Career

Happiness and your personal finances, life in general

We’ve all heard the old saying, “money can’t buy you happiness”. But certainly, many would argue against this. “If I was out of debt I would be happy, all of my problems would go away” many have said. “If I were rich I could have all the girls in the world, a mansion, a pool, a Ferrari, and I wouldn’t have anything to worry about.” But would you really have happiness? I doubt it, even though you may be a bit happier than you are now, you still will never be truly happy until you can learn how to be happy regardless of your financial situation, life situation, or in any other situation. Regardless of what you could have if you had millions or billions, you would always want more, more, more, and you would never be truly be happy.  Ultimately, you will be never be satisfied with what you have, unless you make the decision to be happy now.

If you can make the decision to be happy right now while you’re in over your head in debt, not getting along with your spouse or significant other, or dealing with whatever other issue you’re having with people around you, you will be on the path to true happiness. It’s easier said than done though, right? Wrong.

Let’s take a guy named Bill for example, and show how his situation is not as bad as he’s making it out to be and how he can be happy regardless of what’s going on his life. Bill recently found out his wife has been having an affair for the last two years of his marriage, on top of that his wife racked up thousands in debt that he never knew about while entertaining her new beau. On top of all that, his house is worth $300,000 less than he bought it for just a few years earlier because of the housing crisis. Not to mention, his wife threatened to take away his kids if Bill decides to go through and divorce him. Besides losing his wife and kids, Bill will not have any money and will have to start over from scratch. Moreover, because Bill was the major money maker in his home, he will now be required to pay child support and alimony. Man, Bill cannot find any good in his situation and feels completely miserable and depressed, he feels he has nothing to live for now. He’s even contemplating suicide, since he believes there’s nothing to live for. He was hoping to travel the world with his wife in about 10 years when he retired, and now that will never happen.

The problem Bill has, he’s looking at all of those things as sources for happiness, money, his wife, his kids, and so on. Instead, Bill has to find happiness inside himself and say without anything, without a dime to his name, he can be happy some way or somehow. But how? Start thinking differently. What does Bill have? Bill has his health, his kids will be out of the house in a few years and can come live with him if they choose, Bill has the opportunity to go out and explore the world on his own and meet new people. Even if that means in his own town. Bill has the clothes on his back and has other family that can certainly support him. Bill has his job. Bill has the ability to claim bankruptcy and start over. Bill has the ability to enjoy life if he chooses without spending a dime. Bill has learned that his soon to be ex-wife was not the right person for him and there’s probably someone better out there for him anyway. Bill can learn how to become self sufficient and frugal, and learn how to cook healthy on a tight budget. There is so much Bill can look forward to in his situation, there’s no since in him dwelling on what he doesn’t have.

Too many people walk around complaining about their situation or whatever is up their butt that day, instead of comparing themselves to other less fortunate people. A lady in the elevator today was complaining how miserably hot is what outside as she walked into the A/C to her job while sporting her fancy dress and high heels, she was just dying she proclaimed. Instead of complaining and being unhappy, maybe think about the soldiers in Afghanistan who are walking around with 50 pounds of gear around their body in 120 degree temperartures, just happy to get a cold drink of water and sit in the shade for a few minutes.

Your life is only as happy or miserable as you make it out to be. Materialism will only make you artificially happy for so long, you’ve got to change the way you think about life, or walk around miserable for the rest of your existence. It seems like an easy decision to me. That’s not to say it won’t be a struggle to change your mind set, but every time a bad thought comes across your head, see if you can turn it into a positive thought in some manner. Compare your situation to other worse situations, and suddenly something that seemed horrible, is really not that bad, and in time you will get through it.

Build a resume that shows you’re going to create more than it will cost to employ you

A recent article I wrote titled “Interview tips to help you get the edge on your competition” dabbled on the basics of the interview process, the “do’s and dont’s” of interviewing if you will. This article will hone in on one aspect of that article, selling yourself. You need to sell yourself in your resume and during and after the interview process. As a manager myself, I’ve seen so many resumes you wouldn’t believe it, and I’ll show you below what makes the difference in helping you make your resume land the interview, and your interview land the job.

