Cosmos Clinic is an expert medical practice delivering surgical and non-surgical cosmetic improvements for a wide range of clients. With a team of very practised plastic surgeons and cosmetic surgeons, Cosmos Clinic has built a position of excellence whilst offering an understanding and sensitive approach.

The group of professionals at Cosmos are constantly blazing new trails in cosmetic and plastic surgery advancements, specifically in relation to body contouring procedures such as Liposuction. Many liposuction procedures have been successfully completed at Cosmos Clinic and their Cosmetic Surgeons and Plastic Surgeons undertake up to 10 liposuction procedures every week.

Cosmos clinic provides a complete variety of services including:

• Liposuction Sydney-wide and Canberra Liposuction
• Breast Augmentation Sydney-wide and Canberra
• Breast Implants Sydney-wide
• Breast Reduction Sydney-wide
• Breast Enlargement Sydney-wide
• Tummy Tuck Sydney-wide

So, for the best Plastic Surgery for you or Cosmetic Surgery that provides remarkable outcomes, get in touch with Cosmos Clinic today.

Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery is a therapeutic specialty focusing on the improvement or enhancement of practical day-to-day human form as well as simple “aesthetics”. Possibly better understood for its aesthetic appeal, plastic surgery also includes a variety of medical techniques such as nasal surgery, microscopic surgery, and the treatment of damage from unfortunate circumstances. The word “plastic” is derived from the Greek word plastikos which generally means to refine or to alter not to be confused with any type of plastic manufacture.

Cosmetic Surgery

Cosmetic Surgery techniques are more planned around the “augmentation” of appearance applying surgical and medical methodologies, and is specifically oriented towards sustaining a more “regular” appearance, rejuvenating your appearance, or developing to their maximum potential body characteristics such as breasts, abdomen or facial elements above the average level and aiming for aesthetic perfection.

In the last year over 20,000 plastic and cosmetic consultancies were undertaken throughout Australia with Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra topping out the numbers. The 5 most common procedures were breast augmentation, liposuction, nasal surgery, eyelid surgery and abdominoplasty also more popularly called the “tummy tuck”. People from all walks of life, male and female, complete a cosmetic or plastic surgery procedure every year and new advances in technology and techniques have made the situation much less daunting.

Health screenings are important at every stage of your life and an important part of maintaining a work-life balance.

Having scheduled health screenings is a great way to feel like we have some control over our bodies. So many health problems depend on early detection for effective treatment, including cancer, heart disease, and many autoimmune diseases. Here are the health screenings, check ups and exams you should have at various stages of your life.

Health checks in your 20s

You’re in the prime of your life, and the last thing on your mind is health problems. And that is exactly why health screenings are so important. In our 20s, we’re placing our bodies under a lot of stress – from partying, overwork and sometimes pregnancy. The health checks that most 20-30 year-olds should have include:

• Blood pressure checks: High blood pressure is a risk factor in the development of heart disease, and stress, carrying excess weight and being inactive can all contribute to high blood pressure.
• Bloodwork: Your blood should be screened yearly for glucose levels (an indicator of diabetes), cholesterol levels, levels of thyroid hormone and electrolytes (abnormal levels can indicate kidney function problems).
• Pap smears: Women who smoke or take the contraceptive pill should be especially vigilant about these health screenings, but all women should try to get a Pap smear done bi-yearly.
• Dental check and clean: You should have your teeth professionally cleaned and checked annually for early signs of decay.
• STI screenings: Sexually active adults should be screened by STIs, especially diseases which show no symptoms like Chlamydia, every year.
• Weight assessment: Sometimes it is difficult to know whether you are in a healthy range or not.

Health checks in your 30s

Those first grey hairs and a face that isn’t quite as bouncy as it once was often force us to think more about the condition of our bodies. Most of us are still at relatively low risk for many diseases, but you should get health screenings and check ups in your 30s like:

• Regular screenings: Just the same as you have been doing in your 20s, go for a yearly bloodwork, weight check, blood pressure check, dental check, and a 3-yearly Pap smear (if you have the bits required to test!).
• Depression screenings: If you consistently have trouble concentrating and don’t find anything to look forward to in life, be screened for depression.
• Skin cancer checks: It can be hard to identify, and your 30s are a common decade for skin cancer diagnosis.

