Cash Money Life» Career and Education

Avoiding Conflict with Your Supervisor

Patrick — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:42:35 +0000

I’ve worked in several different professional environments in my career – the military, consulting, and now as a contractor on a large project. One constant I have seen is the conflict between supervisors and their employees.

Don’t get me wrong, most supervisors are trying to do their job and do what is best for the company. But there are always some supervisors who like to make work hard for their employees. Why? It can be a pure power play, to hide their ineptitude, to cover up their lack of work ethic, it could be pride, or it may just be personal. There is no definitive list of reasons.

Common traps include making you look bad, changing assignments at the last minute, changing due dates to make you miss an important deadline, taking credit or your work, lying to you or making you look like a liar, spreading rumors, etc. Again, the list is limitless. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to help avoid conflict with your supervisor.

How to Avoid Conflict With Your Supervisor

The first thing you need to recognize is what is happening, even if you don’t understand why. Look for patterns or signs that you are being singled out and that this isn’t your supervisor’s way of treating everyone. It’s a lot more difficult to avoid conflict if your supervisor treats everyone the same way. Once you determine there is a pattern, try some of the steps below. You will find that not all of them will apply to you, and in some cases you will need to think out of the box. If you have additional tips to avoid conflict or have stories you wish to share, please leave them in the comments section after the article.

Talk to your supervisor.

Try to schedule a meeting with your supervisor to discuss the issue. Many people prefer to avoid conflict once it is out in the open. The key to this step is not to bring emotion to the meeting. Reiterate that your only goal is to help the team and ask for ways that you can improve your performance or provide more value. You will get a lot further if you take the approach of being a team player.

Avoid conflict and gossip.

Try to remove all emotion from the situation – regardless of what the supervisor says or does. Do what is asked without griping or pushing back. Don’t give the supervisor a reason to say or do anything that can be used against you. You may find it helps if you can keep conversation to a minimum and respond with minimal, “yes/no” responses, and avoid unnecessary opportunities for conflict. At the same time, don’t gossip about your supervisor or anyone else. If you have an issue with someone, take it to them personally. Don’t air your issues to your coworkers.

Make your supervisor look good.

Your boss is less likely to pick on you when you make him or your team look good. Contribute to meetings and projects, and be sure to spread the credit to the team. Drop your supervisor’s name in a favorable manner if it is merited. Avoid correcting your boss in front of his manager or a group of people unless it is necessary. Many times you can pull him or her aside and give the correct information afterward.

What about the supervisor who wants to take credit for your work? This can be tricky, and often the best way to handle this is to take credit before there is credit to be given. For example, carbon copy multiple team members and interested parties on progress reports, including your supervisor’s boss if you can get away with it. Blind carbon copy works great here too. You can also speak up in meetings regarding progress or give updates on a new feature you created. The key is to do it in a way that keeps everyone informed of what you are doing, but doesn’t come across as bragging.

Don’t be a target.

Arrive to work a few minutes early, stay a few minutes late, take short lunches, avoid hanging out in the break room or taking long breaks, etc. Leave a note on your office door or on a dry erase board in your cubicle when you are in a meeting or have an appointment. Be sure to write down the time you will return, and leave a pen for others to write a note for you. In short, don’t give your boss any reasons to call you out.

Document everything.

A common supervisor trap is to put you in a position where it is your word against his. Unless you have proof to the contrary, you aren’t going to win. So document everything. Archive your e-mails and files to your hard drive, and back them up to a thumb drive if you need to. That way your supervisor’s claims against you can be quickly corrected. Carry a notebook to meetings and everywhere else you go. Be sure to write down important dates, assignments, requirements, or anything else that is relevant to your task. You will then have written proof and it is no longer your word against his word.

*The purpose of this isn’t to be smug or trap your supervisor; remember we are trying to avoid conflict. So instead of throwing this back in his or her face, try gently reminding your supervisor that you believe the information you have is correct and you have it documented. Your supervisor will most likely stop trying to use this trap against you once he figures out he can’t win.

Repeat questions during conversations.

This goes hand in hand with the documentation. Repeat instructions or tasks that are given to you during or at the end of the conversation. Be sure to repeat the key information such as requirements, due date, and other important issues. This is another place where your notebook comes in handy. Be sure to jot down this information in front of your supervisor. This will demonstrate that you are paying attention making an effort to meet deadlines for the tasks you are assigned. It also gives you documentation to prove you were on target and makes it less likely your supervisor will try to move dates or change assignments on you in order to make you look bad.

