7.26.19 The app stores are ripping people off; Clark Stinks
The app Tinder has changed the way you pay for its services because Google Play charges apps a WAY too much money; Christa reads listener posts about how Clark has missed the mark in his advice this week. If you have a "Clark Stinks" to share you can leave it here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Read more
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5.1.19 Getting a mortgage if you are self-employed; New-style payday lenders; Robot baristas are on the way
Getting a mortgage is getting easier for self-employed… Read more
Download Episode
5.1.19 Getting a mortgage if you are self-employed; New-style payday lenders; Robot baristas are on the way
Getting a mortgage is getting easier for self-employed… Read more
Download Episode
5.1.19 Getting a mortgage if you are self-employed; New-style payday lenders; Robot baristas are on the way
Getting a mortgage is getting easier for self-employed… Read more
7.10.19 New CVS health hubs; Wells Fargo cheated their auto loan customers; Fall travel deals on the way
CVS is launching new "health hubs" in multiple cities which could change the way we folks receive healthcare; Wells Fargo is under fire again for having cheated their auto loan customers by signing them up for insurance that they didn't request; Fall travel deals are looking GOOD!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Read more
Finding a job has often been described as a job in itself. In some cases, that may be because your resume isn’t working as hard as it should.
The resume often makes the first — and biggest — impression with a potential employer. So, it’s essential that it have strong action words to grab the reader’s attention.
Some job candidates can come with all the qualifications in the world but if their resume doesn’t have words that align with the job listing, the phone may never ring and the inbox may stay empty.
For job hunters looking for a leg up, Flexjobs.com suggests some action words as the perfect way to improve your resume and separate it from the pack.
Brie Reynolds, Flexjobs’ senior career specialist and career coach, says that action verbs on your resume can signal to the employer what you deem important.
“I really like to see resumes where each bullet starts with an action verb,” she tells Team Clark. “Starting each line that way makes their information much easier for readers to scan and digest quickly because it flows well from one point to the next.”
Before you overhaul your resume, Reynolds has some words of caution: You can overdo it when it comes to action verbs.
“Yes, there can be action verb overload, and it really comes down to how many bullet points you’ve written for each job,” she says.
“While there are exceptions, I like the general rule of sticking to five or fewer bullet points for each job on your resume.”
Reynolds says that the main thing to remember is that you want your resume easy to read.
“You may need to change your bullets for each job application to make sure the most applicable ones are on your resume, but that’s a much better way to organize your job search than listing 10 or 15 bullets and hoping the reader will be able to figure out which ones are the most important for them to know.”
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To advance to the interview stage, you need to have a resume that hiring managers will notice! If you haven’t updated your resume in the past year, dust it off and update it so that you’re ready when the perfect job opportunity comes along.
Does your resume look anything like the one on the left? Follow Team Clark’s step-by-step guide to resume success in 2019!
Fake product reviews have become a big problem on online retail sites like Amazon, according to money expert Clark Howard.
The consumer advocate points to numerous reports that indicate that the world’s largest online retailer is rife with fake reviews. But how can you tell if a review is bogus?
We’ve compiled some ways for you to spot and avoid fake online reviews. But first, here’s what Clark says on the issue:
“Our consumer behavior as a buyer is so influenced by reviews that now there are people, who all they do full time is earn a living by writing fake reviews,” Clark says.
Clark says that the issue of bogus reviews has become so commonplace that a cottage industry has emerged to help facilitate it.
“A lot of companies that are trying to get a product sold in the marketplace, or get you into a restaurant or get you to stay at a particular pace, they’re contracting with these organizations,” he says.
Because it’s so hard to tell whether we’re reading an authentic review or not, here are some ways to decipher the real from the fake:
FakeSpot.com lets you paste the URL of a review so that it can be analyzed. While it was originally built around Amazon, the site has expanded to other retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy.
Clark says this about FakeSpot.com’s ability to sniff out a fake review: “They’re not always successful at it, but it’s a help.”
Get the FakeSpot browser plugin for Chrome and Mozilla as well as the app for Android and iOS.
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Like FakeSpot, ReviewMeta lets you copy and paste the review link to view its credibility. The premise behind the site is not so much to decipher fake reviews, but to help shoppers uncover bias in reviews, which can be just as damaging to consumers.
ReviewMeta has a “Pass,” Fail” or “Warn” system that it uses to gauge reviews. Here’s what the site says about that:
“PASS/FAIL/WARN does NOT indicate presence or absence of ‘fake’ reviews.”
Get the ReviewMeta browser extension as well as the app for Android and iOS.
Another way you can spot a fake online review is to look out for typos and bad grammar.
It’s not that every reviewer has perfect typing skills or a high education level, it’s just that online reviews are littered with sentences that seem to come straight out of a translation website. Those reviews could be fake!
If a product review is superb in every way and the accolades seem too good to be true, a lot of times they are. This overly positive review is often accompanied with a perfect rating that may seem impossible to achieve.
Some reviews are so general that you can’t even tell what the product does or is from the way it’s written. This could be a telltale sign that the review is artificially generated.
