Having the right tools is one of the most important keys to success for freelancers. According to a survey commissioned by Freelancers Union and Elance, 69% of freelancers say technology makes it easier for them to find work and get things done. But, there are so many tools out there that it can be pretty difficult determining which tools your freelance business actually needs.

Few if any job-seekers have the expectation that a job search should be a simple affair, but job-seekers are almost always taken aback when they realize how complicated and tedious a modern-day job search really is. It’s not their fault that job-hunting has become a painful slog for too many people. It’s only that way because the recruiting process on the employer side is broken beyond repair.

Shutterstock It always seems like finding a new executive to join your team is the hard part, but the truth is, successfully integrating them and getting the desired outcome is the real challenge. If you’re a first time CEO or manager and you’re several years younger than this new professional on your team, you may think, “I hired this person and they are the expert—they’ll know what to do.” Please, please, resist this temptation.

Who said millennials are lazy? According to a new survey by CareerBuilder, a company known for its online job listings, when millennials aren’t plugging away at their 9-5 jobs, many are still working —taking on side gigs that range from babysitting and tutoring to blogging, bartending and designing websites. Overall, 29 percent of workers have a second job, but millennials far outpace other age groups.

Shutterstock It’s good to take responsibility for your own performance, right? Of course it is, except when it isn’t. And the occasions when it isn’t are many. If you’re beating yourself up about not doing better, you might be making a mistake in blaming yourself. Consider whether the cause might be one of these. The role of luck. I was talking to a senior trader in an investment bank.

School’s back in session and a new season of learning has begun. But for entrepreneurs, the learning never ends. And it starts from the very beginning when you’re faced with choosing the legal structure for your business. Selecting the right legal structure—sole proprietor, LLC (Limited Liability Company), S-Corporation, or C-Corporation—affects multiple aspects of your business.

Shutterstock Email. It’s both a major convenience and a ceaseless distraction. But, regardless of how you feel about it at the present moment, one thing’s for sure—it’s an unavoidable necessity. Chances are you can’t make it through a workday without composing one (alright, likely a lot more than one) email.

Photo provided by Vivy Yusof Vivy Yusof is the perfect poster child of the modern, Malaysian woman. Young, smart, beautiful, and stylish. Married with two kids, she’s also one of Malaysia’s biggest internet celebrities, taking over Southeast Asia one Instagram post at a time, and with an army of dedicated online followers. And to cap it all off, she founded and runs a successful startup that has rocked the Southeast Asian shopping scene.

Dear Liz, My company was bought last year and I survived the initial round of layoffs following the acquisition. Then things were quiet for a few months and then the new parent company started to pick off certain longer-term and more-highly-paid employees in our business unit. In my case, I got fired (not laid off) but without cause. The Controller the parent company installed when they let our previous CFO go accused me of not having followed our procedures, but of course I did.

Dear Liz, I just took a new job that I hoped would meet at least my three or four most basic needs, because I needed a new job badly and I didn’t feel that I could be particular. I just wanted a decent role in Operations, a livable salary and a commute that I could manage without killing myself. I found those things and also some smart and interesting people in a company about an hour away from me. I pursued my hiring manager after three months, and I started a new job with the company.