pandemic Archives - USA Magazine

Advantages Of Freelancing

Rahul — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 11:34:53 +0000

During and after the pandemic, the whole world gets to know the importance of the internet and freelancing. With many people switching from the on-site job to their laptops at home, a huge number of online workers emerged.

The paradigm shift pushed people towards freelancing sites like Fiverr and Upwork. And the market is flooded with freelancers and people looking for online work. Also, it made digital marketing and many other careers flourish.

Moreover, the ISPs started offering better internet packages at affordable prices to get more customers, such as Spectrum internetOptimum internet . (https://www.buytvinternetphone.com/optimum/internet) Click here to view their best deals and plans, and start building your freelancing career because it has tons of benefits. And we are here to talk about just that!

Be Your Own Boss

The first and biggest advantage of freelancing is that you are your own boss. You are handling all the work and extras, and you get to manage everything on your own terms according to your needs and desires.

Moreover, you are not limited to working for fixed few clients and are free to choose any work or category you like.

Freedom of Work

The office or limited-focus work can get boring sometimes, but you have to do it anyways. However, that is different in freelancing. Since you are free to choose clients and work, you can decide if it should be monotonous or something new every time.

Furthermore, you can work on your own time when creativity is at its peak and take some time off whenever you feel like it.

Improve Your Skills

In freelancing, you are confronted with many types of work in your selected category. And every time, it is a new opportunity. Also, you get to do what interests you and don’t have to be afraid of trying new things and learning new skills.

Many people like to take on a set amount or easy projects that won’t take much time and decide to work on their passion on the side. However, freelancing allows you to choose your work and go outside your comfort zone to learn more.

More Income

As a freelancer, you have multiple options to earn hefty profits. There is no limit on the work that you have to do, only how much work you can do. And you can choose that by yourself.

If you have multiple skills and can multitask, you can take on different projects, work more productively, and increase your income. With time, you can polish your skills and ability to work on multiple projects with good speed and make six figures easily.

Financial Stability

Most people used to believe that a 9 to 5 job is more secure and stable, but the pandemic made everyone think otherwise. Now, it is essential to have more than one work to keep the cash flowing in case something bad happens.

Moreover, if you can earn good returning clients, it can also become a stable source of income over time. And you don’t have to wait for paychecks.

Work Fromfrom Home Life

If you don’t like to wake up in the morning and are used to flexible work hours, there are many like you. Many people have gotten comfortable working from home and want to stay that way.

With freelancing, you are free to make your routine according to your comfort. This way, you can also save money that goes into transport, food, or health.

Worldwide Exposure

Freelancing can bring work from anywhere in the world. One time you may work with a local, and the next, you may get a client from another country or even another language. However, it helps gain exposure as you come across different cultures and communicational styles.

Moreover, you can also come across other freelancers or personnel from different places, which will help build connections and improve your network. Also, it will give an extra bit of edge to your resume.

Experiments fFor Better

Since you are working solo without limitations, you can experiment with new things and learn extra skills for the future. In addition, if you are motivated and passionate about something, you have the freedom to go for it and try to make it work.

The more you work for something, the better your skills will become, and what better thing to experiment with than something you are passionate about? . It will actually produce better results.

More Growth

In freelancing, you are not bound to anything or dependent on anyone for your growth or promotions. Also, you don’t have to be someone else to stay in the good book of authorities or be a part of office politics.

Freelancing helps you be open, and just the way you are and your work will speak for you. You are not limited to your fixed salary and neither the direction of your career. Moreover, you can work on extra skills in your free time and get paid for each of them when you provide services. In freelancing, you can grow as much as you like to increase your income or get more exposure, whatever you want.

Saves Money

In office work, you have to be present for office hours, commute to the location by paying from your pocket, eat food, and have drinks with your money, and do everything with your own money. All this can add up to become a huge cost and affect your monthly budget.

On the other hand, in freelancing, you are mostly stuck to your bed and computer. Therefore, it saves money, and you only have to take care of other expenses like house rent, bills, etc. Moreover, you will have more money to save or occasional parties if it so pleases you.

Final Thoughts

All in all, freelancing is a great way to improve your income and skills. However, while many favor this, a decent bunch criticize this way of working. Whatever your choice, we recommend doing both.

A proper job has security, surety, and benefits that you won’t get on your solo venture. On the flip side, freelancing is more freedom. So, combine both, and it becomes a recipe for success.

References:

https://fireflies.ai/blog/benefits-of-freelancing/

https://www.freelanceuk.com/become/pros-and-cons-freelancing.shtml

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John Dockendorf on “Thoughts on Outdoor Education as a Major?”

