Search results matching tag 'getting started'

5 incorrect assumptions of job seekers

Karen Datko — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:12:00 GMT

This post comes from Julie Rains at partner blog Wise Bread.

Many people are job hunting these days. I have worked with job seekers for many years and have found that these five common assumptions frequently derail a job search.

Being open to anything will increase my chances of landing a job. The search ought to have a focus: You should be targeting opportunities in a certain discipline or function; or you should identify the strengths you'd like to leverage and then uncover positions that match those strengths. The résumé should convey that focus; otherwise, you can't differentiate yourself from other candidates because you're not really great at anything but rather average at many things.

Bing: Write a better résumé

Hiring managers don't want to spend training and payroll dollars on a so-so candidate, especially in an environment where money is an extremely limited resource and a more qualified candidate is sure to surface soon.

However, it is true that job seekers need to be flexible when pursuing a new position. Depending on your current situation and long-term goals, you should be open to opportunities in a new industry, a smaller rather than larger company (or vice versa), and even a change of locale.

And, it's also true that job seekers snag jobs that are not perfectly in sync with their original targets. In these cases, here's what the hiring manager is thinking:

Tap into skills that the job seeker didn't realize were valuable (for example, a client of mine who was seeking a sales position was selected by a state agency for a position requiring client advocacy capabilities, which she possessed from years of volunteering in a similar role).
Hire "fresh" talent with no preconceived notions of how to approach a new market, reach a different kind of customer, etc.
Recruit people with a certain background because past, similar hires have been successful.

No one could possibly possess all of the qualifications required by the employer. I've seen job postings that seem to be an impossible-to-get wish list created by an optimistic hiring manager. For example, a sourcing position might list the following requirements (this is a partial list of requirements taken from an online job board posting):

MBA.
Experience in supply chain management, purchasing, and contract negotiation.
Working knowledge of SAP.
Professional designations, such as a CPM (certified purchasing manager).
Fluency in Mandarin Chinese.

Stay focused on pursuing opportunities that match your qualifications. Build and leverage your professional network. At the same time, consider boosting your skills through classes at the community college or volunteer experience.

So, while it's true that the perfect candidate may not appear for many job postings (or, more likely the company is required to advertise for an opening that is probably going to be filled by an internal candidate who does have these credentials), going for multiple long shots is probably not going to increase your chances at winning a fantastic job.

I can elaborate during the interview rather than including valuable information on the résumé. The defense of the extremely brief résumé is often that hiring managers won't read a long one. But there needs to be enough information to allow the reader to judge whether the candidate has minimum qualifications and enough talent and proven experience to contribute to the hiring organization. Otherwise, the sought-after interview will never happen.

Even if a résumé is two (or even three) pages, a well-designed format that allows quick scanning for critical information can get the document placed in the "maybe" pile for further evaluation. Compelling accomplishments and deeper-than-average descriptions of position duties may actually aid the screening and selection process, ultimately saving time for the hiring manager.

Certain topics, though -- for example, why you left a job after a couple of months -- are best discussed in the interview rather than detailed on the résumé.

The people who will hire me will understand my résumé. It's true that hiring managers will often have a better, more complete grasp of the industry and discipline-specific lingo that's on your résumé than your neighbor or even your best friend.

But the résumé will most likely be screened by a recruiter or human resources manager who may not have expertise in your field; and possibly scrutinized by higher-level staff and potential co-workers who may participate in the selection process. So, using understandable language is important to communicating your qualifications to as many people as possible (see my post on online job boards for ways to identify common terms and keywords). To appeal to a broader audience, mention collaborative abilities and team contributions; and emphasize accomplishments that not only helped your department improve but also boosted the company's overall performance.

A hiring decision will be made in a reasonable time frame. One of the most common mistakes is to assume that a hiring decision will be made according to a reasonable timeline and therefore (here's the dangerous part) you should wait before pursuing other opportunities. If you are happily employed and really want a particular position and no other position, then it is reasonable to wait until you learn of the decision. But very often, hiring decisions are delayed for long periods of time for reasons such as:

The position hasn't been officially approved by the corporate office.
Economic conditions and the company's needs have changed since recruitment began.
No great candidates have emerged with interest in the position.
The hiring process requires multiple levels of approval and rounds of interviewing.
Decision makers have been traveling on business for a few months.

Even when hiring managers provide a timeline to a candidate, they very often don't adhere to the schedule. And, in some cases, they choose a candidate but are not able to extend an offer.

Some job seekers seem to have a fear of having to make a difficult choice among more than one employer. But the savvy seeker keeps pursuing any and every opportunity, and even leverages salary negotiations by getting multiple offers. (See "How to play the post-interview waiting game" for more insights.)

What do you think? Have you reversed your assumptions since starting a search?

