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If You Want Student Loan Forgiveness, Do These 5 Steps

If you want student loan forgiveness, do these 5 steps.

Here’s what you need to know.

Student Loans

With student loan relief from the Covid-19 pandemic ending imminently, student loan borrowers are scrambling to find ways to get student loan forgiveness. For the past 22 months, thanks to Congress, President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, there have been no mandatory federal student loan payments, 0{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} interest rates on federal student loans, and no collection of student loans in default. However, with the expiration of student loan relief, many student loan borrowers need financial help. If you want student loan forgiveness, do these 5 steps.

1. Know there won’t be any wide-scale student loan forgiveness

If you’re hoping for mass student loan forgiveness soon, stop hoping. Why? There’s a low likelihood of wide-scale student loan cancellation in the near-term. Progressives in Congress have been campaigning on up to $50,000 of student loan forgiveness for student loan borrowers. However, Biden has shown no indication that he is seeking to cancel student loans for all or most student loan borrowers. (Here’s who qualifies for student loan forgiveness right now).While the U.S. Department of Education is considering mass student loan forgiveness among its cadre of ameliorative measures, Biden and the Education Department have focused on targeted student loan forgiveness. Could mass student loan forgiveness happen? Sure, but you should focus on other strategies for student loan repayment rather than expecting your student loans will get cancelled soon.

2. Check current options for student loan forgiveness

Biden has cancelled $11.5 billion of student loans since becoming president in January. That’s only the start, with billions of dollars more in student loan forgiveness expected. There are multiple ways to get student loan forgiveness. (How to apply for student loan forgiveness during the Biden administration). First, if you have a total and permanent disability, Biden cancelled $5.8 billion of student loans for these borrowers. Second, if you were misled by your college or university, your student loans could be partially or totally cancelled. Biden has cancelled $1.5 billion of these student loan borrowers. Third, if you’re pursuing public service loan forgiveness, Biden has cancelled $4.5 billion of student loans. (These borrowers don’t qualify for student loan forgiveness)

3. Get public service loan forgiveness

You can still get student loan forgiveness through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This is an active program that is open to all federal student loan borrowers. How much student loan forgiveness can you get? Answer: all your federal student loans can get cancelled. The Education Department announced this month that $2 billion of student loans will be cancelled within weeks. To qualify, you’ll need to meet several requirements, including working full-time for a qualified public service or non-profit employer, make 120 monthly payments, and enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, among other requirements. The Biden administration made major changes to student loan forgiveness, which relaxed the rules significantly and makes it easier to get student loan forgiveness. That said, these changes are temporary, so if you’re pursuing public service loan forgiveness, make sure to complete a limited student loan forgiveness waiver before October 31, 2022. This way, you can count previously ineligible student loans and student loan payments to help you get student loan forgiveness faster. (Here’s how to apply for limited student loan forgiveness)

4. Get student loan forgiveness even if you don’t work in public service

So, if you don’t have a total and permanent disability, don’t qualify for borrower defense to repayment, or don’t work in public service, you may think that you won’t qualify for student loan forgiveness. Not necessarily. There are several other ways to get student loan forgiveness.

5. Refinance student loans

If you want student loan forgiveness, student loan refinancing may be a smart option for you. With student loan refinancing, you can get a lower interest rate, lower monthly payment, or both. Student loan refinancing rates are incredibly low, and start at 1.74{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}.

This student loan refinancing calculator shows you how much you can save with student loan refinancing.

For example, let’s assume you have $70,000 of student loans with a 7{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} interest rate and 10-year repayment term. If you refinance at a 2.5{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} interest rate and 10-year repayment term, you could save $153 each month and $18,344 total.

You can refinance private or federal student loans, or both. You can choose a fixed or variable rate, and choose a student loan repayment term from 5-20 years. While you won’t get immediate “student loan forgiveness,” you can save thousands of dollars or tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your loan through savings in interest. To qualify, you’ll need a credit score of at least 650, stable income, be employed or have a signed job offer, and a low debt-to-income ratio. Student loan refinancing of federal debt is not for everyone, however, if you think you’ll need federal loan benefits such as federal student loan forgiveness, forbearance or deferment, for example. Why? Through refinancing, your federal debt becomes private debt and these federal benefits won’t be available. So, you could refinance private debt only. Alternatively, you may not need these federal programs or prefer a lower rate to save more money, so in that case, you could choose to refinance both private and federal loans.