Health checks in your 40s

In your 40s, the life distractions of kids and a career in full swing often put your health on the backburner. Even if you do little else, though, make sure you get the following health screenings:

• Your regular health screenings: The same one you were getting in your 20s and 30s are still important.
• EKG: An electrocardiogram should be done yearly; measuring your heart’s electrical activity can warn of arrhythmia and impending heart attack.
• Fecal occult blood tests: This health screening, though it can be embarrassing, is better than dying of fairly common colorectal cancer.

Health checks in your 50s and later

In many ways, people over 50 feel like they’ve hit a second prime. You’re at full earning capacity, and may even be unfettered by your darling children, as many of them will have moved out by this stage. Keep it positive in your 50s by getting the following health screenings.

• Regular health checks: Keep going with those.
• Bone density checks: To screen for early signs of osteoporosis
• Prostate exams: For men over age 50
• Mammograms: For women over age 50. These are offered free at periodic clinics around Australia.
• Vision and hearing checks: Deteriorating vision and hearing shouldn’t be a normal part of life in your 50s – have them checked regularly.

In addition, immunisations are important to maintain at all ages. Ask your doctor which shots are appropriate for you – most adults get a flu shot every year, tetanus booster every 10 years, and a pneumococcal shot every so often.

Health screenings take time – but they definitely free you from worry! Remember prevention is definitely better than cure and the quicker you are diagnosed for a potential problem, the quicker it can be treated. Doctors love to see people being proactive – so book a general health screening appointment today.

Britney Spears helps promote a healthy body image with her new campaign for Candies for Kohls.

Britney Spears, spokesperson for Candies for Kohl’s campaign recently released campaign pictures, before and after airbrushing, to dispel body image issues and promote a healthy body image for her young fans.

There have been significant gains in the last few years in regards to promoting healthy and realistic body shapes and a backlash to unrealistic models being used in fashion magazines and advertising.

Another celebrity to jump on the bandwagon includes Jennifer Hawkins, Myer spokesperson and ex Miss Universe who posed for the February 2010 issue of marie claire magazine sans clothes and airbrushing. This also provided a mixed response from critics who felt it was more of a publicity stunt than trying to promote a healthy body image.

In marie claire’s exclusive interview, Jennifer Hawkins confesses that she never could have done a shoot like this two years ago.

“I would have been worried about what people thought, whether it was the right decision – a thousand different things… But over the past year and a half I’ve grown into myself, and I’m more confident and comfortable within the modelling industry. I did it for the experience… It felt quite sensual and sexy. I felt empowered”.

Bianca Dye who appeared nude in the November 2009 issue of marie claire slammed the magazine and said that pushing a 26-year-old Miss Universe winner as the pin-up for female body confidence is “just not right”.

“She was born beautiful. She has not had to go through any stress to look like that,” Dye told Confidential.

“Jackie Frank is one of the most respected editors in the country and I am in shock that they would say Jennifer Hawkins is a natural role model. It’s like we’ve taken 20 steps backwards.”

In a more positive direction, Sarah Murdoch appeared on the cover of Australian’s Woman’s Weekly last year in an untouched photograph, saying women should be able to embrace the beauty of ageing. The magazine photo shoot coincides with the release of a report by the Federal Government’s body image advisory group.

The Federal Government jumped on the positive body image bandwagon and late last year introduced a new National Advisory Group on Body Image. The Advisory Group will be chaired by former ACP magazine editor Mia Freedman who championed the ‘Body Love’ section in Cosmo magazine.

Members of the advisory group include model and media identity Sarah Murdoch, Girlfriend magazine editor Sarah Cornish, founder of the Butterfly Foundation, Claire Vickery and body image researcher Susan Paxton.

Last year the Government allocated $125,000 to establish the Code of Conduct, which will include consideration of the following issues:

• Clearer notification of altered or enhanced images, including digital alterations.
• Better representation of diverse body shapes and sizes.
• Appropriate industry age limits.