Related reading at Wise Bread:

How to turn your talent into multiple streams of income

The informational interview: What not to say and more

How to answer 23 of the most common interview questions

Money lessons from classic movies

Karen Datko — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:48:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.

Movies today can rely on special effects, monster marketing efforts, and a few pretty faces (*cough* "Transformers 2" *cough*). In the 1980s and early '90s, movies had to rely on the story and the acting to achieve success.

Out of that era, which coincided with my childhood, came a lot of classic movies that teach powerful lessons about how to deal with your money, how to approach your career, and how to find success in both.

Bing: Top classic movies

I thought it would be fun to pick out five lessons from just five movies from that era (one of them is from 2000, but no fancy special effects there).

Be careful whom you trust. Rocky is one of the iconic film franchises of my generation and there is a powerful financial lesson to be learned in the fifth film. If you remember, it's in "Rocky V" that you learn of the health effects of fighting the Russian machine, Ivan Drago. You also learn of Rocky's financial woes when he discovers that Paulie, his wife Adrian's brother, signed over power of attorney to Rocky's accountant. The accountant then proceeds to lose all of Rocky's money flipping real estate.

The lesson here is that you have to be extremely careful whom you trust, especially when it comes to your money. As you acquire more money, you put it into the hands of mutual fund managers, financial advisers and other "experts." You have to carefully vet them and I believe you should never sign over power of attorney.

Fake it until you make it. In "The Secret of My Success," Michael J. Fox plays Brantley Foster, a laid-off financial analyst who sneaks into a new job as a mailroom clerk at his uncle's company. From there, he finds out that most of the executives are making terrible decisions and starts to fake being an executive. The movie is a classic and the iconic scenes include Fox changing from the casual wear of the clerk to the suit of the executive while in an elevator.

The lesson here is that sometimes you need to fake it until you make it. Some use the adage "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." In the end, the message is the same: If you behave as if you belong somewhere, then you do. In the end, what's the difference between pretending and being? Nothing, really. (I don't advocate deception or lying though. I believe that crosses the line.)

All we need is the right opportunity. "Trading Places" is an awesome movie and one of my favorites. In "Trading Places," two commodity traders, Mortimer and Randolph Duke, decide to conduct a little social experiment. They want to know if the rich and successful are that way because they started rich and whether a common street criminal could achieve the same given the same starting point. So they take Eddie Murphy's character, street hustler Billy Ray Valentine, and have him swap places with Dan Aykroyd's character, a successful broker.

Life isn't fair, but sometimes two rich guys decide to make a bet and give you the keys to the kingdom to see what you'll do with them. The lesson here is that you should always be working hard, whether it's trading orange futures or street hustling, so that you can take advantage when an opportunity presents itself.

Keep emotions in check. "Bull Durham" is one of the most well-known baseball movies in history. It involves veteran catcher Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner, and a powerful rookie pitcher named Nuke LaLoosh, played by Tim Robbins. Crash is brought to the minor league team to try to mold and shape the promising Nuke. In their first meeting, which is in a bar, they almost come to blows as Crash taunts the hot-tempered Nuke.

The lesson here is that you need to keep your emotions in check. Had Nuke struck Crash, he could've broken his hand, ended his minor league career, and never achieved the success he would get to enjoy later. With finances and your career, you need to keep a level head. When making stock investments, don't let your emotions make decisions for you.

Don't do anything illegal. "Boiler Room" isn't quite a classic movie but it does have a powerful lesson to tell. It follows the story of Seth Davis, a college dropout who is running an underground casino in his house. He eventually gets a job at a brokerage, where he's paid to get rich investors to buy into penny stocks his firm is pumping and dumping.

At first he doesn't realize how the scheme works and that what he's doing is illegal. He sees only the lavish lifestyles the more senior brokers are living. Eventually he realizes he's just scamming people of their hard-earned savings.

There are two lessons in this movie. The first is that you shouldn't let greed overcome your decision-making process. The allure of a hot penny stock is like the siren song of Peisinoe, Aglaope and Thelxiepeia; it can make you do some crazy things.

The second lesson is that you shouldn't ever do anything illegal.

Related reading at Bargaineering:

7 steps to improve your credit score

FHA mortgage loan requirements

2010 federal tax brackets

10 tips to a killer résumé

Karen Datko — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:34:00 GMT

This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.com.

A few years ago, when unemployment was low and the economy was rosy, all you needed to do to get a job was get your résumé in front of as many people as possible. You had to carpet bomb, stuff electronic résumé boxes, and simply wait. One of the companies you reached out to probably had a job opening and you probably were a pretty good fit.

Nowadays, the jobs are harder to find and companies aren't going to take a risk on a "pretty good fit." So, I compiled a list of 10 tips I've tried to use when crafting my résumé during a job search.