You must transform the way you look at a job, and more specifically your role in a company. Most people think they’re simply going to work for a company to do a job. Most employers think differently. In my experience, companies view employees like they do assets, and they view the interview process as a way to evaluate the potential return they will get on a particular asset.

For example, when a manufacturing company is evaluating alternatives for a new packaging line because they believe they can increase revenue by increasing production, they compare the assets based upon what return they will get for their money. Granted, there are different types of assets, and different ways to look at assets, but to keep it simple, we’ll talk about assets that are going to be purchased to increase performance. In a nutshell, the company will look at what the asset costs and compare it to what the asset will generate in return and for how long.

It’s important to keep in mind that you must not only show that you can do a job, but that you can create value for the company that covers the cost of employing you. It’s not enough to say you’ve done a job for several years, and you do it well, you must show how you’ve made money for the company that more than recoups the cost of employing you.

Provide examples in your resume of projects you’ve participated in that have saved the company money. For example, in a retail environment, show on your resume and in the interview that you changed certain things that directly resulted in increased revenue. Let’s say you’re a retail clothing store manager; Speak to a specific thing you’ve done, say changing the way certain racks were displayed in the store,  which resulted in month over month increase in sales of X amount of dollars.

Another example would be an Accountant who shows how they streamlined the financial close process, resulting in better and faster decision making for the business.

In general, you want to be able to show how your actions resulted in direct savings of tangible dollars. However, like the example of the Accountant saving time, you may not be able to tie an dollar amount to your actions, but you can demonstrate how it made the business better.

If you can show that you’ve generated or saved more money than you make in each year in each of the companies you’ve worked at, you will certainly have a leg up on your competition. Be confident in what you’ve done and be certain you relay the pride you take in finding those opportunities. Relay your drive to continually find these opportunities in your spare or down time at work.

Good luck!

Secret information recruiters don’t want you to know

Many people are afraid of working with recruiters during their job search and or don’t know how to make recruiters work for you. Recruiters have become an unnecessary evil when it comes to finding a job and if you’re not using them or using them properly you could be losing out on job opportunities and or losing money when it comes to getting an offer.

As HR departments are downsized and companies try and minimize recruiting costs, there has been an unprecedented push to use recruiters as middle men in finding the right candidates for the job. Many companies use a combination of outside and internal recruiting, and knowing how to manage these recruiters is key to maximizing how much money you make versus giving away money to the recruiters for no reason.

I’ve been laid off 3 times since I’ve graduated college. When entering the job market I was bombarded by recruiters calling. I thought recruiters were a joke. However, I was short sighted in that thinking and it probably cost me money. Below, I’ll tell you why it’s important if not critical to use recruiters nowadays in your job search, and how you can ensure that they don’t take a recruitment fee from your salary offer if it’s unnecessary.

Many companies are exclusively working with recruiters for hiring outside people now. If you don’t work with recruiters you could be missing out on a number of opportunities.

Know who you’re working with.

When working with recruiters it’s important to understand who you’re working with. With the rise of the use in outside recruitment agencies, there came a rise in the number of solo operations too. That is, people calling themselves recruitment agencies when they are in fact the only recruiter in their agency. This is not necessarily bad in and of itself, but it’s something to keep in mind. The larger firms like Robert Half have contracts with different companies (meaning they are the exclusive outside recruiting provider, or one of only a couple of firms – this is typical in larger companies – and this may mean that the only way to get an interview with a particular company is through an outside recruiter), while with the mom and pop operations (the one-man operations calling themselves recruitment agencies) most do nothing more than you do – look at the paper or internet, find jobs for people too lazy to look for themselves and take a fee if they get you hired (which means a lower offer for you). Some do manage to get in with smaller companies, but only because the company placed ads previously and hadn’t any luck in finding a candidate.  The key here, make certain the recruiter is showing you jobs for things that aren’t already out there. Why pay a recruiter to simply find you a job when they will lower your salary offer?