Contact Human Resources of your supervisor’s boss

You want to avoid escalating the matter if possible. It’s messy and can lead to more tension in the workplace. But sometimes it is unavoidable. In most cases you want to leave escalation as a last result, however, if your supervisor is breaking laws or company policies, you are well within your rights to escalate the matter.

Equal Opportunity Rights and Federal Laws

The tips above refer to dealing with a boss that can be overbearing or just difficult to deal with. If you believe your manager is breaking federal equal opportunity employment laws, then you need to document your case and contact your human resources department.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces discrimination against:

employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;

age discrimination which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;

individuals with disabilities and pregnant women;

(see overview of laws and EEOC home page for more information).

Individuals who file a discrimination complaint are also protected against retaliation. Just keep in mind it is also against the law to file a false claim.

Do you have any other tips to avoid supervisor conflict, or do you have any stories to share? If so, leave them in the comments section.

~$~

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Opening New Ohio 529 Accounts for My Wife and Daughter to Get $200 in Bonuses

Patrick — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:18:32 +0000

Earlier this year my wife and I had our first child which made us rethink our financial planning. One of the new expenses we need to plan for is college education. Even though our daughter still has about 18 years before she will be going to college, putting a plan in place now is a good idea, because if today’s tuition rates are any indication, college will be an expensive endeavor!

We researched college education plans and decided to open a 529 College Savings Plan through CollegeAdvantage, Ohio’s 529 plan, because a 529 plan best met our needs. Check out the 529 vs. the Coverdell for more info on the two most popular college savings options.

Why Choose the Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan?

The Ohio CollegeAdvantage College Savings plan is open to residents of all states, is rated as “Top 5″ in the nation by Morningstar, and features low cost investment options (including several options from Vanguard). Additional features:

No enrollment or maintenance fees
Open with as little as $25
Tax breaks on contributions for OH residents
Tax free withdrawals for qualified educational expenses
$25 sign up bonus – use referral code: 2466706
$25 Automatic contribution bonus
$50 “Refer a Friend” bonus

The 529 also offers the flexibility of changing your account beneficiary to another family member at any time, which is nice because that means we can open 529 plans in my name, my wife’s name, and our daughter’s name, and then transfer the benefits to our daughter (or future child) without penalty when she goes to school.

Opening new accounts will earn us $200 for our daughter’s education

I opened an account in my name this before our daughter was even born, but I decided to wait until after our daughter was born before opening an account in my wife’s name. With the current bonus options in place, now is a great time to open an Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 plan.

How we will earn $200:

I refer my daughter and I receive a $50 referral, she receives a $25 bonus. ($75)
Refer my wife from my daughter’s account. Daughter receives $50, wife receives $25. ($75)
Set up an automatic contribution to both accounts; $25 each ($50)
Total = $200

How to receive the $25 Ohio CollegeAdvantage referral offer

You need to use a referral code to get the $25 College Advantage sign up bonus. Here are the details:

Open a new College Advantage 529 Savings Plan with a minimum of $25.
Enter the following referral code: 2466706
Receive your $25 bonus within 7-10 business days.
Offer expires December 15, 2009.

How to receive the $25 systematic savings offer

To take advantage of the Systematic Savings Incentive Offer, you will need to start a new recurring monthly electronic funds transfer (EFT) or payroll deduction between September 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010 with a minimum contribution of $25 per month and it must remain active for at least 90 days. The $25 bonus will be applied to your CollegeAdvantage direct account 90 days after you start the new recurring EFT or payroll deduction. Here are the program rules and details.

Refer more people for more bonuses

Earn more bonus money. My family can get $200 from this program, but you could easily earn several hundred more if you have a large family or extensive network. You can refer friends and family for additional bonuses – they get a $25 sign up bonus and you get a $50 referral bonus. It’s a win-win situation for all involved.

If you are looking for additional ways to save for college, then I recommend looking into Upromise – Earn Free Money for College.

~$~

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Consider Contracting and Freelancing

Kevin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:01:28 +0000

This is a guest post by Kevin, who writes a get out of debt blog at No Debt Plan. He wants to help you get and stay out of debt. This is the third post in a series on unemployment and your finances.