You are a salesperson now. Joe Sugarman is one of the most famous copywriters of all time and a mail order maven. I read one of his books about copywriting, and think that the best part about his tips is that they're simple -- your title should be designed to get the reader to read the first sentence. The first sentence should be designed to get the reader to read the second sentence. The second ... you get the idea.

Bing: More about Joe Sugarman

The goal of your résumé should be to get yourself an interview. You're not trying to land the job right away. You're trying to get your foot in the door, an interview on the schedule, and the opportunity to demonstrate you are fit for the job.

Tailor your résumé. Highlight the things that make you a great fit. If you are applying for a specific position and held a similar one at another company, make sure that's at the top of the list of work experience. In the job description, look for the keywords that pop out at you and make sure they are on your résumé.

If you possess skills that make you a good fit, put them at the front of the skills section and trim off any irrelevant listings. If you have relevant certifications, include them and do so in the order of importance to the job. You don't want to be a good fit; you want to be a perfect fit. It will result in some extra work but it's about quality, not quantity, now.

Be specific. When writing about your work experience, be as specific as possible. If you're unsure if the words you use are specific enough, use a thesaurus to see what the synonyms are. Are you comfortable with any of the synonyms in place of the word you chose? Did you use a vague word like "manage"? Did you manage a team or did you lead the team? Were you the team lead? Project lead? System architect? The more specific you are, the more accurate the picture.

Quantify everything you can. Anyone can say "I streamlined process XYZ," but if you streamlined a process and saved the company $500,000, write it down. If you brought a project in on time and under budget by 20%, explicitly say so. If you recently passed a certification test, include the date. The person reviewing the résumé is going to see a lot of résumés and will put more credence in one that actually states numbers that can be confirmed. No one wants to offer an interview to someone who passed a certification test five years ago and hasn't updated it since.

Demonstrate skill and knowledge. Anyone can say that they're experienced in something, but the only way to prove it on paper is to show that you used that skill or expertise in a job function. If you are skilled in "event planning," don't simply state it. Demonstrate it by listing something you planned. What's more effective: seeing "event planning" under a skills heading or having a job experience listing that says you planned a three-day conference with 1,000 attendees?

Sell benefits, not features. A classic bit of sales advice is to sell a product's benefits, not its features. Features are great, but if you can translate them into benefits, you are a far more appealing product. True story: My father had impeccable handwriting (feature) and was hired for a job because an administrative assistant didn't have to type up his notes (benefit). If you wanted to put that in a résumé bullet, it would look like this: Penmanship cut labor expenses by $5,000 annually by eliminating the need for a personal transcription service. It's a bit of a ridiculous example but I think you get what I mean.

Use lists, bullet points. Avoid large blocks of text whenever possible because people in a hurry simply won't read them. If you're discussing work experience, you don't want to write a narrative. You want bullet points listing your hallmark achievements and responsibilities in the job. If you write a narrative, there's a big risk that the reader will simply skip over it.

Project the right image. When someone looks at the entire résumé, it should project a certain image about who you are, what you've accomplished, and where you want to go. Whether it's your objective statement or the types of jobs you've chosen to list on the résumé, make sure it fits the image you want to present of yourself. Oh, and if your e-mail address is cutiegurlzzz19@hotmail.com, I recommend getting a new account with just your name.

Get it peer reviewed. Have someone, or several someones, review your résumé to make sure everything makes sense. When you work on a document for a long time, it's easy to overlook mistakes, and a fresh set of eyes can pick those out for you. They can also tell you if your résumé is specific enough, if you've quantified enough data, and whether you've embellished it a bit too much ... which leads us to the final tip.

Don't lie, embellish; be 100% truthful. You would think that this tip is unnecessary, but we all know we embellish sometimes. We saved the company $800 but we say $1,000; we led a 10-person team and we say a dozen. That's a mistake. Employers will verify the information on your résumé and they will pull offers if they find that you lied or otherwise embellished something. You may also find yourself way over your head, depending on how badly you exaggerated. The goal isn't to get any job, it's to get a job where you can succeed and build a career. You can't start a career with a lie.

Do you have a tip that has helped you out tremendously in a job hunt?

Related reading at Bargaineering:

2010 federal income tax brackets

Do CD rates rise before bank failures?

Tax return filing deadline

7 ways to find your financial heart

Karen Datko — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:47:00 GMT

This guest post comes from Wojciech Kulicki at Fiscal Fizzle.

A critical skill for a fulfilling financial life is understanding your own money priorities. Without taking this first step, it's like driving without a destination -- you will simply end up wherever the road takes you.

I've touched on the topic of setting priorities in a number of past posts:

Now I'd like to take a more detailed approach and propose a list of seven independent activities that will drive you to find what's at the heart of your financial desires.

