One of the more amusing aspects of this time of year is the effort some people make to reach out to those in their address book with holiday greetings of some kind.In years past, this took the form of Hallmark cards, all very colorful, that I opened and put on the fireplace mantel and/or a...

I know how disheartening it can be to get to the bottom of a job posting and see those deathless words: “Local candidates only.”Still, the facts are that there are always lots of qualified folks applying for any great job, and at least in major metropolitan areas there is no need for a com...

I often hear members complain about people not reading their resume carefully enough.The subject usually comes up when members have been rejected for a job or haven’t gotten a response for a job they were convinced represented a fit.Alas, the sad truth is that WE bear the burden of properl...

I don’t know about you, but I can almost always tell when I get a thinly disguised personal mailing that is actually a mass mailing of some kind.On the one hand, I am glad you are communicating with a lot of folks because you need to do that. But, there is a big difference between doing a ...

I don’t know how many of you go for humorous movies. There aren’t too many good ones, but when there is a good one, the part I enjoy the most is “the running gag.” In the movie Airplane, for example, Lloyd Bridges playing the part of McCroskey starts by saying: “Looks like I picked the wro...

I know we live in a world of email, text messages and Twitter, but I often times wonder if others realize what their messages look like on the receiving end?I have to assume that many of the people who write to me are very busy, too busy to take a minute and read their communications and s...

I have often been heard to say that job leads have no value. That’s why we share them. It’s not that they have NO value, it is just that their value is limited to you as an individual (you have to be a perfect fit) and that their shelf life is extraordinarily short.I would also argue that ...

Perhaps it all started with the telegraph. (Hey, they were charging by the word.) Or, was it the CB radio? Somewhere along the line we have all come to believe that brevity, even when not entirely correct, is somehow okay.Today’s communication formats such as the various smart phone tools ...

I was working on an assignment for The FECG a few weeks ago that generated a larger than normal response. I must tell you how disappointed I was with the number of members who failed to provide a meaningful cover letter with their resume. (Just so you know, assignments marketed by The FECG...

Of course it would be an understatement to tell you that I believe in the value of a FULL outgoing signature. In much the same way that I am a Fanatic FENG’er, I am also a fanatic when it comes to the substance and format of outgoing signatures. (Persnickety is another word.)I try not to b...

Some of the notes that I get from our many learned members fill me with dismay. I often wonder, do they send notes with spelling and grammatical errors just to me, or do they provide this special service to everyone in the world?I do get a chuckle over some of them, but by and large I get ...

In 2002, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks starred in a movie about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. The basic story is that over the course of several years, Carl Hanrat...

I am often disappointed by the correspondence I receive from members, and I wonder if it is just me they treat this way, or if it is everyone in the world. I fear it is everyone in the world.Call me compulsive, call me a nitpicker (and I am admittedly both and proud of it), but there is a ...

The fun never stops here at world headquarters of The FENG. I get more amusing emails probably than anyone else on the face of the earth.Let’s start with the use of “Matt’s secret decoder ring.” Thank goodness it is made out of a durable electronic material. Each day about 75% of the email...

Let’s be honest. There aren’t a lot of job postings in our evening newsletter that really are a fit for your particular background, salary and location preferences.This being the case, you would think that if you saw an opportunity in our newsletter that strongly fit your background, you w...

I don’t know what you consider to be junk mail. I view anything I don’t want to get in the mail (including bills) to be unwanted. (Can’t they send my bills to YOU for payment? Okay, you probably wouldn’t pay them and then my credit would be ruined. I guess I’ll have to come up with another...

Whenever I sit and review candidates for assignments being handled through The FECG, I can’t help but be disappointed by many of the cover letters we get.I know that those who are applying feel they are qualified for the job in question, and being a financial guy myself, I know you could d...

I don’t know about you, but I am always misplacing things. I work pretty hard at keeping my papers organized, but like anything else, papers can get lost. When they do, it makes me absolutely crazy. Even when I have another copy on my computer, I am obsessed to find the copy that is on my ...

In keeping with the spirit of networking that makes The FENG a remarkable organization, it is appropriate that we share our contact information. And, when other members reach out to you, it is EXPECTED that you will take the time to respond.(Yes, I know you are busy, but so am I and I need...

Gosh, please don’t call me. That’s the message that I seem to get from time to time when I am trying to track down candidates for the consulting assignments and full time jobs I am handling through The FECG. I have also been alerted to this fear by one of our chapter chairs who noted that ...

Based on the email cover notes I see, I’m not sure we have all made the transition from messages sent in envelopes to those sent by email.Personally, I have always found electronic files to be maddening, especially very highly developed Excel spreadsheets. Adopting naming conventions so th...