If I Was A Star And You Were A Star I Would Wink At You And Blink At You And Twinkle At You And The Earthlings

Doses of Glamour ⚜️

Networking and the Social Hierarchy

Some personal background on my upbringing, both my late grandfather and father were influential in the political and business sector. We’d host politicians, two of whom are presidents today actually, their business colleagues and we were constant fixtures at society events.

The importance of networking is one of the most valuable things both the men in my life taught me. They were constantly building and nurturing relationships, irrespective of the individuals place on the totem pole. My father never failed to mention that it was the biggest component to his success.

If you’re not making an effort to expand your network and climb the social ladder, I can only assume you have no desire to advance in your career or improve your dating prospects. The sooner you understand that everyone is trying to achieve some kind of upward or social mobility, is the moment you’ll no longer pedestalize individuals in a higher social class and move through the spaces that once intimidated you with ease.

Hierarchies are omnipresent in all societies weather you’re aware of this or not. The social hierarchy is defined as an implicit or explicit rank order of individuals or groups with respect to a valued social dimension. Social hierarchies are influenced by income, wealth, education and occupation.

Based on where you presently rank in the social hierarchy the strategies you’ll implore for your advancement into a higher social class and the circles you’ll target will differ. As you advance up the pyramid your strategies for further advancement will have to be reevaluated and adjusted.

With that being said, here are the key factors that will determine your upward mobility in today’s social hierarchy as well as

How to navigate the challenges that come along with these factors.

How to achieve upward mobility through networking strategies.

Education:

I can’t emphasise enough how important it is that you get an education. If you have the opportunity to go to college weather it be an Ivy League or a community college please do so. If neither of those options are financially accessible to you, make use of free online courses, paid certifications and YouTube university.

There are a lot of well paying job opportunities that don’t require a college degree (I’ll do a post on this if anyone is interested) What’s important is that you become an expert at something, find what you’re skilled at and master it. Focus on mastering your skills through internships and practical training programs as it will equip you with experience making your transition into the workforce easier.

Where to find online courses and certifications:

Hubspot Academy

Edx

Coursera

Udemy

Future Learn

Stanford Online

Alison

DataCamp

Cybrary

Codecademy

On that note when you’re pursuing your education you must be networking by:

Connecting with professors, when they are well connected they could refer you for internship opportunities and write recommendation letters for you.

Making contact with professionals in your desired industry for guidance and mentorship opportunities through LinkedIn

Attending networking events related to your desired industry, to build a network of industry professionals thus opening doors for career opportunities in the future.

Joining industry and role specific Facebook and LinkedIn job groups, a lot of career opportunities are posted there by company employees and recruiters.

It’s always a plus when the job posting in the group is posted by a company employee, if you ask kindly most don’t mind putting in a good word for you to get your resume at the top of the pile of resumes.

Career:

Finding a well paying job at a entry level (entry level refers to 1-2 years of experience) can present as a challenge for many but it is not impossible.

Here are two ways to combat this challenge:

By mastering high paying hard and soft skills within your desired field. Hard skills are learned abilities acquired and enhanced through practice, repetition, and education. Hence why outside of your educational pursuits you should be acquiring these hard skills through online courses, training programs and internships as mentioned above.

Soft skills include attributes and personality traits that help employees interact with others and succeed in the workplace. Showcasing and highlighting both hard and soft skills in your resume will help you stand out with recruiters. ( I’ll do a post on resumes if anyone is interested as I’ve got HR experience) So it’s imperative that you research hard and soft skills within your desired industry for long term success.

I will always reiterate that the key to succeeding at any goal isn’t to work hard but rather to work smart. The second way to land a well paying job at a entry level is by targeting emerging or growing industries with a low-medium entry barrier. Research these industries, the roles that are most in demand and the skills required for that role then pursue the role that aligns with your personal career goals.