As you navigate strategies for student loan repayment, make sure you understand all your options. Here are a few smart places to start to save money on your student loans:

Student Loans: Related Reading

How to apply for limited student loan forgiveness

Education Department will cancel $2 billion of student loans

Here’s who qualifies for student loan forgiveness right now

3 ways to get a lower student loan payment

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Today’s Business and Stock Market News: Live Updates

ImageJeff Bezos at the National Press Club in Washington in 2019. Since stepping down as chief executive of Amazon in July, Mr. Bezos has significantly raised his profile as a philanthropist.
Credit…Emma Howells for The New York Times

Former President Barack Obama’s private foundation announced on Monday that it had been promised a donation of $100 million from the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

The gift, the largest yet for the Obama Foundation, was one in a series of splashy donations by Mr. Bezos, one of the world’s richest men, in recent months. Last week, Mr. Bezos announced $96.2 million in grants to groups working to end family homelessness.

Since stepping down as chief executive of Amazon in July, Mr. Bezos has significantly raised his profile as a philanthropist, in addition to traveling to space on a ship made by his rocket company, Blue Origin.

In return for the donation, Mr. Bezos asked that a plaza at the Obama Presidential Center be named for the civil rights leader John Lewis, who died last year. The foundation broke ground on the center, which will include Mr. Obama’s presidential library, a museum, an athletic center and more, earlier this year.

“Freedom fighters deserve a special place in the pantheon of heroes, and I can’t think of a more fitting person to honor with this gift than John Lewis, a great American leader and a man of extraordinary decency and courage,” Mr. Bezos said in a statement released by the Obama Foundation. “I’m thrilled to support President and Mrs. Obama and their foundation in its mission to train and inspire tomorrow’s leaders.”

News of the gift was earlier reported by the online news group Puck.

It was neither Mr. Bezos’s biggest gift in recent months nor his first brush with Mr. Obama’s orbit. In September, Mr. Bezos, standing alongside John Kerry, Mr. Obama’s former Secretary of State, pledged $1 billion through his Bezos Earth Fund for conservation.

Credit…Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Target stores will close their doors for Thanksgiving Day, the retailer announced Monday, and will continue the policy every year moving forward.

The retail giant shut its stores on Thanksgiving Day last year, citing safety considerations during the pandemic. It has also started offering discounts for the holiday shopping season earlier in October instead of reserving those deals for Black Friday.

“What started as a temporary measure driven by the pandemic is now our new standard,” Brian Cornell, Target’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Target announced earlier this month that most stores would reopen at 7 a.m. local time on Black Friday.

Walmart has also said it would close its stores on Thanksgiving Day for a second year. Trader Joe’s and Aldi will also be closed for Thanksgiving.

Credit…Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times

[Follow live news coverage on the trial of Elizabeth Holmes.]

The high-stakes trial of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the collapsed medical start-up Theranos, is headed toward a dramatic finish. The latest twist came on Friday, when Ms. Holmes unexpectedly took the stand in her own defense, after the prosecution rested its case.

She testified for an hour, and is expected to continue on Monday. Ms. Holmes has been charged with 11 counts of fraud and faces up to 20 years in prison on each count. She has pleaded not guilty.

Whether Ms. Holmes would testify had been one of the biggest questions of the trial. Up until Friday afternoon, many legal experts predicted that she would not. The benefits of doing so, the experts argued, could be offset by the risks of cross-examination.

At first, her testimony raised concerns for her defense. Her lawyers’ strategy has been to paint her as inexperienced, led astray by others like her former boyfriend and business partner Sunny Balwani (who is being tried separately).

But on the stand, Ms. Holmes depicted herself as very much in control. She presented herself as an expert in the technology Theranos was developing and detailed how she used that knowledge to attract investors, whose money would eventually be wiped out.

She also rebutted a key argument by prosecutors. The prosecution sought to establish that Ms. Holmes withheld information, particularly financial reports, from investors.

On the stand, Holmes detailed the “very comprehensive diligence process” of Don Lucas, a venture capitalist who eventually invested in Theranos and became its chairman. The defense presented a 2006 email in which Ms. Holmes sent Mr. Lucas detailed financial information. (However, this may undermine another defense argument: that investors were careless and at least partially to blame.)

