EditorialsBy Matt Bud, Chairman, The FENG

Why you left your last job

From our daily member newsletter on January 31, 2019

When they stopped paying me, that was bad enough. But, when they had the security guard escort me from the building and dumped my few personal belongings on the sidewalk, I decided enough was enough. I just wasn’t going back to work at THAT place anymore. If you have a sense of humor and think you might be able to carry it off, the use of humor to explain why you were “booted out,” terminated, down sized, or just plain fired, please feel free to use my opening paragraph. That said, I doubt that it will work for most people. I get the sense from most of the folks I have heard explain why they left their former employer that [ Read more… ]

I will work for food

From our daily member newsletter on January 30, 2019

I’m sure some of you have been seriously considered for jobs that paid less than you were previously earning. As an experienced sailor would tell you; any port in a storm. Unfortunately, there is always a bit of disbelief coming from across the table that ANYONE would work for less than they earned before and not bolt for the door once the economy picks up. My own experience has been that this is not what financial folks do. However, telling someone you will work for food, is probably taking their employment offer a little too far. First, let’s do the math from your side. Every month you stay unemployed is 8% of the year. It doesn’t take long at these [ Read more… ]

Selling what’s in the wagon

From our daily member newsletter on January 29, 2019

As the length of time grows since your last “assignment,” the battle cry that is heard more frequently is the need to reinvent yourself. I’m not exactly sure how one can REALLY do that. As my Grandmother used to say: “I am who I am.” The question I would pose to you is, are you sure you have looked at everything in the wagon to be sure you are selling everything that’s there? Clearly, the economic principle of highest and best use applies to your career just as it does to those things that we call consumer products. If you are a Manufacturing CFO, a job in a manufacturing environment theoretically is going to produce the best results for you [ Read more… ]

It’s all in the preparation

From our daily member newsletter on January 28, 2019

According to a survey that Bruce Lynn completed late last year, only about 30% of our members have ever been to a chapter meeting. In a word, those of you who have never attended a meeting of The FENG are missing out big time. (And no, we don’t wear funny hats or actually have a secret handshake. That is just an ugly rumor.) Chapter meetings are the friendliest gatherings of human beings that you as a member of The FENG can ever imagine. And, to make them even friendlier, we have created a series of tools on our website to make your meeting experience as beneficial as possible. As they say, you can bring a horse to water, but you [ Read more… ]

Looking for a job in secret

From our daily member newsletter on January 27, 2019

While many things in this electronic world we live in are a lot easier, keeping your job search a secret isn’t one of them. My wife reminded me recently of the hours I used to spend at my typewriter during the 1980’s responding to job ads. Yes, there was a time after candles were replaced with light bulbs, but before the typewriter was replaced by the computer. And, I guess I should also mention that the Internet hadn’t been invented yet. (Al Gore hadn’t completed his work.) If you thought looking for a job was difficult, looking for one in secret is even harder. Some organizations frown severely on individuals looking for another job. Not that they go out of [ Read more… ]

The art of getting up again

From our daily member newsletter on January 24, 2019

You have to kind of feel sorry for folks who have never been unemployed. I know it may sound strange to say this, but if you have never been knocked down, you may not know that not only will you get up again, but that you may be a better person in many ways when you do. I hope that members of The FENG know this. If you have never known defeat, you may think you are invincible. But, we should know that NO ONE is invincible. At some point everyone you know experiences a major setback in their lives that shakes their world to its very core. Early in my life I envied many of the people I came [ Read more… ]

Any excuse will do

From our daily member newsletter on January 23, 2019

Since about 90% of our membership is male, I hope no one will be offended if I let you all in on a little secret – most men don’t have a lot of friends. I am not altogether certain why that is, but it really doesn’t matter because making new friends is actually a lot easier than most people think. If you think about all of the folks that you have gotten close to over the years, I am sure you will find some common elements in their characteristics versus yours. Sometimes it is a “birds of a feather flock together” thing and sometimes it is more like “opposites attract.” The point is no one really knows why couples fall [ Read more… ]

