Skype you have 12 days left!

Skype â€" you have 12 days left! A few weeks ago we blogged about the Skype integration with JibberJobber. This is an awesome addition that allows you to click on a Skype icon by someones phone number which will start a call with them. Skype recently announced that they are now going to charge for outbound calles to land lines (Im not sure how this works outside of the U.S.), but its only $14.95 for the entire year that is, unlimited outbound long-distance for a year for about 2 bucks a month. Cant beat that. The catch is that price doubles after this month so you have 12 days to plunk down a few bucks or else youll end up paying $30 for the year. Either way its a screaming deal. Heres why I like Skype so much: As mentioned, the integration with JibberJobber. Even though I have a land line phone right next to me (and my cell phone) I prefer to use Skype because I can use my headset (you can spend whatever you want on these, I just saw an e-mail where someone spent $5 at Radio Shack for a speaker/mic setup) which means I have two hands free to type notes. I work out of my home office, and I dont have a separate business line. So if Im on a call that will be a while, or want to make sure Im on a call without having my 3 year old pick up and start jibberjabbering (I crack myself up ;)), I use Skype. I have not had any problems with quality (well, about 6 months ago I did, but they went away. Darn gremlins!) and Ive used it for national and international calls. You can record calls on Skype (I havent done it but Ive done podcasts that have been recorded by the other party using Skype) great for recording interviews with family, doing podcasts, etc. I dont get any kickback from them, but Im giving you enough notice that you can hit it by the deadline. This is something that has enhanced my communication experience and I wanted to share it with you Go download the software for FREE (you always get free Skype-to-Skype calls), and think about upgrading. I did it last week Skype â€" you have 12 days left! A few weeks ago we blogged about the Skype integration with JibberJobber. This is an awesome addition that allows you to click on a Skype icon by someones phone number which will start a call with them. Skype recently announced that they are now going to charge for outbound calles to land lines (Im not sure how this works outside of the U.S.), but its only $14.95 for the entire year that is, unlimited outbound long-distance for a year for about 2 bucks a month. Cant beat that. The catch is that price doubles after this month so you have 12 days to plunk down a few bucks or else youll end up paying $30 for the year. Either way its a screaming deal. Heres why I like Skype so much: As mentioned, the integration with JibberJobber. Even though I have a land line phone right next to me (and my cell phone) I prefer to use Skype because I can use my headset (you can spend whatever you want on these, I just saw an e-mail where someone spent $5 at Radio Shack for a speaker/mic setup) which means I have two hands free to type notes. I work out of my home office, and I dont have a separate business line. So if Im on a call that will be a while, or want to make sure Im on a call without having my 3 year old pick up and start jibberjabbering (I crack myself up ;)), I use Skype. I have not had any problems with quality (well, about 6 months ago I did, but they went away. Darn gremlins!) and Ive used it for national and international calls. You can record calls on Skype (I havent done it but Ive done podcasts that have been recorded by the other party using Skype) great for recording interviews with family, doing podcasts, etc. I dont get any kickback from them, but Im giving you enough notice that you can hit it by the deadline. This is something that has enhanced my communication experience and I wanted to share it with you Go download the software for FREE (you always get free Skype-to-Skype calls), and think about upgrading. I did it last week Skype â€" you have 12 days left! A few weeks ago we blogged about the Skype integration with JibberJobber. This is an awesome addition that allows you to click on a Skype icon by someones phone number which will start a call with them. Skype recently announced that they are now going to charge for outbound calles to land lines (Im not sure how this works outside of the U.S.), but its only $14.95 for the entire year that is, unlimited outbound long-distance for a year for about 2 bucks a month. Cant beat that. The catch is that price doubles after this month so you have 12 days to plunk down a few bucks or else youll end up paying $30 for the year. Either way its a screaming deal. Heres why I like Skype so much: As mentioned, the integration with JibberJobber. Even though I have a land line phone right next to me (and my cell phone) I prefer to use Skype because I can use my headset (you can spend whatever you want on these, I just saw an e-mail where someone spent $5 at Radio Shack for a speaker/mic setup) which means I have two hands free to type notes. I work out of my home office, and I dont have a separate business line. So if Im on a call that will be a while, or want to make sure Im on a call without having my 3 year old pick up and start jibberjabbering (I crack myself up ;)), I use Skype. I have not had any problems with quality (well, about 6 months ago I did, but they went away. Darn gremlins!) and Ive used it for national and international calls. You can record calls on Skype (I havent done it but Ive done podcasts that have been recorded by the other party using Skype) great for recording interviews with family, doing podcasts, etc. I dont get any kickback from them, but Im giving you enough notice that you can hit it by the deadline. This is something that has enhanced my communication experience and I wanted to share it with you Go download the software for FREE (you always get free Skype-to-Skype calls), and think about upgrading. I did it last week