I guarantee that doing even one of these will bring you much closer to understanding what you value and aligning your daily actions with where you'd like to finish. It's worth the effort.

Consider these seven individually, or as a group:

Cut your income in half. For this exercise, you'll need to pull out your latest family budget and update it, if it's not current. This establishes an accurate baseline from which to work.

To enter the scarcity mindset, imagine that your total household income has just been reduced to half of today's level. It's not so far-fetched, as both two and one-income families are finding themselves partially or totally unemployed.

Create a theoretical budget based on the new income level. Unless the space between your current income and expenses is wide, you'll really have to focus and trim down.

You may want to refer to my needs vs. wants hierarchy for this exercise, and fulfill each level before moving to the next.

Increase your income by 50%. While similar to the previous example, this trick will have you thinking in an abundance mindset instead. This is sometimes called creating a dream budget. You'll also need a baseline to start with here.

To begin, imagine that you just received a raise adding 50% to your income. I chose 50% because doubling your income seemed excessive, but you can just as easily use a number more beneficial for your own situation. Then, start filling in the blanks of your budget until you've balanced it again.

Creating a dream budget has a couple of benefits. Primarily, you'll break out of a survival mindset and start thinking about where your priorities lie with discretionary income.

It will also motivate you to reach that level of income so you can actually fulfill your dreams. Lastly, having a dream budget in place helps when you receive a raise. You'll know exactly where to budget the extra cash.

Look into the crystal ball. Another priority-setting strategy is to think to the future. Many self-help experts like to go as far as imagining your funeral, but that's pushing the boundary for me. Ten to 20 years down the road is far enough to gain a good deal of perspective.

This exercise helps you forget about the mundane elements of day-to-day living and focus on achieving long-term goals. The idea is to visualize where you'd like your financial life to be in that period of time and to translate those thoughts into actions.

Typically, most people stop there, but it's also critical to examine the things you're currently doing or stressing out about that don't contribute to that long-term vision, and eliminate them from your life.

Apply your life goals to your finances. An easy way to cheat on this exam is to copy from your existing life goals list, assuming you have one in place. If this sounds far-fetched, let me give you an example. Let's say you've set up four goals related to your health. Perhaps they are to:

Lose 15 pounds by Dec. 31.
Avoid eating red meat on 50% of the days in this year.
See a preventative care doctor at least twice this year.
Undergo a procedure for tooth alignment.

It's a well-rounded list that consists of both well-defined and loosely defined goals, and spans a wide range of issues within the general health category. Look at how I can take the above list and use a similar framework to set some financial goals:

Pay off an extra $1,500 in student loans by Dec. 31.
Avoid spending any money on 50% of the days in this year.
See a financial adviser at least twice this year.
Evaluate the asset allocation of my portfolios in detail.

It's no guarantee that your goals will translate cleanly, but it's a start if you're stuck, and the wonderful thing about goals is that they can be modified as you learn more, and your life evolves.

Bing: Create a life goals list

Ask probing questions. The trick is coming up with questions that are truly out-of-the-box, thought-provoking, and focused on progress and the future. A great list can be found in my previous post on joint goals, but if you need to push the envelope even further, dig deeper.

Try breaking up your life into various roles and examine them individually. Think in terms of different time frames (five years, 15 years). Get your entire family, or even your friends, to brainstorm with you.

Answer some of the questions you put together in detail. More often than not, the answers themselves will breed more questions in a self-perpetuating cycle that helps to fill the gaps of your life.

Understand your defaults. When I wrote about setting financial priorities, I mentioned that you don't have a lot of options when it comes to your money. You can pay for services, buy products, save, eliminate debt, or invest. That's about it.

Understanding your default mentality is important, because it gives you insight on where you tend to lean when you have the freedom to choose with your discretionary income. That helps in the same way as exercise No. 2 when extra income becomes available.

It also helps you examine whether your default is actually what you want. For example, you may lean toward buying products, when in reality investing is a better option for achieving your goals. Simply knowing this may be enough to consciously stop the unwanted behavior in the future.

Give yourself a bit of imaginary income and watch your mind go to work. Do you immediately hit the mall? Stash it away in your savings account? Do you carefully split the money among all groups?

Find your MIC. MIC is an acronym I just invented that stands for "most important charity." When I was talking with my boss recently, he remarked that "we had to be put on this earth to make a difference." In other words, there's something beyond the four walls of our home that needs our attention.

It may take significant effort to find that single charity that speaks most to your heart, or it may be so second-nature that you already have one in mind. The process of looking for and selecting a single charity is very important, even if you don't have the funds to support it right now.

It reflects on your interests and passions, and gives you motivation outside yourself to succeed in life and be able to support something you care about.

