What should we know about your job??

gingercordial

Not a great deal to offer from the accountancy/tax profession, but there is a charity called Tax Aid which gives free advice and support to those who can't afford to pay for a professional tax adviser, eg for queries on how to do their tax return or what deductions they're entitled to:

http://www.taxaid.org.uk/

Other than that, HMRC are incredibly helpful most of the time! They really will talk you through every box on your tax return if that's what you need.

madmalteaser

helenm1005 wrote: »

I work for the NHS too - surprisingly we don't get many perks at all do we???

I guess that depends on what part of the NHS you work for. As someone who works for the ambulance service we get free cinema tickets if we flash our ID cards, free entry into certain clubs and most of us are cheeky enough to ask if anywhere does discounts for ambulance staff and occasionally our cheekiness is rewarded!!

blueworldgirl

I work for a personal injury law firm.

If you are unlucky enough to have an accident and decide that you want to make a claim make sure that the solicitor acting for you makes no deductions from any compensation you receive. Get them to confirm this in writing to you before you sign anything. Some firms will deduct several hundred pounds from your compensation and there are many solicitors firms out there who make sure you will get 100% of the compensation.

Jennie_2

I work in local advertising - helping businesses advertise their services and getting more clients and customers.

Local Newspapers give free editorial for local businesses. Contact them to see if they will do a piece about you, especially if you do something that bit different or have an interesting story to tell.

For example:

A lady painter and decorator
A restaurant with an exciting new menu
Fulfilling a life long ambition to open a .....
How what you do benefits the community

This is an opportunity to get over your USP. Unique Selling Point. To convey what makes your business special and why people should use you.

Secondly when you want to advertise in the local and/or community type publications, always ask for a better price after you have been quoted the rate. It is there!!! If they say they can't/won't ask them to call you near their deadline. They don't want "empty" space that they have to fill with an in-house advert so chances are they will call. Persevere. You will get a better price!!!

You are very welcome to PM me if I can be of further help!!

wilburpig

For Teachers:
If you are a teacher, you can often get free entry into museums and exhibitions if you tell them you are arranging a class trip.

TFL gives free transport on buses, tubes and trains within London for educational visits, you just go and book them on their website 3 weeks before the trip. That means a completely free school trip if your destination is also free eg the science museum.

There are loads of websites with downloadable worksheets, activities, IWB resources and powerpoint presentations. It's worth a bit of research before you reinvent the wheel.

Schools often give staff free school lunch if you are willing to eat with the kids - very moneysaving if they are edible!!

Never buy books and stationery for work out of your own money intending to claim it back as you often don't get round to it - try and put it on an official order paid for by the school.

For Parents:

If you need to speak to your child's teacher about something, try to do it after school, as things are really hectic at the beginning of the day.

If your child has special needs of any kind, make sure you touch base regularly with the teacher or teaching assistant to make sure they have remembered what your child needs, if you feel they aren't on top of things don't sit back and wait, ask. Teachers are very busy, have lots of children and your child may be overlooked. Do not be afraid to be pushy - you may not be liked for it, but your child will get what they need.

If anything important happens in your family life that may affect your child at school, let the teacher know - we are very discreet and it really helps, often things only come to light when there is a problem at school and the parent is called in, only to mention a divorce or a bereavement as an afterthought.

If you want your child to do as well as they can at school, sleep is crucial. Have a regular bedtime, with a bedtime routine, which happens every night, including weekends if possible. Be firm. Give your child time in the morning to wake up and eat a good breakfast. It's astounding how much better a child does if they are well rested and fed.

boadicea_2

I currently work as a croupier and the best advice I can give anyone is DON'T come anywhere near a casino. You will NOT win, the system is based on people loosing. Casinos (although they will tell you otherwise) make their money from gambling addicts. These people were once just curious, or out for a fun night - and got hooked.
The Casino's biggest ally is human nature - those that loose, want to win it back, and those that win, want to win more - and eventually it all ends up in the Casino's coffers.
Remember if you do go into a Casino, and loose, please be polite. I've been called everything from "cow" to "!!!!!", and had people shouting at me when they loose. It really isn't my fault if you're a sodding addict. Go to a clinic and get treated!!! :mad:

I am also a qualified physio. If you want to get the most from your money, please do take notice: if a physio tells you to do exercises or treatment at home, DO THEM. Else you are wasting both your and the physio's time, and your money. Oh, and please wash - you'd be amazed how many people turn up for a massage or whatever, without bothering to shower... _pale_

Steel_2

I'm a freelance marketing writer so I guess most of my advice would only be suitable for business owners and marketing executives. These are little niggles I've come across time and time again over the last few years.

