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Working from home: is that really allowed?

Surviving the heat at work; it's a recurring theme. Ideally, you would simply leave your work for what it is with these temperatures and sit on the beach. But the work has to be done anyway and you don't have many days off. Then get on with it. If you find the heat at your workplace unbearable, can you actually just decide to work from home? Or in another place? First of all, it really matters what kind of work you do. If you have a job in healthcare, construction or if you work with certain equipment, then working elsewhere will of course be a difficult story. But if you have work that you can do from anywhere, it is often up to you and your employer to make mutual agreements about working from home.   Your employment contract may contain agreements about work locations and working from home. In principle, what it says there is binding and you have to stick to what you and your employer have agreed upon. But if the work...

Finding Jobs

You have just graduated or you think it is time for a new challenge. So time to look for a job. Where and how do you start your search? And how do you find the job that suits you?

The first important step is to determine exactly what kind of function you want. Many people are considering which job suits them best . Maybe it's already clear to you, and you just want to do what you were trained to do. Physiotherapist or plasterer, for example. If it is not yet so clear in mind, it is important to find out in which job your abilities and wishes are best expressed.

Of course you first have to determine what your own capacities and wishes are. What are you good at, what do you like, what do you want to achieve, what do you find important in a job? Do you have a goal in mind and do you really want to make a career or is job satisfaction most important to you? If you know this for yourself, you can look more specifically for positions that suit you. By getting started with personal branding , you get a clearer picture of this.

What should you look for in your job search?


When looking for a job, how do you know if it's one that's right for you? In any case, take a look at the following:

**1. The function itself** 


Of course you look at the content of the position and the responsibilities and tasks that go with it. Do they appeal to you? And do your capacities match the range of tasks? If you think it is important to have a lot of career prospects, then it is useful to look for a job with growth opportunities.

**2. The industry** 


Are you looking for a position that you can fulfill in various sectors, such as an administrative assistant, communication advisor or HR manager? Then you can determine for yourself whether you have a preference for a certain sector. Are you going for the commercial angle or do you (do you think) feel more comfortable in the non-profit sphere?

**3. The atmosphere/culture of the company or organization** 


Of course, the company also plays a role in the job satisfaction that you will soon experience. Is it business or casual? Can you work in sneakers and jeans? Or is a suit required? You can often get a taste of the atmosphere of an organization online.

**4. Paid service, freelance or on a temporary basis?** 


It is also good to consider the type of employment of the positions you are applying for. Do you want to be employed? Or are you also thinking of working as a freelancer or temporary employment base? There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of employment.

Benefits of working as an employee



+ Security of income
+ Continued payment in case of illness and during holidays
+ Insurance and taxes are arranged by your employer
+ Relationship with colleagues

Disadvantages of working as an employee



* Less freedom
* You're not about your own salary
* Greater chance of rut

Benefits of freelance work



* Lots of freedom
* You are your own boss
* Hourly wage is usually higher

Disadvantages freelance work



* Uncertainty in income
* Take care of insurance and tax payments yourself
* No continued payment in case of illness
* Lots of administration
* Less bond with colleagues

Advantages of temporary agency work



* Flexible; your contract is terminated in no
time * You often work in different places and gain a lot of experience and contacts * You are often
offered training or education

Disadvantages of agency work



- No job guarantee for a longer period of time
- Less bonding with colleagues

Find jobs


Once you have an idea of ​​what you want, one of the first things you do is of course search for vacancies online. You can find tens of thousands of vacancies via job boards such as Vacancies.nl. Companies place vacancies here themselves, but you can also find vacancies elsewhere online via the search engine. This gives you a good chance of finding a suitable position. You increase your chances if you leave your resume, because this allows companies and organizations that find your profile interesting to approach you directly.

Other Resources for Finding Jobs


What other sources can you consult to find vacancies?

* Some branches/sectors have their own online job boards. For example, bouwvacatures.nl for the construction industry, Werkenvoornederland.nl for government functions and Werkenindehoreca.nl for the hospitality industry.
* Browse the Saturday newspapers and trade magazines for job advertisements.
* Check social media: vacancies are often shared on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Use your (social) networks


Did you know that the vast majority of new jobs are found through via? So let your environment know that you are looking for a new challenge and try to make new contacts through your network that may be of interest to you. Your online networks can also play a role in this. If you don't have a job right now, for example, make a call via LinkedIn in which you tell us what you can do and what you are looking for. Read more about finding work via LinkedIn and other (online) networks .

Open application


Do you have your eye on a company or organization for which you would really like to work, but there are no suitable vacancies for you at the moment? Consider an open application . This is a good way to express your interest in the company and introduce yourself. Who knows, you might even be invited to meet us. And if there is ever a suitable vacancy, then you are in any case ahead of the crowd and they have already heard of you at the company.

