What do I do during recession?

Employee - What do I do during recession?

Markets

1 We all know that markets have slumped

2 We read about job-loses in news papers

3 People talk about atleast 24 months of recession

4 Early entrants are not getting jobs

5 Companies are closing

6 Sales are not picking up

7 Suddenly cash has evaporated from the market

8 Profitability is severely hit

I am employee

1 I need to keep my job

2 I need to pay EMIs

3 I have a family to run

4 I need to keep working to sustain myself

5 I need to feel secure

6 I need to save a little money for a rainy day

Basic Don’ts

1 Do not take too much vacation

2 Do not ask for promotion. Don’t ask for a salary increase. If you ask, you may soon not have a job. Remember, there are people available with better skills at lower salary levels.

3 Do not complain

4 Do not waste time gossiping

5 Don’t resist a transfer

6 Don’t resist travel

7 Don’t resist a salary cut

8 Don’t resist extra-work load

9 Don’t resist extra time at office if needed

10 Don’t change jobs in this market. It is too risky.

Basic Do’s

1 Be punctual to office

2 Ensure you pick up new skills

3 Ensure you deliver as per deadlines

4 Ensure that you contribute to knowledge forums etc

5 Do something innovative

6 Take training programs

7 Organize team meeting to improve productivity

8 Always be engaged & productive

9 Work doubly hard and save money for your company

10 Remember, your boss is always right and is the best (recession or no recession)

11 Be cheerful, keep smiling, life goes on

Daily Expenses

1 Take a stock of your expenses – actually write it down

2 Tick “Need to have” vs. “Nice to have”

3 Knock off all “Nice to have expenses” – Right Now!

4 Assuming you didn’t have a job – Plan for cash to survive for 24 months. Apparently, this recession will take atleast 24 months to come out of. Sit on cash!

5 Other tips to cut expenses –

a Going to malls is expensive
b Good restaurants are expensive
c Impulsive shopping is expensive
d Taking flights is expensive
e Eating out daily is expensive
f Check services which you are not using but have subscribed to
g Going on vacations is expensive

The big loans

1 Home Loan & EMI

2 If you own one home and you are living in it and paying EMI, then see if you can partially fore-close it.

3 If you have two homes and paying EMI on both –

4 See if you can rent the second home – don’t bother about amount of rent. Rent to get cash flows going. Don’t feel bad that rental is not good enough. Trust me – it will soon be a great feeling to rent.

5 If you have enough money, then fore-close a significant part of it. If your interest rate is less than bank FD (which I doubt), then you don’t have to fore-close.

6 If you think the property will fetch a decent value, then sell it (though it is a buyer’s market)

Do I buy anything now? Do I invest?

1 Investing in stock and mutual funds?

2 Generate spare money every month – take a Systematic Investment plan (about 15% of your salary) – keep buying at low values for the next 24 months.

3 Buy an asset – buy a house/apartment/land?

4 If you have cash and feel secure, this is a great time to buy. You can negotiate hard with builders/developers. Actually, you can write your own terms on the agreement.

5 First preference – Buy Land (always buy small sites, it is easier to dispose. Else farm land is a great option – big land, low cost).

6 Second preference – Buy House + Land (again buy from known developers).

7 Third preference – Buy apartment (you always wanted to buy that 3-bed/4-bed apartment from a reputed builder, but could never afford) – now is the time to ask for free. Some are being sold at ridiculous prices.

I am looking for a job – what do I do?

1 Enroll in a course / training / education as you are searching for a job. It enhances your skills.

2 Enroll as a trainee anywhere you get an opportunity. Most trainees end-up getting confirmed employment as a build relationships in the company.

3 Do not have any preferences regarding – City, Salary, Designation, Location, Shift etc. Just take it and gain experience. It is the first step to a long career.

4 Go through references of people who are already working.

5 During job-interviews – the keyword which employers are looking for is “flexibility.”

6 Agree for “any place/date/time” to take job interviews. If you don’t somebody else will take that interview slot.

7 Please improve your communication skills – this one skill fetches jobs!

These suggestions are tough – do I live life or not?

1 The new principle – “Happiness is inversely proportional to expectations/desires”. More the expectations / desires – lesser the happiness and vice versa.

2 Some other ways to live great life –

3 Spend time with family – go for a picnic in a nearby garden.

4 Exercise and walk a lot, drink lots of water.

5 Listen to Radio, watch some TV.

6 Visit Libraries, read books which you purchased, but never had a chance to open them.

7 Go to friends place a for a dinner.

8 Enroll into a hobby – music, painting etc.

9 Do social service – start teaching, mentoring etc.

10 Spend more time with your children.

11 Join laughter forum, attend conferences and meet interesting people.

12 Go for concerts.

Don’t worry – what goes down will always go upMarkets will rebound – these tips will prepare you to be a winner.

her family tree from Geni.com

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Anand retains world chess title

POST DIWALI: Anand brings `Anandam' to India

India's chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand put to rest the doubtshovering over his status as the 15th classical world chess championwhen he defeated Russia's Vladimir Kramnik 6.5-4.5 in the World ChessChampionship match played at Bonn, Germany on Wednesday. Anand won theduel and retained his world champion title after drawing the eleventhgame against Kramnik in this revengematch. Anand had earlier in 2007 won the unified world championshipheld at Mexico City, where Kramnik finished second and got theeligibility to challenge the champion.

