Free Money Finance

Is Clutter Costing You Time, Money, and Your Career?

Crown Financial Ministries has some thoughts on the high cost of clutter. Some highlights:

National studies have shown that the typical executive spends four and one-half hours a week looking for lost papers. At a salary of $30,000, the cost of searching for important papers, measured in lost time, is $3,376 per year. At $60,000, the cost is $6,752 per year. At $100,000, the annual cost jumps to $11,250.

As staggering as these costs are, the majority of managers and business owners with whom I've worked report that they lose even more. I have found that the cost often jumps to 15 percent of their yearly income.

Just think—at this rate, nearly two years of each life is lost looking through clutter.

Oh no, I think she's talking to me.

My desk is always a mess at work, though I don't spend a lot of time looking for lost papers (or at least I don't think I do.) I have a fairly firm grasp on what's under each pile. ;-)

That said, I'm sure I do lose some time because I have a messy desk. And lost time means lost productivity -- which can lead to a lower job performance, income, etc. In fact, Penelope Trunk thinks that simply having a messy desk alone can undermine your career.

What are your thoughts on the issue? Is a messy desk costing you? Or maybe it's at-home clutter?

Perhaps we all should make some extra money by selling our old stuff and de-cluttering our lives!

Top 10 Overpaid Jobs

Career Journal has a listing of the top overpaid jobs in the U.S. that contains the following:

10) Wedding photographers. Photographers earn a national average of $1,900 for a wedding, though many charge $2,500 to $5,000 for a one-day shoot, client meeting and processing time that runs up to 20 hours or more, and the cost of materials.

9) Major airline pilots. While American and United pilots recently took pay cuts, senior captains earn as much as $250,000 a year at Delta, and their counterparts at other major airlines still earn about $150,000 to $215,000 - several times pilot pay at regional carriers - for a job that technology has made almost fully automated.

8) West Coast longshoremen. Next year, West Coast dockworkers will earn an average of $112,000 for handling cargo, according to the Pacific Maritime Association, their employer. Office clerks who log shipping records into computers will earn $136,000. And unionized foremen who oversee the rank-and-file will pull down an average $177,000.

7) Skycaps at major airports. Many of the uniformed baggage handlers who check in luggage at curbside at the busiest metro airports pull in $70,000 to $100,000 a year -- most of it in cash. On top of their salaries, peak earners can take in $300 or more a day in tips.

6) Real estate agents selling high-end homes. While most agents hustle tail to earn $60,000 a year, those in affluent areas can pull down $200,000-plus for half the effort, courtesy of the fatter commissions on pricier listings.

5) Motivational speakers and ex-politicians on the lecture circuit. Former President Reagan raised the bar back in 1989 when he took $2 million from Japanese business groups for making two speeches. Bill Clinton earned $9.5 million on 60 speeches last year, though most of those earnings went to charity and to fund his presidential library.

4) Orthodontists. For a 35-hour workweek, orthodontists earn a median $350,000 a year, according to the Journal of Clinical Orthodontics. General dentists, meanwhile, earn about half as much working 39 hours a week on average, in a much dirtier job.

3) CEOs of poorly performing companies. CEOs at chronically unprofitable companies and those forever lagging industry peers stand as the most grossly overpaid. The ultimate excess comes after they're finally forced out, usually by insiders tired of seeing their own stock holdings plummet. These long-time losers draw multimillion-dollar severance packages as a reward for their failed stewardship.

2) Washed-up pro athletes in long-term contracts. NBA player Shawn Kemp, for instance, earned $10 million in a year he averaged a pathetic 6.1 points and 3.8 rebounds a game. Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Hampton earned $9.5 million -- in the second year of an eight-year, $121 million contract -- while compiling a 7-15 won-loss record for the Colorado Rockies with a pitiful earned-run average of 6.15.

1) Mutual-fund managers. Stock-fund managers can easily earn $500,000 to $1 million a year including bonuses -- even though only 3 in 10 beat the market in the last 10 years.

If you look over this list, the reasons they are so highly paid are:

1. Unions. #9, #8, and #2 are impacted by unions. A couple of the others may be as well.

2. Supply. In some cases, there's simply a lack of people who want to do these jobs or only a few who CAN do these jobs, so the pay needs to be high. For instance, Shawn Kemp may have only scored 6.1 points per game, but that's about 6.1 more points per game than most people could have scored.

3. The system. Part of #3 and #1 is simply because that's how the system is set up. Not saying it's right, but that's often how things are done.

And a few other thoughts:

1. If I had to choose among these, I'd like to be #5. Now that's a sweet deal.

2. Unfortunately, I'm only qualified for #7 and #6.

3. I LOVE #1!!!! This is why I invest in index funds.

4. I KNEW I should have been an orthodontist. Man, what a sweet deal!

You Should be Paid an Extra $133k for a Long Commute or Lots of Travel

In discussing how to decide if your commute is too long, Penelope Trunk points to some research that says you should be paid a significant amount extra if you have a long commute to work -- otherwise, it's not a good deal for you. The details:

Nattavudh Powdthavee of the University of London published research to show that if you are going to take a job where you will give up seeing family and friends on a regular basis, you would need to earn $133,000 just to make up for the lack of happiness you feel from being away from those people.

She uses this data in arguing for a shorter commute, but it could also be used to argue against a job that required lots of travel (or anything else that takes you away from loved ones for long periods -- like lots of hours on the job.)

I've never been in a job that has had a long commute or a significant amount of travel. My longest commute was half an hour (my shortest was 10 minutes or less -- I walked to work) and the most I ever traveled in a job was once every two or three weeks or so. That said, I HAVE had jobs that have required 60+ hours a week, and they get really old, really fast.

I had a friend who used to live in New Jersey and commute to New York City every day. It was two hours each way. Yep, four hours a day. He left home at 5 am (in by 7 am) and left work around 6:30 pm (home at 8:30 pm.) He hardly ever saw his family and was exhausted on weekends so he slept a lot. He did this for years, all because he couldn't afford a home closer to work. Eventually, he quit that job and moved to a company that offered a bit less pay (about $20,000 less a year) but had a 15-minute commute. As you might imagine, his family life was significantly improved.

How about you? Any of you ever had a very long commute? How did you deal with it?

Thoughts on Becoming Wealthy

My post titled Three Simple Steps to Financial Security included a few comments along the lines of "you need to make a ton of money" to become wealthy as well as some thoughts that making more money wasn't that difficult. I had to laugh since one of the people saying making more money was the only way to get rich was at a loss for how to recommend people do it. :-)

Anyway, I shared my thoughts on the issue of becoming wealthy as a response and wanted to list them here with a bit more detail. That said, here are my thoughts on becoming wealthy:

1. Of course it's easier to become wealthy if you make $500k per year versus $50k per year. Simple math can tell you that.

2. I believe that you need to do all you can to make as much as you can. That's why I've written posts like Maximizing Your Greatest Asset: Why Your Career is So Important. And it's also why I have a whole category devoted to making extra money.

3. That said, it doesn't matter how much you make -- you still have to control your spending. If you make $1 million a year and spend $1 million plus $1, you're doing worse than someone who makes $50k a year but spends $40k. Yes, you may have more POTENTIAL, but you can't take potential to the bank. For some stories of people who've made a bundle of money and spend that plus some, see these posts:

• It's Hard to Save Money On Only $250,000 Income

• Barely Making it on $150,000 a Year

• It's Still Not What You Make But What You Spend

4. You CAN get wealthy on what some of you would think is a modest income (though $50k is not modest, it's average). For examples of how to do this, see these links:

• How to Get Rich on $20k a Year

• How to Grow Your Net Worth When You Don't Make a Lot of Money

• How You Can Own Two Homes with No Debt on $33,000 a Year

5. My emphasis on spending less (versus earning more) is because it's more practical advice. It's easier for the majority of people to spend less than it is to make more. Again, I'm not saying to ignore the income side of the equation, but it's not that easy to increase your income. It's much easier to control your spending. For some additional thoughts on this subject, see these posts:

• Look After the Pennies and the Dollars Will Look After Themselves

• Your Income Isn't the Reason You're Not Saving

• Little Splurges Kill Your Net Worth

Did You Get a Bonus Last Year? What Did You Do with It?

I discussed this topic a couple weeks ago, but I think many of you were on Christmas break by then, so I thought I'd bring it up again.

Here's a piece from Yahoo Finance where Suze Orman discusses what she considers the correct financial perspective on job bonuses:

It amazes me how often I hear people gleefully report how they intend to spend their holiday bonus. It's rare when someone mentions how they intend to save and invest it instead.

A bonus should be approached as valuable compensation, not some funny-money lottery bonanza to blow on a spending whim. It's irrelevant what the size of your bonus is -- your first inclination whether you get $500, $5,000, or $50,000 should be how you can use the money to build a more secure financial future.

She then lists her top five uses for a bonus:

1. Pay off high-interest-rate credit card debt.
2. Fund a Roth IRA.
3. Create an emergency stash.
4. Build a mortgage adjustment stash.
5. Buy more insurance coverage.

I did get a bonus last year (in November) and I saved it all. I put it into our new house downpayment fund -- what we'll use to buy our new house next year if and when we find something we like.

So what about you? Did you get a bonus last year? What did you do with it?

How to Make Sure Your Boss Thinks You're Doing a Great Job

Here are some thoughts from pages 145-147 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much) where the author lists seven ways to make sure your boss thinks you're doing a great job:

1. Know your boss's priorities. Know what she wants done and do it.
2. Say no. Say yes to things that matter most to your boss, say no to everything else.
3. Communicate the way your boss does. If he prefers email, use it. If phone, use that.
4. Toot your own horn. Each time you do something that impacts the company let your boss know.
5. Lunch with your boss. If all things are equal, your boss will promote the person she likes best.
6. Seek new responsibilities. Find important holes in your department before your boss notices them and fill them.
7. Be curious. Make yourself more interesting to be around.

Based on my experience, these are some pretty good suggestions. I'll comment a bit on each of them:

1. Yep. If you take on your boss's priorities and handle them well, you will get promoted and/or better compensation than most.

2. Really the same as #1 to me.

3. Unfortunately this one is true, and you have to adapt. I personally prefer email, but have had bosses that like to be called. So I've had to deal with it. On the opposite end, I always liked employees who would communicate they way I like to -- via email.

4. Yes, yes, yes! For more of my thoughts on this, see Grow Your Career by Promoting Your Work.

5. Yes, he will promote who he likes best, though I must admit I haven't always been a "lunch with the boss" sort of guy. With my current boss, however, it's great to go out to lunch. He's a wonderful guy, we have common interests, and it's fun to go out with him and grab a bite to eat.

6. If you can do your job well plus do more, you're making a good case for being promoted.

7. I'll say that this one is mostly true, but I really don't care for it much. Make yourself interesting? Aren't you either interesting to a person or not? Can you really "make" yourself interesting? And isn't what's interesting to one person boredom for another?