Past, present & future

From our daily member newsletter on January 22, 2019

I have often said that a member’s visualization of his new job is his last job on his last day. In a sense, how could it be any different? As accountants, we value our history more than anything else. This “rear view mirror” approach to life is one of the many things that can cause us to limit our view of our present and of our future. To use a well worn phrase “we don’t know what we don’t know.” The view of the future is clouded. The view of our past is in sharp contrast by comparison. Our work history is hard won. By saying this, I don’t mean to diminish in any way shape or form the skills [ Read more… ]

I’ve got you covered

From our daily member newsletter on January 21, 2019

I am fast coming to the conclusion that most people don’t understand the purpose of a cover letter. Either that or I am greatly confused. My little window on the world is The FECG, the consulting practice that I share with Bruce Lynn. With any luck, a few times a month, alumni members of The FENG engage our services to find them a full time, part time or interim person. (Please visit our website: www.TheFECG.com if you want to learn more about us.) Since the only folks we consider for our assignments are members of The FENG, I get an “up close and personal” view of what “outsiders” are most likely receiving from our membership. I hope you won’t mind [ Read more… ]

Stone soup and job leads

From our daily member newsletter on January 20, 2019

For those of you not familiar with the story of stone soup, I would encourage you to go to: http://www.extremelinux.info/stonesoup/stonesoup.html (Is the Internet great, or what?) It’s not a long story, but it explains in easy to understand terms how you can turn nothing into something, and that is what I am about to suggest we do. At one time, our evening newsletter ran anywhere from 120 pages down to (on bad nights) around 50 pages. Ah yes, those were the halcyon days of job leads. And, back in those good old days, we only had about 20,000 members on distribution for our newsletter. We now have over 38,000. Since 1996, we have registered a little over 11,000 Friends of [ Read more… ]

Cheap tricks that don’t work

From our daily member newsletter on January 17, 2019

In today’s job market, everyone is trying to create a little edge for themselves so they can beat the competition. I know that none of you are actually the source of these ideas. However, there are a lot of “so called” career counselors out there who try to create perceived value by introducing you to what I call “cheap tricks” that in my opinion just don’t work. My assumption is that if you weren’t so stressed by this whole job search thing, you would agree that these approaches are just not smart. For our very well experienced senior level audience, the primary one appears to be leaving off your early work history. The theory is that by doing so, you [ Read more… ]

Is the glass half full?

From our daily member newsletter on January 16, 2019

We are probably all aware and have been known to ponder the enigma of: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” As good accountants, we have also probably pondered whether the glass was half full or half empty. If only “they” had a good accounting procedure, I am sure we would know. We would also know which portion had been charged to expense and which was still “hung up” on the balance sheet. (I always visualize a meat locker labeled “Balance Sheet” with sides of beef hanging inside when I hear the phrase “hung up on the balance sheet”.) Actually, tonight’s editorial is about the need for all of us to recognize, in ourselves and in those around us, [ Read more… ]

The difficulty of being a friend

From our daily member newsletter on January 15, 2019

I often refer to The FENG as a circle of friends. In a very real sense, the power of The FENG is our interconnectedness, and if that isn’t friendship I don’t know what is. Were it not a true fact that we have reduced 6 degrees of separation down to less than 3, networking within our little family wouldn’t be as much fun as it is. (I hate false facts, don’t you?) Anyway, I don’t know how many of you remember “The Millionaire,” (I think it was on in the early 1960’s) but it was about a guy who was hired by someone very rich to give away checks for $1 million. You would think that would be easy, but [ Read more… ]

Running the high hurdles

From our daily member newsletter on January 14, 2019

Between reviewing new member applications and going over candidates for assignments with The FECG, I spend a lot of time reviewing resumes. What continues to amaze and astound me is how difficult most folks make determining the key elements of their background. Basic stuff, like where they have worked and for how long, where they got their degrees, what industries they have worked in, and from time to time, even where they live – all require reading between the lines. Unlike most resume reviewers, I wasn’t born yesterday. (I also am not as old as the hills, but I have been around the block a few times.) Having “wasted” my life reading The Wall Street Journal and earlier in my [ Read more… ]

