Stay productive with these 5 habits

Magnet Me via Unspalsh

Let’s not pretend that we’re productive 100% of the time. We all know we have the same amount of time in a day as Beyonce, but let’s face it - sometimes we just can’t even.

“I’m not a morning person” does this sound familiar to you? (that’s me, btw) Chances are you’ve said it before. You’ve seen multiple articles telling you, “This CEO gets up every day at 5 am,” and you think; maybe you would be a mogul by now if you were an early bird. But don’t start rewinding your alarm just yet. The fact is we have multiple unproductive slumps because, well, we’re human. Social media hasn’t helped one bit with procrastination at our fingertips, but being in a creative field can also make this extra difficult. We can’t just turn that creative tap on and off between 9 and 5 and expect to produce the most revolutionary outcomes regularly. So how do we stop those pre-coffee blank stares or the mindless scrolling through our social media feeds? Here are a few handy tips that might get you back on track.

1. Stop working

Crazy, but hear me out. The reason your mind is wandering is that you’re in a creative rut. Or you might just be bored with whatever you’re working on (which is totally fine, by the way). So don’t force it; step back, take your eyes away for 5 minutes and just stop thinking about it. It’s like turning yourself OFF and ON again, restart that system and let the creative juices flow.

2. Get Moving

Ok, step one isn’t working for you. You got back into that rut. You need to get off your butt and move those legs! Our best ideas always come to us when our body is in movement. This isn’t just an excuse to wander around your workspace; this is science, (think IDEO problem solving). Rather than sitting with our bodies in passive mode, sending the shut-down signal to our brains, there is a direct correlation between creativity and productivity when we get upright. So one way to break out of ‘too-tired-to-do’ routine is to think on our feet for a bit.

Georgia De Lotz via Unsplash

3. Stop distractions

Don’t allow distractions during work - that includes being the distractor yourself. To start, try putting your phone slightly out of reach or turning off Slack notifications. At the same time, you work so you don’t get sidetracked by every witty GIF popping up. Finally, close all the tabs, browsers, and applications you don’t need - you can’t work with a messy desk, so how can you work with a cluttered desktop. So, organise your workspace so there’s less clutter - let “tidy desktop, tidy mind” be your new mantra.

4. Think big

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Sometimes attention to detail is your enemy! Sure, it’s great to say you have it in a job interview, and it’s helpful in a plethora of circumstances. Still, when you’ve been staring at the same project on your screen for ten minutes, thinking, “how can I possibly? There’s just too much,” that’s when you need to step back from the micro and look at the macro. Think about the big picture and ask yourself:

• What is it that I am trying to achieve?

• Do I have a list of priorities I need to set?

• Divide tasks based on importance, not just urgency.

• Are there any pain points or blockers that I can reach out to others for some guidance?

5. Know your workflow

You’re a morning person and want to message me at 6 am - no worries, but don’t expect a reply. Knowing when your productivity is likely at its peak helps others understand your flow. Know when you need in-the-zone time or when you’re ready to collaborate and problem-solve to achieve your best work, utilising your peak productivity times. There is no right or wrong formula for the average person; you’re the only one that can figure it out. Be protective of your workflow; if you know your best time for being creative is in the middle of the day, clear your calendar - don’t schedule any meetings for that time. That’s your focus time. Let that energy carry you throughout the day.

Brooke Cagle via Unsplash

Productivity is about how much you can create and deliver.

These are only five simple ways that you can keep your mind on track. Still, there are so many more out there. Talk to your circle about managing their productivity - sharing is the best way to get personalised suggestions. Don’t be that person that forces themselves up at 5 am only to crash at 9. Gone are the days of bragging about a 12hr day because being ‘busy’ doesn’t mean you’re productive.

Own your future - Creative Mentoring for Women

Image credit: Jing Xi Lau from Unsplash

The concept of mentoring is not a new one. In fact, the idea dates back 2000 years to Homer's epic poem, The Iliad. If your knowledge of ancient Greek poetry is a little dusty, here's a brief recap:

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, disguises herself as Mentor to act as both a teacher and guardian to Odysseus' son, Telemachus. Under Mentor's (Athena's) guidance and wisdom, Odysseus and with his son by his side, slaughter the enemy and make a triumphant return back home to Ithaca. Now the question remains, how much of a role did Mentor play in Odysseus' success?

