Dreading Open Enrollment Breeze Through It With These 6 Questions - Cubicle Chic

Dreading Open Enrollment Breeze Through It With These 6 Questions - Cubicle Chic Dreading Open Enrollment? Breeze Through It With These 6 Questions Career, Corporate Life, Lifestyle November 7, 2017 9 CommentsThank you Dignity Health for sponsoring this post. Enroll in humankindness.Ah, health insurance and open enrollment… something all of us have to live with yet none of us look forward to dealing with.   For those of us who work in Corporate America and buy health insurance through our employer, late October and early November is usually when “Open Enrollment” rolls around. When it does, we all collectively sigh a little bit in our heads. Leave a comment that says “UGH YES” if that’s you! Yes, a year has passed and yes, we have to spend time again scrolling through documents and make life and death decisions …just feels so pesky!But fear not! I’ve taken my own experience and hours of research and come up with a list of 6 questions to help you navigate this process! To make things more interesting, I’ve got an infographic, a cheat sheet for glossaries, and a simple Youtube video, among other things. I posted 6 questions for you to think about in order to prepare for Open Enrollment… are you ready??Do you know what aspect of your life Open Enrollment impacts?Open enrollment is a period when you make selections to choose the best benefits that will help you and your family. Part of this benefits package is health insurance, which is arguably the most important part of your benefits package.But there are other things that are part of your benefits package that you may want to look into tweaking during open enrollment â€" life insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance, child care reimbursement, FSA/HSA, etc. Know the different aspects of open enrollment and which part of your life these benefits impact!Do you understand all the terms and vocabularies regarding health insurance?Sometimes, they might as well be speaking a different language. I know for myself in most of my 20’s, I probably didn’t understand half of the nomenclature related to health insurance. Co-pay, ded uctible, HSA, PPO, HMO… they all escaped me. Just like learning a language, practice and experience make new words stick. So keep a useful glossary like this handy and available during open enrollment.Also, here is an amazing video that explains some of the common healthcare insurance terms in absolute simplicity:  Do you have big life events coming up?Depending on your age, gender, employment status, general health state, there are many ways to pick your health insurance coverage. But in general, there are a few life events that would dramatically change what kind of health insurance you would require:  Are you planning a wedding next year? You might want to consider your health insurance plan against your future spouse’s. One might be better than the other, so you might want to consider adding him/her onto your plan!Are you getting married next year your future spouse might need your insurance?If you are getting married, your spouse may benefit from your healthcare insurance if, for some reason, she or he doesn’t have their own insurance or has a less favorable plan than yours. You might want to consider what the premium will be for another person. It’s usually more expensive than your own premium. Getting married is one of the “qualified life events” that allows you to add more people to your health insurance plan, but it doesn’t allow you to change the plan itself. So if your future spouse has different medical needs than you, this is the time to consider that!Are you planning on having a baby biologically or via adoption?If you are, find out about two things â€" do you have a specific OB/GYN you want, and research on what kind of medical expenses you need to expect (standard pregnancy delivery related type of expenses as well as genetic testing if you are a bit older and fall into the high-risk group). Based on your answer, there is a list pregnancy related things you should find out from your insurance company to figure out how to best ch oose a plan.Do you plan on having major medical procedures done next year?If you are, you might want to increase your FSA or HSA contribution, so you have more pre-tax cash hanging around to pay for your planned medical procedure. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,r  oughly half of all collection accounts on credit reports are due to medical debt. To the extent that you can prepare, plan for these medical procedures ahead of time!Does your employer offer a webinar/seminar or benefits fair to go over the details of your options?If you’re getting health benefits from your employer, around this time (late October early November) is when they usually host an event where all your employee benefits are explained to you. This is when you go with all your questions ready so you can get one-on-one, individually based answers. Studies have shown that two-thirds of millennials wish they spent more time during open enrollment to look at their selections (see more statisti cs at the bottom of this post!). Don’t miss your one chance to ask questions and get the answer immediately!Do you understand the relationship between your lifestyle and your medical needs?Besides how often you fall sick and how dependent you are on seeing a doctor, there are many other factors in your lifestyle that may change your health insurance plan selection. For example, do you have acne problem and therefore need to see a dermatologist very often? Are you a rock climbing enthusiast and go out into nature to do outdoor climbs a lot, therefore need a plan that will cover your needs in case you get injured? Another factor is your relationship with your physician, whether be it specialty physician or family doctor… do you feel like you have to see this one particular doctor in order to have your medical needs met? If so, you might want to consider choosing a plan in which the doctor is an in-network physician.Being in California, one of the most interesting things I learned from a study done by Dignity Health is that most Californians don’t choose their insurance plan based on whether their preferred doctors are in the network or not (see infographic at the bottom of the page).   This is just something for you to consider.What are FSA/HSA and how do I know which one I need?These are some of the most confusing parts of Open Enrollment, as I found in my own experience. FSA and HSA are similar that  they both allow you to contribute to an account tax-free so you can spend the money on “qualified medical expenses” such as copay and other prescription costs.How they are different though and whether you should choose one or the other, takes more time to understand. Basically, HSA is only for people that are on high deductible health plans or HDHP. And if you’re not on that, FSA is the option for you. Here is a more in-depth comparison of the two savings plan if you are interested to dig deeper. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVE R and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Stressed out Join the club

