EditorialsBy Matt Bud, Chairman, The FENG

For those of you who don’t know my entire background, please know I served in the United States Army for two years, 1969 and 1970. I can’t say it was a happy time, but I was fortunate to perform my entire service at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. For those of you who have attended my meetings in Westport and/or meetings where I have been a guest speaker, you may remember that for almost the entire 1980’s I was Chief Financial Officer of an Advertising Agency by the name of Levine, Huntley, Schmidt & Beaver. Donald Trump was one of our clients. Unlike most of the vendors doing business with the Taj Mahal, I did collect ALL of the money owed [ Read more… ]

It’s always best to try to make the best of a bad situation. What was forecast as a tropical storm, apparently was a lot more severe by the time it hit Connecticut. At about 2PM yesterday I was on the phone with an old friend when the lights went off, not to return. Sadly, it looks like they’re not going to be on any time soon. As most of you know, I have a sailboat. During several storms, I have been able to go down to the boat where I have a strong cell signal and do some work. That’s where I am right now. I’m one of the lucky few at the marina. Most of the docks don’t have [ Read more… ]

The long history of telephone use in this country is pretty obvious. And, unlike all the bad jokes I have seen over the years about “young folks” today never having known a time when ….. (you fill in the blank), I have to say that I am amazed and astounded most days by the lack of knowledge by those I call as to how these darn things work. I recently took an old phone out to the driveway and smashed it with a sledgehammer to see what was inside. Yes, I know I could have used a screw driver and taken it apart carefully, but I was in one of those “dark moods.” Anyway, the truth be told, there was [ Read more… ]

Except for the Lone Ranger, none of us actually has silver bullets in our gun. I am frequently taken to task by members on the topic of networking. I suppose that to a very large degree I am guilty of touting networking as the ultimate silver bullet to the exclusion of all other methods. I guess I didn’t realize that I was presenting networking as a “be all end all.” It is, but I didn’t realize I was doing it. The real truth is that you have to “do it all.” Back in 1991, I had a very dear friend who ran the Drake Beam office in Stamford. Although I didn’t actually get outplacement, he invited me to use a [ Read more… ]

How often have we seen a speaker tap a microphone and say: Is this on? At least the person in question is preparing to speak. On the other hand, how often have we heard news reports about politicians saying things they shouldn’t have been saying (or thinking), not realizing that the microphone in front of them was on? Our modern world is full of opportunities to embarrass ourselves, big time. I suppose in ancient times, the worst that could happen to an orator was to be over heard by one or two people before he was ready. If he was standing in front of a crowd of listeners, he knew it. The problem in today’s world is not just oral [ Read more… ]

There is no more important space on your resume than that first section after your name. Alas, I rarely see it used to good effect. Although cover letters allow you to “cover” matters perhaps not easily “covered” in your resume, more often than not your cover letter isn’t sent to the decision maker. In a very real sense, your resume stands alone and needs to be done in such a way that it gets the job done. If you agree that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, that first section sets the stage for what follows. By taking the time to really focus on your value added, the summary section can allow you to [ Read more… ]

One of the most disconcerting aspects of looking for a job is that you often get the feeling that people aren’t treating you with as much respect as you deserve. I could be wrong, but I think that those of us who have been senior level financial executives may have a tougher time dealing with this problem than others. All during the time we are working there is a line of supplicants outside of our office. (Oh, Matt, please send my vendor a check. Please Matt, won’t you take a minute and approve my expense report. Matt, I really need more money in my budget for next year.) Then, boom, you are out of work and there just aren’t as [ Read more… ]

According to Google, double entry accounting was developed around 1300AD. Shortly thereafter, someone came up with the expression: “Just give me the bottom line.” No one ever talks about the middle line. I have often wondered about that. Haven’t you? I don’t know about you, but as good accountants and Chief Financial Officers I thought our goal was to prepare comparable financial statements. Documents that not only were accurate and reflective of the organizations we were helping run, but also consistent in format month after month so that our “customers,” all of those non-financial types, would know where to look for the information they required. (I know I prided myself on those year after year matching binders with matching tabs.) [ Read more… ]

One of my observations is that everyone seems to be shutting down earlier and earlier around holiday periods, and returning later and later. Last week was especially quiet. Well, we’re going to be off to a flying start tomorrow. My advice is wait until Tuesday to call anyone for networking purposes. Anyone who can actually help you will be digging through a mountain of email. I want everyone to know that we had a very successful series of fund raising events to close out 2019. Thanks to so many generous members, we are starting 2020 with sufficient cash balances to ensure we will be able to pay for our new website with no problems. And, our new website should be [ Read more… ]

Everyone has a “too hard pile.” (Even I have one!) It’s all that work that sits in a pile by your desk and you never seem to get to it. I suppose there ought to be a law or something that would prevent us from leaving things in the “too hard” pile for very long. Of course, many of us (myself included) would now be guilty of a crime. (Perhaps a law would be too harsh.) Anyway, what started me thinking about the “too hard” pile is the constant state of my desk these days. I know I move a lot of the paper on my desk every day, but the pile isn’t going down as fast as it should. [ Read more… ]

At most meetings of The FENG here in Westport I take a few minutes during my introduction to explain the best approach to contacting other members of our now vast organization. The best approach to contacting just about anyone, including other members, is to first send a letter of introduction with a copy of your resume. I know this flies in the face of things you may have learned, but in a few quick paragraphs, let me see if I can explain. The first of Matt’s laws of which you should be aware is that speech is the slowest form of communication. To call someone and walk them through your background is a difficult proposition at best. The same information [ Read more… ]

Job search is a draining and discouraging process at times. (Or, is that most of the time?) Well, maybe not, unless you make it so. The truth is that most of us financial types stay in jobs a lot longer than those in other disciplines like marketing or sales. In addition, most of the work we do is being Mr./Ms. Inside where others know us. The need to “explain ourselves” just isn’t part of our make-up. (Besides, do they want that check signed or not? Ah, the golden rule. He/she who has the gold or controls the gold, makes the rules.) At the end of the movie “Good Fellas,” the wise guy who has ratted out his fellow mobsters is [ Read more… ]