Rahul — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 08:18:00 +0000

John Dockendorf was always a lover of the outdoors, so much so that he made an entire 43-year career in the field of outdoor education, spending countless work hours outdoors. Originally a native of Maryland, Dockendorf attended the University of Vermont to pursue higher education that included numerous pathways within recreation management, receiving top marks in his class in 1981. After assisting many of his professors, he decided to pursue his passion further, adding a Master of Management (hospitality) from prestigious Cornell University. His work and study ethic again earned him top honors and he was the recipient of the John E.H Sherry Scholarship.

Dockendorf has spent the last 28 years developing and operating Adventure Treks Inc. as one of the nation’s leading outdoor programs for teens and young adults. While he was seeking to make an impact domestically with students from all 50 states, he also made an impact around the world, receiving students from over 25 countries. America is unique in its tradition of summer camps and outdoor programs which create a great learning experience that is seldom found of the same caliber, anywhere else in the world. Dockendorf and his wife, Jane also restored the legacy of Camp Pinnacle, a bankrupt summer camp, founded in 1928, which they reopened in 2012 and is now known as one of western North Carolina’s most successful legacy summer camps.

They notably kept both programs open through the pandemic and passed both companies down to their long-time directors in 2021, aging out of the grueling workload that owning seasonal outdoor businesses entail. Through his vast industry experience, many of his former students and many who know him by reputation have asked him for his take on studying outdoor education as a major. While some view Outdoor Education as an incredibly effective field of study, others wonder if it is a substantive enough major from which to build a meaningful career, especially when considering the high cost of college.

Dockendorf aims to answer – Is outdoor education a worthwhile college major?”

Outdoor Education: a Hidden Jewel of Higher Education

In fact, depending on the specific school and degree program, outdoor education may be a specialized major, a minor, or a specialty field of study within the overall field of Parks, Recreation, Leisure, Kinesiology, Natural Resources, Fitness Studies or even Environmental Sciences. Although Outdoor Education or Adventure Leadership may be seen as an uncommon or niche major with limited application, it teaches its practitioners a necessary skill set that can be transferable to a variety of fields in the future. It is often these leadership and motivational skills that may be the biggest benefit and take away from a specialized course of study in outdoor education.

At first glance, it may seem redundant to obtain a degree in Outdoor Education, much less immerse oneself in four years of higher education specializing in a very specific field, which may not remain attractive as a career as graduates grow older. Something to remember, due to the hands-on nature of an outdoor education degree and the fact that these classes are best taught outdoors, outdoor education classes tend to be extremely fun when compared to other college classes!

Let’s face it. Working as an outdoor educator is an absolute dream job, especially in one’s 20s and even low 30s. But at some point, most workers want a slower pace, less frenetic schedules, less time away from home, larger salaries, less time sleeping on the ground, and perhaps a less physically demanding job. After all, many graduates’ initial outdoor education work experiences are often related to summer camps, guiding and outfitting, raft guiding, zipline guiding, wilderness leadership, trail crew, and other jobs often deemed as seasonal. These tend to be positions reserved mostly for fit, active young people.

Not all of these jobs are seasonal, there are other outdoor education careers like park rangers, naturalists, community recreation programmers, and outdoor program leaders at universities and high schools, where one can still thrive as they age. The trend, however, is that as outdoor practitioners mature, one frequently shifts into managerial roles often replacing field time with leading, managing and planning functions. This changes the needed skill set from a teaching or guiding hands on role to one where managing people and product becomes more important. Management requires a different set of skills. John Dockendorf’s advice is to plan for aging gracefully and combine outdoor education courses while in college with business, management and organizational development classes so you have the skills to grow within the outdoor industry and transition to a manager. Sometimes an outdoor education major with a business minor is a good combination, or it can be reversed.

Outdoor education majors learn through their studies and hands-on fieldwork, many different skills that can be transferable to a variety of careers. Leading others in challenging outdoor situations, when conditions are constantly changing and participants are outside of their comfort zones can be a metaphor for much of life these days. The confidence and human resources skills gleaned in these situations transfers aptly to the business world away from the outdoors. Dockendorf has seen many outdoor leaders who have gone on to manage all types of companies and credit their outdoor leadership skills as the reason for their success. Skill sets developed in an outdoor education curriculum include risk management, planning, decision making under uncertainty, equity and inclusion. Overall, a degree in outdoor education goes much beyond being an environmentalist or camp counselor. You are effectively learning to effectively lead others and that is a skill you can take and transfer anywhere.

Those who are looking to major in this discipline will develop strong communication and interpersonal skills and will learn to thrive through discomfort and build resilience.. A career in outdoor education should be treated as a short term career for one’s twenties but it is highly transferable and will help you develop a great customer-service mindset couples with an ability to safely lead others through environments that many may find intimidating and even frightening

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