Stressed out Join the club Who isnt stressed out right now.   There is so much going on in our lives.   If you are unemployed, there is financial stress, emotional stress, waiting stress (stress caused by waiting for a return call or status of interview).   If you are working, there is time management stress, and a myriad of job related stressors. I was almost hyperventilating yesterday, I couldnt take a deep breath.   There was this overwhelming feeling like I had too much to do and not enough time.   But you know what, I cause my own stress.   I am notorious for waiting until the last minute to get things done.   But instead of obsessing over all the things I needed to do, I wrote them all down on a list and went for a walk. Phew.   When I returned, I felt less overwhelmed and had a clearer idea of what I needed to do to get out of the weeds! Step one is recognizing what is causing this stress.   The more specific you can get in identifying the stress, the easier is can be to address it. 3 Ways to Reduce Stress: Physical: Introducing physical activities into your daily routine has been proven to reduce stress.   Walking, cycling, swimming, yoga or anything that gets you moving and gets your endorphins flowing. Emotional: Picking up an instrument, telling jokes (laughing), singing or any activity that would bring you emotional relief. Intellectual: Charging up the brain by solving a crossword puzzle or sudoku, a jigsaw puzzle, learning a new language, attending classes or teaching yourself   new skill can all chip away at stress too. Taking time for yourself to re-energize and eliminate stress can be so helpful.   As the flight attendants say, please secure your oxygen mask first so you may better assist those traveling along side you. Here are some additional posts to help you look at ways to reduce the stress in you life or at least recognize that you are not alone. Workplace Stress:   Top Tips for Career Survival from Debra Wheatman Everything Youre Doing Thats Stressing Out Employees from Business Insider *This post cites a recent study done by the American Psychological Association and the findings indicate that almost half surveyed are stressed by their low salaries. 5 Steps to Creating a Balanced Life from WorkAwesome What have you been doing to eliminate stress in your life? (Photo By mia.gant)