The bottom line: do these things and you'll be much better off when you ask your boss for a raise (that is, if you aren't promoted first.)

For more thoughts on managing your career, see these posts:

• A Simple Recipe for Job Interview Success

• Is Your Image at Work Killing Your Career?

• Five Reasons to Turn Down a Job Offer

Being Likeable Matters More than Being Competent

Here are some thoughts from page 90 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much) where the author says that it's more important to be likeable than to be competent:

It's hard to underestimate the impact of good social skills on your career. In fact, across the board, in a wide variety of businesses, people would rather work with someone who is likeable and incompetent than with someone who is skilled and obnoxious.

She then goes on to talk about how to be likeable and so on.

I have several thoughts on this subject. Here are a few:

1. Yes, it's important to your career that you're likeable. We all spend a lot of time at work and no one wants to spend that time around someone who's obnoxious. This means people will work around those who are not at least somewhat likeable, and thus potentially negatively impact their career.

2. That said, someone who's the greatest guy in the world is going nowhere if he's a total waste when it comes to performance. Yeah, people will like him, but they'll also avoid him like they will the unlikeable guy. Why? Because no one wants to have part of their project (or whatever) controlled by someone who doesn't know what he's doing.

3. All of the above is from the perspective of people working at various companies. Companies themselves want results and don't really care about likeability (unless it interferes with moral, performance of others, etc.) We've all seen the extremely productive jerk get promoted time and time again.

4. I would say that there's a base level of likeability that any employee needs to have, and once they have that, performance is what matters.

5. The base level I talk about in point #4 is pretty low. Most people you'd come in contact with would have at least this level of likeability.

So, what's your take on this issue?

Don't Ask Stupid Questions in an Interview

Here are some thoughts from pages 49-51 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much) where the author notes that there are stupid questions to ask in an interview and if you ask them, you're dooming your chances of being hired. Here are the types of questions she suggests avoiding:

• "How many hours a day do you work?"
• "If this company were an animal which one would it be?"
• "What needs to be accomplished in this position in the next six months?"

I agree with her on these first two. In the first, you sound like you're already complaining about working too long, even if that's not an issue. And the second is too strange. But I like the third.

On this one, she says it is useless at the end of an interview but a great question at the beginning of the interview. I have found that it can work equally well in either slot. At the front, it will give you insights into what they are looking for and you can tailor your answers accordingly. The problem here is the fact that most interviewers don't allow you (or provide an opportunity for you) to ask questions at the beginning of an interview. So yeah, it would be great to know these up front, but that's not generally how the real world operates.

Still, it is useful at the end too. How? You simply ask it when you're allowed to ask questions, and once the interviewer answers it, say something like, "That's great. That fits in perfectly with..." then tell a story of some great accomplishment you had in your past that shows you can deliver (and even exceed) upon what they're looking for.

The author concludes the chapter with a bit of advice related to interview questions. I love it so much that I had to include it here:

The overall rule that should guide your preparation is never stop selling yourself in an interview, even when you pretend to stop selling yourself in order to ask a question.

Yes! The interview is a sales presentation. Never forget that.

An Interview is a Test You Can Study For

Here are some thoughts from pages 45-48 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much) where the author says that an interview is a test you can study for. She also gives six steps between landing and interview and the actual interview itself that will help you get the job offer:

1. Research the company. Know something about the place you may work and slip it into the interview.
2. Get the right outfit. Corporate America has a uniform; wear it.
3. Prepare stock answers. Develop answers to key (expected) questions in advance and practice them so they pack a punch and don't sound rehearsed.
4. Go to the gym. Thin, good-looking people are more likely to get hired than overweight, less attractive people.
5. Prepare to close the deal. At the end, ask if they have any reservations about hiring you and be sure to address those.
6. Practice, practice, practice. Have friends do mock interviews with you.

My thoughts on each of these:

1. It's so easy to research companies these days on the web that there isn't any excuse not to.

2. I always dress up for an interview unless I'm told specifically not to -- then I dress on the higher end of whatever the company's attire is. Yes, I've interviewed in a suit where everyone was dressed casually, but I'm ok with that. It's better to be over-dressed and look professional than be under-dressed and look like a schmoe.

3. Yes -- prepare stock answers!  This is exactly what I was talking about in A Simple Recipe for Job Interview Success and Ace an Interview by Preparing for It.

4. Same thing she said in Is Your Image at Work Killing Your Career? No, it's not fair, but in many cases it's true.

5. I do this, then try to weave in one of my prepared answers (assuming it fits the objection) so I look very articulate and on top of the issue they are concerned about.

6. I don't do mock interviews, but I do rehearse my interview questions over and over again, so I'm very comfortable with what I'm going to say before the actual interview takes place. It's worked well for me so far. I think I've only been turned down for 10% or so of the interview I've go one. The rest I've either gotten an offer or decided not to pursue the opportunity myself.

The Best Way to Spend a Year-End Bonus

What's the best way to spend a year-end bonus? Here's what Yahoo suggests:

One of the best things you can do is to put that money toward maxing out your 401(k). This year you can contribute up to $15,500. If you're over 50, you can contribute $20,500.

This way you won't be penalized by Uncle Sam for that holiday bonus. If you have a mortgage, you may want to consider paying down more of your principle. This will reduce the amount of interest you end up paying over the life of the loan.

And finally, it's a good idea to check your emergency fund. Make sure you have at least 3 to 6 months worth of living expenses. If you need to pad your fund, consider a high-yield savings or money market account.

Ok, so what if you already max out your 401k, don't have a mortgage, and have an emergency fund? And besides, is this really the best way to spend a bonus? After all, we know that there's a better option than simply maxing out your 401k (401k total match, Roth IRA, 401k max.)

Anyway, here's what I did with my bonus this year: I saved it. Yep, all of it. We're thinking of buying a new home and we either want to pay cash for it or (at least) have so much available that we'll be able to pay it off in a few years at most. So we're saving for that new home and that's where the bonus went.

How about you? Did you get a bonus (or do you think you'll get one)? If so, what did you do with it?

Eight Rules of Direct Mail that You Should Apply to Your Cover Letter

Here are some thoughts from pages 30-32 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much) that give the author's thoughts on how a cover letter is a piece of direct mail. Here main point -- your cover letter is a sales tool where you're trying to sell yourself to a stranger. As such, you can get your best bang out of it by using some techniques from the direct mail industry such as:

1. Open with a bang. Use your first line to sell yourself and make yourself stand out.
2. Don't waste other people's time. Introduce your resume quickly and move on.
3. Don't waste your own time. Don't let your cover letter steal time from your resume.
4. Format strategically. Use bullets.
5. Tell the reader the next step. Say you'd like to set up an interview.
6. Say it, then say it again. Make it easy for the recruiter to contact you.
7. Come back to it. Proofread.
8. Follow up. There's a chance that your call may get you noticed.

I can't help but think that the job-searching public would be much better off if they all applied these tips. I've probably looked at thousands of cover letters in my career and 99.9% of them are the same. They can be summarized as follows: blah, blah, blah, me, blah, blah, blah, more of me, blah, blah, blah, did I tell you about me? In other words, they are full of useless information that interferes with what can sometimes be useful information (though that can be over-the-top at times too.)

Anyway, my advice to all of you out there who are writing cover letters or those who may be writing them in the future is to follow these points. And if need be, go to the library, check out this book, and read the details on these points. They'll certainly help you craft a winning cover letter.

How to Earn $1,000 in a Minute

Here are some thoughts from pages 55-58 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much) where the author says that when you negotiate your salary at a new job you can earn $1,000 in a minute. Then she gives a four-step process for doing well in salary negotiations:

1. Don't disclose your pay requirements during the interview process. The first person to provide numbers establishes the range.
2. Get the whole offer in writing before you ask for more. You need to consider other financial benefits like a bonus as you prepare your counter-offer.
3. Go home and form a plan. Do your research and see what you should be making.
4. Know yourself. Negotiate for what matters to you.

Here's my take on these:

1. A great tip, but easier said than done. I think it's relatively simple to have the employer give a number first (a simple "what does this position pay?" in the fact-finding stage should sort this out), but to avoid giving them your salary requirements is virtually impossible -- especially if they ask you a direct question. Sure, you can say something like, "I'd prefer to discuss that later" or make excuses as to why it doesn't matter, but if you're pressed and you don't answer, you'll look deceptive, like you have something to hide, or you're ashamed of the answer -- all results you won't like.

2. Certainly you need to know the complete picture of what they're offering before you ask for more. Early on in my career, I was offered a job and took it based on a formal offer. When the offer letter came, I had several more benefits than what I'd expected (retirement, vacation, insurance, stock purchase, etc.) It really didn't matter to me at this point, but from that experience I learned to get all the information up front so I knew the complete view of what I was being offered.

3. Don't accept the offer on the spot. Tell them you're excited about the opportunity and would like a couple days to discuss it (if you're married, saying you need to talk it over with your spouse is an excuse that almost anyone will buy -- as long as it doesn't look like your spouse is calling all the shots in your life.) Then take some time to develop your counter-offer.

4. In addition to knowing yourself (that you like vacation time more than extra pay, for example), know the employer. Often times it's easier for them to give you extra time off than to give more money -- or to up the bonus than to make the base pay higher. Explore the areas where they are flexible and try to be flexible yourself. if you can be, you'll have a better chance of walking away with a better overall compensation package.

Do What You Love and Starve

You've probably all heard the phrase "do what you love and the money will follow." In other words, get a job you enjoy and you'll love it so much that you'll perform well and ultimately become well-off.

Then again, maybe not.

Kiplinger says the rule is closer to do what you love and starve. Their main points:

Sure, if your passion is a rare one, like entomology, or even a moderately common one like accounting, money may follow. But if you are like the many people whose passion is shared by half the continent -- for example, activist or performer -- you're in trouble. Millions of people are competing passionately with you for the small number of decent-paying jobs. That's the reason the word "starving" so often precedes "artist."

If I had the option, I might be riding a bike all day, growing roses, or testing video games. But those professions don't really pay that well unless, as Kiplinger says, you're one of a very few who are at the very top of the industry.

Here's a slightly different strategy:

Do what you like/enjoy in a field where you can make a decent salary, and you'll do well financially.

I don't "love" the business world, but I enjoy it enough to make the majority of my work time fun, exciting, and interesting. And since it pays a whole lot better than growing roses. ;-)

Anyone out there making a good salary doing something they LOVE?

How to Make a Minor Accomplishment into a Major Resume Success

One key to writing a winning resume is listing your accomplishments in such a way that the hiring manager simply has to talk to you (at which point you wow him with your stunning interview). In order to do this, you need to write in a way that enhances the perception of what you've done. No, I'm not saying you should lie. In fact, I'd say that you should never lie as it's likely you'll be caught. But you can write down your accomplishments in the best light possible to get you the interview you want.