Your job isn’t permanent. Even if you are good at your job there is no guarantee that you won’t receive a pink slip. The economy is changing and many companies are slashing costs to remain in the black. Simply put, you have no guarantee that you will have a job tomorrow.

One of the first lessons in investing you learn is to diversify. Placing all of your investing eggs into one stock is a recipe for disaster. The same is true of your employment and income. You must protect yourself through diversification of income.

One potential step in that direction is through contracting.

Earn Side or Full-Time Income with Freelancing

The beauty of diversifying your income streams is you don’t have to jump in head first. I’m not telling you to quit your desk job to be a starving artist. You can pick up one project every six months just to get a taste of what it is like.

What I am encouraging you to do is this:

identify your true skills
identify opportunities to put those skills to profitable use
maximize your earning through negotiations

Your true skills might be something you do on a daily basis or it might be your favorite hobby. Freelancing and contracting are like any other job, and doing something you enjoy will help make the project not seem so much like work. The result of doing something you enjoy is more satisfaction and better quality results because you’re doing something you enjoy.

Pros and Cons of Freelancing and Contracting

If you are an unemployed worker or you are looking for another source of income, then I highly encourage you to take a contract or contract-to-hire position.

Pros of contracting:

You are unemployed — this is a job — as we’ve discussed in the past you should take almost anything that earns you income
You only get to keep a job if you are good
It can turn into a “permanent” job
Is a foot in the door
You can earn more money as a contractor or freelancer

Downside of contracting:

You only get to keep a job if you are good
You aren’t truly “a member of the team” and can sometimes been seen as the first to go (although sometimes smart employers cut perm employees first because of the cost of benefits)
Depending on the contract you may have to do your own taxes

Take at look at the list. I think the pros far outweigh the cons even if you are a “permanent” employee.

The real kicker with contracting is you must be good at that skill. Contracts are amazingly efficient at determining quality in a short period of time. If you are simply average at your job the client will not be willing to pay a higher rate for your services. And why should they when they could hire another average person for less?

The Only Way to Be Un-Fireable

I mentioned at the beginning of this article that even if you are good at your job you could still be pink slipped.

Want to be in a situation where you cannot be fired? There is one simple solution: be your own boss. This is the ultimate extension of contracting and freelancing. Take your skills to the point that you make the decisions — what clients to take on, when to go on vacation, and how much effort you must put in to meet the client deadline.

Again you don’t have to rush out to start two companies right this second. First evaluate your skills and the value the market sees in those skills. Then pick up a contract or two to get a taste for freelancing. Use those first few projects to build a great reputation and before you know it your income streams will be as diversified as your investments.

~$~

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Are You Really a Permanent Employee?

Kevin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:20:37 +0000

In my first article I challenged your thinking on turning down job offers when you are unemployed. Last week in my second article I showed you the math on why taking a pay cut can be a great idea in the long run.

This week I hope to scare some sense provide insight into your “permanent” employment status.

I work as a recruiter for my career. I talk to hundreds of people each year and meet somewhere around 300 of them in person. That’s a lot of people and a lot of conversations about employment, benefits, and pay.

In my business we do a lot of contracting. Sometimes it is just a short term project a client needs completed – you work for three months, finish the project, and then you are done. In other instances the contract is more of a “try before you buy” situation for the employer. That is, they get to test you out for six months and before making you a permanent job offer.

Almost Everyone Wants to Be Permanent

Ah, the permanent (also known as perm) offer. The coveted piece of job real estate that everyone seeks. It’s comfortable. It’s secure. It’s just better.

Or is it?

One of the first questions many of the potential candidates I talk to on a daily basis ask is, “Is it a permanent job?”

If I don’t say anything other than “YES!” the job candidates usually don’t walk to talk to me anymore, even if the position has a great potential of going permanent (like a contract-to-hire).

That thinking is beyond flawed and I’m here to convince you why. (If I can’t do that I hope to at least make you pause and think about it. Fair?)

Dissecting the Perks of Being Permanent

If you ask someone to explain why they so badly want to be permanent you will likely get one of the two following answers.

1. Benefits – Everyone needs benefits in some way. Medical benefits being at the top of the list, followed by everything else like retirement, disability, and life insurance.

I will concede for the most part on this one. Medical benefits are likely to be very expensive if you purchased them on your own. However, many companies are switching to high deductible health saving plans in order to save the company money. You end up paying the same or higher premiums and have to front a large yearly deductible before the real insurance kicks in.