"The key to being a good mentor is to help people become more of who they already are--not make them more like you."

Suze Orman

Mentoring: the low-down

A mentors central role is to facilitate safe and inspiring learning by instilling their skills, expertise and experience upon their mentees. Consider them as your personal Greek goddess here to lead and guide you through what may be unfamiliar territory for you, but is very much a well-trodden track for them. Your mentor shares precious knowledge and unearths hidden information and knowledge gained through years of experience.

Studies have shown that mentoring is a proven tool to help individuals reach career milestones, feel more confident in making career and business choices, and create a more harmonious work-life balance. Essentially, your mentor is your sounding board, providing you with the opportunity to reflect, assess and plan your next move. Sounds like a heavenly match!

Who makes a good mentor?

Think you have some Athena traits in you? In addition to holding an abundance of experience and knowledge in your relevant professional field, you must also be able to:

• Create a safe and non-judgemental space: You want your mentee to feel relaxed and comfortable enough to openly share and carry out honest discourse around their goals and objectives.

• Listen and question: Help your mentee get to the heart of the problem/topic/goal at hand.

• Provide valuable feedback: This is where your knowledge and experience comes into play!

• Compassionate and empathetic: You're not in the business of shattering someone's dreams and aspirations; be kind and understanding to their quest for development.

This isn't a one-sided party either, with the mentor/mentee relationship being very much mutually-beneficial. The mentor gains:

• The satisfaction of helping another.

• Interpersonal skills.

• Passing down of valuable and experiential knowledge.

• Grow a personal and professional network.

"Just start. Don't worry that you don't have all the answers yet."

Alli Webb

Who is mentoring for?

If you're looking to achieve personal and professional goals of any kind, mentoring is a valuable avenue worth pursuing. It can help you navigate areas such as:

• Planning a career change

• Accelerate career progression

• Launching a business

• How to self-promote/market oneself

• Develop new ways of working/work-flow systems

• Improve performance at work

• Seeking out leadership opportunities

• Managing additional workload/multiple professional endeavours

• Broaden your professional network

• Learn how to set goals and objectives

Now that we have a more rounded understanding of a mentor and mentee relationship, let's jump back into our Athena and Odysseus analogy...

Would Odysseus have survived without the help of Athena? There is no doubt that Athena comes to Odysseus' aid many times, providing him with the tools and strategies to protect him from his opposers. But one can also not overlook Odysseus' own bravery, which is present throughout all his adventures.

In the end, it all comes down to the individual's actions; you steer the ship, and your mentor will be your compass.

If you've been looking for a mentor, or to be a mentor, applications are now open for Series Two of our CWC Member Mentoring Program: a member-to-member mentorship program for creative women. Find out more here.

What’s in a reflection? The beauty in looking back

Photo by nine koepher from Unsplash

My foray into the practice of self-reflection was during my first year of teaching. As a central activity in a novice teacher's professional process —and one that I initially met with great resistance—after habitual practice, I began to see tangible benefits. I quickly discovered that self-reflection is a powerful tool and one that should be part of the arsenal of any creative professional women. And what better time to look back on oneself than on the dawning of a new year.

Self-reflection is a process where you look back on yourself and the world from the point of introspection—observing your ideas, thoughts, actions and aspirations. Not only does the practice enrich your personal life, but it can deepen your awareness around how you wish for your life to evolve. 

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards" - Steve Jobs.

Failures are our biggest teachers.

It can be easy to label 2020 as a failure in its entirety. Many of us were forced to pivot and change the way we conducted business. Here at CWC, we had to find a way to bring all our planned in-person events to a virtual setting, whilst still creating engaging experiences for our members. With forced change, also comes great learnings. For CWC, we discovered that virtual events opened up our message to those outside of the Melbourne area, allowing women world-wide to join in on the conversation; adding a richer dimension to our connection and community values.

The magic lies in self-awareness.

Dr Tasha Eurich, an organisational psychologist and Keynote speaker, explains that self-awareness results in being able to see ourselves more clearly, be more confident and creative. Eurich also argues that introspection (i.e. the practice of self-reflection) does not make someone self-aware. So how do self-awareness and self-reflection come together?

