EditorialsBy Matt Bud, Chairman, The FENG

So, you have actually done it. A company has put you through the wringer and forced you to interview with just about everyone at the firm. You have beaten the competition to a pulp. You are standing all alone in your victory. Now comes the moment of truth. They ask you for references. Like you didn’t know this was coming. Let’s start with the idea that it is a commonly held belief that no one gives references that will say anything bad about them. This is the high standard to which you are going to be held. So, choose your references carefully. The rub comes in when they ask you for specific kinds of references. So, in the hopes that [ Read more… ]

When you actually get into the finals for a significant “work opportunity,” you don’t want to muff it. (Just so you know, work opportunities used to be called jobs, but that implies they will last a long time, and we know they don’t.) Anyway, one of the rituals or hoops that many firms make you jump through is providing references. A delicate topic considering that you might be currently working or you might have left the firm where you got your most significant work experiences quite some time ago. Selecting references can be easy if you have kept in touch with old bosses and co-workers, but the place where most folks miss the boat is providing these individuals with the [ Read more… ]

As a group I think you will agree that most financial folks tend to be modest. I am not sure, but I think there was a required course on the dangers of bragging back in college, because it is like pulling teeth to get most members to provide an honest assessment of what they did. There were always others at the meetings. It’s as if in our minds our guiding hand and considerable abilities to quantify and analyze the thinking of others, (sometimes publicly, sometimes privately), doesn’t have a direct impact on the results of the company compared to the work of others on the executive team, like those individuals in sales. Is it any wonder that with our sometimes [ Read more… ]