This handbook created by SoulProviders Collective provides advice to young professionals on topics like career development, personal finance, and wellness. It includes expert tips on strengthening resumes and cover letters, advice for job interviews, guidance on negotiating salaries and avoiding debt, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining work-life balance and continuously learning new skills. Contributors share practical strategies for budgeting, saving money, advancing in one's career, and incorporating mindfulness practices even while working full-time. The handbook is intended as a helpful resource for navigating life's challenges.

1. Adulting 101 for Young Professionals
Brought to you by

2. Youth Month is close to our hearts because we’re a creative agency powered by young
talent and ambition. Instead of piggybacking on a trending hashtag and leaving it at
that, we wanted to dig a little deeper and create a handbook that will help with all of the
tricky things that ‘adulting’ throws your way. We’re tackling topics like making your mark
at work, being responsible with your money, keeping up with learning new skills and
balancing work with life and wellness so that you’re better able to cope with life’s
stresses.
We hope you find this #ProjectYouth handbook to be a helpful resource and a good
starting point to read more about work, learning, money and wellness.
If you have any questions for our experts on a particular topic, we’d love to hear from
you. And if you like what we’ve done here and want to generate something similar for
your brand or organisation, get in touch!
Warm regards,
Team SoulProviders Collective
Howzit!

3. “OUR GREATNESS IS BEING ABLE
TO REMAKE OURSELVES.” – GHANDI
When it comes to building your career, it’s
important to remember that opportunities
very seldom just happen. You need to be
active in creating them. Luckily for you, our
HR expert has some great kick-starters to
share with you.

4. ● Your CV should be neat and concise but also aesthetically
pleasing and attention-grabbing. It doesn’t have to have
flashy graphics, but it should stand out.
● Tailor your CV and cover letter as much as possible to talk
to the specific job spec you’re applying for and speak to
the skills required.
● Always send your CV and cover letter in PDF format (unless
asked otherwise). PDF is a good idea because text or
spacing may jump in a Word format. It also means that
nobody can edit your CV or use your personalised CV
template.
Getting a job: Your CV
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM OUR VERY
OWN HR EXPERT: Apinda Mpako

5. ● First impressions count. Be presentable and research the
role, the company, and the industry thoroughly.
● The questions you ask (or don’t ask) will tell the
interviewee a lot about your knowledge, your
enthusiasm and your ambitions.
● Remember that an interview is a conversation. Be
curious, enthusiastic, and always ask questions. Make
sure you make an impression.
Rocking
the interview

6. ● Be open to learning.
● Live the company values and
remember you are always acting as
an ambassador for the company in
and after work hours.
● Communicate your ambitions with
your managers and devise
measurable steps together to help
you achieve your goals.
● Always present excellent work.
● Show a keen interest in how the
business functions (and how
decisions are made) and you’re
more likely to be noticed and
nurtured.
Moving up
within a
company
Knowing
your worth
Be prepared.
Read as much as possible,
interrogate, make sure you
know your worth and have
a salary range in mind
before the interview
begins so that you can
answer a salary question
confidently and negotiate
reasonably (especially
should you be offered a
job on the spot).

7. Step your game up with these reads
EXPERT
ADVICE
For expert advice and great articles, visit The Muse’s Career Advice & Career
Coaching sections:
● https://www.themuse.com/
ROCK YOUR NEXT
JOB INTERVIEW
Interviews can be nerve-racking. Here is a link that will help you prepare for your
next big opportunity so that you can rock that job interview:
https://career.guru99.com/how-to-answer-50-most-common-interview-questio
ns/
KNOW
YOUR WORTH
Make sure you know your worth before entering an interview by researching what the going salary is
for your industry and job role. Check out PayScale or AdTalent Salary Survey (if you’re in media or
marketing):
https://www.payscale.com/
http://www.adtalent.co.za/find-a-job-bak/salary-survey/
CLIMB
THAT LADDER
Ok so you have made it by getting yourself a job or already have one but not sure how to get
that promotion? This link below might help you make that move:
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/how-move-within-company-career-progression-secrets.
html

8. “DO NOT SAVE WHAT IS LEFT AFTER SPENDING, BUT
SPEND WHAT IS LEFT AFTER SAVING.” - WARREN
BUFFETT
While it’s true that money isn’t everything,
learning to manage it and save it is a very
important part of adulting. Do a quick Google
search on the power of compound interest
today and understand that WHEN you start
saving outweighs HOW MUCH you save.
Seriously.