The trial is also a referendum on Silicon Valley’s start-up culture. If Ms. Holmes is found guilty, it would put truth-stretching start-up founders on notice. But if she is acquitted, it would bolster the tech industry’s “fake it til you make it” approach.

“A non-guilty verdict will vindicate a Silicon Valley culture of celebrating aggressive innovation at the expense of the complete and whole truth,” said Jeffrey Cohen of Boston College Law School.

Stock prices rose on Monday on news that Jerome H. Powell will be renominated for another four-year term as chair of the Federal Reserve, reflecting investor relief that he would remain at the helm of the central bank, whose monetary policy has been a key driver of the market’s remarkable run over the past two years.

“The announcement of Powell’s renomination ensures continuity in the stance on policy,” wrote Ellen Zentner, the chief U.S. economist at Morgan Stanley, in a note to clients shortly after the announcement.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.9 percent in the first half-hour of trading on Monday, to what would be a new closing high. The benchmark index is up nearly 26 percent this year.

Mr. Powell’s renomination shifted expectations in the bond market, where investors’ movements showed slightly increased expectations for higher interest rates in the coming years.

Treasury bond prices declined, and yields — which move in the opposite direction — rose. Government bond yields, which essentially act as the foundation for interest rates charged on new car loans, mortgages, multibillion-dollar Wall Street bond offerings and more are heavily influenced by market expectations about what the Federal Reserve will do with monetary policy.

Yields on the two-year Treasury note, which had been hovering around 0.52 percent before the announcement, climbed to 0.56 percent. The yield on the five-year Treasury bill, which captures market expectations for how the Fed’s monetary policy will evolve over the next few years, a topic of considerable debate in the market, rose to 1.29 percent shortly after the announcement.

The rise in bond yields suggests that at least some investors were betting that Lael Brainard, a Fed governor whom Mr. Biden will promote to vice chair, could have been instead chosen to lead the central bank. Many progressive groups had championed her to replace Mr. Powell.

Steve Sosnick, the chief strategist at Interactive Brokers in Greenwich, Conn., said the rise in yields were an indication that some bond investors had thought Ms. Brainard, who is believed to be less aggressive about interest rate increases, had a chance to be Mr. Biden’s pick.

Credit…Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via Associated Press

The Walt Disney Company has paused a coronavirus vaccine mandate for employees of its Florida theme park after the State Legislature and the governor made it illegal for employers to require all workers get the shots, a company spokesperson confirmed Saturday.

Walt Disney World could have been facing fines under the policy, illustrating how even one of the most well-known tourism brands in the state has to deal with the headwinds of political debate over the pandemic response.

Source: State and local health agencies. Daily cases are the number of new cases reported each day. The seven-day average is the average of a day and the previous six days of data.

The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature delivered the bill blocking Covid-19 vaccine mandates on Wednesday and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law on Thursday, casting the measures as an effort to protect workers who could lose their jobs for lack of compliance.

Governor DeSantis, also a Republican, has been at the forefront of the political fight to curtail mask and vaccine mandates, saying the push against those restrictions counters overreach from the federal government. “Nobody should lose their job due to heavy-handed Covid mandates, and we had a responsibility to protect the livelihoods of the people of Florida,” the governor said in a statement.

The Biden administration has ordered vaccinations for workers in large companies and members of the federal work force, but the effort has met resistance across the country. Florida is among states that have challenged federal mandates in court.

The new Florida law prohibits employers from enforcing strict vaccine mandates, allowing employees to choose exemptions that include health or religious concerns, pregnancy or anticipated pregnancy, and having had the virus and recovered from it. Unvaccinated workers could instead undergo periodic testing or wear protective equipment, at the employers’ cost. Fines for violation could cost $10,000 a day per employee violation for businesses with fewer than 99 employees or up to $50,000 per employee violation for larger businesses.

Government entities and school districts are also restricted by the Covid mandate ban.

Disney World previously struck a deal with employees to require theme park workers to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus to keep their jobs, and the company defended that rule in a statement Saturday. “We believe that our approach to mandatory vaccines has been the right one as we’ve continued to focus on the safety and well-being of our cast members and guests,” the statement said.

More than 90 percent of active cast members in Florida have verified they are vaccinated, the company said, before it sent a memo to employees halting the mandate.

Walt Disney’s website tells visitors it has been “very intentional and gradual” in operating safely, recommending guests exercise caution: wearing face coverings, checking for symptoms and getting the shots. “We encourage people to get vaccinated,” it says.