Looking for a job through a temporary employment or recruitment and selection agency


Another possibility to find a job is to register with a recruitment agency or employment agency . A recruiter or intermediary will help you in your search. Recruitment agencies usually focus on positions that require higher education. There are also recruitment and selection agencies specific to certain sectors. Employment agencies usually have a wider range of vacancies.

Temporary employment, recruitment and selection agencies often work with temporary contracts. Sometimes you work through the agency for one organization or company, but it is also possible that you work for several clients.

Post your resume in an online database


There are more and more possibilities to place your resume in an online database . In it, employers can search for suitable candidates to fill their vacancies. Uploading your resume to a database allows employers to contact you directly, increasing your job prospects.

Which job suits me?

Which job suits me? This is a question that goes through the mind of many. And not just for people at the start of their career. Even if you've been working on the road for some years, you can have your doubts about the work you do. Is this actually what makes me happiest? Your current job 'isn't quite right'. The image you had beforehand is actually disappointing in practice.

Do you recognize these doubts? You're not the only one. Various studies have shown that many people would actually like to change jobs. And a relatively large number are already looking for new vacancies within a few months of finding a job. More and more people are also switching jobs. The (continued) search for your dream job is something that happens a lot these days. And you hear more and more stories about career switches .

Just to help you out of the dream: there are very few people who have actually found their dream job. (Almost) every profession has less pleasant sides. If you are looking for the ideal job, you can be disappointed. But the good news is, there's plenty of work to suit you. You just have to know yourself well enough for it. How do you find a job that suits you?

Do self-examination: ask yourself questions

To find a job that suits you well, you need to know who you are, what you like and enjoy and what drives you. For that you will have to work with yourself and therefore do self-examination. That starts with asking yourself questions:

* What do you like to do? What do you get energy from?
* What do you consider yourself good at? What comes easy to you?
* What characterizes you as a person? What qualities do you have and how could you use them in your work?
* What do you think is important when it comes to working conditions? (Do you want a lot of freedom, do you like to work solo or in a team, in an office setting or elsewhere, etc.)?
* What do you think are important work values? Do you want to help people, do you want to grow, do you want a lot of variety, adventure, a high salary, do you really want to mean something to others / the world etc.? What should be part of your fringe benefits ?
* What kind of company culture do you feel most comfortable in (formal, informal, should there be a lot of contact between colleagues, a lot of hierarchy or not)?

If you write down the answers to these questions, you can see if there is a common thread to discover. You can also sort the answers according to what is most important to you. Maybe that way you will find out, for example, that what you do is much less important than everything around it.

Career Tests

The internet is chock full of career choices. These can also give you insight into jobs that suit you. You then fill in questionnaires that discuss your interests, motivations and skills, and this results in advice with professions that you can do. The tests can give you a nudge in the right direction, but are never THE means to find out what you really want. Therefore, always do several and compare the results. You can then include these in your self-examination.

Another way to get a clearer picture of what you want is to describe to yourself your ideal job. What would you like to do if anything was possible? Where and with whom as colleagues? Which of your talents do you use and what do you achieve with it? Your description doesn't have to be a concrete job, but one that you come up with with your imagination. By giving your imagination free rein, you can clearly see for yourself what makes your heart beat faster. You can then look for a job in a much more targeted way .

Talk to future colleagues or friends or family

Once you have an idea of ​​what kind of job you like, you can compile a list of organizations and companies that seem interesting to you and start exploring. Write to people within those companies or organizations and start talking to them. Not immediately to apply for a job, but purely to orient yourself. Through experiences and stories you can best find out whether the organization or company is really as nice as you had in mind. And a nice additional advantage is: if you like it and want to send an open application , you at least already have an entrance and they know your face.

If you're not quite sure what you want, it may be a good idea to ask others for help and seek career advice. Think of (former) colleagues, friends or family. Asking how they see you can help to gain (new) insight(s) and discover your strengths and preferences. A career counselor can also support you in charting your path. He or she will specifically look with you at where your wishes, needs, talents and interests lie and support you in the steps you take on your career path.

Personal branding: tips to put yourself in the spotlight

Personal branding. You may get a little bit of a jitters when reading this term, but it is still useful to present a good image of yourself when you are looking for a new job. Because that's what personal branding is all about. It's about actively working on your image, so that you can put yourself in the spotlight with interesting employers.

What is Personal Branding?

Personal branding is presenting yourself and your unique qualities. Branding literally means: putting a brand on the market. With personal branding you do this for your own 'brand'. What do you stand for? What is your added value? Especially in an era in which people (and therefore employers) are looking for information online (including about you when you apply for a job), it can be useful to get started with personal branding.