Your financial heart

The ability to be self-aware beings is a uniquely human condition, and one that many of us don't take full advantage of. Figuring out what we value when it comes to money should not be an afterthought -- but the opening act.

Without the ability to understand why and how we think, we are simply living the cycle of the day-to-day. It would be a difficult task to accomplish anything of value with that mentality.

I encourage you to take on at least one of the above exercises today and begin building your financial heart.

Related reading at Fiscal Fizzle:

Identifying needs vs. wants in your budget

The basics of setting financial priorities

55 ways to simplify your finances

Tyler Durden’s guide to personal finance

Karen Datko — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:09:00 GMT

This guest post comes from Baker at Man vs. Debt.

I think I'm going to enjoy writing this much more than you enjoy reading it.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Tyler Durden, he is an essential character in "Fight Club," which is both a novel and movie. While the novel came a few years before, the movie escalated into a cult classic in the years following its DVD release. If you aren't familiar with the character, well ... we should probably part ways here.

For those who are still with me, let's get some things out of the way. We aren't going to be talking about masculinity, violence, mental disorders, religion, or even politics. Those themes run rampant through the movie and have been discussed in great length and detail by individuals much smarter and more witty than me.

Instead, we are going to have fun. We are going to dive into some of Tyler's most famous quotes (from the movie) and attempt to pull any applicable personal-finance wisdom from them. The movie's strong anti-consumerism message will make some of these very easy, while others may seem like more of a stretch. I'll let you decide.

Here are Tyler's thought on a wide variety of personal-finance themes:

On the pursuit of material possessions:

"The things you own end up owning you."

Let's start the party off right. This is not only my favorite, but certainly one of the most popular quotes in the entire movie. The lead-up, timing and delivery make its impact undeniable. As I mentioned in my last post, my suggestion for this is to create a list of everything you own -- and sell half within the next two weeks. Or rig your condo and blow them all up. Whatever floats your boat.

Bing: More "Fight Club" quotes

On avoiding lifestyle inflation:

"Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken."

Leveraging debt and living outside of your means has its benefits. For example, on a short timeframe you can get very good at looking wealthy, happy or successful. Heck, you can even feel that way for a while. But in the long run it's all imitation. You can pretend all you want, but eventually it's going to crumble.

On rejecting consumerism:

"We're consumers. We are byproducts of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear."

Obviously this is one of the central themes of Tyler's philosophy. While his approach is rather extreme, it's hard to argue against the fact that our obsession with consuming is at the very core of the majority of our financial woes. While capitalism has many great benefits, we've got to be able to set limits, especially in our personal lives.

On separating your identity from your financial picture:

"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your ... khakis."

Far too many people draw a major part of identity from the state of their financial life, their career or their possessions. We can all agree that establishing control over your financial life is important in maintaining a balanced life. Buts it's only one part. My motto: Make your finances a priority, but not the priority.

On recovering from financial mistakes:

"Only after disaster can we be resurrected."

No financial situation is so grim that you cannot bounce back. There are endless success stories of people who've overcome extremely desperate financial conditions and come out on top. In fact, many of us need to hit our own rock bottom before any lasting change can be made. Stop making excuses and start creating your own personal recovery story.

On sowing first, so you can reap down the road:

"You wanna make an omelet, you gotta break some eggs."

Success in personal finance rarely comes quickly. Of the times when it does, it's usually gone within a couple years. Just ask the average lottery winner. To create lasting change you've got to sacrifice upfront. You've got to take care of the daily basics -- the ones that aren't as sexy or appealing as many alternatives. In the end, though, you'll be the one enjoying the omelet.

On the ability to learn, grow and evolve:

"I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let ... let's evolve, let the chips fall where they may."

Another one of my personal favorites. It reminds us all that personal finance, like the other areas of our lives, is about the journey rather than the destination. There's nothing wrong with saving for retirement, but your life shouldn't be one big climb up to the edge of a cliff. Make it a journey. It'll be mostly uphill, but take the scenic, winding route and allow yourself to enjoy the view.

On the courage to take control of your finances:

"People do it every day, they talk to themselves ... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it."

Everyone wishes they could pay off debt. They wish they had the savings to start their business or follow their passions. They dream of nailing the perfect job at a great company. But the people who accomplish these things actually do something about it. Tyler points out that it all comes down to courage. The courage to run with it.

On overcoming emotions to make wise financial decisions:

"Listen, you can run water over your hand and make it worse or ... LOOK AT ME ... or you can use vinegar and neutralize the burn."

Emotions play a huge part in our finances. They are an integral part of how we spend our money, what decisions we make regarding major life events, and even how we react to the stock market and our investing. There are many times in the heat of the moment that we end up making our worst financial mistakes. Instead of taking the quickest, easiest or most convenient option, we need to slow down and think about what will be the most effective choice.

