EDITORIALS

Two peas in a pod

Networking

Two peas in a pod Cover Image

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...


Mar 27, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Time is of the essence Cover Image

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...


Mar 26, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Effectively using the non-answer

Interviewing

Effectively using the non-answer Cover Image

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...


Mar 25, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Actors on a stage

90-Second Announcements

Actors on a stage Cover Image

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...


Mar 24, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

90% of life is just showing up

Networking New Friends Old Friends

90% of life is just showing up Cover Image

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 ...


Mar 21, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

When in doubt, throw it out

Correspondence

When in doubt, throw it out Cover Image

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...


Mar 20, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Believing everything you hear

Being Out of Work

Believing everything you hear Cover Image

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...


Mar 19, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Corporate thinking – a gentle version

Evolving Job Market

Corporate thinking – a gentle version Cover Image

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...


Mar 18, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

An inner circle of friends

Networking New Friends

An inner circle of friends Cover Image

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 ...


Mar 17, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Taking a punch

Being Out of Work

Taking a punch Cover Image

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...


Mar 14, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Managing our growth Cover Image

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...


Mar 13, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Brutally direct advice

Human Interactions

Brutally direct advice Cover Image

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...


Mar 12, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Square pegs for round holes

Evolving Job Market

Square pegs for round holes Cover Image

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...


Mar 11, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Hurry up and wait

Job Leads & Job Boards

Hurry up and wait Cover Image

The mindset that is most appropriate for a job search is very much like my Army experience where we used to lament what we referred to as “hurry up and wait.”As raw recruits, we were expected to arrive at points at the previously appointed minute, whether or not others were ready for us. W...


Mar 10, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

The 400 pound phone

Networking

The 400 pound phone Cover Image

Just as an experiment, I unplugged my phone from my desk today and took it upstairs and put it on our bathroom scale. (My office is in my house.)I am sure the scale is wrong because I couldn’t get the scale to even register the weight of the phone. But then, the scale is generally used to ...


Mar 07, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Don't act desperate

Job Leads & Job Boards

Don't act desperate Cover Image

The volume of your responses to job leads posted in our evening newsletter is always a concern of mine.With the potential strengthening of the job market for senior financial officers, one of the many things we have going for us AT THE MOMENT is our fine relationship with the search commun...


Mar 06, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

The sploosh syndrome

Correspondence

The sploosh syndrome Cover Image

Life onboard a boat, whether sail or power, is in many respects different than life on dry land.I was watching Ax Men on the History Channel several years ago and the crew dropped a bolt on the ground from one of their pieces of equipment for which they didn’t have a replacement. Despite t...


Mar 05, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Explaining the magic

90-Second Announcements

Explaining the magic Cover Image

One of the great challenges we face as financial folks is explaining to non-financial types what we do for a living. And, some of us financial types do things that are so esoteric that we need to work hard to even explain what we do to fellow financial types.At one time, I was Chief Financ...


Mar 04, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Keeping busy and productive

Being Out of Work

Keeping busy and productive Cover Image

One of our members wrote me a while back and asked me about how to keep a proper attitude when your job search stretches into what seems like an eternity. The reason he addressed this question to me is that he noted that I have mentioned on several occasions that beginning in March of 1991...


Mar 03, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

The challenge of redefining yourself

Being Out of Work

The challenge of redefining yourself Cover Image

I have had several at length conversations with members from financial services organizations over the years. Fortunately, or unfortunately for me, I have no experience working at a bank, insurance company, capital markets firm, or asset management organization. As a result, I have been so...


Feb 29, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG

Asking for the world's smallest favor

Networking

Asking for the world's smallest favor Cover Image

Although most of us have acquired enough manners over the course of our lives that we know enough not to ask a stranger to give us his/her seat on a bus or train, when it comes to networking, I find that many folks don’t know when they have overstepped their bounds. The approach I would...


Feb 28, 2024

By Matt Bud, The FENG