Another good way to sniff out a fake review is to spot a fake reviewer. Click on the reviewer’s profile to see if they’ve written any other reviews or if they’re simply copying and pasting the same reviews on different products.
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Also, if you’re considering a purchase from a reseller in a marketplace site like Amazon or eBay, make sure you only buy from vendors with a 98% or higher seller rating.
As a thoughtful consumer, it’s ultimately up to you to scrutinize reviews before you buy a product or service. Here’s what Clark says:
“You and I have to understand that whether you’re looking at a place to eat, a place to sleep, a place to shop, or an item to shop for, that the odds are very strong if not overwhelming that the reviews that are being posted are bogus and you and I have to be the cops on the beat.”
If you run across a fake review online, file a consumer complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission or call the agency at 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).
Work-from-home jobs can provide the flexibility that you need, but can you spot the scams out there? Team Clark wants you to have the tools to avoid these ripoffs!
Brie Reynolds from FlexJobs provided us with five ways to avoid these fake jobs. Let’s get to the list…
The company may want you to pay them to train you, purchase software or invest in some way in order to get the job. Legitimate companies won’t make you spend money in order to work for them.
Often, legit job postings will list the equipment or specific software you need or provide it as a part of training once you are hired. You can usually find this information in the job listing.
Usually, companies will do in-person, phone or video chat interviews. If the business you apply to only wants to conduct interviews via online chat, be careful.
A huge red flag for instant message interviews is when the company doesn’t ask many in-depth questions about your skills or offers you the job immediately.
Pressuring you to accept their offer quickly is another bad sign. A scammer might try to get you to act without thinking, so always take a step back and consider if this offer is too good to be true.
However, some major companies like Amazon have been known to do chat interviews with people interviewing for specific customer service positions. Doing a lot of research about the company before they interview you is vital, especially if they only want to conduct interviews over chat.
Real jobs need people with specific skills, so companies will lay them out in a real listing. If a job description looks vague, only highlights benefits or has noticeable grammatical errors, it’s likely illegitimate.
Benefits highlighted will usually be things like how much money you’ll get for relatively little work.
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Another red flag here could be a lack of responsibilities listed in the posting. A real company will tell you what work they expect you to perform as an employee.
This is extremely important during any job hunt. Typing the company name and the word “scam” into a search engine is a simple way to find out if a company is legitimate.
You should be able to find reports from the FBI or FTC and Better Business Bureau ratings. You can also look for forums where people post experiences with a company.
A company’s website can also tell you if they’re legit or not with a quick glance. If it has grammatical errors or weird punctuation scattered throughout, it’s probably fake.
Another simple and effective way to spot a scam is to ask questions like:
If you get a bad feeling or the interviewer struggles to answer, you probably want to ditch this company.
Above all, trust your gut. If you think something is fishy for even a moment: Stop, think and research. If after that the company still seems like it might not be legit, don’t be afraid to walk away from it.
There are work-from-home jobs available from real companies and plenty of ways to find them, including our work-from-home guide and more information about FlexJobs.com.
Hosting a backyard barbeque is a traditional way to celebrate the Fourth of July, Labor Day or any weekend when the weather is nice. But grilling out can get expensive, so we have a few ideas to make sure your gathering doesn’t blow a hole in your wallet.
The key to making sure your outdoor entertaining stays within your budget really comes in the planning. If you’re scrambling at the last minute to make sure your crowd is fed, you will probably be paying too much.
Here are the areas where there are real opportunities to cut costs:
Whether you cook on a gas grill, charcoal, electric, smoker or some combination of those is a very personal preference. They all work, as long as you know how to use them.
Charcoal grills are less expensive to buy, but the fuel required to keep them cooking is more expensive than gas.
You also want to make sure — no matter what type of grill you’re using — that your timing is right. If you fire up the grill two hours before the food goes on, you’re just burning money.
Need to buy a new grill? Start by learning more about the best time and place to buy one!
It’s fortunate for us grillers that some of the best meat for cooking over an open flame or smoking also tends to be less expensive by the pound than cuts that have better name recognition.
If you’re cooking steak look for flank or skirt cut, which are perfect for the grill. Set up a fajita bar!
When it comes to chicken, legs and thighs are hard to beat. They have the fat content to stand up to an open flame, where breasts do not.
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If you have a smoker, look for any large cut like a pork butt, beef brisket or turkey legs and you can easily feed a big crowd on a shoestring budget.
For a vegetarian option, it’s tough to top eggplant. The versatile fruit grills up very nicely.
Hot dogs are a staple of most cookouts. If there are kids involved, they are a must-have.
While pretty much everyone can agree that Nathan’s makes great hot dogs, a recent taste test from the Washington Post says that money expert Clark Howard’s favorite store Costco sells the most flavorful frank.
Some notes from the judges:
No, you don’t have to make your own ketchup and mustard from scratch. But you can certainly whip up your own barbeque sauce out of ingredients you probably already have. The same goes for salad dressing.
While you’re showing off your prowess at the grill, keep in mind that your guests’ tummies still need to be filled. A great way to cut costs is to make sure you have side dishes that people will enjoy.
Pound for pound, potatoes are way less expensive than any cut of meat you can buy and who doesn’t love a good potato salad?