On not settling in your career:

"I see all this potential, and I see squandering ... an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars."

At some point, for a wide variety of reasons, many of us settle. We settle for average and for comfort. Rather than pursue our passions and fail, we lower our expectations and conform. More often than not, this ends up limiting both our happiness and our finances. We've got to find ways to re-create that spark. We need to realize that it's better to try and fail than to settle and regret.

On conscious spending:

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy (stuff) we don't need."

As many of you know, this is a big one for me. Courtney and I are constantly looking for ways to ensure that we are open-eyed and aware when we spend our money. It's not that we never choose to blow money, but rather that we are the ones making the choice to buy and not the advertisers or the neighbors down the street. Whether you use credit, debit or cash, it's important to take steps to ensure you're spending consciously.

On adjusting to the real world out of school:

"We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."

Everyone goes through this phase. It happens right out of high school, during our college years, or at some point soon after graduation. It's adjusting from a more sheltered life to the harsh reality of the real world. Some of us panic and revolt. Others get scared and settle. Neither of those extremes holds all the answers. Balancing the drive to pursue your passions with the immediate need to make a living is a continual struggle for all but a lucky few.

On striving for a work/life balance:

"I am free in all the ways that you are not."

This quote has many meanings. While it's true, it's also ironic. The whole truth is, Tyler isn't really free, either. His radical and obsessive nature is a restriction in itself. Ultimately, true freedom would exist somewhere in between the two polarizing characters, which is one aspect that makes the story so compelling. It's the quest for this balance that removes our limitations and lets us truly shine.

On not being afraid to take risks:

"I don't wanna die without any scars."

There is such a thing as being too conservative, especially in our approach to finances. There's nothing admirable about being cheap. Nothing cool about being a tightwad. There's a fine line between those traits and earnest frugality, but the line is there. You've got to be willing to take some risks, even in your finances. Giving yourself room to live a little will help you avoid burnout, breakdown or self-destruction. Don't be afraid to take some chances and make some mistakes.

On mastering the basics of personal finance:

"To make soap, first we render fat."

Personal-finance principles build upon themselves. Everyone learns in different ways. However, there are certain fundamental aspects that will make everything else smoother. For example, all the fancy investing techniques and career advances won't get you anywhere if you're spending more than you make and constantly plagued by lifestyle inflation. Even at high levels of income, the basics like creating a liquid emergency fund, sticking to a budget, and avoiding impulse purchases are essential. Fundamentals first, just like in Little League.

As you can see, Tyler seems to know more about personal finance than you'd first expect. Which lines are your favorites? What other personal-finance lessons can we take from these? Remember, this is your life and it's ending one minute at a time. What are you going to do today to take control of the time you have left?

Related reading at Man vs. Debt:

42 ways to radically simplify your financial life

Negotiation tips for beginners -- A real-life example

How much crap do we really need? A list of our possessions

Job advice for homely people

Karen Datko — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:50:00 GMT

It's unfortunate but true that homely folks often have more limited income prospects than their better-looking peers. People are shallow like that.

What can you do if you've been blessed with less than your fair share of good looks? Both "FMF" at Free Money Finance and Kiplinger columnist Marty Nemko have some advice.

Bing: Famous ugly people

Marty also has some relevant remarks for employers: "All other things being equal, I'd give the nod to an ugly candidate." You can probably hire them for less and they'll work harder than those who know how to get by on their looks.

In his post "Why I like to hire ugly people," Marty recalled the change in people's attitudes toward him when he wore a hairpiece for some TV spots. (What do you think? We prefer Marty in the photos without the rug.) "Wearing the hairpiece helped me realize the power of looks," he said.

What's the non-beautiful person to do? We'll offer some samples from both of these writers.

Make the most of what you've got. Stand up straight, wear decent clothes, be clean -- and, ladies, use makeup to full advantage. Marty notes that makeovers are available for free at department stores. Keep your weight under control.
Know more and work harder than the pretty people. FMF says that "you MUST deliver results and have a good attitude." Marty adds:

Don't skimp on self-development. If you have mediocre skills, that's strike two. Add a mediocre personality, and it's usually strike three and you're out.

Don't give up hope. One of the studies cited by FMF found that education and confidence in your abilities have more effect on your income than a beautiful face.

Need inspiration? Think of the hugely successful people you adore who don't have classic good looks. Lyle Lovett comes to mind. Who are your favorites?

Related reading:

What if no one were fat?

The $800 haircut

Can cosmetic surgery help your career?

Your résumé must be typo-free

Karen Datko — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:06:00 GMT

When you're selling yourself in a résumé, there are definitely things you should not do.

