Do you have a career path or a career portfolio? Read this article to see how to develop and manage your career as a portfolio.

mediaimage
Back in the mid 1990’s as an HR Manager, I noticed that the conventional career path was a dying concept. Lifetime employment was an artifact. Lateral moves became the new way to advance your career. And downsizings were a constant threat.
The ‘security’ of a straightforward career path was gone. That left many mid-career professionals wondering what to do with their career plans.

I recently read an article at CIO.com asking “Are Career Paths the Best for Professional Advancement?” The article concluded career paths are no longer relevant. I’m not surprised. They were on their last leg years ago.

Yes, it’s true. Linear career paths are dead.

So, what has replaced the good old fashioned career path?

Career portfolios.

I recommend managing your career as a portfolio. Based on your strengths, interests, and level of risk tolerance you make career moves that appeal to you and fit your goals. You choose opportunities that stretch and expand your skills instead of focusing only on grabbing the next title on the rung. You find security in being in control of each move, rather than feeling at the mercy of your boss, your company or the economy to decide your fate.

So, how do you build a career portfolio?

You diversify. The more options you have, the less you will be dependent on the company or the economy for your security.

Know your “most profitable skills”. You recession proof your career by knowing exactly what your strongest competencies are and you strengthen them so that you’re among the best at what you do. And the more transferable you can make your skills, the better.

Stay current on the trends in the economy and your field or industry. Look ahead a few years and make sure you’re moving toward opportunities that align with the trends (instead of leaving you on the chopping block).

Let me give you an example from my own life.

In the mid 90’s I was a happily employed HR Manager at a fairly large corporation. But, the writing was on the wall that much of HR was going to be outsourced, industry wide, in the next 5 to 10 years. I noticed a great deal of focus on becoming more strategic, and on being able to support company-wide change efforts (which makes sense given all the organizational changes we’ve seen since the late 90’s). I decided it was time to diversify in order to avoid a dead end career track.

In order to diversify my career I made a few specific and planned moves.

I went back to grad school to earn my Masters Degree. I minored in Organization Development, to diversify my knowledge base beyond the scope of traditional HR functions. I also had an interest in teaching, so I took electives in adult learning. When I graduated, I took a job in Consulting where I could get experience leading organizational change and experience a variety of industries. From there, I expanded my experience base by taking on a part time college teaching position.

All of these moves were designed to expand my career portfolio so that I had options, no matter what happened. I could be an HR Manager, I could consult, I could teach. I knew traditional HR functions and I knew how to implement broad scale change. All of these moves made me unique and more valuable in the marketplace.

If you’d like to start developing your career portfolio, here are 5 questions to get you started:

What are some current and emerging trends you see in your field or industry?

If you were to make a career change in the next year, what would you most want to do?

What are the skills, experience and knowledge you would need to make that move?

What’s one or two moves you could make to expand your skills/experience over the next year?

What’s one action you will take in the next 30 days?

Have fun building up your portfolio and experimenting with new assignments, and possibilities. This can be an exciting process because you pursue things that interest you and allow you to grow. It pulls you out of the rut of worrying about what will happen and puts you in the driver’s seat so you’re ready for anything.

India has experienced remarkable growth in both retail and e-commerce industries over recent years. India was predicted in 2017 that revenue generated for these sectors would increase from US$ 39 billion in 2017 to US$ 120 billion by 2020; marking 51% annual growth. No other country can boast this achievement!

India has one of the highest penetrations rates for online retail market segments, but customers are now showing greater preference towards purchasing other products through e-retail platforms – leading to an increase in products to meet customers’ various demands.

Retail and e-commerce industries face many obstacles in managing daily operations and clearing unpaid invoices, necessitating quick access to working capital. Invoice discounting provides quick relief by freeing up cash sitting in unpaid invoices – retailers and e-commerce alike need products from their suppliers, while suppliers often wait 30 to 90 days for payment; other hurdles could include upfront payment to sellers, delayed receivables, prolonged and delayed payment cycles, high overhead costs and operational inefficiency that might further complicate matters further.

What is invoice discounting?
Vendors or merchants that receive bills receivable from clients usually honour them after an agreed upon period, creating a time lag between delivery of goods and payments being received. To combat this situation, vendors can take their approved bill receivable to any participating bank or financial institution to get discounted or sell at a discount for cash up-front.

Invoice discounting is the process by which businesses leverage receivables to secure short-term funding needs. Small and midsized companies issue invoices against larger corporations (blue-chip companies), often for services provided or products supplied, to avoid delays. They bring these invoices directly to one of several invoice discounting service platforms where within 1-2 days they are converted into funds at a discount rate that varies based on risk analysis, market acceptability and tenure (typically 30-150 days).

How does invoice discounting benefit retail and e-commerce companies?

Invoice discounting services provide multiple advantages to retail and e-commerce industries.

Unlock trapped cash by clearing unpaid delivery invoices: Enjoy hassle-free working capital within 24-72 hours of clearing unpaid invoices, increase cash flow with no collateral policy, and keep inventories updated by making optimal use of unpaid invoices.

Manage Your Supply Chain Efficiently: By fulfilling orders quickly with access to working capital at all times and running an efficient supply chain from retailers to suppliers resulting in improved customer satisfaction, your supply chain should function at peak performance.

Use quick access to liquidity to accelerate business expansion: Increase orders through timely payments leading to more orders, which in turn increase sales resulting in business expansion, whilst simultaneously expanding your reach by connecting with larger retailers or online marketplaces that fulfil orders more efficiently.

How does invoice discounting work?
Retailer raises an invoice of the customer payable within 30 – 90 days

The unpaid invoices are uploaded on the Falcon Invoice Discounting platform post KYC and verification.