In a sense, a sailboat isn’t a complicated machine. Compared with other means of transportation such as cars or planes, there really isn’t much to a sailboat. Sails are pretty simple, and if you are like me, you don’t use the motor if you can avoid it. (We only burned about 50 gallons of diesel this summer, including our vacation. How much wear and tear could a motor get being used that little?) And, laziness tends to go right along with the summer, doesn’t it? And after a long day in the hot sun, it is easy to forget that this “thing” on which your life depends may need some attention when you would much rather head off for a [ Read more… ]

I guess the desire to shorten just about everything is part of human nature. I once worked with a guy named Harry and the boss insisted on calling him Har. I suppose he could have called him H, but maybe that was TOO short. When I was in college, everyone was talking about the ATGSB. For those of you who don’t know, this stood for the Aptitude Test for Graduate Study in Business. Like slang expressions, folks use abbreviations to set themselves apart from others. If you don’t know what it means, you are probably not part of the “in crowd,” or at least MY in crowd. With this as an introduction, I’m not sure if I can articulate everything [ Read more… ]

For almost a decade I was Chief Financial Officer of an Advertising Agency. In addition to learning how to deal with a wild and crazy bunch of folks, I learned a lot not only about the advertising business, but also about advertising in general. One of the facts that I learned was that a good advertising campaign could get customers to try the product. (We were a very creative shop!) In some cases, we were so good at what we did that we almost put some of our clients out of business. Sounds odd, but oh so true. Promising 10 and delivering 5 is about one of the worst things you can do. In the context of job search, I [ Read more… ]

There are some who would argue that in this day and age of email, texting and Tweeting, the world has become a more impersonal place than in those halcyon days of yesteryear. Please say it isn’t so. In this electronic age, it has become SO easy to be personal, that I can’t for the life of me fathom why anyone wouldn’t take the time to say thank you to anyone and everyone who sends them a message. I like to think that I have a society of 37,000+ friends. (I hope all of you feel the same way.) Although all of you need to be patient with me from time to time because I fall behind in my email, I [ Read more… ]

“Must have industry experience” often appears on position descriptions in this newsletter as well as ones one might see in the newspaper or on the various job boards that exist in the nether world of the Internet. The question is whether to respond or not to respond when the requirement is so clear. The obvious answer is that it depends. Much as we would like to believe that we have transferable skills (and we do), each industry has its peculiarities that need to be learned. Is a little cross fertilization from another industry a good idea? I have always been of this opinion. Still, in any job market, there are always going to be candidates who fit the bill to [ Read more… ]

There are an awful lot of people in this world who lie from time to time, some more frequently than others. And, not all of them are politicians. Others may have a different definition, but having an accounting background, I believe that anything that is said that isn’t the WHOLE truth is sort of a lie. I’ll give you a little hint about where I am going with tonight’s editorial by telling you that some of the worst prevaricators in this world are on the other side of the desk interviewing you for jobs you would love to have. Of course, if your wife asks you if her new dress makes her look fat, I hope you will have the [ Read more… ]

One of the greatest disappointments you may discover during your job search is that old friends don’t call you back. When I began my job search back in 1991 and in the years since, I have often struggled to explain this syndrome to my many friends. My purpose is not to make excuses for anyone, but rather to explain the situation in a way that will lead us to be more forgiving. And, if we are lucky, perhaps to discover ways that in the end will cause us to benefit from these long established relationships. The syndrome you are experiencing I call “the death in the family thing.” People tend not to call or even to write because they are [ Read more… ]

It has been said that everything you really need to know, you learned in kindergarten. Several years ago, I had the great pleasure of going trick or treating with my grandson. It is one of those things you obviously can’t do at my age unless you have grandchildren living nearby, and I am so blessed. It was a little cold and windy here in Connecticut that night, but it was one of those opportunities you just can’t miss. As my son and I wandered around the immediate neighborhood where my grandson lives, it was obvious that although most of the houses were decorated in the spirit of Halloween, there were also quite a few houses that weren’t decorated and in [ Read more… ]

There is this great place right at the top of each resume that I find is not generally very well used. Right after your name, address, telephone numbers and email address, there is nothing more appropriate to appear than a summary. A summary, précis, or synopsis appearing in this location can save those reading your opus a lot of valuable time, and work to insure that you are included in that most desired pile of resumes to read later, as opposed to the pile that is positioned ever so close to the circular file. Look, I don’t know anything about you, so at this juncture you have a golden opportunity to give me a clear mental picture of what you [ Read more… ]

I continue to be amazed and astounded how many emails I get every day that aren’t signed and/or that make only vague references to what they are about. “Thank you for adding Joe to our membership” isn’t really all that helpful unless I know who you are and who Joe is. I am fortunate in that I have what I call “Matt’s secret decoder ring” (The FENG membership directory) handy at all times, but it is clearly an additional step to look you up, and then I may have to check my sent mail or my deleted mail to see what we were talking about. Sometimes my mystery correspondent has taken the additional step of writing to me from an [ Read more… ]

If there is anything that typically jumps out at me when we have our meetings here in Connecticut, it is the need for us financial folks to be completely honest, even in our assessments of ourselves. However, interviews and 90 second announcements are no time for an extensive evaluation of why you lost your last job. For the most part in our fast changing world, there may not even be a need to explain it at all, let alone in depth. What everyone is interested in hearing is why they should be talking to you. What are your strengths and how can you solve their problems? It is very important at these times to have an explanation that satisfies the [ Read more… ]

The first time I show someone a navigational chart their eyes usually glass over. There are so many detailed pieces of information and so many strange colors and symbols. It can be more than a little overwhelming. Most folks purchase charts in bound books covering specific geographic areas. The first problem is finding the chart you need. This can be done by studying the cover where the total geographic area is shown. On this page there are boxes with numbers indicating what page to use for each harbor of interest. After all these years, I’m not sure what stuff is obvious and what isn’t to the uninitiated. Water depth, symbols for various kinds of channel markers, and different colors for [ Read more… ]