"The problem with introspection isn't that it is ineffective—it's that most people are doing it incorrectly." - Dr Tasha Eurich.

The reason for this is because many begin the practice of reflection with the question "why?". "Why did I not perform well at my last interview?" "Why did my product not take off as planned?", "Why do I always experience writer's block when I have an impending deadline?" "Why can I never stay on top of my content planning?" (These last two I am particularly familiar.)

When we ask "why" we are providing the ideal breeding conditions for negative thoughts, full of fears, insecurities and shortcomings. Instead, we must approach self-reflection through an activity of self-assessment; analysing one's strengths and weaknesses. As Eurich puts it, we should be asking "what" instead of "why". With "what" questions helping us to stay future-focussed, objective and more empowered to take action on our new insights.

Self-reflection how-to:

As you begin the practice of self-reflection this year, try asking yourself:

"What are some of my successes from the last 12 months?"

"What were some areas that I fell short?

"What has been my strengths/where have I grown?"

"What are my goals for the upcoming year?"

"What has been my biggest lesson in life or business?"

Your self-reflective practice can be as informal or formal as you like. You can journal or complete a writing exercise, meditate or take a contemplative walk amongst nature.

Insight into Action:

"The key to success is to start before you're ready." - Marie Forleo.

Any self-reflective exercise is the ideal primer for goal-setting. After all, you're in the perfect mindset to create intentional goals! Ask yourself where you want to be in the next 3, 6, 12 months and beyond? Can you identify any values present in your goals? Then use these values to steer your goals, objectives and decision making in the future.

Carol Mackay, Design Business Council, on finding your onliness

Carol Mackay, Design Business Council

Carol Mackay helps Australian creatives manage their business better - more effectively, more efficiently and more sustainably - so they can spend more time creating. After 30+ years running a graphic design firm, Carol moved from client-focused projects to consult to the design industry. Now with the Design Business Council she uses her experience, and research, to help creatives build robust, sustainable businesses, and to help businesses integrate, and profit from, design.

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What’s the difference between personal branding and onliness?

Personal branding is how you want to be perceived by others — or as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos would say, what others say about you when you are not in the room. I prefer to use the term ‘onliness’ – comes without the history and baggage of ‘branding’.

Was your own ‘onliness’ something you instinctively understood, or did it take a lot of trial, error and experience to work out?

I’m relatively new to the importance of thinking about my ‘onliness’ and that’s mainly because I’ve worked alongside my life partner for nearly 40 years. We first worked together for someone else, then in a design studio we co-founded and now at the Design Business Council. During the design studio tenure, we had distinctly separate roles that evolved over a long period of time. Greg had his clients and I had mine. He ran the external face of the studio and I ran the internal. Our roles evolved with the business.

This changed when I closed the studio after 34 years to re-join Greg in a side-hustle we’d co-founded five years earlier. We’d dipped our toes into a venture we thought might work, and then worked hard to get it to a stage it could fund us both.

While I kept the studio going to fund the venture, Greg had had five years to assess, define and refine his new role. And he is is really, really good at what he does. When I joined him, I had to work out how I could add value. Greg and I now have overlapping roles with far less clarity.

Anyone with a successful partner knows if you don’t have clarity around your own strengths and weaknesses, if you don’t have a strong sense of your value, you will continually be overshadowed. Especially if you are second to the table. I’d come from the comfort of a role I had for 34 years into a new challenge needing completely different use of my existing skills.

“I had to find my onliness, and I had to find it quickly. It wasn’t easy.”

Is onliness important when you’re first starting out?

Being aware of your onliness is absolutely of value to a graduate. It means you can stand above the cookie-cutter folio we all graduate with, and more easily sell your value into prospective employers, in writing, in visuals and in person.

What do you think the main obstacles designers come up against when running a small business?

Stamina and sustainability. That first flush of clients may last a year, may last five but we work in a rapidly changing industry that is constantly disrupted. Identifying, adapting and managing change is constant. It takes energy and it takes stamina.

Many small business are founded by people who love what they do, but don’t necessarily love the business of what they do. Sustainability comes from employing someone to work on the business so you can continue to do what you love. If you love what you do, stamina is less of an issue. Energy comes from enjoyment.

