EDITORIALS

If going on an interview wasn’t stressful enough, having a telephone interview is even worse. (Try to get them to schedule a Zoom interview instead. It’s much better.)More and more these days, companies are doing a telephone screening of candidates before they go to the time and expense of...

Those of you who know me (and in particular our Administrative Assistants) know that I hate almost all abbreviations. It’s not that I don’t typically know what they mean. It is primarily that the longer version honestly doesn’t take up that much more space and looks a lot more important. I...

Most of the postings in our evening newsletter do not reveal the name of the client. There is a reason for this. The search firm wants to keep it a secret. (Duh!)There are several reasons why they tend to do this. Their first fear is that you might call their client. Now I know that none o...

Now that the job market may be slowing down again, I thought we should turn our attention to the favorite trick questions that interviewers like to ask. In the spirit of sharing our knowledge and experience, I would ask those of you who have your favorites to send them in, hopefully with a...

As someone who now makes sales calls all day long, it is sometimes hard for me to remember the difficulty I initially had in picking up that 400 pound phone.Back in the dark days of 1991-1992 (the two years I was out of work), I found that my experience doing collection work as a CFO sort ...

For those of you who are not familiar with the Tinker Bell story, all you need to know to understand tonight’s editorial is that the fairy dust Tinker Bell could sprinkle on you would only make you fly if were thinking happy thoughts.Let me add to this idea about thinking happy thoughts, o...

What everyone should be clear about is that although I believe that “been there and done that” is more respected now than in most previous time periods in our great nation, you still have to “prove the null hypothesis” that you can do the job better than anyone else. The reduced lack of ag...

We are probably all aware and have been known to ponder the enigma of: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”As good accountants, we have also probably pondered whether the glass was half full or half empty. If only “they” had a good accounting procedure, I am sure we would know. We w...

Key to the success of most movies is the suspension of disbelief. There are so many improbable events that make of the fabric of what you are viewing, that without this critical element in full force, in most cases the pleasure you experience wouldn’t be there. (My favorite phrase is “base...

Not unlike your 90-second announcement, the space at the top of your resume is vitally important to getting folks to “listen” to the rest of your story.Try to visualize if you will, 200 resumes piled up on some poor screener’s desk. With any luck, they have been printed and collated correc...

I am more often than not surprised by the amount of time it can take for a company to develop a position description and yet at the end of the day not really be able to capture the essential elements for a particular opportunity.I suppose in part this is because senior level position descr...

I often receive messages in which members comment about how job search puts you on an emotional roller coaster and I thought I would address this issue in tonight’s editorial.I am not a professional psychologist, but having been out of work myself for two very long years back in 1991 and 1...

I suppose that at times being a member of the runaway train we call The FENG would appear not to lend itself to a whole lot of warm fuzzies.Ah, if only we could return to those halcyon days when there were only 50 of us and on a good day 15 of us would gather around that small table in the...

Wouldn’t it be nice if every time you asked a question, you got the same answer? Unfortunately it seems that every time you ask a question, sometimes even of the same person, you get different answers.Perhaps this is good. It gives you the chance, as an adult, to make your own decisions an...

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 chan...

The idea that you can wipe the slate clean is an enduring and endearing idea of mankind, and one I fully support. No matter how bad you have been at networking in the past year, this week you have the opportunity to get a strong start on building and strengthening your inner circle of frie...

If you are interested in getting your job search off to a flying start in 2023, may I suggest you try increasing your inner circle of friends?The most valuable feature on our website is Member Directory Search: https://www.thefeng.org/members/searchAll you have to do is follow the link abo...

From time to time I have gotten messages from members who either had multiple offers outstanding or wanted me to discuss what to do when you are so blessed. Or, is it cursed? (I don’t know about you, but I hate having too many choices.)Of course, when faced with the possibility of multiple...

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. Today was deadly quiet as well.Well, we’re going to be off to a flying start tomorrow. My advice is wait until Wednesd...

As everyone heads off to welcome 2023, I would suggest that those of you who are actively seeking a new position keep in mind the “warning” I give to those I coach on 90-second announcements: NO SAD STORIES.Whether you are with family or friends, keep in mind what I tell anyone who will li...

I know there are some members who have been “in the hunt” a long time and may feel that they are getting “a little long in the tooth.”I can understand the problem since I was out of work for almost two full years – 1991-1992.Tradition has it that if you are still at work, your most recent ...