In terms of retirement, your 401k may be costing you more money than you realize. Many company 401k plans have hidden expenses added to them that dampen your returns. If you had invested that money into a Roth IRA instead of a 401k, those costs would be transparent (and likely much lower).

2. Stability – This is nearly on par with benefits. The stability of being permanent. What does being permanent even mean? Many people seem to think once you are hired it means you’ve been given the golden ticket. Time to work hard, earn a decent salary, and work an 8 to 5 schedule. Retirement is just around the corner!

Stability and the guarantee of a paycheck are driving forces for many people I talk with.

No One is Truly Permanent

Here’s the catch: no job is truly permanent. How many so called “permanently employed” family members or friends have you seen be laid off in the last twelve months?

When you hear about factories closing and rising unemployment do you wonder if they were contract laborers or permanent employees? I would argue a large chunk of them were permanent employees.

You see that’s the kicker: no one is truly permanent. From CEOs that get axed down to the newest guy in the accounting group who never had a chance to make a difference. We can all be replaced or simply let go, and our work put on the backs of those left behind.

I’m not saying contracting is the best thing on the planet. Each type of employment has its perks. But I hope this article challenges your assumptions about permanent employment. Generally speaking, if you are good at your job and the economy and your firm are in decent shape, you should be a low risk for getting laid off.

The problem is when either you or your firm are performing at a mediocre level and the economy goes in the tank. Suddenly decisions are made to cut 10, 15, or 20 percent of the workforce. The best get to stay and the rest… well, you know the rest of the story.

~$~

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Why Taking a Pay Cut is a Great Idea

Kevin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:31:03 +0000

This is a guest post by Kevin, who writes a get out of debt blog at No Debt Plan. He wants to help you get and stay out of debt. This is the second post in a series on unemployment and your finances.

In my last article I promised to show you why the income you are losing while being unemployed can likely never be recovered.

Here’s the bottom line: every day you are unemployed increases the likelihood that the job you finally do take will need to pay you more than your previous job.

Let’s run through the math with an example, which will make this very clear.

Calculate Your Weekly Gross Pay

Our example candidate is Joe Unemployed. Mr. Unemployed’s primary skill is providing help desk support to end users. He’s the guy you call when your computer at work isn’t working or you can’t get something to print. Joe normally earns $17 per hour.

If Joe works 40 hours per week he earns $680 before taxes, 401k, insurance, etc.

Joe worked for a large bank that was recently shut down by the FDIC. The bank’s assets were purchased by a competitor that promptly laid off the entire IT division. Joe is now unemployed.

He enjoyed his work and wants to get back to it. But Joe is picky. His last employer had a great 401k and even offered stock options (which, by the way, are now worthless. Let’s hope he didn’t put a large chunk of his savings into company stock!) He worked a flexible schedule so he could come in at 9am and stay until 6pm, or come in at 6am and leave at 3pm. Joe really liked that schedule so he could grab a round of golf with his buddies on Friday afternoon.

Joe loved the perks at his last job and he wants to find another ideal situation. He wants everything that he had at his last job, and maybe more. This causes him to turn down a few potential jobs that he gets calls about the week after he gets laid off.

The Cost of One Week of Unemployment

Let’s say I call Joe on his last day of work. I’ve got an opening with a local client and he could start the following Monday. The job is exactly the same as what he was doing at his last job. The commute is the same, but the hours are strictly 8am to 5pm. The pay is also $16 per hour, one dollar less than he earned at his last job.

Joe declines this job because it pays less and the hours aren’t as nice. It just isn’t the job for him. He is confident he will find a perfect fit in the future. (This is a major mistake and I’ll write more on this in my next article.)

Assume Joe doesn’t find work for the week that he could have been working for me. He has cost himself $640 ($16 per hour x 40 hours). I don’t know about you, but to me that is a lot of money.

Here is the key concept: Joe will need to make at least 31 cents more per hour from the offer I gave him to make up for one week of unemployment. He will need to work an entire year at $16.31 to make up for losing one week’s worth of pay at $16 per hour.

Here’s how the math works:

1 week of unemployment: $16 x 40 = $640
The number of work hours in a year = 52 weeks x 40 hours = 2,080
$640 for the week divided by the number of work hours in the year, 2080 = $0.307 per hour

And that is just for one week of unemployment.

