EDITORIALS

Remember back at the beginning of time when you would return to school in the fall and would have to write something about what you did all summer?Oh how I envied all those kids who did exciting things over the summer. We didn’t have a lot of money and my father was a plumbing contractor, ...

It is at all times important to remember that Americans live in the present and the future.If you want to sound like an old person all you have to do is spout phrases like “I remember when gas was 25 cents a gallon.” Or, “I remember when we did spreadsheets with pencils and calculators.”To...

I would be the first one to agree that finding ways to keep in touch with your business contacts during a job search is more art than science. That said the old saw “out of sight, out of mind” applies here.At the end of my two year job search which began in 1991, I had about 1,400 index ca...

Personally, I am not a big fan of art museums. Sure, there are particular “objects of art” that I find to be of interest, but I guess I find the walking around part a little tiring.For amusement during these art museum tours I try to overhear what the tour guides are saying. The at length ...

One of the biggest problems you face as a senior financial executive is that you have too many product benefits. In a very real sense, you are too good to be true.For those of you who have been hearing you are “over qualified,” let me suggest to you that you are. After over 20 years of wor...

Have you ever felt you didn’t know anything about computers? I do all the time, and I have been using them since my first Apple IIe.Still, there is just so much to know and so much to learn. And, the rules keep changing. Things that work on one computer don’t work on my next one. (Why Micr...

“They” say (I don’t know who they are) that searching for a job is filled with highs and lows.It doesn’t matter who you may have heard it from or how often you heard these words of consolation, if you have been through a long job search, you know the feelings. I suppose we can find ways to...

Down sized, right sized, laid off, fired, reduction in force. I think you have to agree that the world has developed a very colorful vocabulary to describe those things that have caused many of our members to be active in their respective job searches.If one of us went in for an interview ...

There are a lot of counterintuitive ideas out in the world. (It is sometimes called “out of the box thinking.”) What may not be fully recognized is that The FENG, our little circle of friends, is based on quite a few radical ideas, and amazingly they all work.The earliest premise of our or...

After “I love you,” “thank you” is probably the next thing no one hears enough.The subject, I am going to discuss tonight could also be called common courtesy, or common courtesies. I know that everyone who is active in their search is very busy, but so are those who are sharing their valu...

I can see from the resumes that cross my desk, that more than a few of our members don’t take to heart some of the editorial material presented in this newsletter, or are taking advice from lightweights in matters related to job search. I hope this will stop!(For our loyal readers and foll...

There is a lot of poor thinking going on out in the world about how to be considered for jobs that are a step or two back in your career.The thinking seems to be that you have to dumb down your resume. I agree. I just don’t agree that deleting work history from earlier in your career or le...

I once wrote an editorial I called: Your resume stands aloneIf I must say so myself, it was one of my better missives. It highlighted the simple fact that unless your resume sings your praises properly, you honestly don’t stand a chance. A resume needs to be complete, as in no missing jobs...

The FENG is a networking organization. I hope none of you are fooled by the volume of job leads we publish. The actual purpose of our little circle of friends is to be helpful to one another as often as possible in this struggle we all face to earn a living.In my role as Chairman, I am alw...

A few times a week I get a note from one of our members asking me to stop the newsletter. Although sometimes I do get an explanation of sorts, most times I don’t. All I get is the subject: Unsubscribe.Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I am a little offended that someone who has been rece...

I saw an article many years ago that went on at length about the dissatisfaction folks had with outplacement firms.While I’m not a big fan of everything outplacement firms teach, it is vitally important that anyone who wants to work until THEY want to stop, learn about this whole job searc...

I have to admit that reading the newsletter most nights is like drinking water from a fire hose.The newsletter goes out to many audiences. Like the 6 blind men standing around the elephant, each of those audiences has different needs. This being the case, I will try to suggest a few approa...

As financial officers, our natural instinct is to provide full and complete disclosure. It is all part and parcel of our basic honesty.When I was in the Advertising business, now so many years ago, I was often in a situation where I had to inform my boss about something important. He was a...

I have often joked that I am known for “in the box thinking.”Thinking outside of the box, whatever that means, isn’t easy. As financial folks we just aren’t built that way.Still, being boring and unimaginative doesn’t have to become a way of life. And, although this may sound counterintuit...

One of the many things I hear members comment on from time to time when they are out and about networking within our group is: “I can’t believe how talented everyone is. How can I ever expect to get a job if some of these folks are out of work?”I am not sure why I am caught off guard by th...

I have never quite understood why the emails I get are so sloppy.I fully realize and accept that most people don’t type 90 words a minute like I do. Still, even if you only hunt and peck, it is my honest advice to you that you make an effort to spell words correctly and to check your sente...