Todd Gregory contributed to this report.

Credit…Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times

Tuesday

  • Retailer earnings: Another week of quarterly financial reports from big retailers will give investors more clues on whether supply chain disruptions are hampering businesses ahead of the holiday season. Best Buy and Dollar Tree are set to publish their reports on Tuesday for the three months ending October. Gap, Nordstrom, American Eagle Outfitters and Abercrombie & Fitch will also report on Tuesday.

Wednesday

  • Fed minutes: The Federal Reserve will publish minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting that was held this month. Investors will get a clearer picture of any disagreements among Fed officials about whether they expect that inflationary pressures will persist.

  • Consumer sentiment: The University of Michigan will publish the final numbers of its survey of consumer sentiment for November. The survey measures how optimistic consumers feel about the overall economy. The index fell to its lowest level in a decade in early November.

Thursday

  • Markets closed: The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, as will bond markets.

Friday

  • Black Friday: The traditional start of the holiday shopping season kicks off. Many shoppers have started early, concerned over whether product shortages and supply chain disruptions will make it harder to find the gifts they want.

Credit…Samuel Aranda for The New York Times

By Nicholas Casey and Roser Toll Piraffé

BARCELONA, Spain — Protesters in Barcelona are pushing back against foreign investment firms that have bought up thousands of homes over the past decade and are forcing out residents who can’t pay the rent.

Credit…Samuel Aranda for The New York Times
Credit…Samuel Aranda for The New York Times

Giant investment firms like Cerberus Capital Management, Blackstone and Lone Star have been snapping up properties across Spain at bargain prices since the global financial crisis that began in 2008. The firms then put them up for rent at a time when the country’s economy was on a stronger footing.

But the pandemic pushed the Spanish unemployment rate up to 15 percent and evictions nationwide spiked in the first half of 2021. The investment firm landlords sent out a slew of eviction notices to tenants across the country or canceled leases for those who fell behind on the rent, residents said.

In the streets of Barcelona, a group called War Against Cerberus decided to fight back.

When lawyers of private equity firms come with police officers to force residents from their homes, members of the group — some of them longtime housing activists — surround the building to block their entry. As residents are pushed out of apartments, the group sends squatters to occupy properties owned by the firms elsewhere in the city — sometimes breaking in to gain entry.

The activists even took over the offices of a Cerberus real estate servicer in Barcelona for a time last year.

Credit…Samuel Aranda for The New York Times
Credit…Samuel Aranda for The New York Times

According to War Against Cerberus, dozens of families have occupied buildings owned by private equity firms in Barcelona, which has long been a target of outside investors. That can translate into years of courtroom hearings and millions of dollars in legal fees to remove the squatters.

“This property belongs to Cerberus,” said Ana María Banegas, a resident who, along with a dozen other families, has occupied a building in central Barcelona since April and now refuses to leave. “And from this home, we aim to pressure them.”

Miquel Hernández, a spokesman for War Against Cerberus who helped Ms. Banegas find the home where she is squatting, accused the private equity firms of profiting from the economic distress caused by the pandemic.

“They’re treating them like any other asset,” he said, referring to the homes owned by the firms.

The problem has caught the attention of Spain’s national government, led by a left-wing coalition. It has proposed the imposition of rent controls on investment funds and other large landlords.

The proposed legislation, supported by Barcelona’s mayor, Ada Colau, would allow for rent caps for owners with more than 10 properties in areas where rent increases have outpaced inflation.

Credit…Samuel Aranda for The New York Times
Credit…Samuel Aranda for The New York Times

“We have to civilize a market that has gotten out of control,” said Ms. Colau, a former housing activist who rose to power with an organization that fought against foreclosures. “A problem that was bad before the pandemic has suddenly gotten worse.”

Spain imposed a partial moratorium on evictions for much of the pandemic, but only for those in “vulnerable situations,” such as single parents. In cases that went to the courts, the judiciary was seen as siding largely with the landlords.

In the first quarter of 2021, evictions of renters in Spain rose by 14 percent compared with the same period the previous year, according to the government. By the second quarter of this year, they surged to eight times as many as in the same period in 2020.

Samuel Aranda contributed reporting from Barcelona.