“The Government is committed to tackling negative body image from a national perspective, by helping young Australians to build confidence and resilience against the body image pressures that they face.

“Body image affects the lives of young Australians in very powerful ways and the Government is determined to make a difference over the long term,” said Kate Ellis.

But critics say that Kate Ellis put a four-inch heel wrong and sent mixed messages when she appeared in in Grazia magazine’s annual “Body Image Special”. The young politician donned a pair of killer $1,790 Gucci heels and curve-hugging $695 leather Karen Millen dress that looked more catwalk model than state figure.

Like successful plus-size model Crystal Renn who appeared on the cover of Sunday Life in mid April 2010, only to be upstaged by a stick-thin model a few pages away in the Fashion section, it seems to be a case of one step forward, one step back with designers and fashion editors doing a reluctance dance around the issue of positive body image.

With some designers only providing samples in size six or smaller for photo shoots, magazines can only use models who fit into those sizes.

But with the luxury clothing market taking a major hit in revenue in the Global Financial Crisis while mainstayers like Target and Kmart capitalised on providing affordable clothing, are the elitist designers starting to see the business sense of adding kilos and thus dollar figures to their clothing ranges?

Influential designer Karl Lagerfeld who famously said “No one wants to see curvy women,” seems to have finally embraced plus-sized models and did a photo shoot with the voluptuous burlesque dancer Miss Dirty Martini for V magazine.

Perhaps the tide is finally turning and the fashion industry will do more than pay lip service to promoting a healthy body image.

Flexible work arrangements can provide a work-life balance but also has its own unique set of challenges.

A lot of forward thinking companies are offering a work-life balance, embracing flexible work arrangements and recognise the benefits of employees working from home. However, before you speak to your manager about flexible work arrangements, find out all the ins and outs of working from home to put you in a stronger negotiating position.

Is flexible work arrangements really for you?

Working from home isn’t for everyone. While some people enjoy the freedom of working in their pyjamas and not having to suffer a long commute to work, others will feel socially isolated and prefer to come to a physical office and enjoy the day-to-day interaction with colleagues.

Before you make the big move, you may want to experiment and test the waters by spending a few days a week working from home to see whether if it is really for you. After the novelty wears out and the boredom or social isolation hits, you may find yourself longing for a traditional work environment.

Have you done your research?

There are many benefits for employees working from home and you need to include these advantages in your proposal to your boss. Some of these benefits include:

• increased motivation and productivity
• improved retention rate, lower absenteeism levels and increased loyalty
• cost savings for the company in terms of office space, stationary and other costs
• lower work-related expenses for the employee
• improved work-life balance and employee morale.

Is your job suited to flexible work arrangements?

Your role may be a client-facing role or require liaison with different team members or departments or working with technology or machinery and thus may not translate well to a work at home environment. Jobs that are ideal for flexible work arrangements have the following characteristics:

• a role that requires little face to face interaction
• a role that can work independently of a team such as a copywriter, designer or accountant
• a role that requires minimal software and equipment
• a role that requires minimal supervision.

Are you suited to working from home?

It’s important to get the runs on the board before trying to negotiate flexible workplace arrangements. While the nature of your role will be a huge factor in the decision making process, other key factors will include your work performance, work habits and personal characteristics. Here are some of the things your manager is likely to consider:

• Are you a person who is self-motivated and disciplined?
• Are you organised and able to manage your time efficiently?
• Are you able to work self-sufficiently and with minimal supervision?
• Do you meet or exceed job expectations?

Employees who constantly hit deadlines, can work with minimal supervision and can work independently of their colleagues are good candidates for working from home.

You may find that in order to achieve a work-life balance, you may enjoy a blend of working from home and working in an office. Flexible work arrangements and working from home bring their own unique challenges and isn’t for the faint-hearted so do your research before you transition into working from home.

Here are ways to change your outlook not your job description and improve your work satisfaction…

Can’t get no satisfaction at work? Lack of work satisfaction is one of the major causes for workplace stress, a high rate of absenteeism and a high company turnover. But is it you or the workplace that is making you feel this way and holding you back from achieving workplace happiness? Before handing in your notice, read these seven tips on you can increase your job satisfaction.