It sure is romantic to think about a job offer out of town with a full relocation package as a way to start over again. And, in many ways and for some people, it just may be your ticket to a life of sheer happiness for you and your family. However, for most people I have known over the years, the joy has turned out to be a lot less than it first appeared to be. I, unfortunately, can regale you with more bad moving stories than good ones. In fact, I would be hard pressed to come up with a good moving story, as in one that ended well. Let’s start with the idea that all jobs are temporary. [ Read more… ]

It is, unfortunately, far too easy to fall into the trap of having a negative conversation with other members. While it is very important to have empathy for others, to get into extended discussions on the state of the world and how everything is hopeless benefits no one. The world is what it is. If I may quote from the movie “The Deer Hunter,” Robert DiNiro was heard to say “This is this.” The job market is what it is and each of us in our own way is what or who we are. (If you aren’t confused yet, please call me because I think I am starting to confuse myself.) Anyway, the point of all of this is for [ Read more… ]

Many years ago a college professor of mine related a story about one of his students who wrote a research paper about an experiment she conducted with an elderly stroke victim at a convalescent home near the campus. The basic premise of the experiment was that whenever the patient in question performed the appropriate behavior (and forgive me, but I don’t remember what that was), he was rewarded with a jelly bean. After the class had ended and the student had received her “A” in the class, she had occasion to see this professor walking through campus and stopped to say hello. In the course of that conversation she told the professor that she had a small confession to make. [ Read more… ]

I don’t know if any of you remember the movie Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, but Raymond had a method for dealing with his pain. He kept a journal. Anytime someone hurt him, he wrote it down in his book. I don’t remember if he ever referred to his book or reread it for entertainment, but the lesson is perhaps an easy one. If you write down what is bothering you on a piece of paper and throw it away, is it possible the pain will be gone? Let’s face the fact that there are only so many days in a year and so many hours in a day. If you count up the number of actual [ Read more… ]

Thus begins Moby Dick. Of course, I am more likely to say: “You can call me anything you like as long as it’s not late for dinner.” I have always believed that what YOU call yourself and what you want others to call you is one of the most important pieces of information you can know about someone. This is why we have a “Greeting to use” box in our membership directory. When my son Michael was growing up we mostly called him Mike. The reason was that this is what he put on all of his papers at school. Only later did we learn that he preferred Michael and only used Mike because it took less time to write. [ Read more… ]

One of the hardest things to do during a job search or even during a difficult time at work is keeping yourself energized and positive. Here again is another example of how our basic honesty as financial folks gets in the way of our success. If you ask a financial guy how he is doing, you typically will get an honest (and very long) answer. It is just in the nature of who we are that the structure of most of our answers follows that “primarily due to, partially offset by” approach to life that is just who we are. I think what we don’t consider as frequently as we should is the impact this analytical approach to life has [ Read more… ]

If there is anything those of you who have ever been engaged in a job search have learned is that NO ONE ever has enough friends. Although I count all 38,000+ of you as friends of mine, I still continue every day to try to make a few new friends. It is almost sad in a way that networking became so closely identified with job search. Except for the NFL approach to networking (that’s where you hold someone down and don’t let them up until they give you 3 names) networking is about creating real friendships. And, real friendships are a two way street. I hate one way dead ends streets, don’t you? That’s when you make networking all about [ Read more… ]

I know it may sound strange coming from someone publishing hundreds of pages of job leads a month, but job leads are overrated. If you are over the age of 40 and all you are doing is answering job leads in our newsletter or from any of the well respected jobs sites, you may as well be writing to yourself for all the good you are doing. Yes, I know you can proudly tell those who ask that you answered 20 ads today, but for the most part, you are competing with the entire world. Sure, you could do the job, and my belief is you could do it well, but clients want what clients want and search firms have [ Read more… ]

Over the past few months I have completed several projects on or for my sailboat. My father was a plumbing and general contractor, and having worked for him from the time I was 13 until I graduated from college, I am pretty handy with tools. I also had a lot of very old cars, and not being independently wealthy at the time, I learned how to fix them myself. I find that now the scarce commodity in my life is time. As a result, many of the projects I decide to do have long planning cycles. Sometimes I draw myself sketches of what I want to do. Nothing too elaborate you understand, but enough so that I have a pretty [ Read more… ]

Although everyone thinks that spring is a time of renewal, actually (just like networking) any point in time and any excuse will do. For those of us who are in their 40’s and 50’s, periods of unemployment early in our career have probably been non-existent. The experience of being unemployed can be stressful unless you use the time to good advantage. One way of doing this is to, in part, create a new you. I’m not talking about plastic surgery, but there are always things you can do that will make you into a “new” person. After you have gone through the initial steps of preparing your job campaign and networking with everyone you can think of, it may be [ Read more… ]

With the upcoming 4th of July holiday weekend, a great opportunity will be presenting itself to you in the form of gatherings of those who know you (and presumably love you). In order to enjoy the greatest benefit, you need to paint on a smile. I don’t care if you have been out of work 3 or more years or if you are losing your job in July, being down in the dumps or coming off as a “sad sack” won’t help your cause. In the opening scene in Patton, you may recall that George C. Scott explained why America wasn’t going to lose the war. Very briefly, Americans love a winner and won’t tolerate a loser. No matter what [ Read more… ]

What is a qualified member? With many members out of work these days, and search firms with assignments in short supply, I thought I would take the time tonight to restate our approach to leads posted in our newsletter. Those leads which include “please use my name in contacting” and generally speaking leads for positions being handled by retainer based search firms, are not for distribution outside of our network. Recruiters are always afraid they will lose control of a search by having it broadcast too widely. Confidentiality and professionalism is vital on our part to keep recruiters as allies in our respective searches. Each member is asked to abide by these guidelines. With regard to “please use my name” [ Read more… ]