The Cost of Two Weeks of Unemployment

In a good economy this would still be considered a short time to be sitting on the sidelines. A job may have several rounds of interviews, managers can be delayed in making a decision, and overall the process gets dragged out.

In a poor, recessionary economy two weeks flies by.

Let’s now assume that Joe doesn’t find work for two weeks. He misses out on $1,280 in potential income ($640 per week x 2 weeks).

If he were to find a job starting the following week he would need to make $0.62 more per hour than the $16/hour job I offered him. His total compensation is inching closer to his original $17/hour just to break even on being unemployed.

The Cost of One Month of Unemployment

Things are not looking good for Joe Unemployed. He has been out of work for four weeks straight. He isn’t getting many calls from companies. He is starting to get discouraged.

On top of all that Joe needs to now make at least $1.23 more per hour than the original $16 per hour I offered him. At his last job he was earning $17/hour. Now he needs to make $17.23.

This is the danger most people do not see. In a very short period of time the loss of income from being unemployed outweighs the guaranteed drop in income by taking a lesser paying job.

Because Joe definitely knew he would lose $2,080 over an entire year he avoided jobs that paid less than his old job. But what he doesn’t know that he doesn’t have to be unemployed very long to miss out on that entire amount and more.

Other Unemployment Factors to Consider

Of course this is a simplified example. Some other things that might influence Joe’s decision:

He will draw unemployment benefits. I didn’t get into unemployment benefits because every state is different. If Joe could get $200 per week in unemployment then each week he misses work at $16 hour he will need to make 21 cents more (rather than 31 cents more).
Was he earning average market pay? If Joe’s skillset typically pays $20 per hour he was being underpaid. It might be worth it to hold out for at least the same pay he was getting, possibly more. But he still needs to be aware of how much each week of sitting at home is costing him in the long run.

~$~

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Unemployed? Any Job is Better Than No Job

Kevin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:49:05 +0000

This is a guest post by Kevin, who writes a get out of debt blog at No Debt Plan. He wants to help you get and stay out of debt. Today he is the first post in a series on unemployment and your finances.

I’m not a full-time blogger. I’d love to be, but for now I write at night and on the weekends.

I currently work a day job as a recruiter for a national staffing company. Some might call it a career. I spend my days on the phone talking to prospective and past consultants, looking at resumes, and getting lots and lots of e-mail.

It is from this unique position that I get to see a small section of the economy – who is hiring and firing in our area. I speak to both employed and unemployed individuals every day. Some people are looking for career change. Others are looking for a paycheck.

Unemployed? Take Any Job!

I’ve been recruiting for three years now and it never ceases to amaze me to hear the responses we get from some unemployed individuals that we call regarding open positions. When you call these people you can hear the TV on in the background. I imagine them sitting in their underwear eating Cheetos. “Nah, that’s not for me”, they say. I sigh and hang up the phone.

There are a multitude of reasons to not turn down a potential job opportunity.

Unemployment Will Run Out. For starters, you are unemployed. You shouldn’t turning down anything. Those unemployment benefit checks will not last forever.

Taking a Job Avoids a Huge Gap on Your Resume. For those in the professional workforce having a big gap on your resume doesn’t look good to prospective employers. In the past, having a six month gap would be a very bad sign. Times were good. Why couldn’t you get a job?

Employers are a little more understanding these days with the recession we are all living through. Nonetheless, the smaller the gap on your resume the better. Get back into the workforce as soon as possible and avoid a huge gap on your resume.

A Potential Job Isn’t Guaranteed to Work Out. Just because a recruiter or human resource representative is calling you doesn’t mean you’ve got the job. You still have to interview and compete with other candidates. Holding out for the “right job” doesn’t guarantee you will be selected to interview for that job.

Your Emergency Fund Won’t Last Forever. If you’ve been reading Cash Money Life for some time you’ve picked up on the idea that you need an emergency fund. If you lose your job you can rely on unemployment and your emergency fund. But your emergency fund will run out eventually.

If I lost my job I would be willing to take just about anything to help pay my monthly expenses and stretch out my emergency fund. If this meant working at a home improvement store for $10 per hour I would do it (and work 80 hours per week!). If it meant joining a landscaping crew and working out in the heat I would do it. You should have the same mentality.

You Can’t Recover Lost Income. This is the biggest reason of all you should never turn down a potential job. The income you are missing out on today by being unemployed can never be recovered. Ever.

