How Independent Workers Can Utilize the On-Demand Economy to Find Work

How Independent Workers Can Utilize the On-Demand Economy to Find Work How Independent Workers Can Utilize the On-Demand Economy to Find Work The life of the independent worker, although rewarding, has always been plagued with uncertainty. Whether one has decided to embark on a mora flexiblecareer path by choice or hasarrived there unwillingly (through loss of full-time work or the inability to find a full-time job in their field), the struggle to find steady gigs and earn a decent living while doing what youre passionate about never really ends.According to a study conducted by Intuit, there are an estimated 3.7 mio independent workers vying for jobs in the market right now. This number is expected to grow to more than 60 million people by 2020 in the U.S. Thats more than 40 percent of the U.S. workforce.The good nachrichten? This steady growth of the independent workforce has fostered the rapid growth of the on-demand economy and the emergence of hundreds of exciting startup comp anies thatexist to deliver timely and efficient services to the masses. This means hundreds of companies need to hire candidates in pretty much any field in order to meet the demands of users.The results of a Burston-Marsteller survey show that 45 million Americans (22 percent of the adult population) have offered their services in the on-demand space, and 51 percent of those people have said thattheir financial situations have improved in the past year, which suggests that the on-demand economy is helping people earn more.It is fair to say that the days of calling in every week to see if X company has freelance work availableare slowly dwindling. Now, with the mere push of a button in an app, one can be connected instantly to a paying job or two, or three.The even better news is that these on-demand companies have fairly easy vetting processes. All one needs to be considered for most jobs isa pair of sturdy feet, access to a computer or a car, and, of course, a strong desire to pr ovide excellent customer service. Once theyre on the platform,these independent workers have 24/7 access to on-demand jobsrights at their fingertips, choosing when to respond to a request and just how many requests to respond to in any given day. Independent workers can offertheir services across several platforms to maximize their exposure and their profit.Crowded.com spoke with active independent workers and gathered intel on how they are taking advantage of the on-demand economy to find work and maximize their earnings.The following are three ways these workers are getting ahead in this new economy1. Lean on HR Tech Companies for HelpEmerging HR tech companies are making it super fast and easy for job seekers to stay on top of on-demand and hourly job postings, with some even going so far as to match independent workers with hiring managers.Many of these companies also aim to educate job seekers on all things related to the on-demand economy. For example, independent workers stru ggling with affordable health care can turn to Stride Health, an awesome tech startup thatoffers affordable health benefits previously denied to the independent worker.2. Market Yourself in an On-Demand Marketplace to Increase VisibilityFreelance marketer, yoga instructor, graphic designer, and plumber? One-stop shops that offer all these services and more are popping up all the time.Fiverr, Thumbtack, andTaskRabbit, to name just a few, are growing their task forces every day and you can join these platforms to sellyourtalents to the world.You may be surprised by just how much a person can earn in these marketplacesOne freelance worker, for example,makes full-time money while working part-time through Fiverr. Its not unheard of for a freelance worker to gain a loyal following of clients just by providing fast and efficient services through these platforms.3. Be CreativeThis jewelry designer figured out a brilliant way to reach potential customers by perfecting his sales pitch on hi s Uber passengers. His $250,000 a year in profits is proof of how the on-demand economy is bringing immeasurable opportunities to the independent worker.The rise of the on-demand or gig economy has brought with it a way a new way of living and earning money for the independent worker. Stats and surveys have shown that there are legitimate opportunities to earn a decent living by putting yourself out there on multiple platforms, getting creative, providing excellent customer service, and leveraging the help of HR tech companies geared towards the on-demand workerJoe Rubinis cofounder and director of corporate development at Crowded.com.

