Careers Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-02-2023

Getting ready for that all-important job interview? Don’t go into the lion's den unprepared. Check out the tips and techniques listed below to find out which questions to ask your interviewers and how to handle the negotiation process once that job offer comes your way. Successful interviewing is an important lifelong skill, and it can be learned! This Cheat Sheet offers a start.

Article / Updated 10-27-2023

Dozens of federal, state, and local laws govern the residential rental industry and the landlord-resident relationship. All of these laws are important. The following calls to your attention ten important laws for you to know and follow when you're a landlord. The Fair Housing Act The Fair Housing Act prohibits you from discriminating against applicants or residents based on any of the seven protected classes: Race Color Sex National origin Religion Handicap Family status The Fair Housing Act establishes only the minimum protections. States and localities may set additional protected classes, such as source of income — whether a person's income is from a job, alimony, child support, unemployment, welfare, disability payments, and so on. The Fair Credit Reporting Act According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you may use credit reports to evaluate rental applications. However, if you deny housing to an applicant based on information contained in the credit report, you must provide the applicant with an adverse action notice that includes the following information: The name, address, and telephone number of the credit-reporting agency (CRA) that supplied the credit report, including a toll-free telephone number for CRAs that maintain files nationwide A statement that the CRA that supplied the report didn't make the decision to take the adverse action and can't give the specific reasons for it A notice of the applicant's right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information provided in the credit report, and the applicant's right to a free report from the CRA upon request within 60 days The FCRA also comes into play if you want to report the nonpayment of rent to one or more CRAs. If you report a resident for nonpayment of rent and the resident cures the debt, you're legally obligated to update the resident's credit report to indicate that the debt has been cured. The implied warranty of habitability The implied warranty of habitability requires that landlords provide residents with living space that's fit for human occupancy. To be habitable, living space must have heat when it's cold, running water, a sufficient amount of hot water, plumbing and electricity that function properly, and so on. Landlords must also maintain clean and sanitary buildings and grounds — free of debris, filth, rubbish, garbage, rodents, and vermin. If a rental unit is uninhabitable, residents have the right to withhold rent until the necessary repairs are made or, in more serious situations, terminate the lease. Although your residents are responsible for repairing anything they or their guests break, you're required to perform any repairs required to maintain fit and habitable living conditions, and you must complete the repairs in a reasonable period of time. The mutual covenant of quiet enjoyment Implied in every lease and rental agreement is the mutual covenant of quiet enjoyment, which grants all residents the right to the undisturbed use and enjoyment of the rental property. This covenant applies to you, as landlord, in two ways: You're not allowed to enter a resident's unit whenever you want. You can enter in an emergency that threatens life or property, when you ask and the resident gives you permission, and to perform necessary inspections or repairs or show the unit to prospective renters or buyers (only after giving the resident sufficient notice). You need to reasonably investigate complaints and potentially take action against any resident who's disturbing his neighbors. Your state's security deposit rules Every state has a security deposit statute that typically specifies the following: How the security deposit is to be held — usually in an interest-bearing account in an in-state bank What the security deposit may be used for — usually to cover unpaid rent, damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, and cleaning to make the unit as clean as it was when the resident moved in and sometimes to repair or replace the landlord's personal property in the unit if that use is mentioned in the lease When the unused portion of the security deposit must be returned to the resident That the landlord provide an itemized invoice of any money deducted from the security deposit Disputes over security deposits are common and frequently lead to the resident taking legal action against the landlord. To protect yourself, comply with your state statute, and take the following precautions as good business practices, even if it isn't required under the applicable statute: Have a separate interest-bearing account for holding security deposits. Complete a move-in/move-out checklist to document the condition of the property at the beginning and end