A obvious example of such an industry is the tech industry, there are plenty of technical and non technical roles that pay an average of 60k and upwards from customer success,sales,operations and digital marketing ( digital marketing skills are high in demand due to the technological age we live in). I am highlighting the tech industry because a lot of the opportunities in the tech industry are remote, meaning you have a shot at a well paying job regardless of what country you live in (Remote work from all industries can be found on LinkedIn)

As a career woman you should be networking by:

Attending top industry events hosted by successful companies and recognized industry professionals.

Ensuring that you purchase the best tickets for these events as they normally grant you access to VIP lounges, granting you the opportunity to expand your network into the realm of managers, directors and executives.

Joining a master mind group, a master mind group being a peer-to-peer mentoring group used to help members solve their problems with input and advice from the other group members.

Joining business organizations, as this will expand your network and offer you opportunities to grow in your career.

Where to find networking and industry specific events:

LinkedIn

Eventbrite

Meetup

Allevents.in

Event Browse

The Business Journals

All conference alert

By joining your city’s chamber of commerce

Conclusion:

We all have different starting posts, by no means does that imply that you will not be successful at the goals you’ve set for yourself. I am simply stating that your goals should be paced in terms of your present circumstances, so that you are fully equipped for the position you desire to hold in society. There are two other key factors in addition to the ones mentioned above that I will expand on in another post.

Signed

Doses of Glamour ⚜️

A simple, yet effective #resume checklist to ensure you wow potential employers every time!

bit.ly/Upgrade_My_Career

Know what's great? Books. Know what's even better? Free books. I meant to put together this list ages ago and was just reminded of it yesterday, so here's just about every method I know of to (legally) obtain free ebooks and audiobooks. I'll add to this list if I come across any more.

Free Ebooks:

*Librivox - Provides access to audiobooks in the public domain, run by volunteers. Mostly classics.

*Project Gutenberg - Provides access to ebooks in the public domain. Mostly classics.

Digital Public Library of America - Provides access to books in the public domain.

hoopla - Free app that lets you access ebooks and audiobooks available through your library. Requires your library card info.

*Libby - Same concept as hoopla. Run by Overdrive.

Sora - Similar concept as hoopla and Libby but instead it's for schools (requires your school info). Also by Overdrive.

The Palace Project - Another app like Libby and hoopla that provides access to library books. This one also allows you to download books from DPLA right from the app if you don't have a library card/your library is not yet signed up with them. The downside is they don't seem to yet have access to as many libraries as Libby or hoopla.

*Riveted by Simon Teen - Provides access to full ebooks and extended excerpts of popular YA books. The books available switch out monthly so you'll have to read in the given time frame.

*Tor.com Newsletter - Weekly emails highlighting their blog, scifi/fantasy news, and short fiction. Occasionally they pop in a freebie that you can download from book depository (I got Gideon the Ninth this way). Just make sure you download the book before the deadline.

*Bookbub - Newsletter that emails you daily ebook deals curated to your tastes, often includes 1-2 free ebooks in most of its daily recs. Also a great way to discover lesser known books.

______

*Chirp - Newsletter that emails daily audiobook deals. I've never seen a free audiobook here but I figured they'd still be worthwhile to mention. Prices usually range from .99c to ~$4.99. Must download the Chirp app to listen, but it's a great alternative to Audible.

*currently using these ones myself

"the education system traumatizes students it deems stupid" and "the education system traumatizes students it deems gifted" are two concepts that can and should coexist.

when i pass people on the duolingo leaderboards i hope they know i'm doing it with gleeful malice in my heart. i'm not doing it on accident and i'm not thinking haha yay i'm thinking everybody get fucked this is call of duty to me

It took me embarrassingly long to figure this out, but it turns out trying to blow off all your hobbies to study more does not in fact result in studying more. It results in pretending to study more. Now instead of drawing or writing when I get tired I get on my phone instead, because I can’t stop studying, but I can “take a quick break” in the middle of studying. Trying to fix that now.