The retailer gets fund credited to the account within 24 – 72 hours.

How are invoices settled, and why is this necessary?
Deferred credit transactions have become an increasingly common way of conducting transactions. For instance, when businesses sell goods or provide services to their clients they often offer payment terms of 90-120 days as part of an invoice agreement. Businesses often outsource invoice payments to third-party financing companies that buy the accounts receivable from them. On acceptance, the finance company agrees to pay a specified percentage of the face value (often 80 percent) less interest charges for credit periods (such as 60 days). When customers make their payments, any balance due will be returned back to businesses by deducting a service fee and issued exchange vouchers in accordance with the Negotiable Instrument Act 1881.

An invoice discounting financing solution provides a way to bridge the credit gap between small and large enterprises by making it simpler for SME’s to access export finance without providing hard collateral or business financials as security.

Features and benefits of invoice discounting:
No collateral required. You just have to present the raised invoice to the lender.

The seller retains invoice ownership.
Get as financing of 90% of the invoice amount.

Get financing offline or online.
Financing amount’s quick disbursal.
Lenient eligibility criteria.
Low-interest rate.
.

Methods involved in invoice discounting:

With Recourse: Lending institutions conduct an intensive round of verification on the documents submitted by sellers and submit them for validation by their bank. If the bank determines that there has been a default on payment by either of them, they could become responsible for any potential debts owed by either of them.

Without Recourse: The lending institution does not conduct any verification on invoices and documents provided by sellers, nor do they check with their bank accounts.

What are the factors on which invoice discounting depend?
Company’s financial turnover.
Financing amount needed for the business.
Total amount of the invoices.
Business customer base.
Visibility of the business.
Why to prefer invoice discounting?

Invoice discounting provides businesses with the means to continue operating without worrying about cash constraints or lengthy loan applications. With this short-term financing solution, cash can be secured without collateral requirements; alleviating invoice backlog and providing you with extra funds for everyday business expenses. Customers don’t need to chase you for bill amounts any longer! Instead, let them manage their finances freely while still having enough money on hand for ongoing costs.

Does this financing method suit newly formed and small businesses?
Yes, lenders in the market welcome applications from newly formed small businesses and finance their invoices. Lenders take into consideration your current sales volume and potential for growth when considering whether to approve financing for your invoices.

Conclusion:
Falcon Invoice Discounting has made invoice discounting investment possible for individuals by providing multiple platforms to facilitate investment depending on risk and other considerations. Minimum investments vary with each platform and could start as low as Rs. 25,000 for minimum investments on some platforms. Invoice discounting platforms provide verified vendors and enterprises with investors seeking returns. Businesses use invoice discounting platforms to list unpaid invoices that need working capital, while investors provide instant cash assistance and then reap returns within 30-150 days of investment. Investors could include anyone from individuals living in India, HUFs/proprietorships registered in India, institutional investors like banks/NBFCs/other financial institutions as well as NRIs.

As students have never seen such a drastic change, there is now a fresh debate to determine whether offline or online classes are better suited to students. And students and parents are divided in this comparison, as some people are satisfied with online sessions while some support offline classes. So, let’s look at the extensive comparison of offline and online classes, as well as their numerous advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Offline Classes
Advantages of Offline Classes
No Distractions
In online classes, teachers cannot monitor what each student is up to on their system, and this means students will be constantly distracted while attending classes. However, that is not the case in offline classes, as the teacher can find out whether the students are focusing or not, which means there will be fewer or no distractions at all.

Competition
Competition in studies is a good sign since it guarantees that all students attending lessons are doing their best to earn the best results in the exam by understanding all the topics discussed in class. This process is not available in online classes.

Assisting Students
Some students are very shy, and they do not ask their doubts while attending class, which is much worse in online classes. However, the main advantage of offline classes in such cases is that the teachers can individually focus on each student in the class and help them clarify their doubts then and there.

Interaction
In offline classes, students will be able to interact with their friends and teachers at the same time, which in turn will boost their interest in the topic or chapter. This will help them understand all the topics easily. Whereas in online classes, the interaction between students as well as teachers is limited.

Extracurriculars
When attending an online class, the extracurricular activities that the students can take place in are limited. And as suggested by many scientific reports, extracurriculars help students improve their knowledge in each subject and topic, which is only possible with offline classes.

Disadvantages of Offline Classes
Traveling expenses

The offline classes have their institutes in one place, and every student must travel. This adds to hours of traveling and preparation, which can be not only expensive but also time-consuming.

Fixed schedule
There is no room for leniency with offline classes, as the times are already fixed. Although the reason is unknown, there is a greater dropout rate among students who study 20 hours per week.

Expensive mode of study
Attending offline classes is an expensive form of study, as we previously mentioned because, in addition to the tuition price, you must pay for boarding and manage the expenditures to travel to campuses.

Dependency on teachers
Students become overly reliant on their teachers. Students should be exposed to hard situations until they reach a particular level to realize their full potential. This is only achievable if teachers become less engaged and provide assignments that require children to investigate on their own.

Lack of repetition of class

When studying at an offline institute, the classes that are presented cannot be repeated. That is a well-known truth, but it is also inconvenient for individuals who miss their classes due to unforeseen reasons. Offline modes of learning are unfavorable to students who have missed lessons and want to retake them.

So, as you can see, both online classes vs offline classes have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. And it all comes back to the student’s choice, his/her interests, availability, etc. Moreover, if you think that online classes are the best, then do check out the online interactive classes offered by the Tutoroot platform. They offer various benefits such as cost-effective prices, exclusive doubt-clearing sessions, the best educational materials, and many more.