1) Your customer isn't interested in your or your company. They are interested in what you can do for them, what benefits you can bring to them and how you will make their life easier. So many companies start off their letters, emails and websites going into great detail about when they were founded, how long they've been going yada yada yada and then wonder why they get no response.

2) Be genuinely interested in your customers. People have a very good !!!!!!!! detector and if they suspect you don't give a toss and are lining your pockets at their expense it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. Help your customers and be honest with them. If your product isn't suitable for them, tell them so. You may not get the sale, but you'll earn kudos for being honest and they'll probably send a friend or family member to you who would be suitable.

3) "All publicity is good publicity". Wrong. Bad publicity is damaging publicity. Otherwise Ratners would still be around.

4) If you must write a press release, summarise the whole point of the release up front in the first sentance. Do not insert it halfway down the page amid a ton of other copy - get it up front. Assistant editors do not have the time to read all of the hundreds, if not thousands of press releases that land on their desk every month so get your story up front in the first paragraph and make it interesting!! They won't be reading any further than that. And keep the release under 500 words, preferably around 300. There's nothing worse than having to cut down an amazing amount of waffle into a small space to fit on a magazine page. Do their job for them - keep it brief and succinct and they'll like you.

5) If you must write your own marketing materials, spend as long on the headlines as you do on the rest of text and make sure they are targeted to exactly the right audience. Many people don't have time to read vast quantities of text and scan documents by the headlines and sub-headings to see if it's something they want to read further. So, if your market is single mothers with two children, say in your marketing materials "If you're a single mother with two children". Don't try and address every woman under the sun. The scattergun approach rarely works.


6) If you can't write or don't have the time to write your own marketing materials don't spend days trying to do it. Work out how much your time is worth and then balance that against finding a decent writer who can do it for you instead. I've met business owners who've stayed up until stupid hours of the morning writing their own stuff only to feel their best effort isn't very good. Work to your strengths, not your weaknesses.

mae

evab wrote: »

Hi, i work in a college

To get free PGCE/Cert ED (just finished my first year) contact the education department of your local council, they will set you up with the information you need to get the funding for the course and a student loan if you want it.

I echo a previous a post about LearnDirect courses.

Also contact the college r.e. services such as hair cuts, beauty treatments, meals (as mentioned before), and lots more dependent on the subject area. the students need the experience and practice so help them out at a fraction of the cost.

Thanks for that I am really interested in the PGCE/Cert ED but when you say you can get it funded is that just for people on benefits?

rubia1409_2

I work for an airline and the biggest piece of advice I can give is BE NICE! Be nice to the groundstaff, they are the main ones who can get you upgraded and if you're really nasty to them your bags may not end up where you are! Be polite and friendly to the cabin crew. We will always go out of our way to help people who are nice, whether it is trying to move their seat or get them a different meal from another class. Please please say please and thankyou when we serve you and make sure your children do too. Also please do not stack up the empty food containers on your tray once you've eaten. All the trays have to go back into the same trolley they came out of, and if they are stacked they won't

Storm

I've had a few questions about the PGCE/CertEd so thought I'd just pop in another quick post.

The course does have a fee attached, but you can apply through the Student Loan Company to get this paid for you. They are only interested in unearned income, so unless you've got a trust fund, BTL property etc you should be OK getting the fees paid.

You need to go through your local council as EvaB says - they'll give you the contact details of you local office of the SLC who can send you all the forms etc.

You may also be offered a small maintenance loan (about a grand I think) for each year of the course - obviously it's up to you whether you take it or not - if you're doing voluntary teaching experience then you may want to take it to help cover travel costs etc.

If anyone's got any more questions, please feel free to PM me

Storm