Intrigued? Stick around, subscribe, and come back next week. I’ll run through the math on lost income through unemployment.

~$~

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

A College Degree Does Not Guarantee a Job

Patrick — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:36:53 +0000

Wow. I know the economy is difficult right now, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to read about an alumna suing her college because she can’t find a job. But I am surprised to read about this. Obviously she didn’t put too much thought into the long term ramifications of her lawsuit.

If I were a hiring manager, the first thing I would do after glancing at the resume is run a quick Google search on a potential employee. If the first page of search results listed nothing but a news result about a baseless lawsuit against his/her former school, I would drop the resume in the shredder and never respond. If you are willing to sue a school, you would be willing to sue an employer. And that is an issue most companies are not willing to take – especially for someone who isn’t bringing any special skills to the table.

Why is she suing? Trina Thompson graduated from New York’s Monroe College in April with a bachelor of business administration degree in information technology and is suing her college for $72,000, which covers the full cost of her education, plus $2,000 to cover the stress of her 3 month job search. Why? Because she believes (in her words) the “Office of Career Advancement did not help me with a full-time job placement. I am also suing them because of the stress I have been going through.”

Her chief complaint is that her college hasn’t done enough to help her with job placement. Again, in her words, “They’re supposed to say, ‘I got this student, her attendance is good, her GPA is all right — can you interview this person?’ They’re not doing that,” she said.

By the way, her GPA was a robust 2.7, which should have most employers knocking down doors.

What does the college say? Monroe College released a statement saying that “while it is clear that no college, especially in this economy, can guarantee employment, Monroe College remains committed to working with all its students, including Ms. Thompson, who graduated only three months ago, to prepare them for careers and to support them during their job search.”

My thoughts? I don’t have all the facts, but I am siding with the college on this one. To expect a job simply because you have a degree is naive. To expect a multitude of job offers in a difficult economy, when people with years of experience have been unemployed longer than you have had a degree, is grossly naive. To sue someone because you haven’t been able to find the job you desire shows a sense of entitlement that is disturbing. No one owes you anything. You need to work for it. Simply having “good attendance and an all right GPA” is not enough. You need to bring real skills to the table. You need to show how your skills and experience separate you from the other 100 job applicants, some of whom have decades of practical experience – not just an all right GPA.

A college degree does not guarantee a job. Once upon a time it may have. But not today. Not in our economy.

Source article: Jason Kessler, CNN.

~$~

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Preparing for a Job Interview

Patrick — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:21:58 +0000

This guest post is courtesy of Manshu Verma from OneMint, a website with the vision of “creating wealth for everyone.” If you liked this article and wish to read more about the economy, stocks, investing, credit cards or other topics on personal finance, please consider subscribing to his website.

Preparing for a job interview is simple, but not easy. You have to get the basics right and show that you are knowledgeable and sincere. But conveying your skills and talents in half an hour to a person you have never met is not easy task, unless you are well prepared. Here are a few points that you should keep in mind while preparing for a job interview.

Preparing for a Job Interview

1. Be ready with your elevator pitch: Your elevator pitch is a brief description about you that gives the interviewer an overview of your experience, skills and interests in about a minute or so.

A lot of interviews start with the standard – “tell us a little bit about you.” Be prepared with a short summary of yourself peppered with words that will be of interest to your prospective employer. So, if you know that you are interviewing for a position in which your primary responsibility will be handling a team, your elevator pitch should have parts of your work experience in which you handled large cross functional teams or similar activities.

2. Practice, but not too much: Hold mock interviews with your relatives and friends. Practice makes perfect – to a point. You don’t want to rattle off answers like a robot. Think of it more like talking points, and not a memorized speech.

You also want to limit yourself to serious interviews only. I have seen some people attend each interview they get called for, even if they don’t want to take the job. I personally don’t think this is the right thing to do. This may be fine at junior levels, but after a certain point, the positions are scarce and if you give an interview, are hired and then refuse the job – you slim your chances for the future. And I wouldn’t like it if I went to an interview and found out that the panel was only practicing their skills and were not serious about hiring me.

3. Talk to people who work there: I have a friend who used to work in the Finance sector and everyone was comfortable working on a first name basis. He wanted to switch jobs and interviewed with a steel company. This company was very hierarchical in nature and his prospective bosses didn’t like the fact that he called them by their first names and didn’t refer to them as “sir.”