of a resident's stay. Take photos or video of the property to create a visual record of the property's condition at the beginning and end of a resident's stay. Keep receipts for all repairs and cleaning required to prepare the unit for the next resident, even though you're permitted to charge the resident only for damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, and cleaning to make the unit as clean as it was when the resident moved in. Return the unused portion of the security deposit to the resident as soon as possible as required by state law. Along with the unused portion of the security deposit, include an itemized list of all costs deducted from the security deposit. The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act, in part, requires that landlords inform residents of the hazards posed by lead-based paint. If your rental property was built prior to 1978 (the year the EPA banned lead paint) you're required by law to do the following: Disclose all known lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards and any available reports on lead in the property. Give renters the EPA pamphlets "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" and "The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right." Include certain warning language in the lease as well as signed statements from all parties verifying that all requirements were completed. Retain signed acknowledgments for three years, as proof of compliance. Housing that is exempt from this rule include the following: Units that have no bedrooms, such as lofts, efficiencies, and studio apartments Short-term rentals of fewer than 100 days Housing designated for the elderly or the handicapped unless children live or are expected to live there Property that's been inspected by a certified inspector and found to be free of lead-based paint State-required disclosures In addition to the federal lead-based paint disclosure, many states require that landlords disclose one or more of the following: Environmental hazards, including periodic pest control and herbicide treatments, toxic mold, asbestos, radon gas, bedbug infestation, and methamphetamine contamination Recent flooding or location in a flood zone Security deposit policies and procedures Nonrefundable fees, such as a pet fee, where such fees are allowed Smoke detector location and maintenance requirements Nearby military ordinance, such as a US Army base Smoking policy Landlord's or property manager's name and contact information Any shared utility arrangement Your state's Landlord Tenant Act Nearly every state has a version of the Landlord Tenant Act, which defines the rights and obligations of the landlord and the tenant (also known as the resident), legal remedies for breach of contract, possible defenses to legal actions, and much more. To find your state's landlord tenant act, search the web for your state's name followed by "landlord tenant act" and click one of the links that looks promising. If that doesn't work, track down your state's official website, and search that site specifically for something like "landlord tenant" or "residential rental laws." Eviction rules and procedures If you need to evict a resident, turning off electricity, gas, and water to the unit to compel the resident to leave is illegal. You must follow your state's eviction rules and procedures, which typically require that you perform the following steps: Check your state's landlord tenant act to find out whether you have legal grounds to evict the resident. Give the resident reasonable notice of your intent to file for eviction, including the reason you intend to do so and, if required by state law, the time the resident has to address the issues. Wait until the morning after the deadline specified in your notice, and then file for an eviction hearing at your county's courthouse. Assuming you prevail in court, wait until the day after the court's deadline for the resident to move out, and if the resident hasn't moved out yet, call the sheriff to evict the resident. Failure to follow your state's eviction process could result in your losing your case. The resident may end up living in the property for some time, perhaps without paying rent. In addition, the resident may be able to file a legal claim against you in civil court and force you to pay damages, legal fees, and penalties. Mitigation of damages When a resident breaches a lease, for example by moving out three months into a one-year lease, the resident is obligated by the contract to continue to pay rent. However, you can't just let the unit remain vacant for nine months. You're legally obligated to take steps to mitigate (lessen) the resident's losses. In this example, ways to mitigate the damages include: Accepting a replacement the resident recommended to rent the unit for the months remaining on the lease, assuming the recommended replacement qualifies Advertising the unit to find a new resident, screening applicants, showing the unit to qualified applicants, and so on Gather evidence of your attempts to re-rent the property, such as advertisements, records of applicants you screened, and dates on which you showed the property to qualified applicants.