In speaking with members of The FENG over the years, it is clear that everyone would enjoy hearing a few words of wisdom on making phone calls. Of course, everyone knows how to push the buttons on the phone, but apparently not everyone is having as much fun doing it as they should. Over the years I have developed a telephone style that works for me. But regardless of your personal style, I think I can provide you with a few principles that will ring true for you as well. The first principle is knowing something about who you are calling and the second is having that person knowing why you are calling. Knowledge on both sides is helpful. For [ Read more… ]

For those of you who used to watch Sesame Street back in the 70’s, there was a great skit where one of the Muppets wanted a piece of pie and a glass of milk. Although there was no pie, the Muppet in need of that particular food item kept trying different variations such as a glass of water and a piece of pie, or a cup of coffee and a piece of pie, etc. Basically, nothing he tried got him a piece of pie. As is always the case, many members and many folks who advise members on the structure of their resumes are trying as many variations as the Muppets on what is by its nature a tried and [ Read more… ]

I need everyone’s help. No, The FENG isn’t for sale in the retailing sense. That said, it is vitally important that each us every day and in every way, make the “outside world” aware of our unique organization. I have on several occasions since the beginning of the year done a promotion to the search community. We have approximately 4,000+ registered Friends of The FENG. I always get back nice notes when I do these promotions and usually for a few weeks we see an increase in postings in our newsletter. Still, it is not enough. If you are being considered for a job through a search firm, I would ask you to direct them to our website and have [ Read more… ]

I don’t know about you, but I have always wished I were a few pounds lighter. That said, no one should suggest to me that this is the reason I can’t find a job. (As long as my clothes fit.) Gray hair shouldn’t be on their list. Nor should someone suggest surgery to look better. (This one is particularly outrageous!) Additional bad advice is eliminating all references to any job you had over 15 years ago or removing your dates of graduation from college. I always pray that all of the above will be relegated to urban legend, but I continue to be proven wrong. Who are these people that dare to dish out such outrageous trash? Friends, as my [ Read more… ]

When I was in my mid 30’s, I had the great honor of being treasurer of my congregation, a job I held for 4 full years. It is probably true that I lean towards all-consuming jobs. Or, perhaps I just try to do a good job even when I am not getting paid. Nonetheless, I discovered a lot about human nature performing this often times thankless task. The congregation had a very long list of “members” who were behind in their payments. So, I set about to call all of them. Sure, I tried writing to them, but I found that the only way I got any kind of response was by picking up the phone. Most folks were very [ Read more… ]

I know there are still a few unbelievers out there. Yes, they walk among us. Believe it or not, networking is the ticket. If you are waiting to be called and invited to the dance, think again. It isn’t going to happen. Let me suggest to you that The FENG membership database is the pot of gold at the beginning of the rainbow. I am fully aware of the fact that everyone else in the world is looking for the pot of gold at the END of the rainbow, but the networking contacts you can make through a series of searches of our database are only a beginning, and not an end in and of themselves. Our membership directory contains [ Read more… ]

I was in Chicago several years ago and had the great pleasure of having breakfast with Brad Hughes, one of our “Founding Great Grandfathers.” According to legend (and I can say that since The FENG is over 25 years old), Brad was one of the very few folks who ALWAYS brought job leads to pass around at our meeting at the Westport library. We were a grand total of about 15 people on a good day back then, but everyone followed Brad’s fine example and made an effort to find and share job leads. Again, according to legend, there was one job at a leather goods manufacturer that ALL of us interviewed for and there were several others that at [ Read more… ]

We don’t get as many members applying without sponsors as we used to, but we still get a few. For those who are qualified for membership, each Monday morning after I have finished my new member review for the weekend and sent out our new member announcement, Judith Rudikoff, one of our Administrative Assistants, sends them each a note inviting them to pick up that 400 pound phone and call her. Sad to say, not all of them do. The idea behind having a sponsor is that we are NOT a job listing service. Sure, we publish about 600 pages of job leads a month, but I hope no one confuses that with our true mission of being a networking [ Read more… ]

As I am sure you know, Bruce Lynn and I run a chapter meeting here in Connecticut every month. Marty Latman runs two each month in New Jersey. I am always a little disappointed at the number of people who aren’t properly prepared. I am not criticizing the quality of 90-second announcements or the improvements that might be needed to the resumes I see. Rather, I am commenting on the number of folks who don’t come with the basic tools to be successful at our very important “meet and greets.” First and most important, bring enough copies of your resume for EVERYONE attending. In most cases, this means about 15-25 copies. If your chapter get together is larger, bring more. [ Read more… ]

Here in Connecticut spring has arrived and with it the beginning of the boating season. We are looking forward to taking our boat out for the first time in the next week or so! Great fun. Anyway, as I begin each season, I sit myself down and remind myself of the ease with which tools are lost over the side. As you settle into outfitting the boat for the season, bringing down the gear and reinstalling things, it is easy to forget. The motion of the boat is a little unfamiliar and there is a lot of confusion. It is also usually still a little cold and often very windy. Being out on the water is an experience that is [ Read more… ]

Let’s face it, those who “move the iron” — even the new stuff, have a difficult job. But those who sell used cars have it the worst. The phrase “like a used car salesman” is very much part of the American lexicon. It implies the worst of the sales profession. No matter what vehicle you purchase, at the end of the day you feel as if you have been taken advantage of. Not quite as true with new cars. First, there is that new car smell. You sure can’t beat it. Then you have the fact that if you really want to, you can order the car from the factory with exactly the features you want. Basically you pick out [ Read more… ]

A few years ago, I got a lovely note from one of our alumni members lamenting the fact that he rarely gets any phone calls from his fellow members requesting networking assistance. Even though he was feeling unloved, he asked me not to mention his name for fear that all of you would call him to make him feel better. In his note, he assured me that although he rarely gets phone calls from his fellow members, when he does, he drops whatever he is doing and gives the individual who is calling his full time and attention for as long as that person needs it. Hey, if he has to work late to make up the time, he was [ Read more… ]

