EDITORIALS

Many, many years ago when I was in college, I had an economics professor who was a bit of a character. For a dry subject area, he had a way of making it all come alive. One of the things he said has lived with me these many years. It was:That’s all very well in practice, but how does it wo...

It is a sad state of affairs when your presumed skills become obsolete, but like the buggy whip manufacturer of old, your only choice unless you want to become extinct is to adapt.Let’s see, buggy whips are made out of leather, so a good first step would be to define yourself as a leather ...

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 all of you know, The FENG is a circle of friends, not a fee for service. In order to join, someone needs to sponsor you. That act of friendship is how everyone gets started. It is one of those dumb things I came up with at the beginning of time itself that I believe has made our network...

As all of you know, one of my passions in this world is sailing. I not only own a sailboat, but I also do a lot of reading about sailing. From time to time I read historical novels about the world of sailors in centuries past. The interesting thing is that many of the issues and concerns o...

Very few among us are professional sales folks. It is for this reason that some of the more subtle elements of interviewing can easily go by us. When you decide to make a purchase you often have to justify it to others. When you do, you will find yourself repeating things the salesperson t...

The story goes that if a frog is thrown into a pot of boiling water he will have the good sense to jump out. On the other hand, if you put a frog in cold water and slowly turn up the heat, he will boil to death. (Please don’t try this at home. I like frogs. I am sure you can verify the ver...

Taking life one step at a time is never easy. There is something about tasks undone that are just plain hard to take. Still, eating an elephant is best done one bite at a time.For those embarking on a job search, the number of things that need to be done can seem daunting. There are resume...

I don’t know how many of you are aware of it, but The FENG began its life as an organization of VERY senior financial professionals. In the beginning our original core group was over 50 and a few of those folks were even older. The idea was that senior financial professionals needed more h...

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...

Probably one of the hardest things to do during a job search is keeping yourself energized. If you are conducting your job search from home, as most people are, it can be even more difficult.The thing to recognize is that conducting a job search is in some respects painful for us financial...

We have had speakers at over the years at our meetings here in Connecticut and each in their own way has brought up the subject of having an explanation as to why you are looking for another job.I have always felt that it was a waste of your valuable time to provide an explanation in your ...

As they say, old habits die hard. Because we believe they work, we do the same things over and over again that we have learned over the course of our careers. Not to say we can’t be retrained, but it is hard.Us financial types find it particularly hard. Part of the reason is that we genera...

When you are out in the middle of the ocean, it is easy to think of the world as being endless. Every direction you look there is only water. (And yes, water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.)However, the truth is that although over 70% of the earth’s surface is salt water, 30% o...

I got a note a few years ago from one of our members asking how to manage his relationship with search firms and the points I made to him then are then are still relevant now.The first thing I would point out to everyone is that the search business isn’t what it used to be. (But then, what...

In the movie “My Cousin Vinny” starring Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei there is a very funny scene at the beginning of the movie when they arrive in a small Alabama town from New York City, the dialogue for which goes like this:Vinny Gambini: What are you wearing?Mona Lisa Vito: What?Vinny Gam...

One of the great mysteries of this world is why consultants are expected to be over qualified for any job, but when it comes to hiring on a full-time basis, companies don’t want anyone who is over qualified. Go figure.The frequent comment from clients for consulting work is “I hope I am no...

I am sometimes surprised how bashful financial types can be. Although Matt’s rule of networking is “any excuse will do,” many members of The FENG do hesitate picking up that phone and asking for help.Our goal in The FENG is to take away their excuses and get them to call us. As Forrest Gum...

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 ...

Many years ago I had the pleasure of speaking at a quarterly meeting of the Association of International Bank Auditors on the subject of Networking Strategies. As you might expect in any gathering of financial folks, several of those in attendance were members of The FENG.One of the topics...

There was an article I read a long time ago about the value of experience versus the energy of youth. The premise and conclusion were no surprise to me. Experience has a tendency to win out.While I would gladly concede that Americans have always worshiped youth and that there is inherent p...