Five Questions to Ask Your Interviewer - Hallie Crawford

Five Questions to Ask Your Interviewer When preparing for an interview, most people focus on the questions that might be asked of them and how they will answer. But another key element of a job interview should also be questioning the interviewer themselves. Why would you interview the interviewer? First, its as important to you as it is to your potential employer. You need to know if the job is a good fit for your skills, talents and work style. Second, if there is an ideal work situation that you envision for yourself, now is the time to find out if this is that kind of place. Third, if you were dissatisfied with your last job, you can learn if things will be the same in this new place. Now is the time to ask questions, and find out the answers you seek! So the person who is doing the hiring has finished giving you the full drill. Now its your turn. What do you want to know? Let me offer some advice that I typically give my career coaching clients. Here are five key questions to ask: Question #1: Can you describe the work environment? If possible, find out how many people youll be reporting to. Ask if you can be introduced to your future boss if you havent already. Find out how many people make up the immediate department and in what ways will you be interacting with them. Try to open up a conversation about the general scene of the workplace, and the company culture what is a typical day in the life of someone who holds this position? Ask your interviewer that question too! Question #2: What types of responsibilities will be expected of me? Beware of open-ended job titles which can involve pretty much anything. You might be under the impression that the marketing coordinator does things like run and analyze reports, manage advertising campaigns and things of that nature. Then later on, you discover that your job responsibilities include proofreading and setting up meetings, neither of which you enjoy or excel at! Find out the details before you make a decision. Question #3: Is there potential for growth? Many companies have what is known as the glass ceiling where you have just a few opportunities to advance professionally, and then suddenly you hit a barrier and cant go any higher. Its one thing to receive a pay raise every year. But if youre forever stuck in the same job with the same duties, it may not be worth making the commitment. Find out whether the company youre interested in offers training programs for future leadership positions. Ask if there are openings in areas where you can develop valuable skills that you can take with you on the path of career development. Question #4: Can you tell me about employee benefits, sick day policy, vacations and such? This one should be saved for the second interview, assuming there will be one. Some employers find it off-putting when potentials seem overly eager about taking vacation before theyre even hired. Nevertheless, these are all legitimate questions that are important when weighing your options between different potentially rewarding jobs. Question #5: Will there be any travel involved? To some people, travel is a rewarding aspect of their career. But to others, things like being in an unfamiliar city and managing your time between flights, hotel check-ins, conferences and trade shows can be very stressful. So find out ahead of time: how much travel, if any, will be involved and under what circumstances? Do you find travel a stimulating part of doing business? Great. But if you think that travel could negatively impact your job performance, dont accept the offer no matter how enticing the pay. Theres a better fit out there for you! Many people go into the interview hoping and praying the company thinks theyre the right person for the job. But they are forgetting that its just as important to find out, Is this job the right one for me? Better to learn the answer up front. Remember a job interview is a two-way street. Make the most of yours. All the best for a rewarding and fulfilling career doing what you love! Job Search Help

How To Make A Better Resume That Will Land You Interviews

How To Make A Better Resume That Will Land You InterviewsIf you are applying for a job, your resume is most likely the first thing that an employer will see. A resume is the first and most effective means of showing an employer that you are a good fit for the position. With the difficulty of obtaining employment these days, employers are looking for the best people possible to fill positions that they need filled.In addition to making yourself stand out from the crowd, your resume is also meant to show your current skills. However, with so many opportunities available today, it can be quite difficult to find jobs without having a great resume. This is especially true if you are an older person, or if you lack a college degree. Fortunately, there are resources available that can help you create a resume that will land you interviews.Career center professionals have developed certain programs for those who are preparing to begin their career. These have proven invaluable for helping pe ople prepare resumes that are going to land them interview positions. Employers often ask for samples of resumes that they may view before making a hiring decision.The career center professional will review your resume and provide you with suggestions on how to improve it. They can also offer advice on how to write a better cover letter. Your cover letter is often one of the deciding factors in whether or not you get an interview. This is also a vital piece of the puzzle in order to make a good impression.Professional writing is something that you cannot always do by yourself. Writing a resume that is both professional sounding is important. This way, you can be assured that you are providing a professional and well-written resume that will land you interviews that you would not otherwise have.You may want to enlist the help of a career center professional. They can advise you on a variety of topics as they are familiar with many different types of resumes. It will allow you to pres ent your resume in the best light possible and let the hiring professionals know that you can meet the job requirements.Professional writing for resumes is not as difficult as it may seem. With professional writing for resumes, it is possible to present your resume in the best light possible, and it will be acceptable by hiring professionals. No matter what job you are seeking, a resume is a significant part of the process.

