When you are out in the middle of the ocean, it is easy to think of the world as being endless. Every direction you look there is only water. (And yes, water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.)However, the truth is that although over 70% of the earth’s surface is salt water, 30% o...

I had lunch a long time ago with one of our members. I always enjoy meeting and talking to the members of our august body because I am reminded of issues that I have discussed before that bear repeating. And, when I discuss them again, it is usually with a different twist because I continu...

One of the biggest half-truths in this world is the idea of saving your business contacts. The truth is that unless you “work” your business contacts they don’t know you exist.Sure, you don’t want to “bother” them, but unless you call once in a while with something they actually can do for...

In the days of wooden ships and iron men, the determination of longitude was thought to be an impossibility. The simple solution was creating a clock that was accurate enough to keep track of what time it was in Greenwich, England. If you knew what time it was at a fixed point and you knew...

Since The FENG has been built by friends introducing friends, I imagine that as an organization we are probably more sensitive to networking abuses than most people. Still, I thought it might be helpful if I took a little time tonight and suggested a few ways to go about this delicate proc...

I try to take a few minutes of your time every year at this holiday season to remind you what a gold mine this time of year is to your networking efforts.Whether you are working or not working. Whether you are looking for a job or very happy where you are, this is the time of year when you...

The amount of follow up to do with recruiters and networking contacts is always a tough call.It is hard not to feel like a pest when you call. (After all, you ARE being a pest.)However, if you aren’t persistent and keep in touch with those who might be in a position to help you on the day ...

I’m not sure why it is, but most financial folks think they are terrible networkers.The truth is that scattered throughout our newsletter every night are ideas you can harness in your daily life to earn the title “Master Networker.”All of us are amateurs, I suppose, at most things we do in...

I try to have several phone calls every week with members seeking advice about what to do about their job search.It is a good question and one not easily answered even if I know you very well. In the course of a conversation (speech is the slowest form of communication), I don’t know how m...

As a season, summer is sure hard to beat.The days are warmer here in the Northeast. The days are also longer. No more getting up when it is pitch black and coming home when it is pitch black. (Winter is so depressing!) And, outdoor activities like sailing, tennis, and golf sure can’t be be...

In my distant past I remember seeing a commercial in which an Abraham Lincoln look alike was sitting in an employment agency office. As the recruiter was flipping through his Rolodex he was telling old Abe that without “that sheepskin” he really wasn’t going anywhere. I guess the same thin...

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 en...

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...

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 h...

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 Admi...

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 go...

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 35,000 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 beca...

Over the past few months I have completed several projects on or for my sailboat.My father was a plumbing and general contractor. 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 inde...

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 quest...

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 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...