I suppose to a degree, networking doesn’t come naturally to us financial types. We are by our nature “nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel” kinds of people who prefer “real” work to making phone calls and appearing to ask for favors. (What would we need a favor for anyway?)

Over the course of my career, I was always a pretty social person. On a regular basis, I tried to meet the friends I made at my various jobs for lunch, and/or I would take a day at the office when things were slow and go through my phone book and call people up.

There was never any evil intent involved such as looking for a job. Up until the time I was 46, I never had so much a day of unemployment. While I may have been looking from time to time, I was working and earning a good living.

As many of our members know, life in middle age has a way of playing tricks on you. The jobs that came so easily when I was “in my youth” were slow in coming when I was in my late 40’s and early 50’s.

In our grand age of the Internet, networking is easy and all of you should take advantage, or should I say, enjoy the benefit of this great technology. While I would never recommend that you send out anything so crass as mass mail, much of the news about what you have been doing the past 6 months or so should be circulated to those you know and in that message in some personalized manner and you should encourage those you contact to let you know what they are up to. Why? Because it is a good thing to do. Again, no evil intent. Just friends contacting friends and keeping in touch. Who knows, you might even schedule a lunch or two. (I’m sure you get hungry from time to time, and skipping lunch is never a good idea.)

Until the Great Recession, we were publishing more and more job leads in our evening newsletter. The size of The FENG and our reputation are providing all members with a great benefit. While you can engage in a passive job search if that is your preference, a proactive approach works best. Spending time on building your network when you have the luxury of time is just plain smart.

Ask yourself if you have made any effort to find NEW friends from within The FENG in the past 6 months. Have you called any new members? (They’ll talk to anyone!) Have you used our Member Directory Search feature? It is so easy to use, you won’t believe it. Look for old friends you haven’t contacted in a while. Look for people who have worked at companies you have worked for in past lives and give them a call. While you don’t know them, they may know of you. (I’m sure you are a legend in your own mind! Just kidding.) The truth is that the rascals you left behind are still rascals and the people you call will know them. As fellow members of The FENG, you now have two connections.

Networking in The FENG is not just when you are looking for a job. It is the “gift that keeps on giving.”

Take it from the official poster child.

Regards, Matt

Much as our electronic world makes life simple, it also makes it more complicated in certain ways due to the opportunity to be lazy or inattentive to details.

Just as there are only a few themes for good writing (man against man, man against nature, etc.), there are also lots of routine things we say in the letters we write during a job search. It would be unwise (that’s the same as silly or stupid) to reinvent the wheel each and every time.

In much the same way that plays are tried off Broadway first, some of the phrases and their sequence in your cover letters need to be considered and evaluated. Practice does make perfect, and there is nothing wrong, per se, with reusing old words and sentences. If you take the time to recombine them in interesting and creative ways they can serve to INCREASE the amount of time that you can spend on writing the more interesting and purposeful parts of your missives.

As you react to any situation and think through the ideas you would like to communicate, it is often helpful to start with something you have already written.

It is sort of like those very helpful “old spreadsheets” from last year’s budget. Used properly they can provide a checklist and a framework upon which you can build your latest message.

Avoid writing anything important directly in email. I don’t know about you, but I developed a habit a long time ago of compulsively hitting save. Funny thing is that when absorbed in writing an email, I sometimes accidentally have hit send. To avoid this when I am “on a roll” writing email directly, I will save filling in the recipient’s address until I am satisfied with my message.

Keep in mind that most of the folks to whom you are writing receive lots of messages and they can tell a strictly boilerplate letter a mile away. (Okay, their eyes probably aren’t that good.) But that said, they can easily tell when you are being non-responsive to points they have asked you to address.

I am still surprised at times how malleable words and sentences can be. A little tweak here or there can change meaning and tone more easily than one first imagines. And, the effort is well worth it.

Again, the purpose of having a treasure trove of your best writing in the proper sequence is to give you MORE time to write a thoughtful message, not to save you time.