Benefits of personal branding

There are also several advantages to personal branding. Five reasons why you should work on your personal brand:

**✓
It teaches you to discover your own wishes and strengths
**

What do you want, what are you good at? It teaches you to reflect on yourself and to become aware of where your strengths lie and what your needs and wishes are in the career field. **

You stand out from the rest
**

If you list what your unique characteristics are, you will also be better able to convey these to a potential new employer. This allows you to stand out from the crowd. **

You are in control of how others view you
**

By clarifying for yourself what you stand for and what your added value is, you also give direction to the way others view you. So you have much more control over your 'image'. **

You can show who you really are
**

Authenticity is the keyword in personal branding. Making yourself bigger is not what you do in personal branding; create a realistic picture of who you are and what you can do. So you stay close to yourself. **

It brings you closer to the job you really want
**

Not only because you have a better picture of what you want and can do and it becomes clearer which job suits you , but also because you can better show the employer of your choice what you have to offer, the chance is greater that you get a job that really suits you.

Getting started with personal branding: step-by-step plan
But how do you do that in concrete terms, profiling yourself through personal branding? Many people tend to pretend to be more modest and perhaps underestimate their powers a bit. A nice feature in itself, but when you're on a job hunt, it usually doesn't work in your favor. So it can feel a bit unnatural to get started with personal branding. Where can you start?

The step-by-step plan below will help you get started with personal branding.

**1. Write your own story**

Start writing down your own story, your work history. Where are you from? How did you get to where you are now in terms of work? Questions that you can answer for yourself, for example:

* What steps have you taken in your career and how have they influenced your current position? How did you end up where you work now?
* Why do you do the work you do now?
* What would you like to be different from what you are doing now?
* What went and is going well for you and what less?
* What makes you happy in your current work, what gives you energy?
* What traits and skills have contributed to reaching your current position?
* What do you encounter in your work?
* What else do you want to do in the field of work? What else do you want to do? Or what position do you still want to achieve?

That is your unique story, which no one else has. Do you find it difficult to answer for yourself where your strengths lie? Then you can also ask for help from someone close to you, such as a former colleague, family member or friend. What do they think you are good at? For example, what do they knock on your door for?

**2. Look at internal motivational factors**

Try to focus on internal motivational factors. That is, look within. What drives you? That high salary or the prestige that a certain profession has can be nice, but are they factors that say something about you as a person? By staying with yourself, you don't have to go to the stage.

**3. Get the core of your story and translate it into your resume and other resources**

Can you spot a line in your story, something that has recurred throughout your career so far? Try to summarize your entire story in a few sentences that you could use as a kind of elevator pitch. And as a profile in your online profiles and CV. So let this story come back in all the means you use to put yourself on the map.

**4. What can be found about yourself?**

Your 'brand' is something that you will mainly spread online. And because everything that appears on the internet can't just be removed, it is useful to take a look at what there is actually already about you. So Google your own name and discover how you have profiled yourself online so far, consciously or not. Does this image match what you have written about yourself? Are there things that are not appropriate that you can remove?

**5. Use different channels to draw attention to your 'brand'**

If you have clear for yourself what your 'brand' is, then it is of course important to bring this out. You can use different resources for this and use both text and images. In addition to your resume and LinkedIn, you can think of the following channels, for example:

* A blog
* Instagram
* Job sites

For all these channels, see what suits you and where you you feel comfortable with. As said: it is important to stay true to yourself, without being too modest. Not sure which of these channels is right for you? Below we give you an idea what you can use them for:

**Blog: writing about your field or about things that concern you**

A blog is an excellent medium to show who you are and what you stand for as a person. For example, you can blog about your field and your vision on it, but it doesn't necessarily have to be about work. A personal blog with topics that interest you can also be fun and useful. After all, this shows you what you like to do and it also says something about you as a person.

LinkedIn also has a blog function, which is also very suitable for making yourself heard, although this is most appropriate if you write articles that have to do with the work you do.

**Instagram: portray your work or your life**

Do you have a creative profession, where you build a portfolio? Then Instagram can be a very useful tool to let yourself be heard - and seen. This social media channel is all about image, so you can literally give employers and other interested parties a picture of what you are doing.

The medium also lends itself to a bit of storytelling; with 'stories' you can give your followers a glimpse into your life. Of course there is also a bit of a risk there; if you want to use it (also) for business purposes, then it is better not to post EVERYTHING.

**Vacancy sites: place profile and CV online**

Do you want to increase your chances of a job and ensure that potential employers and recruiters also come into contact with your 'brand'? Then create an online profile on a job vacancy site . This is also an excellent opportunity to actively market yourself, because your profile is visible to employers and recruiters and they can search for it. Of course, make sure that it matches everything else you spread about yourself, for example with the profile in your CV that you put online .

Personal branding goes beyond online
Your online branding is one thing. But there are more ways to show yourself, including offline. And then it is not necessarily about network drinks or other occasions that are specifically intended to put yourself in the spotlight. These kinds of things can be useful, but whether they really contribute to your branding is questionable.

It is precisely by doing things that REALLY suit you that you work on your profile. By doing the things that give you energy. Go volunteer somewhere, become a member of the board of the football club or fill in the blanks yourself. By opening up and when people see your face more often, they will remember you better and they will give you more.

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