9. Read what SoulProviders Collective’s
main money man Ken Chiumia has to say
SPC LinkedIn follower Liseli Ngoma
had a great question to kick things off:
So what if you’re just starting out
and you really don’t have any money to start off with? What do you do?
There’s always a way out. When you’re young, you need to think like an entrepreneur. Don’t start off
thinking about working for someone else, think about starting your own business. No matter how
small it is. It can be washing people’s cars, whatever it takes. If you get something out of it, that’s
business and that’s how you’ll grow. You’ve got everything you need within you, so instead of
focusing on not finding a job or not being able to print a CV, think about what skills you do have or
what you can do that will make some money.
Q
A

10. If you’re lucky enough to have landed your first job,
what’s the best piece of financial advice you can give to the youth?
Start saving when you’re young, from the minute you start
your first job. Put a little bit of money away for the future
while you’re young and while you’re possibly still staying
with your parents and don't have financial responsibilities
like a bond, a car payment and so on.
A
Q

11. What’s the big
deal with debt?
Don’t rush into making a purchase. Rather wait until you
have enough money to buy something or put down enough
of a deposit to reduce the debt. Banks give loans easily, but
young people often don’t realise what they’re getting
themselves into. And then before they know it they’re in so
much debt that they cannot see a way out and they’re
miserable because they cannot buy things that are really
important.
Young people are quick to buy a car and nice clothes, but
they don’t always realise that none of those things are
assets. If you’re able to, stay with your parents for a year or
two and try and save as much money as possible to put
down a deposit on a small one bedroom flat, which will be an
asset. That’s a good way to start.

12. Don’t let FOMO
be your financial
downfall
How does one
budget like a
boss?
Make saving your top priority and
don’t give in to peer pressure to
buy the latest cellphones, clothes
etc. You always need to remember
where you come from – don’t
compare yourself with colleagues
that may have had more
advantages than you and may
have the latest clothes and
accessories.
Budgeting for all of us is very difficult. But
as a rule, I would say try your best to save
20% of your income and invest it.
No matter what amount you manage to
save, open up a fixed deposit account or a
32-day savings account so that it’s taken
out of your account immediately and not
easily accessed unless it’s a real
emergency and you’ve thought it through
and not given in to an impulse.

13. Watch
Videos
Read
Newsletters
Read
Books
‘How to Get a SARS
Refund’ is packed with
information on how to get
the most bang for your
buck from the taxman.
‘How to Get a SARS
Refund’ is packed with
information on how to get
the most bang for your
buck from the taxman.
Forbes has this great list and
we recommend you check out
Suze Orman’s channel and The
Financial Diet.
More money moves

15. MIND FULL VS MINDFUL
We love this image for its simple but
powerful illustration of what
mindfulness is (and isn’t). It’s a perfect
introduction to our wellness section,
which looks holistically at physical and
mental health being crucial to survive –
or better yet, thrive – in today’s
fast-paced world.

16. TALKING WELLNESS AND WORK/LIFE BALANCE WITH SOULPROVIDERS
COLLECTIVE’S STRATEGIST AND MASTER MULTITASKER:
ANDY WASSUNG
What top tips would you give young professionals just
entering the workplace?
Q
Do not underestimate your (mental and physical) health. As a young professional,
it’s easy to ‘come in hot’, wanting to impress your colleagues and your bosses in a
bid to make your way up the career ladder. But no salary bump or promotion will be
worth a nervous or stress-induced breakdown. A lot of emphasis is placed on
physical health but not nearly enough on mental health. Stress and anxiety may
sound like ‘First World’ problems but if you don’t make time to take breaks from
work, these can lead to physical problems too.
Make time for the things that are important to you (outside of the office). Whether that’s playing
with your child, playing sport, taking up a new hobby, catching up with your friends, or just
sleeping in. As Kimberly Fulcher says on the Thrive Global blog, “Self care is not selfish, it’s
selfless”. What she’s getting at is that looking after yourself, your health, your body, your mind,
your happiness, is the most important thing. Because if those are in check, then you can perform
effectively and to your best potential as an employee, as a partner, as a parent, as a friend, et
A
A

17. What are some practical ways to practise
mindfulness or improve wellness if one
works in an office?
Q
● Make time to take a five minute walk every day, whether to the
shops, to get a drink or just around your office park.
● Breathe. In and out, deeply. 10 times. Right there. At your desk.
You’ll see why.
● Drink water. There are a gazillion studies that show how
drinking water replenishes your body and mind.
● Take regular breaks. Not only does this give you a ‘brain break’
between meetings or intense deadlines, but it will help you
clear your mind and get perspective on your priorities for the
next few hours or day. Proven benefits for productivity as well.
● Catch up with a colleague. Sometimes it helps to just look
away from your laptop and spend two minutes finding out
what your colleagues got up to on the weekend.
A

