…and by that I mean either obvious or just plain wrong. I have seen a lot of career advice on the internet and quite frankly a lot of it is BS. Here are some of the gems I found from various blogs, msn articles, and webzines:
“Be innovative” aka “Be creative” aka “Try new things” aka “..introduce new ideas”
-Written a thousand ways, and always I respond: ‘Ya think?’
“Volunteer for boards”
-Im not sure about you but there are no ‘boards’ at my work to volunteer for. Oh and the kind of companies that have boards generally SELECT people for them.
-”Don’t ruin your reputation”
-And here I thought getting super drunk and dancing around on the table at the company Christmas party was a good idea.
-”The best strategy is to just be the best in your area. That makes you indispensable”
-Wrong. In fact, I’ll give you a bunch of reasons why:
1) I worked at Hewlett Packard for six years. During the first threeish years I worked there, I did very little more than I was asked. Sometimes not even that. For the last three years I worked there I worked my ass off. During the last year I was there I was working on a large project and people around me were dropping like flies during the layoffs. I was originally supposed to be support for the project but because of the layoffs I turned out to be the only engineer on the project. Keep in mind I was in college, and so receiving college level pay, I was not a huge liability. Just as we finished the first phase of the project I was laid off. I was the ONLY engineering resource left on the project and the only one who knew fully how it worked. And I was let go before I could finish completely or do any documentation . There is no such thing as being indispensable. It doesn’t matter what you are doing or what you are getting paid or where you are on the ladder.
2) Now, its a good idea to be an expert in one area but you should also understand as much as possible in all aspects. Being rounded is a good thing. What if your area of expertise goes away, what then?
3) Getting pigeonholed into doing one thing all the time sucks. You know Bob in department B thats been doing the same thing for 30 years….do you really wanna be him?
“Do what you were good at in school”
When my dad was in college he was pushed hard by councilors to go into physics because he was REALLY good at it. As it turns out 
he hated working in a lab and went on to do other things. Just because you are really good at something doesn’t mean you should do it. This problem is particularly big when still in college. I switched majors somewhere in the range of four times before I finally settled on something. Just because a class is fun and you are good at the subject does not mean you should bank your life on it. Being good at something in college does not equate to real life success. Plus, there are very few jobs directly related to drinking beer.
As much as possible I try to keep politics out of this blog because for the most part I try to reach out to every audience. I think everyone has a right to be informed financial matters, and for the most part politics have nothing to do with it. However once in a while, something comes up that absolutely frightening. Something that has the ability to absolutely destroy our financial freedom in this country, to destroy any hope you have of retirement. Here is a quote from Nancy Pelosi:
When questioned about recent stock market highs she responded “Only the rich benefit from these record highs. Working Americans, welfare recipients, the unemployed and minorities are not sharing in these obscene record highs”.
“There is no question these windfall profits and income created by the Bush administration need to be taxed at 100% rate and those dollars redistributed to the poor and working class”.
And that my friends, is one of the scariest quotes I have ever seen from someone in a position of power in the United States. Social Security WILL run out before most of us retire. In fact, it will be, by definition, bankrupt by the year 2042. What does that leave us with? Our Roth IRAs and 401ks. For anyone currently under the age of 60, we are at least partially banking on our retirement savings growing in the stock market. Even if you don’t care at all about politics, at least pay attention to this because this has the potential to ruin your retirement. It doesn’t matter what party is trying dig into your pockets, this is something to fight back on.
You and I, as a working americans, DO share in these record highs.
If I were giving advice to someone, I would tell them not to buy a new car. I would also tell them not to finance a car, but instead to save up and buy a late model used car. I would also advise someone to buy a car with low insurance premiums that gets excellent gas milage. All of that said, this weekend I bought a new car with higher insurance premiums that gets average gas milage (though much better than my previous car). I also financed it through my credit union. However, it wasn’t an impulse buy, it was something I did a lot of thinking about.
There were several reasons I went the route I did:
Professionalism – my previous car was fun (A Dodge sports car) but was more akin to something a high school kid would drive than a college graduate working for a consulting firm.
Need to get rid of my previous car – I was almost up on my warranty and did not wish to pay for an extended warranty. Also private party sales of my car are very slim.
Low interest rate – I was able to secure a very low interest loan through my credit union.
Personality – The car I got is very much a reflection of my personality.
Carpe Diem – I actually deteste this saying, but for me to have a new car, this is the time.
Budget – It fits into my budget
Resale value – It is one of the highest resale value cars on the market…which was actually one of the reasons I decided to get one new instead of used. The used prices were not much lower than the new prices.
Color – As odd as this sounds, the color I wanted was only available on the ’07 model.
Without further ado:
#1 – Start your job search early
A mistake a lot of people make is that they dont start looking for a job until they are well into their senior year of college. A much easier route to take is to get an internship while you are still in school. Most interships anymore (at least in tech fields) are paid internships. My entire career has been built on starting as an intern and working my way up. It has worked even better than I ever thought it would.
#2 – Apply for a lot of jobs
This one seems like it would be obvious, but I have known people who applied for two or three jobs and then complained when they didn’t land one of them. There is absolutely no reason NOT to apply for a job. Hell, apply for CEO of General Motors if you want, the worst a company can say is no.
