Business

There are a number of skills and behavioural attributes that we use in our day-to-day professional lives. For instance, the way we communicate with individuals and groups is essential for success in professional environments. It is these skills such as attentive listening, measured and articulated speech, written communication and emotional intelligence, that are collectively known as interpersonal skills, soft skills or behavioural skills.

People who are adept with their interpersonal skills gain an advantage in their endeavours and are able to perform better as individuals, team players, and in any role. A person with great interpersonal skills will build lasting and fruitful relations with colleagues, customers, suppliers and clients etc. That’s the reason why employers prefer to hire those with a good grasp of these soft skills.

Having said that, let’s take a look at the most sought-after behavioural skills that employers want in their employees:

Communication– Among the most important interpersonal skills is the ability to communicate effectively. No matter which industry you work in, you always need the ability to effectively converse and communicate with others. The communication skills are usually divided into two major parts:

Verbal communication – All spoken communication whether on phone, in person or in the form of audio/video messages or recordings, is known as the verbal communication.

Non-verbal communication – Non-verbal communication includes communication through gestures, facial expressions and written communication.

Conflict Management–Conflicts and disagreements are a part of the professional life. Whether you are the Senior manager or a staffer, there would be occasions when you would need to play the peacemaker between colleagues, and that’s where the ability of conflict management becomes a key interpersonal skill. Management would always appreciate people who can take charge and manage a crisis situation instead of letting it escalate.

Emotional Intelligence – Emotional intelligence is a set of skills that helps people manage relationships and situations through the ability of comprehending the scenario, empathising with others’ opinions and responding appropriately. Professional or personal lives, emotional intelligence will benefit you in both areas. The attributes of empathy or emotional intelligence include:

• Caring
• Compassion
• Diplomacy
• Diversity
• Helping others
• Kindness
• Patience
• Respect
• Sensitivity
• Sympathy

Leadership– Leadership is not just about management, but about the ability to encourage and guide others, and enabling team success. A person with leadership skills would be capable of building trust and mentoring and motivating others whenever needed.

Optimism – Employees are expected to not only perform the given duties, but also to contribute to the overall office culture and environment. People who are friendly, capable of teamwork and positive in behaviour are more likely to deliver greater success than gloomy or pessimistic people.

How Interpersonal skills can be useful at work

While being good at interpersonal skills is beneficial in almost every social and professional setting, there are certain jobs/roles which necessitate the mastery of such skills. For instance:

Healthcare – Doctors, Nurses, hospital attendants and other medical sector professionals need communication skills and empathy in their daily work. There could be the need to motivate or cheer a patient going for surgery, giving hope to the family members, or the sensitivity to deliver bad news to a family. Imagine how a rude, uncooperative or insensitive healthcare professional could appear to his/her patients.

Contact Centres – Customer service is a vertical that requires good communication skills, active listening abilities and a good emotional intelligence to deal with different scenarios. A person might call a customer care centre to report a problem or to seek assistance to resolve a problem online. In another scenario, a person might call the police control room to report a crime or threat. Similarly, there could be different types of customers/callers who need to be understood correctly even if they are themselves poor communicators and provided with the right and supportive response.

These are just two of the numerous professions such as teachers, media personnel, and even regular business management that require employees to master interpersonal skills. This ability leads to their career development and the overall organizational success with greater ease!

You often hear about credit scores. There are a plethora of articles explaining how to improve your score, what contributes to it, and what a good number is. What’s the point of having a great score, though? Your credit history may impact more than you think.

1. Mortgage Approval

If buying a home is in your future, monitor your credit with a free credit check. Not only will a high number improve your approval odds, but it will also help get you a better loan. FHA and VA loans usually require around 580. Conventional mortgages and down-payment free USDA loans ask for at least 620. Lenders can offer you outstanding advice if you don’t quite make the cutoff.

2. Interest Rates

You may be able to secure a loan with moderate credit. However, the better your score, the lower your interest rate will be. Having a decreased interest rate will give you two options. You will either be able to borrow more funds or pay a lower monthly premium for borrowing the same amount of money. On large loans like mortgages, even 0.25% can make thousands of dollars of difference over the life of your loan.

3. Car Insurance Premiums

Your driving skills and credit history seem unrelated, but insurance companies make a connection. Statistics show that consumers with lower credit ratings file more claims. When providing quotes, your car insurance company will review your insurance history and credit report. Poor credit can mark you as an insurance risk and increase your monthly premiums. The substantial elevation applies in nearly every state and insurance company.

4. Rental Qualification

If negative marks in your credit history are preventing you from qualifying for a mortgage, you may turn to renting a home. While requirements vary between landlords, many applications require a minimum score of 620 to qualify as a tenant. As long as landlords are consistent, they can’t set their requirements where they would like. They are looking for peace of mind that they will be paid on time and in full each month. With poor scores, you may have to search for a private landlord as opposed to apartment complexes.

5. Credit Card Procurement

Credit cards are an ironic part of credit scores. Owning a credit card helps you build up your ratings, and having a good rating helps you qualify for a card. A clean history will qualify you for cards with lower interest rates, higher balance limits, and better perks. If you have a damaged score or short history, you may have to start with a secured card. Secured cards require a deposit upfront to mitigate risk.

