1 . 13-year-old Ava Dorsey is the founder of Ava’s Pet Palace, a business that sells organic dog and cat treats. “I actually had the idea when I was six with a picture I drew of a palace,” she says. It was a detailed design for dogs and cats and she had serious plans to build it one day.

Unlike most dog treats that you find in stores, dog treats sold by Ava’s Pet Palace are 100% organic, and are non-GMO (非转基因). Ava has set a goal for herself with these dog treats, and she wants every treat to be healthy, tasty, and top-quality. Seriously, some of her treats sound delicious enough for people to eat! “All of my bags now have the USDA organic stamp, and we’re very excited to have gotten it because it’s something I’ve wanted for a long time,” she says. “A lot of stores like to see organic products because customers like it, so that was really exciting.”

Ava says the biggest challenge of being a kid in business is when people don’t take her seriously, but undoubtedly Ava has proved that her doubters are wrong! When asked how she defines (定义) success . Ava says, “When you hit a bump in the road, you shouldn’t give up and you keep trying.” She learned that from her mom, who sounds like a smart lady! Some more things Ava has learned from her years in business: Hard work eventually pays off and there is nothing wrong with asking for help.

As far as the future of the pet treats industry goes, Ava is optimistic—but she’d also like to be an inspiration for change. “There’s not much diversity (多样性) right now, so that’s something I would love to see in the future,” says Ava. “I would also love to see more kids in this industry. There aren’t many other teenagers around, and I hope that I can be an inspiration to others who hope to lead the pet industry.”

2 . Are you crazy about teaching young children? Are you looking for an exciting overseas working experience? Then we are the right place for you in Switzerland.

Ylaa Child Care Center has opened its first location in Basel, Switzerland in 2011.The concept has been very successful, and a second location has been opened in May 2012. Ylaa is a day care center for children starting 3 months old till 6 years old. Ylaa is aimed to provide high-quality child care services and an exciting and individual-focused learning program in a multicultural environment.

We are looking for a full time Nursery Teacher.

YOUR TASKS:

● Preparing the program together with other managers and team members

● Working with 1 or 2 other team members to take care of a group of children (6-10 children)

● Managing communication with parents including daily reports, regular meetings and yearly development reports

● Backing up other team members for absences

REQUIREMENTS:

● You are a fluent English speaker and have completed a degree in Early Childhood Education or similar

● You have 2-3 years of working experience with young children in day care centers or nurseries

● Knowledge of German is a plus

● You are at least 24 years old

WHAT WE OFFER:

● Good working conditions: salaries according to Swiss standards, paid vacation, lunch subsidies, insurances

● Internal and external trainings

● Career development opportunities in a growing organization

Please email your complete application. Applications sent via Post will not be considered nor returned.

For more information visit our website www.ylaa.cn.

3 . Do you want a job in the holidays? Just go for it. First, you need to know what kind of job is suitable (合适的) for your age and interests.

If you’re 13-15

It seems that you can work almost anywhere, but you’re probably not allowed to clean neighbours’ cars or walk dogs.

There is no lowest wage (工资)   for children under 16.

By law, you can’t work more than 35 hours each week in the school holidays.

And you can’t work before 7 am or after 7 pm

If you are 16-17

The lowest wage for 16-17 year old children should not be less than three dollars each hour.

You can’t work in a pub or bar, but you can work anywhere else.

By law, you can’t work more than 40 hours each week.

What jobs are out there?

Obviously, your choices are limited by the fact that you can only work in the school days, but the following situations are fine.

At Christmas most shops are short of hands, so you may find something to do there.

In summer there’s always fruit picking. It can be very hand work, but it pays really well.

If you’re mad about football, you could work in a sports shop or help out at a local football club. No matter how much you are paid, you are doing what you like.

4 . For average working people, they normally change their careers five to seven times throughout their whole lives.     1     Without that, you are just a dreamer.

It happens that you neglect thinking about your career when you are busy, but you must spend time considering your current situation and your ideal career path to develop a specific career plan.     2     When you have a better understanding of yourself and what you want, you are more likely to make a plan that suits your goals and lifestyle. By this kind of self-reflection, you will discover the type of career you want.

    3     You probably need SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound to prepare for success. Studies prove that SMART goals work better when they are written down and shared with others. Sharing enhances your sense of responsibility while writing down allows you to commit them to memory.     4    

Now that you have understood what you want and had your goals set and written down, it’s time to make career decisions. First, list pros and cons of different decisions. And then think about how each path lines up with your values.     5    

How do you feel when talking about your career? Do you want to stay where you are or are you ready to make a change to take steps to achieve success? Reflect, set goals, and make your decision, and you’ll be on the right path in no time.

5 . In 2019, Wang Jibing, a food delivery rider, had an unpleasant experience due to the wrong address left by a customer. Wang searched three buildings and climbed 18 floors before he finally managed to deliver the food to the customer, who rudely scolded Wang for arriving late. Wang was sad and frustrated. As a husband and father of three children, who shouldered the majority of the financial responsibility in his family, he had to bear all silently. On his way home that day, Wang wrote a poem, Man in a Hurry, expressing his feelings. Since then, Wang has been writing poems inspired by his daily life, including a poem New Temple, which occurred to him after he delivered food to construction workers repairing an old temple, and Forgive, based on his observation of a young couple fighting.