You’ve taking your wealth of design knowledge and client-focused experience and pivoted to consulting, are you enjoying the pivot?

I am now. But it took a couple of years to be comfortable in my new role.

Comfortable working as a partnership rather than with an in-house team and running a studio. Comfortable remembering I’m now a supplier to the design industry rather than a designer and comfortable referring projects from ex-clients to other designers.

What I am enjoying is having a forum to share my experience. I would have loved to have a ‘me’ to advise me through the tough spots – that’s what I’m trying to do with others. Running a creative business is hard. Your eye is continually on billings for the end of the week/month/quarter. Having time to future plan is really difficult.

Now I am relishing having time to research better ways of running a design business. I’m relishing having time to talk to others about what they do, why they do it and how they do it. And I’m relishing having a voice to share that knowledge.

Have you had to change your onliness at all?

I am naturally a chatty, enthusiastic introvert who is most comfortable chatting one-on-one. Five-on-one sometimes. Ten-on-one max. This is not a perfect attribute for my new role in the Design Business Council, and it could be said it limited my role.

It was the personal journey map activity (I’m going to share in the Masterclass) that helped me identify what I do well, and what I don’t –  and that helped me change my thinking because I understood where I needed additional skills.

Tell me a little bit about the work you do with Womentor (on hiatus at the mo) and how important do you think mentors are to women in design? And women in general.

Mentors are important. Having the counsel of others can open opportunities and remove obstacles. I’ve not had a mentor (apart from Mary Tyler Moore and Murphy Brown :) but I am sure with one I would have worked more efficiently and more effectively.

On the other hand, I’ve mentored many, as does anyone that employs others, and especially graduate designers. I’ve mentored employees, designers within schemes like AGDA and Womentor, and as a paid gig as part of my role within DBC.

“Mentoring is sharing knowledge and that comes easily to me. I think we all have an obligation to give back to the industry. ”

Where can women find a mentor that’s right for them?

I think many women struggle to find a mentor because of their mindset. They seek someone who will give their time freely, who has the perfect balance of knowledge, character and in an aligned career. Can you see the problem?

Mentoring should be a two-way relationship. Good mentors are open to continually learning, and to new experiences yet many mentees are only interested in taking. I’ve had designers request to buy me a cup of tea only to sit opposite me with an open notebook and grill me with questions until my eyes water and my bladder almost bursts. And then they ask when we can meet again.

Knowing your onliness is about understanding how you can give back to your industry at every level. Perhaps it’s not about finding the right mentor, perhaps it’s about making connections with people with whom you have something or someone in common and with whom you think you could share something you know in return for some advice. Who would not love that?

What’s the one bit of advice you would give women in business?

Firstly, that it’s OK not to be in business. If the business is a weight around your neck, if it is not giving you joy, and you don’t like the majority of your day, then it’s absolutely OK to walk away and support the work of someone else. The world is obsessed with start-ups but having a business is hard on every level.

 It’s hard making the tough financial decisions. It’s hard to continually disrupt yourself and your business in an attempt to stay relevant and it’s hard working solo, but then it’s really hard managing other creatives.

 It is not for everyone and I don’t think enough people consider walking away. That said, the one bit of advice I would give is understand your onliness – what you do differently to others, what makes you distinct. Understanding your strengths and your weaknesses makes it easier to play to your strengths and buy skills that plug your weaknesses.

And that’s what makes it easy to portray a successful personal brand.

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Join us for Carol’s Masterclass on Friday November 6th at 1pm. Subscribe to her weekly article that helps designers manage their business. You can view her current work at Design Business School and see an archive of her design work at mbdesign.com.au

Many creatives haven’t necessarily been trained formally in business. What are some common mistakes people make with managing their money?

5 min read

One mistake that is commonly made is not seeking financial help or advice from a professional. We recommend that businesses either work with an external accountant monthly or hire a CFO or Head of Finance internally.

The language of business is accounting and unless you are well versed in it—you are dabbling! Some owners will have copious numbers of reports and yet they have no idea how to read, interpret, or understand them.