Credit…Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times

By Melissa Eddy and Christopher F. Schuetze

VIENNA — As Europe experiences a menacing fourth wave of the coronavirus, Austria entered a nationwide lockdown on Monday and the possibility of a vaccine mandate in Germany was under discussion as the only way to sustainably overcome the pandemic.

“Probably by the end of this winter, as is sometimes cynically said,” the German health minister, Jens Spahn, said on Monday, “pretty much everyone in Germany will be vaccinated, recovered or dead.”

Mr. Spahn has spoken out against a universal vaccine mandate in Germany.

The lockdown in Austria, in which people are allowed to leave their homes only to go to work or to procure groceries or medicines, will last at least 10 days and as many as 20 and comes after months of struggling attempts to halt the contagion through widespread testing and partial restrictions.

While Austria may be the first European country to respond with a lockdown, it may not be the last. That prospect, along with increasingly stringent vaccine mandates, has set off a backlash in Austria and elsewhere, with mass demonstrations in Vienna, Brussels and the Dutch city of Rotterdam over the weekend, sometimes punctuated with violent outbreaks.

Video

transcript

transcript

Austrians Protest Lockdown and Vaccine Mandate

Thousands in Vienna over the weekend demonstrated against the measures, which include a nationwide lockdown.

[drums] [chanting] [drums] [whistles] [drums]

Video player loading
Thousands in Vienna over the weekend demonstrated against the measures, which include a nationwide lockdown.CreditCredit…Lisa Leutner/Associated Press

The new Covid wave is being driven by widespread resistance to vaccines and to the growing prevalence of vaccine and mask mandates. Austrian officials have said they will enforce a nationwide vaccine mandate in February, the first European nation to do so.

Austria, where 66 percent of the population is vaccinated, reported more than 14,000 new cases of the virus within 24 hours on Sunday. Over the past week the Netherlands has been averaging more than 20,000, while Germany has seen roughly double that number.

The German health ministry said on Monday that the country was facing a dwindling supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, which was partly developed in the country, as it races to provide booster shots.

And while the European Medicines Agency is poised to approve the vaccine for use on children 5 to 11 this week, first doses will not begin until Dec. 20, when shots for children are scheduled to be delivered to European Union countries, Mr. Spahn, the health minister, said.

The opposition to the lockdown and vaccine mandates in Austria is being fueled in part by the far-right Freedom Party, which has used its platform in the Austrian Parliament to spread doubt about the effectiveness of the vaccines and to promote ivermectin, a drug typically used to treat parasitic worms that has repeatedly failed against the coronavirus in clinical trials.

But the fury is not limited to far-right activists, as the throngs that filled Vienna’s streets on Saturday attested. The police estimated the crowd at 40,000, with many families and others far outnumbering the right-wing extremists.

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6 business analyst resume tips

Maybe you’re interested in a job as a business analyst (BA), using data analytics to bridge the gap between IT and business. Maybe you’ve already got a BA gig but are looking for greener pastures — or a higher salary. To get your job search really underway, you need to get your resume together, so your LinkedIn profile and the email you’re about to send to your future boss puts your best foot forward.

We’ve given you resume advice before. But after speaking to a number of current and former business analysts, as well as career specialists and those who work with (and hire!) BAs regularly, we came away with some tips tailored for business analysts.

1. Target your resume

One of the oldest cliches in the book is to “dress for the job you want, not the one you have.” When looking for a job, your resume is the outfit you’re showing off to potential employers — and you need to match their sense of fashion. As Courtney Kirschbaum, a corporate career strategist who specializes in preparing corporate professionals for career pivots and upward career transitions, puts it: “A resume is written for the reader, not the candidate.”

“Pay attention to the job requirements that you are applying for,” says Dr. Maria Mirzaei, a career and leadership consultant who started her career as a business analyst, “and make sure it’s in alignment with the job description. If they want a more technical business analyst, then highlight your technical skills. If they are more interested in a business-oriented BA, then elaborate on your industry knowledge — and use language that demonstrates your deep understanding of their industry.”

Kirschbaum is even blunter about tailoring a resume for the specific job you’re applying for: “Your reader will not respond to what you write unless they see their own words on the page or the LinkedIn profile.” She’s seen plenty of resumes and knows that far too many are nowhere near specific enough.

“The advice I would give any business analyst who is serious about their career: Don’t load your resume and LinkedIn with catchphrases like ‘highly motivated self-starter and team player’ or ‘proven servant leader who helps organizations with transformation,’” she says. “They don’t work, and they communicate that you have no idea how you add value or how to say how you add value.”