If you know someone who works in the company, talk to them and find out about the culture of the company. You may find it is not compatible with your preferred working environment.

4. Know the industry: Almost everyone reads up about the company they are interviewing for and memorizes a few facts. But, if you are not genuinely interested in keeping abreast the latest industry trends, those facts don’t give you any perspective at all.

Once, my friend interviewed for an advertising agency and they asked him if he knew how big the firm was. He was beaming because he knew how big the firm was – both in terms of sales and employees.

Next they asked him if that made the firm — big, medium or small for that industry. He had no clue. He had memorized a few facts about the company but didn’t really know much about the sector as a whole. Luckily he got the job, because the other guys didn’t even bother to memorize the facts. You may not be as lucky, so get an idea about the latest in the industry.

5. Prepare for questions: Read your resume carefully and look at the parts that are most interesting. Try to think of questions that are triggered by your resume and prepare answers for those parts. Ask a friend to help if you are not able to think of questions yourself. I have seen that some questions keep coming up in every interview I attend. Some parts of my resume are structured more prominently than others and often trigger the same questions.

6. Ask Questions: One of the most useful questions to ask interviewers is – “what would my typical day look like?” If you get a chance, ask this question, this makes the interviewer think about someone who is already performing that role and explain to you in detail what is expected out of you.

I am a big fan of this question because a few years ago I applied for the position of an analyst with a company, but when the role was described to me, it involved a few hours of cold calling every day. Turns out the company expected all their analysts to make sales calls as well. That was something that wasn’t advertised and I was really surprised to find that out.

These were some things that helped me during my interviews and I’d love to hear what your interview tricks are.

~$~

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Sharpen Your Soft Skills

Patrick — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:11:24 +0000

Last year I interviewed with several companies. When I was going through the interview process, I realized something very important. While every employer seeks a different mix of abilities and experience from its employees, there is one common thing they all look for: soft skills.

Soft skills are the intangibles that you use every day to accomplish tasks. Communication skills, leadership skills, and teamwork are some common skills that employers screen for when interviewing job applicants. To put it simply, improving your soft skills increases your chances of being hired and keeping your job.

How to improve your soft skills

There are many different soft skills; these are just a few:

Speaking. Verbal communication is highly valued by all professional organizations. Unfortunately, many people lack strong speaking skills. The good news is that you can easily improve with just a little practice.

A great way to improve your speaking skills is to volunteer to give group presentations. Start small (within your team), then graduate to larger presentations. Another great way to enhance your speaking and presenting skills is to join Toastmasters International, which is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills. They are located worldwide, so you should have an easy time locating a local chapter.

Listening. Often, the most important part of effective communication is listening. It is important to not only hear the message you are given, but to actively listen and understand the entire message. Many mistakes are made because people do not take the time to fully comprehend the message or instructions they were given.

To improve your listening skills, pay attention to the speaker’s words and actions. You can learn a lot from body language. Allow the speaker to finish before responding or judging what they have said. Take notes and review them with the speaker to ensure you received the message as it was intended. Providing feedback allows you to mentally process everything you heard.

Writing. Strong written communication skills are paramount to success. It is important to be able to concisely convey your message in multiple formats including reports, letters, e-mail, online work and more.

To improve your writing skills, take the time to proofread what you have written. Small mistakes can often be corrected with a quick review. Utilize the built in spell check and grammar functions found in many productivity software applications. Other tips to improve your written communication skills include having another person proof read documents, submitting white papers to professional publications, and reviewing grammar rules online. A good place for this is Daily Writing Tips.

Leadership. Good leaders are hard to find. Leaders needs to be aware of more than just their role within a team, but how each member in the group contributes to a common goal and how to steer the group toward that goal.

Some people say leaders are born and and they cannot be taught. I disagree. In fact, I think anyone can learn basic leadership skills, and some people may even grow to become great leaders. All it takes is exposure to leadership principles, the desire to lead, opportunity, and practice.

To improve your leadership skills, begin with reading a few books or online articles about leadership. You can also consider taking a course at a local community college or as part of an MBA program. Once you have some leadership principles ingrained, you need to practice, practice, practice. Observe leaders in your workplace, volunteer to lead small groups and team efforts, and take on additional duties if necessary. Finally, do not confuse leadership with authority. You do not have to be the high man on the totem pole to be a leader.