On page 28 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much), the author details this principle in action with the following story:

My twenty-one-year-old brother, Erik, worked summers at Blockbuster Video where, predictably, none of the mostly teenaged employees followed company rules. In a fit of productivity my brother rearranged the displays to be in line with the standards sent from company headquarters. At the same time, store sales increased 10 percent. So (as the family resume writer) I wrote on his resume, "Assumed responsibility for in-store marketing and increased sales 10 percent."

She goes on to say that her brother left this in his resume, was prepared to and ultimately supported it in interviews (see my link above -- I told you to practice interviewing, then you'd be smooth when you explain accomplishments like this), and got a job at an investment bank.

Now he could have written something like this:

"Did what I was told to do."

But how many resume reviewers would get excited by that? Virtually none, if any. But "Assumed responsibility for in-store marketing and increased sales 10 percent" is a winner. It shows initiative, leadership, and the ability to generate results -- something most employers are looking for.

Both "Did what I was told to do" and "Assumed responsibility for in-store marketing and increased sales 10 percent" are accurate and tell what happened. Both are true. The only difference is one is compelling and sheds good light on the interviewee, while the other will put your resume in the slush pile.

So do some creative writing lessons and apply them to your resume. Make it sparkle with accomplishments that force recruiters to ask you for an interview. Then, practice your interview, wow them, and move your career up the next rung towards your goals.

Stick with a Classic Resume

Here are some thoughts from pages 23-27 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much) that give the author's thoughts on the rules of writing a resume. Specifically, she says that when you break the resume rules you look like you don't know them. As such, you need to know the rules and not break them. Here's what she says are the "given" resume rules:

• One page
• No paragraphs (use bullet points)
• List achievements
• Ditch the line about references on request
• Be a keyword-focused applicant
• Tread lightly on the personal interests line
• Don't be a designer unless you are one

Here's my take on these:

1. I agree 100%. The exception: if you're applying for a highly compensated job and the reviewer is expected to take a bit longer with resume review (the book's author disagrees with me, FYI.)

2. I ALWAYS use bullet points -- and I start each of them with "action words" as detailed in How to Write a Winning Resume.

3. My bullet points (see #2) ALWAYS include quantifiable accomplishments.

4. I agree -- it's implied, so mentioning makes you look like you don't know the "rules" of the game.

5. Especially in this age of digital review/selection of resumes. You have to have keywords scattered throughout or you won't be selected for the jobs you want.

6. Only use personal information that advances your qualifications and has no chance of alienating/biasing people. For instance, it would be ok for me to say I've had over 150 articles published in various magazines (it shows I have writing ability), but to say I was a NASCAR fan might make someone think less of me. ;-)

7. I agree. Creative resumes are risky.

The Purpose of a Resume

Here are some thoughts from pages 21 and 22 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much) that give the author's thoughts on the purpose of a resume:

Resume writing is a creative exercise that combines the skills of direct mail with the skills of a storyteller. You can be great at your job, but unless your current boss is going to personally arrange your next job interview, you're going to have to depend on your resume. Your resume gets you the interview, and you can't get a job without that.

The job search process works as follows: resume leads to an interview and the interview leads to a job. So if you want a new job, you have to get an interview. And the way you get an interview is to have a resume that "sells" your skills -- one that makes your accomplishments so compelling that the hiring manager simply HAS to talk to you.

But a resume really needs to pack a punch to be effective:

Each resume gets approximately ten seconds worth of consideration. You need to make sure you use those ten seconds to your best advantage. Every line of your resume must say you are amazing because you don't know where the person's eye will go first (though you can be sure the person won't read every line).

I'll be posting a bit more over the next few days on what this book has to say about resumes, but in the meantime you can check out How to Write a Winning Resume if you'd like some of my thoughts on the issue. And if you'd like a bit on interviewing too, see A Simple Recipe for Job Interview Success.

What to Do When You Have a High-Paying Job You Hate

Here's a piece from Career Journal that discusses what to do when you have a high-paying job you hate. Kind of. The article is about how to deal with the trap many people face -- they are in high-paying jobs they hate. So what should they do?

I know, many of you are probably saying "cry me a river" since tons of people are in LOW-paying jobs they hate. But for now, let's have a little compassion on those earning the big bucks and see what they can do to get out of a job they hate.

The article starts with an example of what NOT to do -- or at least what I would advise not to do -- quit without another job. I've told you why I think this is a bad idea, so if you need my reasons see Don't Quit Your Job Before You Get Another One.

The piece then gets to the heart of what people should do if they want a bit more career flexibility, and the suggestion is quite surprising. They advise you get your finances in order and, in particular, pay down debt. Why? Because then you have much more flexibility. If you need to take a lower-paying job, it's hard to do if you have a ton of debt that you're barely able to keep ahead of with a high-paying job. But if you have a bit of wiggle room between what you make and what you spend, you can afford to take a lower-paying job and your finances will still be ok.

That's one of the benefits of being debt free for me -- it gives me a load of flexibility. If I ever wanted to downsize my job or if I ever got fired or injured, I'd be in a lot better shape than most because I have no debt and keep my living expenses substantially below my income. There certainly is freedom in being debt free.

The rest of the article suggests how to find a new, better job with basic job search techniques. Here are a few of my past pieces you may want to check out as well:

• Ace an Interview by Preparing for It

• Plan What Your Want to Say in an Interview

• A Simple Recipe for Job Interview Success

More Reasons to Turn Down a Job Offer

Here's what I consider to be a good comment left on my post titled Five Reasons to Turn Down a Job Offer:

Having just accepted a job offer, and turned down other ones, I can think of a few reasons to turn down a job offer:

1. You have a better one lined up. :)
2. The job isn't one that actually progresses your career.
3. You are taking the job to run away from your current job.
4. You can't fully articulate what you will be doing for the new company or what the company does.
5. You get a strange vibe from your soon to be new boss.
6. You won't be able to explain fully to the next-next job why you took this one and how it helped you grow.

Some good stuff here IMO. My thoughts on each of these:

1. I had this happened a couple of times. It's always fun to tell someone "no", especially when they put you through the ringer, wanted to pay you nothing, and expected you to worship them for it. Of course, you decline nicely, but it's still fun. ;-)

I had one company in particular where the guy was offering me just a bit more than what I already made. I asked him if he could do better and he said something like "he could, but he didn't want to." Hmmm. Then I informed him I had to decline and was going to work elsewhere. he was speechless. He eventually recovered and wished me well, bit I could tell he wasn't very happy. He later had the executive recruiter he used call me up and tell me how I was ruining my career. Yeah, right. In the end, the other new company turned out to be one of the best career moves I've ever made, and the boss I would have had at the place I declined was fired in two years and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.

2. Good point, though some people would take a job because of better hours, more enjoyment, etc., even though it might not advance their career. Me? I advise looking for everything -- something you enjoy AND that advances your career.

3. You don't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire -- or even from the fire into the frying pan. You want to be going to the new job because it's a great opportunity, not because you hate your current job so much.

4. This is certainly a red flag. Why would someone even take a job where they didn't know what they'd be doing?

5. Yikes! I had a job offer once from a company where the boss really weirded me out (he was the same one that had me do the algebra problem in the interview -- if you recall that story.) In addition, their offices were in a 1960's-like building that looked like it had technology from the 50's. No chance I was taking that spot (even though I HATED my current job.)

6. This is close to #2, so I'll refer you to my comments there.

Should You Get Paid Less to Telecommute?

Here's a piece from Career Journal that says telecommuters should be paid the same as other workers who hold the same job. Here's why:

"Employers make money on telecommuters," who tend to be more productive and loyal, and less expensive because they don't occupy company-financed office space, Mr. Nilles says.

But this brings up a couple of interesting questions -- would you accept less if your company allowed you to telecommute? How much less would you take?

I'm not sure I'd value it at that much -- maybe a few thousand dollars a year at tops. Though I must admit it would be much more convenient. I could sleep an extra 50 minutes every morning and still get to work at the same time. If I valued this time at $20 per hour, that's $833 in a year a few thousand dollars a year (see comments below). And it could afford a lot more flexibility if I was also allowed to work whatever hours I wanted as I'd often work late into the night (when my family was asleep) for more time off during the day.

What about you? Would you take less pay to telecommute? How much less?

Six Ways to Make the Most of Your Job

Kiplinger's has a good list of six ways to make the most of your job. Their thoughts:

1. Get a mentor.
2. Renegotiate your job description.
3. Hitch to a rising star.
4. Volunteer for projects.
5. Open your mouth.
6. Pay attention to your appearance and attitude.

Here's my take on each of these:

1. I agree, but a good mentor can be hard to find. But here she's talking about a more informal relationship -- where you simply get someone's advice on a project, document, presentation, etc. every now and then. I think this is a more practical way of having a mentor than the traditional (or at least traditional to me) setting up a formal relationship where someone knows he's mentoring you. In addition, her idea allows you to go from person to person, having a few mentors, not just one.

2. I see #2 and #4 as basically the same thing. What you're doing here is looking for ways you can contribute more to the company as well as develop your own career. And when you're successful at contributing more to the company, you have a way of getting promoted, making more money, earning bonuses, getting recognition, and so on.

3. GREAT advice. I've done this a couple times in my career (with success -- I've also hitched myself to someone who didn't do as well as expected, so be careful) with very good results. Think of it this way: you become Mr. Right-hand-man for an Executive Superstar. When he gets promoted, he needs someone to fill his old job. Who's perfect for this position? You are, of course.

4. Covered in #2 above.

5. Networking, yes. Being interesting, yes. But for heaven's sake, if you don't have anything intelligent to say, don't open your mouth just for the sake of being heard. I've seen more careers torpedoed by a loud-mouth who loved to hear himself talk than I can count. It's a sure path to destruction.

6. Unfortunately, appearance is a major part of how you're viewed. It's part of your image, which is part of your brand. Dress the part appropriate for your position, industry, and company.

As for attitude, I've always said that attitude and ability are the building blocks of a successful career. No ability but a good attitude will at least by you some time and make people want to help you get better. Good ability but a bad attitude will make people resent/dislike you, which is never good for a career (though, admittedly, if you're results are good enough, you can have almost whatever attitude you want and still be a success.) But with both a great attitude and strong ability, you'll rise high quickly and many of your co-workers will cheer you on (or at least be happy for you.)

For more thoughts on making the most of your career, see these posts:

• Five Reasons to Turn Down a Job Offer

• Grow Your Career by Promoting Your Work

• Ace an Interview by Preparing for It

What It Takes to Change Careers

Career Journal discusses changing careers and their main takeaway is that it takes more time and effort than most people think. The highlights:

People often dream of changing careers. But substantial change takes a lot of work, and it may require additional schooling or intensive networking. Many people lack the stamina. Career counselors and career switchers say that laying the step-by-step groundwork for a change isn't easy but is often necessary.