The easiest way to make a good impression is to at least change the greeting to a person’s name if at all possible. I still have to smile when I see “dear sir or madam” on a note sent in response to something Doug Fine or I have posted. If you don’t know who we are at this point, you truly are lost.

Just remember when you write to me, I like to feel special. Don’t send me any “used” words, sentences or paragraphs. It might hurt my feelings. (And, you know what a sensitive guy I am.)

Regards, Matt

Unlike all of the other projects we may have in our career as financial folks, this one may have a beginning and it may have an end, but it is the middle that makes us crazy. Hard to know at any point in time where exactly you are on the continuum. You know you have started when you begin your job search either because you have been terminated or know you will be soon. And, you know when you have ended, because you have a job offer in hand. But that middle part is sure problematic.

Okay, you have rewritten your resume. And, rewritten it again. You have called everyone you know, chatted with them and gotten additional networking contacts which you have in turn chatted with and in turn have gotten even more networking contacts.

You have even identified the types of job leads to answer and have been diligently doing that.

But, are you at the halfway point yet? No one knows, not even you.

Job search doesn’t have a timeline, but it does have a process. And although your progress along the timeline may not be clear, your knowledge and experiences in the process ARE reasonably clear.

What you need to do is think of a job search as acquiring a body of knowledge that you will be using the rest of your career. To think of it as a one time activity is a mistake. As any long standing member of The FENG will tell you, ALL JOBS ARE TEMPORARY. Just look at your own resume. What is perhaps a disheartening aspect of job search today is the assurance that you will have to do it again, and probably not too far in the future.

Okay, we’re tough (and getting tougher) and we can handle ideas that most folks would prefer not to consider. Like accounting or any other science/art form, there are a whole series of skills you need to acquire and hone if you are going to be successful over the balance of your career.

It therefore almost (except for our need for money) doesn’t really matter where you are on the “time/space continuum” of your search.

It is important to understand that this thing we call job search has no visible timeline. Perhaps then we can “get on with it” without the feelings of defeat we visit upon ourselves.

Measuring your progress only in terms of the end result of finding a job is too high a standard. Measure your activities: calls made, letters written, etc.

It may not be as impressive as being able to brag about a huge job offer, but it will have to do.

Regards, Matt

Still, if you remember your lines and deliver them well, you can control much of the flow. All you need to do is work out the components and have them ready.

Introducing the characters in the play and presenting their backgrounds as part of a story is a difficult thing to write. For those of you who have seen Patton you may remember that the movie began with George C. Scott delivering a monologue. The purpose was to tell you a lot about his character so the scriptwriter didn’t have to take up a lot of time in the movie to give you that same mental image. In our context this is your 90-second announcement. (Sorry, George did get more time, but then he already had the job!)

There is an old saw that goes “you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression.” I like that saying and I use it a lot. We will all assume that you have had your wardrobe department hard at work finding matching socks, an appropriate tie, and that you have found someone to shine your shoes. (Remember how shiny Patton’s helmet was?) If like most of us financial types you tend to carry several writing instruments with you, take a look at your pocket with the Bic pens and think what kind of an impression you are going to be presenting. Perhaps it is also time to replace your Swatch with something a little more serious. If you don’t look serious, no one will believe you are.

All of the items you carry with you deliver a message about who you are. They are an important part of presenting your character to the outside world. Take a good look at yourself in the mirror with your briefcase and decide if you like what you see. Financial folks should be seen as precise. That’s what we do. If you are not attentive to the details as you are going about your interviewing, how can I as an interviewer (audience) assume you will be precise and attentive to details when you show up for work?

How have you set up your briefcase for your interview? Have you checked that you will have easy access to your resume, business cards or other papers you have brought for this meeting? If you are going to take papers out of your brief case, are the file folders neatly labeled? They don’t have to be typed, but you want to present the image of someone who is very organized. That is part of the product you are selling, so don’t miss any of these details. (You want to make sure that the prop department has placed the appropriate items in the right place.)

Give some serious thought to the script for this 30-45 minute play. It really is much more predictable than you think it is.