Leaders generally have enough to do between generating new work, designing, and ensuring your existing projects are on track—the business needs to put an expert in charge of this area. By outsourcing the accounting function to a specialist service partner, the business can focus its attention on other key areas that directly impact its profitability. This will free up the directors to lead with confidence in a competitive market, with the knowledge that the finances are in safe hands.

Another mistake that businesses often make is not implementing a cash forecasting system. Cash can be your single most important asset - it’s the lifeblood of your business. You need a cash system that allows you to forecast, as accurately as possible, your cash in and cash out. This may start as a monthly forecast, but depending on your needs, it could turn into a weekly or even daily system.

Starting with historical numbers, you can build out your first cash forecast using either a cash management system or simply MS Excel. The first time you create your forecast, everything is based on historical numbers and future assumptions. Each month that passes is going to tell you something about the accuracy of those assumptions and give you the opportunity to assess and revise.

Ask yourself the following:

• What was inaccurate about your assumptions?

• Was this a “one-time thing”?

• How can you refine your forecast based on the actuals that just happened?

A cash flow forecast, coupled with your P&L, gives you an accurate picture of the financial position of your business and where it is heading. Most importantly, it gives you the knowledge to make more informed strategic decisions. If you don’t have the capability or capacity to create cash flow forecasts, work with an experienced accountant to create them for you.

What is the difference between cash flow and profit, and why should it matter?

Firstly, profit and cash are different. Profit is the business’s earnings (revenue) minus the expenses (which are the costs that the business incurs to generate the revenue). Profit is simply put ‘a theory’ – because you can’t spend it.

Each business transaction will affect the profit and cash in different ways – and at different times. For example, paying salaries and wages, paying tax, purchasing computers and equipment, waiting on debtors to make a payment, or the creditors that have not been paid yet – all of these situations affect the profit and cash position differently.

Most of the time, the effect on the cash position can be delayed and occur after the change in your profit position. For example, say your fees for June were $500K – in by mid-July you are unlikely to have received any of the $500K that’s reported in your profit and loss statement. On the flip side – those salaries and wages incurred to produce the $500K worth of fees – say that equates to $250K incl on-costs – would have already been paid by now – and have reduced your bank account accordingly.

So, which one is more important? Profit or cash? The answer is more complicated—and the two are interrelated. As your business develops, the more you will probably need to invest in systems, equipment, additional people, and premises—all of which require cash. In most cases, you are investing this cash before you earn any additional profit, so to make more profit or grow your business, you will require more cash. Of course, you can also borrow it or receive it from shareholders or investors, but the point is, to understand how cash and profit impact each other.

In saying this, the age-old saying “cash is king” usually prevails. There have been plenty of profitable businesses that were forced to close because they ran out of cash. Having a loss on your Profit & Loss statement (P&L) does not mean you’ll go out of business, running out of cash is much harder to recover from.

Looking at just one of these metrics (profit and cash) doesn’t tell you the whole story. Just because you had a profitable month doesn’t mean you had a positive cash flow month. Similarly, just because you have cash in the bank doesn’t mean your business is performing well. That’s why cash flow and a P&L must be looked at together.

As a small business, sometimes it's hard to know when to enlist professional help and when to save money and do it yourself. At what point do you think it’s important to seek professional advice?

Most creative professionals start with a passion for design and execution. Their education and experience have prepared them for this, and it is what they excel at. However, creative people often do not have the education and experience to understand financial information and how it affects their business. Simply reporting finances is not enough, how can you use this information to make you more impactful and effective.

It’s important to what know your strengths are and which areas you can receive assistance from other experts, i.e. people who can not only prepare your numbers and reporting but interpret the financials for you and help you to make impactful decisions for your business.

Given this, seeking advice is necessary and important for your business from the beginning of your business. If you are a director or business leader, having a solid understanding of the current business finances and position will give you peace of mind, and the confidence to focus on the aspects of your work they are best at.

What are some steps you can take to manage your cashflow?

1. Hire an expert

By outsourcing the accounting function to a specialist service partner, the business can focus its attention on other key areas that directly impact its profitability. This will free up the directors to lead with confidence in a competitive market, with the knowledge that the finances are in safe hands.

2. Know your numbers

The language of business is accounting. How do you know where you need to go if you don’t know where you are?

