Bnpositive's Blog

Blog

By Leave a Comment

Why Studying Is The Best Thing You Can Do While Unemployed

Person Studying at Laptop

Covid-19 increased unemployment in many countries. The United States suffered from business closures, wage cuts, and massive layoffs due to the pandemic's economic effects. If you lost your job during the virus, you should know that there are still many alternatives to generate income and access professional training. In this article, you will learn why it is essential to study during unemployment and how this knowledge will help you earn more money and have stability.

A Bootcamp May Be the Solution

Even though universities closed during the virus, many educational companies took advantage of this opportunity to prepare new students. Bootcamps were the main winners in this context. These schools have physical locations, but they also allow their students to attend classes online and earn a degree.

If you are unemployed, it is time to use your savings for a smart investment: education. How effective is studying in a bootcamp? Much more than you think! Check out the main advantages of these courses:

You can expand your knowledge to improve your skills or start from scratch

Bootcamps are a great idea for the unemployed. If you were in a technology company and were laid off, you can now reinforce all your knowledge and add new skills to your resume. If you want to learn, you can access beginner courses in different careers, including data science, software engineering, coding, cybersecurity, and much more.

You can start a free course and pay for it when you get a job

If you are looking for a smart way to invest your savings, you may like the bootcamp option. An average course costs between $7,000-$13,000. But you should also know the free option, with which you can take the full course and pay for it when you get a job.

You can work in a large company in the United States

Despite the coronavirus, many tech companies continue to hire employees. This is your chance to start a bootcamp and land the job of your dreams. General Assembly, one of the best bootcamps in the country according to Career Karma, has hiring partners companies such as Condé Nast, Visa, Google, L'Oreal, and Microsoft.

Learning A New Language

The pandemic was the opportunity for many unemployed people to start learning a new language. This knowledge is more important than you think and can be decisive if you are looking for a new job. Pay attention to the following advantages of knowing another language:

Increase your chances of getting a job

According to CNN, approximately 50 million Americans speak Spanish: this is 13 percent of the population. This figure is small, considering that in Germany almost 50 percent of the population can speak English. This means that there are people capable of working in bilingual jobs or jobs assigned to a specific language in the United States. Speaking a second language doubles your chances of getting a job, not only in physical companies but in freelance contracts.

Improve your professional level

If your resume shows that you speak two or more languages, then your professional image improves considerably. Learning a new language is a long process, but it allows you better communication with other people, more comfort, more chances of finding work, and new ways of understanding cultures. If you are unemployed and need to optimize your professional experience, a new language will be a perfect idea.

Take an Online Course to Learn Something New

While bootcamps and language courses help you directly with your job performance, it is not a bad idea to learn about thematic classes. According to The Conversation, online courses received massive numbers of students during Covid-19. This website published that the Coursera platform increased 640 percent this March compared to March 2019. Do you think it is a bad idea to take a course?

This new knowledge also allows you to discover new areas of your life, learn exciting skills, and generate money. One of the advantages of the Internet is that it offers many offers for all tastes: you can learn to cook, repair your PC, design with Adobe Illustrator, create clean energy, and much more!

Conclusion

Being out of work is a challenging experience. We know it perfectly. Therefore, you must take these tips into account. Investing in education can be essential in your future since this knowledge will serve you for new jobs or ventures. Use the tools you have and overcome any obstacle—at the end of the day, you will be grateful.

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

By Leave a Comment

5 Smart Tips for Safe Online Shopping in 2021

Laptop Credit Card - Online Shopping

Online shopping is fast becoming the new norm. Thanks to the freedom, convenience, and ease it offers, you're probably thinking of doing it yourself. However, one of the biggest concerns most online shoppers have is security. How secure are your financial details on shopping websites?

Here are a few tips that can help you stay safe in 2021.

1.     Start with trusted sites

There are millions of online retail sites today. Most of them are legitimate, but some contain links to spam and malicious content. You, therefore, need to be extra careful when searching for a shopping website.