In the opening scene you have the “get to know you” part where you talk about the weather or traffic on the roads or the train. It is silly banter really, but it is an essential part of the interview if it is to begin in an upbeat manner. The real issue being discussed is a quick decision as to whether or not you are my kind of people. Since you know what the game is, relax a little and look around the office of the person interviewing you. Decide what kind of person they are so you can cater to their personality as much as possible. Are there pictures of children, pets or boats? Any one or all may give you a clue and an opening for making this scene work well.

In the next scene you want to present your background. Begin with your 90-second elevator speech and use “the pregnant pause” to get some feedback on what direction the audience wants you to take.

Continuing to blather is called in selling terms “throwing up on the customer,” and you don’t want to do that. Which scene do they want you to go to next? Be attentive and the interviewer will tell you. Be sure a basis has been set so they will understand the next scene, but be willing to shorten any of your stories if they don’t seem to fit, or if they don’t appear to be needed.

This is probably the biggest mistake I make in conversations. I frequently give more information than is needed, and I have real trouble stopping myself. (I need someone off stage to “give me the hook” when I get too elaborate with my story.)

How are you going to end your play? This really needs to be an important part of your planning.

How are you going to stage asking what the next steps are? What words are you going to use? Can you ask for something that they will be willing to do for you? A follow up call, or permission for you to call, are all appropriate at this moment. Just keep in mind that the last scene of the play is very important. In restaurant terms it is the coffee. The reason restaurants spend so much money on coffee is that it is the last part of the meal and often what is most remembered, especially if it is bad. So, keep that in mind. Don’t over stay your welcome. That will certainly be remembered.

Think about that and plan carefully. Remember, a nice round of applause at the end will get other audiences to attend your short play!

Regards, Matt

However, after 20 some odd years in the work force, the likelihood is that you have acquired some very specific skills. Even with 30 more years of work to go, the odds of finding employment that is radically different than what you have been doing is not high. Although it is possible to do so, the most probable solution is that you will find a different career that has some strong link to what you were doing.

In the movie “My Cousin Vinny,” Marisa Tomei says to Joe Pesci when he comments on her style of dress: “Yeah, and you blend.” When it comes to job search, I would suggest to you that this is no time to blend.

The 90-second announcements I hear that begin with things about how you are just like everyone else in the room are really a waste of time. You are different AND you need to be different.

I think you will agree that the world is filled with a lot of problems. My guess is that you have learned how to solve some limited number of them. If you are a manufacturing type, trust me, you have skills that I could learn, but never have. My area of expertise is professional services firms. I was Chief Financial Officer of an Advertising Agency for a near decade, and the unique individuals who populate these kinds of organizations can be difficult to manage and motivate, especially if all of them think they are YOUR boss.

This is what I do. What do you do? What are all the skills you bring to the party that make you unique. You may diminish your many skills if you like in your typical “awe shucks” manner, but being modest when you are trying to market your talents is honestly not a good idea.

Being all things to all people is the same as being nothing to anyone.

Rather than trying to find common bonds with those around you, why don’t you give some considerable thought to what you do that is different. Some of the ideas you come up with can be marketed effectively to those potentially needing your services. And, they may not even be from your industry.

We are fortunate that our skills as financial folks are inherently transferable. But the approach to marketing them in other venues is to highlight their strength in the one in which they were created. You can in a very real sense allow others to draw their own conclusions about how what you know can be effective in solving their problems.

If you give a clear enough explanation, the people on the “other side” will ask you if their problem, which they will take the time to illuminate, can be solved with your “tools.”

Be something specific and you will find that others will find you more interesting.

Regards, Matt

One of the core values of The FENG is that we try very hard to share our job leads. Trust me, individual job leads aren’t as valuable as you think they are. And, if you share them, not only will you be viewed as a Fanatic FENG’er, but you just might make a few new friends.

When the job market is slow as it is now, it is important that we fill our evening newsletter with every possible opportunity that is floating out in the marketplace. If you are expecting others to share what they know, and you know about stuff, ask yourself why you aren’t sending it in for publication in our newsletter? (By the way, they should be sent to Leads@TheFENG.org. Sending them to me just slows things down.)