3. Set your KPIs

Are you measuring your day-to-day activities? Have you set targets that align with your strategic plan? Analyse your data and select relevant metrics to help you define business success. For example, do you know your debtors days? This KPI has a direct impact on your cashflow and should be measured monthly. Do you know your % of technical salaries to fees? This is another valuable measure to use to keep your business in check.

4. Measure, measure, measure

Management guru Peter Drucker is often quoted as saying that “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.” What gets measured is what gets done. If you are not measuring it you are not managing your business effectively.

5. Compare/benchmark

You need to compare to how you are tracking year in year out as well as comparing your results with those of appropriate peers — that is, firms that are similar in size and business model to your own.

6. Take the right action — create change

Of course, knowledge without action won’t benefit your business. You’ve got to use the information you gather to make smart strategic moves that will enhance your success.

On being creative and having a resume

5 min read

I can write almost anything for anyone however when it comes to writing my own resume, something terrible happens. 

As a communications professional of 14 years, my resume is still the most agitating and draining task to face. The irony being that my resume says how well I can write, it says I have attention to detail and how well I generate creative solutions to complex problems. 

It’s very ‘meta’ writing a resume about copywriting skills and same for a web designer’s website. It tends to be all or nothing, and there can be no errors or otherwise I am not walking my own talk. The slightest oversight, double space or outdated format will see my resume be the faux-pas that gets overlooked.  

It’s enough to make me want to run for the hills, get work as a gardener swapping skills for rent and never return to civilisation again. The uncomfortableness of being visible and signifying that I am creative but professional has always been a tight rope to walk. 

However, in more recent years, I came in to some huge unexpected barriers. 

I had shifted out of traditional workplaces in to start ups, freelance work and then I faced some personal tragedies and great losses. All work and decisions were impeded by a grief fog and my resume suffered greatly for it. 

As the grief slowly shifted, and in an attempt to meet home loan requirements, I went through several foiled interviews for day jobs but for the first time in my adult life, I struggled with my identity and explaining my scenario because it was no longer straight forward like it had been in my late 20s and early 30s.  

I had significant life events outside of work but that didn’t mean I had been stripped of my skills or experience in any way shape or form, my degree and experience doesn’t magically disintegrate if I take a short break to recover. If anything, it greatly improved my professional confidence, capacity for joy, hunger for intellectual stimulation and need for fun and light heartedness with my colleagues and friends.

But none of that mattered because it was all unexplainable in a resume format. It turns out there is no place for women’s lived experiences in a job application.

I tried to shine it on as best I could but I was coming across plain confusing to people. Startups thought I was too old yet traditional workplaces with interview manels didn’t like that my linear career had taken some very small and slight detours. I had found myself between worlds, between identities, between stages of life and it was all stopping me from moving forward. I had also run out of savings.

It was at this turning point I started the biggest job application research project of the century.

I booked resume writers, career counsellors, met with recruiters, quizzed my contacts, studied the history and philosophy of resumes and I volunteered. There was no school of thought about these topics that I didn’t devour and try on for myself in applications. After about a year of trial and error, I finally learnt how to have a good resume again, as a mid 30s woman. 

And I learnt how to have a resume as a creative woman. 

I now have a part-time day job as well as making websites and resumes for other women as part of my new business. I named my business Joan and Daughters after my grandmother and her five daughters to acknowledge the work of women in my family. The work that has so many transferable skills, creativity, colour, style, unmatched quality and ‘human centred’ elements. 

The work that ought to pay, and pay well. The work that can be outlined, highlighted and celebrated.

Your resume and LinkedIn are great ways to do exactly that! 

Here are some of the things that helped turn it all around for me:

1.    Career ‘Stories’

There needs to be a cohesive theme that is obvious at first glance. This alone, trips a lot of people up.

Lack of cohesion can be derailing for anyone, it’s kryptonite to people who have lives outside of work (how dare you) but as with my own story, it doesn’t have to keep being a roadblock for you. All you have to do is elevate and spotlight the common elements, skills, themes, industries, position titles, or even locations. 

Make sure you explain the connection between each of the companies, positions, and projects - modifying the language so it’s all connected goes a very long way. Say who the clients are, include your volunteer work and list your professional development courses to better capture the level you are at.

