EDITORIALS

You have to kind of feel sorry for folks who have never been unemployed.I know it may sound strange to say this, but if you have never been knocked down, you may not know that not only will you get up again, but that you may be a better person in many ways when you do. I hope that members ...

Since about 90% of our membership is male, I hope no one will be offended if I let you all in on a little secret – most men don’t have a lot of friends. I am not altogether certain why that is, but it really doesn’t matter because making new friends is actually a lot easier than most peopl...

I have often said that a member’s visualization of his new job is his last job on his last day. In a sense, how could it be any different?As accountants, we value our history more than anything else. This “rear view mirror” approach to life is one of the many things that can cause us to li...

I am fast coming to the conclusion that most people don’t understand the purpose of a cover letter. Either that or I am greatly confused.My little window on the world is The FECG, the consulting practice that I share with Bruce Lynn. With any luck, a few times a month, alumni members of Th...

For those of you not familiar with the story of stone soup, I would encourage you to go to: http://www.extremelinux.info/stonesoup/stonesoup.html (Is the Internet great, or what?)It’s not a long story, but it explains in easy-to-understand terms how you can turn nothing into something, and...

In today’s job market, everyone is trying to create a little edge for themselves so they can beat the competition. I know that none of you are actually the source of these ideas. However, there are a lot of “so called” career counselors out there who try to create perceived value by introd...

I often refer to The FENG as a circle of friends. In a very real sense, the power of The FENG is our interconnectedness, and if that isn’t friendship, I don’t know what is. Were it not a true fact that we have reduced 6 degrees of separation down to less than 3, networking within our littl...

Between reviewing new member applications and going over candidates for assignments for my consulting practice, The FECG (www.TheFECG.com), I spend a lot of time reviewing resumes.What continues to amaze and astound me is how difficult most folks make determining the key elements of their ...

As everyone I hope knows, a white elephant is something that appears to be useful, but actually has no real value. It takes up a lot of space and basically eats you out of house and home.Anyone with a garage or attic knows the kinds of things folks tend to hang onto, because all human bein...

The title of this editorial is actually: “The consummate professional in an electronic world,” but I thought that was a little long.As senior financial professionals, we tend to stay in our jobs a long time. Up until I was 46, I only had 3 jobs. Who you are and what you are tends to be kno...

In the things that we do to communicate our background to others, we are at all times challenged by the need to generalize while at the same time being very specific. It is in all honesty, no easy task. And, it is easier said than done.If for example, you are trying to change industries, y...

The sale of big ticket items through personal selling is never easy.When you buy a tube of toothpaste, a pack of chewing gum, or a box of #2 pencils, hopefully you don’t spend a lot of time either thinking about it, or fussing over the details. But, when it comes to buying something like a...

Back in 1991 after I had been out of work for only a few weeks I sent out a mailing and somehow managed to get an interview with a guy who looked and talked like Frank Perdue (Perdue Farms).After we shook hands, he offered me his business card and asked for mine. I told him I didn’t have o...

Ever the wise sailor, I always check the weather forecast before going sailing for the day. When out on vacation, the weather forecasts I listen to and study frequently cover a much broader area than I am planning to need for a particular day. I like knowing what the weather is going to be...

I have been known to get seriously silly at times. (I know this will come as a great shock to all of you.)Back in the old days when I was able to stay up late, Saturday Night Live had an ongoing skit about an individual named Pat. Over the course of the seasons or season it was on (as I in...

One of my observations is that everyone seems to be shutting down earlier and earlier around holiday periods and returning later and later. Compared with prior years, the last two weeks were especially quiet. Today was deadly quiet as well. I expect tomorrow will also be quiet.Well, we’re ...

As accountants we know only too well that the time periods into which we divide a year are a little arbitrary. They only mark the passage of time in a logical manner (which is very important to all of us financial types).We also know intuitively that the concept of getting a fresh start wi...

In 2002, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks starred in a movie about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. The basic story is that over the course of several years, Carl Hanrat...

If your phones and email get a little quiet over the next 2 weeks and you are looking for something to do, may I suggest you expand your Inner Circle of Friends?The place to get started is by using our “Member Directory Search” feature. It is the last item under the “Membership” pull down ...

Over the next two weeks, a great opportunity will be presenting itself to you in the form of gatherings of those who know you (and presumably love you).In order to enjoy the greatest benefit, you need to paint on a smile. I don’t care if you have been out of work 3 or more years or if you ...

As an avid sailor these many years, I have found a certain comfort in the predictability of the tide. For example, at one time we had our sailboat in a harbor that prevented us from leaving or entering at dead low tide. An inconvenience to be sure, but one that was manageable given publish...