It is always a good idea to read your own resume. Sadly, I find that many people don’t. The typographical errors are bad enough. For example, in a recent batch I reviewed for one of our assignments for The FECG, one member even had an obvious error in how he spelled his own name. (Yes, you can’t make this stuff up.) More subtle perhaps are the kinds of things that just make you look plain silly. Starting right at the top, let’s talk about the summary that many of you rightly include as part of your opus. Like a good 90 second announcement, this part of your resume can do you a lot of good or a lot of damage. [ Read more… ]

If getting up in front of a large group and doing your elevator pitch isn’t bad enough, giving it over the phone is worse. At least in front of a group, large or small, you have some visual feedback as to whether or not it is going over well. Add to this that many folks call you from cell phones with “CB radio” quality connections (i.e. you can’t talk unless they stop), and you have a communication challenge of the first order. There are several suggestions I have heard over the years and some that I use that I will share with you tonight. The first thing to keep in mind is that you never know when an important call [ Read more… ]

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 of sailors haven’t changed a whole lot. One of the concepts applicable to job search is the problems associated with being becalmed. (This is sometimes referred to as a “no wind” situation.) When the wind is blowing strongly there is always so much you can do. You are moving. You may be scared out of your mind surfing down the face of a [ Read more… ]

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 told you about the product. Much as you may cringe at the thought that you need to have a slogan or theme song, you almost do. The question I would have for you is how can you make yourself memorable? How can you communicate what we could call your sizzle points? In all of the interviewing that you do, except your interview with the final and ultimate [ Read more… ]

One of the themes that I like to present from time to time is the idea that each of us can make a difference. For those of us who live in these United States, it is all very easy to fall into the accepted American concept that everything in this world is actually someone else’s fault. Hence we have the tendency in this country to sue anyone and everyone who might have wronged us. It has created a nice living for the contingency lawyers in this country, but has done little for the American sense of pride and individual responsibility for ourselves and others. Here in our little society we call The FENG we have a unique opportunity to do [ Read more… ]

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 resumes to be written, networking lists to be developed, and knowledge to be acquired. Unfortunately there is no one best way to get started. A lot depends on your current state and what “improvements” you need to make to ensure your campaign is successful. I am a big fan of starting in the middle and working your way out to the sides. If you [ Read more… ]

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 help in finding a new job than those in their 30’s. Unfortunately, this is still true. Call it age discrimination, over qualified, or any of the other direct names you want, the effect is the same. Not even some of the softer words help. The simple fact is that a senior financial professional is going to have a harder time of it than someone more junior. There [ Read more… ]

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 on farms at the beginning of the last century and now only about 5% do. As the automobile put Americans on the road and many of us moved to new places (I’m originally from Chicago, but lived in Indiana for many years before moving to Connecticut), the powerful sense of community that is so important to us as human beings was severely impacted. I suppose it didn’t disappear [ Read more… ]

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, it can be even more difficult. The thing to recognize is that conducting a job search is in some respects painful for us financial types. We don’t get to do spreadsheets (which we adore), and all we get to do is write letters and make phone calls. Sure, making phone calls to collect past due invoices is a lot of fun. But, making networking phone calls, now that’s painful. So, faced with not needing to sharpen our #2 pencils, it can be difficult to get going in the morning. After all, what is there to [ Read more… ]

I often get the feeling from talking with members about their job search, that many of you are reluctant to use our Member Directory Search feature to full advantage as part of your job search. I only wish I understood why. The FENG membership directory is honestly the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It is a gold mine to all who delve into its many mysteries. It is a research tool and a resource that probably has no equal in the civilized world. (There I go again understating the value of our membership directory.) All other professions can eat their hearts out. Members of The FENG have agreed to open their good offices to one another, [ Read more… ]

During the interviewing process we frequently get asked questions for which there is no good answer. I have my favorites of course, but having been out of work myself for almost 2 years back in 1991, the one I will address tonight is “Why have you been out of work so long?” (What a silly question. It’s because I haven’t found a job!) Now back in 1991 it was generally accepted that the country was in a recession. Still, after almost two years, it was a question that came up in interviews. And, it can come across as a tough question even when it begins as it does today with “I know the job market isn’t very good, but how [ Read more… ]

In one of my recent editorials I “beat the drum” about being overly specific on your resume. Generally speaking, one must be very careful about the use of “jargon” on a resume. Arcane and sometimes what we assume are well known computer programs like SAP are not so well known by those reading resumes. In the book Catch 22 (if memory serves) there was mention of the fact that the world is always looking for specialists, and indeed they are. For some opportunities, the knowledge of programs like PeopleSoft, or even QuickBooks for smaller companies is EXACTLY what gets you the job. As it has been said, if you’ve got it, flaunt it. (If you don’t have it, cover it [ Read more… ]

I have observed over my life that most of the people identified as experts are wrong a very high percentage of the time. In much the same way that a clock that has stopped is right twice a day, some acknowledged experts are identified by the media as genius only because they inadvertently made a correct guess at just the right time. Sometimes they have even been right despite themselves, but that never gets discussed. In addition, I hope you have also observed that the same talking heads who were wrong also have an explanation as to why they were wrong. It is all very amusing. Overcoming unconscious age bias is extremely difficult. Overcoming blatant age discrimination is even harder. [ Read more… ]

Most of us in the financial community find talking on the telephone to be one of the more challenging things we do. I believe the primary reason is that most of our work is accomplished in written form. When we do present our work to the boss or to our peers, it is usually done face to face and to a very large degree, we set the agenda. In other words, we know the topics and the typical questions that are going to be asked and we are prepared for them. It is for this reason that working the phone can be difficult for us. (Actually, it is probably difficult for everyone!) If you think about the communications aspects of [ Read more… ]

A long time ago I read a book by Dodge Morgan. Those non-sailors among us will probably not recognize his name, but in his 50’s, Dodge decided to sail solo around the world on a sloop especially designed for him. (I also bought the video of his voyage and heard him speak about his trip, but we won’t get into that.) The area around the equator is referred to by sailors as the doldrums. Ships making passages around the world could be assured of spending an inordinate amount of time trying to cross this part of the ocean. This is in contrast to the southern ocean where the wind blows almost non-stop all year around because there are no land [ Read more… ]