Wrap up all your efforts in an amazing container that is super clear and amplifies the direction you are going in. It needs to have some things in common with where you want to be next so (unfortunately) customising for each and every application is a must.

2. Formatting is (almost) more important than content

• Show people instead of telling them. 

• Creative flair is best demonstrated in your folio, or online presence rather than in the resume document.

• Scannable position titles, keywords and company names rather than tangled sentences. Those keywords and phrases are vital when applying at larger companies thanks to AI.

• No daggy photos or fonts, no more than one colour if you’re using a designed template.

• Use single columns, good spacing and classic styled bullets.

• For LinkedIn, use all the functions and fields as they are intended to be used.

• If it looks polished like any other serious business document, then you’re more than halfway there. 

3. Numbers

• Include data, numbers, statistics, percentages and ratios to demonstrate the impact your work has had.

• The credibility of business outcomes and outputs will shift the perception of you significantly, as long as you don’t lean on them like they are a signpost.

• Having a few stats will level up applications for in-house roles as well as things like getting funding for art-based projects, tenders, securing finance and it will illuminate your freelance work in a way that words alone cannot.

4. Forge past those ‘old chestnuts’

A big chunk of our purpose is from the work we do so it can feel very brutal when you are rejected. Unsuccessful interview feedback for creative women can often be contradictory and perplexing if others don’t perceive you to fall in to a clear category.

I am sure recruiters mean no disrespect when they come at you with old chestnuts like ‘you’re over qualified’ but the very next week you’re under qualified for a similar role. The bottom line is if you didn’t get it, they have to say something to you (or at least they feel they do).

I have sat on panels and seen perfectly suited candidates turned away because of strict recruitment policies where there’s a voting system where the majority rules, and nothing more than that. My favourite was when I applied for the exact same role I had held previously, at the same university but in a different department to be told over the phone that someone else had ‘closer, more relevant experience’. 

It’s important these old chestnuts don’t derail you, or your future applications. Focus and forge on because your work matters, even if someone else says otherwise in an awkward attempt to let you down gently.

Updating your resume can be pivotal (as much as it can be painful). But you are capturing the work of a creative woman that may not otherwise be acknowledged or said anywhere else, ever. If you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind and you’re out of work. 

Simply listing it out and declaring what your work means both now and in the future is a powerful thing. If all else fails, there is always a need for gardeners.

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Author Bio: 

Emily is a web designer, copywriter and owner of Joan and Daughters. She helps creatives and businesses translate their work into websites, resumes and more. Emily has had an extensive communications career and loves working with women who are forging their own path and creating their own damn jobs. 

Do your tax: advice from creatives to set you on your way

Image: Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

The month of June means crips winter mornings and cold nights. The idea of bunkering down with a glass of wine or hot chocolate and doing something homely in my spare time is oh so enticing and alluring. However June also means…. tax time is looming.

If you’re anything like me, tax is something that is subject to extreme procrastination because it’s not particularly fun, and I admit numbers send my eyes into a glaze. However, as a creative with a small business and several side hustles on the go its imperative that it’s done right.

So, with June 30 looming, I’ve dived into the trusty CWC blog archives to help whip myself into gear and found some gems from over the years. Here are some useful blog posts which will hopefully set me on the right track, and help you out too.

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Tax Basics for small creative businesses

by Jes Egan.

Just want to be creative and not think about your tax? So do most of us, however there are many administrative tasks to running a small business and sometimes they can get in the way of being creative and doing what you love. Unfortunately, most of these tasks are important and avoiding them can land you in trouble. Here are some tips to help you prepare for your tax. Read more here.

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Organise me - it’s tax time

by Andrea McArthur

Tax time. Time to get serious. The count down to June 30 is on and we only have 5 days left. Now is definitely the time to start thing about your Tax. Below are some ideas to get you thinking about your Tax this year. Read more here.

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My Advice: Staying on top of admin

By Lizzie Stafford

We asked three organised business owners how they stay on top of the books without going insane. In the wise words of potter Ilona Topolcsanyi: “Admin is like a leg wax: if you move quickly, the pain is minimal and the results are pretty damn sexy.” Read more here.