So how should you best manage recruiters?

Initial contact when a recruiter calls you: Your phone rings and it’s Bill from AccountStaff, he saw your resume online and would like to talk to you about some positions.

Keep in mind there are two types of recruiting agencies (and many have both operations combined), agencies that are temporary placers, in which you work for the recruiting agency (like Kelly Financial Services), and other recruitment agencies that find permanent placement positions (Kelly Financial Services does this too as well as companies like Robert Half, Manpower, and various other employment agencies).

From the beginning, you need to distinguish whether or not the recruiter has anything to offer you or not. If they have an immediate job that they are searching for, pry information from them. Many will tell you “we have a position that we think you would fit in well,” this is just so they can establish a relationship with you for the sole purpose of making you stop looking on your own, so they can make money doing it for you. Other companies are reputable and really do have jobs they are actively searching for on behalf of a client. If they really are the only one searching on behalf of a company, they shouldn’t be reluctant to give you information on the company they’re searching for.

Tell them you’ve already submitted your resume to most every position out there (and you definitely don’t want a recruiter to submit your resume to someone you’ve already submitted to – companies frown on this for legal reasons – as they may be obligated to pay a fee if there is a disagreement on how they found you. Companies would rather not pay a fee and or deal with a potential legal issue).

You need to make certain that before they submit your resume to anyone they have your explicit permission. This is the single best way to figure out if they’re bullshitting you or not, if they ask you what jobs have you submitted for, be vague. Tell them to tell you a job title and location if they don’t want to disclose the company name. This is all a game, they don’t want you to know who’s out there if you haven’t looked on your own – they don’t want you to go out there and find them and pursue them on your own because they told you – they want the money! Be smart, see who is out there posting jobs, even if you haven’t submitted your resume yet – you can act like you have. This will help you cut through their bullshit.

The bottom line is, you should have an army of recruiters working for you. This doesn’t mean you need to go interview with each recruiter either. Many recruiters will tell you that you have to interview before they will approve and submit your resume. This is bullshit. Only interview with the recruiting agency if you’re looking for temporary work through them. If you’re looking for permanent placement only – they should tell you who the company is if they want you to come in for and interview. If they do have a solid lead, this is understandable, they want to make certain they are putting the best candidates forward. Defer interviews with the recruiting agencies until they have some solid opportunity that they’re telling you. Believe me, if they want you bad enough, they will give you specific company information. This will help you cut down on the multitude of requests for interviews with recruiters. Tell them a phone interview should be sufficient until things become more serious – that you’re not interested in wasting your time or theirs.

I will expand upon this in future articles. For now, I’m off to lunch! Good luck!

Why it makes sense to spend on your professional image

I couldn’t come up with a title to put it more eloquently than this; If you don’t take care of your professional image, it may cost you much more in the long run than you could ever save in wearing the same old clothes or showing up to work not dressed adequately for the part. Many people struggle to find that middle point between how much money they should spend on their professional work attire versus how much money they’re trying to save. My advice, error on the side of professionalism, this is one area where it’s better to spend money on a wardrobe rather than skimping to save money. It’s also important to be as frugal as possible when clothes shopping, and to not buy clothes that will wear out too fast, causing you to spend more in the long run. Below, I will touch on some important points to help you create a balance between your budget and your work clothing needs.

There’s a secret rule in which all professionals or working people should live bye, and that is to dress the part of the role you want to be, not the current position you’re in. This doesn’t mean to go overboard and wear a shirt and tie each day if it’s unnecessary or because some day you want to be a CEO, CFO, or some other type of executive. It means you should be dressing with a purpose for the position you hope to get next. If you’re a a senior accountant, dress the role of management, not that of a senior accountant.