Ever the wise sailor, I always (well, almost always) check the weather forecast before heading down to the boat to go out for the day. This may or may not be a valuable activity. My wife jokes that in her next life she wants to be a weather forecaster. They never have to be right and they still get paid. I have to agree that they are frequently wrong, and sometimes I have taken their prognostications to heart and they have caused me to miss a perfectly good sailing day. (As you may know, the sailing season is very short – it is less than 52 weeks per year, so I hate to miss even one day.) There is also [ Read more… ]

Much as I hate using cliché phrases as the one above, I don’t really know if there is a better one to describe the process of self-examination that is required when faced with looking for another “work opportunity.” (I call them work opportunities instead of jobs, because they don’t generally last long enough these days to be dignified with that “job” label.) Of course, I should preface my comments with the very obvious fact that changing industries or professions in any job market is very difficult. There are plenty of folks who are “local candidates,” or from the “required” industry. Competing against them in any sense isn’t an even contest, but competing rarely is as much fun as folks make [ Read more… ]

I don’t know if you have noticed, but all of the job leads from The FECG include a sentence that says “You may forward this to other members of The FENG if you are aware of their background and/or interest in this kind of opportunity.” I wish all the job leads in our newsletter had this sentence. If only our eyes weren’t so bad, and the job leads for our particular areas of expertise so few and far between, I suppose all members could be expected to read the newsletter for themselves and catch all the opportunities that were a fit for them. However, we really do need other members watching out for us. Yes, all of us are responsible [ Read more… ]

Walter Mitty was an interesting guy. Although he did one thing in his real life, he had the opportunity to do lots of exciting things in his imaginary life. As we advance in our careers, I think all of us want the opportunity to do new and different things. It is only normal to want to change industries or change careers. And, many of us actually succeed in doing it. For example, I am doing something very different in my second career. I hope that no one will read this editorial and think I am trying to discourage anyone. Hopes and dreams, however, have to be measured against the economic reality of your value to a potential employer. I don’t [ Read more… ]

As the days of fall begin to arrive in the Northeast and the trees begin to change colors, it is all very beautiful. (Today it was outstanding!) However, I know that inevitably the week will come when I will finish decommissioning the boat for the season. (That was this week. I pulled the sails off the boat on Tuesday with help from Bruce Lynn. Today I finished most of my winterizing because a storm is forecast for the weekend.) For those of you who are long standing members of The FENG, you know that in the Bud household, or at least in my mind, the year is divided into only two seasons: summer when I can go sailing, and winter [ Read more… ]

The process of self-assessment is never easy. It is sort of like taking out your own appendix, but without anesthetic. As senior financial folks, it is often the case that we don’t have to engage ourselves in the game of “What is it we do? And, who are we?” until very late in our careers. Unlike the denizens of other professions, we tend to stay at jobs a long time and until we hit middle age, many of us have never known a day out of work. As many of you may be aware, I was Chief Financial Officer of an advertising agency for almost a decade. While I could take a few moments to wax eloquent about the difficulty [ Read more… ]

I’m not sure why human beings resist change. It is truly the only constant in our world. For almost 6 years I worked for The Thomson Corporation, a company that was really into change. I used to joke that we reorganized every week even when it wasn’t really necessary, just to keep in practice. Is all change healthy? Probably not. But resisting change is somewhat like spitting into the wind. (And as an avid sailor I am well qualified to explain the unhappy results of doing that!) Getting unstuck on the way to your next success requires thinking about your career in new and different ways and that is what tonight’s editorial is all about – envisioning change in terms [ Read more… ]

Since we have many new members each year AND many members who may be active again from time to time, I thought it might be a good idea if I wrote about our “qualified members only” approach to responding to job leads and why it works for you. First, let’s understand that posted jobs are only a small portion of the total job market. Most estimates place job leads from search firms and corporations at about 15% of all jobs that are filled. The rest of the jobs are filled by networking. Given the state of the economy right now, my sense is that search firms who are still operating and finding assignments are easily overwhelmed by the volume of [ Read more… ]

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 approaches that are universal. First of all, please know that I love trees. However, if you really want to get the most information out of our newsletter, you honestly need to print it. Back in the bad old days when I got a lot of interoffice mail, I used to read it over the garbage pail. It is a simple fact that, at a glance, you can glean [ Read more… ]

There is nothing worse in the world of job search than to have an obvious issue in your background that is difficult to explain. I have often suggested to members that on some topics we discuss there is no right answer. When there is no good answer to something in your background, what do you do? While I am the official spinmeister of The FENG, there are some problems that people raise with me for which every answer is a loser in some ways. When you are faced with one of these kinds of issues, I would suggest that the best defense is not just to have the best possible answer ready, but also to be the one to bring [ Read more… ]

I don’t know if all of you have noticed, but our new member announcement has a field called “Greeting to use.” It is there because I think it is important in establishing networking connections to be able to call people by the name they find most “comfortable.” As I have often said, you can call me anything you like as long as it isn’t late for lunch. Most people who have names that can be abbreviated in various ways will tell you that they don’t really care if you call them William or Bill or even Will for that matter. That said, when you call them on the phone and they say “Bill here,” you now know their preference. If [ Read more… ]

I don’t know if any of you feel as I do, but when I have a cold or the flu, it is at once annoying and thoughtful that those who care about us are constantly checking up on us. Thank goodness I’m not sick very often, but when I am I prefer to be left alone during “the cure.” Human beings vary, of course. Some of us are hypochondriacs, and some of us are foolish to the point of going out when we are sick. The human experience, as in most things, runs the gamut. So, like I said, if those who care about you “discover” that you are a little under the weather, the constant phone calls or the [ Read more… ]

For those of you with allergies, you know only too well that once you have a reaction to something, for some period of time even small amounts of that substance will set you off. As I understand it, what happens is that an allergic reaction triggers elevated histamine levels in your body. If you stay away from whatever it is you are allergic to, gradually your histamine levels decline and although you are still allergic, it takes more of it to set you off. (Now I know I shouldn’t stray too far from my usual sailing analogies, but I couldn’t think of one that was appropriate to this topic.) We have all heard of the straw that broke the camel’s [ Read more… ]