Article / Updated 10-27-2023

How you choose to structure your business as the landlord depends in part upon your willingness to share its future and yours with others. Forming a corporation is a fairly complex legal endeavor that involves the following steps: Choose and register a name for your corporation that complies with state requirements. Write and file your articles of incorporation. Write bylaws to govern corporate operations. Issue stock certificates to your corporation@’s owners and investors. Obtain any business licenses and permits required by your state and local governing bodies. You can take any of the following three approaches to form your corporation: Do it yourself. If you’re the sole owner of the business and don’t intend to add owners, seek outside capital, or do business in multiple locations, you may be able to incorporate without expert assistance. Use a third-party service. Hire a reputable, local attorney. Outsourcing to a business-formation service Numerous firms offer services to help you form a business entity. Three of the best known are Legal Zoom, Rocket Lawyer, and The Company Corporation. Others include Inc Authority, and Directincorporation.com. Before using a service, check with others who’ve used it, and expand your search to include LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). Find out how they’re regarded by the Better Business Bureau and local consumer protection organizations to determine whether any complaints have been filed against them. Keep in mind that these firms are ordinary retailers who tend to advertise low prices “Starting at …” for only a few of the services you need. Comparison shop. Find out what’s included and what’s not. Get a price quote from a reputable local attorney, as well, for comparison purposes. Make sure you get a price quote that covers everything you need to form your corporation. Hiring an attorney and accountant We recommend that you hire a reputable, local attorney to guide you through the process of incorporating your business and an accountant to manage the corporation’s payroll, taxes, and financial reporting for several reasons, including the following: Your attorney can help evaluate your specific needs for the area where you’re setting up shop and recommend the best business structure to meet those needs. Choosing the wrong business structure may imperil your personal assets and limit your tax benefits. Your attorney makes sure all documents are filed properly with the right government agencies and in a timely manner. Your attorney can refer you to experts in accounting, banking, financial planning, insurance, and web design. A good business attorney will have an ongoing professional interest in your success. Your accountant keeps the books and creates and files financial reports in compliance with federal, state, and local laws. Running your operation as a corporation As complicated as forming a corporation is, running it requires even more attention to detail. You must fulfill the obligations of corporate governance, which include: Paying yourself and other owners and investors salaries or distributions Holding at least one director and shareholder meeting annually Typing up and filing minutes from those meetings Updating the bylaws Practicing generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) — standards and procedures for recording financial transactions and producing financial reports Producing and filing an annual report with your Secretary of State Preparing the corporation’s annual tax return

Article / Updated 10-27-2023

Residents often need or want to take on a new roommate, sublet the rental unit, or assign their rental contract to someone else. To deal with these types of situations, consider this advice when you’re a landlord: Require that all prospective roommates be screened and added to the rental contract. Prohibit residents from subletting their rental units. When a resident sublets, the new resident has no legal obligations to you under the contract. Prohibit residents from assigning their rental contracts without your written consent and only on condition that the assignee be screened and approved by you. Except for children and other dependents, everyone living in one of your rental units should be screened and approved and required to sign the rental contract.