2. Use projects as the building blocks

While it may not seem intuitive or comfortable at first, the best way to be ready for a career pivot is to document what you’re doing now so you can brag about it later. For a business analyst, that means keeping track of specific projects to which you’ve contributed, not just maintaining a list of employers.

“Diarizing your accomplishments and creating a thorough portfolio of the results you’ve helped deliver is one of the best things you can do to ensure your resume is the best it can be,” says Zoë Morris, president of Mason Frank International. “Keeping this achievement log up to date should be a weekly exercise — you should see it as a touchstone rather than a chore. It’s easy to forget projects and the achievements that resulted from them, so keeping a record is extremely important.”

Having material to draw from makes it easier to focus your resume for each job opening. “Charting your wins means you can see your own growth and personal strengths as you go, making it much easier for you to pull out the most relevant skills when customizing your resume for a particular business analyst role,” says Morris.

Diane Davidson, owner of Clever Fox Advisory, agrees with this project-oriented approach. Moreover, she structures each project on her resume using what she calls the VAR (vision, action, result) format:

  • Vision: “The desired goal of the initiative.”
  • Action: “The role that I played in the project.”
  • Result: “This is the outcome of the project, and the most critical part. I always try to tie the benefit to a dollar value or other metric.”

Davidson shared a bullet point from her own resume to demonstrate what the VAR format looks like practice:

Continuous improvement manager leading the process improvement initiatives related to the centrally managed procurement (CMP) process and virtual legal entity strategy. Provided recommendations to unlock trapped value in the CMP process to achieve the benefits realization schedule of $7 million for Q3/Q4. Transitioned to the deployment lead responsible for managing the Performance Improvement team to address operational and systematic issues.

3. Use numbers for context and storytelling

Other experts we spoke to agreed with Davidson that numbers are important. As a business analyst, part of your job will be nailing down the numbers that illuminate the outcomes of business processes, so it’s all the more important that you show those results on your resume.

“If your efforts improved certain measurables, percentages, and revenues, or saved time, make sure you list these numbers,” says Matt Collingwood, managing director at VIQU. “These tangible successes make your experience stand out.”

In fact, it’s not just your results that can (and should) be quantified on your resume, says Kirschbaum; it’s everything that led up to them as well. “Get the budget for every project,” she says. “Count the team members and vendors you worked with or supervised. How large was the company you worked for? How many employees did they have? What is their market value? All these matter.”

4. Show your process, and your tools

Anything that showcases on your resume how you delivered results can only help you. “While nearly all resume-writing articles agree that showing results on your resume are critical, explaining how these results were achieved is frequently the differentiator,” says Alan Jacobson, chief data and analytic officer at Alteryx. “A candidate who knows how to re-engineer a process, leverage analytics and process automation techniques, with the ability to execute in a data-driven manner is incredibly important to most organizations.”

Explaining the how can also give other items on your resume extra weight and authority. “Almost every applicant will say they are advanced in things like Excel or Python,” says Lindsay Francis, a business analyst in the publishing industry in New York City. “But are they really? Maybe, but maybe not. Be sure to specify how you use such programs and describe the results you produce.”

In fact, you should be digging deep into everything you’ve done to make it clear what you know how to use and what you’ll be ready to do by day one. Anton Derkach, delivery manager of Intellectsoft, says that tech leaders involved in the hiring process will particularly want this information. “It would be great to specify what artifacts the analyst had to work with (backlog, epics, user stories, project scope breakdown, scope of work, change requests, etc.) and what tools were used for documentation (Confluence, Jira, Spreadsheets, emails, UML Diagrams, etc.),” he says.

That said, tailoring your resume to fit its readers means being inclusive of various levels of technical knowledge, given that will likely be more than one reader of your resume anywhere you apply. “Many times, an HR rep will be the first to review your application, so feel free to briefly describe what software and programs you use,” says Francis. “If you use Tableau, you could add that this is data visualization software. Not only will this give the HR rep an idea of the software if they are unfamiliar with it, but it will also help get your resume through any automated filtering programs the company may be using.”