6. Security Deposit Costs

Moving to a new home means setting up your utilities. Unfortunately, many gas, electric, and cable providers require a security deposit at the time of transfer. A great credit score can keep hundreds of dollars in your pocket by encouraging utility companies to waive your deposits.

Your credit history will follow you through all aspects of your financial life. Work hard to maintain a high score.

The financial distress in America is at an all-time high, leading some people to research bankruptcy. Simple financial mistakes seem to set you back a mile. It’s possible that you’re also finding it difficult to meet up your financial obligations. There’s no doubt that all and sundry have the desire to pay their bills, sadly, this sometimes just seems out of reach.

However, have it in mind that you’re not alone. There are multiple helpful options out there. To appropriately take advantage of the option, you should understand the options at your disposal, the benefits, and demerits of these options, and what the options will cost you. Here are some takeaway points in these articles:

1. Understanding of how Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy works
2. Understanding of what each alternative has to offer
3. Free resources that can ease up your debt relief process
4. Know the next productive step to take.

What is Bankruptcy?

The simplest definition for bankruptcy is a legal tool for getting debt relief. Some of the debts that get wiped off during bankruptcy include medical bills, credit cards, payday loans, personal loans, etc. these are loans that are not secured by assets.

Expenses and income are evaluated to help users help to understand the capacity to pay back the loan if they’re filing for a bankruptcy discharge.

How many types of bankruptcy are there?

Of all bankruptcy types, the most prominent are Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 bankruptcy. There’s a bankruptcy type called the Chapter 12 bankruptcy; this is a bankruptcy that covers commercial fishing debt and farm debt. There’s also the much less common Chapter 9 and 15 bankruptcy.

How does Bankruptcy Discharge work?

A bankruptcy court will either issue you a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy discharge has these are the two most prominent in the US.

Characteristics of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Discharge

• It is fast as a debtor can get relief in 90 days after filing for a discharge
• Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be quite affordable, compared to Chapter 13.
• A debtor may lose assets that are not protected by state or federal bankruptcy exemptions
• Debtors income must be at a particular amount
• Details of the bankruptcy discharge remain on the Credit Report for a 10 year period

Characteristics of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Discharge:

• The process of getting a bankruptcy discharge is very slow as the discharge is often given in 3 or 5 years after filing the petition. Many people wonder how much they have to pay back in Chapter 13 payment plan.
• It is much more expensive than the Chapter 7 bankruptcy
• Quite often, the bankruptcy court does not liquidate any of the debtors’ assets
• There’s a monthly payment schedule to adhere to
• There’s no procedure for qualification, and you can always get a discharge if your debt is within acceptable limits.
• Details of this bankruptcy discharge remain on your Credit Report for a 7 year period

Most applicants will first be required to estimate their qualification, use the service of a bankruptcy attorney, do an online course, provide necessary documents, attend meetings, do another online course, and finally get their bankruptcy discharge certificate.

Many people also question whether Chapter 13 bankruptcy is worth it due to the high costs, often leading to dismissal.

What are the bankruptcy attorney fees?

It’s possible that you’re confused about whether you can afford to pay for bankruptcy or not. You’re not alone in this confusion, and there’s a way out.

Most bankruptcy attorneys understand that their clients lack the lump sum to pay for their services. As such, bankruptcy attorneys often offer a payments plan that can make the payment process easier.

The main cost of applying for a bankruptcy discharge entails the filing fee and the attorney consultation fee. While the attorney fee varies, the filing fee is often between $300 to $400.

What are the alternatives to Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy?

Need debt relief but don’t want to file for a bankruptcy discharge? That’s very possible as there are numerous options for bankruptcy. This option will be discussed later below.

Before you file for bankruptcy, it’s imperative that you have it in mind that estimating your income and expense data will help your application massively.

Let’s discuss more on the bankruptcy alternatives below:

Debt Payoff Planning

Your budget has to include your debt payoff strategy. Your debt payoff strategy should be one that lines up your debt and uses avalanche, snowball, or the debt savvy payoff method to totally pay off your debt. You can easily get free Google sheets all over the internet to assist with that.

Negotiate with your Creditors

If you think the same way I do, you’ll opt to find an option that has the most minimal impact on your credit score. Just in case your debtor doesn’t accept negotiations, then skip to the next section.

Most creditors would rather have you stay on your current debt payment plan, this will help them get maximum interest and payments from you. Thus, it’s imperative that you properly articulate your challenges to get any favorable deal from them.

Debt Settlement

A debt settlement company will help to negotiate your owed amount. The helps to reduce the debt size more significantly than debt management.

Debt Management

Debt management is the process of hiring a debt management company to negotiate the interest rate on your credit card debt. However, before you approach a debt management company, I’ll advise that you approach the company yourself.

What would I do?

Every debt situation is different. As such, what I’ll do depends on the uniqueness of my predicament. After saying that I’ll strongly advise that you use a free bankruptcy calculator to get an estimate on the cost and merits.