Wang’s poems, simple yet real, are seen as a tool to process his emotions, especially the personal experiences he has during his work. His heart is healed by writing the poems and he has shared them with his friends. In 2022, one of his friends posted Man in a Hurry online. It quickly went viral and was viewed for over 20 million times. The same year, Wang published a collection of more than 180 poems under the same title. So far, Wang has written about 4,000 poems. This April, Wang published his second poetry collection, titled I Love This World Clumsily, featuring about 130 poems he has written since July 2022.

“Poetry is like a distraction from stress and an opportunity to record my life. Whether it’s coping with pain, dealing with stressful situations or coming to terms with life’s struggles, poetry makes me confident and happy,” says Wang.

“The feedback from the readers is a big encouragement to me. Those poems came to me naturally and I enjoyed writing them very much. However, the priority is to look after my family, so I will keep my regular job delivering food,” says Wang.

7 . Join Us in Creating the Sweetest Candy Experience

Search Engine Copywriter

Pay: $80, 000 every year

Job Description:

We are looking for a creative, hardworking person to join our team as a content developer. The responsibilities of the content developer include creating new and interesting content for our website and popularizing that includes product descriptions, social media and technical work.

Shopify Developer

Pay: $120, 000 every year

Job Description:

Candy Funhouse is looking for a Shopify Developer to manage, and improve the e-commerce (电商) store hosted on Shopify. Reporting to the Chief Technology Officer, you’ll be responsible for developing new product pages, and running A/B tests to continuously improve site performance.

Chief Candy Officer

Pay: $100, 000 every year

Job Description:

We are looking for the world’s first and only Chief Candy Officer! This chance is work-from-home. The job includes deciding whether or not to give each treat with the official “CCO (Chief Candy Officer) Stamp of Approval”.

Social Media Personality

Pay: $110, 000 every year

Job Description:

We’ve got a pretty sweet brand, and we want someone to help make that brand as wonderful online as it is in real life. We’re looking for someone with good knowledge of both candy and pop culture, a natural ability to relate to fans, and someone who is willing to do the work necessary to help the brand be great on social media.

8 . Several years ago, most young Britons wanted a career in law, to be a doctor, or, if they were creative enough, to take up singing. But today, things stand differently.

According to a survey by Tesco Mobile, a UK telecoms company, the “dream job” of young people aged between 16 and 25 in the UK is a video blogger, or “vlogger”. The survey, carried out among 1,002 people, found that as much as 40 percent of them put vlogger as their number one choice on a list of ideal careers. The single factor contributing to this change is undoubtedly the internet and social media. They have made it so much easier to reach a global audience, without having to enter a career in show business in the traditional way.

“In years that have gone by, the biggest stars were recommended and trained by the Hollywood studios; now, anyone with a computer camera can become an idol,” a Tesco Mobile spokesperson said in a news release. “From fashion to comedy, these self-made stars document their hobbies to an adoring fan-base. Vloggers are the big stars of today because they are normal people interacting with their fans about everyday life.”

However, what people see is only the bright side of being a vlogger and they ignore the fact that only those who are successful gain fame and fortune. For every success there are a hundred others who never get off the starting block. This is why despite the popularity of vloggers, some young people chose to follow careers that don’t necessarily earn them fame, but allow them to make good use of the internet to share their hobbies.

Young Israeli David Leshaw, for example, runs a business called the Finishers Club. It’s an online platform for runners to keep a record of their races. He told the career website Zippia that his job allows him to express his passion, and is always a learning experience. And that’s enough for him.

9 . The alarm rang in my ear. After silencing it, I remained in bed. My motivation to push ahead with my PhD was disappearing, which made it hard to face each new day. Continuing would risk a total breakdown. With anxiety, I decided to cease my PhD temporarily and take a 9-month position at a health care charity. Back when I looked for PhD positions, I was unclear what I wanted to study. For me, the degree mostly served as a means to an end, securing more interesting and higher-paid positions in the private sector than my master’s degree would unlock. So I wasn’t picky and reasoned a variety of projects that would provide the training and degree I wanted.

In hindsight (事后想来), I should have been more selective. I ended up working on a project I was technically capable of completing but over time felt full of disappointment. The purely academic research was intellectually interesting, yet I struggled to see how it would make an impact on the wider real world.

Some unexpected things amplified my trouble. I started my program in 2020, when meetings were virtual and in-person contact was actively discouraged, so I had few opportunities to form personal connections with co-workers. Research became my only focus, and when my interest in that faded, my project felt depressing.

After only 1 month at the charity, it became clear that I’d made the right decision. My mental health improved and I found it easier to come into work. Things I did could matter and energize me after all —if I chose wisely. That was exactly what I needed and desired. After that realization, I decided I wanted to return to my PhD program and make changes. I told my teacher I wasn’t interested in the current research. To my relief, he was supportive, and we redesigned the project to better fit me. I will return to my program next month, optimistic that this time will be different. But if it doesn’t go as I hope, my charity experience has given me direction and confidence that I’ll live a satisfying life, with or without a PhD.