Identifying triggers for your personal work satisfaction

Psychologists have distinguished there is a link between your attitude to work and work satisfaction. They have identified three basic approaches to work and what motivates people to come to work. This could be a job, a career and a calling and each brings certain motivators and triggers for job satisfaction.

• Job: You do a job for nothing other than the pay cheque at the end of the week. This will have the greatest impact on whether you stay or go and achieve work satisfaction.
• Career: This involves a deeper personal investment in work. You mark your achievements through money, but also through advancement. Each promotion brings you higher prestige and more power, as well as a raise.
• Calling: A calling or vocation, on the other hand, is a passionate commitment to work for its own sake. The work is fulfilling in its own right, without regard for money or advancement.

Identifying the triggers for your job satisfaction, will help you to identify and adjust your expectations at work accordingly and find a job, career or calling that will bring you the most work satisfaction in line with those goals and aspirations.

Nature of the work vs nature of the job

The secret to job satisfaction? It’s not just about the work you do, but the people you do it with, according to a study published on March 2010 in the online Journal of Applied Psychology. The authors expected to find that the nature of the work affected job satisfaction, but they were surprised that social factors were even more important to job satisfaction.

Frequent interaction with others, office friendships and emotional support were strong predictors of job satisfaction. So the next time you want to skip out on office work drinks or miss out on a birthday lunch, take the time to bond with your colleagues and this may increase your workplace happiness and work satisfaction.

Pinpoint the exact problem of your work dissatisfaction

It’s important to find out why you are unsatisfied at work and the cause of your unhappiness. What exactly are you struggling with? This may be one central problem or a combination of problems.

Is it due to difficult co-workers, a long commute to work, poor working conditions, working excessive hours or your job role? Once you work out the exact nature of your unhappiness, you will be able to work out a course of action and tackle the problem head on.

Accept that workplaces are not perfect

It’s inevitable that you will be working with people where there may be a personality clash or you may not have any common ground or interests. The beauty of being human is we all have different communication styles, personality traits, and ways of thinking and doing things.

You don’t have to necessarily want to party with your colleagues on Friday night although that does help but you do have to maintain a level of professional courtesy, accept the inevitable personality differences and be respectful of your different working styles.

Revaluate your work goals

Perhaps your unhappiness at work is due to unfulfilled personal and professional goals. Remember this may only be a stepping stone to your dream job. Find ways to ease the boredom of your role and create new challenges for yourself within the scope of your role. This may include the following:

• taking on a new and exciting project;
• volunteering for new tasks;
• furthering your education and training;
• mentoring a new employee.

Working with a different team or department, focusing on your career development and improving your skills development may give you a fresh perspective and increase your work satisfaction.

Maintain a work-life balance

Those unhappy in life are unlikely to find satisfaction at work, a new study published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology in March 2010 says.

Keeping a balance in your lifestyle is important; if it’s all work and no play, you may find your enthusiasm starting to wane. In order to maintain balance in your lifestyle, the first step is to take an overview of your current lifestyle and see which areas are out of balance.

You should make for other important priorities in your life such as family, friends and other hobbies and interests such as the gym. Overtime is a necessary evil but if you find that it is the exception and not the rule, you need to take stock of your work situation and bring your life back into balance.

Think positive

Before a lack of job satisfaction turns you to drinking, take a ‘glass half full’ mentality and look at the positives of your workplace. Walking in with an optimistic attitude and see if changing detrimental and negative talk patterns can help you see your situation more clearly – it may not be as bad as you think.

Assess your current state of mind, and make some changes in yourself so that you see things in a more positive light, and you may just find you’re much happier where you are in life!

There are just a few of the things that may change your outlook and increase your work satisfaction. If you’re hopping from workplace to workplace and you find the same problems cropping up, you may just find the common denominator is you! So find out what motiviates you to come to work, what makes you happy or unhappy and face the real cause of your problems.

The Nintendo Wii and Wii Gadgets herald the beginning of an era … here are some of the coolest Wii gadgets for all ages.