Lies Youve Been Told About Research Assistant Resume

Lies You've Been Told About Research Assistant Resume The Research Assistant Resume Game Properly researching your Paper Can appear like a mammoth job, but it is not nearly as daunting if you. List all the tasks that you need her or him to do so that she is able to attest that she is able to carry out the job you will assign to him well. Building a resume isn't a task you'll be able to leave up to chance. Constructing a resume is an intimidating task should you do it alone. An industry research analyst should have full knowledge about the place of the marketplace. You simply can't slacken off when it regards research. As a graduate research assistant, you are going to be accountable for acquiring and documenting research on a number of topics. Be Organized Effective research is one that's simple to comprehend and navigate through. The Pain of Research Assistant Resume Order top-notch essay at the moment and certified specialists will do their very best to supply you with higher quality at fair price. In case you have any questions, you can get in touch with our friendly support team night and day and get immediate assistance. Getting virtual assistants, they'd work from their very own office space or their homes, like in the instance of freelancers. Picking the right resume format is simply part of the procedure for ultimately getting the job which you desire. Research assistants review print and internet resources to assemble information. Effective research is the capacity to cascade info in a very clear and articulate manner. Why Almost Everything You've Learned About Research Assistant Resume Is Wrong The most suitable appearance and preparation is the crucial!! As a consequence, such students search for the best essay help to make certain that their project is going to be produced at the maximal level in agreement with all academic standards. Perhaps, you learned skills as a consequence of volunteer activities. Your research skills will have to be beyond exceptional and you ought to be someone who can follow instructions accurately. Definitions of Research Assistant Resume Whether you're an undergraduate or somebody who wants to break into an area of interest, you are able to always locate job openings for a Research Assistant. There are various forms of jobs out there for people interested in research. Make certain you didn't miss whatever could cost you the job that you dream about! Furthermore, you can look for research technician jobs on Monster. When you employ a digital assistant, be certain that you ask for her resume. The manual could be a scientist, professor, a medical supervisor in addition to a doctor. Don't forget that a professor is going to have a massive quantity of students to pick from and you might not come out as the top candidate, if you don't make your resume into something which can't be refused.

How to Win Any Argument - TheJobNetwork

How to Win Any Argument - TheJobNetworkSometimes debates can escalate intoyelling arguments. Losing an argument can be a learning experience, nevertheless, there is no better feeling than winning. But are you prepared to defeat your opponent and do your victory dance? googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) Heres what you need to know on how to win any argument.Source Business Insider

6 Signs You Arent as Good With Money as You Think

6 Signs You Arent as Good With Money as You Think Because being good with money can seem like an abstract concept, it can be easy to get off course when we think were on track. Sometimes, advice that were given in good faith can end up causing more harm than good.Here are 6 counterintuitive signs that you arent as good with money as you may think you are.1. Youre missing out on free money.Congratulations You diligently contribute money from each paycheck into your savings account, so you feel like you have a solid handle on your finances. However, your money could be working harder for you. While traditional savings accounts may earn you around .01 percent interest on your money, high interest savings accounts can earn over 2 percent If you arent contributing at least a portion of your earnings into a high interest savings account, youre turning down free money.2. You reach for your debit card instead of your credit card.Using a credit card for everything can seem extremely counterin tuitive, but as long as you avoid spending more than you have in your checking account, using a credit card can actually earn you airline points or cash rewards. Spending less than the amount of money that you have in checking also enables you to pay your bill off in full, which offers a boost to your credit score. This works especially well if youre able to automate your bills each month with your card, because you would have to spend money on these things anyway.3. You only make minimum payments.While it can be tempting to pat yourself on the back for paying something toward your outstanding debts each month, you could be missing out on opportunity to be even more money smart. If you owe a large debt, like a student loan, pay off more than the minimum if you are able, and save yourself hundreds (potentially thousands) of dollars in the future.4. You let international travel cost too much.If you travel internationally, many banks charge additional fees for taking out money overseas or making foreign transactions. However, many airline cards do bedrngnis have this policy, so if you frequently venture abroad, getting an airline credit card may help you save big.5. You dont track your spending manually.Staying on top of exactly where your money goes can have one of the biggest impacts on your spending habits. Just being aware that anything you spend your money on will have to be accounted for later can motivate you to curb senselessly splurging. Reviewing each expense and entering it into a spreadsheet can also help you detect cases of fraud early on.6. You dont have specific savings goals.Putting money into a savings account for no reason means that you arent concretely thinking about for what youre saving specifically. It can also feel more gratifying to see exactly how close you are to having enough money for your trip to Venice in 6 months, or for the house downpayment that you plan to have in 15 years.This is also where tracking your spending comes in handy after reviewing how much you need to live on for six months, you can have a concrete number in mind regarding how much money you need to have in an emergency fund.--Kayla Heisler is an essayist and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet. She is a contributing writer for Color My Bubble. Her work appears in New Yorks Best Emerging Poets 2017 anthology.