Over the years I have been asked many times how large The FENG could get before “law and order” breaks down. By law and order breaking down I am talking about a point in time when we can no longer count on our members to treat each other with respect. Respect comes in many forms. We all take a leap of faith when we post job opportunities. Are members really going to follow “qualified members only?” Will I be embarrassed when I next speak to the recruiter I have coaxed to post with our network? Just as important, will we reach a point in time when networking phone calls no longer get returned? Or worse yet, when calls offering assistance [ Read more… ]

I’m not sure if everyone understands the importance of our Good News Announcements, so I thought I would share with you tonight some of my thoughts as to why they are so important. Since the very beginning of our newsletter, the Good News Announcements have always appeared at the very beginning. We were a small group of individuals back in 1997, perhaps a 100 or so hardy souls, and we DID actually know each other. So, the good news announcements were particularly exciting. As the group has grown, it is less and less likely that you will actually know the person making the announcement. And, although it may appear to be “always about you,” good news announcements are really about [ Read more… ]

In my continuing “joys of sailing” series, I thought I would talk about docks around Long Island Sound. Although one can drag anchor, one rarely drags dock. (A little sailing joke for you.) Sure, it is a rather arcane topic, but hopefully it is one that you can use to amaze and astound your friends. You would think that docking arrangements everywhere would be pretty much the same. After all, you have a boat, you have water, and you need to tie it up for the night. Well, you would be very wrong. The truth is that just about every place you go is a little different. Some marinas have pilings you have to snag on your way in. (And [ Read more… ]

Since we have so many new members each year, I thought I would write something tonight about the mission of The FENG and how we accomplish our objectives for one another. Sailors are a naturally friendly lot. (Yes, another sailing analogy!) As one of the other couples my wife and I met at a marina pointed out, it would be considered more than a little strange to go to a motel or hotel and start introducing yourself to other people and ask them if they wanted to join you and your wife for dinner at some restaurant. Yet, sailors do it all the time. When you “blow in” from another harbor you have so many stories to tell and they [ Read more… ]

At the beginning of time here in Connecticut, we spent most of our meeting gathered around the table discussing job leads. The idea of a 90-second announcement followed by fellow attendees suggesting who to call in our august body for networking had not yet been invented. Since people over value job leads, I thought I would provide my perspective on this important topic. I don’t claim to know everything. And, I would never stop our chapter chairs from trying things at their meetings. Who knows, they might be right and I might be wrong, but in my humble opinion, job lead information is best shared in writing. There are several reasons for this. First, speech is the slowest form of [ Read more… ]

It has only been since about the time of the American Revolution that sailors have had the technology available to find their exact location on the face of the earth. Although determining your latitude was possible (those are the lines that run around the middle of the earth like the equator), knowing your longitude, or how far East or West you were, was simply not possible. What sailors did before that time was sail down to the appropriate latitude and then sail East or West and hope they didn’t arrive at a landfall in the middle of the night or in a storm. Alas, this happened all the time and many lives were lost. If you would like to learn [ Read more… ]

There is no more powerful tool than a sharp pencil. (The only equally powerful tool is The FENG’s Member Directory Search feature.) I long ago declared war on unnecessary words. Why? Because they are unnecessary. Duh! The normal space allotment for a resume is two pages. Okay, if you have to go to three I might be able to live with it, but generally two is the limit. It is not much space to describe the accomplishments of a lifetime, but you are making a mistake if you think it is necessary to describe each and every thing you have ever done. If you are as old as the hills (or dirt itself) like most of us, there are adventure [ Read more… ]

Have you ever wondered who is that guy/gal in the mirror? I’m sure we all stare at that familiar face from time to time, but the real question is who are you and what do you do best? You would think that if you just took a few minutes and read your own resume, you could solve this one, but you would be wrong. Although it is possible you know yourself well enough to come up with an appropriate answer, for most people it would be a good idea to ask those who know you best what they think it is you do. The answers might surprise you. Early in my career when I worked for “the big corporation” I [ Read more… ]

Let’s be honest, even though the unemployment figures suggest a strong job market, things are still challenging for members of our “well experienced” membership. This always being the case, many of our members consider opportunities that are well below their previous levels of responsibility and compensation. I would welcome the thoughts of others on this topic, so please do send in your ideas. Anything you would like published should be sent to [email protected]. Be sure to be clear if you want your name used. There are many issues that go along with what is happening. However, I would ask that we not delve into the issues of age discrimination. It has always been there and will always be there. I [ Read more… ]

For those of you who are sailing fans and/or history buffs and saw the movie Master & Commander: The Far Side of The World, there was a scene where Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany were having a heated argument about the merits of flogging. The comment made by the captain was that the good doctor didn’t understand what held their little wooden world together. Please understand that I am not recommending we flog members of The FENG who fail to say thank you, but the analogy is that those who don’t say thank you apparently don’t understand what holds our little electronic world together. NO ONE ever hears thank you enough. All of you are very kind to me and [ Read more… ]

I suppose that feeling sorry for yourself feels pretty good. The problem is that it doesn’t do you any good and doesn’t benefit you in any way, shape or form. In this era of long job searches, it is easy to fall into this pattern of self abuse. Frankly, I don’t encourage it. While the light at the end of the tunnel may in fact be a speeding locomotive, when it hits us, we won’t know it anyway! So, why not put on a happy face and struggle as best you can? The truth is that every minute you spend focused on bemoaning that which you cannot change, is a minute you could be doing something productive. Yes, I know [ Read more… ]

I think that anyone conducting a job search would agree that to be really effective and have any chance, one must know how to read. Like anything else, reading skills exist at many levels. The purpose of tonight’s editorial is to clarify the nature of the job leads in our evening newsletter for those of you who are new to our organization, and also for those of you who think you know. It is also to ask you to read them carefully! All job leads in our newsletter are personal. They don’t appear by magic. They appear because SOMEONE in our membership took the time to send it in, and in many cases took the time to BUILD A RELATIONSHIP. [ Read more… ]

