“Personal Finance: Get coffee, hit the gym to job-seek - Philadelphia Daily News” plus 1 more |
| Personal Finance: Get coffee, hit the gym to job-seek - Philadelphia Daily News Posted: 29 Jan 2011 03:55 PM PST Posted on Sun, Jan. 30, 2011 Matthew Krzus and his friends graduated from college in May, and most of them are struggling to get jobs. "Even though we've come close, there's always something," he said. One friend, who swears he has behaved identically in all interviews, was called "too intense" in one and too laid-back in another. Krzus has been in third-round interviews that seemed like done deals, focusing on salary and start dates. Then came disappointment. In one case, he received a call saying that the vice president's niece needed the job, and in another was told that the company could hire only one person and needed to weave an entry-level job with a higher-level position. "We joke that we need to know the magic formula for what to say," he said. His comment is universal, spoken by job seekers young and old as they navigate one of the most competitive job markets in decades. It is why people must be creative and stretch beyond the usual advice about resumés, dress, handshakes, and smiles. A key is to enlarge your job search. Go to the coffee shop or the gym. Because employers have not had enough employees for three years, managers are desperate to get work done. So bring a solution directly to them and not through human resources, said Jeffrey G. Allen, author of Instant Interviews: 101 Ways to Get the Best Job of Your Life. Go to a Starbucks or gym, for example, in a neighborhood where managers live and start conversations, asking managers about their businesses, listening for their needs, and offering solutions, Allen said. If you have a specific company or job in mind, try parking lots in office parks and warehouse districts. Hang out at conference hotels and choose seats on trains and in airports next to people with laptops. Bypass HR. Allen's basic premise from his days in human resources: People in HR do not know the job, the need, or whether you fit, so you have to get to the decision-maker. Ask a contact on online-networking site LinkedIn to pass your resumé to a specific individual and aim for an introduction in a specific department. Or go hear a manager speak, exchange cards, and follow up with a comment on the topic. Browse online for research, not applications. Beware of too much time on the Internet, said Eliminated! Now What? author Jean Baur. Instead of applying for jobs alongside hundreds, use the Web for research so that you know the company and manager and where you might fit in. Learn industry buzzwords and hot buttons and use them in resumés and interviews. Follow the news. In community newspapers or trade publications, look for these topics, because they suggest a need for new hires: A promotion or retirement, or a business relocating, acquiring a site or other business, expanding, or getting a new contract. Get discovered. To stay visible while looking for work, consider volunteering in an area that might provide contacts or experience. Also speak, write articles, or teach a class, maybe through adult education or a university-extension service. Ask people about their businesses and talk about solutions you might provide companies or organizations. Ask for referrals to firms or people. Turned down for a job? If you get turned down, ask about needs (and introductions) elsewhere in the company and industry. "Turn this into networking," Baur said. Get a contract. After years of cost-cutting, many companies have projects they need to get done and find it safer to offer contract jobs than make permanent hires. So Baur suggests looking for projects when networking, and notes that experience can lead to a job. Carrie Shea, chief executive officer of Griffin Strategic Advisors L.L.C., said senior managers were valuable in projects. Gail MarksJarvis is a personal-finance columnist for the Chicago Tribune. E-mail her at gmarksjarvis@tribune.com.
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| Personal Finance: Financial lessons to learn from texting fountain woman - Washington Post Posted: 27 Jan 2011 08:19 AM PST At first glance, the recent viral video of a woman falling into a mall fountain may not seem to yield any financial lessons. In case you've haven't heard about this woman or seen the video, Cathy Cruz Marrero was texting while walking and ended up tumbling into a water fountain at the Berkshire Mall where she worked. The Pennsylvania resident's big splash -- caught by a security camera -- was uploaded to YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 3 million times. Marrero, 49, said in a "Good Morning America" interview that she was embarrassed by the publicity and was upset that someone posted the video and that security didn't come to her aid. She is considering suing the mall. "Our investigation into this matter is continuing," Marrero's attorney James M. Polyak said in an e-mail. "To date, we have not received so much as an apology from those responsible for the releasing the video. Why a security professional would release confidential video footage of such a humiliating event is a question that remains to be answered." But Marrero's story just keeps getting more interesting. Turns out in October 2009 she was charged with stealing a coworker's credit cards and using them to purchase more than $4,000 of goods at a Target and Zales jewelry store, according to the Reading Eagle. The Reading Eagle also reported that Marrero has been involved in several other theft cases. According to court documents, she has four retail theft convictions. In the most recent case, one of Marrero's co-workers says she allowed Marrero to use her Target credit card to make a small purchase but did not give her permission to make other purchases. To avoid detection, Marrero allegedly changed the billing address so she would get the credit card statements. So what financial lessons can we learn thanks to the texting fountain woman? -- Don't let anyone use your credit card. As Marrero's co-worker found out, it can cost you to be generous. The co-worker initially tried to make payments on the charges Marrero made in an effort to maintain her good credit history. It seems Marrero had promised to make payments, according to the local paper. When she didn't, the co-worker went to the police. -- Don't abuse your position at work. In response to the incident, the company which provides security for the mall at which Marrero fell issued this statement: "The security officer responsible for sharing the video of this incident has been terminated and is no longer with company. U.S. Security Associates does not condone this type of behavior and will work closely with the property owners to ensure processes are put in place to prevent it from happening in the future." On the video, you can hear several people laughing in the background. "So there she goes, and boom," a guy says after showing another angle of Marrero falling into the fountain. I'm sure the security officer who got fired thought he was doing a harmless and humorous thing by posting the video. But giving others a chuckle couldn't have been worth his job in an economy where jobs are hard to come by. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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