"Behind every successful man, there is a woman," says an anonymousquote. Even though Anand's mother Sushila Viswanathan and his wifeAruna are given credit for his overwhelming success in the chessfield, the third world title, which Anand pocketed at Bonn was notmainly due to the "Queens" at home. Rather the success was because ofthe "Queen pawn opening" that he opted to play in five of the sixgames with white pieces. In the final game, Anand opened with histraditional king pawn and coasted to a draw in 24 moves.

It was a startling sight, when Anand moved the queen pawn first ingame two of the championship and chess pundits felt the adoption of1.d4 with white was a masterstroke. "First we thought either the movewas a secret preparation or rather a mask to hide his preparations forthe latter stage of the competition. But it was not to be," they added.

As the match progressed, Anand persisted with the opening andcompletely drew Kramnik out of his preparation. It is natural thatKramnik would have spentmost of his preparation time and energy on plans to counter Anand'sking pawn opening. The change of strategy by Anand at the crucialchampionship caught Kramnik unaware. According to popular chesssoftware, Anand has played 1. d4 only 67 times in 885 games with whitepieces.

Anand's preparation was so good that he never looked in trouble andhad significant pressure in most of the games barring the single lossin the tenth game. His former second Elizbar Ubliava said Anand is a"creator" in chess and he always thinks ten moves ahead of others inany given position.

A meticulous worker, Anand has done a complete groundwork for queenpawn opening. Moreover, adding 1. d4 to one's repertoire is veryimportant because a world champion is expected to be a versatileplayer and Anand has proved it in the strongest of tournaments, theworld championship itself.

On the psychological side too, Anand kept his coolness. At the startof the championship, chess grandmasters worldwide predicted a toughduel and expected the battle to be decided by subtleties in thenano-region. But Anand proved everyone wrong with his strongtheoretical preparations, especially with the d4 opening.

The cushion of three points lead in the early part of the game helpedAnand tremendously when Kramnik won the tenth game. Despite winningthe title, Anand shared the $ 3 million prize fund with Kramnik asagreed before the start of the championship.

With this success, Anand has settled his personal score with Kramnikand now they have equal number of wins (7) against each other. Beforethe match Anand and Kramnik had played 51 games against each other, inwhich Anand has won four games, Kramnik six games and the rest drawn.

Also, through this victory, 39-year-old Anand confirmed to the worldthat he is a successful match player. Anand's first world championship title came from a knockout world championship held at New Delhi and Tehran in 2000.

Get jobs that you want not jobs that want you

Hello All,
Today I attended an ET at Campus program organised by the Coimbatore Economic Times R&D department at Sri Venkateswara College of Management.
Mr Pradeep Yuvaraj, Director-Educational Services, Finarva Financial Solutions Private Limited addressed the students.
I am just leaving below my observation and what I learnt from the lecture.
Regards,
Sujatha.

“Get jobs that you want not jobs that want you”

This was the theme of the lecture.
According to him, campus interview doesn't take one far unless the student is interested in the business of the company that recruits him/her. Instead Mr Yuvraj's suggestion is that students should look out for companies that interests them.
Not all companies come calling for students in the campus. And the companies that come aren't really what the students aspire. But invariably good pay package leads the students to that company and they in the end feel lost.
Mr Yuvaraj gave an example of how 21 of his students joined an insurance company and quit within three months. ``The students are lured by the companies and are paid well... but in reality the students should think whether the job suits them and whether they want to make a career out of it,'' Mr Yuvaraj said.
So, the solution is the students should develop their own area of interest and look for job opportunities in that area. ``Instead of wiating for campus placements, the students should jump start and look for opportunities themselves... and in order to do so, they have to develope their knowledge and skill in that area,'' Mr Yuvarajan said.

ENDS

Thanks Chinna Periyamma!

Hi All,
Today I am very happy because I could be of some help to my friend... I helped my ex-colleague find a house for rent in Chennai. I was trying to help him through my relative-contacts in Chennai and today my favourite aunt - Chinna Periyamma came up with a house and he fixed it up by paying an initial advance. I really feel happy that even I am able to help someone in their hour of need. And my thanks to Chinna Periyamma for her timely help. Hip Hip Hurray!!!
Cheers,
Suji.

Welcome to Suji's World

Dear All,

Welcome to Suji's World.

It is a simple and easy world to live in.

Just relax, do what you want to and not harm any one.

Don't waste your time thinking about others. Just think only when it is needed and always talk positive about others.

Will keep in touch.

Cheers,
Sujatha.