Nella Barkley, president of the coaching firm Crystal-Barkley Corp., helps clients make career transitions. "They invariably think it will take much less time than it really does," she says. A profound career change, she notes, usually takes years.

They're not talking about changing from one industry to another -- but changing from one profession to another. From being a business executive to being a nurse (an example they use), NOT from being a business executive in one industry to being a business executive for a health care company.

I can certainly see it would take many years. It's likely that the person changing careers will need new education and new training, two things that can take years alone to accomplish. It's not a move to be considered lightly.

The major pro of a change is usually the person thinks she'll be happier in the new profession. But how does she know this? After all, she probably thought she would be happy in her original field when she started it. Maybe it's that she simply has better judgment now -- she's older, wiser, and knows herself better -- and thus feels she know what will make her happy. Then again, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. It's not a clear-cut decision.

The downside, of course, is that a pay cut is usually part of the deal. After all, someone with 10 years experience in one field is likely to earn more than someone with zero years of experience in another field. This makes changing professions a MAJOR risk because it messes with your greatest asset. If things go poorly, then you could be in a world of financial pain.

I've only known a few people who've made the transition. The biggest example I can think of is a friend of mine who I went to grad school with. He was a high-powered CFO for a health care start-up when he switched careers to become a priest. Talk about a major change (not to mention an income hit)! I was shocked because I didn't even know he was Catholic (and this was a fairly close friend of mine for two years.) So he went to five years of schooling and eventually became a priest. Since then, he seems satisfied with the change and is happy.

I think all of us have probably dreamed of switching careers at one time or another. I certainly have. But how many have actually done it? Any good stories out there? Or anyone who's thinking of making a move?

Help a Reader Make a Job Change Decision

Here's a situation a reader presented to me yesterday:

I am in a dilemma right now and I was hoping that you or your readers could give me some advice.

I live in a small town and I have been with my employer "Company A" for more than a year now as a full time employee. I have enjoyed working in this company. They have a very relaxed atmosphere and I have enjoyed a lot of flexibility working with them. There are only 2 downsides of working for this company. One is that it is a long commute. Company A is located 30 miles away from my home. The other downside is that they are in a consulting business. So they operate on a project by project basis. There have been instances in the past year where I have been out of a project for about 2 months. Even though I was out of project I was getting paid and having full benefits. But it is frustrating when I am in between projects. Right now I am in a project.

During one of the in between project situations I started looking for other opportunities. I got an offer from "Company B". "Company B" is the biggest employer of the area where I live. I accepted their offer as a backup and have told them that I will join them next year which they have agreed to. Company B is much bigger than company A. They are going to pay me $2500 more in base salary than my current job. They are located 15 miles away from my house. They have better benefits than Company A. I will not be getting any bonus or raises with company B in 2008. I will only get them in 2009. I am eligible for a raise with company A and after I get my raise in March 2008, the base salary of company A will be greater than company B.

The downside of company B is that they are notorious for having huge layoffs. Company B has not been doing too well and is widely expected to have some layoffs in December. I am quite sure that if they have layoffs after I join them, I might be laid off. I have put in monetary amounts to all the things that are involved in my decision making including base salary, bonus, raises, benefits, vacations, etc and Company B comes out on top of company A by $4000. Now here is my question. Do you think it is better for me to stay with company A and possibly forego any future job opportunities with the biggest employer in my area or should I join company B knowing that I might be laid off? Is it worth taking the risk of joining a new company and getting laid off for $4,000?

I would appreciate any responses. If anything needs to be clarified, I will be happy to do so.

So, what do you all think?

Five Reasons to Turn Down a Job Offer

Yahoo gives us a list of five reasons to turn down a job offer. Their thoughts:

1. The word on "The Street." Is the company's stock price tanking? Or is there talk of a merger? Both of these things could indicate that layoffs loom large, and the position you accept today may not exist in a few months.

2. A revolving "Employees Only" door. High employee turnover should raise a red flag for any potential worker.

3. Money isn't everything; it's the only thing. Depending on your personal financial situation and how much more you'd be earning in a new job, money may not buy you on-the-job happiness or professional fulfillment.

4. All work, no life. Consider the impact your new schedule will have on you and your family. Forfeiting invaluable work-life balance benefits without assessing the consequences can have a devastating impact on your personal life.

5. A bad reputation. Going to work for a company with a reputation that's been sullied by a corporate scandal or that isn't well respected can, in turn, sully your resume.

A few thoughts from me:

1. Based on my experience, this is a pretty good list. In particular, #2 is a real sign that the place is a dead end. If people are jumping ship left and right, then something really, really bad is going on there. Of course, this may present an opportunity for you (if you turn it around, you'll be a hero), but you need to realize when you go in that it's very risky and you may need to put up with a lot (long hours, painful discussions, things getting worse before they get better, etc.) by taking such a job.

2. I've had three jobs in the "all work, no life" category. I wouldn't want to go back to one of those for a ba-zillion dollars a year.

3. Good point on #5. Imagine how hard it is for people from Enron to find good jobs -- even if they had nothing to do with the problems there (and most of them didn't.)

How about you? Anything you'd add to this list?

Grow Your Career by Promoting Your Work

A key part to making the most of your career is making sure your boss and other people who can influence your career path are aware of the accomplishments you've made to the company. This way, when bonuses are handed out, when raises are given, and when promotions are offered, you will be a natural candidate for them. But how do you pull this off without seeming to be a self-promoting braggart?

Yahoo gives some advice on how to blow your own horn without being a blowhard. Their thoughts:

Talking about your work, your successes, and your team, the authors note, doesn't necessarily come across as bragging. Try describing what you've done in an informative way that might help others who are working on similar projects or wrestling with challenges you've figured out how to resolve.

Notes Hernez-Broome, "You need to find the 'sweet spot' between bragging and being overly modest. Stay focused on the value of the work." Like almost every other skill worth cultivating, this takes some practice.

For years now I've written a weekly update to my boss -- a simple bulletpoint email that details the highlights of this week's accomplishments, updates on key issues, and plans for the next week. It's done to keep him informed of where we are on major projects, but also serves as a way to list my accomplishments. For instance, when he reads, "We completed Project X this week. In the end, we saved a bit more than we thought, giving the company an extra $100k in cost reductions each year." Yes, it's a report. But it also demonstrates the accomplishment in a way that isn't bragging.

I keep a copy of each of these emails as well, then when review time comes along, I review them and select out the most important accomplishments. I summarize them and forward the list to my boss prior to my review being completed. (Just so he has all the facts when he's deciding on raises.) ;-)

Does it work? So far I'm averaging 9% compounded salary growth over the past 19 years. Sure, this isn't the only thing contributing to my results, but it certainly is helping.

For more on this topic, see these posts:

• Maximizing Your Greatest Asset: Why Your Career is So Important

• Create Your Brand at Work

• Is Your Image at Work Killing Your Career?

MBAs Still Make Sense Today (If Done for the Right Reasons and in the Right Way)

I write about careers so much because your career is your greatest asset. With a stellar career, you're not only happier, but you also have a huge financial advantage over those who don't have a great job.

I generally agree with Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, but she recently wrote about the demise of the MBA and I can't agree with much of what she said. Here are her thoughts and my corresponding comments:

The difference between the value of a top-tier MBA and all the others is very big. In fact, if you don't get into a top-tier program, the value of your MBA is so compromised that it's not worth it to stop working in order to get the degree. Go to night school instead.

It depends on what she means by "top-tier." If she literally means the top 20 business schools in the country, I disagree. I think the list is much deeper, say maybe the top 50 schools. Now don't get me wrong, someone going to Harvard does have an advantage over someone going to a decent state school ranked #30, but unless you want to get into a very specific profession that only recruits at the top, the advantage drops off as the years go on.

I recommend that instead of picking a school and hoping to get a job at graduation, you instead think of what you want to do and where you want to work -- and do this BEFORE you decide on an MBA school. Then look at the schools that have companies recruiting at them for the job/profession/industry you want. THEN decide what school to attend. This way, you can be more sure that you'll end up where you want to end up.

This is what I did (true, it was 20 years ago and things have changed since then.) But I left grad school with $5k in debt and the same job that people from Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford were getting (my school was ranked #25 at the time.) And as I've stated, getting an MBA was a very good financial move for me.

Business schools are compromised by a lack of female applicants.

Trunk argues that since less and less women are applying to MBA schools, the schools have lowered the work experience requirements to get accepted in order to allow more women to make it in. As such, this has compromised the value of MBA programs.

In one way, I agree with this. If you used to need four years work experience to get into an MBA school and now only need one, then the candidates leaving MBA schools theoretically won't be that as good as they were.

On the other hand, I never really agreed that work experience (especially two years of entry level experience) was something that was needed before a person was an acceptable grad school applicant. I went straight through from undergrad to MBA and felt I still got a great education. Sure, my education was hampered a bit by not having work experience, but those who did have work experience were hampered too -- they now had to learn to be students again and had a major reduction in pay (two issues I didn't have to worry about.)

The best thing you get out of business school is a good job afterward. But how do you know you wouldn't be able to get that job without business school?

Again I agree and disagree. For instance, I agree that "the best thing you get out of business school is a good job afterward." An MBA gets you a good/great job and from there on, your experience and success take over (mostly) and your degree becomes less and less of a factor.

Here I disagree: "But how do you know you wouldn't be able to get that job without business school?" I knew because: 1) the company, industry, and profession I wanted after undergraduate school didn't recruit at my school and 2) when I contacted them, they told me to go to grad school (in essence) as that's where they did most of their recruiting. Yeah, some people MAY be able to make it up the work ladder without an MBA, but in most cases, and especially for those who went to smaller, lesser-name undergraduate schools, an MBA can propel your career ahead by light years.

Hotshots don't go to business school anymore.

Disagreement #1: Entrepreneurial types NEVER went to MBA school before, so saying they don't now doesn't really mean much.

Disagreement #2: I don't see executives thinking that "business school might start looking like something for people who are feeling a little bit stuck in their careers and need a jumpstart, rather than just a starting gate for superstars." Maybe this will happen in the future, but I don't see any sign of it now.

People go to business school for the wrong reasons.

I do agree with this -- many people go to all sorts of post-grad schools to still "find themselves." So if this is you, I agree with Trunk that an MBA is probably a waste. However, if you know what you want and an MBA is a way to get there, it's probably a good investment of both time and money. Just don't pay a fortune for it unless you're fairly sure you'll make a fortune when you graduate. In other words, perform the same cost/benefit analysis to getting an MBA that you did when getting an undergraduate degree.

Ace an Interview by Preparing for It

I had a couple great comments left on my post titled A Simple Recipe for Job Interview Success. Here's the first:

One more thing I can add: do your research. Nothing is more impressive to an interviewer than a candidate who comes to the interview prepared and can show that he understands the company, its products, the industry and the challenges that the company faces. As a hiring manager, meeting a candidate that has done his homework tells me that I would be hiring an organized, thorough and well prepared individual. It also tells me that this person will be able to hit the ground running.