First, start with the popular and well-known sites like Amazon.com or Ebay.com. You're less likely to be scammed on these sites since you've probably used them before. You can also try your favorite retail stores if they're online, but ensure you know the right web addresses.

Be on the lookout for the popular domain misspelling scams, for instance, a hacker may use Amazon.net instead of Amazon.com. These tricks have been successful for years because they're not conspicuous at first glance.

2.     Look for HTTPS URL and a padlock icon

Before sharing your credit or debit card information on an online shopping site, here are the two rules you should follow: Ensure the site’s URL starts with HTTPS, and confirm that a locked padlock icon appears slightly left of the URL bar.

The (S) in HTTPS stands for secure and shows that the shopping website has integrated a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. The locked padlock (sometimes green) indicates that your connection to the website is secure.

Avoid sharing any information on sites with just HTTP and without the padlock.

3.     Don’t shop over public wi-fi

We’ve heard stories about public wi-fi hotspots and cybercriminals countless times. By now, you should know that while shopping using public Wi-Fi seems convenient, it leaves your data in the hands of hackers.

Personal information such as your credit card details, bank details, phone number, and your emails are but a few of the data a hacker can manipulate from the vulnerabilities of unsecure Wi-Fi.

So, instead of exposing yourself to that much risk, always use your data to complete your online shopping transactions. And if you really have to use Wi-Fi, a simple VPN download will go a long way to improving your security.

But still, if you can avoid insecure public Wi-Fi, do yourself a favor and do it.

4.     Keep your software up-to-date

Updating your software is the #1 online security measure every security expert recommends. Whether you're shopping on your phone, laptop, or tablet, ensure that the operating system is up-to-date with the latest updates.

Updating your software fixes any vulnerabilities that cybercriminals may exploit to send malware into your system.

5.     Avoid ‘too good to be true’ offers

In any e-commerce store, if any product pricing appears to be too good to be true, it probably is. Don't trust any seller offering such an offer. This is usually a trap by some sellers to collect your credit card information among other data, so they can sell it.  In other cases, the product might be of very poor quality.

Conclusion

When shopping online, getting scammed isn’t just a far-fetched idea. It happens to millions of people every day. You should therefore be careful with how you go about the process if you want to avoid it. With the tips above, we’re confident that you’ll always be one step ahead of the criminals.

Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash

By Leave a Comment

Setting a Budget at Christmastime

There are two types of people in the world: Savers and spenders. At Christmas, it is much easier to be a spender than a saver, and it can wreak havoc on your wallet if you are not careful. It is important that you set a reasonable Christmas budget that the whole family can stick to. In this way, you will be able to get gifts for everyone on your list without having to worry about a lasting financial strain from the holidays.

Consider Normal Monthly Expenses

Just because it is the holiday season does not mean that you will not have to pay things like rent, utilities or car notes. It is important to factor in your normal expenses when determining what your Christmas budget will be. Make a list of all the expenses that you incur throughout the month, including your groceries and any extras like vaping supplies from Smokingthings. In this way, you will be able to see what is left over to spend on your gifts.

Make a List of Gift Recipients

Your budget will be stretched a lot more if you buy a gift for every single person that you know. You should make a list of everyone that it is essential for you to buy for. Then, if there is a lot of money left over in the budget, you can add more people to that list. If you are having trouble stretching your budget across several people, you might talk to your family about drawing names for gifts this year. In this way, everyone gets one larger present instead of several small ones.

Do Not Forget About Yourself

During the holidays, it can be easy to get wrapped up in buying for everyone else, and you can easily forget about yourself. However, you should set aside some money to get something special for yourself. It does not have to be anything large; just something to cheer you up and make you feel indulged. It is not selfish to want to get something for yourself at Christmas; after all, you have worked hard to be able to spend your money.

There are plenty of things to get excited about during the holiday season, and gift giving is one of the main ones. Consider how you will budget for your gifts this year while still giving gifts that are thoughtful and meaningful. When you follow these tips, you can have a great Christmas that will not break the bank.