EDITORIALS

Asking for help is hard for many people. I don't know why that is, but I am sure it is just part of human nature.I guess we have been brought up to “do it ourselves.” It is sort of a mark of our independence when we become real adults. I have been told that this is the reason that guys use...

Probably one of the most difficult issues to resolve when competing for an appropriate job opportunity is how much follow up to do.It is a fine line indeed between ensuring that those making the decision know you have real interest and making a real pest of yourself and changing their deci...

We have all heard the old saw: “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” There is also this amendment: “Don’t make your first impression your last.”I only wish everyone would be so kind as to repeat these sayings to themselves in all the things they do with regard to...

I am often asked by our members to give them a “formula” for constructing their very own 90-second announcement. If only that were practical.The problem with 90-second announcements is very much related to the very limited time you are allowed. Having been in the advertising business for n...

One of the more amazing things I find myself discussing from time to time is that organizations seem to take on a life of their own. Even when I “drop in” many years later I find very little has changed.As I “drop in” to chapters of The FENG around the country, one of my goals is to find o...

When I was growing up, my father was a plumbing contractor and I had the great experience of working with him weekends and summers from my early teens until I graduated from college.The test we used to determine whether or not we had correctly completed a complicated installation was wheth...

It would be great if we could all see behind us while at the same time looking forward, but it just isn’t possible. And, sometimes just looking forward is hard enough.We have all heard about the “buddy system” that swimmers use. And, of course, having someone “watch your back” is a concept...

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, as most of you are today, it can be even more difficult.The thing to recognize is that conducting a job search is in some respects painful for us fin...

One of the great mysteries in this world is why any two people would network. Yes, I know this sounds like heresy coming from someone who has built his entire life on networking, but it is actually a very good question, and one that members who have not been exposed to “the truth” often as...

For those of you who have had the honor of dealing with legal matters, you know that the phrase “Time is of the essence” is frequently used in contracts. The idea is that if you want to get the deal done, you better move quickly. (In other words, you will need to get off your duff.)The wor...

As you mature and become over qualified for just about everything, it is inevitable that you will be interviewed for a job (of limited income or responsibility) that you would like to have, but fear that you will be deemed too old or having previously earned too much money to be “happy” in...

In certain respects you have to envy actors. Every time they get up on stage they get to assume the role of some new personality or character. Sometimes I wish I could do that.I have often thought about my 90-second announcement and wondered what it would be like to assume the role of some...

While I am sure the correct answer is “about” 90% (90% is a little too precise), there is no denying the fact that showing up is important.If you have an interview and you don’t show up, you can’t possibly get the job. If you expect to get paid, you have to show up for work. And, the list ...

I don’t know if your incoming snail mail is anything like ours, but we sure get a ton of unsolicited mail. The procedure we follow in our house is to pile the mail up and pull over a large garbage pail. The rule is, “when in doubt, throw it out.”Hard to believe how much junk mail we get ov...

It is a great talent of us financial types that we do a lot of data gathering before we make decisions.In any conversation we have we are looking for the reasons why and why not, and keeping a tally count so that we can construct a graph of some kind, I suppose.This isn’t a criticism. I fi...

It continues to be my observation of our members that for the most part we tend to move from large companies to small. Part of the reason is that we have no choice. Large companies generally speaking don’t hire senior executives from the outside. They try to grow their own. In any cas...

If there is any topic I discuss more than any other in phone conversations and in face to face meetings with new members and old members alike, it is the process of creating your very own inner circle of friends.All you have to do is talk to friends of yours who have found jobs to see how ...

One of the lesser rated but most important traits of a senior financial executive is his/her ability to take a punch. I say lesser rated because many of our members who I have talked to over the years feel that having had a punch thrown at them and not having the good sense to duck is some...

By a significant margin, we are 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...

The FENG is a society based on helping others. (Not that they actually need our help, of course.)I realize that, at times, members are in a sensitive state and I try to act accordingly. But, I don’t really know if providing brutally direct advice is better than soft peddling what they abso...

As someone who always suggested to his children that a pair of scissors would be a good tool for putting together jigsaw puzzles, perhaps I am not the right person to be constantly preaching about “qualified members only.”Still, having the SPECIFIC experience for a particular job posting i...