EDITORIALS

The urban legend out in the world is that the most recent 10 years of your career are all that anyone is interested in. True, but I think this idea is more correctly stated as “really” interested in.The primary rationale I hear for leaving off your early work history is to appear younger. ...

A few weeks ago I was doing a pretty good job of keeping up with my email. This past week or so, not so good. I must admit that from time to time I have fallen very far behind. (My personal record is 600 or 800 unanswered after one of my vacations, but that was a long time ago.)Sure, I kno...

One of the problems with being a senior financial executive is that we have all the answers.We have, for good or bad, “been there and done that.” Frankly, it is hard to conceal that knowledge and experience in an interview.Call it “overqualified” or whatever name you like, but it is diffic...

I do tend to rattle on. Some night I will tell you the FULL story about how I removed my own home heating oil tank from my property. (It is a long story with many fascinating twists and turns.)The problem is that most folks really don’t want to hear about it. And even those who have intere...

The changes that have taken place in the past 25 years in our ability to communicate are truly remarkable.What with personal computers, email, cell phones, texting, voice mail, iPads and iPhones you can use just about from anywhere and now Zoom, you would think that those of us engaged in ...

Many years ago in the movie “A beautiful mind” about John Nash, the mathematical genius, one of the things that made him brilliant was that he could see patterns in numbers and words that no one else could see.Detecting hidden patterns or reading between the lines is one of the skills that...

One of the many concepts I learned when I worked for a large corporation (that will go nameless) was “just in time budgeting.” When I worked for this firm I thought it was a bad idea, but as life has gone by, I have come to appreciate some of its finer qualities and applicability.You see, ...

One of the very important issues facing us as an organization is the “care and feeding” of our many friends in the search community.While studies have shown that only about 15% of the jobs in this country are handled by recruiters, to me they are still an important audience for us to treat...

If there is any one thing that is consistent among senior executives who are in the job market for the first time in many years, it is their inability to distinguish between good and bad advice.The simple story is that if you hear it from me, Marty Latman or Bruce Lynn it is good advice. I...

During every recession, there are typically specific industries that experience more declines than others. One of the truths about the job market is that in any piece of time, one or more industries are usually singled out “for punishment” and lots of folks in those industries lose their j...

My wife and I go cruising on our sailboat every summer for about two weeks. During that time it is near certainty that there will be at least two full days where we won’t be able to get off the boat most of the day because it is raining too hard. Of course, I always have email to do. Somet...

One of the most annoying things about us financial types (at least to non-financial types) is the long-winded and seemingly endless explanations we provide when discussing complicated situations.Although we are mistakenly thought to always “cut to the chase” or go right to “the bottom line...

For my birthday one year, my daughter bought me a book: “A Voyage for Madmen” by Peter Nichols. The book is about the first Golden Globe race from Falmouth, England which began on April 22, 1969. Nine men set off on a race around the world. Ten months later, only one of them made it back. ...

With just about everyone in the ENTIRE world running around like their hair was on fire, I personally wouldn’t fault you if you too were feeling that way. Whether we are watching the news or reading the newspaper, it is impossible at the moment to find any escape from what is going on WORL...

A long time ago I received an email from one of our members comparing and contrasting the job leads he was getting from various sources.The quick story is that he was a subscriber to two paid services in addition to our newsletter. What I found disappointing was his closing comment which b...

As many of you know, in 1991 and 1992, I was unemployed. (Yes, two long years!)Hard to say exactly why it took so long to find another job, but suffice to say that it was a recession and after 9 years in the Advertising business (which was in the dumper) and no recent experience in Publish...

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...

I never cease to be amazed how time stands still with respect to old friends.Several years ago one of my fraternity brothers was digging through some old photos in his basement and found a box from college. This prompted him to go to our national organization and get an email list. And so,...

If there is any complaint I hear more than any other, it is that those we send messages to about jobs opportunities are not responsive. Sometimes even when a company or recruiter has taken the time to interview one of our members, weeks and weeks later all that is heard is silence.If this ...

Some time ago a member wrote to me lamenting that although he was responding to a great number of opportunities, no one was contacting him about his credentials.It is a sad fact of life that the way job search works with regard to posted jobs is that it is atypical if anyone even acknowled...

One of the worst feelings you can have when you are networking is that you are drawing down favors from everyone you contact and you honestly have no way of repaying their many courtesies. Unfortunately, this is not your imagination.True networking is, of course, a give and take. Hopefully...