If I may paraphrase a line from the somewhat forgettable movie “My Cousin Vinny,” this is no time to blend. (With Marisa Tomei and Joe Pesci) The essence of a job search is identifying and communicating that which is unique about you to the rest of the world. It is of course normal for human beings to want to communicate “I am just like you and therefore we should be friends.” It is a reflex action to try to find areas of common interest with those you meet. (Oh, you’re from Chicago? I stopped there once.) Just about anything and everything that will provide a “warm fuzzy” should be tried. That said, the time when this is inappropriate is our [ Read more… ]

Everyone knows a few important people who they believe will at some point be helpful to us in our search for that perfect job. The problem how to keep your name in front of them so when that perfect job comes to their attention you will be top of mind. You certainly don’t want to waste their time and you certainly don’t want to be annoying. A frequent question asked is how often you should float your resume in front of specific recruiters. The most common answer I have heard is about every 3 months. As a benchmark, 3 months is probably about right for those you know, although depending on who it is and how well you really know [ Read more… ]

There is nothing more important to an effective job search than a positive attitude. Sure, building an effective resume, a pithy 90-second announcement and a library of cover letters is always a good idea, the fact remains that positively focused dogged determination tends to win the day more often than all of these same factors coupled with being down in the dumps. If you allow yourself to think that the world is raining on your parade or that you have been singled out for punishment by the gods, you are going to be in worse shape than if you do nothing at all. Think about the fact that all communications come from your brain. (Duh, where else could they come [ Read more… ]

If you went to an interview with a broken arm, I’m pretty sure you would feel the need to explain. Honestly, sitting there with your arm in a cast, it is hard to imagine a productive discussion taking place until you tell your interviewer how it happened. Was it a skiing accident? Did you trip and fall? Inquiring minds want to know. On a smaller scale, all of us from time to time don’t seem to see that elephant sitting in the room. The truth is that even if you are only engaging in an email exchange, there can still be that huge creature waiting for some remark by you to explain its existence and reason for being there. For [ Read more… ]

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 veracity of this proposition on the Internet somewhere.) There are similar effects in the world for things like allergies. You can tolerate many things to which you are theoretically allergic, however, once you hit some predetermined level, you begin sneezing and your tolerance for the whatever you are allergic to is temporarily greatly lowered and you will [ Read more… ]

By a significant margin, we are now the largest networking group of senior financial executives in the entire world. Not only that, but by any measure, we are more connected with each other on a national basis than any other organization as well. And, our reputation is well known. We no longer are a “secret society.” Over the “next piece of time” our goal as an organization is to manage our growth and strengthen the ties that bind all of us together and to our many audiences. The first step each of you can take on a daily or weekly basis is to be in touch with your fellow members. I hope that you will take seriously my request that [ Read more… ]

Maintaining your self-esteem during a job search can be difficult at times, especially if your search has been going on for any length of time. So much of who we perceive ourselves to be comes from the reflection of our personalities upon those with whom we are engaged on a daily basis. Cut off from an office environment where folks were bringing us checks to sign, we tend to lose sight of the fact that we haven’t changed. All that has changed is that we don’t see as many folks every day to give us that kind of reinforcement. There is a great importance to visualizing success. In brief, it takes just as much energy to think negatively as it [ Read more… ]

Over the years that I have been writing editorials, I have devoted a lot of time to discussing the basics of job search. Why? Because I often can’t believe what folks send us for assignments being handled by The FECG. In a world of more candidates than there are jobs, people who screen resumes often develop arbitrary rules to eliminate candidates. By arbitrary, I mean to imply that they often don’t take the time to look beyond embarrassing errors in spelling, grammar and resume formats or fonts that make your opus hard to read to seek out your “true value.” As I have said many times, the burden of communication is on you. Let me be clear. Your sloppiness or [ Read more… ]

I hope you all don’t mind, but I am going to ramble a bit tonight about some very important job search issues. The most important issue I am going to cover is outgoing signatures. If you don’t know what one is, you are already in a lot of trouble. I am considering hitting the delete key on any message I receive from a member of The FENG that doesn’t have an outgoing signature. It would cut my required correspondence to 20%. Yes, about 80% of the messages I get don’t have one. If you do have an outgoing signature, let me make the point that one should appear even on replies. I realize that Microsoft in their wisdom believes this [ Read more… ]

Is there a possible pitfall in sticking with a homogeneous group of unemployed people? First of all, I would never suggest to anyone that they should solely and exclusively network within The FENG. What I have suggested and do strongly suggest is that you START with our networking group and use it to springboard your way to presidents and general managers who might need a “been there, done that” senior financial officer. Just as every great journey starts with a single step, so too does success at networking start with a few successes. Us shy financial types need to experience a positive result to keep on coming back for the inevitable beatings that will come our way as we network [ Read more… ]

Will Rogers is remembered as saying: “I never met a man I didn’t like.” I only wish everyone reviewing job possibilities would keep in mind the job search equivalent as stated above. Most jobs, upon initial examination, are bound to have more than a few flaws. Let’s face it, if it was an easy job, they wouldn’t need a well experienced financial officer like you to solve the huge mess they have gotten themselves into. Let me point out that it is the height of stupidity to say “no” to a job that hasn’t even been offered to you. Perhaps the commute is too far, or the money is too low or the job responsibilities aren’t broad enough. However, it [ Read more… ]

The truth is that even friends sometimes don’t get back to you when you call. Ever wonder why? So, if friends have trouble returning calls, is it possible that strangers might be even more reluctant to return phone calls? I guess the real question is not why folks don’t return phone calls, but what steps can we take as master networkers to improve our results? What factors do you suspect are at work? Let’s be generous and accept the fact that the world of work is a busy place and the individuals we are trying to reach are those folks who control what I like to call work opportunities. Let us also accept the fact that speech is the slowest [ Read more… ]