The Nintendo Wii was only launched in only 2006 but it has quickly become one of the biggest selling console systems in the world and there are many Nintendo Wii gadgets to go with it. The console offers some very fun games for both the young, and young at heart! The Nintendo Wii is one of the most innovative games consoles we’ve seen in the past decade – here are some of the equally innovative Wii gadgets that you buy as optional extras.

Wii Remote controller

This Nintendo Wii gadget isn’t exactly an optional extra … but it is very cool nevertheless! It contains accelerometers that measure movement in any direction, and  also translate the speed. The Wii remote controller is  called a Wiimote (even though that sounds a lot like toddler talk!), and is what makes it possible to perform such life-like activities with a Wii.

Wii Nunchuck controller

The Wii nunchuck controller is used in conjunction with the main Wiimote. You plug it into the bottom of the Wiimote and (if you’re right handed) use your left hand on the nunchucks, and your right hand on the main Wiimote. Heeee-YA!

Wii MotionPlus

The MotionPlus add-on for your Wiimote makes it more sensitive to the slight wrist movements that are needed for some games. If you want to play tennis, golf, or the Sports Resort games, you’ll need a MotionPlus add-on. This Nintendo Wii gadget doesn’t require as much learning and thinking as the nunchucks, but does require greater precision than you might be used to if you’ve been using the standard Wiimote extensively.

Wii Wheel

It makes sense on paper, but try to say ‘Wii Wheel’ without sounding like you’re talking to a baby! For fans of the original Mario Kart (we’re old enough to buy our own consoles now!), the Wii Wheel is specifically designed for use with car racing games. Some reviewers find that the nunchuck-Wiimote combo works better for particular games, however … even reviewers that never played Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)!

Wii Balance Board

The Nintendo Wii Balance Board is included with the Fit Plus game pack, and it lets you do some pretty awesome things. Skateboard without fear of smashed kneecaps, evade flying cannonballs, hula hoop, throw snowballs … this pack’s main feature is the workout and fitness tracker, but it definitely has something for every taste.

Wii 5-in-1 Fitness Bundle

For grownups who love using the Nintendo Wii as a portable gym, the 5-in-1 fitness bundle is a must have Nintendo Wii gadget. These are all ease-of-use accessories rather than extra controllers (hence the ultra-low price for a 5-pack). The following is included:

• Textured foot socks for traction;
• Travel Bag;
• Jeli Sleeve for the Wii Balance Board;
• Fitness Mat;
• Rechargeable Battery Pack and USB cable.

Nintendo Wii represents value for money – not only will it amuse the kids from three years up but it also has a lot of games and optional extras for adults that will have you fighting over the controllers. The Nintendo Wii has great games available but also has some great Nintendo Wii gadgets and add-ons and doubles up as an exercise and fitness tool making it a worthwhile investment for the whole family.

The Australian online dating industry grew by 5 per cent last year and is expected to grow by a further 5 to 10 per cent this year so what’s stopping you from putting your heart on the line?

Model turned author Tara Moss wrote in her blog about her recent experiences with online dating and how she met her now husband on a popular dating site. Once a stigma, online dating is seen as the intelligent way of searching for a partner. Each of the major Australian dating websites have in excess of a million members. So if it’s good enough for Tara Moss, could it be enough for you take the plunge and see if you click with someone online?

What online dating website should I join?

One of the most popular websites is RSVP but the online dating website you join will ultimately depend on how narrow or wide you want to cast your net. There are websites that cater for people looking for specific criteria; whether you are looking for people who are a specific culture or religion, have interests such as fitness, you’re looking for a casual or serious relationship or even looking for a millionaire.

If you’re too scared to join up to an online dating site, you may want to dip your toe in the water and add Zoosk to your Facebook account. Zoosk is an application integrated with social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and Hi5. Facebook has over 400 million active users and Zoosk is a popular tool which has been added by over 8 million Facebook members and has 924,346 fans.

How do online dating websites work?

With most traditional websites, you create a profile on the site which generally includes your photo, a small blurb about yourself and what you are looking for in a partner and your hobbies and interests. The profiles are approved by the moderator of the website to make sure they are appropriate for the website ie no profanity or indecent pictures.