The only job leads that have value are the ones that are newly out in the market. If you are waiting to no longer be under consideration before you “let the cat out of the bag,” you are only kidding yourself that you are doing anyone a favor.

If you cannot honestly announce a lead in our national newsletter, at the very least, please call or email everyone in your inner circle of friends who should be considered and get them into the mix. You will be amazed how sharing your “white elephants” makes you well thought of and well respected. In addition, like a chain letter, it will cause you to be flooded with job leads from others. (A testimonial dinner may even be held in your honor.)

Sharing job leads is yet another way to build your network on a national scale. While our newsletter editor usually removes the email address of those submitting leads so you won’t send your credentials to the wrong place, the name and chapter of the sender is always there. With our new website functionality, it will take you about a nanosecond to find the contact information for any member’s posting. If someone has posted a job lead of interest to you, consider that the two of you may have a background connection. Why don’t you contact the poster and request a resume exchange? (Hey, they started it by posting a job lead.)

Just as we all know from studying Murphy’s Law, that no good deed goes unpunished, it is also true that being good doesn’t have to be its own reward.

If you are actively being considered for an opportunity, you want others who are just like you to also be in the candidate pool. If you’re the only “well experienced” candidate, that is nowhere as effective as there being several of you. You can’t ensure that you will win the job by keeping it a secret. But, you can flood the candidate slate with your friends if you share. (And boy will they owe you BIG time.)

Two heads are better than one. (The only exception to this rule is if the two heads are on the same body, but I digress.) If you have a few friends competing with you for the same job, you have the unique opportunity to “double team” the “opposition.”

The FENG is a society of friends. Everyone in The FENG was sponsored by another member. So, you should consider everyone in The FENG as a friend of a friend.

Just as friends don’t let friends drive drunk, friends don’t let friends job search alone.

Regards, Matt

One of my best friends is a real charmer and I always enjoy going out to dinner with him because we always get great service. He just has a way of engaging the waiter that lets this individual, male or female, know that he considers them to be a real person. I have seen others engage waiters as servants who “damn well better” get them their drink, dinner or extra of some kind, and I can tell you that it is my observation that Bob’s approach works better. (As evidence, I have never had anything thrown at me by a waiter while out to dinner with him. Perhaps that doesn’t prove anything, but I thought I would mention it.)

In much the same way, it is all too easy to in some way “diminish” the hard working individuals who serve the “big ones” that we are all too eager to get to know. Whether we are talking about an Administrative Assistant, or a “First Lieutenant” who reports to the boss, a few kind words appropriately given can work wonders.

I am not in any way suggesting you be disingenuous. Praise where praise is not due is a big mistake. But mentioning to the boss that his Administrative Assistant was helpful in some way is almost certain to get you a more welcoming hello when you next call.

When you speak harshly to anyone, they tend to brace up. You can almost see the “heat shield” being put up. What many people miss in their interpersonal relationships with the “little people” of this world is their ability to do you favors that are theirs to grant. It might be something as simple as putting your phone message at the top of the pile, but it can be powerful indeed.

We all like to think that we run the world in some way, and perhaps in some sense it is true. But, the reality is that there are whole bunches of folks in lesser roles who are responsible for the heavy lifting that goes on out in the world. Many of these “salt of the earth” types don’t even know how important they are, but treating them as human beings can go a long way toward your success.

The story goes that I once had an accounting clerk working for me who I had given responsibility to clear an invoice for payment through a purchasing manager at our firm. It was important to our client at the time that I pay their bills. It was a small matter, but the purchasing manager kept putting poor Nelson off day after day. What I did was walk down to his office with Nelson and suggest to him in a “quiet and assuring way” that when I sent Nelson down to “visit” with him, he should treat him as if I myself had come to speak with him. I left the two of them to deal with the matter at hand and within an hour it was solved. Need I tell you that many future matters were solved as well? Nelson felt good about himself and I didn’t beat too hard on the purchasing manager either. All of us ended up in good shape.

Treating everyone with respect doesn’t cost anything and yet it pays big dividends. Go figure.

Regards, Matt

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 them, 2 months might be okay too.