5. Sell your skills

Even if you don’t have experience specific to the industry you’re applying for, tailor your application to the job as best as you can by figuring out the skills you can boast about that might apply. “The beauty of being a business analyst is that it is possible to move around different industries,” says Francis, whose career began in healthcare before she moved to publishing. “Presenting adaptable and versatile skills on your resume is a great way to stand out. A hiring manager may want an applicant who is familiar with the industry — but more times than not, they want someone who is adaptable and capable of doing the work.”

This is true whether you’re a business analyst new to your target industry or you’re looking to lock down your first BA job, says VIQU’s Collingwood. “Where have you displayed requirement gathering abilities, probed for details, illustrated good attention to details and people management skills?” he asks. “Think about where you have used these in your previous jobs or even through your degree.”

6. Keep it short, recent — and free of errors

We’ve given you a lot of suggestions here, but don’t take that to mean your resume should be an epic tome. “Keep it concise,” urges VIQU’s Collingwood. “Your CV should be two or three pages at most. Don’t be tempted to write more.”

One way to pare that down is to showcase your latest successes: “Make sure your most recent projects get more detail, and roles from a decade ago only get a single line,” he says. (Though that doesn’t mean everything should be a strictly chronological list; remember what we said about pulling out the most relevant projects for your target job.)

And finally, Collingwood offers the same (very good) advice that job seekers have gotten since time immemorial: “This sounds obvious, but proofread your CV. I’ve lost count of the number of times clients have pulled candidates up for their attention to detail, and as a business analyst, attention to detail is very important.”

Correctly spelling the name of the company you want to work for won’t get you that job on its own, but spelling it incorrectly will certainly lose it for you.

Copyright © 2021 IDG Communications, Inc.

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Business Services and Solutions for Healthcare Professionals

The healthcare industry is a rapidly growing industry that has both unique and everyday challenges. The people in the healthcare profession have to be up-to-date on the latest research, treatments, and technologies to provide quality care for their patients. For this reason, there are many business services and solutions available for professionals in the field of medicine. This article will discuss some of these services such as:

  1. Web Design and IT Services

Although their primary focus is on healthcare, healthcare professionals constantly need an IT service provider to help with web design. A great deal of technology goes into making today’s websites more effective and easier to navigate and use than ever before.

Healthcare professionals can better market their business and increase revenue and patient retention with the right website design.

  1. Payor Contract Management Specialist

The tremendous growth of payor contracts and negotiations in the health sector has made it necessary to address these arrangements more effectively.

The need for a Payor Contract Management Specialist is real, and the field continues to grow as insurance companies continue to dominate healthcare. For this reason, when looking for a payor contracting company, it is crucial to look for one that has the resources and experience necessary to be effective. They should have a dedicated Contract Specialist, someone who knows how to succeed in this role. These individuals are responsible for the day-to-day management of contracts and negotiations with health plans, coordinating resources across different functional groups within their organization on contract-related assignments.

  1. Medical Records Management

In the healthcare sector, records management is a critical part of the business process. It can have severe impacts on patient safety and care and revenue loss if not done correctly. That being said, many healthcare professionals are looking for a reliable yet cost-effective medical records management solution to help them effectively manage patients’ information in their ever-complex world.

Medical records management encompasses anything related to handling paper or electronic health records (EHR). It may include processes like data entry into databases, arranging files, filing physical documents, moving old files out of storage, transferring new/updated content onto CDs or DVDs, managing off-site files by storing backups remotely via cloud computing solutions, etc., retrieving archived patient information upon request from hospital staff members, etc., securely destroying files and papers, etc.

  1. Medical Billing Services

Medical billing is the process of submitting claims to health insurance companies for services provided to patients. It is an integral part of the revenue cycle for medical offices and clinics.

Medical billing can be complicated, so it is essential to work with an experienced outsourced billing company specializing in healthcare services. With an experienced team of billing experts, you can focus more on patient care while your medical practice benefits from streamlined revenue generation.

The healthcare sector is growing daily, and with it, the need for qualified professionals. The demand is outpacing supply in many areas of healthcare, which means that hospitals are looking to outsource certain business services and solutions. This blog post explains that this can include everything from transcription, billing services, or coding assistance to patient care management programs.