A second commenter agreed with this:

As head of recruiting for a large company (over 33K employees) I can't tell you how many people - executives as well - come in totally unprepared for an interview. They haven't researched the company, they have no questions for us and seem to have not thought through their answers. Curtis is also right in that you should be yourself - otherwise you may take a job that doesn't suit you & that doesn't benefit you or the company. We try very hard at my company to make sure the persons skills are what we need and equally as hard to discover if the person is a culture fit. What you have outlined as critical steps are indeed the critical steps - be prepared & quantify your achievements.

It's not that hard, people. Really. Put in a little work up front, get to know the company and how you might contribute, and practice answering the top interview questions. Doing these small tasks will set you well ahead of the pack.

Create Your Brand at Work

I write about careers so much because your career is your greatest asset. With a stellar career, you're not only happier, but you also have a huge financial advantage over those who don't have a great job.

Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, has recently written on how you can build your brand at work. The highlights:

It's true that you'll never be as big a brand as Nike or Apple, but your brand is much more important than theirs, because your brand is what will feed you and clothe you and keep your life stable. And just as specialized brands are always the most successful, specialists have the best careers.

FYI, for those of you interested in what a personal brand actually is, check out this definition.

Trunk goes on to give three steps to creating your own brand including:

1. Know what you're very good at.
2. Know what people think of you.
3. Meet the right people.

A few thoughts on this issue:

1. Much of your career success depends on how you market yourself. Of course you need to deliver results too -- that goes without saying. But the people who really drive their careers (and thus their incomes) are also good at marketing themselves (either on purpose or by accident.) They, in effect, develop a brand of being successful, competent, a go-getter and so on. And as successes pile up, the brand is reinforced. Promotions, pay raises and the like soon follow.

2. Marketing is especially important in your job search as it will help you get a better job at a higher pay than someone who doesn't market themselves correctly. But don't forget your responsibility to your career that you also need to market yourself where you are now. Ignore this at your own peril.

3. Here's a suggestion I've found useful: determine what someone who was really successful at your job would do. What would he accomplish? What would she dress like? How would she handle various issues? What would he do when faced with the issues you're faced with? Think these through, write them down, then blend them with your personality and likes (after all, you have to be you, not someone else) to get a list of to-dos. Now, act these out on a daily basis and your brand will form around you -- the brand of a successful person in your job. As you get promoted or change jobs, do this over and over again and you'll be successful at creating a great brand for yourself.

Is Your Image at Work Killing Your Career?

I write about careers so much because your career is your greatest asset. With a stellar career, you're not only happier, but you also have a huge financial advantage over those who don't have a great job.

I've recently discovered the great book Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success. I'm still working my way through it, but so far I think most of the advice is spot on. It's practical and realistic -- totally opposite of what many career counselors would say. And for good reason -- many career "experts" are worried about how things "appear" rather than how they really are.

Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, also has a column at Yahoo Finance. recently she wrote something very provocative, but true (in my opinion) when she discussed your career image. Her thoughts:

Being overweight or sloppily dressed is worse for your career than being a poor performer.

I'm not saying this is fair, I'm saying it's true. So manage your weight, and manage the image you project at work, and you'll do wonders for your career.

If you doubt that your image can inhibit your career, think about this: According to a 2005 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, good-looking people make more money than average-looking people for doing exactly the same work.

I'm not going to comment on the overweight issue other than to say 1) it's true -- I've seen very capable people passed over for promotion, not get hired, etc. time and time again because they are extremely overweight and 2) go to the gym and start eating correctly. Much of being overweight is simply a discipline issue (I know, some is a medical condition, but far less than simply eating too many Twinkies and watching six hours of TV every night) and who wants to hire someone who isn't disciplined?

As far as the dressing issue, I agree with Trunk's thoughts and in hindsight this is something I haven't paid as much attention to as I should have. It was much easier in the "old days" when everyone simply wore a blue or grey suit, but with casual work environments (which I love, BTW) the whole dress issue is now wide open. It's not a big issue where I currently work, but it has been in past places I've worked, and I've probably failed at least somewhat, preferring to dress for comfort rather than for success.

So what's my point? I don't really have any specific advice on this issue other than to point out that how you dress at work is an important issue and one you should consider and take action on if you want to make the most of your career.

Your thoughts?

Internships are Great for Your Career/Life

Here are a couple pieces from Bankrate on internships. The first says that internships are good career moves. The summary:

"Internships are something that can give you a leg up in your first job," says Martin Yate, author of several books on hiring and getting hired.

How can they do this? Let's list the ways:

1. They give you practical experience in a field, something most college graduates don't have.
2. They allow you to rack up real-world accomplishments -- perfect fodder for your resume.
3. They give you a built-in set of references.
4. They might just get you a job offer from the firm you worked for as an intern.
5. They can show you whether or not this line of work is to your liking.

The second piece lists 15 steps to getting an internship and is a great resource for those out there looking to improve their careers with an internship.

I actually had three internships before I finished with college -- and one of them saved my life. Here are the details:

• In my junior year of college, I interned for a lawyer because I was planning on going to law school. I hated it. Then, through a series of events, I discovered business, loved it, and changed my life's work. Boy am I glad I did! If I had gone one to become a lawyer, I think I would have been miserable for much of my life.

• Between my junior and senior years in college, I served an internship with the federal government. It was never going to be something I did for a living, but it was a great experience. I lived in my first big city (Washington, D.C.), saw all the great tourist sites our nation's capital has to offer and, oh yeah, learned some good skills as well. Really, it was just resume fodder (but quite good fodder at that) that paid fairly well. What a great summer that was!

• Between my two years getting an MBA, I worked at a big company in Indianapolis and made more money per month than I thought was allowed by law (something like $3,500 each month.) It was here that I started learning about the "real world" of business and was able to pocket a good amount of savings at the same time.

How about you? Anyone out there had an internship? Was it a good or bad experience?

Plan What Your Want to Say in an Interview

Here's a piece from Yahoo Finance that lists Five Ways to Flub a Job Interview. The item that really stood out to me was the point about preparing talking points for an interview. In other words, know what you want to emphasize and be sure to cover them during the interview. Here's what Penelope Trunk recommends:

When President Bush walks into a press conference, he doesn't worry what journalists are going to ask him because he already has the answers he's going to provide -- no matter what the questions are. Such answers are called talking points.

Politicians want to frame an issue, so they listen to a question and then decide which of their talking points they'll use to answer that question. In this way, each question they're asked is an opportunity to get their own points across.

I once had a media trainer teach me how to stick to talking points, and it works for a wide range of situations -- including job interviews.

You control what five topics you want to discuss, so you should pick five things about yourself that you want to get across in an interview, and each point should come with some sort of story or example. You listen to each question and then figure out which point fits in well for a particular question.

You're not George W. Bush, though, so you can't totally ignore questions that don't have pat answers. But you'd be surprised how often you can answer an interview question with one of the five answers about yourself that you've prepared. This is a way to control an interview and make sure the focus is on your strengths.

A few thoughts from me on this:

1. In general, I agree with this advice. You need to know what you want to say and practice saying it.

2. I think it's rather easy to work in your key points because 90% of all interview questions are the same. Anticipate what's going to be asked and write out your answer to each one. Then rehearse them until you have them down pat. No, you won't sound rehearsed (unless you're a total dork reciting something over and over again) -- you'll be (and thus appear) more relaxed and confident. You'll also have a wide variety of examples showing how you can deliver results.

3. Be sure to answer the question that was asked. You can always tack on what you want to say later or work it in somehow, but don't blow off the question entirely like politicians do.

A Simple Recipe for Job Interview Success

Here's some good advice from Yahoo Jobs on how to make the most of a job interview. It starts with the following:

1. Begin your answer by listing the top three to five requirements of the job as you understand them, based on your research and what you've learned in the interview.

2. Summarize how your skills and experience will enable you to make a significant impact in those areas.

3. Finish by stating your interest in the organization. Keep it short and sweet.

The piece then offers these suggestions:

Prepare your best "story" to answer the question by showing how you will go the "extra mile."

Good advice -- at least in the business world -- based on my 20 years of work experience.

I'd also add the following:

1. Be sure you have several quantifiable accomplishments you can refer to in your interview. Don't simply say you "save the company some money" but that you "led a multi-functional team that delivered over $300,000 in cost savings in four months." The more statements you can make like this last one, the better chance for success (getting an offer.)

2. PRACTICE telling about your accomplishments. Rehearse them over and over until you know them inside and out and can work them seamlessly into the conversation. Some say that practicing your responses makes you sound canned, but I've found the opposite is true. Knowing what you want to say and how to say it gives you a certain feel of confidence and relaxes you during the interview -- thus making you appear more calm, cool and collected.

Any other suggestions for making the most of an interview?

Go to Law School Without Racking Up Tons of Debt

After writing about one woman's disastrous journey to law school, I had to post on this piece from CareerJournal on how to pick a great law school while avoiding hefty debt. Their tips:
 

• Consider an in-state public law school.

• Be a big fish: If your law-school admissions test score doesn't qualify you for admittance at the top 20 to 30 schools ranked by U.S. News & World Report in its annual law-school rankings and your goal is a high-paying law-firm job after graduation, consider going to the school where you will get the biggest tuition discount and where you will be among the top incoming students.
  
• Ask about on-campus recruiting.

• Look for transfer opportunities: Elite schools are increasingly plucking the best students from lower-ranked schools, administrators say.

• Check alternative law-school rankings.

• Scrutinize schools' data on graduate employment.
  
• Think about location: Unless a school is nationally recognized, it's tough to take its degree to firms on the other side of the country.

Let me just reiterate the feelings I detailed in How to Get the Most Financially Out of College (which applies to grad school, law school and the like as well.) My key points:

1. Try and decide what type of work you'd like to do before you apply to any colleges.
2. Go to the least expensive school (or at least an inexpensive one) that will get you where you want to go.
3. Get as many scholarships and free money as possible.
4. Apply the various ways available to save money on college.

I have already detailed what I did to get two degrees (including an MBA) for only $5,000 but let me add a bit to the picture.

When I went to undergraduate school, I wanted to become a lawyer. My school had done well at getting people into law school, so I was set. Then I took an internship with a lawyer in my junior year, hated it, and shifted my focus (through some counsel as well as a few personal experiences) to business/marketing. Trouble was, NO ONE recruited business/marketing majors from my school. Unless you count the Missouri Department of Game and Fisheries -- that paid a whopping $15,000 a year. Therefore, I knew I needed to go to grad school to get where I wanted to be.

I also knew the kind of employer/industry I wanted to work for. In fact, I knew the exact company I wanted to work for, but I was willing to work for a similar company in the same industry. I knew that if I worked for any of these Fortune 500 companies, my career would be set (at least to some degree). So I started looking for the cheapest school (in terms of tuition as well as what work/aid I could get) that had these companies recruiting on campus. I applied for and got an assistantship (based on my undergraduate success) at one school that fit the bill, I graduated two years later, and left with a job at the company I wanted to work for from the start. From there, my career took off. The degree got me to job #1 and job #1 got me to successively better and better positions.

