obtained in the classroom or through distance study. The student can pursue career advancement as a nursing administrator or family nurse practitioner online just as easily as in the lecture halls; in most cases, online study is actually easier. Following these steps will prepare any student for a career in nursing administration by providing a strong educational foundation. This is an exciting field that needs qualified professionals, so all interested students should start working toward their goals in the nursing field today.

5 Exciting Careers in Criminal Justice

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade you are no doubt aware of the rise in popularity of criminal justice careers, which have become the focus of several TV procedural programs of the CSI variety. Courtroom dramas are out, crime scenes are in. Of course, you can’t necessarily expect a job in the criminal justice system to mimic the shows you see on TV, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make for exciting and rewarding careers nonetheless. And here are just a few that you might want to consider if you’re looking for the challenges and rewards inherent in analyzing crime scene data and nabbing the criminals responsible.

  1. CSI. It’s more than just a title of half a dozen TV dramas; crime scene investigation is also a viable option for anyone interested in a career in criminal justice. If you happen to have an iron stomach and an analytical flair, then crossing the yellow tape, collecting evidence at the scene of the crime, and analyzing it to catch perpetrators could provide the challenging and rewarding career that gets you out of bed in the morning.
  2. Forensic Science Technician. Not everyone likes to be on the front lines in the fight against the criminal element. If you prefer to work behind the scenes and the lab feels more like home, then becoming a forensic science technician is something to consider. But you’d better have a meticulous nature; the analysis you provide could make or break a case in court, so the way you handle evidence is of the utmost importance.
  3. Blood Spatter Analyst. If you’re a fan of TV’s Dexter Morgan then you are no doubt familiar with the concept of blood spatter analysis. In this position you’ll be responsible for documenting and analyzing the blood left behind at crime scenes so that it can be used to determine the details of the crime, including how it occurred and information about the parties involved. In short, it could be used to find and convict killers.
  4. Counter Terrorism Agent. It’s kind of incredible how many television programs currently focus on criminal justice careers. And if shows like ’24′ and ‘Homeland’ aren’t enough to convince you that there are exciting jobs in this field, then perhaps you’re barking up the wrong tree. Okay, let’s be honest; these shows are definitely over-dramatized. But while working in counter terrorism won’t likely be as much of a roller coaster as what you see on TV, this job will give you a chance to make a real difference in the lives of your countrymen. You could play a pivotal role in stopping a terrorist plot or catching those responsible for acts of terrorism. That makes for a pretty exciting career, even if it’s not 24 straight hours of drama every day.
  5. Youth Correctional Counselor. If what you really want is to help others in a one-on-one kind of setting, then becoming a correctional counselor for kids and teens could be just the career you’re seeking. You’ll have the opportunity to reach out to troubled youth and try to help them turn their lives around before they do irreversible damage (to themselves and others). Some students enter NYU’s or UC’s criminal justice degree online programs intent on jumping right into a crime scene. But if you’re looking to help prevent crimes and save lives in the process, becoming a youth correctional counselor could provide you with the professional fulfillment you crave.