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America’s First Multi-Media Financial Education Network Introduced By Nationally Noted Experts

America’s First Multi-Media Financial Education Network Introduced By Nationally Noted Experts

As more Americans seek financial help, a team of industry leaders is introducing a first-of-a-kind solution: unbiased financial education, resources, and services all Americans can use and enjoy

MIAMI, Nov. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — At a time when public awareness and the need for a solid financial position have reached all-time highs, a nationally noted team is introducing a new platform to provide what’s been missing: unbiased, engaging, fact-based financial education, resources, and services for every American. The Institute of Financial Wellness is the first multi-media platform providing free access to all the financial information and resources people need to develop customized strategies for every stage of life, Business Loan.

The team of financial services thought-leaders, digital media veterans, and financial professionals developed the first-of-a-kind platform, as well as a Financial Professional Network which is available to enable customers to implement their customized plans.

“Based on my 25 years of experience running large financial services firms and leading hundreds of financial professionals, we recognized the need to establish the Institute of Financial Wellness to provide engaging, unbiased, fact-based information giving Americans the clarity and confidence needed to make the right financial decisions for their lives,” said Erik Sussman, IFW CEO & Co-Founder. “Importantly, we ensure that our customer journey helps people take action by selecting a Financial Professional who is committed to the same holistic and unbiased approach that addresses all aspects of financial well-being.”

Added Darren Sussman, IFW President and Co-Founder: “Financial education does not have to be boring, elitist, or hard to understand. What sets the Institute of Financial Wellness apart is our commitment to deliver engaging, thoughtful, and unbiased programming that is curated in ways similar to other categories like science, the arts, or sports — so people actually understand and enjoy it!”

Specifically, here’s how it works. Consumers:

  • Begin by reviewing educational resources and content relevant to their unique life stages
  • Register and participate in a financial educational webinar relevant to them
  • Sign up to receive a free personalized report about their current situation
  • Connect with a human IFW Concierge to gather information to produce the report
  • Select a financial professional to review and explain their personalized report
  • Meet with their selected financial professional regarding recommendations, potential solutions and implementation of a customized plan

Every step of the way, the IFW team monitors the process and ensures the consumers have favorable experiences, and also provides ongoing content, education, guidance and support.

About the Institute of Financial Wellness
The Institute of Financial Wellness is America’s first multi-media financial education company providing free access to the unbiased, engaging, fact-based information Americans need to ensure their best lives. Established by professionals with decades of experience running financial services firms and media companies, the IFW seeks to serve as America’s most trusted company for financial education, resources and services. More information is available at www.the-ifw.com

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SOURCE The Institute of Financial Wellness

Visit : https://hobartloans.com/

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Michigan 4-H offering Financial Fitness and Fun program for youth

Michigan 4-H is offering Financial Fitness and Fun sessions for youth through live online and self-guided formats.

Being involved in a financial literacy program can prepare youths for lifelong financial success. According to Next Generation Personal Finance (NGPF), high school graduates with guaranteed financial education are 21{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} less likely to carry a balance on a credit card while in college, use subsidized student loans 13{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} more often, and are 3.5{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} more likely to submit the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA). Students who receive financial education are also less likely to fall prey to high-cost predatory loans than their peers who don’t have access to a personal finance curriculum. A national study by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) found that nearly half of Americans (49{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}) who have received more than 10 hours of financial education report spending less than they earn, compared with 36{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} of those people who received less than 10 hours of financial education.  

According to the  National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a national evaluation of a teen financial education program showed that young people who were involved in a financial education curriculum for as little as 10 hours not only significantly increased their understanding of money management, but also improved their financial behavior in the ensuing months.

Michigan State University Extension and Michigan 4-H have embraced providing financial literacy education through a grant from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. The 4-H Financial Fitness and Fun program offers youth the opportunity to learn about setting financial goals, saving, budgeting, banking basics, credit, and much more through 10 financial education modules packed with fun lessons, activities, and games. Topics include:

Online modules are offered for an interactive self-guided course using Nearpod. Live online sessions will be offered again starting in late February 2022. Keep an eye on the MSU Extension calendar . The first 100 youth to complete all ten sessions either in a live session or through Nearpod lesson on the website will receive a $50 incentive.

MSU Extension and Michigan 4-H youth development help prepare young people for successful futures. As a result of career exploration and workforce preparation activities, thousands of Michigan youth are better equipped to make important decisions about their professional future, ready to contribute to the workforce, and able to take fiscal responsibility in their personal lives. For more information or resources on career exploration, workforce preparation, financial education, or entrepreneurship, contact 4-HCareerPrep@msu.edu.

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