Ok, enough rambling, what's the point? The point is that you need to look at a college degree (including a law school degree) as an investment. What will it cost and what will you get out of it? Look at the best way to maximize this investment, and you'll be able to find a school that meets your needs and won't leave you in a ton of debt relative to your income. Ignore these factors and select a school based on considerations like campus feel, nearness to home, the popularity of the football team, one great professor, and so on, and you may be setting yourself up for a bad financial decision.

Is It Ok to Lie About Your Salary in a Job Interview?

Money magazine has an interesting question for us: is it ok to lie about your current salary in a job interview? Here's Money's bottomline:

Tell the truth - or try to deflect the question. But either way, make a case for why you should be paid the salary you want. Point out what people with your skills make elsewhere. Mention that you’re changing jobs because you feel you’re underpaid. And most important, explain what makes you worth the money. After all, what matters to your prospective boss is not what you feel you’re entitled to but how hard you’re willing to work and what you’re prepared to deliver.

A few thoughts on this from 20 years in business:

1. Try to get the new position's salary range up-front before you interview. It makes it less likely you'll be disappointed down the road.

2. I agree with Money -- don't lie. No amount is worth your integrity. Besides, many employers will ask you to back it up with your previous year's tax returns or pay stubs. I've had this happen a couple of times.

3. Your best bet is to communicate early and often that one reason you're looking to move is that you're looking for higher compensation. Then it won't be a surprise to them when you get to discussing that during offer time. But you need to let them know there are other reasons for leaving too (such as wanting more responsibility, a greater challenge, etc.) -- you don't want them to think you'll bail on them if someone comes along next week and offers you more money.

4. Good reasons you want a higher compensation include:

• You deserve it. This is the best reason you can give for higher compensation, especially if you can prove it with a series of examples of how you saved your company money or drove sales/profits. Who wouldn't want to give this sort of person a raise?

• You're under-compensated for your position/industry/etc.

5. Be ready to explain why you aren't receiving proper compensation at your current company. Good reasons: the have a pay freeze on, they are notorious low-payers, they've fallen on hard times, etc.

6. Be sure to consider TOTAL compensation. I've had companies offer me a higher salary, but the health and retirement benefits were much lower than in my current position -- so much so that the new position offered less compensation than the old one.

Need a Raise? Tips for Asking the Boss

Here's a piece courtesy of ARA Content on how to ask for a raise.

It’s that time. You’ve worked hard, proven yourself and in your mind, you deserve a pay increase. So what now?

“Ask anyone and they’ll tell you they are worth more than what they earn,” says Dr. Andy Ghillyer, vice president of Academic Affairs for Argosy University’s Tampa Campus. “Asking for a raise should be a four step process. Approach it by defining what you want to ask for and then measuring where you are at compared to the industry and/or your profession. The next step is to review your past salary increases to set a realistic expectation. Finally, implement your plan and make plans to follow-up.”

“The first thing that employees need to do is set an appointment with their supervisor to meet somewhere without interruptions,” says Marc Scoleri, director of Career Services at The Art Institute of New York City. Scoleri notes that often times, employees get so worked up about actually asking for a raise that they delay actually setting the meeting. “Get on the calendar early and be prepared for a potential cancellation or move in date/time,” says Scoleri.

Before going in for the “big meeting,” research the industry average of your salary for your position in your location. There are several resources to do this on the Internet such as www.salary.com. For example, the cost of living in New York City will be higher than in Tampa, Fla. The average salary for the same position should be higher in NYC. “Bringing the average salary information from your research to negotiate can be a helpful visual if you are making below the average amount identified by the research, so it is important to research before negotiating,” says Scoleri.

“Explain that you are very happy with your current role and briefly mention your achievements and ask if he/she is open to considering an increase in your compensation,” says Scoleri. If the answer is yes, provide your research. It is always ideal to have a list of accomplishments you recently achieved over and above your normal job duties.

One example includes implementing a new initiative that has a measurable impact for improving customer service, safety, net income or efficiency. Come in prepared to demonstrate that your contribution has gone above and beyond what was written on the job description back when you started. Let your boss know you do not expect an answer today, which will help because most likely he/she will not be able to immediately give you that additional 5 percent or bonus on the spot.

Always shoot a little higher than needed and be willing to take other compensation such as vacation days, incentives or one-time bonus for superior performance. Scoleri says, “If your supervisor says no, ask what it would take for future consideration, listen and take appropriate actions to prove you are an asset.”

“One question that many people have is when is a good time to ask for a raise,” says Dr. Ghillyer. “Know your company’s budget cycle. Don’t ask in the middle of the budget year. Chances are slim. You have to time your move.”

Another good time to ask is when you have an offer letter from another employer to use as leverage, but don’t use the ‘other offer’ card unless you are given no other option -- you may win this round, but you don’t want your boss holding a grudge for being ‘blackmailed’ into the raise. Negotiate before you are hired into a new position for additional vacation days or lump sum bonuses if the company states they have a maximum percentage for raises.

The last thing to remember is that there is no need to be nervous. Go in confident, but don’t go in too overconfident that you set your self up for a let down. Make your case and prove your worth by demonstrating your accomplishments and explaining why the company should reach a little deeper into their pockets for your performance. We all need a raise. Good luck.

Get Rich by Doing Something No One Else Wants to Do

Here's a piece from USA Today that details how many people are getting rich by doing jobs no one else wants to do -- cleaning sewage, collecting garbage, picking up dog poop, etc. The highlights:

James Dillard, owner of Dillard's Septic Service in Annapolis, Md., runs a business that most others consider beneath them. Dillard knows that, but he takes it to the bank. He charges $200 to $300 a visit. At about five stops a day, his annual income passes six figures with months to spare.

Turns out there are a lot of people doing well and getting rich running businesses large and small that others consider mundane, boring, beneath them or downright disgusting.

Portable toilets are lucrative, so much so that they have a trade association called the Portable Sanitation Association International, which says the industry brings in $1.5 billion a year servicing 1.4 million portable restrooms worldwide with a fleet of 9,400 trucks.

Most anyone can clean, but more and more don't want to, and so the commercial and residential cleaning services industry grew to $49 billion in 2005 from $29 billion in 1998, says John LaRosa, research director of Marketdata.

Thomas Stanley, author of the best-seller The Millionaire Next Door, made a fortune himself by pointing out that the rich are often in mundane businesses and usually aren't the guys walking around in suits or at country clubs. They are scrap-metal dealers and dry cleaners, he says. They read trade journals such as Poultry Times and Water and Irrigation.

"You don't get rich doing what you love. You get rich doing something no one else wants to do."

This summer I went to a party held by a couple my wife knows. The party was at their house which, I'm guessing, was 7,000 square feet or so. Outside was a huge, in-ground pool with massive rocks built up around it (I KNOW they paid more for their landscaping than I did for my house.) They had an out-building where the husband had his office, a small house on-site where a relative lived, their top-of-the-line RV parked next to the out-building and so on. Yes, I realize that they may have borrowed a ton to finance all of this and they could be in lots of debt, but they had to have tremendous resources even to qualify to borrow enough to afford all that I saw.

I talked to the husband a bit while we were eating. His business? He had a sewage and water irrigation company. He noted that he had been in circumstances where the sewage was chest-high on him as he worked to repair a system. But he also noted that he was very well paid since no one else wanted to do what he did.

I've always heard that one way to get rich was to do something that others hated doing. They'll pay a ton for you to do it instead, and you'll get rich. Anyone out there ever put this into practice?

How Not to Get a Job

I've talked about strange things interviewers have done, what not to wear in an interview, and even wondered if creative resumes are worth the risk, but what I'm about to share really takes the cake.

Here are two lists. The first details the 10 dumbest job-interview moves while the second covers the 10 dumbest resume blunders. My favorites from the interview gaffes:

• The job hunter said we had nice benefits, which was good because he was going to have to take a lot of leave in the coming year.
• The job hunter delivered his entire cover letter in the form of a rap song.
• The job hunter brought his mother to the interview and let her do all the talking.

Can you imagine what the interviewer thought when the job hunter showed up with his mom? I would have paid a good amount of money to be a fly on the wall for that one!

Here are my favs of the resume blunders:

• A job candidate attached a letter from her mother.
• A job candidate used pale blue paper with teddy bears printed around the border.
• A job candidate explained a three-month gap in employment by saying that he was getting over the death of his cat.
• A job candidate specified that his availability to work Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays is limited because the weekends are "drinking time."
• A job candidate stated that he works well in the nude.
• A job candidate explained an arrest record by stating, "We stole a pig, but it was a really small pig."

What is it with job hunters bringing their mom along or having mom write a letter?

Unbelievable. I don't have a lot to say about these other than use common sense when you develop your resume and go for interviews. Think what the person hearing what you say or reading what you wrote will feel about what you do, then act accordingly. Don't simply "be yourself" and expect them to love you. Let's face it, we're all a bit quirky in one way or another. That's ok, that's what makes life interesting. But we don't need to display our quirks to a complete stranger who has a business to run and holds our financial well-being in his hands. It's usually a recipe for disaster.

What Is It Worth for You to Have Flexible Work Hours/Work at Home?

Here's a CNN Money piece about companies that take the work-life balance seriously. It details the policies many companies have regarding the hours worked by employees (when the hours are put in as well as where they occur.) I found the following example intriguing:

Employees at the Seattle office of the U.S. Government Accountability Office know that they have to put in 80 hours of work every two weeks. But they can configure those hours pretty much how they'd like, with the exception of the one day a week their managers require all employees to be at the office at the same time.

Plus, they can work from home for some of the week, or they can work compressed weeks so that they can take every fifth or tenth day off and still log their 80 hours.

Wouldn't it be great to have flexible hours like this? To know that you have to put in your time but that you can select what that time is.

But here's a question for you: what would that be worth to you? In other words, what would you be willing to give up in pay to have an arrangement like this? $2,000 a year? $5,000 a year? $10,000 a year? More? Less?

I'd have to really think it over, but I think it would be worth it to me for between $1,000 and $5,000 a year. I'd mostly come in early, work long hours on a few days (to get more days off), and work at home as much as I could. I think it would be great.

What about you? Anyone out there with flexible hours like this? How do you like it? For those of you who do not have the flexibility with your time at work, what would you give up in salary to get it? And how would you arrange your work time?

How I Made Millions Off a $5,000 Investment

Ok, so the title's a bit over-the-top on this one. But that's the kind of mood I'm in as I write this, so I'm going with it. :-)

Getting a college education and following it up with an MBA has been one of the best financial decisions I've ever made. The numbers show that if you get the right college degree and maximize the earnings from your career, you can add millions to your income throughout your lifetime. For me, my MBA was a major step in moving my salary up much higher than I ever thought it could go.