#3 – Learn to interview well
If you make it to the interview, make sure you are prepared. I have never interviewed for a job and not received an offer. This is NOT necessarily because I was the most qualified candidate or the best fit for the job. It’s because for every interview I was prepared. This means know what you are talking about, do your research, dress up, and get their early. Another kind of overlooked point is to make the interviewer comfortable and relaxed by being relaxed yourself. I had one interview where they never once ended up asking me a technical question because the interviewer and I BSed about common interests the whole time. Thats an extreme case, but as a general rule, the more the like you personally, the more they are likely to pick you over someone with slightly better qualifications.
#4 – Build a good resume
This is the first thing potential employers see and for most people, the last. Even the most qualified, intelligent individual can destroy their chances at a job with a poor resume. My brother once had a perfect chance for an internship he really wanted but his old spell checking program didn’t check the spelling on his bolded words. That was enough to disqualify him from the job. Make sure its thorough, correct, and clear.
#5 – Be flexible
Just because you got your degree in X doesn’t mean you HAVE to apply only for jobs doing X related things. Lots of jobs look for a degree, any degree. My dad has his degree in physics, but he didn’t want to work in a lab so now he is a marketing specialist. There are a lot of jobs out there in a lot of different fields….don’t let yourself get pigeonholed.
Though this is primary a personal finance blog, the source of your income is as big a factor as anything else. After all, its much easier to save when you have more disposable income. So in this series I would like to focus on small tips to help your career along.
I figured I would start out with something that I am historically not that great at. The truth is, when I worked at HP, I almost never had any sort of interaction that wasn’t over the phone. Not only did I not dress up at all, but really, I hardly bothered to get dressed at all. Old scragly tshirts with adidas flip flops and some old shorts. Now, this was great for being alone sitting in a cubicle all day. As I have gotten older I have phased in and out of dressing well, but I am starting to settle into being routine about dressing well. This is thanks in no small part to my girlfriend, who is bothered to the point of wanting to physically harm me when she sees me wear thin old tshirts…which is good because I need a good kick in the pants to go out and buy some nice stuff once in a while. But I digress….
Lets have a look at the phases of work:
Interview – Dressing up for an interview shows several things.
1) I care about this job
2) I want to distinguish myself from the other candidates
3) I am professional
Beginning work – This is where you are just starting to meet people and get comfortable in your job. Most people want to make good impressions on people, and dressing up a bit does help tell people “Hey this guy/girl has his/her stuff together.”
Routine work – For most people (myself included) this is where the dress code starts to slip, especially for engineers. I would say that this is where the lifestyle change happens. You aren’t in college any more, right? So STOP dressing like a college kid….or at least only a few times a week. This will help keep everyone viewing you in a professional manner as well as generally make you feel better about yourself.
I’m not suggesting you have to go out and buy super expensive clothing. I am saying that a few pairs of nice well-fitting jeans, maybe some slacks, and some decent shirts to supplant the “Girls Gone Wild 2002!” tshirt and the jeans that look like they survived world war 2.
#1 – I am going to come out of school and be a project manager
If I had a dime for every person I’ve known that has come out of a school with a BS in business that thought they were going to be a project manager straight out of school, I would have the money truck parked out in front of my mansion in laguna beach. The truth is that the vast majority of people will be in any given industry for quite a while before they will move into a project management role. Just because you have learned some pm techniques in classes doesn’t mean you are ready to come into a business and coordinate projects.
#2 – I am going to come out of school and be a CEO/Top management/etc
This is less common than #1 but even more ridiculous.
#3 – I got my degree in <insert major> so I have to get a job doing <insert job related to major>
Many places are much more concerned with your experience and your interests than they are about what your degree is in. In fact, in my office there was a guy that had his degree in philosophy but was doing computer science type work. The vase majority of people being disqualified from jobs are disqualified by themselves and not the employer.
#4 – GPA matters a lot
The simple fact is that, straight out of college, GPA might considered, but any further than that no one cares. If two candidates are applying for a job and one has a 3.2 GPA and the other has a 4.0 GPA, if they both get interviews, if the 3.2 interviews better than the 4.0, 99% of employers will hire the lower GPA graduate. Experience weighs even MORE heavily into the equation. Simply put, don’t get too hung up on your GPA. I had a friend who was a smart guy, but just hated going to class. He had a GPA of 2.8. He applied for a job that “required” a 3.5 GPA at Hewlett Packard. Guess what? He never put it on his resume and they never asked….and he got the job.
#5 – I need to grow up and buy <insert expensive item>
Just because you have graduated doesn’t mean you need to grow up and buy any expensive items such as a car/house/etc. There are situations where it makes sense and others where it doesn’t, but everyone seems to think it’s some sort of right of passage into adulthood. On the contrary, it can just as easily put you on the wrong financial path. One example of a situation that it was a good idea is that my girlfriend is selling her condo for a good profit, and under contract for a house. In her case, it is the right fincancial move for her. On the other hand, I have a friend who bought a house right after graduation that he is now trying to sell, and he is minus 15k in equity on it due to the housing market and a home equity loan he took out.