18. WELLNESS
GET STUCK IN
● Thrive Global: Here’s one article we love on why self-care is not selfish, it’s selfless.
● Headspace, a meditation app that’s taken the world by storm has an amazing blog called The Orange Dot. Here’s
one on how to build a good wind down routine.
GIVE THESE A WATCH
● Headspace Animations are so fun and really give the first-time meditator a brilliantly simple epiphany as to how the
mind works and why mindfulness is so important.
● In this Ted Talk, Dr. Shauna Shapiro draws on neuroscience and ancient wisdom to demonstrate how mindfulness can
help us make positive changes in our brains and our lives.
● Andy Puddicombe’s Ted Talk sums it all up and makes mindfulness or meditation easily understandable.
LISTEN UP!
● We can’t recommend Headspace enough as a way to just give mindfulness a chance. There are free trials if you
want to see if it’s for you, just make sure you’re connected to WiFi or download the meditations for offline listening
(they can be data heavy). Trust me though, your busy brain will thank you later.
● 10% Happier is a mindfulness app that also released a Podcast on mindfulness and wellness.
Think about holistic wellness in the framework of the
wellness wheel below and answer these questions
honestly to gauge where you are on your personal
wellness journey.
1. Physical: How am I feeling, physically?
2. Social: Have I seen my friends recently? Have I
spoken to my loved ones?
3. Spiritual: Am I connecting with my purpose,
connecting with nature, exploring my core
values?
4. Mental: What is my state of mind right now?
5. Intellectual: Am I learning? Reading?
Advancing?
6. Financial: How is my budget? Do I have debt
stress? Am I financially stable?
7. Emotional: How I am feeling emotionally?
Source:
https://www.grcc.edu/humanresources/wellness/sevendimensionsofwellness

19. “Once you stop learning,
you start dying.” – Albert Einstein
Gone are the days of studying one discipline and building
your career in one industry. In today’s knowledge-rich
world, learnability (the desire and capability to develop
in-demand skills) makes you indispensable. The more
you learn, the more powerful your personal development,
the more skills you acquire and the more versatile you
become as an employee.

20. Our Founder & Chief Firestarter SJ Boden
talks about the constant pursuit of learning
Q
What does the phrase ‘Learn,
Unlearn, Relearn’ mean?
I think it's about being open to how fast the world is changing on one hand and
also accepting and being comfortable with the idea that what we have been
taught early in our lives through socialisation or education is not necessarily
applicable for the rest of our lives. It's about accepting that we need to unlearn
some of our socialisation and relearn for a shifting world. I believe it's critical to
keep unlearning and relearning as technology speeds up the way the world
evolves.
A
How important do you think it is for SA's youth to
(un/re)learn?
Q
For the youth it's about constantly learning. I think it's especially
important for us so-called ‘midlife’ or more mature people to
unlearn and relearn as we are the ones who need updating.
A
Do you have any tips or pieces of advice that you can give
to someone seeking to learn, unlearn or relearn?
Q
Fight the fear, lean into the idea that everything you know may not be
right or useful or relevant, be prepared to drop the defenses and to let go
of the old and welcome the new. Get ready to start learning new things
which will bring new experiences, ideas and life changes into your
world.
A

21. ● Coursera
● edX
● Khan Academy
● Udemy
● iTunesU Free Courses
● MIT OpenCourseWare
● Stanford Online
● Codecademy
● Open Culture Online Courses
● TED-Ed
If you have access to the Internet,
your learning journey can be endless
Here’s an amazing article providing some of the
top sites for free online education:

22. Watch
Videos
● Jim Capacio’s TED Talk ‘The Art of Unlearning’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQRUz6bUsnE
● Tasha Eurich’s TED TALK ‘Increase your
self-awareness with one simple fix’
https://www.ted.com/talks/tasha_eurich_increase_you
r_self_awareness_with_one_simple_fix?language=en
● Netflix’s ‘Abstract: The Art of Design’
https://www.netflix.com/za/title/80057883
● Mindfulness Coach and Associate
Psychotherapist Venessa Smith
Bennett’s article “Why ‘learn, unlearn,
relearn’ should be our life motto.
LEARN FROM THE BEST
Read
Articles

23. Copyright © SoulProviders Collective 2019
Like what we do? Get in touch
www.soulproviders.co.za / info@soulproviders.co.za