A typo? Fuhgeddaboudit. A recent survey by Accountemps, owned by Robert Half International, found that 40% of the 150 senior executive who were questioned will toss a résumé after finding one single solitary typo. Another 30% said the magic number is two, writes Color of Money columnist Michelle Singletary at The Washington Post

So, make sure you read and reread and reread your résumé, and then have someone proofread it after you.

How damaging can a typo be? For more on that, we turned to Resumania (and thanks to Michelle for pointing out this hilarious site).

Resumania is a collection of real-life résumé and cover letter errors collected and updated by Robert Half, whose founder first began publishing them in a newsletter in 1966. It includes typos and other mistakes that don't quite communicate what the job seeker had in mind. The most hysterical are voted into a Hall of Fame.

Some examples:

Typos: "COVER LETTER: I'm attacking my résumé for you to review." "DUTIES: Worked at this upscale restaurant as a chew chief." (We could handle that job.)
Misspellings: "COVER LETTER: To creeat creeactions that satisfy both my customers and my creeactivity."
Nonsense: "OBJECTIVE: "I want to play a major part in watching a company advance." "COVER LETTER: I am not at liberty to disclose details of my work due to its sensible nature."

Resumania also provides clever comments about the mistakes: "COVER LETTER: ‘I prefer a fast-paste work environment.'" "For life's stickiest situations," the site's commentator says.

Other items you'll find at this site:

Question of the Month: The current one is: "When you were a child, what job did you want to have when you grew up?"
Fun Factoids about job-related stuff. For instance, 76% of senior executives say they don't accept video résumés.
Shop Talk. This contains solid and detailed advice, like how to write a good cover letter. (And, please, reread that letter and have someone else proof it too.) You'll find even more information about how to find a job in a section called Career Tips.

What do you think? Is the zero-typo standard too high? We don't think so. If you don't care enough to get your résumé right, what kind of employee would you be?

Related reading:

Office buzzwords you love to hate

Karen Datko — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:55:00 GMT

Are there office clichés that you find overused, tiresome and extremely annoying? Take "outside the box." "Outside the bun" is clever; "outside the box" is not. Thankfully, that phrase is no longer around -- after a long and painful death.

You can compare your most hated phrases with those selected by a variety of executives, reports Marlys Harris, The Consumer Reporter at CBS MoneyWatch.com. Marlys shares results from Accountemps, which did the survey, in a post called "Words you should never use at the office unless you have to." She also offers her own often hilarious translations.

For example, Marlys wrote: "Value-add. A gain, usually financial. Example: "She refuses to donate to charity unless she sees some value-add, say, eternal salvation."

The list includes "reach out," "circle back," "game changer," "disconnect," "interface," "viral" and "cutting edge." Here are a few more, in Marlys' words:

Leverage. Deployment of an insufficient amount of something to do that which was previously done with much more. Example: "After the layoffs, we can leverage our staff of three to cover the entire Eastern seaboard."
It is what it is. Get used to it. Example: "Your administrative assistant doesn't know how to answer the phone. It is what it is."

This list reminds us of one of the things we miss about office work. Righteous indignation toward co-workers is difficult to come by when you work at home alone.

But Marlys' little exercise is fun. Let's all try it. Here's ours:

At the end of the day. When it's all said and done (OK, another cliché, but at least it's not painful). Example: "At the end of the day, I knew you were incapable of original thought."

Do you have an office cliché that you love to hate?

How not to use e-mail at work

Why you're not getting promoted

What to say (and not) when you're laid off

Why some people earn more than others

Karen Datko — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:26:00 GMT

This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

In June, a user at Ask MetaFilter wondered: What are the differences between someone who makes $100,000/year and someone who makes $30,000? As you might expect, this question generated a lot of discussion -- all of it interesting.

Many commenters noted that, from their experience, high-income earners generally exhibit several of the following traits:

They maintain a strong work ethic.
They don't watch the clock.
They seek to improve their skills.
They do quality work.
They're flexible and adaptable.
They maintain a good social network.
They possess self-confidence.

A few commenters noted that there are two other factors that absolutely play a role in how much a person earns. Chief among these is choice of profession. Even if you're the best damn high school physics teacher in the world, you'll still probably earn just $50,000 or so. (But if that gives you a fulfilling life, that's probably worth more than a high salary.)

Hard work, etc., do not guarantee a higher salary -- but they do improve the odds. A second oft-overlooked factor is luck. Chance. Happenstance. There's no question that luck plays a role in how much a person is paid. But as I've argued in the past, in most cases luck is no accident. It's possible to make your own luck -- to a degree.

There are many great comments in the Ask MetaFilter discussion, including a mention of a Socratic dialogue about wealth and economics. One of my favorite comments is from "decathecting," who writes:

Lots of people make six figures, including plumbers, business managers, attorneys, high school principals, military officers, technicians, landlords, psychologists, and people in thousands of other professions. The common denominator is that they've figured out what they're good at that other people are willing to pay them to do.