Jumpstarting an Engineering Career

Jumpdepartureing an Engineering Career Jumpdepartureing an Engineering Career Jumpstarting an Engineering CareerFor mechanical engineer Aleef Mahmud, who several years ago demonstrated an adjustable seat he developed for a disabled sailor so that he could captain a sailboat in a competition for the first time in 31 years,the festivalhas meant moving ahead much faster in his career than he expected.Kayla Wheeler, who graduated in May with a bachelors degree in biomedical engineering and plans to go to graduate school in business, may as her first full-time job head up a company licensing rights for the custom protective padding for helmets she and a team designed and showcased at Imagine RIT this past May.The festival was started eight years ago when university President William W. Destler (who has an engineering background) wanted to start a festival to show the outside world what RIT is all about. In its first year, 2008, Imagine RIT attracted 17,000 visitors and the numbers have cl imbed every year. Since its start, more than 200,000 have attended the day-long event that celebrates the intersection of technology and creativity. On May 2 of this year, Imagine RIT showcased more than 400 interactive exhibits in the fields of engineering, science, technology, music, and art.Aleef Mahmuds teammate Christopher Sullivan demonstrates an adjustable seat he helped to design. Image A. Sue Weisler / RITMahmuds and Wheelers stories are not uncommon. Mahmud learned of the need for the seat as he was looking for a senior project. He became part of a team of mechanical engineering majors aiming to develop a seat that was lighter and more maneuverable than anything available. The ordnungsprinzip they came up with consisted of a chair that rolled on a semi-circle track mounted on the deck of the boat and included adjustable handgrips and crank-steering mechanisms.Mahmud said he had no idea how much of a sense of freedom this gave to those who needed it until he saw it in actio n, and that project has led to other related work since he graduated with B.S. and M.E. degreesin mechanical engineering in 2012.Working as an independent product development engineer, he has been hired as a consultant by other sailing groups that want to build such a device. Last winter I worked with a boating nonprofit for the oldest boating co-op in the U.S., he says. They asked me to build a new iteration of the adaptive system for their community of disabled members.When I exhibited at Imagine RIT, it felt so good to talk about this is what I have been doing, he says.The experience taught him much more about other valuable qualities he would need, too. It helps you learn soft skills, such as presentation, as well as the importance of understanding consumer insights, he adds. You are speaking to spectators, and they are prospective customers.He believes the real world experience from Imagine RIT has given him a head start in the working world. Things are a bit accelerated, he sa ys. My dual degree program was very aggressive, hands-on learning as well as theory. Makes you a workaholic, but Im further along in my career.Wheelers project got its start the summer after her sophomore year when she joined other students in an incubator programaimed atdesigning headgear for athletes to offer better protection against concussions. I have always been interested in entrepreneurship, but I never had an idea that I was passionate about pursuing, Wheeler says. Because my major was biomedical engineering, it was right up my alley.The result of the teams work is a new, custom protective padding for helmets. First, the team developed a method to scan the wearers head with a special machine. Then software was used to map and configure the padding. The final product was created using a basic 3D printer that the team modified to print a foam-like material. From start to finish, the process takes just a few hours, and the padding fits inside off-the-shelf helmets. At the Imag ine RIT festival, the team tested the padding with a drop test against other helmets using a test device that they also developed.Wheeler and a colleague, Patrick Streeter, who earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering from RIT in 2013 and M.S. in sports engineering from Sheffield (England) Hallam University in 2014, formed Volatile Padding Technologies to continue the work. He serves as CEO and she as president. For now, that work is part-time (he works in the sports research lab at New Balance, and she plans to continue her education at RIT to earn an MBA). Their hope is that the project will be far enough along by the time she graduates to make it a full-time job. Their immediate goal is to license or sell the rights to their patent-pending technology because of the costs of manufacturing the padding themselves. Were trying to get it going soon, Wheeler says.Nancy S. Giges is an independent writer. For Further DiscussionWhen I exhibited at Imagine RIT, it felt so good to talk abo ut this is what I have been doing.Aleef Mahmud, Independent Product Development Engineer

45 Questions You Should Ask Yourself

45 Questions You Should Ask Yourself45 Questions You Should Ask YourselfYou ask your spouse for help, and your mentor for advice but have you asked yourself the same questions? Here are 45 prompts to bring out the truth.In Part 2 of the series on elevating your visibility, I asked you to be radically honest. This trait is developed by being radically honest with others - and with yourself. In case you didnt receive my e-mail-nachricht outlining these 45 questions, heres the list to help get you started being honest with 11. Are you spending time increasing your talent or increasing your character?2. Can you write this action in your calendar so youll know you have a place for it?3. Do you have the courage to take full responsibility for everything you think, feel and do, without blaming yourself?4. Do you realize youre the only person who values your time?5. Do you respond to interview questions with memorable or mundane answers?6. Do you see people straightforwardly, or through th e distorted images youve created?7. Have you identified and valued your true expertise and inventoried your negotiable personal assets?8. How are you maximizing the conditions that lead to success?9. How are you sharpening your rut-fighting skills?10. How are you strengthening your foundation of personal credibility?11. How are you using blogging to get hired faster?12. How can you arrange your day so you become unstoppable?13. How can you create a comprehensive laboratory for internalizing good fundamentals, releasing tension and cultivating energetic awareness?14. How can you use tiny pockets of time to improve your pace and results?15. How could you become mora and more psychologically impregnable?16. How did you add value to yourself today?17. How do you avoid being perceived as one-dimensional?18. How do you leave your mark wherever you go?19. How does the market perceieve you to be more valuable?20. How is watching television landing you a job?21. How long will it take the mar ket to recognize your trustworthiness and efficiency and then reward you with new business?22. How many convenient tasks are you doing that delude you into thinking that youre actually accomplishing something?23. How many convenient tasks are you doing that delude you into thinking that youre actually accomplishing something?24. How many of your demands could be reduced if you put some energy into prioritizing, organizing and streamlining the routines that now fritter away your attention?25. How many people did you give your business cards to today?26. How many people do you plan to meet on your journey today who can improve your life?27. How much faster would you get hired if you woke up one hour earlier every day?28. How would your life be different if you were perceived as an expert in your field?29. How would you like your ideal calendar to look in five years?30. Is what youre doing right now consistent with your 1 goal?31. Is what youre doing right now leading to getting hired? 32. Is what youre doing right now the best use of your time?33. What are the top three activities that fill your time to feel as though youve been productive?34. What are you (not) doing that makes no sense at all?35. What are you recognized as being the best at?36. What are you the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world of?37. What behaviors are preventing you from making progress towards becoming the best version of yourself?38. What consumes your time that isnt making you any money?39. What contains the energy needed to catapult you out of this rut?40. What did you do today that you should do less of tomorrow?41. What dumb, non-value added things are you doing each day?42. What is the one thing you could do now that will have the most impact on your success in the upcoming year?43. What makes the way you perceive the world unique?44. What three highly valuable activities did you accomplish today?45. Who do you have to become to land the job that you want?Take time to answer of each of these questions, however quickly - in your head or on paper. And then take action and watch your hire-ability skyrocket.