Article / Updated 10-19-2023

Personal branding is about deciding to take an active role in the direction of your life. You benefit from creating a personal brand because it allows you to self-manage your life and stop depending on others to do it for you. Your personal brand helps you make the most of what you’ve got to offer. Permission to be yourself The personal branding process assures you that it’s okay to be yourself. If you’ve built your life on pretenses — on attempts to be someone you are not — this assurance is a huge relief. Personal branding is about expressing your authentic self by allowing you to be the person you are meant to be. The strategic process of personal branding makes you an active partner in creating the direction of your life. You get to decide what your unique promise of value is and who you want to share it with. Gains in confidence You develop confidence as you develop your personal brand. That confidence comes from looking at your strengths and knowing that you have many positive qualities to share. When you know that you have something of value to offer, your self-esteem soars. Your personal brand done well highlights your strengths and gives you a direction in which to use them. As an added bonus, personal branding also minimizes your weaknesses. It’s human nature to want to improve your weaknesses, but by crafting your brand, you can determine whether you really need to use your weakest skills at all. Building credibility Your target audience wants to know that you can do what you say you’re going to do. You build credibility not through your words but through your actions. If you live your personal brand and keep your brand promise to your target market, you are automatically on the path to credibility. Your actions, which align with your brand, validate that you can be trusted and show that you are credible. Showcasing your specialty You need to specialize and have an area of expertise. When asked what you do best, your answer can’t be “everything.” No one knows what that means. To develop a specialty, the best place to start is with what you know. What can you do that few others know how to do? What segment of the population do you understand better than most people in your field do? You have a unique combination of work experience, life experience, and personal characteristics that create the foundation for determining your niche. To be known in a certain niche, you are wise to choose an area of expertise or market segment that you know well and that you enjoy. Leaving your mark Part of the branding process is becoming known for something. Your first step is to identify your best characteristics so that you know what to build on. In a way, developing a personal brand is a means of ensuring that you leave a legacy. People will remember you through your actions, your expertise, and the emotional connections that you make. But keep in mind that strong brands often repel as much as they attract; not everyone belongs in your target audience. Defining who you are means that you need to be brave enough to let your true self be visible. Connection to your target audience Personal branding success requires communicating your message to the right people — not necessarily to the entire world. And it requires communicating in a way that creates emotional connections with your target audience. You simply cannot build a solid brand without building relationships, which are based on emotional connections. Building a strong personal brand helps you interact with your target audience in a clear, consistent way that quickly becomes familiar. That consistency builds trust in your target audience, which allows those emotional connections to form. Distinguishing yourself from the competition You are hardwired to notice what is different. You notice the person dressed in red in a sea of black clothing. Differentiation is crucial to your personal branding success. If you are like everyone else in the market, you are a commodity, and you look the same to the customer as all the other options. If your target market discerns nothing special about you, it’s easy for the customer to pass you by. The support you need People genuinely want to help you. The problem is that if you are vague about what you need, no one is going to jump in and try to figure your life out for you (except perhaps your mother). You need to be clear about who you are and what you need so that you can ask for support with clarity. If you know what you need, you know what to ask for. Defining your personal brand helps you determine your needs and identify who is most likely able to fulfill them. Focusing your energy You are probably as crazy busy as everyone else is. A benefit of having a personal brand is that when you have a clear understanding of who you are, what you do best, who you want to work with, and how you want to use your talents, you also know what you don’t want in your life. Using your personal brand like a filter allows you to more easily say yes to the right opportunities and say no to the wrong opportunities. You know what is “on brand” and what is “off brand” for you. Branding gives you clarity so that you can focus your energy on what’s truly important to you. Letting yourself be lazy A personal brand helps you avoid the need to reinvent yourself and the tools you use in your professional life. After you pinpoint your expertise, your goal is to use it over and over so that you reap maximum benefits from it. (Perhaps you write an article that is then broken down into blog posts and later becomes the subject of a presentation to a professional association.) The beauty of personal branding is that while it’s never static (you always want to learn and grow), it thrives on consistency. And consistency requires you to use key pieces of your branding puzzle again and again even as your personal brand evolves. So do your tough work up front and reap the rewards down the road. And remind yourself that it’s sometimes good to be lazy!

Article / Updated 10-19-2023

Personal branding — the art of communicating what makes you unique — has been around for a long time and can be used in your job search. Everyone has a personal brand, even you, because everyone is unique. But not everyone is good at expressing this differentiation. Those people who are seemingly irreplaceable prosper in any economic situation. To figure out your personal brand, you need to take a serious look at your core existence. Really strive to understand your values, passions, and strengths. In other words, figure out what makes you you. After you’re able to articulate what makes you unique, you can transform that knowledge into a value statement that expresses your worth and fit to prospective employers. By expertly communicating your value statement across several different mediums, you can grow your credibility and your brand influence. Blogs make an excellent medium for communicating your value statement because they also allow you to share your knowledge and opinions about topics that matter to your particular field of interest. An added bonus of blogging? Employers who see you passionately turning out articles, videos, or slides in the area of your expertise will see that you’re truly passionate about your work and have a depth of knowledge that may help their organization. Also, not many other candidates are brave enough to put themselves out there and share their voice. Monitoring your online reputation A huge part of branding is making sure your brand is represented accurately and consistently at all times. You therefore need to manage your online reputation by taking charge of the results that come back when someone does an Internet search for your name. Here are the basic steps for managing your online reputation: Assess your online appearance from the perspective of a hiring manager. Try Googling yourself or searching for your name in a free background check website like pipl.com. Build up enough content over time so Google’s search results fill up with more relevant content. Publish old slideshows or articles you’ve written to social sharing sites so that Google has more relevant content to display for your name. Monitor your reputation monthly. If someone says something bad about you, you need to know about it right away. The only way to do that is by periodically searching for your name and seeing what pops up.

