If you’ve been writing résumés for a living, you probably know the right things to write to attract potential employers. Be careful about splattering too many keywords and clichés though. Some people think certain phrases are the ones employers really want to see in résumés, but for the most part, these phrases get applicants rejected.

Careerbuilder has a list of 13 of the most overused phrases used in résumés. Looks like I seriously need to update mine pretty soon.

A few days ago, Michelle Goodman wrote about the reasons why grad school isn’t a total necessity, and it got me thinking. On and off for the past six years (yes, years), I’ve been entertaining the thought of going to grad school and taking either Web publishing, magazine journalism, or even going further with my History studies. Part of the reason why I want to go to grad school is a serious interest in those subjects; another reason is a desire to live abroad even for a year, because the schools I’m eyeing are located in the UK.

Her post enumerates the reasons why any freelance writer isn’t actually required to have a graduate degree, and that one good reason to actually pursue further studies is to improve your knowledge about the topic you’re most interested in writing about. Which makes perfect sense, because it’s important for you to learn as much as possible about a field in which you plan to specialize.

So that post pretty much bopped me on the head and diminished my desire to go to graduate school. Instead, I’ve chosen to look into taking the Editorial and Proofreading course at the London School of Publishing in the future. That is certainly more in step with my plans.

I have to admit, I’ve always hated meetings, even when I was working full-time. Oh, I understood that they were important, it’s just that I found frequent and long, rambling meetings extremely…unproductive. You certainly won’t get a lot done if you’re stuck in a meeting for over an hour.

Of course, when I started freelancing, I had fewer meetings to go to. Of course, I had to meet all-new potential clients and go to follow-up meetings for any projects, but on the whole, I’ve managed to avoid them. One of the worst meeting experiences I’ve had as a freelancer involved a very…meticulous person who wanted a website done according to his specifications, no matter how ugly the end product turned out. He would call two to three meetings a week, and each meeting lasted four to five hours. It was not an economical use of anyone’s time, especially since he spent a lot of time talking about how we were all young and inexperienced, while he is older, more mature, and therefore has much more to offer than we do.

It wasn’t just the meetings that took up too much time. There was also the commute, which took two hours back and forth. So that’s nearly half a day wasted just for one meeting.

I didn’t want to go through that sort of thing ever again, but luckily, my other clients weren’t like that at all, and brief meetings in person, just to formally introduce ourselves to one another and really talk about the project, were all that took place. Otherwise, we left each other alone and communicated mostly through Y!M and e-mail. And you’d be pleased to know that it’s a setup that works very well.

Clearly, in my experience at least, being able to work with clients doesn’t mean having to spend hours with them in meetings. It’s all just a matter of being able to communicate expectations and instructions well.

Related stories:

• Every Other Meeting is Unproductive
• Spend less time in meetings

Freelancing offers plenty of rewards: more time to spend with loved ones, or on a hobby, or just to develop one’s skills, freedom to choose clients and projects, possibly even more money, if you play your cards right. There are hazards to becoming a freelancer as well, and one of these is–believe it or not–weight gain.

Yep, along with the good comes the bad, and an unbridled access to the kitchen and refrigerator can greatly spur on all the munching you can’t do regularly in an office. There’s also the fact that you may find yourself living a more sedentary lifestyle than when you were going to work. Sitting in front of a computer also presents an irresistible opportunity to munch on some snacks! I’m not the only one who’s noticed this negative effect of life as a freelancer. I know quite a few people who’ve also encountered the same thing, gaining five, ten pounds within a year of freelancing. If you’re one of these people, then you no doubt feel that you have every right to just lie around in your pajamas and do the work when you need to, and spend your free time munching or watching TV. After all, you’ve been working hard in an office these past few years, and it’s about time you enjoyed being at home, right?

Er, that’s all well and good, but you shouldn’t get too comfortable in your pajamas, or you’ll eventually discover that your weight has started to balloon. And no, you can’t use the excuse that you no longer have time to exercise. That probably worked when you spent countless hours in the office, but now that you’re working at home, it sounds a wee bit unbelievable, unless you are completely swamped with freelance work all the time.

The important thing for you to do is to really make the time to exercise, and to learn how to manage your time better. You won’t be able to fit in a workout session when you wake up at two in the afternoon, then madly rush through all your work for the day and try to get everything done by the time evening rolls around. It’s always a good idea to start your workday early then take off for a couple of hours to get some exercise. When you take a break, you can also use the time to lift some weights or have a quick jog around your neighborhood.

As for the snacking, it’s best for you to ease up on it. Oh, don’t cut it out entirely. After all, snacking can help you think sometimes (I remember how I used to have snacks surrounding me when I had to review for an exam or finish a paper. They certainly helped keep me awake!). You should probably go for some more healthful options, though. Try snacking on cereal bars, fruits, or baked chips.

