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Performance appraisals are a hot topic in management and organizations—seemingly in perpetuity. In fact, hundreds of resources exist that tell you how to do performance appraisal effectively. This is the wrong approach to helping employees manage their performance. The better question is: should you do performance appraisals at all? People want to know how to do a performance appraisal, when to do a performance appraisal, whether to do them at all and how they overall affect employee performance....

Software engineers are responsible for developing, testing, deploying, and revamping computer programs. If you’re interviewing for a position as a software engineer, it helps to know what types of questions to expect. Many interview questions will focus on your tech skills, such as what programming languages you know. However, employers will also want to know about your problem-solving skills and analytical abilities. They will also want to know whether or not you will fit in well with the company culture....

A young mother who saw the need for a children’s consignment store. A man who dreamed of having his own food truck business. These are just two examples of people whose skills and business ideas would have been wasted without the startup loans that microfinance programs provide. When we think of microfinance, we tend to think of the developing world. But the concept of providing loans and financial services to people who would otherwise have limited or no access to them is alive and well in Canada, too....

You see them in swimsuit calendars, in men’s magazines, and in advertisements. They’re sensual, they’re alluring, and you can’t take your eyes off them. Who are these gorgeous women, you ask? They’re glamour models. What Is a Glamour Model? Glamour models are women who possess a certain kind of sex appeal and who aren’t afraid to show off their bodies. Their poses tend to be more sexually suggestive than those of other models and are typically geared toward a male audience....

Some people, especially those in the public eye, look to professionals to help them present themselves in the best way possible. This is where an image consultant comes in. Image consultants coach others on how to dress for success, what accessories to use, how to wear makeup properly, and specific etiquette tips that help them make a great first impression and achieve their goals. If you are fashion-savvy, an excellent communicator, and a people-person, a small business as an image consultant might be a great business for you....

Shopping at the base commissary and the base exchange is among the benefits available to military families and retirees, but civilians tend to have an exaggerated idea about just how big a benefit those institutions offer. To put it bluntly, no, you can’t buy a suit at the commissary for $20, and you won’t find T-bone steak for 49 cents per pound. While the commissary and base exchange each offer good prices, they do not offer the gigantic savings that many civilians think they do....

If you’re familiar with the circle of fifths — or you just know your way around the key signatures — you may have noticed a few anomalies. For example, keys like B-sharp and F-flat major are seemingly absent, while others go by two names. When comparing C-sharp major and D-flat major, it’s easy to see these notes are exactly the same. C-sharp major: C# D# E# F# G# A# B#D-flat major: Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C...

The entry-level separation (ELS) is a discharge from the military that occurs within 180 days of joining. It is not characterized under any other type of discharge, as it is used in circumstances where people have not met the service’s basic requirements. Learn what an entry-level separation is, who it is used for, and how it works. What Is an Entry-Level Separation? A military discharge is a release from an obligation to the military once an individual has begun their initial contracted service period....

Conflicts between landlords and tenants cannot always be easily worked out. Sometimes, the only way to resolve the issue is in court. There are many times a landlord has a legal right to sue their tenant. Here are twelve reasons a landlord can bring a tenant to court. Why Would a Landlord Sue a Tenant Filing a lawsuit against anyone can be a stressful experience, but it does have certain advantages....

While it might be tempting to put a few lottery tickets on your credit card when you’re making a purchase at a convenience store anywhere, it’s important to note that buying lottery tickets with credit cards is a bad idea. Here are five smart reasons to only pay cash for your lottery purchases. Charging Lottery Tickets Is Illegal in Most U.S. States Lottery ticket laws aren’t simple in America. Depending on where you are, you might not be allowed to buy your lottery tickets with plastic....

According to PBP Executive Reports, 22 million employees are actively disengaged costing companies over $350 billion a year in lost productivity. Now your retail store may not be losing billions, but I’m sure there is money lost each month due to disengaged, unproductive employees from low morale—money you would like to have back. To boost employee morale, first you have to understand this truth—you cannot motivate people. Now that may surprise you....

Those funny ads you see each year during the Super Bowl are no laughing matter. Advertising is a big business and the United States is by far, the largest advertising market in the world. In 2016, more than $190 billion U.S. dollars were spent on advertising. This figure is more than double the amount spent on advertising in China, the second-largest ad market in the world. In a nutshell, Advertising is used to make someone (or something) well-known and highly-regarded in a particular section of the country, or nationwide....

Elvis Presley broke all conventions of good performance as he rose to huge fame in the 1950s. He was a good boy turned bad. He was the master seducer whose stage performance was all about making provocative dance moves. Women swooned over his drooped glance, his hip thrusts and “come-hither” gestures. He was flirting with a million women at a time. And each woman felt that Elvis had eyes only for her....

Forever Stamps are first-class stamps issued by the United States Postal Service. What makes them special is that they are non-denominational, which means you can buy them at the current first-class postage rate, and they remain valid even if that rate rises in the future. For example, if you buy a Forever Stamp at $0.55 per stamp and the first-class postage rate rises to $0.60 per stamp, you save $0.05 over the price of buying new first-class stamps for every letter you send....

The Ballad of Gay Tony is an expansion pack for Grand Theft Auto IV that was released in 2010 for the PlayStation 3, PC, and Xbox 360. Originally sold as DLC, it was later packaged with GTA: The Lost and Damned as part of the GTA: 4 Episodes From Liberty City collection. Use this guide to unlock all achievements and cheats for GTA: Ballad of Gay Tony on PS3. These cheats are for the PS3 version....

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits takes everyone’s favorite tracks and combines them onto one disc. While all songs are available from the beginning, there are cheat codes for Guitar Hero: Smash Hits that make rocking out even more fun. Information in this article applies to Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for all platforms including the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Xbox 360. Guitar Hero: Smash Hits Cheat Codes Enter codes in the Cheat menu with the guitar controller....

Like many small business owners, you may have limited knowledge of insurance coverages and their costs. Accordingly, you may need an agent or broker to help you secure the insurance you need at a price you can afford. You may also need the services of an agent or broker when you want to buy policies from an insurance company that doesn’t sell its products directly to buyers. A myriad of agents and brokers sell insurance to small businesses so how do you choose the right one?...

Although the main parts of your grant proposal will take up most of your time and energy, don’t shortchange your cover letter. Attention to the subtler points of putting the proposal package together can make or break a funding request. Don’t turn off your funder with a sloppy cover letter. Mim Carlson and Tori O’Neal-McElrath, authors of Winning Grants, Step by Step, point out that the cover letter should: Introduce your organization to the correct person....

Hayden Panettiere worked with some big name stars in her 2005 film Racing Stripes, though not many of them ever made it to the set in South Africa. Dustin Hoffman, Jeff Foxworthy, Whoopi Goldberg, and Snoop Dogg lent their voices to an eclectic group of farm animals in the feel-good family comedy while Panettiere, Bruce Greenwood, and M. Emmett Walsh actually appear in the film and worked with the real live menagerie....

Street lights go out when they approach, lights shatter when they are angry, watches always fail. What’s going on with these people? HUNDREDS OF READERS have responded to the article SLIders & the Streetlight Phenomenon with their experiences of affecting street lights and other electronics. SLI stands for “street light (or lamp) interference”, and it refers to the phenomenon of street lights brightening or shutting off when certain people pass near them....