From my own experience, I know that while I was stagnant and uninterested in my career, my income was also stagnant. It wasn't until I decided to take charge of my own life that my financial situation improved -- including the amount I was earning.

I've seen the same in the lives of my friends. It's easy to coast, to become complacent. But it's important to remember that with incomes especially, nobody cares more about your money than you do. If you want to earn more, you must play an active role in obtaining the money.

Reminder: One way to improve your income is to learn how to negotiate your salary. Mastering this skill can make a huge difference in your lifetime earnings potential.

Finally, I want to note that a high salary is not the panacea many people believe it to be.

Sometimes the costs of a high income make the payoff less than you might expect. For example, I have a friend who is an attorney. He makes a fair amount of money. But he's also burdened by outrageous student loans and business expenses. Though his income is high on paper, it's actually rather modest after he's paid for his necessities.

High-income earners face another problem that prevents them from getting ahead: lifestyle inflation. Sure, that's a nice problem to have, I suppose, but if you don't learn to control your spending as your income increases, you're not really much better off in the long run than somebody with half your salary.

Ultimately, I don't know if it's possible to say that there's any one magic thing that leads one person to make more than another. Yes, hard work probably makes a difference. But so does luck. Have you noted a difference between the high-income earners in your life and the low-income earners? Is there a pattern? Or does it all seem rather arbitrary?

Addendum: I seem to have done a poor job of conveying my message today. I'm not trying to imply that "poor people are lazy" or anything of that nature. However, I do think there must be differences between high-income earners and low-income earners, that it's not purely a matter of luck. So, what are these differences? It must be possible to have an intelligent conversation on this subject without being rude and without becoming defensive.

Related reading at Get Rich Slowly:

How to negotiate your salary

Who earns minimum wage? A statistical profile

How to escape from minimum wage

Top job-search method? Networking

Karen Datko — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:30:00 GMT

This post comes from James Limbach at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.

Not all job-search methods are created equal.

In fact, a recent survey of human resources executives found that networking is the most valuable tool in the job seeker's arsenal, while going to job fairs is the least effective.

The survey asked the hiring execs to rate the effectiveness of various job-search methods on a scale of 1 (least effective) to 5 (most effective). Networking averaged a 3.98; about half of those asked gave networking a rating of 5.

The second most effective job-search tool, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., which conducted the poll, is a relatively new one. Social/professional-networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, garnered an average rating of 3.3, with 47% of respondents giving it a rating of 4 or 5.

Meanwhile, job fairs ranked as the least effective job-search method, scoring an average rating of 1.6. It was followed closely by responding to newspaper classified ads and sending résumés to employers, which each averaged 1.7 on the rating scale.

"Job fairs are particularly ineffective in recessions," said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "They are heavily attended by job seekers and lightly attended by employers. Many of the employers that do attend are seeking very low-level workers, volunteers or unpaid sales representatives/franchisees who would have to be prodigious sellers to make a living wage."

While job seekers do get to interact with a representative of the company at a job fair, Challenger says it hardly qualifies as networking. The employer representative is rarely a decision maker and simply there to administer and collect applications.

Those surveyed gave Internet job boards relatively high marks. It averaged a middle-of-the-road rating of 3, but 38% of respondents gave it a 4. While the Internet has the potential to be very useful for job seekers, Challenger said, it should still be considered secondary to the traditional technique of networking and meeting prospective employers in person.

"It is important to remember that the job search is a multifaceted process," he said. "Those who rely on just one tool, even if it is networking, will take longer to find a position. The problem with the ease and accessibility of the Internet is that many job seekers make it their primary job search tool."

Challenger added that overuse of the Internet also threatens to prolong the hiring process on the employer's end as well, by inundating employers with irrelevant résumés. Some human resources executives complain that for every qualified candidate who comes in from the Internet, there are 10 to 20 who do not even come close to being a good fit.

"The more irrelevant résumés that hiring managers have to wade through in order to select the handful to bring in for interviews, the longer it takes to fill the position," he said. "One result of this has been the increased use of digital screening software that scans incoming résumés for keywords. Résumés without the right words are filtered out of the process. This will make it even more difficult for job seekers to get their résumé in front of the hiring executive."

However, the Internet has revolutionized job searching. Challenger pointed out that it has certainly made it easier for someone in San Francisco, for example, to search for job openings in Miami. In addition, the ability to conduct keyword searches has reduced the amount of time it takes to target the type of position a person is seeking.

"Job seekers must learn how to use all of the tools at their disposal, including networking, the Internet, newspapers, job fairs and even cold-calling employers," he said.

Related reading at ConsumerAffairs.com:

IRS alerts public to new identity theft scams

Qwest to exit wireless business in October

Should you convert your IRA to a Roth IRA?