Usually, you will get a far better response (3 to 10 times better!) with a posted picture than without. If you’re worried about privacy, some sites even let you password protect your photo and only allow members you select to view it. After your profile is approved, you are free to search through the list of members and contact any members that catch your eye.

Some recently launched websites in Australia such as eHarmony and MyType (owned by the same company as RSVP) match people based on their psychological profiles. Unlike other conventional online websites, your profile will only be sent to people who are considered a compatible match for you. This may be based on core values like character, intellect, sense of humour, spiritual beliefs, passion, and other factors so don’t lie on in your test!

How much will it cost to join an online dating website?

Most online websites do not charge a fee for you to join the online website but may charge a subscription or one off fee for contacting members. Monthly fees may vary so investigate the cost of membership before you join. You don’t want to meet the love of your life and be unable to contact him or her due to financial constraints!

There are far and few free online dating services to choose from and be wary that if a site may be free such as Craiglist, it may not be managed as well and as safe. One free online dating service you may want to try is Oasis Active which claims to be a 100% free dating service for singles. Members can create profiles and contact other members for free.

So what are the rules for online dating?

There are certain precautions to take when finding a potential mate online. The Craigslist killer springs easily to mind! Experts suggest that if you are serious about finding a relationship online that you do not spend weeks on end talking to a potential match and meet up in the first few weeks.

This is good for two reasons; you can rule out the tyre kickers who are just interested in cyber chats and maybe more and you can see whether you have chemistry face to face beyond a pixelated image. Be careful not to create a false intimacy with someone you haven’t met and may not be attracted to in real life.

Make sure you meet in a public place during the day and give a good friend or relative the details of your meeting place, who you are meeting and their contact details. Arrange a backup plan for your friend to ring you so if the date isn’t proceeding as you wish, you can make an excuse and leave quickly.

Online dating not your thing?

If you are working in a high-profile position or you are just simply afraid to put your profile online, you may want to try an executive dating agency instead. These boutique agencies will charge higher fees from $1,600 – $6,000 depending on the individual agency and the level of package you choose.

However you will be afforded a higher level of discretion and confidentiality than an online dating website and your potential matches will be vetoed by your agency who may even do a full security check on whether they have had any previous convictions, their marital status and whether they have been bankrupt and their financial status.

Agencies you may want to try are Blue Label Life which claims to have an unrivalled 92% success rate based on a scientifically proven CQ Test to measure compatibility. Elite Introductions is also a very popular agency with offices in Sydney and Melbourne. Trudy Gilbert, the Trudy Gilbert, the Director and Founder is a regular guest on the Today Show.

So what are you waiting for? Put your profile and heart on the line … and join an online dating website. Remember it’s a numbers game so the more people you meet, the closer you are to finding your perfect match. Whether you’re just testing the waters or plunged right into the online dating pool, having all these people pay attention to you may be the ego boost you need to get out of your dating rut.

Easter school holidays are the perfect time to seek out some local activities organised within your community during the term break. School holiday camps and programs are offered by local city councils, art and dance studios, sport organisations, nearby farms and zoos and parks. Here are some tips and ideas to keep children happy and busy during their Easter school holidays…

Activities for home

When you factor the sugar-buzz of all that available chocolate into the mix, Easter school holidays without a set plan can be a trying time! If you put a little time and effort into doing activities with your kids, you’ll often find that the payback is several hours where they’ll play quietly by themselves. There are a lot of Easter school holiday activities that can be done at home at little cost.

Making bunny footprints

If you have younger children, they’ll love creating decorated ‘bunny footprints’ that will lead to the locations of their hidden Easter Eggs on Easter Sunday! Alternatively, make the footprints yourself and set them out to lead to the hidden egg locations.

Making coloured Easter eggs

There are several ways you can do this. For a no-calorie activity, blow real eggs by making a pinprick in either end and gently blowing through the top hole until the white and yolk has all dribbled out the bottom. You could also melt white chocolate in a double-boiler; add different colours of food dye to different batches, and set them in Easter egg moulds to make your own coloured chocolate eggs.

