In this week’s social media round up, Ariba Shahid walks us through income woes when it comes to freelancing, organizing finances, or just the sad reminder of the fact that salaries do not go up 1.5x. The round up also points out a growth in trade with China and the lack of data utilization by banks.
- Freelancing woes
Freelancing is expensive and a short term gig. You cannot build a career on freelancing and survival is tough, of course there are exceptions and it looks cool. Lets look at industry-wide impact of promoting freelancing widely. https://t.co/8uIZCGgh8u
— Sophia Hasnain (@sophasnain) May 27, 2021
Sure freelancing is a good source of income. That does not mean you should not take into account the fact that you may be exploited. Moreover, how does it look on your resume? Do you think freelancing is a sustainable earning model? These are just some questions this thread by Sophia Hasnain has us thinking. Perhaps the most important thing you can ask yourself is, maybe it is a good way to get by with flexible hours when you’re young, a student, or even in between job, but does it a career make?
- Calling out the banks
Throwback to the time I asked Faysal Bank what the criteria is to get a platinum card
The banker: ma’am the minimum balance for that is 2.
Me: 2 lakh rupees?
The banker: 2 million, ma’am.
Me: okay thanks. Bye.
— Ariba Shahid (@AribaShahid) May 27, 2021
While we are normally wroth to include ourselves in Profit’s weekly social media roundup (you hear plenty from us already in the remainder of this magazine), this is one point that we felt deserved highlighting because it could not be ignored. It is not only funny, but also highlights where banks lack. Banks need to do a better job at credit scoring which and should not only rely on deposits. The service a bank should provide to you should be based on the type of customer you are and not always on how big your bank balance is. However, to do this they will need to be more tech savvy, something we feel is unlikely.
- The worst of times and the worst of times
This is great and all but for the most part it is due to the natural adjustment of PKR earnings on mostly dollarized assets. Not something to toot your own horns about. What happens next, in terms of volumetric growth, will be a true sign of ‘astute economic policies”. https://t.co/TIc5JPuTRb
— Azam A. Khan (@AzamAKhan2) May 27, 2021
There is a lot of hue and cry any time that \ inflation is high and when the rupee devalues. When the pandemic hit, a number of employers gave their employees pay cuts too. When the going gets tough, salaries get cut. But when things get better, we don’t see the same employers giving increments. Wages are sticky, and no Azam, no one got their salaries increased by 1.5x but thank you for making us feel bad about it.
- Export-happy
On May 26th @StateBank_Pak released #Pakistan‘s disaggregated #trade statistics for April ’21. We now have 10 months of the FY21. Some analysis in #thread below. 👇👇👇
— Gonzalo Varela (stay safe) (@gonwei) May 28, 2021
Pak Cheen dosti Zindabad. Pakistan has signed a Free Trade Agreement with China and as a result one can see export growth. In fact, during FY 21, export growth can be seen with the USA, UK, and Germany too. This is because exports of goods and services grew by 6.2% surpassing the US$ 25 billion mark. The export of goods grew more than the export of services given the pandemic and lockdowns. If it makes no one else happy, the government will absolutely be giddy with excitement since improving exports has been one of their top agendas ever since they got into power.
- We’re done with corporate fluff
Some days I think I can continue working in the corporate world forever. But then someone, sooner or later, comes along and spouts inanities like – think outside the box. Ok I’m done.
— samir ahmed 🇵🇰 (@samirahmed14) May 28, 2021
We hate corporate fluff and its jargon. We roll our eyes when someone says “Hey guys, let’s think out of the box” or “We need to create synergies.” We feel your pain Samir Ahmed and hope you manage to stick it through. We suggest you eye roll like us too. But as a hint from seasoned professionals in the eye-rolling business, we strongly suggest doing it when your boss is turned away – when they are in front of you, big smiles and vigorous nods of agreement are recommended, especially if you need the job. If the meetings are on zoom, you can even scream and put your head down. Just make sure you have your mic and camera off.
- Take a break, breathe
Burn out is real.
Happens to the best of us. Happens when we are doing things we love.
Overtraining? Burnout in running, power lifting and sports.
Writers block? Common affliction.
Brain dead, zombie mode. Same symptoms, different name.
Take a break, step back and breathe.
— Jawwad Farid (@rebootdude) May 28, 2021
Jawwad Farid tweets something that resonates with us. It’s hard churning out articles every week. Our readers are demanding and they want new stories, each better than the ones before. It gets hard because of writer’s block, imposter syndrome, and usually just because corporations do not respond on time. Well, the solution is simple, put on a movie, go for a run, or just simply relax and take a break. Things will get back in control in no time.
- Design thinkers
Me asking from a design thinking questionnaire:
“Which customer service channel do you prefer?”
“I would prefer email. The others require me to have a one on one chat and I don’t like people.”
I have never empathized so hard while doing design thinking 😂😂😂— H U Khan (@Huk06) May 28, 2021
Design thinking is about solving user problems. In researching consumer behavior one often comes across various answers. This is just one example of things design thinkers keep in mind while designing interfaces and platforms for users
- Money matters
— I told my therapist about you (@itoldmythe) May 27, 2021
When we tell you to organize your finances, this is what we mean. Stacking your coins this way is therapeutic. If you stack them like the picture on the left, you’re chaotic. However, once you’ve stacked your coins, take a hard look at your portfolio and see if it is diversified enough and whether you’re betting on the right horse. Make the right choices while you can.
