EDITORIALS

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...

If only each of us had a crystal ball (highly polished of course) that we could call upon over the course of our lives. The problem is that we don’t.I once heard a very nice presentation on how to get a good start in a new job. Parachuting in at the top is always difficult, and the speaker...

It is not unusual, and is perhaps typical, that members of The FENG would like to change industries. I wish I could tell you that this is easy. Unfortunately, I think the phrase “easier said than done” is applicable here.Of course, someone telling me that a project is impossible is always ...

If there is anything that typically jumped out at me when we had our meetings here in Connecticut, it was the need for us financial folks to be completely honest, even in our assessments of ourselves.However, interviews and 90 second announcements are no time for an extensive evaluation of...

The first time I show someone a navigational chart their eyes usually glass over. There are so many detailed pieces of information and so many strange colors and symbols. It can be more than a little overwhelming.Most folks purchase charts in bound books covering specific geographic areas....

It sure is romantic to think about a job offer out of town with a full relocation package as a way to start over again. And, in many ways and for some people, it just may be your ticket to a life of sheer happiness for you and your family.However, for most people I have known over the year...

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 ...

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...

I’m not sure if any of us really want to adapt to changing world conditions in true Darwinian fashion. That would require that only those of us with appropriate features survive to create the next generation.As human beings, we have the unique ability to adapt who we are and what we are to...

We can all get a lot of help writing resumes. There are even lots and lots of very good books and articles on this topic.Still, the first thing most recipients read or at least glance at is your cover letter. As bad as most of the resumes I see are, the cover letters are often worse.We are...

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...

Unless you buy your mustard in 55-gallon drums, and have some very sharp knives, eating an entire elephant can be a formidable task, not unlike the task facing you at the beginning of a job search.There are so many things to do and all of them appear to be urgent. In addition, they all app...

There is an extended joke I heard quite some time ago about a “gentleman” who was standing in line at an airline ticket counter trying to get on an over booked flight. In a demanding voice he uttered the above words at which point the ticket agent got on the PA system and announced that th...

One of the most challenging aspects of looking for a new “work opportunity” is having enough introspection to know what your special value is to a potential employer. I’m afraid that in most cases, we’re the last ones to know.When we do our 90-second announcements at our chapter meeting in...

The current job market continues to throw a large fog bank over the senior executive job market.Not just us financial types, but all college educated, well experienced executives are struggling with defining who they are and what they do to somehow match what they believe to be the opportu...

Based on the resumes I see on a daily basis, I am not sure there is full appreciation for the amount of time any reviewer gives to your carefully crafted opus.The sad truth is that unless the information presented has a clarity greater than the other documents in that stack of 100-500, it ...

One of the many fine traditions we have in The FENG is the sharing of job hunting tips.I have to tell you that recently I haven’t been hearing as many job hunting tips as I used to hear. No, it isn’t that I have heard it all. New things are certainly happening. The problem I fear is primar...

One of the more interesting ideas floating around these days is giving up. I can’t say I am an expert on this topic, other than to say that I have heard about it at length from others. Not that they have actually bought into the idea; just that they were talking about it.As you all know, I...

Probably one of the hardest things to do in life is to define who you are. Are you really your resume?Because we tend to be at companies longer than the members of other discipline areas, the reality of what it is we REALLY do best is not always obvious to us.A very long time ago when one ...

I don’t know if any of you feel as I do, but when I have a cold or the flu, it is at once annoying and thoughtful that those who care about us are constantly checking up on us.Thank goodness I’m not sick very often, but when I am I prefer to be left alone during “the cure.” Human beings va...

It is of course true that our own self-interest at times quite naturally overrides our concern for others. If I am drowning, I can’t very well be expected to save someone else. It’s a kind of a “Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs” thing. For example, I find that members are frequently more helpfu...