Teamwork. Just as good leaders are essential to accomplish tasks in the corporate environment, so are solid team members. Even if your daily role is primarily one where your work alone, you need to be aware of how your work affects others.

To improve your value as a team member, consider how your actions affect other people who are working on a related task. Do your actions help them or hinder them? Another great way to become a better team member in the workplace is to participate in group sporting events and other social activities.

There are many more soft skills

The soft skills listed above are some of the soft skills most frequently asked about during interviews. However, there are many more soft skills out there and it benefits you to recognize what they are and how to improve them.

You can further break down soft skills into Personal Qualities and Interpersonal Skills:

Personal Qualities are those which are inherent to the way you act on a day to day basis. These include personal responsibility, self-esteem, self-management, integrity, honesty, self-motivation, self-discipline, decision making, and more.

Interpersonal Skills deal with your interactions with others. Some of these include: teaching and instructing, serving client and customer needs, negotiation, persuasion, cultural awareness, conflict resolution, etiquette, and more.

Think about how you perform in the workplace. Your value to your employer is often driven not only by the degrees and certifications you hold, but how well you work and interact with others. Sharpen your soft skills. Improve your professional prospects.

This article originally appeared as a guest post on BripBlap.com, a personal finance and career journal.

~$~

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Things to Consider When Leaving Your Job

Patrick — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:19:45 +0000

Last Friday was my wife’s final day of work before becoming a stay at home mom. This was a big change for her, and we spent Friday evening going over her out-processing meeting with her Human Resources rep and going over her options – benefits, retirement accounts, etc. We are using my health insurance, so that won’t require any changes. But we have some decisions to make regarding retirement accounts and a few other things. I changed jobs a year ago, so most of this was relatively fresh for me. But if you haven’t left a job recently, these tips can help make for a smooth transition.

Things to consider when leaving your job

Leaving your job can have a dramatic impact – it is often a time of mixed emotions. The feelings can be even more mixed when you are dealing with a layoff or other unforeseen event. Since not everyone can plan their exit, these tips may make your transition easier.

Update resume. You should update your resume as soon as you know you will be leaving your job because your recent accomplishments and job duties are still fresh on your mind. Having an updated resume will be helpful in finding a new job in the near term, or if you are taking a long break, will make it easier to step back into your job search.

Create a Continuity binder. If someone will be taking over your old position you will want to make the transition as smooth for them and your old company as possible. A continuity binder that lists your duties, procedures, and resources will go a long way in helping your former company maintain consistent service and will give your former managers and coworkers a good impression – hopefully giving your better references in the long run.

Network and references. Even if you are leaving your current industry, or leaving the workforce, it never hurts to maintain a good network. You never know when you may may be able to offer assistance to someone in your network or vice versa. Keep in touch with your contacts via phone, e-mail, professional associations, or social websites such as LinkedIn or FaceBook.

401k or other retirement accounts. Most companies offer a 401k or similar retirement plan, and it is the last thing many people think about when leaving their company is their retirement plan. At least until their HR rep breezes through your options at lightning speed. Basically you have the following options:

Leave your 401k at your former company.
Transfer the 401k to your new company (if you have a new job lined up).
Rollover your 401k into and IRA or other eligible retirement account.
Withdraw the funds in your 401k. (may be subject to early withdrawal penalties).

In most cases, people will be better off rolling over their 401k into an IRA or a 401k at their new company. Here are more tips about what to do with your 401k when you leave your company.

Benefits. Many companies offer benefits such as health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, or long term care insurance. Be sure you understand your coverage and options when you leave your company so your coverage doesn’t lapse. You may be eligible for COBRA insurance for your health care, and some companies may offer a short term extension on other benefits. If not, then you will want to look into purchasing life insurance, disability insurance, or long term care insurance. (Note: If you are laid if between Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009, you may be eligible for COBRA insurance subsidies).

Exit interview. The last thing you may have to do is an exit interview, but not all companies offer or require them. The best advice I can give is to keep your exit interview short and sweet – give only the information necessary, and most importantly, don’t burn any bridges! That is just bad form and you never know when you may run into someone again.

File for unemployment benefits. If you were laid off, the first thing you want to do is file for unemployment benefits. Most states require that new unemployment filers wait one week before receiving benefits, so the sooner you get the process started, the more quickly you can start receiving benefits. The recent stimulus package included extended unemployment benefits in certain instances. Check with your state employment bureau for more details.

Do you have any tips to add about leaving a job?

~$~