Going Into Law Beyond The Glamour

Going Into Law Beyond The Glamour The following is a guest post by Kenn Goldblatt.  His bio follows. It’s not necessary to have a degree in law to establish yourself in a meaningful career within the legal profession. There are a multitude of levels for you to enter depending on your level of education, your professional skills, and your capabilities to do the work required by the role you choose. Opportunities at the Entry Level are Varied At the entry level of non-professionals, you can find postings for clerks, secretaries, legal assistants and paralegals. Each role requires progressively more skills and capabilities. As a clerk, you’ll probably be offered a minimum compensation, and find yourself doing mainly repetitive work keeping track of schedules, documents, and other repetitive tasks. Secretaries’ roles are largely support and communication activities: telephone work, correspondence, and document preparation as well as client support. Paraprofessional Roles are the Next Step Legal assistants and paralegals are “paraprofessional” who provide direct litigation support to their supervising attorney (or attorneys). In most cases, there are no formal requirements for legal assistants and paralegals, and attorneys are often willing to train personnel in these roles if applicants can demonstrate they have the basic skills and capabilities that the attorney’s specific opening requires. But you can also find various educational organizations that offer various types of training and certification as well. These range from correspondence and on-line courses to community college experiences and even four-year degree programs. Depending on your native skills, your education and/or training, and your experience, compensation can range from minimum wage positions to handsomely compensated professional positions. Some employers require their paralegals to hold certificates, others don’t care and will train you themselves. What you’re offered can vary substantially from firm to firm and opportunity to opportunity depending on these variables. So careful consideration and planning is required to avoid leaving money on the table when you’re looking for one of these jobs. Lawyering and Beyond Graduation from a law school and passing the state bar examination can increase your compensation substantially over the paraprofessional ranks. High ranking in your law school graduating class, graduation from a prestigious law school, and other factors can help a candidate get high salary offers and envied positions within established law firms. Lawyers who decide to set up individual practices may struggle at first while they establish their reputations and build a client list, but may find that role more satisfying personally. Between those two extremes, there are unending kinds of roles to establish a career and support themselves. Outside the legal professional you’ll find lots of individuals who have been to law school by are working in business roles from professional support and management positions to entrepreneurial activities of establishing their own businesses or participating in startups with others. In these cases, the theoretical knowledge and discipline that comes from a law school education forms the basis of their business skills they apply to their new experiences. Flexibility as You Move and Grow Once you are working within the legal profession, you can often move from role to role and you demonstrate to your employer that you can take on progressively challenging roles and requirements within the firm. If you decide to move to another firm, you have an enhanced ability to move to another firm by having successfully mastered the task required for the role you performed. From there, you also can take advantage of opportunities at other firms or even in other states as your experience grows and your skills improve. If you spent a lot of money on education and training to establish your credentials for the role you occupy â€" or want to move into you owe it to yourself to stay alert to new and emerging opportunities that will allow you to use what you know to the best advantage of your employer and yourself. There’s No Reason to Stay in a Job You Hate Sometimes jobs just don’t turn out to be what you expected. When that happens, roles within the legal profession at all levels are varied enough that you can often find an alternative without starting over from scratch. Sometimes a move within the same firm will do the trick. Other times a move to another firm or even a different area may be required. Once you have established certain basic skills and understand the various processes of the part of the legal profession within which you’re working, you should be able to find a position you can live with or even thrive in. If there are certain aspects of your role you hate â€" whether it is clerk, paraprofessional, or attorney â€" then it may be time to move to laterally or vertically, inside your current firm to someplace else. The next step is to make your plan and decide how to accomplish it: What are the requirements of the position you want to move to? Is it available inside your existing organization or will you have to look elsewhere? What do you have to do to prepare yourself for the new position â€" other experience, further education, networking, or something else? Leaving is Often Easier Than You Think Entry level jobs often require minimal education or training, and the employer will often offer the training. A college degree that demonstrates that you have basic writing, math, speaking, and critical thinking skills is usually more than enough for moving into a paraprofessional position. While a paralegal certificate can be helpful, in most instances it’s not actually required. It may give you a faster start, but on-the-job training will often suffice. The trick is to focus your resume on the various aspects of educational, training and career experiences that will allow you to perform successfully in the role you’re seeking. Don’t be afraid to send specifically tailored resumes to the different employers. Their postings for the person they are seeking are often different, so a “standard” resume may well be inadequate to get their attention. Kenn Goldblatt Kenn Goldblatt is the author of The Pro Se Litigant’s Civil Litigation Handbook designed to give average readers an understanding of the civil litigation process from pre-litigation investigation through trial on the merits and beyond. Image credits Main     Paralegal     Unhappy

