I’m not sure why it is, but most financial folks think they are terrible networkers.The truth is that scattered throughout our newsletter every night are ideas you can harness in your daily life to earn the title “Master Networker.”All of us are amateurs, I suppose, at most things we do in...

I try to have several phone calls every week with members seeking advice about what to do about their job search.It is a good question and one not easily answered even if I know you very well. In the course of a conversation (speech is the slowest form of communication), I don’t know how m...

As a season, summer is sure hard to beat.The days are warmer here in the Northeast. The days are also longer. No more getting up when it is pitch black and coming home when it is pitch black. (Winter is so depressing!) And, outdoor activities like sailing, tennis, and golf sure can’t be be...

In my distant past I remember seeing a commercial in which an Abraham Lincoln look alike was sitting in an employment agency office. As the recruiter was flipping through his Rolodex he was telling old Abe that without “that sheepskin” he really wasn’t going anywhere. I guess the same thin...

I often get the feeling from talking with members about their job search, that many of you are reluctant to use our Member Directory Search feature to full advantage as part of your job search. I only wish I understood why.The FENG membership directory is honestly the pot of gold at the en...

Over the many years that folks moved off the farm and the security of their local communities to the “big city,” a rather significant shift took place in American society. Please understand that I am an accountant by trade and not an historian, but I believe that 90% of all Americans lived...

A few years ago, I got a lovely note from one of our alumni members lamenting the fact that he rarely gets any phone calls from his fellow members requesting networking assistance. Even though he was feeling unloved, he asked me not to mention his name for fear that all of you would call h...

We don’t get as many members applying without sponsors as we used to, but we still get a few.For those who are qualified for membership, each Monday morning after I have finished my new member review for the weekend and sent out our new member announcement, Judith Rudikoff, one of our Admi...

I know there are still a few unbelievers out there. Yes, they walk among us. Believe it or not, networking is the ticket. If you are waiting to be called and invited to the dance, think again. It isn’t going to happen.Let me suggest to you that The FENG membership database is the pot of go...

If there is anything those of you who have ever been engaged in a job search have learned is that NO ONE ever has enough friends.Although I count all 35,000 of you as friends of mine, I still continue every day to try to make a few new friends.It is almost sad in a way that networking beca...

Over the past few months I have completed several projects on or for my sailboat.My father was a plumbing and general contractor. Having worked for him from the time I was 13 until I graduated from college, I am pretty handy with tools. I also had a lot of very old cars, and not being inde...

Many years ago, a college professor of mine related a story about one of his students who wrote a research paper about an experiment she conducted with an elderly stroke victim at a convalescent home near the campus.The basic premise of the experiment was that whenever the patient in quest...

It is, unfortunately, far too easy to fall into the trap of having a negative conversation with other members.While it is very important to have empathy for others, to get into extended discussions on the state of the world and how everything is hopeless benefits no one. The world is what ...

It has been said that everything you really need to know, you learned in kindergarten.Several years ago, I had the great pleasure of going trick or treating with my grandson. It is one of those things you obviously can’t do at my age unless you have grandchildren living nearby, and I am so...

Job search is a draining and discouraging process at times. (Or is that most of the time?) Well, maybe not, unless you make it so.The truth is that most of us financial types stay in jobs a lot longer than those in other disciplines like marketing or sales. In addition, most of the work we...

If you are interested in getting your job search off to a flying start in 2023, may I suggest you try increasing your inner circle of friends?The most valuable feature on our website is Member Directory Search: https://www.thefeng.org/members/searchAll you have to do is follow the link abo...

The idea that you can wipe the slate clean is an enduring and endearing idea of mankind, and one I fully support. No matter how bad you have been at networking in the past year, this week you have the opportunity to get a strong start on building and strengthening your inner circle of frie...

Key to the success of most movies is the suspension of disbelief. There are so many improbable events that make of the fabric of what you are viewing, that without this critical element in full force, in most cases the pleasure you experience wouldn’t be there. (My favorite phrase is “base...

For those of you who are not familiar with the Tinker Bell story, all you need to know to understand tonight’s editorial is that the fairy dust Tinker Bell could sprinkle on you would only make you fly if were thinking happy thoughts.Let me add to this idea about thinking happy thoughts, o...

Acting as captain and primary navigator for a sailboat as I do is challenging at times. Back in the old days before I had a Loran or a GPS unit, life was much more difficult.Step one in navigation is to get out a chart of your local area that hopefully has both your starting point and your...

A lot has been written over the years and in this newsletter about the do’s and don’ts of networking. In his book, Rites of Passage, John Lucht talks about the NFL approach to networking where you block and tackle your networking contacts and hold them down until they come up with at least...