Article / Updated 10-19-2023

To reach the right target market, you need to identify who its members are. Visualize yourself working with your ideal client, company, service, or scenario. For example, here are possible characteristics of an ideal client: Appreciates the work that I do Pays me well and pays in advance Loves the service that I provide Trusts my expertise and lets me serve him or her using my best judgment Refers other dream clients to me Promotes my work to everyone he or she talks to Dreaming about the perfect situation gets you thinking about who would actually be the right target audience for you to put your time, energy, and effort into pursuing. You then conduct thorough research to locate the people you've envisioned. Developing a positioning statement A positioning statement is a tool used in business to identify how a brand will be positioned in the market. It puts into words what makes a brand important and differentiated so that it is noticed by those who need to know about it. Here's how to develop your own statement: Define your target audience. Who do you want to serve? Figure out your frame of reference. What is your point of view? What category do you want to participate in? Identify points of difference. What distinctive benefits do you bring to your target audience? How do you stand out from the competition? Offer support. Support is the evidence that your positioning statement is true. You need credible proof that you are what you say you are. State your promise or core benefit. Here, you pull the four previous pieces together to let your target audience know what the net benefit is to them.

Article / Updated 10-19-2023

A personal brand is the culmination of your actions; it’s an image that is useful during a job search that marks you as a specific, well-defined package of abilities, talents, and experiences. It is you, outside and inside, in the sense that you’re unique. Personal branding has a lot to do with the emotion people feel when they think about you but is rooted in self-reflection and integrity. Although obvious differences between you, as a brand, and a tube of Crest toothpaste exist, considering yourself as a brand can help bring objectivity to your job search and continuity to your career. In other words, building a personal brand gives you the ability to make career choices easily and consistently. Every serious professional must consider his or her personal brand for the following reasons: When you proactively define and communicate your brand, you’re in control of it. Most people have their brand handed to them by other people’s perceptions and reactions alone. By defining your brand, you take back some control over this process. Crafting your personal brand helps you figure out what makes you unique. The process of finding and communicating your brand can therefore be a pretty powerful tool for boosting your confidence and convincing interviewers of your value. A personal brand helps you appear more consistent online and avoid raising any red flags with recruiters. Inconsistencies in how you appear online can put your career in jeopardy because hiring managers and HR professionals may view them as signs you aren’t being completely honest about who you are. When you have a personal brand, you can more easily make decisions during your career. When you’re presented with options that go against your brand — against who you are — then letting them go is easier, even if they’re more lucrative. A personal brand can even out the troughs between employment by being the one thing that doesn’t change about you. When you consider that the average time at a job in the U.S. is about two years, you may appreciate that your personal brand lets you look at your career as a whole instead of a series of jobs. Brand yourself before someone else does Branding is all about trying your best to manage other people’s perceptions of you. Because you can’t reach into someone else’s head and tweak how that person sees you, all you can do is change your image, your messaging, your look, and so forth to better align with who you really are. Instead of waiting for others to form random opinions about you that may or may not be accurate, help them out by sharing your well-crafted personal brand. Set yourself apart from other job candidates Differentiating yourself from all the other potential candidates for a job means being yourself, as in your authentic, true self. Personal branding allows you to let yourself shine by encouraging you to look inward and evaluate what makes you different from everyone else. Only after you complete this inner evaluation will you have enough information to say, “I’m better than anyone else going for this position because…” Granted, looking inside and figuring out who you are can be very uncomfortable. But self-knowledge really is the key to building the confidence that helps you stand out and be unique. Maintain a consistent online presence Your online identity should be consistent no matter where someone looks for you. If you do your personal branding right, you become a single thought in the mind of a potential hiring manager. When you’re done with the branding process, your LinkedIn profile will match your other online profiles. And if you get a chance to send a résumé, your brand will be visible there, too. When recruiters start looking for talent, they typically start with LinkedIn. If they find you on LinkedIn and your profile appeals to them, they keep digging. They do background checks and Internet searches to find out more about you. If your online image has any inconsistency, you may find yourself in the maybe pile pretty quickly. From another point of view, your friends and family on Facebook get to know you from your daily or weekly Timeline posts. The more consistent you are with them, the easier it will be for them to articulate who you are should they decide to refer you to their professional contacts. Why is it dangerous to have inconsistencies online? When someone’s image is incongruent with what you expect, it can make you feel uneasy. Simplify your decision-making process Having a clearly defined personal brand can help make your career decisions easier. When career opportunities arise that you’re unsure of, you can look at your brand for guidance. For example, if you’ve determined that you prefer small companies and don’t want to travel, then you know that turning down a job at a large, bureaucratic organization that sends its employees all over the place will contribute to your happiness. Managing your career versus finding a job To have an effective personal brand, think of yourself as the CEO of your own company. Any job you have is just a short-term contract. In the United States, where the average length of time at a job is two years, this viewpoint makes it possible for you to manage your career. Maintaining a strong personal brand helps you minimize the gaps between jobs because you’re doing the following: Continually networking, both on- and offline Maintaining your résumé and online profiles Setting short- and long-term goals by asking yourself where you want to be in three to five years and with what company, position, and level of responsibility Viewing your professional life beyond the confines of any single organization, which means you’re reflecting on the personal and/or professional skills you need to further your career