Painting blown egg shells and filling with liquid chocolate

Combine two wonderful activities by first blowing your eggs, then filling with liquid chocolate. Make sure you rinse the blown eggs well for this activity – a small syringe (with a needle – grown-up help needed!) is ideal for getting water into that tiny hole for rinsing, and then for getting the liquid chocolate in. If you’ve used the two-hole blowing method, plug up the bottom of the egg with Blu-tac, and wait til the chocolate is set before removing the plug and painting.

School holiday programs and camps

Some kids just crave the company of many other kids – these early social butterflies can be best occupied by an Easter school holiday program. These may be run by a local library, a council, or a sporting organisation. Your kids might enjoy movie days, try-a-sport days, craft days, etc.

Sometimes there is a charge associated with the programs … sometimes you just need to book really, really early! Check with your program that you don’t have to remain with your kids for the activities – this might be required if they are under a certain age. It would kind of defeat the purpose, too for Easter holiday fun activities.

Balancing work and family during the school holidays

Even once kids are well past the stage of wanting to stick things in powerpoints and the VCR, there is a lot of trouble they can get into while home alone. While it is temptingly easy to leave older children at home alone while you go to work, it isn’t always safe … for your carpets, your kitchen, or your kids! The general advice is to wait until your child is 12 before you consider assessing whether they are able to stay at home alone.

Make sure you book your Easter school holidays’ annual leave well in advance as it is always a popular time to have holidays.  If you cannot take annual leave and the children are not old enough to stay at home, arrange for the children to be looked after by a responsible friend or relative or send them to a school holiday camp (see above) to be looked after in a fun, safe and nuturing environment.

Easter school holidays can be an opportunity to have fun with your kids, for them to make new friends and try new activities, and even for them to start establishing their independence. Book your annual leave early and prepare activities in advance to give them a safe and enjoyable school vacation.

So what does your online presence say about you? A study commissioned by Microsoft surveying 1,200 HR professionals and 1,200 consumers showed 70% of hiring managers have rejected candidates based on what they found online. Find out more about the role  social media websites and online reputation management plays in job searching today.

Why is online reputation management so essential?

Online searches have become such a standard practice that only 2% of recruiters surveyed did not research their applicants online. Search Engines were the biggest research tool with a huge 78% of recruitment agents googling their applicants, 63% looking at social media sites, 59% looking at photo and video sharing sites and 48% found their way to professional and business working sites.

Some of the reasons why potential candidates were rejected were: concerns about their lifestyle (58%), inappropriate comments and text written by candidates (56%), unsuitable photos, videos and information (55%), inappropriate comments or text written by friends and families (43%) and comments criticising previous employers, co-workers or clients (40%).

What can you do to manage your online reputation?

Only 30 – 35% of respondents (depending on nationality) surveyed felt that their online reputation had little impact or significance when searching for a new job so how do you become part of the savvy majority? To a certain extent, you cannot control what people are saying and posting about you online but there are certain steps you can take to manage your online reputation:

• Ensure your Facebook can only be accessed by your friends online and control what is shown on the search results page. You can also adjust your privacy settings and opt out of public searches altogether.
• Don’t post any discriminating photos or videos online and ask your friends and family not to ‘tag you’ in any photos on Facebook without your authorisation to help manage your online reputation.
• Disable the auto-follow function on Twitter and protect your tweets. Remember when people respond to your tweets, this also appears on your profile. Search engines are also starting to index tweets in their search engine results.
• If you have an online blog, be careful not to write anything that might hurt your future job prospects. Make sure you also monitor comments online as well.
• Exercise caution when writing blog comments, participating in forums or engaging in social media activities. These may be linked back to you or your blog.
• Use a separate email account for work and your online social media activities and keep your public and private life separate.

Online reputation management is made even easier by setting up a Google alert. With this free service, you can search news, blogs, web, video, or groups for mentions of your name and get alerts instantly, once a day, or once a week.

What are the ethical implications of online search?

HR professionals searching online to find out information about applicants brings up some ethical concerns. The dangers of online search are that recruiters can easily and anonymously find out information about you that they would not be permitted to ask in an interview or application form. This may include:

• your marital status and age;
• your religious or cultural background;
• whether you are planning a family;
• medical history and;
• financial background.

