How to Create a List of Warm Contacts

Usually when you are looking for a job, you would ask for help from family and friends.  You would contact these people to ask for information on current job openings, business opportunities and tips.

Your family, relatives and friends belong to your warm contact list.  The warm contact list is the list of people with whom you have or had some personal association.  A former classmate, office mate or neighbor may belong to your warm contact list.

Who may be included in your warm contact list?  Here are a number of selections.

* Relatives and Friends

These people are always willing to help you in your job search or business venture.  They will be able to provide you information if they have some, or refer you to trustworthy people who will be able to help you.  If they will introduce you to some of their contacts, they can surely provide honest information to you regarding the person you are going to associate with.

* Members of the church, political party, social club or fraternity or sorority

You probably did not expect it, but people who share the same faith, beliefs or hobbies may also help you with finding a job.  You may have a different career from theirs, but they might know somebody who is in the same field or will be able to help you in your career.

However, depending on your level of association with them, they may think twice about giving their opinion or thoughts about their contacts.  Their opinion can sometimes help you in making a strategy on how to approach and ask for help from their contacts.

* People who sell you things

You may think that your relationship with these people is purely based on trading goods and services, then paying for them.  However, people who sell you things are also sources of information when networking.

Since these people sell their goods to different types of persons, they may have associated with somebody who belongs to the same field as you do, or have heard information about your target job from their other clients.

These people will also be happy to help you, since they know that maintaining a pleasant relationship with you means a stable business.  Also, if you have a good job means you have increased your purchasing power, and then it could also mean that you may purchase more from them.

* Former employers, colleagues or co-workers

Maintaining a good relationship with previous employers and colleagues has more benefits than you can imagine.  This is the reason that most people try their best to iron out any difficulties with their previous employers even if they are no longer associated with the company.  Aside from the possibility that your potential employer will call previous employers when they review your job history, former employers and colleagues are also a good source of information related to that field.

When you ask for help from family and friends, there is the possibility that the information that they can give to you is just from another source.  They may not be able to give you first-hand information or detailed information unless they also work in the same field that you came from or would like to go into.

This is very different when you consult former employers and colleagues from the same sector.  They will be able to provide you with valuable information and may be able to clarify such information and answer you questions.

* Members of your professional organization

If you belong to a professional organization related to the field in which you are looking for a job, you can consult the organization for current posting from the members.  If you don't belong to any, consider joining one since this will be beneficial to you career growth.

A professional organization can provide you unbiased information on current job openings from its members.  The organization can also give you details on the company profile and even on current market and career trends.

These are the most important people that you should include when creating a list of your warm contacts.  It is better if you contact them all so you can have as many options in your job search.  When you talk to them, tell them that you are actively seeking a job.

Seven Best Tips on How to Get the Most Off a Budget Car Rental

Budget car rentals are a traveler’s savior from being stranded in one place and from expensive taxi rides. But with today’s competitive market, I won’t be surprised that from trying to rent a car you end up renting a lawnmower instead. Well maybe not a lawnmower, but sometimes, well most of the time, the people that assist you in car rentals just doesn’t have your best interest in mind, so you end up paying a truckload of money for a pool of frustrations. To avoid this here are a few tips to get the budget, out of budget car rental.

1. If you’re not choosy with a budget car rental, try to get a budget car rental through sites that let you rent cars at your own price. These firms will try to get the best deal for the car that you’ll get and might just toss in unlimited mileage and upgrades, all of that without spending an extra dime out of budget.

2. Look for package deals, fly-drive-stay, or fly- drive, most of these packages give great discounts for rentals, but don’t do it with an airline, airlines although convenient aren’t really the more economic way to go, their budget car rental prices are hardly budget, and tend to be higher than those of outside firms.

3. Use the internet to reserve a rental car. Ah, the internet, what other good can it provide? Yes there are budget car rentals on the internet that can give you a better bargain. Some budget car rental sites even go as far as internet only discounts. Aside from that you can easily get upgrades and depending on the season, at least one rental company is bound to have a special offer that can help you save money, plus, you can rent a car in the comfort of your own home, beat that!

4. Ask for discounts that can be applicable to you, remember even when you’ve scored the best deal, there is still that one last ditch of a possibility that one of your credit cards support the company and provide discounts or that your frequent flyer program or military service can put that budget in budget car rental, its along shot but its worth a try.

5. Most budget car rentals are low on maintenance so when you rent a car, check all sides for damage, and I mean every side and every nook and cranny of that car, make sure to inform the renter of these so that you wont have to pay for damages once you return the car. In addition, try to check out all the accessories, wipers, radio, brakes, seatbelts etc, to familiarize yourself with them, and also to check if they work, like the previous tip, you might be charged for this if you don’t inform them.

6. Now we pass the subject of insurance, sometimes your own car insurance covers car rentals, so have a look see before you buy insurance from the rental firm. Budget car rental insurance doesn’t cost much, but if you already have one why buy another? Car rental insurance is always required when you rent a car.

7. Another money saving tip is to pick up your car early in the morning, make it so that the firm is just opening, this is because at this time most of the budget car rentals haven’t been returned yet, and you may get an upgrade for a lower price.