Article / Updated 10-19-2023

The first step in the personal branding process is to spend time figuring out who you really are and what you want from your life. Often, this self-analysis is the hardest part. Here are the building blocks of your brand that you need to identify: Needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a helpful tool that shows layers of needs from the most basic (physiological needs, such as food) all the way up to self-actualization — becoming everything that you are capable of becoming. Values: These are core principles that give meaning to your life — a set of standards that determine your attitudes, choices, and actions. Interests/passions: The things that intrigue and motivate you determine how you want to spend your time. Mission: Everyone should have a mission statement — an expression that clarifies what you are all about and what you want to do in life. Vision: Your ideal version of how you will use your mission is your vision. Strengths: Certain abilities and patterns of interest consistently produce a positive outcome in your life, and these are your strengths. Freak factor: This term refers to a unique quality that makes you different and unusual. Personality attributes: Describing the face that you show to the world helps you define your personality. Education and work experience: These attributes are easy to identify because they're based on fact. 360º feedback: The people who know you best (such as friends and coworkers) can provide key information about your character. Goals: Getting specific about what you want to achieve greatly increases your chances of success. Target market positioning statement: This tool identifies how your brand will be positioned in your target market. It puts into words what makes your brand important and unique so that the people who need to know about you can clearly understand what you represent.

Article / Updated 10-19-2023

Personal branding is about making connections, and the logo you choose should connect with your audience. A logo creates awareness. It can be a symbol, text, a graphic, or a combination of these things. (Keep in mind that people recognize images more often than they remember text.) It symbolizes your brand and provides an image that gives you a memorable identity. Many people associate logos only with company brands, but you can have a logo made just for you as an individual. You want to keep your logo simple and clean. Here are some other tips for creating a great logo: Shape or symbol: Symbols are powerful. Create your logo so that it’s easy to understand and see without glasses. Color: Use the color(s) that you consistently employ to represent your personal brand. Use colors that attract the people you want to attract. Most logos use vibrant colors in order to have the greatest impact. Size: When you place your logo into your materials, it should be large enough to see clearly and small enough that it doesn’t dominate. (Make sure that you have your logo in a file format that allows you to resize it for various projects.) Brand connection: Think about how you want people to emotionally connect with you. Find a symbol that you care about and use it to connect with others. If you love your logo and feel good about it, you’ll feel great about putting it on display, so take your time and design something wonderful. And don’t be a copycat; you want your logo to be unique. If you struggle to create a logo yourself, spend the money to get professional help. A great logo pays dividends by attracting business, and (ideally) you want a logo that you can use for years. If you don’t know any designers, you can find one online at a design sites like Upwork, Deluxe Logo Design, or ZillionDesigns.