And best of all, this great investment didn't cost me that much. Yes, it did take six years of my life, but in terms of financial costs, I left grad school with only $5,000 in debt. Best $5,000 I've ever spent. I thought I'd briefly detail for you how I did it. The steps:

1. I applied myself in high school. Yep, you lay the groundwork for college scholarships/success starting in 9th grade of high school (for more on this line of thinking, see Why Extracurricular, Volunteer, and Community Service Activities in High School are so Important at Getting You into the College of Your Choice and What You (or Your Child) Should be Doing in 9th Grade to Get into the College of Your Choice). I studied hard, was involved in extracurricular activities (including leadership positions), served in the community and held a part-time job. All of these looked great on college applications and helped me get accepted to colleges I was interested in.

2. I went to an undergraduate school that was good (not great) but that was affordable. I did a cost/benefit analysis when I decided what college to attend. Today it seems that many kids simply pick a college they "like" and decide to figure out how to pay for it (or borrow for it) without much regard to how much the college costs and what the expected payout is.

3. I got scholarships based on: 1. Academic accomplishments (see #1 above -- my work in high school paid off here). 2. Leadership/activities. (Again, high school work paid off.) 3. Need. (At that time, I was from a "poor" family).  These added up to a nice chunk of change each year.

4. I applied myself in college. I viewed going to college as my "job" and treated it as such. Sure, I had plenty of time for fun and non-school activities (my fraternity brothers can attest to this), but I also studied hard and was involved in several campus organizations. This led to more scholarships and a lucrative assistantship in my sophomore through senior years.

5. I worked in college. My freshman year I worked in the library for a pittance, but because of my grades and activities I moved up into the assistantship the last three years of school. I also worked every summer and saved like a fiend. Even the summer I couldn't get my job at the grocery store back, I found work "walking beans" (don't ask if you don't know what it is -- you don't want to know.)

6. My success in undergraduate school set up my grad school success as well. I followed the same process -- looked at good but not great schools that were very affordable and used my high school and college results to get into one that fit my criteria. Also based on these results, I got an assistantship that paid my entire tuition for two years. But I worked for it. EVERY Friday and Saturday night for two years I ran a movie theater in the student union. Yeah, it was a pain to go to work when my friends were out partying, but the sacrifice was worth it as I left grad school owing only $5,000 to my grandmother (which I paid back a few years later.)

So, in the end, that $5,000 investment will end up earning me millions more than if I hadn't gone to college and grad school. Seems like a good investment to me! ;-)

BTW, when I went to college, I didn't know about all the other ways people can save when getting their degree. If you want more ideas on how to save on college, check out my college category for tons of ideas.

Help a Reader: A New Job?

Here's an email I received recently from a reader:

I work as a self-employed IT contractor, in the state government space.  I bill my time at $80/hr.  I get absolutely nothing as far as benefits.  I pay about $1000/month for insurance premiums.  I have no 401k matching, no paid time off, no educational budget, nothing.  I can't really complain because my corp. is making $80/hr with low overhead.  As a corporation, I pay fewer taxes than a regular FTE.  I have reason to believe that I can continue this contract for a long, long time.  At least a few more years.  The job is also very close to where I live, and I can take public transportation.

The downside to this position is that my employer has no real interest in developing my skills or my career.  I'm a hired gun and I'm there to do a job.  I don't have a lot of opportunities to work with new technologies/concepts.

I have gained a reputation as a top performer, at least locally, in my field.  I receive frequent offers from other companies with available work; however since I have it so good here, I always decline.

Well a new opportunity came up and it is with a company that has tons of potential.  I believe in the company's product, its employees, its management, and the overall execution.  They offered me $110k with full benefits, including paid time off, medical/dental/401k matching, etc.  $110k is definitely nothing to turn my nose up  at.  On top of all that, I will have options to buy stock in the company, which could always be poised for IPO or acquisition. 

I'm absolutely torn.  On one hand, I have a real easy close boring (government) job, where I can make a very nice hourly rate, and probably stick around for a while.  Then again, my contract could always be up tomorrow.  You never know with contracting. 

On the other hand, a dynamic, fast-moving company with amazing technology and product wants to hire me away.  I would be giving up quite a bit in salary but I would be doing more of what I'm truly interested and passionate about.  I would be working with the cream of the local IT crop as well.  The job is also an extra 30 minutes away.

Any thoughts for this reader? What would you advise him to do?

Help a Reader: Negotiating a Raise

Here's an email I received recently from a reader:

I have recently learned that my supervisor "put in" for a promotion for me. She recently left the company but told me this in confidence before she left. I was expecting this to happen anyway, but I'm glad she took care of it before she left. I am definitely underpaid right now, this is my first job out of college and I did not do a good job of negotiating when I got it (I was in dire need of work). I am in an entry level professional position and I am the youngest one to have held it, if I get this promotion I will again be the youngest to hold that and will have acquired it in the shortest period of time. I know for a fact that upper management likes me a lot and considers me to be someone who is moving through the ranks quickly. They have no idea of my knowledge of this promotion consideration, so as you can see I have a little advantage here. Another advantage, I have the compensation scale documentation for my position (they probably don't know I have it, and that's how I know I'm underpaid right now I'm just below the minimum pay for my position).

My questions: Is it appropriate to negotiate a raise amount when receiving a promotion? Do I accept the raise in lieu of my year-end performance increase, or should I negotiate to get it in addition?

As I mentioned before, this is my first professional job out of college so I'm new to the whole office/career etiquette.

Any thoughts for this reader?

MBAs Are Getting More Valuable

I've noted that I did quite well financially by getting an MBA. Well, it looks like a good thing is getting even better. Career Journal reports that there's growing demand for MBA grads and you know what that means -- salaries are going up. The details:

With demand growing for M.B.A. graduates, it is a seller's market out there, making it tough for many companies to meet hiring quotas using old tried-and-true recruiting methods. At a time when career opportunities are so plentiful that students can afford to turn down even six-figure offers from investment banks, it is especially difficult for traditional manufacturers to make an impression.

So to improve their odds, recruiters are visiting business schools earlier and more often, raising starting salaries and touting their company's dedication to work-family balance.

Raising salaries and work-family balance? Woo hoo! It's the good life for those who have the right skills and went to the right schools!!!! ;-)

For me, the $5,000 investment (plus lots of hard work and two years of my life) in an MBA has been a gold mine. It's allowed me to earn a great income as well as work for some of the best companies in the world (and be fulfilled while doing so.) If I were to go back and be able to do it all again, I certainly would.

That said, I still think that an MBA only gets you your first (and maybe second) job. After that, it becomes less and less important and real-world experience becomes more and more important.

Strange Interview Questions

Anyone out there ever had a strange interview question? You know, something like these listed by Yahoo:

• "If you were having a dinner party and could invite three famous people, who would they be?"
• "What's the last book you read?"
• "What did you want to be when you were 10 years old?"
• "What classes did you like in high school?"
• "What would I find in your refrigerator?"

Theoretically, the interviewer is trying to find out something specific, but I think he/she is just more likely to be playing with you. Let's face it, many interviews are tough enough to pull off well without some random question coming from left field. Then again, maybe that's what they're looking for -- how well you perform under pressure.

Fortunately, I've only had experience with this twice -- or once really. Here are my stories:

1. I was interviewing for a position and was told the boss was very analytical. In fact, he ALWAYS asked interviewees to solve an algebra problem for him. Now I was pretty good in math at school, but I expected some sort of multi-stage complicated formula that might be able to be solved by a super-computer -- something that was sure to trip me up. As a result, I wasn't looking forward to the interview.

Well, the day came and I had my interview. When it got to the algebra problem, he gave me something like "A + 3 = 5" (ok, it wasn't that simple, but it was in that neighborhood.) I solved it quickly, he seemed please, and I left soon thereafter. I was called a few days later and offered the job but decided to pass on it. I had better offers to consider.

2. In a different set of interviews, I heard of one general manager who was going to ask me a "surprise question." I had no idea what it was going to be (supposedly he had several) other than it often threw interviewees for a loop. Great. Just great.

So I sweated it out the couple weeks before the interview and when I arrived on the appointed day, I was handed a list of people I'd be seeing. I was told that the general manager in question was out sick that day and had been replaced with another interviewer. Divine intervention!

BTW, I found out later that he was famous for asking interviewees to do a 60-second commercial for themselves -- to act out a commercial for why they should be hired and to take 60-seconds doing it. He would give them a couple minutes to think about it, then said he'd time them to make sure they used all of their 60 seconds but didn't go over. Nice, huh?

I ended up taking a job with this company and ultimately my greatest fears were realized -- I had to work for this guy. He was one of the best bosses I ever had.

So, have you ever had any strange or random interview questions? What were they? How did you react to them?

Are MBA Schools Finally Getting a Clue?

I did quite well financially by getting an MBA and I'm certainly glad I got the degree, but the biggest beef I have with MBA programs is that about 75% of what you learn is not that applicable to the real-world. Instead of taking people through case studies concerning big strategic issues that a CEO faces, grad schools should have courses on how to write, present, work with others, set priorities, read financial reports and so on as well as specific tasks that pertain to one's chosen discipline (marketing, finance, etc.) And yet, most still fill much of the classroom with "theories" that may work in the context of a grad school class, but aren't practical in the real world.

As I think back on my grad school days, I bet I've used absolutely nothing from at least half the classes I took. Granted, this was back when we were writing on stone tablets, but my experiences with schools since then show me that little has changed. That said, I must commend the University of Michigan. From what I've seen there, it appears their professors are working to make the curriculum real-world based.

That said, it now appears that some schools are starting to get a clue. They're working with employers to develop custom, practical programs that are designed to give the students exactly what they need. Yes, these are MBA Executive programs, not "regular" MBA options, but at least it's a sign of hope. As employers get more demanding about what they want, hopefully schools will change courses to make them more and more practical.

Anyone else out there with me? Was mine the only grad school experience where I didn't learn much of practical use in the real world?

Get a Job by Volunteering

One of the tried and true principles of getting a new job is to network with others. I hear this tip all the time. A subset of this suggestion is to volunteer your time and experience for a non-profit/charity event. This way, you'll be able to help out a needy cause and at the same time expose your (great) skills to a ton of new people -- one of which may want to give you a new job. That's what happened to me. Here's my story.

A few years ago I had the idea to raise money for a local charity by having a live and silent auction (not an original idea, certainly, but it was a new event for them.) The charity's president liked the idea and asked me to head the event's committee. I agreed as long as he would get me the key workers I needed. I gave him the list of the types of people I needed, he got them to volunteer, and I agreed to head the committee.

We all worked hard as a team -- me leading the group and the others handling their areas of expertise. We spent a lot of time together in meetings and the members of the committee got to see how I led, made decisions, handled challenges, etc. When it was all said and done, we knew each other very well. The event went off after seven months of planning and was able to raise over $100,000. It was a huge success!