So don’t get complacent about your size and your appearance even though you’re just working at home. Getting and staying healthy is always best, and looking great is just a bonus. Imagine how you’ll feel when your former coworkers and supervisor see you and tell you how amazing and refreshed you look

I was filling out a form earlier for a newsletter and the person who was overseeing the whole thing asked me, “So what do you do for a living?” I replied, of course, “I’m a freelance writer.” He nods and says, “Wow. So what company do you work for?”

I know I just warned everyone about PayPal, but I still can’t help feeling thrilled at this bit of news. I just found out that Philippine PayPal users can now add their bank accounts to their PayPal account. Here’s a list of the official bank codes you can use when adding your bank account.

ALLIED BANKING CORP – 010320013
AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND – 010700015
ASIA UNITED BANK – 011020011
BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS – 010030015
BANGKOK BANK – 010670019
BANK OF AMERICA – 010120019
BANK OF CHINA – 011140014
BANK OF TOKYO – 010460012
BANCO DE ORO (& EPCIB) – 010530667
BANK OF COMMERCE – 010440016
BANK OF THE PHIL ISLANDS – 010040018
CHINA BANKING CORP – 010100013
CHINA TRUST COMML BANK – 010690015
CITIBANK N.A. – 010070017
DEVT BANK OF THE PHILS – 010590018
DEUTSCHE BANK – 010650013
EAST WEST BANK – 010620014
EXPORT & INDUSTRY BANK – 010860010
FUJI BANK – 010640010
HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANK – 010060014
INTL COMML BANK OF CHINA – 010560019
INTL EXCHANGE BANK – 010680012
JP MORGAN CHASE BANK – 010720011
KOREA EXCHANGE BANK – 010710018
INTL NEDERLAND BANK – 010660016
LAND BANK OF THE PHILS – 010350025
MAYBANK OF THE PHILS – 010220016
METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST CO – 010269996
PHIL BANK OF COMMUNICATION – 010110016
PHIL TRUST COMPANY – 010090039
PHIL NATIONAL BANK – 010080010
PRUDENTIAL BANK – 010150018
PHIL VETERANS BANK – 010330016
RIZAL COMML BANKING CORP – 010280014
SECURITY BANK & TRUST CO – 010140015
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK – 010050011
UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK – 010299995
UNION BANK OF THE PHILS – 010419995
UNITED OVERSEAS BANK – 010270189

Relatives, acquaintances, and people I just met ask me what I do for a living, and I tell them I’m a freelance writer/proofreader/web designer/what-have-you and that I work from home. This promptly causes them to nod, eye me a little strangely, and say, “Wow, it sounds like such an easy life.”

Well, I have news for them: No, being a freelancer is not necessarily an easy life, what with the need to look for clients, ensure a steady stream of income, and produce excellent results, which will ensure client loyalty and positive referrals. We work too, you know! *sobs*

But yes, I must admit that it is an easy life in the sense that we’re not tied to one company, and there’s the lovely bonus of not going to an office. Of course, we have to handle everything by ourselves, but that’s the way we like it, or else we wouldn’t be doing it.

There are plenty of reasons to celebrate being a freelancer, and there are even two specific times in a year when you can do so.

• October is National Pajama Month, and although it’s a pajama industry-sponsored occasion, Leslie Truex, The Pajama Mama, declared that it is the perfect time for you to start looking for work-at-home opportunities. Great way to transform a commercial event into something more personally rewarding, eh?
• Last year, Work Wise UK deemed May 18 National Work From Home Day. No word yet on what date it will fall this year.

No one’s declared anything like Freelancers’ Day here yet, but hey, I say if you’re a freelancer, and if you’re developing your craft and skills, constantly bubbling with creative juices, or you’re just happy to be out of the office and beginning to do your own thing, then every day is the perfect time to celebrate being a freelancer.

I was one of the many Filipino freelancers out there who clamored to have PayPal available in the Philippines, though I never signed the petition. After all, PayPal is the payment option of choice for many, and not having access to PayPal left many of us Filipino freelancers with other, slower options like Xoom and Western Union, plus we couldn’t even get projects that paid fees only through PayPal.

So imagine everyone’s utter joy when PayPal opened its doors to us in October 2006. It came with a catch though; people could only send payments, but still be unable to receive money, a detail that was rectified almost a year later.

I personally have been enjoying the service for quite some time now, and haven’t encountered any problems *touch wood*, but Michelle Goodman’s post got me thinking, and wondering why using PayPal should even be questioned. She had good reason to do so. Amy Derby of Write from Home recently went through an account-hacking experience, which resulted in her losing a bundle of money and overall trust in PayPal. Worse still, Paypal seemed rather blasé about the whole thing.

Just a word of warning to PayPal users out there.