The great white elephant sale

From our daily member newsletter on January 13, 2019

As everyone I hope knows, a white elephant is something that appears to be useful, but actually has no real value. It takes up a lot of space and basically eats you out of house and home. Anyone with a garage or attic knows the kinds of things folks tend to hang onto, because all human beings hang onto this stuff. Your old Apple IIe (which still works), your IBM XT (which also still works – it replaced the Apple IIe), your turntable (even though the needle is shot and you threw away all of your records), etc., etc., etc. Oh, I forgot the workshop with its coffee cans full of left over parts and “spares.” Why is it we [ Read more… ]

The consummate professional

From our daily member newsletter on January 10, 2019

The title of this editorial is actually: “The consummate professional in an electronic world,” but I thought that was a little long. As senior financial professionals, we tend to stay in our jobs a long time. Up until I was 46, I only had 3 jobs. Who you are and what you are tends to be known by other members of the organization, especially if you are the Chief Financial Officer, or in some other senior level management position. Even when you are not in the room, people feel your presence. Because you hold the checkbook and most likely have the ear of the CEO, knowing who you are and how you think about things is vitally important to those [ Read more… ]

Horns of a dilemma

From our daily member newsletter on January 9, 2019

In the things that we do to communicate our background to others, we are at all times challenged by the need to generalize while at the same time being very specific. It is in all honesty, no easy task. And, it is easier said than done. If for example, you are trying to change industries, your 90-second announcement and your resume need to be “generalized,” by which I mean all of the industry specific language needs to be removed and put in terms that will sound familiar to others. Anyone from the advertising business knows the difference between agency income and commissionable billings. “Commissionable billings” is sort of a list price for media, but advertising agencies actually pay net. The [ Read more… ]

Handling customer objections

From our daily member newsletter on January 8, 2019

The sale of big ticket items through personal selling is never easy. When you buy a tube of toothpaste, a pack of chewing gum, or a box of #2 pencils, hopefully you don’t spend a lot of time either thinking about it, or fussing over the details. But, when it comes to buying something like a car, a boat or a house, the devil is in the details. Each of us at this point in our careers is a big ticket item. For any application of our talents, we are just as likely to have too many “buy points” as not enough. Lots of “objections” are raised during an interview process these days. Some of them are serious objections, other [ Read more… ]

Putting it behind you

From our daily member newsletter on January 7, 2019

Since much of what we do in The FENG is about job search, I thought it might be appropriate to make a few suggestions to everyone about what to do when you do actually find a new job. I’ll be blunt. Job search is primarily filled with uncertainty, highs and lows and activities like making networking calls, which as financial folks we generally don’t like doing. Still, as Russ Potter, a member of long standing would say: “All jobs are temporary.” If you are going to be successful at this “career thing” you need to face facts, and the most important one is that you are never really employed, you are just between searches. A sad state of affairs perhaps, [ Read more… ]

Hang on tight

From our daily member newsletter on January 6, 2019

I often receive messages in which members comment about how job search puts you on an emotional roller coaster and I thought I would address this issue in tonight’s editorial. I am not a professional psychologist, but having been out of work myself for two very long years back in 1991 and 1992 — I’ve been there. I think the first thing you need to accept if you are active in your search is that your daily routine has been interrupted. Where you go every day, how you plan your day and what you do every day is VERY different than it was in the most recent piece of time. Add to this the fact that suddenly everyone is treating [ Read more… ]

A rose by any other name

From our daily member newsletter on January 3, 2019

Back in 1991 after I had been out of work for only a few weeks I sent out a mailing and somehow managed to get an interview with a guy who looked and talked like Frank Perdue. After we shook hands, he offered me his business card and asked for mine. I told him I didn’t have one. He then asked me if I had a name. I said yes. He asked me if I had an address. I said yes. He asked me if I had a phone number. I said yes. Well, he said, you should have a business card. Fortunately for me, he moved on with the interview. But, lesson learned. I went out the next day [ Read more… ]

Weather is very local

From our daily member newsletter on January 2, 2019

Ever the wise sailor, I always check the weather forecast before going sailing for the day. When out on vacation, the weather forecasts I listen to and study frequently cover a much broader area than I am planning to need for a particular day. I like knowing what the weather is going to be in a big circle around me. While on dry land an incorrect forecast may only cause you not to take your umbrella, out on the water it can mean the difference between life and death. However, as the expression goes, your results may vary. No matter how good the weather forecasters have gotten in recent years, they are still often VERY wrong. As we look out [ Read more… ]

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