Starry starry night 💫

Do you have any tips on how to choose a college major?

unless you're getting a free ride scholarship or your family will be paying for your education, this will be one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. most of your friends and family are in student loan debt and hating every second of it.

first things first: why do you want to go to college? what kind of life do you want to live? will you be living it alone or with a spouse? will you be having kids? what income do you need to enjoy your overall quality of life?

have you considered a trade school or certifications?

when you consider a major, you need to be living in reality. not an ideal world where you can do something goofy and make a million dollars from it. be realistic, practical, and financially responsible. don't have your mind in lala land. I'm serious, choose wisely.

supply and demand. if everyone can do it with a reasonable amount of training, it will pay little. if it's hard to do and most can't do it without considerable effort/skill/risk, it will pay more. this is why fast food pays low. if any teenager off the street can be trained in a few hours to work here and be side by side with 40 year olds, it's not a lucrative thing. dental assistants and technicians make less than the dentist. guess why?

watch this video on useless degrees (not as in they are meaningless or have no value, but bc they cost money that you will struggle to pay back and the job market will not be kind to you)

and watch this one too

watch this video on good degrees

and this one too

if "following your heart" puts you 100k in debt, maybe follow your brain instead

you don't have to get a degree in something that you enjoy learning about but it doesn't translate well into the job market. you can learn about it at home, on youtube, at the library, you can purchase textbooks, you can take free open-learning courses. please don't spend 4 years cramming and going into debt for things when you don't have to. not all degrees are worth it. you're trying to get a job and live a nice life right? okay. act like it.

remember that school name is not the most important thing in the world and chances are, it won't matter much in your life. unless you're trying to be a doctor or lawyer etc, I wouldn't stress too much about trying to go to the best and most expensive school bc you'll probably only be getting bragging rights and 5 seconds of people being impressed when you tell them about it. this is something that has been socially conditioned into us our whole lives though, so I won't be mad if you can't magically stop that thinking overnight. shoot for the stars but don't be obsessed with them.

it might be in your best interest to go to community college and then transfer to a 4 year. saves money, and your degree will only have the name of where you graduate from bc that's all that matters.

unless you have a good financial support system (family with money, spouse with money), you might not want to go for a cute career that pays little. I absolutely love and respect teachers and things of that ilk, but if you're footing the bill by yourself in life, I'd maybe save that for a more financially secure time in my life. try to get a degree that gets you the most bang for your buck. I have a friend who wanted to be a teacher, but waited until she got married to a high earner who takes care of finances to become one. you don't have to do what she did, but I think it was a good idea of her.

a global poll by gallop revealed that 85% (!!!!) of people hate their jobs. that's tragic considering it's such a huge part of our lives and we spend so much time and mental bandwidth working, thinking about work, preparing for work, etc. You want to try your hardest to be in that 15% who don't dread their job. picking a major that you enjoy, are competent at, and pays well is so important.

notice that I said enjoy, are competent at, and pays well. you can love your work but suffer bc it pays pennies. you can have a high paying job but suffer bc it's so incredibly difficult for you to keep up with and you feel overloaded and stupid. you can have a high paying job that you're good at doing but you don't enjoy the work and it feels so boring and meaningless to you. these 3 things are hard to find in one career choice but by God it's something you need to search high and low for. if you can't meet all 3 points of the trinity, choose the 2 that matter most to you and go after them. you'll thank me later.

you probably will never be in the highest bracket of earners in your field. if the median income is 40k and the highest is 90k, you will likely be in the 40k range or close to it. don't be overly optimistic when looking at salaries for careers you're interested in. only a few people make it to the top of a pyramid.

also remember that changing majors is normal and what you like at (presumably) 17/18 may be different than when you're 20. I originally wanted to pursue pharmacy like my brother but computer science called my name later on.

don't be afraid to take time off to work and save money to avoid taking out loans (or at least to keep them as low as possible). don't be afraid to attend school part-time instead of full-time to help manage your course load. you can go back to school later in life and go after your passion projects when you can afford them if you so choose to. you don't have to rush things right now.

hope this helped

I decided to make some positive translation memes

[ID: a picture of kitten looking at a phone edited to be crying and surrounded by heart emoji with text reading 'when a translator worked hard for me to be able to access a piece of media']