It’s sad, but true, you are what you eat and wear. Slobs tend to finish last for good reason. I learned the hard way when I wore a sport coat to an interview. I didn’t know any better, but a recruiter gave me the heads up that the sports coat was inappropriate. Per the recruiters recommendation, I went out and bought a nice black suit for $300 and landed the very next job I interviewed for. This doesn’t mean obviously that every decision on your promotion (or hiring) will come from what you wear, certainly your performance comes into play among other things. However, when all else is equal, the person who is deemed more professional looking will likely get the job or the promotion.

As manager now, I’ve got 7 people working for me, 3 of which I hired. Professional image was definitely an aspect of my selection process. The people I hire will not only have to interact with me, but they will have to interact with other departments as well as customers and clients. One of the positions I was hiring for, a fixed asset accountant, came down to two guys. For the most part the two were equal with regards to work history and how well the interview went. One of the guys was wearing an old gray suit straight from the 80′s, while the other guy had a simple black suit. You can probably guess who got the job.

I find myself to be one of the most non materialistic people I know, however, when it comes to business you have to dress the part. Dressing in a professional manor does not mean you have to stop being frugal or wear all name brands. It simply means dressing professionally. For me, that means wearing a fairly nice button up shirt (cleanly pressed) as well as wrinkle free slacks to work everyday. It also means coming to work cleanly shaven (I have a goatee) and with your hair clean. Also, make certain your shoes aren’t all muddy. Spend the $100 and buy a nice pair of shoes that will last a couple of years or more. It also means getting adequate sleep (which I’ve had a hard time with because of my sleep schedule with 4 kids) so that you don’t have big bags under your eyes and so you’re attentive in meetings. A nice wardrobe doesn’t have to break the bank, be weary of the best times to snap up deals in the off seasons, plan ahead for the following year and save money. Honestly, most all of my dress shirts were purchased for $20 or less, while most all of my pants (wrinkle-free) were $30-40. Over time I’ve amassed about 20 nice long sleeve winter dress shirts ($400), and about the same amount of short sleeve golf shirts, and 10 pairs of slacks or pants ($350-$400) I’m a khaki type of guy 3/4 of the time). Total, my wardrobe cost under a $1000 (and I’ve got an ample supply, you could do just fine with 10 long sleeve winter shirts (or 10 golf shirts for spring/summer/fall) and 5 pairs of pants. It’s worth every dime to show up looking professional every single day. If you can’t afford dry cleaning your shirts, do it yourself. To me, there is value in paying the $1 per shirt (I don’t get my pants dry cleaned), with 4 kids my wife nor I have the time to do it, and it saves me so much time being able to pull the shirt and pants off the hanger in the morning and go.

Look at your peers and draw inspiration from those you deem to be the most professional looking. For me, it’s a nice shirt, pants, black belt and black shoes.

You are the companies’ image in many ways. Whether that be through interaction with the outside world in customers or business clients, you must be professional. Dressing professionally and on a consistent basis will help your company gain confidence in your ability to represent them in the best possible light and will give you the advantage over your counterparts when a new opportunity arises.

Interview tips to help you get the edge on your competition

It seems everyone has some sort of tip for interviews, however, some are better than others. I’ve been on numerous (professional job) interviews, have made several mistakes, and I’ve learned a bunch that I want to share with you. I landed a job I clearly wasn’t completely qualified for by doing the below. Seeing that I’m a guy, some of these tips will help men more than women, regardless this will help the ladies too.

In no particular order (some of these might be obvious but they’re worth restating):