A few months later, one of the members of the committee contacted me. They needed a marketing executive for their company and since they had seen me in action for several months, they thought I was the right guy. A couple interviews and a few emails later and I had a new job, better hours, higher compensation and was working for people I greatly admired. I'm not sure I would have ever dreamed a position like this even existed. But the fact was that it found me when all I was doing was trying to help a charity. Almost four years later, we're still happily "married." It's probably the best place I've ever worked and I'm thankful for it.

So if you're in the market for a new job (or even if you aren't), let me suggest that you look for an opportunity to volunteer and showcase your talents. If you do, you may end up with a new, great job like I did!

Ask for More Money When You're Offered a Job

I've already told you that you should ask for more when you're given a job offer, but I'm going to tell you again. This time, it's CareerJournal that suggests not accepting the first salary offer you're given. Here's why:

CareerBuilder.com's survey of 875 hiring managers revealed that about 60% leave room in the first offer for salary negotiations, 30% say their first offer is final, and 10% say it depends on the candidate.

Meanwhile, four out of five corporate recruiters said they are willing to negotiate compensation, according to a study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management.

So somewhere in the 70% range (the majority by far) is the percentage of employers that can pay more if you deserve it, can make a case for it, and ask for it. And yet most candidates don't ask. They're turning down free money in my book.

But it's rather easy to be successful. All you need to do is:

Arm yourself with information. Research the company's pay scale, the job's fair market value, the industry average and the region you'll be working in.

Prove what you're worth. Employers are more likely to honor your requests for higher compensation if you can demonstrate why you deserve it. Highlight your unique skills, specific accomplishments or the revenue you'll generate. Make sure your references give you good reviews--employers rely on past peers and bosses when deciding on a higher salary.

In my career, I've always counter-offered. The reasons I've used to increase my compensation from the initial offer include the following:

1. The new city is more expensive to live in than the old one.

2. The total offer (when looking at 401k contributions and other benefits) isn't that much different than my current salary.

3. I have alternative offers worth more. (This is a GREAT position to be in -- two jobs you'd love to have getting into a bidding war.)

BTW, I don't really emphasize my skills and accomplishments at this point -- I've done that during the interview process.

Also remember that at this point, they've decided that they want you. Out of all the people they've interviewed, they selected you. And it's likely that they want/need you there asap (your new boss may be doing your job along with his -- and he may REALLY want you there), so you have a lot of negotiating power. If you ask for a fair bump based on reasonable conclusions, most companies (in the 70% range) will respond positively.

Why make such a big deal of the issue anyway? Because you have an advantage in maximizing your career earnings if you begin with a higher starting salary. You do even better if you get regular salary increases -- and one of those times when you can make better-than-average jumps in pay is when you are switching jobs. As such, don't settle for a lower-than-deserved salary or it will end up compounding against you throughout your working career.

What NOT to Do When Asking for a Raise

As most of you know, I'm a big believer in asking for a raise (under certain conditions, of course, but still, many people fulfill these conditions.) As such, I've detailed what you should do when you ask for a raise but there are also things you shouldn't do when asking for a raise. Here's what CareerJournal lists as five things you should avoid doing when asking for a raise:

• Don't act entitled.
• Don't tell a sob story.
• Don't indulge in theatrics.
• Don't demand to be paid as much as a co-worker.
• Don't threaten to quit.

Here's my take on these from 20 years as a manager/employee:

1. No one likes people who think they deserve something they may or may not deserve. Have your facts with you and be confident, of course, but don't act like you own the place and it's the least they can do to give you a raise.

2. No one cares about your sob story -- at least from a business standpoint. A boss may sympathize with you, but that has zero impact on whether or not the company should keep you around.

I've had a couple of experiences in this area in my career:

• An employee told me he needed a raise because he was in deep credit card debt. Not only did I not give him a raise, but I started questioning his judgment and ability to handle company funds.

• One employee had a spouse who passed away. He was a marginal employee at best, but the company kept him around since he was going through a rough time. When the company downsized SIX YEARS later, he asked why he was being let go. He thought the company should keep him forever since his wife had died.

3. Creating a scene of any sort will not help you, it will hurt you. I would never give a raise to someone who did this.

4. This can have some value, but I'd never say this outright if it were me (How do you know this information anyway -- have you been looking at confidential information you had no right to? Or maybe the other employee told you -- at which point you'll get him in trouble.) But I would say something like, "I simply want to be sure I'm compensated fairly compared to others in my position and at my performance level." I think that's ok.

5. This can work in the short-term, but is a killer long-term. I had an employee tell me I needed to pay him more or he was leaving. I believed him and he was vital on a key project, so we paid him more. But I started finding people to do bits and pieces of his job and once the project was over he was  no longer in a good bargaining position. He eventually was replaced by another employee.

So, have any of you had experiences with any of these -- either as the asker or askee? What was the result?

Is Going Back to College Worth It? (Are MBAs Worth It?)

In Experience versus Education: Which Counts More in Career Success?, I talked about which of the two made the most difference in a person's career. As we all have discussed this issue through several posts, I think the general consensus is the following:

An education (degree) is often needed to open the door and get a good first job. The degree might also be important for later job opportunities, but generally the importance of the degree becomes less and less as a person's career advances -- and work experience becomes more and more important. In many cases, work experience eventually dwarfs education in importance later on in a person's career.

I realize that the above statement is very general and while it applies to most circumstances (at least in my opinion), there are tons of exceptions.

And here's a piece from Kiplinger that details the case against going back to school -- in this case, he highlights the MBA and how there's little need for it. His rationale:

• Rather than learning what you need, you're buried under mountains of information, most of which you'll never use, and the rest of which you'll probably long have forgotten -- or it will have become obsolete by the time you need it.

• You're often taught in a lecture class (the least effective way to learn,) or in a discussion section, in which you endure more professorial prattle punctuated by student comments often ignorant and/or designed more to impress than to edify.

• Worst of all, most professors are far less qualified than are master practitioners to help you prepare to be competent in your career. After all, they are people who deliberately opted out of the real world so they could study esoteric academic research questions. The more prestigious the institution, the more likely professors are to be hired, promoted, and tenured based on their research productivity, with little regard to whether they confuse or bore the pants off students.

Ha! This guy's singing my song!

I have to agree with him 100% on these. Grad school contained a ton of stuff I haven't used since, was full of meaningless discussions from people who didn't know how the real world worked (including me), and was taught by people who didn't understand the practicalities of American business. It was fairly worthless in preparing me for a career in business except for one thing -- it opened the door for me to get a job I could never have gotten otherwise (and certainly couldn't have gotten at age 24.) After that, my experience took over and my career took off. But I needed the MBA to get it started.

So what does he suggest you do instead of going back to school? He says you should enroll in "You U" -- a self-developed program where you:

• Have a mentor
• Read key articles and books
• Attend conferences
• Do apprenticeships alongside a master practitioner

By the way, I agree that each of these should be part of making the most of your career -- but you should be doing this whether or not you get another degree.

Anyway, the author suggests that you can open the doors that an MBA usually opens for you by writing a specific letter (included in the link above) that convinces employers that you've gone to You U and are a great hire. He claims the letter should be really effective:

I give talks to executives and often ask them, "Imagine you're an employer and you post a want ad that says 'MBA required.' and one applicant wrote this letter." I read the letter above to them. I then say, "Raise your hand if you'd interview him." Invariably, 80% to 90% do.

Ok, now who doesn't understand the real world?

First of all, would the executives even see the letter or would some HR intern weed it out since the guy didn't have an MBA? Second, would 80% to 90% REALLY interview him or are they just saying that in a bogus survey in an artificial environment? Third, an interview is not a job offer. It's far from it.

What do you think? Agree with the author? Agree with me? Something in between?

Perks Over Money: Parking Spaces

Here's an interesting piece from CareerJournal that details the various ways people park at work. What was especially interesting to me were the comments/stories on how some companies use parking spaces as a perk for certain employees. Here's a summary:

Designating some spots for strong performers may be a simple way to improve employee satisfaction and generate healthy competition, says Paula Marks, a vice president at executive-search firm Gilbert Tweed Associates Inc. in New York. "Noncash benefits are what a company can do to let people know they have added value without ruffling the feathers of others," she says. "Often times, it's the psychic gratification that makes people feel really good."

I've seen a variety of parking-related perks at the companies I've worked for including:

• One company offered free downtown parking to executives above a certain level (I wasn't included.) The rest of us had to hoof it across the bridge or pay $8 a day to park close. Yikes!

• Another company had reserved parking spots behind the building for executives (I was included in this group.) It worked out nice for me for two reasons: 1) I was close to the door and 2) if I ever wondered if one of my peers or someone higher up was in the building, all I had to do was look out in the back lot to see if his/her car was there.

• My current company is on a first-come, first-serve basis, which works great for me since I'm always in first. Then again, in a company as small as ours, the difference between the first spot and the fourth spot is the width of four cars. ;-)

How about you -- have you ever had any parking-related perks? Or maybe others in your company do? Do they seem to be "worth it" for those with the privilege?

Help a Reader: A Job You Love or One that Pays More and Has a Shorter Commute?

In my post titled Help a Reader: How Much is 90 Minutes a Day Worth? we discussed whether a reader should take a lower-paying job close to home or a higher-paying one farther away. You all did a great job of giving him suggestions and helped him make the decision that was best for him. But another reader had a question on that post -- one that's closely related. He asked:

Well how about this situation: I have an opportunity to work very close to home, actually, for the village I live in. It is also offering a higher pay, ~4% more. The job is in IT but it doesn't seem like something I'd like to do. On the other hand, I currently work for a school district's IT department about an hour away. I really love this job. I see myself retiring here. So it basically boils down to 5 min from home + higher pay vs loving my current position. We have a 6-month old son. Any opinions?

What would you suggest?

A Tale of Two Jobs

I found the following job comparison in October's issue of Bicycling magazine:

• Minimum starting salary for a Protour rider: $33,163
• Typical starting salary for an NBA mascot: $45,163

A few thoughts:

1. Seems a bit like apples and oranges to compare these two -- one is a minimum while the other sounds like an average.

2. I'm surprised that the Protour amount is so low. These guys are at the peak of their sport and all they get is $33k! Yikes! Then again, they probably get all the gear free. And I'm sure much of their food and housing expenses are covered -- at least if they live in a team house for any time of the year.

3. $45k to start as an NBA mascot, huh? Not bad. I wonder what the top level is -- maybe $70k or $80k? There are worse ways to make a living.

4. And, I'm sure, neither of these requires a college education. If you wanted to do either of them, you could start right out of high school (or before), adding a few extra years of income to your career (and avoiding some costly education bills.)

5. That said, there are VERY FEW of these spots available, so I wouldn't forego school in hopes that I was going to be the next mascot for the Pistons. ;-)