Although this is very hard to prove and prosecute, anti-discrimination laws still apply so if you think you have been discriminated against, you should speak to the anti-discrimination body in your region. Of the HR professionals surveyed, 75% said their companies had a formal policy in place to research applicants online and 79% of US recruiters check reputational data.

So how do you exercise damage control?

So what can you do if you have posted a photo, comment or video in cyberspace and the past has come back to haunt you or someone has written something unfairly about you? In the world of job seeking, any publicity is not good publicity, it may just all be bad. And remember, it is very difficult to remove a listing from a search engine once it has been published.

Susan Moskwa, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst says to “reduce its [bad publicity] visibility in the search results by proactively publishing useful, positive information about yourself or your business.”

Ways you can proactively manage your online reputation and publish positive information are:

• The easiest way is to remove the negative comment at the source. Email the owner of the blog or website and ask them to remove the offending post or allow you to post a response in return.
• To counter negative comments about your skills and/or business, ask your clients who are happy with your services to post good reviews.
• Ask your previous managers and/or colleagues to post recommendations for you on business social networking websites like LinkedIn.
• Create your own blog where you can write posts about news and views, tips and tricks and other issues relevant to your industry. If you have an uncommon name, it shouldn’t take much effort at all to appear on page one of the search engine listings.
• As well as creating your own blog, write guest posts, comments on blogs or participate in forums that are relevant your industry and establish yourself as an expert in the field.
• Establish a positive social media presence if you haven’t done so already by creating a Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn account and again, this should rank well in search engines.

The good news is that all this hard work and online reputation management will not go unnoticed with almost half of human resources professionals in the United States surveyed stating that a positive online reputation influences the candidate’s application to a great extent.

In light of all this research, never post anything online that you would not want to talk about in an interview. The reality of today’s competitive job market is that a 140 character tweet that took you two seconds may have more relevance than your two page resume you spent hours updating. So while social media networks are becoming almost essential for interacting with busy friends and family, online reputation management is even more important for job searching and ongoing career development.

The past 30 years have shown us that house prices generally double every 7-10 years. This makes it more and more difficult for  first home buyers to get their foot in the door of their very own property. Here are some  tips to save for a house deposit for potential home owners low on funds but high on motivation to buy their first home.

Create a budget - ensure that you are in a positive cash flow position with more money coming in than going out. If not, cut back on unnecessary items and start curbing your spending habits. If your mobile phone bill is excessive, change to a pre-paid plan, move in with your parents or reduce the amount of money spent on eating out and entertainment.

Writing down your spending behaviour – Remember that budgets usually reflect 20% less than your actual spending. By writing down what you actually spend your budget will be more realistic and and you will be able to analyse where you are spending more than you should or where you are shortchanging yourself  in regards to necessary items like food or transport.

Get rid of credit card debt – The high interest rates on your credit cards mean that you should pay these off first before you start to save. It may delay the process but just as credit card debt snowballs in the wrong direction, when it is moving in the right direction it goes just as fast.

Pay your investment first- Saving for a house deposit also includes dedicating an affordable amount into your budget to go towards your house loan savings. Pay this first, bills second and only spend what is left over. Getting into a regular habit of putting money aside will put you in good stead when you do get a mortgage.

Make the most of your savings – Chose a premium savings account and preferably one that has a high level of interest and low fees. You may find separating your accounts into spending, expenses and savings makes it easier to save and get together a house deposit.

Understand how much you need to save – there are always unexpected costs that creep in at settlement so it is a good idea to find out what these are and have an extra $5000 up your sleeve to prevent the deal from going unexpectedly pear shaped.

Keep an eye on the market – This is vital. Start to investigate the trends in the market so that you understand what you should be paying when you are ready to make your purchase. Go to open house inspections and start looking at real estate websites to get a feel for the market.

Getting together a home loan deposit can be tough, especially for first time buyers but by following these tips and being patient, you will be able to save for a home deposit and develop good financial management skills in the process. Whatever your circumstance, putting aside money each week and being realistic about the property market and what area you can afford to buy in will get you into the property market a lot sooner than you think.