• Arrive on time, there’s no excuse for being late whatsoever.
• Dress up and be clean shaven (this doesn’t mean you have to lose the goatee or beard either). Just any old sport coat and slacks and tie won’t work, you need go with black slacks and a black coat, you can vary the shirt and tie to show style or your own touch. You only have to button the top button of the coat! Borrow something from a friend or family member if you have to, heck, buy something and take it back after the interview if you have to. If you get the job, dress for the next position you want in the company.
• Clean and shined shoes is a must.
• Don’t wear cologne or perfume or smell like smoke. Wear antiperspirant or something that doesn’t smell. Don’t come into an interview smelling like cigarette smoke – chew nicotine gum before if you have to. Don’t wear an undershirt if you sweat too much either.  If they ask you if you smoke, tell them you quit recently (some employers test for nicotine use though – you can find out on their website).
• Dry your hands before shaking hands with others (if you sweat). Shake with a firm grip, not a weak flimsy grip.
• Be knowledgeable about the position and company you want to work for. You don’t have to know everything, but you should spend half an hour to an hour learning about their products or services and top dogs. Know what will be expected of you and be ready to answer  – even if you don’t have the necessary experience.
• Know who you’re meeting with beforehand, and their role in the organization. Have some questions ready for each of them, such as, “In what respect would I be working with you, How would you describe the company culture, what do you like most or least about your job.” You should have questions for these people, unless you’re willing to take anything this is as much about you finding the right company to work for. It doesn’t make sense to take a job just to quit a month or two later because you’re miserable.
• Be confident you’re going to get the job, but not cocky.
• Bring something to write notes on. Don’t write down everything they talk about in the interview, rather key points that you want to communicate back in your thank-you letters. Get each person’s email address for thank you letters.
• Be enthusiastic, but not burdensome. You’ve got to show that you’re outgoing (depending on the role) and can jump right in to working with others. As well, you must ensure to them that you work well with little supervision.
• Think of examples to share before hand of accomplishments you’ve made, as well as mistakes you’ve made and how you overcame them.
• If you don’t have complete experience in the job you’re applying for, emphasize your ability to learn quickly on the job. Emphasize your desire to keep learning and bettering yourself through continual growth in education and experience. Know what you want to do in 5 to 10 years. Anticipate your career path and communicate it well.
• Avoid using buzzwords to make yourself sound more intelligent.
• Show how what you’ve done in the past has helped to increase the bottom line. At every opportunity, show things that you’ve done to help cut costs and or increase profits in your past jobs. Make them feel that you will pay for your salary by process improvements, and how you have a knack for finding solutions through working with others.
• Be happy and nice and make eye contact with the interviewer. If the person interviewing you doesn’t, it’s OK, be attentive. Listen to what they’re saying to you.
• Avoid talking about your salary expectations by saying you’re more interested in finding the right job. Another method would be to tell them that it depends on the expectations and requirements of the job and until you learn them then it’s too difficult to give them a number. Get the job first, employers will be much more willing to negotiate salary if they want you, believe me.
• Sell yourself. This means inject your past experiences as the interviewer brings up questions. For example, they may ask you what experience do you have in dealing with customers. You’re response shouldn’t be a blanket statement, such as, all my customers love me. Rather, give examples of problems customers had and how you helped them resolve the situation to their satisfaction while keeping the companies profits in mind.
• Keep the attitude that the company interviewing must sell you on the job too. This is supposed to be two parties coming to an agreement to work together, not just one party wanting to work with another.
• Treat the receptionist the same way you treat the hiring manager, and everyone in between.
• Send thank you letters via email within 48 hours, the faster the better. In your thank-you letters talk about points each person brought up, and how you can help to solve their problems. Even send the receptionist a thank-you letter. Don’t use a boiler plate letter to each person, write out individual letters to each person – none of them should be the same.
• Make it seem like you’re in demand and have a few other interviews, don’t be afraid to share the fact that you have another offer on the table too. Create an outside demand for yourself and make the interviewers think they will lose you if they don’t act quick.
• Don’t be afraid to ask when you can expect to hear back from them. Find a point person to keep in contact with, but only bother them when a deadline for them calling you back has passed. Push the envelope if need be, but only if completely necessary, by this I mean tell them you’ve got another offer and you need to know where they stand, because you’re extremely interested in their position, maybe more so than the offer you have on the table.

The above list should give you a great head-start on your competition. Don’t fret if you don’t get the job right away. It takes time and patience and rehearsal, sometimes through screwing up, before you’ve got your game down. Always shoot high for yourself, meaning take the interviews for jobs you’re not completely qualified for. It’s worth the shot, I’m living proof. Good luck!