14 Free Online Financial Management Tools

14 Free Online Financial Management Tools By, Michelle Fabio One of the best ways for busy career girls to keep finances in order is to record everything in one place for easy reference; seeing all of your money matters in front of you can not only give you a better indication of your overall financial health but can also spark ideas on where you can increase savings and decrease expenses. Perhaps youve been  getting along quite nicely with your trusty Excel spreadsheet or even  Quicken, but since those basic programs were invented years ago, many  online financial  management applications have been developed, allowing you to keep  track of your money no matter where you areand some of them are free  to boot! If youre ready for some new ways to keep track of your finances that can offer financial goal tracking, online communities, and more, why not give some of these a test run? Here are: 14 Free Online Financial Management Tools 1. Billster: Allows you to keep track of personal and group expenses, receive reminders about money owed to you or money you owe, and see how much youre spending on particular things such as gas and groceries. 2. Buddi: Free software designed for beginners that lets you record transactions, keep track of spending, and create reports to more clearly show you where your money is going. 3. BudgetPulse: Budget and tracking tools presented in a simple, functional manner; also, no need to worry about identity theft here as you dont enter your account information. 4. Buxfer: Automatically downloads and categorizes expenses from your accounts but keeps your banking credentials safe and private offline on your desktop. 5. ClearCheckbook.com: Described on the site as an online checkbook register with the added bonus of viewing reports, setting budgets, creating reminders and more. 6. Geezeo: Track your finances and also discuss financial goals, money-making strategies, and more in Geezeo online community groups. 7. Just Budget: Promises you can manage your personal budget easily and quicklyin just five minutes per day. 8. Mint.com: One of the newest and most popular online financial management tools, Mint allows to keep all your accounts in one place anonymously; iPhone application also available. 9. Moneystrands: Provides free online tools and software for money management, debt management, and budgeting planning; replaces the now defunct Expensr. 10. Moneytrackin’: Keeps track of how you spend your money; also allows you to perform accounting tasks for small businesses. 11. NetworthIQ: Personal finance manager to help you figure out your net worth and then share and compare it with others. 12. Quicken Online: For those used to Quicken, this online version is basically a stripped down version and gives you a simple way to track expenses; iPhone application also available. 13. Wesabe: Financial management tools, tips based on your shopping habits, the ability to set financial goals, and a social marketing component that lets you communicate with other users. 14. Yodlee: One of the oldest online tools for money management, this program gives you the big picture so you can see your overall financial situation and find ways to improve it. As the specifics of each of these free online financial management tools differ, think about trying out a few before picking a favorite. Then please come back and share your research process and final choice; of course, if you already use an online financial management tool, which one do you prefer and why? Michelle Fabio writes the About.com Guide to Law School and  writes for several online education and legal websites including, OnlineGraduateEducation.org.   She also  runs the blog, Bleeding Espresso, which was a finalist for Best European Weblog in the 2009 Bloggies.   Follow Michelle on Twitter @michellefabio or @lawschoolguide.