As you think about these particular individuals you need to consider their needs and how you can best be seen as a source of help and not as a constant reminder that you still haven’t found a job.

Although I have heard suggestions of sending such things as interesting articles, my belief system suggests a slightly different approach.

I am a people person and I believe that people enjoy meeting interesting people who might be able to solve some problem they have. Now, where can you find such folks? I’ll give you one guess – The FENG.

Although there are other places to look, there is no more readily available source of highly talented individuals than our little circle of friends. Think about your friends with whom you wish to stay connected and think about the valuable talent pool you have at your fingertips.

Sure, it is one of those “taking in each other’s laundry” types of approaches, but it serves your purposes as well. Consider this, if you give me a name to contact, right there in the first paragraph it is going to say “Matt Bud” (if I was the source) suggested contacting you.

There it is, your name right there at the top. Imagine, a gift with your name on it. Honestly, life doesn’t get much better.

So, here is the suggested approach. Make a list of your most important friends and their needs. Now, as you are out and about meeting people at our networking meetings or by telephone or by email, keep your friends in mind. Hey, you want them to keep you in mind, so a little turnabout is fair play.

The truth is that if you don’t “use” your friends in this way, they really aren’t thinking about you. They can’t be. They have too much to do day in and day out to always be thinking of you.

A little reminder of your existence now and then can’t hurt.

Regards, Matt

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 from?) As the energy moves from your brain through your body to your fingertips or your voice, what comes out is often a reflection of how you are feeling on any particular day.

Now I have to ask you how any member of The FENG could EVER be having a bad day when each and every one of you has 42,000+ friends? (I can see that smile already forming on your lips, and I haven’t even said anything really funny yet.)

Just as you can work yourself into a frenzy over some ridiculous slight like a recruiter or a networking contact not calling you back, the opposite is also true.

It is also very easy to work yourself into a GOOD mood. There are many techniques you can try if you like. My personal favorite is to call a few friends. (I hope this is one you will try.)

You can also do a little blessing counting. Hey, you’re a financial person. Counting things should come easy. Just set up a “T” account and have at it.

Anyone who has any “mood altering” suggestions should send them in. Those with tongue planted firmly in cheek would be preferred. (I will even publish them without attribution if you potential Henny Youngman’s are modest.)

Glasses as we know can be perceived as half full or half empty. Do us both a favor and take that glass over to the nearest faucet and fill it to the top. Do this even if you aren’t thirsty at the moment, because, you never know when you will be.

Regards, Matt

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 example, if you live in New York City and apply for a job in California with no relocation, the elephant is why you would consider such an opportunity. Without some simple explanation, your candidacy begs the question as to why you should be considered.

Another situation with a slippery slope is when we apply for jobs for which we are “well qualified.” (Notice, I didn’t say overqualified.) There is obviously an elephant sitting in the room, but an answer to this question is one you must answer with great care. Things like: “I don’t want to work as hard.” probably won’t enhance your candidacy. An explanation is needed, but you want to take the time to come up with something that rings true and also makes you a viable candidate.

The most important part of the “elephant sitting in the room” syndrome is that YOU need to be sensitive and be thinking in advance as to what those issues might be in a given situation.

People tend to be polite. (Okay, not all of them.) They will often times sit there appearing to listen attentively when they are actually looking for an opening to ask their difficult question and not hearing anything you say.

Another very obvious question is why you left your last job. Here the advantage goes to the side which brings it up first. Let’s hope that is you and that you have a 30 second explanation that is true and which solves their problem. The lawyers rule is “question asked, question answered.” Once you have provided a reasonable explanation, they are going to be hard pressed to bring it up again.

Another area for which you should be prepared is if you have been “between jobs” for a significant length of time. Those who have not been unemployed in middle age or later have almost no understanding of how hard it is to find a senior level job and how hard you have to work at it. They don’t seem to have any comprehension and you need to know and understand that, because if you don’t there is the very real possibility they will in some way offend you.

Elephants take up a lot of space and eat a lot of food. Getting them out of the room and out of the way is the only way to prevent them from sitting on YOU.

Regards, Matt